We’re so glad you’re able to join us for worship. Please feel free to use the chat if you have questions, comments, or prayer requests.
Matthew 5:44-48, 19:21, 22:37-39; John 14:15-17; Acts 15:1-21; Romans 2:11-13, 3:23, 6:23, 10:9; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 John 3:6, 2:16
https://springhouse.captivate.fm/episode/rules-rules-rules
Subscribe & Follow the Podcast
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
- Hey, if you join us on live stream,
Speaker:thank you for being with us today.
Speaker:Are you guys doing good?
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- All right, it's a good day to be in the house of the Lord.
Speaker:We've got to get on the horse and start riding
Speaker:'cause I've got a lot to share today.
Speaker:So we're gonna stand together and we're gonna read
Speaker:from Acts chapter 15.
Speaker:And let's read like you've had your third cup
Speaker:of espresso this morning.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:Here we go.
Speaker:Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch
Speaker:and were teaching the believers,
Speaker:unless you are circumcised according to the custom
Speaker:taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.
Speaker:This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute
Speaker:and debate with them.
Speaker:So Paul and Barnabas were appointed along with some
Speaker:of the other believers to go up to Jerusalem
Speaker:to see the apostles and elders about this question.
Speaker:The church sent them on their way and as they traveled
Speaker:through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles
Speaker:had been converted.
Speaker:The news made all the believers very glad.
Speaker:When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed
Speaker:by the church and the apostles and elders
Speaker:to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
Speaker:Then some of the believers who belonged to the party
Speaker:of the Pharisees stood up and said,
Speaker:"The Gentiles must be circumcised and required
Speaker:"to keep the law of Moses."
Speaker:The apostles and elders met to consider this question.
Speaker:After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them.
Speaker:"Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice
Speaker:"among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips
Speaker:"the message of the gospel and believe.
Speaker:"God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them
Speaker:"by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us.
Speaker:"He did not discriminate between us and them,
Speaker:"for he purified their hearts by faith.
Speaker:"Now then, why do you try to test God
Speaker:"by putting on the necks of the Gentiles a yoke
Speaker:"that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?
Speaker:"No, we believe that it is through grace of our Lord Jesus
Speaker:"that we are saved just as they are."
Speaker:The whole assembly became silent as they listened
Speaker:to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs
Speaker:and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
Speaker:When they finished, James spoke up.
Speaker:"Brothers," he said, "listen to me.
Speaker:"Simon has described to us how God first intervened
Speaker:"to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles.
Speaker:"The words of the prophets are in agreement with this,
Speaker:"as it is written.
Speaker:"After this, I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent.
Speaker:"Its ruins I will rebuild and I will restore it
Speaker:"that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord.
Speaker:"Even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord,
Speaker:"who does these things, things known from long ago.
Speaker:"It is my judgment, therefore,
Speaker:"that we should not make it difficult
Speaker:"for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Speaker:"Instead, we should write to them,
Speaker:"telling them to us, staying from food polluted by idols,
Speaker:"from sexual immorality,
Speaker:"from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.
Speaker:"For the law of Moses has been preached in every city
Speaker:"from the earliest times,
Speaker:"and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
Speaker:Father, I thank you for your word.
Speaker:I thank you that it brings life.
Speaker:I thank you that it's true.
Speaker:I pray, Lord, as we lean into everything
Speaker:that your word says today,
Speaker:I pray that my words would fall
Speaker:and your words would stand for changing us for eternity.
Speaker:In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker:You may be seated.
Speaker:You get an A in reading, good job.
Speaker:He asked, did we get an A in reading?
Speaker:A plus, actually.
Speaker:We're continuing our series, His Church,
Speaker:and we are in Acts 15.
Speaker:I hope that you are following with us in the book of Acts
Speaker:as it has been rich and it's been transformative,
Speaker:and we are continuing to be refined here at Springhouse
Speaker:as the Lord is showing us how the Holy Spirit works in us.
Speaker:Who here likes rules?
Speaker:Dun, dun, dun.
Speaker:Usually, usually rules, when you hear the word rules,
Speaker:there is a negative connotation tied to it
Speaker:because our mind automatically goes to,
Speaker:I don't wanna follow that particular rule
Speaker:or I don't like rules that bog me down
Speaker:or provide boundaries or parameters.
Speaker:And quite honestly, many of us
Speaker:often just think rules are dumb.
Speaker:And so we just decide,
Speaker:I'm not gonna follow the ones I don't like
Speaker:and I'm just gonna do the things that I do like.
Speaker:But today we're gonna talk about rules.
Speaker:Aren't you glad you came to Springhouse today?
Speaker:Gonna talk a little bit about rules today
Speaker:and in the context of scripture
Speaker:and what we're talking about here in Acts chapter 15.
Speaker:We are a society who looks to break
Speaker:as many of rules as we can.
Speaker:But when it comes to living for the kingdom,
Speaker:what you do and what you say matters.
Speaker:What you do and what you say matters.
Speaker:We kinda live in this space that we feel like
Speaker:we can just do whatever we want.
Speaker:After all, we do live in America.
Speaker:And because of the ocean of grace
Speaker:that I get to experience as a Christian,
Speaker:those things that I tend to just lean in and do
Speaker:even though I know here I probably shouldn't do 'em,
Speaker:God's got it.
Speaker:I'm in the ocean of grace, He'd cover it.
Speaker:It's fine, it's not consequential.
Speaker:Everything's gonna be great.
Speaker:And we certainly could succumb to the idea
Speaker:but could I tell you that that is a very dangerous mindset.
Speaker:It's a very dangerous mindset
Speaker:because as we've continued to belabor in this series
Speaker:is that our life is not just this red part of the rope.
Speaker:It is for all eternity but do you know that the choices,
Speaker:listen to this, the choices I make in my life right here
Speaker:will affect my grandchildren.
Speaker:And their choices will affect their grandchildren.
Speaker:Long after I'm gone, if the Lord tarries
Speaker:and doesn't come back,
Speaker:these small minute choices,
Speaker:I remember I was at a Captain D's, who likes Captain D's?
Speaker:Captain D's, I was at Captain D's with my dad
Speaker:and I was young and I had just turned 11
Speaker:and the menu was you get a kid's meal if you're 10 or under
Speaker:and so he said I need two kids meals
Speaker:and I said but Dad I'm 11.
Speaker:He said shut your mouth boy
Speaker:'cause he wanted to save a few bucks.
Speaker:Was it because he didn't have the money to pay?
Speaker:No, he thinks the rule is done.
Speaker:He thinks the rule is outlandish
Speaker:and so he decides to create his own rule
Speaker:because of his opinion of the rule.
Speaker:Last week in youth, or this last Thursday,
Speaker:I got to speak in youth and I had a youth come up
Speaker:and I put a name tag on them and it said Kevin O'Day
Speaker:and I put it on the youth and I said just because
Speaker:this youth has this name tag on him
Speaker:does not mean that he is Kevin O'Day.
Speaker:He can wear the name tag all day long.
Speaker:He can parade it, he can put it in your face.
Speaker:He can try to dress like me.
Speaker:He can try to sign his name like me, all this.
Speaker:But just because he has the name tag on
Speaker:does not mean that he is Kevin O'Day
Speaker:and guys just because you have a shirt
Speaker:that says Christian does not make you a Christian.
Speaker:What you do and what you say, it matters.
Speaker:Paul and Barnabas are in dispute
Speaker:with these Christian leaders, the leaders of the way
Speaker:because they're placing conditions on the Gentiles.
Speaker:Now there are Jews and there are Gentiles.
Speaker:Jews are God's chosen people and the Gentiles
Speaker:are everybody else's not of Jewish descent
Speaker:and so the Gentiles are there and Paul and Barnabas
Speaker:are in this dispute because the Jews are saying,
Speaker:hey, these Gentiles need to succumb to the rules
Speaker:and the law that we've had to succumb to
Speaker:in order to be followers of the way.
Speaker:But Paul and Barnabas are arguing
Speaker:because they not only are in relationship with Jesus Christ
Speaker:and know the way, truth and the life
Speaker:but they also know that God came, Jesus came rather,
Speaker:to fulfill the law and in fulfilling the law,
Speaker:what they were doing was asking the Gentiles
Speaker:to do something that they themselves could not do.
Speaker:They themselves could not fulfill the law.
Speaker:Now before we get into rules and we get into
Speaker:what was required and what they were talking about,
Speaker:I wanna make sure to cover this.
Speaker:There is no us and them in the kingdom.
Speaker:There's only us and him.
Speaker:There's no us and them in the kingdom.
Speaker:There's only us and him and that's important
Speaker:because as believers, we tend, man,
Speaker:because of denominational barriers or whatever it is,
Speaker:we tend to look at other people
Speaker:who are professing Christians and say,
Speaker:they don't got it, they're not getting in,
Speaker:they're not Christians because they either do these things
Speaker:or don't do these things.
Speaker:But can I tell you guys that the grace of God
Speaker:and the pathway to salvation is for everyone equally?
Speaker:That the only one that had the ability
Speaker:to put criteria to that is Jesus Christ
Speaker:and he is the way, the truth and the life.
Speaker:The word says that no one comes to the Father
Speaker:except through him.
Speaker:So in context here, they were talking believers
Speaker:to believers but I even believe that we sometimes
Speaker:have this idea here when it comes to non-believers.
Speaker:When it comes to non-believers.
Speaker:We look at non-believers and we get saved
Speaker:through an ocean of grace and mercy,
Speaker:our profession of faith, we get saved
Speaker:and now I'm a Christian, I'm a born again Christian
Speaker:and I see some sinners, I see some unbelievers
Speaker:and all of a sudden, I start to say,
Speaker:well, they better get their life together.
Speaker:They need to do X, Y and Z in order to have what I have.
Speaker:They need to clean up shop in order to be called a Christian.
Speaker:So Peter stands up in this argument and he says this.
Speaker:He, God, did not discriminate between us and them
Speaker:for he purified their hearts by faith.
Speaker:Would you say faith?
Speaker:Now then, why do you try to test God?
Speaker:That is a sobering question.
Speaker:Why do you try to, stop for just a minute and think,
Speaker:can you ever thought that your actions
Speaker:may be testing the God of the universe?
Speaker:Whew, whew, that's sobering.
Speaker:By putting on the necks of the Gentiles a yoke
Speaker:that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear.
Speaker:And then he continues, he says, no,
Speaker:we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus
Speaker:that we're saved just as they are.
Speaker:The gospel is this, friends, all have sinned
Speaker:and fallen short of the glory of God.
Speaker:They who say that they are without sin,
Speaker:the Lord says that he is a liar.
Speaker:He or she is a liar.
Speaker:We all need Jesus Christ to come in
Speaker:and infiltrate our life.
Speaker:We need the blood of Christ in our life
Speaker:because we have all sinned and fallen short
Speaker:of the glory of God.
Speaker:This gift of salvation is for everyone.
Speaker:No certain creed, color, race, denomination,
Speaker:it is for everyone.
Speaker:Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Speaker:Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.
Speaker:Over in Romans it says this, God does not show favoritism.
Speaker:All who sin apart from the law
Speaker:will also perish apart from the law
Speaker:and all who sin under law will be judged by the law.
Speaker:For it is not those who hear the law
Speaker:who are righteous in God's sight, look at this,
Speaker:but it is those who obey the law
Speaker:who will be declared righteous.
Speaker:God has some words to say about rules.
Speaker:And I want us to understand that you and I,
Speaker:we are no better, listen to this,
Speaker:we are no better than unbelievers.
Speaker:The only thing that we have going for us
Speaker:is our death sentence was traded for life.
Speaker:Because the word says that the wages for our sin is death,
Speaker:but the gift of God is eternal life.
Speaker:But what's more than that, as believers,
Speaker:we have been rendered capable of offering this gift
Speaker:to other people.
Speaker:We've been given the ability to show others Christ Jesus.
Speaker:And that should be our goal and our aim,
Speaker:to be witnesses for him.
Speaker:But we have to go back to understanding
Speaker:that what we say and what we do matters.
Speaker:Because unbelievers are watching and they're listening.
Speaker:Does your testimony line up with what you say
Speaker:and what you do?
Speaker:Does the God you say you believe in,
Speaker:the one you say you love, does your testimony,
Speaker:does what you say and do line up
Speaker:with who you say you believe in?
Speaker:So, what about the rules?
Speaker:What about the rules?
Speaker:I mean, if we're saved by grace
Speaker:and we can swim in an ocean of grace,
Speaker:man, who cares about rules?
Speaker:Let's just party and do whatever we want to do.
Speaker:Let's be honest.
Speaker:There are rules we like and there's rules we don't like.
Speaker:In fact, there are rules that we just find plain dumb.
Speaker:In fact, I've got some dumb rules here.
Speaker:You wanna hear 'em?
Speaker:Of course you do.
Speaker:In Alabama, it's illegal to wear a fake mustache
Speaker:that causes laughter in a church.
Speaker:These are real laws.
Speaker:These are for real.
Speaker:I didn't make these up.
Speaker:In Alaska, you cannot push a live moose out of a plane.
Speaker:In Colorado, it is illegal to keep a couch on your porch.
Speaker:In Connecticut, pickles must bounce
Speaker:in order to be considered safe for human consumption.
Speaker:In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on Sundays
Speaker:can be fined or jailed.
Speaker:So, you better get married
Speaker:if you're gonna parachute on Sunday.
Speaker:In Georgia, carrying an ice cream cone in your back pocket
Speaker:is illegal.
Speaker:In Hawaii, coins are not allowed to be placed in your ears.
Speaker:In Idaho, riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is illegal.
Speaker:In Illinois, it is illegal to take a nap
Speaker:in a cheese factory.
Speaker:In Louisiana, mourners at a wake
Speaker:may not eat more than three sandwiches.
Speaker:One, two, three.
Speaker:In Missouri, a single male must be charged an annual tax
Speaker:for not being married.
Speaker:You better get married quick if you're living in Missouri.
Speaker:In Nevada, it's illegal to lay down on a sidewalk.
Speaker:In New York, it is illegal to throw a ball
Speaker:at somebody's head for fun.
Speaker:Better have a reason to throw that ball at their face.
Speaker:In Pennsylvania, it's illegal to catch a fish
Speaker:with your mouth.
Speaker:In Arizona, donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.
Speaker:And in Kansas, hitting a vending machine
Speaker:that stole your money is illegal.
Speaker:Lots of dumb rules.
Speaker:All these laws that are here,
Speaker:what are you gonna do with them
Speaker:when you're confronted with them?
Speaker:You ever hear one of these rules,
Speaker:you're like, what made them have to write that rule?
Speaker:Somebody had that donkey in that bathtub
Speaker:and they were like, we're not doing this again.
Speaker:When we disagree with rules, we often redefine them
Speaker:or we just obey, just disobey.
Speaker:Now, if I could rewrite a rule, this would be all day long,
Speaker:I would definitely rewrite this rule all day long.
Speaker:This would be like, this would be my favorite rule ever.
Speaker:Just right here, you know, I would push it down
Speaker:and I would be happy to follow this rule all day long.
Speaker:And sometimes I read this, even though it doesn't say this.
Speaker:This is what my eyes perceive
Speaker:whenever I look at the speed limit sign.
Speaker:We are people who have the propensity
Speaker:to make up our own things based on our own agendas,
Speaker:our own opinions, and what we want
Speaker:with no consideration for others.
Speaker:The Lord said to me this year at Springhouse Church,
Speaker:we are being refined.
Speaker:We are being refined.
Speaker:And refined means, in the terms with which we're using it,
Speaker:is that we're becoming more like Christ Jesus.
Speaker:We're becoming more like the God who saved us,
Speaker:the Jesus who saved us.
Speaker:And when we are less of ourselves,
Speaker:we can become more like Him.
Speaker:We can sound like Him, we can look like Him,
Speaker:we act like Him.
Speaker:And this means we're becoming more like Jesus
Speaker:and less like us.
Speaker:And in this refining process, we look more like Jesus, why?
Speaker:So that we can present the gospel.
Speaker:We look more like Jesus so that we can present the gospel.
Speaker:The word gospel means good news.
Speaker:The word gospel is good news.
Speaker:And what I'm about to say is gonna shock some of you.
Speaker:The gospel does not require obedience.
Speaker:Silence.
Speaker:The gospel does not require obedience.
Speaker:Here's the gospel.
Speaker:We couldn't keep up with the rules.
Speaker:So Jesus Christ had to die for us.
Speaker:We have a propensity to make it about rules
Speaker:once we're on this side of salvation.
Speaker:And we expect those who don't know Christ
Speaker:to follow Him and follow His rules.
Speaker:What about the times when we look at non-believers
Speaker:and we make, in our mind, we expect non-believers
Speaker:to live a biblical standard,
Speaker:though they don't believe in the Bible.
Speaker:That doesn't make any sense.
Speaker:But the gospel does not, within itself,
Speaker:the gospel does not require obedience.
Speaker:This is what the scripture says.
Speaker:If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord
Speaker:and believe in your heart that He's raised Him from the dead,
Speaker:you will be saved.
Speaker:That's what the scripture tells us.
Speaker:So the gospel requires two things.
Speaker:It requires repentance and it requires faith.
Speaker:That's the requirement for the gospel, not obedience.
Speaker:Isn't that the whole crux of the story,
Speaker:that we tried to work so hard?
Speaker:If the gospel required obedience,
Speaker:then we would not need Jesus,
Speaker:because it would be attainable.
Speaker:The only way to be saved is by living,
Speaker:deciding in your heart, I'm gonna repent
Speaker:and believe by faith that Jesus did what He said He did
Speaker:and He is who He says He is.
Speaker:Somebody asked a pastor once,
Speaker:I've shared this before I saw it on a reel.
Speaker:He said, "Do I have to stop smoking marijuana
Speaker:"to be a Christian?"
Speaker:And the pastor said, "No."
Speaker:He said, "No, no, you don't understand."
Speaker:I said, "Do I have to stop smoking like marijuana,
Speaker:"like getting high, do be."
Speaker:He said, "No."
Speaker:He said, "No, no, you don't understand.
Speaker:"If I pull out a fatty and I'm a roller,
Speaker:"like literally, if I smoke marijuana,
Speaker:"do I have to give this up to be a Christian?"
Speaker:And the pastor said, "No."
Speaker:And he said, "I don't understand."
Speaker:And he said, "Exactly, you don't understand,
Speaker:"because you don't clean yourself up
Speaker:"and then go take a shower.
Speaker:"You go into the shower and then you are rendered clean."
Speaker:And when you come to Jesus, you come to him dirty,
Speaker:and in that process of meeting the Lord and Savior
Speaker:of your life, the one who loves you more than anybody else
Speaker:on the planet, all of a sudden you become motivated
Speaker:to clean your life up.
Speaker:We don't understand it pre-salvation.
Speaker:We begin to understand it post-salvation
Speaker:because we are motivated by Christ.
Speaker:We are motivated by Christ.
Speaker:Here's the thing, the gospel produces obedience.
Speaker:The gospel produces in us a willingness and a desire
Speaker:to be obedient, because we are motivated
Speaker:by this exchange, death to life.
Speaker:If obedience was the requirement,
Speaker:then we would attempt to do it without Jesus.
Speaker:When you realize that you are loved
Speaker:more than you've ever been loved,
Speaker:you are motivated to obey.
Speaker:Here's what 1 John says,
Speaker:"No one who lives in him keeps on sinning."
Speaker:Let that marinate for a second.
Speaker:If I were to say, show of hands of those
Speaker:who are living in him, many of you put your hands up,
Speaker:no one who lives in him keeps on sinning.
Speaker:What I'm talking about is I'm pirating this movie
Speaker:proactively, I know I'm pirating it, I'm not paying for it.
Speaker:I know that I'm breaking, I'm proactively doing,
Speaker:I'm continuously doing things over,
Speaker:no one who lives in him keeps on sinning.
Speaker:No one who continues to sin has either seen him
Speaker:or known him, what else does it say?
Speaker:"For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh,
Speaker:"the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,"
Speaker:are what, are not from the Father, but from the world.
Speaker:Look, we are called to live like, look like,
Speaker:sound like, and be like Jesus.
Speaker:And we don't want anything that is not from Father God.
Speaker:We live in America.
Speaker:And America has been dubbed as the greatest country
Speaker:in the world, the greatest country in the world.
Speaker:And many of you would believe that we are
Speaker:the greatest country in the world.
Speaker:I could understand that and I could get a lot behind
Speaker:some of that thought process as well.
Speaker:But here's the problem that I have.
Speaker:Do you know that America, from its very genesis,
Speaker:its foundation was bathed in rebellion?
Speaker:Like the reason that we are the greatest country
Speaker:in the world is we decided we didn't wanna follow rules.
Speaker:That's why we're here, okay?
Speaker:And so we are now the greatest country in the world,
Speaker:but here's my problem, we're the greatest country
Speaker:in the world.
Speaker:I don't belong to the world, I belong to a kingdom
Speaker:that's outside of this world.
Speaker:So the real question is, is America the greatest country
Speaker:in the kingdom?
Speaker:And guys, unfortunately, I have a lot of things
Speaker:I could stand on to say, I don't think so.
Speaker:Because the very anthem of America is do what you wanna do
Speaker:when you wanna do it, no matter who it hurts,
Speaker:no matter who it is, it's all about you.
Speaker:So the very genesis of the country we live in
Speaker:is bathed in, we're not gonna follow rules.
Speaker:We're gonna rebel against rules.
Speaker:So Kevin, is there an expectation to be perfect?
Speaker:Like is there an expectation, how many have heard
Speaker:from Christians, perfection is not the goal?
Speaker:Raise your hand.
Speaker:Have you heard, perfection's not the goal,
Speaker:perfection's not the goal.
Speaker:I beg to differ.
Speaker:This is what Jesus said, read that first two words.
Speaker:- Be perfect. - Oh, y'all didn't read it.
Speaker:Obey what I say, okay?
Speaker:Read those first two words.
Speaker:- Be perfect.
Speaker:- I'm not saying this, okay?
Speaker:This is Jesus Christ.
Speaker:He says, be perfect, therefore,
Speaker:as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Speaker:If Jesus is saying be perfect, it tells me
Speaker:there's a pathway to get there.
Speaker:There's a pathway to get there.
Speaker:What else does it say?
Speaker:Jesus says to the rich ruler, the rich guy
Speaker:who wants to come and follow Jesus,
Speaker:it says, if you want to be perfect,
Speaker:well, if Jesus is saying if you want to be perfect,
Speaker:it tells me there must be a way.
Speaker:If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions,
Speaker:give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.
Speaker:Then it says, then come and follow me.
Speaker:Come and follow me.
Speaker:Okay, let's continue.
Speaker:But just as he who has called you holy is holy, what?
Speaker:So be holy in all you do.
Speaker:Be holy in the things that you agree with.
Speaker:Be holy in some of the things.
Speaker:No, be holy in all.
Speaker:Be holy in all the things you do.
Speaker:Be holy because I'm holy.
Speaker:We are called to look like Jesus and Jesus is perfect.
Speaker:Who's arrived?
Speaker:None of us have arrived.
Speaker:This is where grace comes in.
Speaker:Grace is not permission to back out of the continuation
Speaker:of the sanctification process.
Speaker:Grace is there to cover us on the journey
Speaker:as we trip up and try to work out flesh versus spirit.
Speaker:Flesh versus spirit.
Speaker:I'm gonna choose the flesh today,
Speaker:I'm gonna choose the spirit today,
Speaker:I'm gonna choose the flesh today,
Speaker:I'm going to choose the spirit today.
Speaker:And guys, we can't do it by ourselves.
Speaker:We can't do it on our own.
Speaker:So what is the motivation, Hannah?
Speaker:What is the motivation, Justin?
Speaker:Landon, what is our motivation to get up each morning
Speaker:and say, I'm going to try and follow Christ
Speaker:and look like him?
Speaker:Our motivation so often is, I wanna do the right thing.
Speaker:Or this is wrong, I don't wanna do the bad things.
Speaker:That should not be our motivation.
Speaker:Our motivation to obey is a person.
Speaker:And that person is Jesus Christ.
Speaker:He is our motivation to follow the rules, to obey.
Speaker:If I don't, listen, I'm married to Sherry.
Speaker:Do you know I have every opportunity
Speaker:to step out of my marriage and do a whole bunch of stuff?
Speaker:Every day, I have that choice.
Speaker:If you're married, you have that choice as well.
Speaker:Why do I obey the rules of marriage?
Speaker:Is it because I said something here at the altar?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Is it because it's written down as a rule
Speaker:on a piece of paper?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:I even think that some of the rules of marriage
Speaker:might be dumb, but it doesn't matter.
Speaker:The reason I obey the rules of marriage
Speaker:is because I love my wife.
Speaker:Because I love my wife.
Speaker:Let me ask you something.
Speaker:Does your lifestyle indicate that you love your savior?
Speaker:Because here's the thing, I don't have the propensity
Speaker:to go rob a bank today.
Speaker:Now John, he's struggling with it.
Speaker:We're gonna pray with him later.
Speaker:But I'm not gonna go rob a bank this afternoon.
Speaker:I actually don't really think I'll kill anybody
Speaker:in the near future.
Speaker:I mean, I'm pretty good on some of these things.
Speaker:Here's the thing, we tend to take these big, bolder sins
Speaker:and we say, I've got those in check.
Speaker:But it's not those big things.
Speaker:Why are we willing to compromise our relationship
Speaker:and love for Jesus over small things
Speaker:such as pirating a video?
Speaker:(audience member speaking faintly)
Speaker:Or not following in line with whatever, you name it,
Speaker:there's a variety of things I could say.
Speaker:Why is it that we are willing to,
Speaker:because this is what we do.
Speaker:Think about it in the context of your marriage.
Speaker:I can hold this other girl's hands, that's not a big deal.
Speaker:It's a small thing, I'm not doing it.
Speaker:I'm just holding her hand.
Speaker:I'm gonna go on a date with this other lady.
Speaker:I mean, we're just hanging out.
Speaker:- Absolutely not. - We're just hanging out.
Speaker:I mean, it's not, you look at me and say,
Speaker:that's ludicrous, is that correct?
Speaker:- Absolutely not. - Why?
Speaker:Why would you say that?
Speaker:You would say that because your fuel and energy
Speaker:toward anger toward me isn't having anything to do with me.
Speaker:It has to do with everything about Sherri.
Speaker:And the fueled energy that we ought to have
Speaker:when it comes to us breaking small rules,
Speaker:things in place should be the energy
Speaker:of how it affects our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Because supposedly, we love Him more than our spouse.
Speaker:Supposedly, He is number one in our lives.
Speaker:Love is the motivator.
Speaker:Here's what Jesus said, Jesus said,
Speaker:if you love me, if you love me, keep my commands.
Speaker:If you love me, keep my commands,
Speaker:and I will ask the Father, and He will give you
Speaker:another advocate to help you and be with you forever.
Speaker:Guys, that last part is so important
Speaker:because we can't be perfect
Speaker:without the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:The Holy Spirit empowers us to do hard things.
Speaker:I need somebody who's willing to say,
Speaker:hey, you know, just the other day,
Speaker:somebody was texting me and they were telling me
Speaker:kind of an excuse of why they weren't doing something,
Speaker:and then they followed up with the text of the truth.
Speaker:And I said, hey, thank you for telling me the truth.
Speaker:That's hard, it's easier just to justify,
Speaker:it's easier just to explain away.
Speaker:I also have another friend who told me recently,
Speaker:they were like, man, there are some times
Speaker:when I'm with people, certain people,
Speaker:and I will act one way 'cause I don't want them
Speaker:to see me in a bad light, but I'll do the same thing
Speaker:in front of other people and it doesn't matter to me.
Speaker:That conveys the level of love and respect
Speaker:that you have for each of those parties.
Speaker:And it also tells me that there's probably
Speaker:one side of that faction that's not making you
Speaker:look like Christ, and you might wanna evaluate
Speaker:that relationship, those relationships.
Speaker:Isn't this fun?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:We have the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:We do not have to understand everything to obey.
Speaker:I think the rule is dumb, so what?
Speaker:Understanding is not the prerequisite to obedience,
Speaker:trust is.
Speaker:Trust, trust is the prerequisite to obedience.
Speaker:Dustin Minchi got up here a few weeks ago
Speaker:and he shared during the offering time,
Speaker:he said, man, I heard a message several weeks prior,
Speaker:and he said, man, I used to go to the Dollar Tree
Speaker:and we would buy candy and stuff it in our bags
Speaker:and then go to the movie, and he's like, man,
Speaker:I just, I felt convicted, so I went and spent
Speaker:more money on candy than I'd ever spent on candy
Speaker:at the movie theater.
Speaker:And guys, how many think, well, don't raise your hand,
Speaker:who thinks it's highway robbery paying those prices
Speaker:for the same nope-dugs that you can get down the road?
Speaker:You know, it's kind of, it seems to be a silly dumb rule.
Speaker:Okay, yes, it certainly is.
Speaker:But here's the thing, the justification in that
Speaker:is, man, I don't wanna pay that much money,
Speaker:or I don't have, listen, I don't have 45, $50
Speaker:to lay out on candy, so I'm gonna go and try
Speaker:to figure out another way.
Speaker:Might I reframe your mind?
Speaker:As opposed to breaking the rule and breaking the law,
Speaker:and I'm just gonna call it what it is,
Speaker:instead of sinning, what if you reframed your mind
Speaker:and said, God, increase my trust that you will actually
Speaker:provide the funds to pay what they're asking for the candy?
Speaker:Because so many of us are actually relying
Speaker:on a large bank account rather than the God
Speaker:who owns the cattle on the hill.
Speaker:And in justification for not spending the money
Speaker:is to build the large bank account,
Speaker:because our security isn't in Jesus Christ.
Speaker:It's in what we can do with our hands
Speaker:and how much we can earn, and how silly it is.
Speaker:Jesus said, give Caesar what is Caesar's.
Speaker:In other words, obey the rule, obey the law.
Speaker:And there's a myriad of things under that umbrella
Speaker:that he asked us to do, so is it that you just don't want
Speaker:to do that, or is it that you don't really trust the Lord?
Speaker:You don't really trust him with your life.
Speaker:You know, as long as I got this big bank account,
Speaker:it doesn't really matter.
Speaker:Or if I don't have any money, I have a God
Speaker:who can supply all my needs.
Speaker:Maybe, maybe the Lord is saying, Kevin,
Speaker:you don't need to buy another pair of shoes.
Speaker:That's why you don't have money to buy the candy
Speaker:at the movie theater, right?
Speaker:He actually cares about all of the finite details, why?
Speaker:Because as he works out those finite details,
Speaker:I become more like Christ.
Speaker:Well, why do I want to become more like Christ?
Speaker:Because there's a dying world out there
Speaker:who needs to see Jesus Christ.
Speaker:11 years old, I'm 42, I remember my dad saying,
Speaker:shut your mouth.
Speaker:So the decisions we make, the small ones
Speaker:when we're laying on our couch at home,
Speaker:the small in our house, in the intimate setting
Speaker:with the people closest to us, we're oblivious
Speaker:to the things, we're not really oblivious,
Speaker:but we're just moving forward, it's not a big deal.
Speaker:We're gonna have ramifications well into the future.
Speaker:Do you look like Christ?
Speaker:And the enemy's just laughing, 'cause no,
Speaker:you're not gonna go murder anybody,
Speaker:you're gonna go rob a bank, but boy,
Speaker:you sure do have a lot of small things.
Speaker:Do you trust them?
Speaker:These are my kids, and I won't tell you which one,
Speaker:'cause I don't want to out her, but the other day,
Speaker:we were walking down the road, and I said, get up here,
Speaker:and the cars were coming down the road,
Speaker:and she chose not to listen, and I said,
Speaker:get up here with us right now, we need to hold hands,
Speaker:and she chose not to listen, and so I said,
Speaker:I'm gonna count to five, now, this is very abnormal to me,
Speaker:'cause I'm usually a once, I said it, it's done,
Speaker:but third time, I'm gonna count to five,
Speaker:get up here, count to five, she didn't come,
Speaker:and I said, on the count of five, I'm gonna spank you
Speaker:if you don't get up here, well, guess what I did,
Speaker:right there in the middle of the road, I spanked her.
Speaker:You know that God spanks you?
Speaker:Do you know he's not afraid to spank you?
Speaker:Why did I spank my daughter?
Speaker:Because I don't like her, 'cause I think that she's awful,
Speaker:'cause I don't think that she's capable of, no.
Speaker:I spanked her so that she remembers the pain in that moment
Speaker:will far supersede a car hitting her in the face
Speaker:whenever I tell her to come up to me,
Speaker:I need her to listen to me,
Speaker:because I know it's in her best interest,
Speaker:and God Almighty knows what's in your best interest,
Speaker:even when you don't understand, even when you're like,
Speaker:God, I don't understand, this makes no,
Speaker:this is meaningless, this has nothing to do with anybody
Speaker:as he's watching the little kid watch you
Speaker:make the decision you're making.
Speaker:God's care is so much larger, expansive,
Speaker:than anything we can imagine, he does care.
Speaker:He wants you to look like his son.
Speaker:He wants us to look like his kid.
Speaker:So I asked you the question today, do you trust the Lord?
Speaker:And don't be quick to answer the question, think about it.
Speaker:Do you actually trust the Lord?
Speaker:Which areas are you struggling and trusting him?
Speaker:That's part of the journey.
Speaker:Guys, you didn't wake up with holy amnesia
Speaker:the day you got saved, and now all of a sudden
Speaker:everything's gone, you're just perfect and completed.
Speaker:No, guess what?
Speaker:You're set free from those chains of bondage
Speaker:so that you can begin living an abundant life
Speaker:that looks like Christ Jesus.
Speaker:But a part of that evolution and that story,
Speaker:until the day he comes or the day he takes you out,
Speaker:is do you trust him?
Speaker:And honestly, the barometer is are you following the rules?
Speaker:Are you following, are you doing what he's telling you to do?
Speaker:I don't feel convicted about that, Kev.
Speaker:Your feelings are fickle.
Speaker:What you feel about something, the person next to you
Speaker:doesn't feel the same thing.
Speaker:And let me speak for just a moment
Speaker:for those self-righteous people who follow all the rules.
Speaker:Your job is not to put a big glaring spotlight
Speaker:on everybody who's not doing the right thing
Speaker:to make sure they know they're not doing the right thing.
Speaker:Your job is to continue to walk in righteousness
Speaker:so those people can see the blessing on your life
Speaker:and God can love them up to the place that they need to be.
Speaker:Do you trust the Lord?
Speaker:I don't like what I'm being told to do,
Speaker:but my love for Jesus supersedes what I think
Speaker:and what I feel, so I'm going to make a choice,
Speaker:my choice today is to obey.
Speaker:Love the Lord God with all your heart
Speaker:and all your soul and all your mind.
Speaker:This is the first and greatest commandment
Speaker:and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker:I would say do you love the Lord
Speaker:and hands would fly up all over the place here.
Speaker:I love the Lord because we have so perverted
Speaker:the word love here that it's all about,
Speaker:I feel like I love the Lord.
Speaker:I felt that goose bump this morning
Speaker:after my third cup of coffee,
Speaker:I really felt the love of the Lord, it was great.
Speaker:It was fantastic.
Speaker:Love is a choice.
Speaker:Love is a choice.
Speaker:Paul says that we should be all things to all people.
Speaker:You know what that tells me?
Speaker:That tells me if Kurt comes into my life
Speaker:and I'm sitting here and I'm doing something
Speaker:that he considers a stumbling block,
Speaker:that he considers sin and I learn about it,
Speaker:I don't get the privilege of looking and saying,
Speaker:Kurt, it's no big deal or get over yourself
Speaker:or I'm just gonna continue doing it.
Speaker:Because I say I love him, love your neighbor as yourself,
Speaker:I now have to make a choice to love him
Speaker:to change my behavior even if it's none of his business.
Speaker:And I wanna do that because my love neighbor,
Speaker:love your neighbor is fueled by love the Lord your God.
Speaker:Love the Lord your God is if you love me, follow my commands.
Speaker:Follow my commands is love your Lord God,
Speaker:love your neighbor, pray for the authorities over you.
Speaker:God, I don't understand, my boss is telling me to do stuff
Speaker:and I just wanna punch him in the face, God.
Speaker:My boss is telling me to do stuff and I can't stand it.
Speaker:But because I love you, God, I'm going to submit joyfully
Speaker:because I don't wanna taint my witness for you, God.
Speaker:And I'm gonna trust that if there's anything going on here
Speaker:that you wanna fix, God, then you're gonna do it.
Speaker:But more than that, here's my prayer, God,
Speaker:give me eyes to see the situation the way you do.
Speaker:Because my opinion really doesn't matter in this,
Speaker:I wanna become like you, Christ.
Speaker:But it's not fair, God, that they get to do this
Speaker:or they got that promotion or they got that razor,
Speaker:I'm overlooked and God says,
Speaker:will you continue to be faithful?
Speaker:Will you continue to, will you trust me enough
Speaker:to know that I've got you in the end?
Speaker:That I've got you in the predicament
Speaker:or in the situation for a reason.
Speaker:Do you trust the Lord?
Speaker:Obedience is motivated by love.
Speaker:This is my friend Vonda, many of you know Vonda Coble.
Speaker:And she didn't come to church today,
Speaker:so I'm gonna talk about her.
Speaker:We went to, we take the students at the school
Speaker:to New York every now and then.
Speaker:And there was a trip that we took them to New York.
Speaker:And we got to New York and we're going to a Broadway show.
Speaker:And we took about 20 students to this Broadway show.
Speaker:And we got there and there were only 18 tickets
Speaker:and there were 20 of us.
Speaker:And they made a mistake.
Speaker:And so I'm over at the box office
Speaker:getting it all straightened out.
Speaker:Well, they give us two, obviously they give us
Speaker:the two tickets that we need to get in.
Speaker:And so we get there and they've got all of the 18 tickets
Speaker:are on that second tier and there are two tickets
Speaker:that are in the very front row, front two seats,
Speaker:dead center where you're looking at the stage like this.
Speaker:Well, guess who took the two tickets?
Speaker:Vonda and Kevin, right?
Speaker:Okay, so the kids are up there and Vonda and Kevin
Speaker:are going to come down here.
Speaker:Well, I like to get concessions.
Speaker:I like to, I don't like to pay $10 for peanut M&M's,
Speaker:but I did.
Speaker:I got the M&M's and they had these pink slushies
Speaker:and we both wanted a pink slushie and we wanted M&M's.
Speaker:So I got M&M's and pink slushie, Vonda went to the restroom.
Speaker:So I'm paying for the food or whatnot.
Speaker:We're getting the kids settled and we're making sure
Speaker:that they're where they're supposed to be.
Speaker:Vonda comes out of the bathroom.
Speaker:I give her her slushie and her M&M's.
Speaker:I take mine and we're walking down the side of the aisle
Speaker:and we notice there are no other seats sold
Speaker:in the front two rows except for Vonda and me.
Speaker:So we're walking here and all of a sudden I look up
Speaker:and the people in the third and fourth row,
Speaker:they all have their cameras out like this.
Speaker:And they're, because Vonda tends to dress like Janet Jackson
Speaker:like she's like famous, you know?
Speaker:So, and I just was her wody, you know?
Speaker:I've just got them all kind of with her.
Speaker:I'm like, they are taping us right now, you know?
Speaker:So we sit down and we're in the front
Speaker:and the show hasn't started and Vonda takes a big old drink
Speaker:of this slushie.
Speaker:Big old gulp.
Speaker:And her eyes flare open just as big as they can get.
Speaker:Now Vonda is, you know, she's just wired
Speaker:that she's gonna take you down with her if she goes down,
Speaker:okay?
Speaker:So she looked at me, she said,
Speaker:"Kevin O'Day, take a drink of your slushie."
Speaker:She said, "Kevin O'Day, take a drink
Speaker:"of your slushie right now."
Speaker:And so I was like, what, is it good?
Speaker:Oh, it must be good.
Speaker:So I took a big swig, it was alcoholic.
Speaker:100% alcohol.
Speaker:And so we're there in the front and we have these things.
Speaker:Now I want you to understand the setting.
Speaker:We are front and center.
Speaker:We are being taped by people we do not know.
Speaker:And we have 18 students looking down at us right now.
Speaker:Vonda looked at me and we looked at each other and said,
Speaker:"We're gonna set these on the floor.
Speaker:"We're not gonna finish this drink.
Speaker:"We're gonna wait till the show's over
Speaker:"and in front of the students,
Speaker:"we're gonna pour this out in front of them
Speaker:"and tell them what happened."
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:Now, many of you would have just said,
Speaker:"Well, it's a drink, it's one drink, it's not a big deal."
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:Many of you would have been like,
Speaker:"Hey, especially you paid 20 bucks
Speaker:"or whatever it was for the drink,
Speaker:"you're gonna, I'm licking the cup."
Speaker:You know what I mean?
Speaker:It's like, it's that, it's gonna happen.
Speaker:Do you know that during the entire play,
Speaker:the kids were talking about the fact
Speaker:that we were drinking alcohol?
Speaker:We didn't know about it until afterward.
Speaker:Do you know how important it was that we showed them
Speaker:and told them the mistake and poured it out in front of them?
Speaker:'Cause we don't wanna ruin our witness.
Speaker:We don't want, it doesn't matter if it was dumb
Speaker:that we didn't drink the drink,
Speaker:it doesn't matter what our opinion was.
Speaker:Oh, but if you only drink one drink,
Speaker:you won't get drunk, it's fine.
Speaker:You can justify yourself out of a paper bag.
Speaker:There are people watching you that you do not know
Speaker:and there are people watching you who you do know.
Speaker:And your witness is always, always, always
Speaker:right there front and center.
Speaker:And so we poured it out in front of them
Speaker:and we were so glad because they came out
Speaker:before we could even show them.
Speaker:Oh, Miss Coble, you getting twisted,
Speaker:you getting turnt up.
Speaker:It's literally what they're saying.
Speaker:Thankfully, we were able to tell them what happened
Speaker:because we didn't want our witness destroyed.
Speaker:Do you believe what you say you believe?
Speaker:This is the cornerstone of the chapters
Speaker:we've been reading.
Speaker:Washington, you can come on back.
Speaker:This has been the cornerstone of the chapters
Speaker:we've been reading.
Speaker:Guys, do you really believe what you say you believe?
Speaker:Is Jesus Christ the lover of your soul
Speaker:and do you love him back?
Speaker:Because he is with us.
Speaker:The bridegroom is with us.
Speaker:I've asked Cole Burkett to come and share
Speaker:a little bit of his testimony as it relates
Speaker:to where he's right now because it relates
Speaker:and connects so clearly to what we've been talking
Speaker:about today.
Speaker:Would you guys listen to Cole?
Speaker:- I just wanna first say I've been in a certainly
Speaker:a tough season in my life and it took me so long
Speaker:to surrender in a lot of ways.
Speaker:And because of the surrender that I finally kinda came to,
Speaker:I'm like, all right, Lord, only you can work this out.
Speaker:I'm now being, things are being revealed to me
Speaker:and one of those things is what I'm gonna talk
Speaker:about this morning.
Speaker:I just wanna say that first that you gotta surrender
Speaker:sometimes for the Lord to reveal things in your life
Speaker:that you would be so blind to unless you had surrendered.
Speaker:That thing is this, me and my wife have been married
Speaker:for a year and three months, four months now
Speaker:and there are things that I did prior to being married
Speaker:with my wife that I had no idea would hurt her
Speaker:the way that it has hurt her.
Speaker:And the question that I have been pondering
Speaker:is would I have done those things if she had been there
Speaker:right with me?
Speaker:If I had been in relationship with her knowing
Speaker:that one day she'd be my wife.
Speaker:No, I wouldn't have done those things.
Speaker:I wouldn't have willingly hurt her.
Speaker:And in the same way, let me ask you this,
Speaker:maybe you've heard this prayer or maybe this hurt
Speaker:or heard in a singing of a song.
Speaker:Jesus, break my heart for what breaks yours.
Speaker:Break my heart, Lord, for what breaks yours.
Speaker:It's through that mechanism that you grow
Speaker:in a deeper relationship with Christ and in the same way
Speaker:with my wife, my relationship with her has deepened
Speaker:and it's not been through how well I follow the rules
Speaker:with her.
Speaker:The mechanism has been I want to love her
Speaker:and through that now I'm following rules that I didn't
Speaker:when before I had known her.
Speaker:So in my life, in my relationship with Christ,
Speaker:I want to love Jesus first and through that mechanism
Speaker:of loving him, he's making me perfect.
Speaker:It's through that that he's making me in right standing
Speaker:with him.
Speaker:And so in my marriage with my wife, it's showing me
Speaker:that Jesus might not be physically here in this moment
Speaker:but this is preparing me on how to love Jesus right now
Speaker:through the privilege of loving my wife
Speaker:and laying my life down for her, laying my destiny down
Speaker:for her and it's a beautiful thing.
Speaker:But man, it humbles you and it breaks your heart
Speaker:for what breaks hers but it breaks my heart
Speaker:for what breaks Jesus's.
Speaker:And so that's the question that I want to ask you guys
Speaker:this morning at Springhouse.
Speaker:Jesus break my heart for what breaks yours.
Speaker:- And Kaylin has certainly forgiven Cole,
Speaker:she's not forgotten.
Speaker:She's not forgotten.
Speaker:Guys, our choices and our actions have consequences
Speaker:whether we like it or not, sometimes they're small,
Speaker:sometimes they're pretty big.
Speaker:And when we grapple through the consequences,
Speaker:we learn, right, we learn but man,
Speaker:why not lean into Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit
Speaker:and grapple with the positive consequences
Speaker:of living for a kingdom that's which you belong to.
Speaker:And that's his desire for us, that's his desire.
Speaker:So Gentiles need to be circumcised, no, no.
Speaker:You need to do X, Y and Z to earn,
Speaker:no, you don't need to earn your salvation,
Speaker:your salvation is free, cost him something, it's free to you
Speaker:but beyond that, becoming like Christ Jesus,
Speaker:it's gonna cost you everything.
Speaker:Cost you your pride, your arrogance,
Speaker:it's gonna cost you the willingness to say,
Speaker:yeah, I do think that that rule is dumb
Speaker:but I'm gonna submit to it
Speaker:and I'm not gonna make a big stink about it,
Speaker:I'm not gonna say, look at me, I'm following this dumb rule,
Speaker:I'm just gonna do it.
Speaker:Because at the end of the day,
Speaker:I want no one to have a reason to look at me and say,
Speaker:I don't look like Christ Jesus.
Speaker:Jess, stand with me this morning.
Speaker:You know, the call this morning, this is a heavy word
Speaker:but the call this morning really is one to say this,
Speaker:Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours.
Speaker:And maybe as a step of faith,
Speaker:some of you may need to come to the altar and say,
Speaker:God, I need you to break my heart for what breaks you,
Speaker:I've been serving myself way too long in small things
Speaker:and what an amazing way to chip out pride
Speaker:for those of you who are too proud to admit
Speaker:that there are small things,
Speaker:'cause man, everybody looks at me,
Speaker:if I go forward, man, they're gonna think that I do X, Y and Z
Speaker:it doesn't matter because you do X, Y and Z.
Speaker:And the one you say you love most knows it.
Speaker:So what would it look like to break down the barriers
Speaker:and walls of pride and say, man,
Speaker:God, I need you to break my heart for what breaks yours,
Speaker:help me Lord in these small areas where I'm giving in
Speaker:and I'm compromising my love for you,
Speaker:I need you to help me, I need you to infiltrate my heart
Speaker:'cause I wanna be like you, Lord.
Speaker:That's the call this morning
Speaker:and with those who are gonna minister, come on up
Speaker:and we can agree with people,
Speaker:maybe you just wanna come and get my altar space,
Speaker:that's totally fine too,
Speaker:we're just gonna worship for a few moments here.
Speaker:If you have a prayer need,
Speaker:you can come and join with someone
Speaker:and if you're a leader,
Speaker:because here's the thing, we're authentic here,
Speaker:if you're a leader, I'm talking to you guys
Speaker:that are gonna pray for people.
Speaker:If you're a leader and you need to bow your knee
Speaker:and not being prayed today,
Speaker:you absolutely have the freedom to do that
Speaker:because nobody's exempt, right?
Speaker:It's not us and them, it's us and Him.
Speaker:Let's worship.