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What Are You Doing Here? (North OC)
30th June 2024 • OC Church of Christ Sermons • OC Church of Christ
00:00:00 00:37:31

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In this heartfelt sermon, Kinney Barbour addresses the question, 'Why are you here?' and delves deep into the individual and spiritual journeys we are all on. Drawing on biblical lessons and personal anecdotes, Barbour emphasizes the importance of making choices based on faith, love, and trust in God. He reflects on the journeys depicted in films and parallels them to our own, highlighting how God's guidance can lead us through challenges and triumphs. The sermon also covers the story of the prophet Elijah, illustrating the trials and divine support in a believer's life. The message concludes with a call to action, encouraging a consistent and reflective spiritual practice.

00:00 Introduction and Opening Prayer

00:58 The Deeper Question: Why Are You Here?

02:37 Life's Journey and Choices

04:37 Passion and Movies

07:43 The Narrow Road and God's Guidance

14:34 Elijah's Journey and Mental Struggles

20:09 God's Presence in Natural Phenomena

20:36 Elijah's Encounter with God

21:56 The Significance of Wind, Earthquake, and Fire

25:46 Hearing God's Whisper

29:10 Reflecting on God's Questions

32:55 A Call to Action

36:23 Closing Prayer and Communion

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Transcripts

Speaker:

Good morning, everybody.

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Good morning, church family.

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Good morning, friends.

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And we'll start with a question.

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You guys sit on the screen.

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Why are you here?

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Before you guys answer the question,

let's pray real quick, okay?

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Heavenly Father, thank you

for just being who you are.

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God, thank you for just being along

with us as we navigate through life.

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Uh, God, I pray if you do

today's service, God, work

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through me, uh, speak through me.

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Uh, Father, help me to slow in my

speech, uh, Father, I pray that

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it's clear, uh, Father, we're here

because we want to hear your word.

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I pray that it resonates in our soul.

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It moves us to draw closer to you.

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Uh, Father, we love you, just say we pray.

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Amen.

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So, why are you here?

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Now, I'm going to throw out some

reasons at a high level why you're here.

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And if it resonates with

you, please say amen.

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Alright?

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Okay, are you here because

you're a part of the church and

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you do this on a routine basis?

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Okay, are you, are you out of

town guests and you are staying

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in my house and you're here?

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Okay.

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All right.

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So we have some there If you're

here because maybe your kids

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are in camp and you're here just

for those reasons Amen Okay.

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All right.

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So At a high level, you know

that we're here for a reason but

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this question is much deeper.

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It's You What are you doing

here at this point in your life?

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And all of us, we're on journeys,

but we're on individual journeys.

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And so, as of right now, everyone is

at a certain point in their lives.

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Whether you're a teenager, whether

you're a, you know, a young adult,

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maybe you're an older adult, whatever.

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You're married, you're single, you

are at a point in your life right

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this minute where the question

is, what are you doing here?

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So this message is for us individually.

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The Bible talks about bringing

us to our senses, right?

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And so we have to ask ourselves

these kind of questions.

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Okay, the journey.

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We're all on a journey.

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How do I get back?

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Perfect.

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Okay, how do I get forward?

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Perfect.

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The journey.

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We're all on a journey.

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Since we're born, the journey starts.

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When we are kids, our journey

is shaped by our parents.

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Uh, it's, it's shaped by

those responsible for us.

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So they shape us, even shaped

by our, our religion too, right?

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A lot of us are kids kingdom, so it gets

shaped in a way that we don't decide.

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We just follow through

and follow along, right?

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Uh, as we go though, we realize once we

become teenagers and become young adults,

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what that adult means is that choices.

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My choices are not made for

me, I make my own choices.

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And then the road starts

looking like this.

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There are so many options,

um, for our, for our choices.

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And where do our go?

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And I love this quote.

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It talks about that, um, life

is just a series of choices.

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Uh, it reflects our belief

based on either love or fear.

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So, um, When we make these choices, it

could be made logic, you know, I'm in,

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I'm in IT field, so I'm very logical,

it just makes sense to go this route.

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Or it could be made by fear, meaning

I don't want to make the wrong choice.

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So by default, I'll go the

easiest path in front of me.

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Or the love part is passion.

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I love this thing so much.

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I will deviate to another path.

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And so, there are choices.

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We mentioned passion groups here, right?

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Uh, it's a marvelous

thing we do in our church.

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Whereas we have, uh, maybe

about a month and a half.

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And we just do whatever

you're passionate about.

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And so something that I have

done for years is I watch movies.

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And I, I don't watch

them for entertainment.

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I watch them because, um, they

are proven to be one of the best.

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And so I watch them to see, okay,

is it really that good and why?

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And I try to think about it.

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I try to pull in my wife and my, my kids.

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They never bite.

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So I'm always watching by

myself, you know, you know.

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And I give them individual ratings too.

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And so my passion was like, let me open

it up to the church to join my passion.

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So we get together on Fridays

and we look at movies.

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And we use the AF, I

think it's AFI, I think.

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American Film Institute.

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They're top 20.

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And we, every week we watch a movie.

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We watch Citizen Kane.

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And we realize Rosebud.

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is change the trajectory

of Citizen Kane's life.

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So, this idea of loneliness affected

his whole life, affected his navigation

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through life, this feeling of childhood.

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We have things in our childhood that, that

navigates, or these feelings, emotions,

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loneliness, that changes our choices.

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Casablanca.

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How many of you guys have seen Casablanca?

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Right.

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So, Casablanca.

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Uh, it's about, you know, a person,

the main character is deep hurt

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over, um, a relationship that

influenced the trajectory of his life.

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And so, hurts can affect our choices, too.

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Uh, then the last one we

watched was Singing in the Rain.

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How many guys have seen that?

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Yeah, and so I just couldn't wait.

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There's one, I know the song, I was

waiting for that to come on, but, you

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know, we watched it and very interesting

movie in that, um, his, uh, security,

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his, his, his security was disrupted by,

um, the career movie industry changes.

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Right?

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So, and for me, I think about technology,

I'm in technology, and there's this

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fear that, because technology moves

so fast, that there'll be some concept

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that I just can't grasp, grasp.

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And then there's my career, I

can't, I can't figure it out,

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I can't move past this concept.

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And so I can relate to that.

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So all of these movies,

they have journeys.

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And for us, we have a journey and we

are the main character in our journey.

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If you can see your life as that, right?

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And so you're navigating through

your life's journey here.

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Now, I want to look at,

Give me a second here.

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And so, We have our life's journey,

and then most of us here, it got

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interrupted in some manner, right?

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Matthew 7, 13, it says, Enter

through the narrow gate, for wide

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is the gate, and broad is the

road that leads to destruction.

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And many enter through it.

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But small is the gate, and

narrow the road that leads to

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life, and only a few find it.

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So many of us, we had all of these

choices, but then God intervened, right?

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And it says here in Titus chapter

3 verse 4 through 5, it says, But,

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when the kindness and love of God,

our Savior, appeared, He saved us.

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Not because of righteous things that

we have done, but because of His mercy.

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He saved us through the washing of

rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

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That's right.

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So, a lot of us had our lives

interrupted by God's love.

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If not, He is trying to interrupt

your life with His love.

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Saving us.

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Many of us have been saved, many of

us are on the path to getting saved.

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Right?

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And so, He's saying, Alright, I've

made clear to you, all of these

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choices is really boils down to two.

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There's a road to destruction and

there's a road to life, right?

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And so to many, one is wide, everybody

goes through it, you know, by default.

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If I am fear based, I want to go through

the wide road because it's safe, I think.

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But God makes it clear once you, once

he talks to you and speaks to you and

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his love, he makes it look like this.

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There's two.

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What do I choose?

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And then he says, after you choose,

then he says, trust in the Lord with all

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your heart and lean on not on your own

understanding and all your ways submit to

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him and he will make your path straight.

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So, so a lot of us here, we've, okay,

we've got, this is the path that I chose.

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Okay.

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How does it look right now on the screen?

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Bright, vibrant.

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And so he's saying, I'm going to

always make that path look that way.

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I'm going to make it straight

for you at all times.

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And so now many of us, that's our journey.

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How do I make that path straight for me?

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It gets crooked, it gets turned, it

gets, it looks a little gray at times.

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Sometimes, I don't even

realize I'm walking on a path.

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I don't even see a path anymore.

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And so, what are you doing here?

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We're on a narrow road.

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And this is a scary picture because

I've been in Yosemite and me and my wife

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went on our first wedding anniversary

and we went to, um, on the trails.

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And they had, like, three levels.

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They had, like, the novice,

the intermediate, and they

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had the, the tough guy one.

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I don't know what that's called, but

I said, let's go on the tough guy one.

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Let's do this, honey.

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We went on this trail, and it

looked very similar to this.

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We got to a point where it was

so high, there was no rail.

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It had to have been three foot of runway.

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And, um, I got to a point where I was,

and I realized I was really scared

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of heights is my, my knees started

buckling, and I couldn't, I couldn't

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stop them from buckling, I had a hard

time breathing, I was really starting

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to panic, but I was trying to panic

and look cool at the same time with my

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wife, and, but people were passing by,

older, I was like, and to a point, I

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was like, I, I can't take another step.

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And so let's, let's go back, honey.

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As we're going back, my knees

are wobbling, and I'm like,

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please, let's get to the bottom.

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And I was just so thankful

to get to the bottom of this.

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I was like, I can't, I just

physically can't do it.

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And so that's how this narrow road

can feel sometimes for us, right?

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And so, when we choose the narrow

road, God says, now I'm on it with you.

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You are no longer alone

making these choices.

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We are on the road together.

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I will, and there's a scripture that talks

about that, I am in you, I'm giving you

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the Holy Spirit, we are in this together.

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So I'm going to guide you, and

direct you because I'm in you.

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I want to speak through you, and to you,

and guide you because you need guidance to

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stay on this narrow road that you chose.

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I'm going to equip you too.

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I'm going to give you a backpack, I'm

going to make sure you got water along

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the way so you don't get dehydrated.

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I'm going to make sure

you're mentally prepared.

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I got you on this road, this

narrow road that you chose.

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You know what?

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On this road, you're gonna, it's gonna

be life to the full as I define it.

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There's going to be some enjoyment.

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There's going to be some changes.

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There's going to be some,

some aha moments for you.

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Uh, it's going to be wonderful.

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You'll look back and say, What an

amazing journey we had together, Lord.

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Or when you get to heaven,

it'll be those like, What an

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amazing journey we had together.

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Life to the full.

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And then, We go to, now that road

looks a little troublesome, right?

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He says, I promise you, this

narrow road, there will be trouble.

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There will be challenges.

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There will be obstacles.

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I promise you that.

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And so they'll be there

because of perseverance.

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You will have to persevere during this

narrow road, which means there'll be

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character development along the way.

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Don't shriek from it.

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And he says, the things I do, discipline.

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Expect me to discipline

you, as a good father does.

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So all these things are a

part of this narrow road.

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A lot of things happening,

a lot of great things.

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But, it's going to produce good.

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Do you believe that, for on

the road that you've chosen?

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Dorca.

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Alright.

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Alright.

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And so, I want to talk about a prophet.

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We're going to go through

his life a bit, uh, Elijah.

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And he's gone through the same thing.

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He's a prophet.

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God spoke to him.

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Moved him.

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He's doing what God wants him to do.

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And we're going to walk

through his narrow road.

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As well, we'll read through.

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It's in, uh, 1 Kings, chapter

19, verse 1 through 8.

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You can follow on the screen.

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or go to your electronic devices.

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It says, Now Ahab told Jezebel everything

Elijah had done, and how he had killed

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all the prophets with the sword.

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So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah

to say, May the gods deal with me, be

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it ever so severely, if by the time

tomorrow I do not make your life like

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that, like, like that one of them.

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Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.

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When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he

left his servant there while himself

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went a day's journey into the wilderness.

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He came to a broom, a broom

bush, bush, sat down under it

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and prayed that he might die.

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I have had enough Lord,

he says, take my life.

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I am no better than my ancestors.

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Then he lay under the bush

and then he fell asleep.

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All at once, the angel touched

him and said, get up and eat.

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He looked around, and there by

his head was some bread baked

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over hot coals and a jar of water.

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He ate and drank, and

then he laid down again.

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And the Lord came back a second time,

touched him, and said, Get up and eat,

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for the journey is too much for you.

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So he got up, and he ate again,

and he drank again, but he

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was strengthened by the food.

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He traveled another 40 days

and 40 nights until he reached

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Horeb, the mountain of God.

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And so this is Elijah, and, but

Elijah, God wanted him to go to Ahab,

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to go with Ahab, and God wanted him

to deal with all the prophets, um,

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the prophets of Baal, who, um, were

under this particular religion.

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And he wanted them to destroy them.

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God said, do it.

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And so he ordered God and he did it.

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And so after this journey, he realized

that Queen Jezebel didn't like that.

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And so Queen Jezebel says, I'm

going to put a hit on your life.

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And she was serious.

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And so Elijah was terrified.

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And scared, and lonely,

and he ran, and he hid.

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And he's saying, God, I'm

following you, your journey for

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my life, but I want it to be over.

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I don't want this.

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I'm depressed.

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I am tired.

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I'm dejected.

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And I'm alone, and I'm

about to get killed.

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I'd rather kill myself.

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Could you imagine that kind of fear?

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To the point I can't eat.

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Anybody can sleep.

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That's depression.

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Like, I just want it to, to end.

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Like, I tell God, and

God had to wake him up.

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You know, he's like, I just want to die.

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You know, I want it to end, even suicidal.

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And so, that's Elijah's journey.

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And, look at your own journey here.

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What mental state are you in right

now in regards to your own journey?

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You know, there are a

lot of ebbs and flows.

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You know, there's a lot of the

battle with depression, fears.

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It's life, right?

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Even God's men and women

struggled with mental health.

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They struggled with challenges

along the way of their going

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along their narrow path.

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They want so much, you know.

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the state of sin.

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They were in, they were going

along their state, their, their

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path and they had these poles.

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And so, that makes these

things very realistic here.

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And just think about where you are

in your state, you know, to make

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your decisions, uh, and your choices.

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And God wants to meet needs.

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And so, Father's question is, uh,

you know, what are you doing here?

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But he wants to reflect.

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It's like, What do you need?

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Really?

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He didn't know what he, he he needed,

but God says, I'm gonna feed you.

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He didn't ask for it.

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He fattom because he know what you needed.

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He'd help you with

your, your mental state.

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You know, you need a

little direction here.

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You know, I know you need

to go a little further.

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I want to help you out here.

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So God and angels, the angels

moving all around us guys.

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They're angels.

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that help us along too.

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And so, it's amazing.

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Then we continue on.

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We go through God Passes

By which is pretty amazing.

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So God makes his presence in our lives.

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We may miss it at times.

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We may catch it.

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We may think it's a phenomenon.

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You may think just bad things

just happen in the world.

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We may think, you know, hurricanes,

tornadoes, earthquakes are

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just a part of just California.

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But God says, I make passes all the time.

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Not to the whole world in

general, but to you specifically.

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Do you catch me passing by you?

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Or is it just a thing or a phenomenon?

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Or just a temporary, you

know, uh, blip in your life?

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And let's read further in 1st Kings

19 9 through 12 So 40 days he went

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There he went into a cave and Spent

the night and then here we go again.

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The Word of the Lord came to him the

question What are you doing here Elijah?

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And he replied, what I said before,

I've been very jealous for the

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Lord God Almighty, the Israelites

have rejected your covenant, turned

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down your altars, and put your

prophets to death with the sword.

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I am the only one left, and now

they're trying to kill me too, Lord.

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The Lord said, go out and stand on a

mountain in the presence of the Lord,

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for the Lord is about to pass by.

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Then a great and powerful wind tore

through the mountains, tore the mountains

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apart and shattered the rocks before the

Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.

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And in the wind there was an

earthquake, but the Lord was

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not in the earthquake either.

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After the earthquake came a fire, but

the Lord was not in the fire either.

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And so now we have the Lord passing by.

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He passes by our lives too.

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Uh, one of my favorite singing

groups is Earth, Wind, and Fire.

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And so, when I read this, I was

like, all my tunes going through

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my head and everything, so.

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So, wind.

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First comes the wind.

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It says, for wind, you can't see wind.

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You can only feel it.

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Right?

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So, God passing by could be refreshing.

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It's refreshing.

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You know, wind cools us on a hot day.

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You know, maybe you had, um,

something in your life that

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was very refreshing for you.

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You know, maybe you got,

um, encouraged by something.

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You know, another person or an

event was very encouraging for you.

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Maybe you're right there right now.

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It's like, man, I'm in a

state of encouragement.

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Life is so good.

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Or, Maybe you're a part of another

wind where it's challenging.

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I have a lot of friends, um, from

the church isn't here today because

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of the resurrection of COVID.

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God's amazing, right?

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Can you think of one thing if

God wanted to get everybody's

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attention on this entire world?

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What could he do to get

everybody's attention?

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How creative can he be?

381

:

An earthquake?

382

:

No.

383

:

A fire?

384

:

No.

385

:

He tried it with Noah.

386

:

How about the wind?

387

:

Where I can put a virus in the

wind to get every single person

388

:

in this world's attention.

389

:

How about that?

390

:

To get acknowledgement.

391

:

I'm passing by and I'm

gonna pass by again.

392

:

How amazing is God, right?

393

:

The wind.

394

:

Then we talk about earthquake.

395

:

We know our earthquakes.

396

:

And you can't, you can't

get away from an earthquake.

397

:

It's happening when I first felt it.

398

:

I wanted to run outside.

399

:

Like, run outside is still there.

400

:

You know, I can't, you know, I want to go

to the table, but it's still happening.

401

:

You can't, it's, it's your foundation.

402

:

Alright.

403

:

And maybe God is passing by

through an earthquake in your life.

404

:

Maybe from a positive perspective.

405

:

Yeah.

406

:

Uh, you got a job or something, it

makes you, you know, some more job

407

:

security, you got more income, you

know, maybe that's a good thing.

408

:

Right?

409

:

Or maybe it's a challenge

with an earthquake.

410

:

Maybe you lost the job.

411

:

Or you lost a relationship that

was really important to you.

412

:

You know, either by just

disconnection or death.

413

:

Where it shakes the foundation.

414

:

Do you see God passing by here?

415

:

To get your attention.

416

:

Fire.

417

:

I have two dogs at home.

418

:

You know, uh, and what's amazing

about animals is that all creation

419

:

knows stay away from fire.

420

:

Innately.

421

:

It doesn't know.

422

:

I know what it is.

423

:

I ain't going close to it.

424

:

And so, fire warms us when we need it.

425

:

Maybe something's going

on that's warming you.

426

:

Or, fire can burn you.

427

:

leaves a mark, leaves a scar.

428

:

Maybe you have things in your life,

too, right now that, something that,

429

:

it's, I'm thinking about it right

now, it's causing an angst of anxiety.

430

:

It's a scar that I just can't get rid of.

431

:

It's been there for a while.

432

:

It's something I can't let go.

433

:

It keeps me up at night.

434

:

This, this scar.

435

:

God's moving through it, too.

436

:

And so, we talked about that as

far as the earthquake, the wind.

437

:

The fire and how he leaves a mark

and then let's finish it up here with

438

:

The whisper And so he makes this

stuff gets our attention here, but he

439

:

says I Passed by that But the way I

want to communicate to you is through

440

:

a whisper But to hear someone's

whisper, you have to be in a spot

441

:

to hear someone's whisper, right?

442

:

You have a lot of noise going

on, a lot of things going on

443

:

in life, you won't hear it.

444

:

And so could those events bring you to

a point where I can hear God's whisper?

445

:

So let's start with Elijah.

446

:

He says, So after the fire came,

after the fire came a gentle whisper.

447

:

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his

cloak over his face and went out

448

:

and stood at the mouth of the cave.

449

:

Then a voice said to him, What

are you doing here, Elijah?

450

:

Um, he replied, I have been very

zealous for the Lord God Almighty.

451

:

The Israelites have rejected your

covenant, torn down your altars, and put

452

:

your prophets to death with the sword.

453

:

I am the only one left, and now

they are trying to kill me too.

454

:

And so again, the Lord said, Um,

you know, go back the way, go back

455

:

the way he came and go to the desert

of Damascus when you get there.

456

:

Anoint, um, Hazel King over Arum.

457

:

Um, and also a name Joe who's

son of MSU King over Israel.

458

:

And anoint Elisha, son of Shepa

from Abel, um, ALAH to succeed.

459

:

You as a prophet, Jehu will put to death

any who escaped the sword of Hazel.

460

:

Of Hazel and Elijah will put to death

any who escaped the sword of Jehu.

461

:

Yet I reserve 7, 000 in Israel, all

who, whose knees have not been bowed,

462

:

have not bowed down to bow, and those

whose mouths have not kissed them.

463

:

So he says, I got you.

464

:

I'll send Elijah to help you out.

465

:

I'm here.

466

:

You know, I got your back, but he

had to tell him in a general whisper.

467

:

Elijah, he could tell us a lot of

ancient thoughts going through his mind.

468

:

He says, I can't sit here

and just talk to you.

469

:

I got so much going on in my mind.

470

:

So he had to pass by, pass by, to

put you in a spot where now, I want

471

:

to talk to you in a gentle way.

472

:

And the same for us.

473

:

You know, we get to,

um, he went into hiding.

474

:

Sometimes it's easy to go hiding, right?

475

:

I want to hide from

the things I'm feeling.

476

:

Uh, I want to just, I want to pull away.

477

:

I want to deal with it myself.

478

:

Oh, I don't want to think about it.

479

:

I just want to escape.

480

:

He says, come out of

the cave and talk to me.

481

:

I want to, and get a quiet spot.

482

:

For many of us, it's, how often do

you go to a quiet spot with God to

483

:

hear what He's trying to tell you?

484

:

God speaks to us all

through His Holy Spirit.

485

:

What is He telling you?

486

:

And so, and when He asks

questions, He He always ask it

487

:

multiple times in the scripture.

488

:

So as you go to God, you'll hear,

you know, he's saying, he's asking

489

:

me the same questions multiple

times to get me to really understand

490

:

in a deeper, in a deeper way.

491

:

Um, he's always speaking

through us, through the spirit,

492

:

throughout our spiritual journey.

493

:

And we move forward here, and so, Hmm.

494

:

What is God asking you?

495

:

Alright, we'll go, it didn't

go exactly the way I wanted it

496

:

to, but what is God asking you?

497

:

Is He asking you, what are you doing here?

498

:

Meaning, this spot in your life

right now, what are you doing here?

499

:

Is He asking you, do you love me?

500

:

Do you love me?

501

:

Do you love me?

502

:

Meaning that your life, I want your

life to reflect your love for me.

503

:

Or, maybe He's asking, where are you?

504

:

Meaning, you don't come to me enough.

505

:

I don't see you enough.

506

:

You know, where are you?

507

:

Why are you hiding from me?

508

:

Why don't you want to connect with me?

509

:

Why don't you want to talk?

510

:

Why don't you want to pray with me?

511

:

Maybe that's the question he'll ask you.

512

:

Or maybe he'll ask you, what is this?

513

:

These are all questions that he

asks throughout his word to people.

514

:

Maybe he's asking you,

what is this you have done?

515

:

Trying to bring you to

a level of repentance.

516

:

Can you first of all

acknowledge what you've done?

517

:

Because I've seen it, I'm in

you, I experience it with you.

518

:

So, I want you to acknowledge

what have you done so we can

519

:

truly forgive and move forward.

520

:

Maybe he'll ask you,

why are you so afraid?

521

:

to go the path that you know

that I'm pointing it to.

522

:

You know, when I can give you

confidence, uh, you can trust me.

523

:

Why are you so afraid?

524

:

Why are you so afraid?

525

:

Why are you so afraid?

526

:

Or, maybe, what do you want?

527

:

Like, I said, I tell you whatever you

ask for my name, I'll give it to you.

528

:

What do you want?

529

:

And so, he's asking that over and over

again, What can I help you on your story?

530

:

What do you need help with

on your spiritual journey?

531

:

I know what it is, but I have to have

you understand that you know what it is.

532

:

It's all about you.

533

:

Or, I was asking you, what is your name?

534

:

That sounds very simple.

535

:

You know my name, Lord.

536

:

Like, no, no, no, no, no.

537

:

You are my disciple, right?

538

:

And sometimes the way I see

you, you don't look like me.

539

:

You don't act like me.

540

:

I don't see you in me.

541

:

So I'm asking you, what is your name?

542

:

Say it.

543

:

I'm your child.

544

:

Say it again.

545

:

I'm your disciple.

546

:

Tell me again.

547

:

Who are you?

548

:

I'm different from the world.

549

:

Yes, you are.

550

:

So I'm telling you, when we're

together, what is your name?

551

:

Remember that.

552

:

Or, he's asking you, do you believe this?

553

:

Do you really believe this?

554

:

Do you believe what you're reading?

555

:

Do you believe what Kenny is

saying in front of the church?

556

:

Do you believe this?

557

:

Or are you just hearing it

and you go home and it's gone?

558

:

Do you believe it?

559

:

Well, if you believe it, you'll do what?

560

:

You'll try to do it.

561

:

So just ask me, do you

really, really believe this?

562

:

So, these are the kind of questions you

get some time with God and these questions

563

:

will start coming to you from your Lord.

564

:

And it's like, how are you

going to respond to this?

565

:

You know, I just got chosen as

um, or selected as, as an elder,

566

:

which was um, pretty humbling.

567

:

Um, but it's, I had to ask myself the same

questions, like, what are you doing here?

568

:

You know, it's my own questions, God

was like, and I had to think about

569

:

that, like what am I doing here?

570

:

Um, I don't feel worthy, I don't, you

know, but I had to not wrestle, but

571

:

just go to God to see a path here.

572

:

A path that God has done, which

is very, um, gives me confidence.

573

:

And you have your own path, too,

that God has done to bring you here.

574

:

And so, we'll move to, uh, the next

part is, we're gonna talk about, it's

575

:

a call to action, as we close up.

576

:

And so the call to action is, just

to commit to a consistent time

577

:

with God, and word, and prayer.

578

:

With no interruptions, with the heart

is that I want to hear from you, Lord.

579

:

Talk to me.

580

:

Tell me.

581

:

Uh, what questions are you asking me?

582

:

Uh, consistently going,

and it'll, it'll come.

583

:

And then, write it down.

584

:

Journal it.

585

:

Um, and then, um, you know,

what is he asking as he opens

586

:

up your heart to your spirit?

587

:

Just write it down.

588

:

Look at it, and you'll see it may

become again, and again, and again.

589

:

Share with somebody.

590

:

Your spouse, or friend,

uh, or even your elder.

591

:

You know, just share what, you

know, what is God asking you?

592

:

And then, when He's asking you

something, there's a response.

593

:

And, uh, and that response

is the faith action.

594

:

Okay, whatever you're asking me, you

know, the question he's asked me so

595

:

many times is really, do you love me?

596

:

Do you love me?

597

:

Do you love me?

598

:

That comes up all the

time when we're together.

599

:

But then the response is,

okay, if you love me, do what?

600

:

Feed my sheep.

601

:

Comes to me all the time.

602

:

He's like, feed my sheep, Kenny.

603

:

Feeding my sheep for the longest time.

604

:

That's what he tells me.

605

:

So I'm like, I'm going to

help me help me to do that.

606

:

And so for all of us,

there's some action Hey!

607

:

So help me to do what

God is calling me to do.

608

:

And, and that's what it means

that we're going to talk.

609

:

Sometimes when you talk to each other,

you realize there's some common things.

610

:

And so there's some corporate wide

things that God is telling us as

611

:

a whole that affects the church.

612

:

And so we make up the church.

613

:

So you're going to talk like, you know, he

told me the same thing, the same things.

614

:

Like, so corporately, he's calling us

to do something as a church together.

615

:

And that's how he works.

616

:

I was going through, we're

going to close it up.

617

:

I was going through the,

um, uh, in revelations that

618

:

talks about all the churches.

619

:

The first couple of chapters about seven

different churches and every church was

620

:

unique, which always gives me faith.

621

:

There's no perfect church.

622

:

We all got our stuff, right?

623

:

Cause we're not perfect.

624

:

But those letters were to the angels.

625

:

So each of those churches had

angels representing those churches.

626

:

So for a body of people, God has angels

assigned to bodies of people and God and

627

:

these angels are talking to God for us.

628

:

And so sometimes the angels are trying to

get these corporate messages to all of us.

629

:

They're telling us kind of the same thing.

630

:

And so for us all to grasp it and

understand what is it as a church we

631

:

have to change collectively because all

together we show we have a different you.

632

:

Church personality because of us But

some things we need to change and we're

633

:

growing so I just want to leave I'm

in with that so Guys, thank you for

634

:

the you know for hearing me out and

I'm going to pray for the communion

635

:

Heavenly Father Lord, thank you for

just being who you are for the hope

636

:

that comes for following you God.

637

:

for giving us a path To follow

and, uh, to help with your spirit.

638

:

Uh, Lord, what an amazing journey

we get to experience here on earth.

639

:

Uh, Father, that culminates in heaven.

640

:

Uh, God is valuable to you.

641

:

Uh, Father, it changes the

world as we go on this journey.

642

:

Uh, Father, I thank you so much

for the sacrifice in Jesus.

643

:

God, that brings us to our knees.

644

:

Uh, that slows us down.

645

:

That humbles us, Father.

646

:

Um, the, the juice that represents, um,

Real blood that flowed on the cross, uh,

647

:

real blood, real pain and father, and

how that washes over all of our sins.

648

:

Uh, God, we're not worthy.

649

:

Uh, I pray for the, um, the

bread that represents the body

650

:

that was beaten, uh, for us.

651

:

The pain and the agony, uh, Father, so

we can have a relationship with you.

652

:

Uh, God, we so appreciate you.

653

:

God, we respect you so

much for doing that for us.

654

:

Uh, help us to remember

that as we take communion.

655

:

Uh, Father, we love you as we pray.

656

:

Amen.

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