Sunday August 14, 2022

There we go. A conversational relationship with God. And note the subtitle because we we've been doing this for a couple of weeks, loving God, and loving others were, that's the the great Command, right? Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That's what Jesus said was the greatest command and we live and act and Breathe by that. But the second subtitle is recovering, who we were meant to be okay? We were we were created by Creator. God in the garden for relationship with him and boom. Thin Rebellion happened and we were separated from God. But God didn't leave us on our own. He made a plan for us to have a conversational relationship with him. A face-to-face day-by-day, moment-by-moment encounter with the almighty God and how could he do that? Because we know from the word that you cannot see God and live. Meaning you cannot face the full Glory. The reality that Shekinah Glory, the fire of God and, and not be consumed by it. So God had a plan from the very beginning. Even in creation, even in the Rebellion, God had a plan and that was that Jesus Christ would come in the right time. According to Paul, I wish you'd come a lot sooner, but Paul says he came in the right time and that's, that's God. God's plan was coming the right time. And he came in the form of Jesus, who lived and laughed, and loved and ran, and Aid and played. Slept and gathered around him people to whom he could teach like you and me a little handful of people who he that down on the grass on a slope and he taught them. And we're going to actually take a step back today because we're going to look at the Beatitudes again. Matthew 5 1 through 12, but before we do that, I wanted to put up this picture because What we're doing Loops? I have to start my slideshow. Sorry.

so, what we're doing is, We're learning how to be the kind of people. Who are in relationship with God so that what God planned, what Jesus intended for his disciples to be is just a natural outflow, okay? Talk to put it in another way. We're not trying to be busy, people who just do a lot more stuff for God. Okay, we could do that. That's alright. I think that's our kind of our default mode. You know, we have a list of things that we've got to do and if we check all these things, often, we're okay, no matter what our heart is telling us, okay? What Jesus is saying in his word, is he wants us to be the kind of people who are in heart, heart relationship with him. So that all the things that we need to do all the things we should be. Are automatically there. And so this image, I just love the The fact that it has in a love, the Lord, your God, with all your heart and mind, soul and strength, the dates of the tree, the tree receives its energy, its life from Two basic thing, son, which is metamorphosis, that's not the right word. What's when I leave gets the stuff from the sign, I forgot the word photosynthesis photosynthesis that homeschoolers, we have songs for everything. And so, yes, photosynthesis is when the tree receives sunlight and it turns that sunlight into energy but it also has to have another thing called water, right? Which we don't have a whole lot here in SoCal, but the rain which also comes from Heaven. It's a beautiful picture of God's provision of the light and the rain that are received in the branches and the trees, but it goes deep down into the roots. And someone tells us that as we abide in him and his word abides in us, as Jesus says, we will be like A tree planted by a river. Blossoming in All Seasons, right? Cuz that's what that's that's the movement of love. The Lord your God with all your heart mind, soul and strength in them. Love your neighbor as yourself, right? You're embracing others, your your weaving, your lives, your life. Not only with God, but with others and people on your right drawer of your close family and people on your left, your friends or neighbors, even strangers, okay? People around the world and I just did a simple little thing. I took a marker on the computer and I just put across industry because at the center of all, this is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful image of that, loving God and loving each other and love comes through sacrifice giving. So let's move on. Let's take a look again at The Sermon, on the Mount and then I'll explain why we're doing it again. So I'm going to read Matthew 5 verses 1 through 12 from the New Living Translation, okay? Follow along, if you like in your in your version or you can look on the on the board one day as he saw the crowds Gathering, Jesus went up on the mountain side and that down. Now I have said before that, he gathered the crowds. There's some truth to that because his popularity he is cute curiosity. You know, who is this guy? Remember, we talked about John call and lots of people. And lots of people went out of town and went to the river and repent and be baptized and they were baptized, you know change turnaround. Stop sinning was the message John but he was prepare, get ready for something is coming. And so then this other guy Jesus shows up on the scene and This says as the crowds were gathering so they were gathering out to see him and he used that moment to sit them down and teach his disciples gathered around him and he began to teach them saying, God, blesses, those who report and realize their need for him. For the Kingdom of Heaven is there's God blesses, those who mourn for they will be comforted. God, blesses those who are humble for, they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses, those who are hungry and thirst for justice, or righteousness, for they will be satisfied. God, blesses, those who are merciful for, they will be shown mercy God, blesses, those whose hearts are pure for they will see God, God blesses, those who work for peace for they shall be called the children of God. God blesses, those who are persecuted for doing, right? For the Kingdom of Heaven is there's God, blesses, you when people mock you and persecute you and lie to you about you and say all sorts of evil things about you. Because you are my followers, be happy. About it. Be very glad for a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way? Now, remember we, we, we always talk about the both and, and, and the principles you, you can take this and you can turn it upside down. Not literally, but I'm going to go from the bottom starting at verse 10. The Kingdom of Heaven is for those who are persecuted. K9. The people called the children of God are those who work for peace. So see you can you can God blesses, those who but you can also flip it and and 47. Those.

You will be shown Mercy as you show. Mercy. Is the, is the reverse principal, right? Humility, you will inherit the earth as you are humble. Okay. So today, what I want to do, let's look at the summary because we're on a journey. Okay. And I write this summary up every Tuesday, so I can send it to the praise team. So, they'll know where we're going along with an outline. And then I usually put it on the

The website that we have a, we are on a journey. The goal is being like Christ. OK. Google. We want to be like Jesus, okay? We are learning from Jesus how to live our life, as if we were living our life as if he were living our life. And that's a simple, very clear, very definite definition of discipleship. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? We are living. Are we are learning from Jesus how to live our life, as if he were living our life for us or with us. Jesus never did anything apart from the father, his relationship to God. It was always first. He had a conversation. Conversational relationship with his with his father. Jesus told you and me us to remain, or abide in him, and he is our father. So today, we're going to step back into the Beatitudes as we've read, as a framework for better, understanding of the Journey of discipleship, learning to be like Jesus, right? We are going to borrow from celebrate, recoveries eighth principle, They are conveniently presented in the acrostic recover and I'll put I'll go and put that up so you can see it's recover. Okay, there are conveniently put in that but if you count that up that's I think that 7 or 8 and I didn't want to have seven or eight points because you know we've got a limited amount of time and I could talk forever. I mean I could just stay up here and preach all day long. But you guys would eventually get tired of going to go home? Maybe go for lunch but so far our time today hey we're going to cast these the acrostic recovery into three categories. Okay. The other acrostic that we're going to use is SUV and what does SUV stand for? The cars we have a sports utility vehicle, but it's not the sports utility vehicle that we usually used today. We're going to use the SUV acrostic for surrender. Understand and victory. So for a few minutes let sit at the feet of Jesus once again and learn from him how to live in the character and power of God. So Recovery. What does recovery stand for? And we're going to, we're going to have three movements. Basically SUV are the points, right surrender? Understand and victory and then in those will will look more at the what they mean. So there's our surrender, understanding, and victory SUV. So the first one, by the way, if you don't know about Celebrate Recovery, it is a 12-step program for Recovery. That's why it's called Celebrate Recovery. I'm not exactly sure of the years that it was developed, but it's probably about 20 or 30 years ago. A member at Saddleback Johnny, Baker was struggling. He was a businessman and he was basically struggling with his life. He was a successful businessman, but an alcoholic and he had tried to go to AAA and found it to be helpful but AAA talks about your higher power and he was a Believer. And so he went to his pastor at Saddleback on Rick. Warren and said, I I think we need to do something like this and so Rick said, yeah right up a proposal. And so he wrote up this proposal called Celebrate Recovery. Submit it to submitted it to Rick. And Rick said, when he looked over and he said, these are the Beatitudes, this is basically just what the Bible is teaching. And so Celebrate Recovery is a christ-centered recovery program. We offer Celebrate Recovery every Tuesday night here, from 7 basically 7 to 9 and it is a wonderful wonderful place for people to come and we do much what we do in the morning. Here, we worship, we sing some songs. We have a teaching lesson like a message and then we meet in small groups, there's a men's group that meets In the kitchen and there's a lady's group that meets in here. Sometime, we have so many guys that we have to have two different groups and we sit and talk about our hurts Hang-Ups and habits and of course it's a 12-step program. So there are 12 steps that you take, and we're going to reference some of those today, but they're based on the eight principles of recovering, okay? And what I want to do today is, I want you to see that, this is really just good. Discipleship. Okay. Cuz what's discipleship discipleship is becoming a follower of an effective follower of Jesus Christ learning to live my life. Like Jesus would live if he were living my life, right? And so these principles pull straight out of the word and basically, all this is is the word of God and it is put in an order. So I just want to spend some time. So let's take a look at these. We're going to we're going to go through them the first Acrostic for Recovery, Hazard. And it is realized I am not God. Wow. How's that for a place to begin? That cuts straight into everything in this world, every religion in this world, Basically religion is a, a human beings attempt to control life. And so you have an icon of God, an idol, whatever a God that you say, and you, you tell it what you want, okay? So it's just basically your attempt to be God. And so first acrostic realize, I am not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do wrong. Wow. How's that for powerful? I admit. That I am powerless to control my tendency to do wrong wrong thing. Sorry there wasn't. There and that my life is unmanageable because the bottom line is at times and all of our lives, our lives are unmanageable and we just have a hard time.

So what's the point? The point is surrender and I'll kick to the next slide for a minute surrender admit confess.

Repent, turn around consent, surrender to God's sovereignty. Okay? One of the best things, one of the most important things, really, one of the first steps that any of us ever need to do when we come to faith in Christ. When we first hear the good news of the Gospel, based on the bad news that we are out of relationship with God is confessed, I need you, Lord know, I confess that I am a sinner and the arm recovery basically says, I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do wrong things and that my life is unmanageable and this is taking straight out of Matthew. 5 verse 3. Happy are those who know that they are spiritually. Poor. Blessed are the people who will say, I don't have it all together. God, I need your help. I'm asking you to help me and, you know, as I've as I've been working through this since I've been praying and thinking and processing all of the stuff that the Lord is doing in my life. Yes, we believe that theologically, the study of God theology is the study of God, understanding the word of God, there is a moment in time. It came for me on May 16th 1971. I was a little boy sitting, probably on the second or third Pew and a little Baptist Church in Penrose Colorado and something touched. My heart in the message, and I realized I'm a sinner. I do wrong things and Lord. I'm sorry. Please forgive me, like, I get it. I understand that I need to confess to you. And I need to say that you are my God. And so, I got up during the invitation time and I walked forward. And I talked to the pastor and I said, I'm ready to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. That was 57 years ago. No, 58. No, I was driving. So it's 50 years ago, 51 years ago now, but that was not the end that was really just the beginning. That's the first step of stepping out and realizing that I'm not God, that I need his work in my life because in order, for me, to become an effective follower of Jesus Christ, I need to confess every day. Moment-by-moment when I'm driving the big amazon truck and somebody cuts me off and I okay Lord I give everyone and everything to you. I Surrender because you love that person and you want me to love that person. So I try this, this happens regularly during my week. Okay let's move to the second one stand for earnestly. Believe that God exists that I mattered to him and that he has the power to help me recover. Very simple, very basic. You have to acknowledge that God is God, that he is, Sovereign that he controls all of the universe, okay? That he exists that I matter to him. I think that's probably one of the most difficult things in our lives. For us to truly believe that we are who God says. We are, you know that song? I am who you say? I am, right? I'm like, Popeye I am who you say I am. I'm a prince. I'm a child. I'm forgiven, I'm redeemed. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The struggle of my life has been believing that because in my eye Dollar Tree in my putting myself to be the most important person in the universe. Yeah. God forgave me my sins and I came to faith in Christ. Yes. Yes. I know that happened a long time ago. But God really can't love me because if you really knew who I was, he couldn't love me. How foolish is that? Really think that cuz ain't got it and he knows everything. Anyway. Right? So believing accepting receiving who God says you are you are forgiven, you are redeemed, you are as precious child. You are so important to God that He sent Jesus his own son to die on the cross for your sins. That's how much God loves you. And that is good news and that the very second principle that speaks to the second beatitude happy, are those who mourn for they shall be comforted the fact that I understand who God is and How wicked and evil my sin is. but, I've been washed by the blood of the Lamb. I am free. We sing the sound. My chains are gone. I've been set free, right? We are in Christ. We are forgiven and earnestly believe in the God exists that I matter to him. And now he has the power to help me if I will just surrender. And if we spend too much time on each of these points, we're never going to get through this selfie is consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ care and control. Happier the meet those who consciously make a choice to commit, all of my life. I give everyone and everything to you, simply stated to Christ care and control and then o stands for openly, examine and confess my faults to myself, to God. And to someone I trust. And this one's important because I think we don't have much of a problem and confessing to God. I mean that you leave at least at least I didn't, you know, I would daily confess, you know, Lord, I screwed up again. I messed up, I need you to forgive me. But confessing my sins to others piece scary. But there is freedom because James tells us confess your sins to one. Another. Why? So that there will be healing. There is healing when you and I confess our sins to one another and Honestly guys, it's just being real. It's being transparent. You know, I am who I am. I'm a broken person. I mess up. I do dumb things and I need to ask God's forgiveness. I need to confess to him. I need to tell you guys, I mess up. I do some really silly things. Sometimes and confessing to someone I trust being in a an accountability relationship with other humans is what Jesus planned, right? Look at what Jesus did. He surrounded himself with a group of people and he taught them how to walk and live and breathe and eat and and and live in the life but they did it in groups. They did it in small pockets of people. Okay and confessing our sins one to another so that there may be healing is most Best done. Intimately in a small group with someone, you can share your heart with people that you can be real with. Okay, so this goes along with happy are the pure in heart. So let's move on the surrender. Again, surrender submit, repent, these are all

Words that are similar to turn around which is what the word. Repent means, it means to just stop going the way. You're going turn around. I'm confess consent surrender to the God's sovereignty, surrender to my lack of ability, to accomplish anything. On my own other dependents about God, I need you every hour. I need you, every moment. Surrendering our need for control of our circumstances of others of everything out of my ability to control note. The only thing I can control is my mind and I even need help with that. So, let's move forward, Romans 8.

Sorry, Romans 10:8. And I'm going to, I want to read this to you. It's up there on on there, but I'm going to read from the work. Now, this week, I was reading this with my phone and I left. I usually take these out on the, on the PowerPoint because there's this little Dee here, but on my phone, when you touch that D, it actually takes you to, to Deuteronomy. Okay, so this is Romans chapter 10 and Paul is making a point and I want to, I want to go to from the beginning. I'm going to read from 10 on that, but Imma do it quickly because of time, dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart. And my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be safe. I could take this and I could say, brothers and sisters. The longing of my heart and prayer to God is for the people of C-4 to be sanctified. Continually to be safe, Paul continues. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it's misdirected selfies of the Jews right before they don't understand God's way of making right with himself. That's the key phrase, God's way of making right people, right? With himself recusing accept God's way they claim to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. Just trying to work harder to do. The right thing for Christ is already, the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, those who believe in him are made right with God. So here's where we pick up for, Moses rights, the law that the laws ways of making a person right with God requires obedience to his commands, but face way. So he's, he's comparing the laws ways with faith way. But faith faith way of getting right with. God says, don't say. And your heart is go up to heaven or bring price down and don't say who will go down to the place of the Dead to bring Christ back to life again. In fact, it says and here's the Point that I want you to hear. The message is very close at hand. It is on your lips and in your heart to let stop there and move to Deuteronomy 30 12 to 14. If you touch the little D on your phone it is not kept in heaven. So distant that you must ask who will go to heaven or who will bring it down, so you can hear it on and Obey. It is not kept Beyond the Sea, so far that you must ask, who will cross the sea to bring us so that we can hear it and Obey. No, verse 14 and Deuteronomy 35th know, the message is very close at hand. It is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. Paul was pulling from what Jesus dead. What John was teaching. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, goes back to Deuteronomy the teaching of of God and his plan for time. So look again it, Romans 10. I will pick up at the last part of eight and the message is this very message about faith that we preach Paul the same if you openly, declare, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved for his by, believe in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. So remember a few weeks ago, we practice sharing our faith with people do the Romans road, the Roman Road, right? Basically, Romans 3:23 Romans 6:23 Romans 10, 9 and 10, and another romance that I just went blank on but this is it if you confess with your heart and I'll put it in my memorized it in the old old version. So I'll just write it if you openly declare confess, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are safe. So it's both believing and confessing and for our point today, what, what we're talking about is confessing everyday, every moment I need you. Okay, and we're putting it in the framework, so I'm moving on. We're putting in an in the framework of Celebrate Recovery. Well, I don't know if you guys know. Oops, I went the wrong one, the prayer of Serenity, the Serenity Prayer. I put prayer of surrender up there but the Serenity Prayer is spoken. At the end of every Celebrate Recovery meeting. And by the way, Celebrate Recovery has taken off. And there are millions and millions of people all over the world who are on a Friday night or Tuesday night gathering together for celebrate recovery. And at the end of every large group meeting, they say this prayer, Our years ago, I had heard the first part, but I didn't know. I had not heard the entire thing until a few years ago. So I would invite you to stand, And to say this prayer with me, we're going to recite it as a group. So, pleased and And the Serenity Prayer says, God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, living one day, at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace. Taking as Jesus did this sinful world as it is not as I would have it, trusting that you will make all things right? If I surrender to your will. So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next amen. Please be seated. So

One day at a time, one moment at a time, trusting that God has a plan and that plan may very well be pain or suffering is the pathway to peace. Okay, so let's move to the next one recovery or recovery the v stands for voluntary submit to any and all changes. God wants to make in my life and humbly ask him to remove remove my character defaults. This is taken from Matthew 5:6. Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires this is talking about the continual work of the Lord in our life. And just like the very first principle is is surrender is Confess to admit turn around to repent. This is talking about consistently voluntarily. Consenting to the Deep excavation that the Lord has in our lives. Each and every one of us has a lot of stuff to work on. That's just a reality, okay. When the perfect person in the room, please stand up. I need to sit down, right cuz I'm not perfect, you're not perfect. None of us is perfect, Even in our older ages. The Lord still has work to do. So I guess the the phrase you can't teach an old person New Tricks God can teach an old person New Tricks, right? He's continually at work until the moment we meet him face-to-face. God is going to be continually at work and us so I'll park. What's the V stand for in voluntarily, right? All to Jesus. I surrender all to him. I freely, give I'm asking you father today. This moment to work in my life, I'm committing submitting to any and all changes that you want to make in my life. That is a great place to be because that's a repentant heart, that's a heart. Who wants to see growth and change. Theologically, that's called the process of sanctification, okay? Simply stated that's just learning to be more like Jesus, voluntary, submitting to everything that God wants to do in my life stands for evaluate. All my relationships, offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harms. I have done to others when possible except when to do. So would harm them or others? And these are taken from Matthew 5 7 and 9. Happy are the merciful and happier the peacemakers. Now this is hard because I celebrate recovery. Takes you through a 12-step process. Step four is you write down, basically your timeline and you write everybody in your life who has hurt you or whom you have experienced pain with or you know whom you have hurt. And so it's it's a process of evaluating all my relationships. And offering forgiveness to those who have hurt me. And again there are lots of pissy little things that we hear over the years. You know, the only the only thing that unforgiveness hurts as you. So it's dry. It's like drinking poison in and they expecting the other person to be hurt, right? Forgiveness, just destroys us, the lack of forgiveness, letting the lack of forgiving others destroys us and not the other person. So even people who are long gone like my parents, I still have to continually when I have a memory of a pain or hurt, I have to stop and say, you know what? Father I forgive them. For the ways that they hurt me for the things that they did to me or to my family. And Lord, I forgive them and it's the process of receiving his forgiveness, for me. And because I'm receiving it, and I'm accepting it. I'm taking it into my life. I'm just being a conduit through which his forgiveness can go to others. Remember, we talked about this before about the, the fruit of the spirit and about the Spiritual armor, right? It's his fruit. The fruit of the spirit is love, and joy, and peace and patience. Kindness goodness, gentleness maintenance and self-control. I cannot facilitate create those on my own. I need it, receive them in order to give them. Forgiveness has the same way. If I don't receive his forgiveness, I can't forgive others fully. Okay, that's very deep. Because remember, we go back to the point to where if I think I'm the most important person in the world. And yeah, God can forgive others, but he can't forgive me because he doesn't know how bad I am. Then I'm not receiving God's forgiveness, and if I don't receive God's forgiveness, it's really, really hard for me to forgive others. So I'm the kind of person who is not easily forgiving, right? And we don't want to be that. We want to be the kind of people who Grace Just flows through. It's a constant, I mean, I'm giving Grace to everybody on the 91 and everybody on the 70. Is it 71 or 75? Yeah, so I'm giving Grace to everybody all the time. That's my desire. Okay. Moving on. The second point is understand. This is so. Important is for you and me to understand, first of all, who God is. Cuz if we truly understand who God is, We're just blown away. I mean his his awesomeness is beauty the depth of his love. The most benevolent, kind loving being in all of the universe is our Papa Right, he loves us and not only understanding who God is, but who you? And I are in Christ. I mean Jesus Is Our Big Brother. And he went before us and he paved the way and all he's saying all he saying, come after me, follow me. Do what I did learn to love the way that I left and yeah, it's hard. I mean, this is not easy. Sanctification is this walk with Christ is not easy. This world is not an easy place to live. We live in a really broken place. But if we understand who God is and who we are in Christ, who we are as his children, then we can continually begin and and understand I'm weak. My role is just simply to trust to yield first point to surrender. And then I begin to understand really understand what faith and hope and love. Truly are Okay, so Cement and evaluate. Just put some scriptures up here for us to look at, as we are surrendering as we are submitting, as we are evaluating Our Lives. James 4:10 teaches us to Humble ourselves before the Lord, and He will lift us up. He or he will honor us 1st John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful. And just to forgive us, our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. One of the most beautiful passages of sharing with others Luke 6:31, do to others as you would have them to you, do to you talking about forgiveness. And if you want to be forgiven, if you want to truly understand and receive God's forgiveness for you, it's incumbent upon us to forgive others. I'm, we forgive the way we accept forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 instead be kind to each other tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Just as God through Christ, has forgiven you. And these are one of the one another. She know there are tons and tons of one another's in the New Testament that we practice. So here's a prayer of Union and we prayed this a couple months ago and I wanted to put it up here again. Because as we understand who we are in God, I want us to pray this prayer. So you may read visual along you raped me. Read out loud with me along, let's pray this prayer. Father Jesus, Holy Spirit, we need you to heal our Union. Heal our Union Lord, we give ourselves to you abiding with you in everything. We pray for Union and we pray for one heart and mind. We present our entire being to you to be planted in you. We invite your healing love and presence into the things that I've hurt our Union. We invite your spirit into the places where our Union has been assaulted come and he left here cleanse, these places with your blood dear Jesus. Let your blood wash all wounding wash away evil cleanse. Every form of trauma in us. Bring your love here. Lord, we invite the river of your life to bring healing. Here we pray your glory with heal. Our Union, may your living water come into the harm and damage and restore our Union. We pray to be one heart and mind again, one life, one, complete Union. Heal, our Union God restore and renew our Union. We pray for a deeper Union with you. A deeper and more complete one restore, our Union in Jesus name. so I'd like for you to close your eyes, bow your head, if you want, just relax, And let's take a minute. Or two. To sit.

I love God. Receive his love.

Understand. Try to understand who I am in Christ.

Just spend a few moments loving Jesus.

Father, we love you, we worship you. We bow before you, we receive your forgiveness. Your love, your compassion, your mercy, and your grace Lord, let your love your compassion, your tenderness your heart over low in us, and through us and around us.

Then we are your children. And as we surrender to you, You give us everything that we need according to your riches and glory Lord. We have no want. We have no need other than you. We have no fear because you are with us. You provide for us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your grace in Jesus name. Amen.

Okay, let's move to the third point in recovery. Are the second R stands for Reserve at Daily time with God, for self-examination Bible reading and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow his will, and these are equivalent to steps 10 and 11. In the, in the 12-step process, this is simply talking about the spiritual disciplines and I've got a slide to put those up here in a minute. But just putting first things first, spending time with God, just taking A few moments out of our day. And it's, it's really a biblical. Principal Sabbath is 1/7 of our week is to be resting to be not doing our work. I'm really not doing anything just resting in the Lord. And really, it's, it's, it's kind of, like, money and time. It's all God, I mean, everything that you and I have every moment, every dollar is from God, and it's all his okay, we just give back a small portion of it, but really, it's all his and he allows us to keep, you know, 90% of the money and he gives us 24/7 of the time. So a simple principle of of what 10% of my day. Now, I I have to divide it because I sleep for 8 hours so that kind of doesn't count, but, you know, 16 hours of the of the waking day. What's 10% of 16 hours, right? I giving him that time of my day and my focusing on him and I am I listening to him and letting him speak to me. So the principal is just calling us to continue discipleship of spending time in his word spending time in prayer, spending time and fellowship. Praying with one, another worshiping with one another. Okay. And then the last one. Why is yield myself to be to God? To be used to bring this good news to others, both by my example, and by my words and taken from Matthew 510. Happy are those who are persecuted for they do for they do what God requires. This is basically the mission of God built into the recovery program, is what you learn here in church. What people? Learn on Tuesday night or Friday night in recovery. They take two others. You just tell people, hey, you got hurts Hang-Ups and habits, I get it. So do I? And I, I've got a way that you Dil khile with those hurts Hang-Ups and habits come with me to celebrate recovery or come with me to church or let me share with you. The good news of Jesus Christ. OK, Google is playing with it. We wouldn't keep this good news to ourselves. It's that we would take it out to the rest of the world. And again, remember your you're listening to a missionary. So the third point in that we're going to do in our SUV is victory, victory is receiving his forgiveness, his mercy and his grace, it's giving to myself and others, his forgiveness, his mercy and his grace and its living in Victory and freedom from our Lord. Jesus Christ, what he has purchased, and what he has given for us. So Victory in Jesus, we have everything that we need for life and for godliness, and for abundance, Peter teaches us. And I did want to put up the daily Kansan. Operation, consenting and participation. So once again, I just listed the spiritual disciplines, these is not a complete list. Again the ones on your left are the active things that we do Bible, reading, worship, prayer, friendship, deep friendship, right? Personal reflection. I went 8-4. Soul friendship. It's more accountability, you know, to whom, am I deeply accountable for my life? And my walk in my action. Who am I praying deeply for, right? It's not just a, it's not just a receiving. The disciplines, are both receiving on getting so whose life a, my impacted with the good news, you know, who am? I sharing deeply with service, and then the ones on on your ride or are the disciplines of inaction, okay? Solitude silence fasting, Sabbath resting secrecy, not sharing, you know, everything that I do bragging is the opposite of it, right? And then some Surrendering to the sovereignty in the authority of God. And one another, the Bible teaches us to submit to one another right in, in brotherly and sisterly, love okay. Submitting to one another meaning, God speaks to you and through you to me and I receive that. I mean he says things to you, you have spiritual gifts that I don't have and I can't do this all alone. I need you and you need me and together, we're the body of Christ. So the last one, the last one is a prayer of Victory. Now, this is rather long it's to sell. So I'm going to read these two cells and then at the end, I'm just going to call us to a time of Silent prayer. And then after a few minutes of that silent prayer to where you, and I are sitting Receiving surrendering understanding who God is and celebrating the victory that we have in Christ. After a few minutes of of Silent prayer on your part, I'll call us back to prayer and will will end our service. So join me, you you're welcome to read along. You can speak along with you want, but our prayer Victory today is dear father, we give our life to you, to be filled with you restore this frail branch in full Union with Jesus who is the vine restore, our full Union with Christ and with you we returned to you. Our body Soul and Spirit heart mind and will we return fully to the source of life? May we be one with you, even, as Jesus was one with you, let your life flow through us and flow and flow throughout this day old life live in to us, Encompass Us in all that. We are well up within us, owes spring of life, let your River flow through our heart soul, mind and strength. You are the God who gives life to the dead. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living with us, and you are living in us. He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to our body, through his Spirit who lives in US. O, God feel us with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ in our body, Soul, and Spirit. For it. Is Christ in US. That is our hope of glory. It is the triumphant life of Jesus Christ that we that has become our life. We live by him. We rain in life through you. Jesus by your life Christ. In us for, if we were your enemy, we have been reconciled to you through the death of your son. How much more having been reconciled shall we be saved through your life? We announced that the law of the spirit of life in Christ, Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. We consecrate our life, fully to the Lord. Jesus Christ to be a vessel of his triumphant life. We take our place in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in his life, for we have been raised with Christ to New Life. We present our life to you. Jesus to be filled with your life. We choose to live by the strength of Jesus Christ. And by his mighty life in Jesus Victorious, name, all men, let's have a few minutes of Silent prayer.

Lord Jesus in these moments, we Stop.

We stand. We sent we rest in your victory. You are the king of kings, Lord, of lords. You threw your work on the cross and in your debt if you conquered sin and you conquered death and Euro's Victorious to life again, you are alive. you are active your Holy Spirit, the one whom you promised our paraclete our comforter Is with us, in our midst, living in our lives. Speaking to us, We open our hearts. We open our ears. We open our minds. and we ask you, To do your work, as we surrender to you as we submit as we repent, as we can fast as we turn around.

we choose to walk with you understanding who you father are and who you made us to be the plan. You have long ago before this world was created us. You knew us when we were being formed in our mother's womb and you had every day planned and yes, we can fast. We admit, we live in a broken world and we can fast that we often times fail because we are flawed, we are broken people in a broken world, but we can fast that we need you, we need you this morning, we need you in the next moments. We need you throughout this day and every day that you give us to draw breath May. Every breath we take. Every thought we have to be for your glory to praise you too. Love you to receive your love and in turn. Spread your love to others. But thank you for the opportunities that we have to tell people about you to show people grace and mercy forgiveness, and your truth or work in amazing ways. We are simply your children. Your disciples, your followers, your servants. Use us as we go and spend our time this week or allow us to give a little bit of it back. Take our lives as Living Sacrifice, take our money, take our time, take our hearts, we give you our families or friends are work or school really. Father. We give everyone and everything to you because you are the king. It's all about you God. And I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.