April 24, 2016

We are so glad to have you here at Hillandale. We are continuing a sermon series that we've been talking about for a few weeks based out of John chapter 15 on friendship with God and I want to continue that Series this morning just as an aside as we as we wrap up our greeting time next Sunday morning, we're going to have a special focus on prayer during the service and so will spend an extended amount of time in prayer next Sunday. The National Day of Prayer is Thursday May 4th. And so we look forward to a special service next Sunday. We're worship and different folks will be involved and will have multiple emphasis on prayer during the worship service. It'll be a great time to turn to the Lord in prayer this morning. I want to continue to talk about what it means to have a friendship of God and one of the foundational things that we talked about in the first couple sermon, is this our friendship with God can in many ways work like our friendships with one another and and the foundational truths that apply to regular friendships apply to our friendship with God. That the elements that make a friendship grow and and healthy our time spent together shared interest honesty and vulnerability and commitment to one another when those things come together you end up building a friendship. It might start off just having some time together and then then you end up having some common interest and you start to be honest and grow closer and then suddenly you discover you've got this committed friend who's there for you who would who would care for you and and show up when you needed things in that friendship grows and the same sort of pattern is what Jesus is talking about in John 15 where he says look I used to call you servants. It was this master-servant relationship, but now because I've shared so much with you so vulnerable. He'll back things. I've shared with you. I call you friends as less than amazing truth that our relationship of God. Jesus describes it with the word friendship. Nonetheless, it is friendship with God. And so there are unique characteristics to it. Also, even though it has common characteristics the way our friendships would want it with one another would have it also has unique characteristics and we talked about that a little bit last week that Jesus said look, here's how this relationship Works how it unfolds. I'm I'm the trunk and in the original language, sometimes I would misunderstand that an English and think of him as the vine when I think about when he says he's the vine but the reality is it's a word that means trunk. He's that base of the great of the plant and so were the branches and so Jesus says I am the vine but what he really means in the way we understand it is I am the trunk. I am this base and then we are the branches that go out from it and he says God the father is the gardener and the goal is to glorify God and then to glorify God means to reveal his goodness to make known his goodness when we seen God's Praises when we glorify him, we're announcing his goodness. We're making that long when we gather and worship in the song when they talk about things for the glory of God and glorifying God. That's what they're talking about. They're talking about this public Declaration of God's goodness and what it really means is to make known or to reveal the goodness of God. And so in addition to having the basic elements of a normal friendship that we think of time and honesty and and shared interest and commitment our friendship of God takes on a unique characteristic because he's God and so one of the two folks in this relationship that we're talking about with the word friendship is perfect. And holy and complete and all-knowing now. Can you guess which of the two in the Friendship is the one who is perfect and complete and all-knowing and holy that's because it's that type of friendship where God is God and we're giving the great privileges as mere humans to step into friendship with him because of the work of Christ. It has this unique quality where he says here's how you think about it. I'm the foundation. I'm the bass. I'm the trunk. Okay, and God the father is the gardener who sees to it that this Grapevine is healthy and you guys are the branches. And the goal is that fruit would be born the goodness of God his character would be revealed to you in your own life and through your life revealed to others that God's goodness would be seen again again, and that's what we talked about the past couple of weeks. And so this morning I want to look again at the first eight verses of John 15th and continue to talk about these themes in a little bit greater detail a little bit greater death is so in the passage we've been talking about begins this way. Jesus says, I am the True Vine. My father is the gardener. He continues he cuts off every Branch joint Branch join to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does not bear fruit, then it will bear even or that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. He continues you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain join to me and I remain joined to you. No Branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine in the same way. You can't bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

I didn't skip ahead to it. And we go. I am the vine you are the branches if anyone remains join to me and I to him he will bear a lot of fruit. You can't do anything without me if anyone does not remain joint to me. He is like a branch that is thrown away and dries up branches. Like those are picked up their thrown into the fire and burned if you remain joint to me and my words remain in you ask for anything you wish and it will be given to you when you bear a lot of fruit it brings glory to my father. It shows that you are my disciple. And so he's using this analogy of vines and grapes and fruit and Gardner because he's likely in a Vineyard when he's teaching the disciples this and these last times together and he's using this illustration that they would have been familiar with here's what it's like it's like the trunk of a grapevine and I'm the trunk and you guys are the branches and God the father is the gardener and the concern is that there be this Great Harvest of fruit. There be this wonderful fruitful grapes that would come about and he said that look if you're if you're not bearing fruit the father will cut you off. And if you are banned fruit, he still going to cut you he's going to bring you back so that you bear more fruit because the only way you can bear fruit is by being connected to me by being healthy connected me and bearing that fruit. If you completely disconnect yourself for me, if you're not connected to me at all. You'll be like one of these branches that we see on the ground. That's no longer connected to the trunk at all fit dries up. These are gathered up as scrap and thrown into the fire. So remain connected to me so that you can bear fruits because that's the whole purpose. You've been reconciled you've been reconnected a relationship that was disconnected and broken between humanity and God the father because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is reconnected and restored and so he says you're connected to me remain connected to me. So that God's intention God's purpose of the gardener will come about that fruit can be born in your life and Glory will go to the father his goodness will be revealed and will visit this passage again, so I'm not going to cover every question that might pop in your head but will visit again in the next couple of Sundays but notice that the branches in question are in Christ. He says every branch that is in me that does not bear fruit will be cut off. Now sometimes pastors and preachers one trip with this to say if you're not a fruitful Christian, you're going to be kicked out of the Kingdom. They interpret that sort of cutting off as you're not in any more that is not an accurate interpretation of this passage. Did you hear what I just said that is not an accurate interpretation of this passage. Jesus is talking about the branches that are in him. He's talking about those who are saved who are securely connected to him. So he says those who are in me, but then he uses the language with explain. It uses the language. They will be cut off. Let's talk about that a little bit. The cutting off is better translated lifting up. You can go to other text and find that same phrase in Greek translated as lifting up and it ends its misfortunate that it's so often to what kind of got hung up on cutting off as the dominant translation of that literally in the in the in that. Of time when when they talked about this sort of cutting off its really this Activity that the gardener would do where he took up a branch that was connected to the trunk, but it wasn't bearing fruit likely because it's down on the ground is covered with dirt and what the gardener would do as he would lift that up. He would wash it off and then he would tie it back up higher so it would stay off the ground so that it could bear fruit. And so again in the context of God's The Gardener and the goal is to bear fruit. It wouldn't make sense for him to Simply cut off a branch completely that Jesus describes as a branch. That's in me. No one who is in Christ is going to be cut off What's Happening Here. Is he saying here's what's happening when there's no fruit. You're going to be lifted up. You're going to be cleansed and you can be tied a new so that you can bear fruit and that makes sense with the words because right after Jesus talks about being cut off. He immediately Asher's the disciples who would have understood immediately what he was talking about. Even with that language, they don't understand. I know what it means. That's when the gardener lifts it up five planes it all ties it up. Think about it. He immediately follows up that statement in that verse with you are already clean because of the word that I said to you. So they immediately the reason he would say that is because they're immediately thinking about how I know what gardeners do they clean those branches that are down the dirt that I bring fruit and lift them up and tie them up higher so they can be out of the dirt and Juice Amelia says, yes, that's what's going on. But don't worry. You are already clean. You are already clean because of the word I said to you the big picture in this whole past is that you have to keep in mind is Hebrews chapter 12 where in Hebrews it says that God the Father disciplines us the way a good father disciplines his children, so gay and if you're reading John 15 is a hole in your saying I want to understand this better jump ahead and go to Hebrews chapter 12 and read that entire chapter. Don't just zoom in on certain verses in Hebrews chapter 12 read the entire chapter, which is all about what it means that God would be an acting discipline in our life, which is exactly what Jesus is talking about here. You are connected to me. I'm the vine you are the branches the goal is Bear fruit and then the question is what happens if I'm not bearing fruit. Well, God the Father God The Gardener disciplines you And if you need to be he will lift you up clean you off and tie you up higher so that you will bear fruit and then we're going to talk about this in the coming Sunday. Then he adds if you are bearing fruit and you would think that that would be than your good. Nothing's going to happen. He says you are bearing fruit. He's going to prune you. So this is the actual cutting he's going to prune you so that you will bear more fruit that we need to understand all of this in the context of God the Father. Like a good father disciplines those that he loves discipline isn't punishment. That's another misunderstanding in our modern culture. Sometimes we meet lyrics cut off as being cast out of the king of that's not what he's talking about later. He talked about what it means to be cast out. Those are the branches that are completely disconnected for him. They're not in Christ. They no longer remain in him. They're disconnected so long and so much so that they dry up baby come brush that's turn into a fire later is when he's talking I disconnected in this early part is not talking about being disconnected. He's talking about not bearing fruit and then being corrected being disciplined and it's what a good father does and it's not punishment. And if we think about it for a few moments, we understand that reality a good father does not discipline his children as an isolated or pure Act of punishment. He doesn't deserve a truly say this way the universe works you did something wrong. And so I'm going to give you Thirty lashes and that's the end of it a good father or a good mother a good parent when they're this Winger children, they're doing it for purpose. And maybe they bring consequences in their life, but they're doing it for a purpose. They help their son or daughter learn how to get up early each morning and get ready for the day and and strive to put in a good day at work. Right how many of you discipline your children throughout their childhood to wake up each morning and to get dressed and the brush their teeth in that was always going on in a loving relationship. It would not be a loving parent who said to the child every time he knows what I don't want to get off. Yo. It's so early as we lay in bed when you just lay in bed, sweetie. I don't want to brush my teeth. It's just no fun when it's okay. Okay, we'll just let people stand back when they talk to you and not want to be near you and we'll just you know, when your 18 will take you to the dentist write a good and loving parents has no no, What a my strongest memories was every morning of my childhood. I don't think it ever failed. My mother was the one that woke me and my brothers that we shared a bedroom. We were poor lived in a house where three of us in early years shared one bedroom. I didn't know the people had their own rooms until I got older I thought everybody had three boys and one bad we had one bad all three of us in one bed one and it wasn't even a full bedroom. There was the stairwell that went down to the basement with little section next to the stairwell, but I remember distinctly every morning Mom would come in and she's like on the lights and she said boys time to get up. And a very sweet and loving verse voice, but we had learned to get up because if we didn't get up then she'd have to come back a second time and say no boys. You got to get up you're going to miss the bus. You got to get ready and she want to fix us breakfast and have a spool a breakfast before we went out. She had great intention. But if we continue to lay there and not get up then she might wake up Dad and if we start getting active discipline, we teach your children how to wake up with a brush their teeth how to tie their shoes. We help them learn to do their homework alarm to keep commitments. It is this lifetime of discipline toward their own good And the distance between you and I and God the father is even greater than the distance between us and our children. Do you understand that? Don't fool yourself with the easy arrogance that adulthood brings because you're always helping children. And you think I'm the mature one realize that your heavenly father has to constantly come into your life and look on the light and say Robbie you got you need to do this and you need to do that and he's always doing it with that Spirit of life. He wants me to go out into the day full of his words. He wants me to go out into the day ready to handle. What's going to come my way. He wants me to be the person he created me to be The key to this passage is to understand it in that context what's going on is Jesus a teaching the disciples and us about the fact that God the Father Like a good loving father is always busy doing Us in the context of what stored are good. Too often we miss understand that and I believe that false understandings of God and misunderstandings about God's wanting to do in our lives when we attribute evil toward good. That's heresy. And that's from the Devil Himself when we attributable toward God when we decide the things that he might be doing in our line for the things that he might be challenging us to do that. That's no good that we want nothing to do with it. That's the devil gaining victory in our lives from the very beginning. It's all been about God the Father sang. Here's who I am. I love you I care for you. I can be trusted from the garden itself. He said Adam and Eve up in that scenario. I provided everything for you everything you need. It's all for mine. I just want you to enjoy it how I just want you to enjoy it and be fruitful and multiply. That's my desire to walk in the garden in the cool of the evening and enjoy fellowship with you. That's my total agenda. That's what God had up his sleeve, but the devil came in that scenario and said to eat now. Can you really trust? God can you really trust that his motives are good. Can you really trust that what he has planned is for your own good. I think maybe you need to eat that one fruit that you were asked not to eat. I don't know. I don't think you can trust God. I think you need to take matters into your own hands. You probably know better what's best for you. That's been the cosmic battle from the beginning God revealing himself is good and honorable and trustworthy and US struggling to place our faith and our trust in God above ourselves. The older you get in some ways the more you realize man. I don't know as much as I think I know. Some ways it's easier to trust the older you get because the more you experience of Life. Maybe the more time we get. Sometimes depending on what patterns are cultivating in your life as you grow older. Sometimes getting older makes it harder to trust God. Sometimes you get set in your ways and you get more convinced that there is no God really in a practical way. Or maybe it really doesn't matter. You know, I've managed my life this way up to this point and nothing's going to make a difference in so sometimes you just dig in and you have your own habits and routines and you really don't hear from the Lord. The challenge is for all of us to have ears to hear from the Lord to reject the adversaries lies and to listen for the truth from God Bruce Wilkerson present a walk through the Bible when I talked for them. They're always shoving great material resources in their hands. He caught on this passage and here's some of the things that he talked about what I've labeled excuses from hell that we use when we resist God's love and discipline in our life and look at some of these excuses the pain and negative circumstances in my life are the results of natural consequences are Faith. They are not connected to my choices. Do you see how that sort of falsehood kind of gains a place in our thinking because we really don't want to face that maybe some of the hardships in our life are the direct result of our own choices. Instead we just want to say and I don't even think about that and then the devil says you shouldn't think about that guy in your mind and think on that just kind of Weird Al everybody has this kind of thing in their life, but that's a lie, even we even lied to herself now here. I'm really going to quit preaching and go to that land as they say.

Let me use myself as the examples and if you can relate to this take with it what you will and if you can't then thank the Lord.

I'm a I'm not physically in the shape that I should be. I've been trying to lose weight for about a year now and I've lost some weight and I've gained a little bit back but overall floss little bit. So I'm going in the right direction, but my doctor where he honest and we won't listen to Max. Would say to me, you know, you're not in the shape of you you should be in and and therefore there's you're the one that's causing yourself to have health issues. So I can't say well just everybody's overweight. That's the deal. Everybody takes blood pressure medicine. Everybody has diabetes. Everybody is three pieces of cake at the church potluck. I need the truth is. That's my behavior. It's my choices. About the reality of life my own father's passing the health of my older brothers and and having two young babies in our lives and I start doing the math and saying how am I going to be if we get to adopt them and they graduate high school. Is this your dad or Granddad all those things that made me become more aware and desire to be healthy. I'm even hesitant to mention this because I'm in a accountable for everybody here. You guys will see me at the next potluck eating three piece of the cake is Aunt what was the deal with the sermon you're talking about being healthier. But sometimes in the life in our lives, we want to kind of not face the fact that that our choices are part of what leads us to the things that weren't happy about. And it's so much easier to find somebody else to blame. I mean, honestly, that's human nature in it. We can have a hard time at work and we never say I must have not being a good employee. It's it's the man I'm burdened by the man. I'm under the thumb of the man. I'm being oppressed. You know, it's is my boss is Corporate America. Do you say the word corporate corporate means evil? We use lots of little tricks and games to avoid facing the fact that we may be unhappy about things that are really the result of our own choices. We can blame the government. Even get me started on that right side of favorite thing for Christmas to blame. Everything would be wonderful in society if it wasn't for the government.

Behave in a non-Christian way they've never seen me I don't have a relation of my neighbors. I'll wait a minute that's in a dive in and of itself. We have liked it if we can just blame the government or if we could just claim our bosses or the people who make great desserts, but the reality is some of our decisions some of our own happiness is result of wrong decisions. All of these have that same sort of pattern and I didn't move to the rest quicker. We'll be here till 3 does not discipline me somehow or shoot me of God. Does this with me somehow it would probably be a one-time deal. He's much too forgiving to impose escalating consequences or intentionally, cause me pain just to motivate me to stop sinning. That's another Victorious lie of the devil in the life of the church. Let me let me tell you something. Okay, when you made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior and preaching only to the Christians right now. Okay, when you said Jesus, I want you to save me I want to get saved and you got baptized you made a decision then to give him lordship of your life a man, right? You made him Lord. So you pre decided in that moment. I'm going to follow you Jesus. I want to follow you. If you gave him permission to do these things when you say what he would never just what these two loving you ask him already conform me to your image Works. You've already invited him to work in your heart and in your life in such a way that he helps you become like him. Unless you're willing to recant on that decision itself. You're already committed. You already committed. It's very much like marriage you make that decision you have that ceremony, but that's not the only time you commit is it don't you have to recommit every morning? Don't you have to continually live out this commitment? You don't just say well, you know what? I told you when we got married that I love you. If you think changes I'll let you know that's baloney. You have to live it out again and again and again every morning every afternoon and sometimes you do it in perfectly. Can I get an amen? But you still stay committed in that direction. And if you are Christian you have said I want to follow you even Lord if it's to my own grave even if what you said about dying to myself is true, even if it means changing my career or my habits or for giving up my own preferences for the wife of the church, whatever it is, you've made that decision. Sometimes you resist the presence of the Lord the blessing of the Lord in your life because you have these false ideas in your head all the he wouldn't be about doing that. You've already invited him to lead you in that direction. Let's be honest the enjoyment I get another lie from the devil from my so-called sin outweighs any spiritual benefits. I get from stopping anyway to my sins aren't really hurting anybody that sound like another lie from the devil in our culture is my business is private Smith. Stop bothering anybody. Nobody knows what's going on. I just want to keep that little sand. Look I like this activity. I just want to keep it to myself. And again, that's a way of recanting on your invitation for Jesus to be Lord of your life. And it's a way of stopping the joy out of your walk with the Lord and if you start sucking the joy out of your walk with the Lord you start looking for other things to fill that Gap things like being controlling if I ever make the mistake of trying to be controlling is anyone ever try to be controlling in life to the church has there ever been an issue with this is my property. Somebody used my thing. Oh my God. Stop when somebody talking about that thing. I don't

Because we pushed the lordship of Christ away from our lives and we've look for other things to bring us that Joy. I'm I'm guilty this like anybody but I'm telling you. The world is going to hell in a handbasket and The Church Must reflect the character of our Lord and King. Amen. And when we excuse my language, when we piss away the opportunity to show his character because more angry about this or angry about that for letting people go to hell because they're not seen Christ. You understand the gravity of what's going on in our culture? I need some times in the church. We demand and we insist that energy be spent on so many different petty little things. And I'm not saying that in a mean Spirit I'm saying that in that that you're trying to get satisfaction from control or authority when God has designed for you so much more wonderful glory and joy in your heart and your mind and your soul. I say these things to somebody who loves you and wants to see you have been Joya following Christ the week we get away that joy, we buy into these lies and said, we want to manipulate and control and have Authority or be tampered with or two or whatever. Whatever little particular thing is, we give up deep deep joy and replace it with pettiness and it breaks. God The Father's Heart. And he will discipline us. If we have said to him in our heart, I love you. I want to be your follower. I want you to be my Lord then we've given him permission to keep calling us back. Keep flicking on that light same time to get up. I want to go to school need to learn this time to get up. how to make a bit of time that my mother Splash cold water in my face while I lay in bed resisting what was good for me And that would be a wonderful thing. You can trust God that's what it's all about. You can trust him when he calls you to let go of things that you think you need to hold onto. Another lie. I simply can't help myself this problem goes back to my childhood. So why wouldn't God extend race rather than impose discipline. He absolutely extends Grace in terms of our salvation and are being insecure relationship with him. But out of deep genuine love he works in our hearts and our lives to move us away from sins and attitudes that weigh us down. If you got unforgiveness in your heart what God wants is for you to figure out how to figure that replace that with forgiveness. He doesn't want you to live an entire lifetime with unforgiveness toward someone and say well that's just the way it is. He wants to help you do the hard work of dealing with that on forgiveness and letting go of that bitterness Hebrews 12 talks about that when it talks about discipline part of what God is doing is disciplining us so that we won't let a root of bitterness take root in our heart because of what it produces in the life of the church and instead he disciplines us. He this one's us so that we can go in the direction that is good and loving and gracious. Sometimes we said her cell Send doesn't mean I can't do something for God say God uses for his sticks. We can't all be Billy Graham, you know. And then another little excuse that we slip into our minds into our thinking will mice and really doesn't matter. It's not a saint is just a weakness part of my personality something I struggle with. That's the way to say to me Pastor. I don't want to talk about it. Do not bring that up. It's none of your business. What place do you have? You realize that what god holds me and the elders accountable for for here. Is your discipleship. That's the actual past that were called to in Scripture. But sometimes we move all the shells around play the shell game and instead we say discipleship. I just want you to keep me happy on my terms. So we redefined everything here's what makes me happy and that's your job to make me happy and if I dare sit down and stay with somebody. Hey, I see this behavior in your life Morgan. and it's not price like we need to talk about it nine times out of 10 when I get is none of your business.

It what I'm going to be held accountable for before God one day is your discipleship.

When you resisted when you resist Brothers and Sisters in Christ, whether it's me, or elder or brother and sister Christ in your life group, when you resist them helping you grow in Christ likeness, you're potentially pushing them toward judgment in their own.

Sometimes we can become so dysfunctional to dismiss understanding. Here's what all these add up to. We're thinking. My son doesn't have consequences. God won't punish this. I like my sin too much to quit. I'm convinced. I'm convinced by myself myself that I can quit my send won't diminish my Effectiveness. My problem isn't even a sin. Do you think those are lies sometimes in the life of the church?

Now listen, I promised my wife that I would not use this photo again. Cuz I've used it the past two Sundays and so I'm a man of my word. So you'll just have to use this to remind you that I had it at night last week cuz I can't put it up this week. Okay?

But I love this photo because there's so much joy in her face and it's our wedding day and it keeps reminding me of what the sermon series and what it's all about God's desire. Is that his bride the church before love joy and be pure and spotless that's his desire for us. So, please don't hear anything. I've preached this morning as this heavy-handed your burden that I'm trying to put on your shoulders and I'm trying to shake my finger you I struggle with all of this I struggle with with knowing that I'm who God wants me to be I struggle with it, but I want to keep struggling with it. I want to be better. I don't want a better pastor and I want you to be better disciples and I want to grow some backbone so that I'm willing to hold you accountable be disciples instead of a constant North American arrangements for my job is to make you happy and if you're not happy, then you come to him like that very much and we're all playing this game where our job is to keep each other happy. I want to be so much more than that, don't you? I mean Lord save me from a life of my own self satisfaction. I don't want that to be my legacy. I had it my way we'll big deal. I had it by way. Haven't you lived your life long enough your own way to realize it's a dead end. I want more than life my wife. I want live God's way. I want him to use me to make a difference. I don't want my only Legacy to be some house that my kids clean out and sell one day.

I want my legacy to be greater than that. I'm on my way to get to be life that are changed the church that is thriving people that have come to know the Lord didn't know it before, don't you? Do not be satisfied to go quietly into the night as the poet said you're not just settle for first aid out of trouble demand more you gave your life to Christ give it to him again each moment each day and let him do Miracles because he will he wants to be long to have a church that has that Joy on her face. Can you imagine what it would be like if we were that kind of Joyful Church?

My brother-in-law is in Richmond. Virginia and he told me for multiple Sundays they had to turn people away at their Church door. Imagine that every space legally available in the church and then maybe probably another 30 or 40 was taken up week after week. And so he's one of their leaders they stand at the door and say I'm sorry, we're full to capacity.

That's what happens when a church displays solid Biblical understanding and a deep joy and an active relationship of Christ when we have that kind of joy. people want it people wanted And too often we don't have it. We don't have it ourselves and we suck it out of life of all our leaders. And tell you you have a hard time stopping anybody who's happy about being in church. I thought somebody past couple months and I said we missed you and I said why just a little break from church people.

and I said

in my little man I'm with your sister. I understand I feel you. Sometimes it's that way. I guess what God never gives up never gives up.

The only way he'd ever give up on you is if you turn your back on him and you walk away from him and even then you'd have to do it four hundred years, I think. Would it take for you to turn your back on your child? How much greater is God the Father's Love For You as his child? I'm not here to threaten you I'm here to tell you you have the most loving father a perfect father a perfect parent who loves you who is all-powerful all-knowing and who wants your best and he invites you to cooperate with him. Invite you to let him do good in your life. The worship team can come forward will end on this note. What scripture talks about is this beautiful turning? Back toward God. This repentance is the word that used again and again, and I think we should think of it as a reoccurring repentance the same way I said in marriage you make this vow this commitment, but that's not the only time you make that commitment is it you renew that commitment every morning you were doing every day you renew it when people maybe, you know make propositions. Maybe there's people whose hey, you look good. You know, I'm not interested maybe renew it when you're winning the temptation to even simpler to just bend your budget in a way that would hurt the family or or or to neglect the family to work longer hours than you should. We're constantly if we're building good marriages and good family. We're constantly renewing that commitment again, and again and I believe scripture is the same way when it talks about repentance. The invitation is to constantly be repenting constantly be lining ourselves up with God the Father saying, you know what I've got all these thoughts ideas and I have from time to time but I just want to trust God I want to trust God I want to do what he would have me do it. So your invitation this morning is to repent if any of those excuses I listed on the screen spoke to your heart. If the truth is you use those to not deal with sending your life if you use those to justify sin. If you're if you're feeling some void in Your Heart by being controlling or demanding or manipulative and you're even doing that in the life of the church, I have folks who come to me and they say it plainly. Hey buddy. I give a lot of money and I want things the way I want them and you better fix them or there's going to be consequences. I mean, could it be any more plane? That the Lord is not the Lord of their life in that moment. But they're choosing something else in that moment. If you've got something other than Christ on the throne of your heart. repent and I say that hopefully you hear it with love because what God has for us is so much greater than all the false Idols that we can put on our hearts. I mean read history. I mean the testimony is across the face of history in it. How many people have gone to the edge of their grave when they Champions money or power or control or manipulation for self-satisfaction or what are they do whatever they do miss and never gets how many have gone to the edge of that grave and realize they were wrong. every one of them nobody gets the gravy cuz I'm so glad that I mean if you later people for the sake of money, I'm so glad that I was such a controlling boss. I'm so glad that all my family walked on eggshells around me because I was such a terror to be around when I was in a bad mood everyone gets to the grave and realizes you know, what I've made a horrible mistake and so from scripture now comes to plead to you make the decision to repent Whatever sin is in your life, whatever faucet is on the front of your heart. ejected now replace Chrysler because what he wants for us is so much greater so much greater. CS Lewis headed this way in these are my final words. He says it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but two week we are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite Joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because we cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Do not be pleased with a life of your own making. Renew your commitment to God. Repent and place him on that phone and beg him plead with him to do great things in your life. Honestly, and I'm not saying this to sound humble. This is just the truth. Okay. It is already clear and present in this room and it's already happening that God is already doing and is able to do so much more in the lives of you here than he's ever done in my life or any leaders you've ever had this false idea that somehow well, the leaders are on stage and they're somehow special and it's another one of those lies. God longs to use his entire church body to do great things for the kingdom. And honestly some of you could easily and probably much more successfully and again, I'm being honest enough to get fired. So we'll just see what happens. You could probably have a lot more success of opening your heart and Life to God than I do at times.

You see what I'm saying. I could do amazing things in your life. That would just outshine our elders and our staff not saying that to be down here by mentioning Hockey World God Only Works two nuns and Priests and pastors and missionaries. God is longing to do amazing things in your life to change your entire family tree or to change City of Lexington the state of Kentucky the nation of America the world There's no limit to what he can do. The question is will we keep that sort of reoccurring. Recurring repentance in our heart? Keep going to him and say Lord work in my heart. What do I need to get off that phone? And how do I keep putting you on that Throne? Let's not settle for mud pies. Progesta self satisfaction of doing things our way. Let's have to be used by God. That's what he Longs for. There's nothing greater. So during this song as we sing. Are closing song here are him I've invitation if you got a decision to make I'm going to stay up front this morning. Income upfront pray with me make a decision. If you got that on your mind or heart they'll be other folks on the prayer to raise your hand. If you're on the protein this morning Morgan's on the prayer team another prayer team does appraisers. There's three folks will be spread throughout. Susan and Carol be on the prayer team so find a person to pray with if you got prayer on your mind on your heart or if you've got a decision to make and talk to any of those folks who can come talk to me, but sing this song to God. Mean every word of it is your act of worship and repair.