Keep an Eternal Perspective Dr. Tony Evans Jesus Christ speaks to why having a future perspective, an eternal perspective, is absolutely critical for your earthly life now, so Jesus wanted to explain to his disciples, both then and now, both there and here, how they were to function during this interim period between the King leaving and the King returning. During this time of rejection, he wanted to teach them how to live now in light of his return. Since he has not yet returned, we are in this period of time between his first coming and his second coming, and so the story, the parable, applies to you and me. Jesus says that a nobleman was going away, referring to himself, and he called ten of his servants, and he told his servants, "I'm leaving, but I want to give each of you ten minas". A mina is an amount of money. He says, "I'm gonna give you each ten minas during my absence and during the time I'm not here, your job is to do business till I return. That's your job in this gap between my first coming and second coming," in our case between our salvation and our trip to heaven. "I'm going to give you ten minas, and I want you to do business till I come. So, during this time when you are waiting for me to return, I don't want you to be passive. I don't want you to be aimless. I want you to get some business done until I come". And so, he calls the servants, and it says he gave each of them ten minas. In Matthew 25, verses 14 and following, Jesus tells a similar story, but with a different twist, because in Matthew 25 when he tells the story, everybody got something different. They didn't get the same amount as in this story, so let me explain. He leaves each of them ten minas, and he uses the money to talk about something bigger than money. It's he uses minas, but he's talking about something bigger. He's talking about life. All of us have three of the same things. Everybody here has three of the very same things. What we don't have is what he talks about in Matthew 25, the same amount of the same things. We all have the same things, but we don't have it to the same degree. The first thing that all of us have is time. Now, we don't have the same amount of time. We're not all gonna live to the same age, but we all have time because we're are alive. With time, time from a kingdom point of view, because the nobleman went away to get a kingdom. The time in the kingdom perspective is a boundary in which opportunities exist. So, within this thing called tick-tock, tick-tock, time, is opportunity, because you use your time to do things, to accomplish things. The second thing all of us have are talents. We have varying abilities. We don't have the same talents, but we've all been given capacity to do things for the King and for his kingdom, since the parable is about the king going to get a kingdom. We don't all have the same abilities, we don't all do the same thing, but we all have some capacity to serve the King and the kingdom. The third thing that all of us have are varying degrees of treasures, resources. Everybody doesn't make the same thing, everybody doesn't have the same amount, but we all have some level of resource. So, you all have time, we all have talents, we all have varying amounts of treasures, but we're not all equally valuable to the kingdom when it comes to doing business till he comes. We're valuable as people, but he's not talking about our value as people. All ten were servants. All ten belonged to the nobleman. All ten belonged to the master, and he says, "Do business till I come" See, a lot of us are asking God to do business that he's waiting on us to get done. Any time in history that he wants to use, means he must borrow that time from you. Any talent in history that God wants to use, means he must borrow that talent from you. Any treasure that he wants to use in history, he must borrow that treasure from you. That's why all through the Bible he must find a person, pick a person, and use a person because he's entrusted with a person the minas, the time, the talents, and the treasures for what he wants to get done in his absence until he comes back, and he is banking on you because of what he left behind to you: time, talents, and treasures. Not the same amount, but the same categories in varying degrees. He says you are to do business until the nobleman in the story, the king, returns. That you and I are stewards of what we have been left with while we live here since salvation and the job of a steward is to protect and expand the assets of another. The job of a steward is to protect and expand the assets of another, and so, God is expecting that your life (time, talents, and treasures), will protect and expand his kingdom purposes. The nobleman, Jesus, returns and all of those who are his followers are called to him, and his question is, "What did you do with the time, the talents, and the treasures that I left you with during my absence, that I told you to do business for me while I'm gone"? The question on that day is not what did you do for you? The question on that day is, "What did you do," as you'll see in a moment, "with what was mine on loan to you"? While the King is gone, he has left everyone in this room who has accepted Jesus Christ a remaining amount of time, spiritually endowed talent, and a certain amount of resources, but all the same category, and he says, "Do business". And then, he returned, and he wanted to know what kinda business did you do? This is called, in 1 Corinthians 3, the judgment seat of Christ, when he will evaluate, "What kind of business did you do for me and the advancement of my kingdom that benefited others for which I got the glory"? "The first appeared, saying, 'Master, your mina has made ten minas more.' And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are going to be in authority over ten cities.'" Ooh, ooh. When the master, the king, came back, he called the first guy. He said, "Now, I gave you ten minas. Show me what you got". He says, "Master, you gave me ten, and I made ten more. In other words, master, there's a hundred percent return. I'm not just giving you back what you gave. I'm doubling what you gave me and here is ten more. I expanded what you gave me". The response of the master was accolades. "Well done, my good and faithful servant. I am going to put you over ten cities". Please notice something. The reward was consistent with the expansion. Heaven is participating in God's rule and being given responsibilities commensurate with your investment of your life during this interim period. We're told next that the second guy comes, and the second guy says, "Master, your mina, master, has made five minas". My greatest concern is that you are a Christian and know of your salvation. Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place, as your substitute, to pay for your sins in order to give you eternal life. He has to give it away. It can't be earned, so if you will go to Jesus Christ now, acknowledge your need for a Savior because you recognize you are a sinner, and then place your trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and for the gift of eternal life, he will grant that to you right here, right now. Go to him and simply say, "Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I recognize I need a Savior. I'm trusting you alone to be that Savior. Enter my life now. Cleanse me, forgive me, and give me the eternal life you promised". Do that, and you're on your way to heaven". "I had 50% increase". You got five. "I didn't get ten like the first guy. I got five". The master says, "You are over five cities". Notice what he didn't say: well done. He only said well done to the first guy 'cause the first guy maximized the opportunities. Second guy was half-stepping. He doesn't get a well done. In other words, he could have done more, but he didn't. He was 50% there, and so, he did not get accolades. It's like a person at work who goes over and above and the person at work who just does the basics, but he does get recognition in terms of the reward. He gets five cities. Note that is commensurate with his action, and so he comes, and he holds account these two, but then we're introduced to homeboy number three. "Another came, saying, 'Master'". Oh, now he talking right. I mean, he talking right. He's talking like a committed follower. He says, "Master," like folk in church hollering out "Jesus". You sound good. "Master," his terminology was accurate, "here is your mina," here is what you left me, "which I kept put away in a handkerchief," 'cause I was scared. He says, "I was afraid, because you are an exacting man; you take what you did not lay down and you reap what you did not sow". In other words, you're hard to please. I was just concerned about not losing it. I was playing defense. I was concerned about not losing it. He said to him in verse 22, "By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Do you know that I am an exacting man," did you know that I'm an exacting man, "taking up what I did not lay down, reaping where I did not sow? Then why did you not put my money in the bank," at least I would have collected some interest. You worthless slave. You call me master, but it hasn't changed anything you do. It hasn't changed any of your priorities. There is still no time, talents, or treasures used for me, my kingdom, my name, and the good of others, but you call me master. Your theology has not affected your activity and that has made you valueless to my kingdom. Bible speaks about a hundredfold repayment, so those of you who are here today and you're living the best Christian life you know how, you're giving your time, your talents, and your treasures for God's kingdom, and it's not been fair to you, it's not been right by you, guess what God says? I think it's in Matthew chapter 5, around verse 11. He says when you're having to pay a price for doing right, notice what he says, he says rejoice. "Wait a minute. How am I gonna rejoice when I'm not being treated right"? He said because your reward is rich. He gives us some things now, but he's talking about the big payday. He says, "You worthless slave, you wouldn't even go to a bank". Now, why wouldn't he at least put it in the bank? 'Cause the bank keeps records, so when you deposit in the bank there's a record. He puts it in a handkerchief 'cause he does not want a record. He does not want a record of where this mina is. Why not? "In case the king doesn't come back, I still got my mina. I still got my time. I still got my talent. I can live my life the way I wanna live it". "I left you here, and you were absolutely of no value to me. There were people I wanted you to touch, lives I wanted you to change. There was ministry I wanted you to do. I had a plan for your life and all I heard from you was, 'Bless me. Bless me. Bless me. Now bless me. Bless me.'" Highly favored. Blessed and highly favored. He says, "You worthless slave". So, what are we gonna do with him, Lord? He says in verse 24, "Tell the bystanders to take the minas away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas". Mm, mm. "Tell the bystanders," so this is everybody watching your conversation with Jesus. This is all the other Christian friends that you knew who are looking at your evaluation and your accountability and watching Jesus call you worthless, and then, "Take his minas and let's give a bonus to the one who did ten. We're gonna give him a bonus, see"? Cause there are a few people here who not only gonna get the ten minas, they're gonna get the bonus, and the bonus will be God taking from you and giving to them so that you wind up in heaven with less. You don't even wind up with what you started with 'cause he's gonna take that mina that you used for nothing and hand it to somebody who went all out for the kingdom and for eternity. What's the principle? What's the principle? He gives the principle in verse... the people say, "But, master, the guy already has ten. He says, 'Well, let me tell you the principle. I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.'" You don't get credit just for being a servant. You're saved by grace. You don't get credit for that. That's all of God, so you don't get credit for being a Christian. You get credit for serving the Master and using the time and the talents and the treasures that he has entrusted to you for his glory, to advance his kingdom for the benefit of others to his glory. That's what he credits. You don't get credit for going to church. You don't get credit for saying, "I accepted Jesus when I was ten years old". He says, "You accepted me when you were ten. You're now 70. Let's discuss 60 years of time that I gave you, of talents that I gave you, of treasures that I gave you over that 60-year period of time. Let's talk about that". Yeah, you get heaven because you're saved, but you get rewarded because you're a servant, so there's gonna be a lot of transfer of wealth in heaven. See, this story, the guy didn't take the king seriously. They didn't live in light of his return. He didn't live in light of his return. God wants every day that you give, get up, I get up, and we all fall short in this. Me, too, but as a pattern he wants when we get up in the morning to live in light of his return. That because it could be today the question that you and I have to ask when we get up in the morning is simply this: "God, what eternal difference do you want me to make today"? Some days they'll be minuscule, other days they'll be huge, but it's being available. "Lord, if you wanna borrow some of your time you loaned me, if you wanna borrow some of your talents you loaned me, if you wanna borrow some of your treasure you loaned me, then I am available today not just to ask you to bless me. I'm available today for you to work through me to be a blessing to others and to build my account for glory". But he says if you'll invest in eternity while you're in time, you gain so much more, but I hear what you are saying. You're saying, "But wait a minute. At least I'm in heaven". Let me explain something. Heaven is not an equal-opportunity experience. Everybody who's in heaven doesn't experience the same amount of heaven. That's why the Bible talks about loss of reward. I don't like squash. I call it the unholy vegetables. I don't like squash, nor its cousin okra, okay? I don't like squash, but suppose you told me, "Evans, I wanna make a deal with you". I'll say, "Okay, what's the deal"? "I know you don't like squash, but I'll tell you what. If you will eat squash for a year for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for a year for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, three meals a day of squash, I will pay all your bills for the rest of your life". My view of squash has greatly changed. I'll never look at squash the way I used to look at it again, because the reward for the inconvenience is so much bigger. The reward for the inconvenience is so much greater. What God says, "If I can get you to see the eternal perspective, the reward for the inconvenience is gonna be so much greater if you live this life with that life in mind". You have two choices with your life. I have two choices with mine. We can spend our lives or we can invest them. Now, when you spend your life you're just taking what you have and putting it out there without a beneficial return necessarily, but something you may even need or want. When you invest it, that makes you future oriented. You invest for a return later. Far too many people, even Christians, are spending their lives, not investing them. They're not looking for the long-term payoff. They're looking for the short-term experience. Well, it's okay to spend some of which you have, but when you spend all of what you have, you wind up with nothing in retirement and, you know, you've not taken into consideration the years that are to come. And that's what kids do. They just wanna spend it all now 'cause they're not thinking about what the future holds, but when you mature, that's gonna make you think about how you're going to invest what you have, not just get rid of it for momentary pleasure and excitement. When it comes to your life and my life, become an investor, not live as a spender. Ask the question, "How will what I do now, think now, say now, how I act now will inform the years to come and my eternal state"? We only have one life to live. It's like a coin. You can spend it any way you want, but you can only spend it once. This one life that you have and whatever of it you have left, spend it the right way by becoming an investor for the future, not just a spender for the present. Preached at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. www.sermons.love

Mirrors come in all sizes and shapes. Sometimes it’s a prophet who helps us see the blind spots in our lives. Sometimes it’s an epiphany that pulls back the veil and reveals the glory of God in new ways. But the greatest mirror, the mirror that gives us the truest reflection of ourselves, is Scripture. The best form of self-examination is simply reading Scripture. Or maybe I should say, meditating on Scripture. After all, the Bible wasn’t meant to be read. It was meant to be meditated upon. And Psalm 51 is the quintessential example. You can’t just read it with your mind. You’ve got to feel it with your heart. And the way you feel it is by putting yourself in David’s sandals. The best way to identify with his guilt is by identifying your own guilt. Some truths can’t be accessed by left-brain logic. They are only unlocked in your heart of hearts. And that requires more than a glance in the mirror. Just as you study yourself in the mirror before an important date or important meeting (and I know you do), you have to meditate on the reflection you see. The book of James likens the Bible to a mirror. Meditating on it is the way we can get an accurate picture of who we are. And it not only reveals the sin in our lives. It also reveals the image of God in us. As we meditate on the Bible, the picture of who we are in Christ develops like a Polaroid print. When I was a kid, our family used to frequent a restaurant called White Fence Farm. There was always a wait, but I didn’t mind because the waiting room was like an amusement park. They had games to play. They had a car museum. And there were crazy mirrors, like at carnivals, that would distort your face and figure. I’d spend fifteen minutes contorting myself into every shape imaginable. In a sense, every mirror is a crazy mirror except Scripture. Scripture is the only perfect mirror because it reveals how our Designer sees us. Most of our identity problems are the result of looking in the wrong mirrors. For many, culture is the only mirror they consult. They allow culture to define them in terms of what is right or wrong, good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable. For others, their primary mirror is the opinion of other people. And those mirrors, no matter how well meaning those people are, will always result in a distorted image. The only perfect mirror is Scripture. And the more you read it, the more you will reflect God. Why? Because the Bible is where God is revealed. We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  (2 Cor. 3:18) If you want to discover your soulprint, you’ve got to begin and end with Scripture. If you aren’t reading your Bible as much as you could or should, you’ll have identity issues. And let me go out on a limb. If you aren’t reading your Bible like you could or should, it’s probably because of some sin issue in your life. You don’t want to look in the mirror because it’s convicting. You’d rather ignore the diagnosis. But if you ignore it, it’ll get worse. And the Bible is more than an MRI that reveals what’s wrong. It’s also the best preventative medicine. It’s not only the best cure for identity problems. It’s also the best prevention. www.markbatterson.com.

Are you over 40, nearing 40 or on your way to 40, then you are part of the Caleb Generation. Caleb, on the brink of the promise land, at 85 years old said, "I was 45 years old when God sent me to survey the land...and here I am 85 years old and I'm still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now, give me my mountain." In the Caleb Generation series, you will be inspired to keep going on for God with a youthful, Caleb-like spirit. This teaching candidly and insightfully explores what it means to be part of the Caleb Generation in the 21st Century. Most importantly, it expresses, that those in the Caleb Generation must realize their day is not over. They must keep on playing and keep on fighting because they give faith and courage to the next generation through their wisdom and encouragement. Transcript Let's all go to Joshua chapter 14, verse 6. Everybody say Joshua. Look at what the Bible says here. We're going to read. I am starting a new series and it is called the "Caleb Generation." It says in verse 6, the men of Judah approached Joshua in GilGal. "'You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went out with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. So on that day Moses swore to me, 'the land which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.' 'Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five more years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I am just as vigorous'" everybody say just as vigorous "'to go out to battle now as I was then.'" Now give me my mountain. "'Give me this hill country that the Lord has promised me. You yourself heard that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, with the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.'" What an amazing passage of scripture here. We read about a man whose name is Caleb and Caleb was forty when Moses sent Joshua and Caleb out to spy out the lands. Is that right? We know they wondered in the desert for forty years and now they are on the verge of break through and Moses sends Joshua and Caleb. I want you to notice that Caleb in this text is talking to Joshua. Moses does not exist anymore but Joshua is the leader. And he says Joshua, you yourself know that when I was forty you and I, along with others, were sent out to spy out the lands but when I brought back a report according to my convictions but my brothers who came with me made the people's hearts melt with fear. So back out in the desert, another forty-five years and now we are coming back in forty-five years later. And here Caleb says I am as strong now as I was when I was forty. How many believe in God for that kind of strength in your life? I am just as vigorous and ready and willing and able to go to battle now as when I was forty. So I want to speak to our church about a Caleb Generation. I wonder how many people here this morning are over the age of forty. Could I just see your hand for a moment here? Do not be afraid. It is ok. You are in good company. I am over forty. Praise the Lord. I want to speak to the Caleb Generation. Cal was reminding me several years ago it was when Cal first really came on team here as he came back from Bible college and he came in as an intern. And on two occasions, once when we were in a pastor's conference and one of the pastors was dissing Cal because of his tattoos and because of his long hair and because of his earrings. And the pastor just basically really insulted Cal. I would not repeat publically what he said. You would not think a pastor would say it. And then another time, right here in Wave Church somebody walked up to Cal and said, now that you are a pastor, you really need to get rid of your earring, you need to get your hair cut and you need to start dressing like you are a pastor. Cal reminded me of this story. I forgot about it. He said Steve, that's what they say. What do you say? And I will not tell you exactly what I said but I will tell you I said something along the lines of, tell them to go to blazes. I like you just the way you are. And I do not want you to feel like you Amen? And one of the reasons why I think we see just a great age difference and spread of ages in our church it is not just because we have young people. It is because we have a Caleb Generation that actually cheers on the next generation. And the reason why young people will come to a house like this is because there are people in this house who are of a Caleb age, who have a Caleb spirit and who have a Caleb mentality where we are still going for God and cheering on the next generation. But let me tell you something, one sure way to keep young people out of a church is to have a bunch of mean, old, cranky people in it. Come on, somebody say amen. Get your hair cut. Get your earrings out. I kind of like some of those things, to tell you the truth. Maybe I am the problem here. Praise the Lord. Or maybe there is not a problem at all. All right. I want to give you a few examples of people who are later in life, at that Caleb age. I want to speak to the Caleb people. Now anyone who is not yet forty, this message is for you. It is coming. You are on your way. Amen. But you can still learn from it. Smith Wigglesworth began his ministry at the age of forty-eight. If you do not know who Smith Wigglesworth is, you need to read about that guy. He is one of the most outstanding men of God, I think, literally in world history. But he only began his ministry at the age of forty-eight. How many of you have heard of Grandma Moses? She started her art career at the age of eighty. How about Ray Crock who initiated McDonald's and the expansion of McDonald's? Fifty-two years of age he was when he got that going. Sam Walton who owns Walmart, he started that at the age of forty-three. George Foreman won the heavyweight crown at the age of forty-five. I still have a year to go before I can go for my heavyweight crown. C.S. Lewis began writing the "Chronicles of Narnia" at the age of fifty-one. Tolkien began writing the "Lord of the Rings" at the age of forty-five. Wally Amos started his cookie company at the age of forty. Ulysses S. Grant, this one is amazing, forty when he left retirement for the Civil War. After a successful military career Grant resigned at the age of thirty-two. And then after dealing with drunkenness, depression and working in several menial civilian jobs, it was not until he was the age of forty that he was appointed the Governor of Illinois. And to lead an unruly volunteer regiment that was the onset of the Civil War. The rest is history. Forty years of age. Alex Haley published "The Saga of the American Family Roots" at the age of fifty-five. Henry Ford started his motor company at the age of forty. Come on, Caleb Generation, what are you doing? We are just trying to get to retirement. Well look here, Mary K. Ash started Mary Kay at the age of forty-five. Mother Teresa was forty when she started Missionaries of Charity. Ronald Reagan was in his fifties when he started his real political career. Vince Lombardi was forty-five when he got the coaching job of the Green Bay Packers. Page | 2 Steve Kelly © General George Patton was sixty when he took over command of the second armor division. That is awesome. Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest man ever to hold office as President at the ripe young age of forty-three. Michael Angelo was forty when he celebrated the sculpture of Moses. Leonardo da Vinci was in his forties when he did The Last Supper and his fifties when he completed Mona Lisa. Claude Monet was in his sixties when he did the Water Lillies painting. Neil Armstrong was sixteen days from his fortieth birthday when he stepped onto the Moon. I am telling you, the best is still yet to come for you, my friends. And here is Caleb and he is going come on, I was forty when Moses sent me in to spy out the land so we could come back and do battle, we could come back and figure out how to possess this land. And now here I am, eighty-five years of age. I am here today to speak to the Caleb Generation. Come on, your day is not over. You have to keep on playing. You have to keep on fighting. There is more for you to do. You can get a little more excited than that. Amen. Here is the key; you have to realize that you have to keep on playing. You have to keep on getting on the field. Somebody say amen. You cannot just give up. When we champion the cause in the next generation it does not mean we stop playing. It means we keep running our race and cheering on the next generation. We give that next generation faith and courage because we are older and we are wiser. Hopefully, in Jesus' name. I just want to give you a few keys here of what a Caleb person looks like, a Caleb Generation Christian in the 21st century looks like. Are you ready for it? Have a look at verse 7. It says, I was sent to spy out the land. "'I was forty-five years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Bardea to explore the land.'" Or if you like, to spy out the land. In other words, he was sent to spy out the land, to bring back a report of how we can do battle against these giants. Have you got it? Here is the first key of a Caleb Generation. You have to know how to fight your battles. You have to plan your battles. You have to know which battles to fight. Do not be one of those Christians who are fighting everyone else's battles that are not really your battles. Do not get one of those warfare mentalities where you are at war with everybody. Do not be one of those old shriveled up kind of people. And I do not mean old in the sense age is an attitude. Do not be one of those people who fight their neighbors about the blade of grass that they cut that is your blade of grass. There are some people who the only thing they have to do with their lives is to get on the street with radar guns to try and figure out how fast people are going in the neighborhood. Get a life. Amen. Do not get me wrong, I am not encouraging people to speed in places where they should not be speeding. But if your whole world is shriveled down to your little house and your little territory and defending what you have, you need to get out more. You need to get a bigger life. Plan your battles. There are kingdom causes, kingdom battles that we should be fighting. We should not be fighting battles like people's hair and whether someone has an earring. Those are stupid battles to be fighting in the first place. Just a few weeks ago I was at a soccer game and I heard one of the dad's talking to the other dad's how many of you know I listen to other people's conversations? How many of you have figured that out by now? I do all the time. I cannot help myself. I could be listening with this ear to what someone is saying that I am sitting with and with this other ear I am ambidextrous hearing. Just on Saturday I was at Sunrise Cafe having breakfast and I heard these men, young men I am always interested in what young people are talking about. So I listen very carefully. They were sitting there talking about how much they hate church. They had such a hatred for church. I will not name the name of the church in this area that they Page | 3 Steve Kelly © named but I can tell you that they did not have good things to say about it. And can I just tell you, here are these young men and I am thinking God, help us be the kind of church that people can come into and just love. This dad that is my age, maybe a bit older, was talking to another dad. I was sitting back a couple of seats and he was talking about, can you believe my pastor now wants us to give money so we can build more parking spaces in the parking lot? He said, how insensitive is our pastor? Does he not know about the rising price of gas and we are just barely trying to get by and here he is who does he think he is asking us to give more money to make more parking spaces? Now here is a guy who is fighting the wrong battle. I bit my tongue. That is when the spirit of slap gets on me. Here you are concerned about the rising price of gas and you are worried that your pastor is not concerned about the rising price of gas. He is giving you a way and a means to prosper. If you build God's house, he will build your house. And here is a guy that is fighting the wrong battle. He should be joining with his pastor. He should not be fighting the purposes of God. He should be fighting with those things and for those things. A Caleb Generation are people who plan their battles. Have your leader send you to war. And I believe that is what that pastor was doing. He was sending his church to war. We were going to war against no growth. We are going to make more parking spaces so more people can come. We are going to war. And the leader was sending them to war just like Moses was sending Caleb to war. How so are people being sent? With a kingdom cause to battle. You have to plan your fights. You have to plan your battles. You have to make sure you are not fighting the wrong battles and giving all of your strength and focus and energy to things that at the end of the day do not have any kingdom consequence. Come on, somebody say amen. There are enough wars to fight without starting wars we are never called to go to. Amen? Give your energy and your wisdom to kingdom cause. Who can say amen? Number one, a Caleb Generation person is someone who plans their battles. I cannot tell you how many people have tried to get me involved in their battles. I could not even begin to tell you how many people would love to involve me in their battles. Jesus one time, when two brothers came fighting over an inheritance and they asked Jesus to sort it out, even Jesus would not get involved in that. And there are some battles I just do not get involved in. Someone says, can you come with me to talk to this person because they have really upset me and I really want to have it out with them? Then I go, have you talked to them? And they say no. So then I say I am not going to do it. The Bible says if anyone has something against their brother, go to them. It does not say go to the pastor and get the pastor involved in every single dispute. Well he's so hard to talk to. I am sorry. Did Jesus say, unless he is hard to talk to? No, you go to him. And then is says then if you do not win him then you take a brother. Then is says then go to the church. I am your last resort, my friends. And of the last resort, I am the last resort. Are you with me here? Because once I am involved, where does someone have to go beyond me at Wave Church? So I will be the last person. But if I get involved, rest assured it is because I need to be. But if I am involved, it is a last resort. Someone say amen. I just want to encourage you, plan your battles. Do not pick up other people's offenses and other people's wars. And this other guy listening to this guy having this conversation is saying yeah, that's right. And then all of the sudden this guy now has an attitude with a church and the pastor he does not even go to. Page | 4 Steve Kelly © Second thing, look at verse 7 again. It says, so I brought him that's Moses back a report according to my convictions. I love that, according to my convictions. I brought back him a report according to my convictions. Here is the second thing about a Caleb Generation. Listen to it very carefully. A Caleb Generation has the courage to swim against the tide. Did you hear that? I brought back him a report based on my convictions. Everyone else, except for Joshua, was bringing back a negative report. Everybody else was bringing back a report of defeat and depression and discouragement and it is not going to happen. But hey Joshua, you remember, I brought Moses back a report according to my convictions. I was not listening to what everyone else was saying. I was not going with the tide of popular opinion. I brought back what was in my heart. I believe that God said that we are going to go into the Promise Lands. I saw God, the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day. I saw the hand of God bring us out of Egypt. I saw God bring us through the Red Sea. I saw God provide supernaturally for us with food. I saw God bring water out of a rock. And I believe that if God is able to bring us out of Egypt and strike Pharaoh dead and if God is able to protect us in the desert for forty years then I believe even though there are giants in the land, my conviction was that we can do it. They are but bread for us. We will have them for lunch. They are just a snack. They are just a meal. I do not care how big the giants are, I have convictions that my God is bigger and we are well able to possess the lands. We are well able to do it does not matter the size of the obstacles, we are able to do it. And I am bringing back a report based on what I am convicted about. And I have to tell you, we have to swim against the tide of the naysayers. How many remember a man called Gordon Potter in this church? I remember when I first came to this church nine years ago; he was a big mountain of a man. He is a brute. He was like one of those lumber jack builds. And I remember Gordon was one of the key ushers in our church. He would be involved in church life and leadership and was a great worker, great volunteer. He had a family situation where one of his children was in a wheelchair and they had all sorts of challenges as a result of that. And the family themselves were somewhat vulnerable in a few instances but he was the mainstay. He was the support of that family. And one day I got a phone call and Gordon had fallen off of a ladder and had literally broken his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. And the only mainstay influence in this family was Gordon. I remember thinking, what do you say to a man whose whole family is really dependent upon his strength and now his strength is gone? What do you say to a man? I will never forget when I went into the hospital to pray for Gordon I am thirty-five years of age and am going to pray for this manly, strapping guy. I am thinking, what am I going to say to this guy? I walked in there and he looked at me and said thanks for coming. And I had been in the church for not long, maybe less than a year. And we were working through changing some culture. And we were working through changing some things in the church. And I remember there were some people who did not like all of the change that was happening. I was going to go visit this guy. And he said, I do not know how I got to be in this place. I do not know how I could end up in this hospital bed. He said, but I tell you this, I am making you a promise. As long as I am alive I guess I have a lot of free time on my hands now that I did not have before. He said, as long as I am alive and as long as I am in this bed I am going to be praying for you, young man, that you will have the courage to keep doing everything that God has put inside your heart to do. Let me tell you Steve, I love what is happening in the church. I love the things that you are doing. He said, I think it is fantastic. I know some people my age have been critics. I know people my age have been naysayers. But I want to tell you Steve, as sure as I lay in this bed paralyzed, I will be praying for you that you will have the Page | 5 Steve Kelly © courage to keep doing what you are doing because we welcome it and I think it is amazing. And there have been some times when I think, God am I ever going to get there? I just remember Gordon and for no other reason the thing that sustained me from time to time was Gordon's encouragement. This great man who had convictions, who swam against the tide. Come on church. We have to be a Caleb Generation person, have convictions of being positive. God is moving. Your convictions determine your reports. Whatever convictions you have, whatever they are, whatever is in you is what is going to determine what is coming out of you. And here this man, Caleb at the age of eighty-five, I brought him a report based on my convictions. The third thing about a Caleb Generation is look at verse 8. He said, "'but my brothers that came with me made the people's hearts melt with fear.'" Listen, here is a thought: Not everybody that is with you is with you. It is not my point; it is just a thought. Not everybody that is with you is with you. There were others who were with Caleb, brothers, friends, family. My brothers who went with me actually brought back a different report and made the people's hearts melt with fear. Is that not amazing? Here is Caleb making a statement to Joshua. Joshua, you remember because you were there. You and I were the only two that brought back a report based on our convictions. But here is number three, listen to it very carefully. You have to know the power of negativity. Caleb Generation leaders know the power of negativity. Thank you for the underwhelming response. Listen to this; you have to understand that negativity is one of the greatest killers on the planet today. It is more dangerous than cancer. It is more lethal than drugs. Negativity has the power to destroy faith, progress. Negativity can take faith right out of a person. It can suck the wind right out of you. Like I have said many times, some people are so negative that when you put them in a dark room, they develop. They are just negative. They just see something and think, that cannot be done. And Wave Convention Center, there were people saying, do you honestly believe you can build that building? I am going, yes. We would not be doing it if we did not. Are you with me here? Do you really think that Hampton Roads is an area that is big enough to handle a church that size? That building there is half the size of some of the larger church's auditoriums. We are just doing multiple centers. Do you really think the population of Hampton Roads can handle another mega church? What I want to say to that guy is, do you really think I am going to let that spirit creep into my mentality and damn Hampton Roads to hell because I just do not have the faith and I am listening to you? I am not going to let that mentality you have to know the power of negativity. Negativity kills courage and faith and sucks the life out of progress. It causes people to stay where they are. And listen, my brothers who went with me be careful who goes with you. As a matter of fact, I challenge you to study this. The twelve spies that Moses sent out, he said bring back a report. When Joshua sent spies into the land, he said this is the report you will bring when you come back. Is that not amazing? There is no negativity coming back here. They are but bread for us. We can take them. I have been out in the desert for forty-five years because of those other people who made their hearts melt with fear. So when you go, I am telling you the report you will give when you come back will be the report I give you before you go. Is that not interesting? Where is my individuality in that? You are not going to go then. He learned something. He did not want to spend another forty-five years out there in the desert and have people's hearts melt with fear. Sometimes you have to cut off the voice of negativity. Not everybody that is with you is with you. Page | 6 Steve Kelly © Number four, the fourth key to understanding how to be a Caleb Generation, look at what is says in verse 8, the latter part of verse 8. Because I followed the Lord wholeheartedly. I followed the Lord wholeheartedly. Number four, you have to keep your heart in what you are doing. You cannot be a person who ends up going through the motions, just going through the routine. Just been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Some people in a church like ours, if you do not keep your heart in what you are doing you could sit here and think ok Steve, what have you got for me today? You have been so spoiled with such good food and such a good diet that you are sitting there going, let us see if you can even earn and deserve my hearing ear. Can you move me today, preacher? Because I am not in a good mood. Maybe a guest speaker comes in. All right, what have you got? I will decide whether I am even going to listen to you. That kind of person is not going to receive much from God. But you have to keep your heart in what you are doing. When it comes to the worship, ok Bethany, what have you got for us today? Is there a new song? I am going to decide whether or not I am going to praise. What are all of these moving lights? Someone the other day said to Sharon, I went to your church because my kids went to your church. I went to your church and I really liked it. She said, but I have to be honest, it was way too loud. And Sharon went, I will be honest, we love it loud. She just gave it right back to them. Because that was actually quite rude to talk to the pastor's wife and basically very nicely try to tell Sharon, we do not like the volume. Well excuse me, who do you think you are? So Sharon thought, if you are going to be that rude I am going to be that rude right back to you. I am going to put it right back at you just as nicely as you were to me. We love it loud. Sharon said, I particularly am the one that likes it the loudest and that is the honest to God truth. If I turn to Sharon, is this too loud? She says, it is never loud enough. So I have learned, I cannot even ask Sharon if the volume is too loud because she only thinks it is too loud if her ears are bleeding. Maybe all of these years of church life, she does not know what loud is anymore. But let me tell you something, a Caleb Generation keeps their heart in what they are doing. A person who does not keep their heart in what they are doing notices things they did not notice before. Are you with me here? When they came to church they loved the fact that there is great worship and great word but then all of the sudden it is like, what is this? That is a sign that your heart is no longer in what you are doing. And the Bible says here that Caleb, God kept him alive and kept him young because he wholly followed the Lord with all of his heart. Did you hear that? God will keep you alive and strong if you wholly follow the Lord with all of your heart. Do not be one of the people who shrivel up and get negative and critical. The reason why young people come to this church is because of the Caleb Generation people that celebrate. While they are still running their race they cheer on the next generation. That is why we have people coming into this house. Amen church. Do not stop running your race.

The Giant of Self: How One Person Can Make a Difference Transcription The Giant of Self: How One Person Can Make a Difference - Esther 4:13-17 - Skip Heitzig [MUSIC PLAYING] Would you turn in your Bibles to the Book of Esther, please? Esther, chapter 4. If you have a hard time finding it, and I don't think this crowd probably does, but go to the Old Testament Book of Job. It's a pretty big book. Go one block left, and you are in the book of Esther. Esther, chapter 4. We have been studying in this series the idea of being courageous in the times in which we live. And we're looking at different giants to conquer. And today, we want to talk about the giant of self. Benjamin Franklin once humorously noted that a man wrapped up in himself makes a very small package. Self. Self can be a tyrant. Self can be a servant. Self can be a villain. Self can be a hero. I venture to say that through all of the struggles of life that we have, one of the biggest struggles we all have is our struggle with ourselves, and the struggle within ourselves. D.L. Moody, the evangelist from Chicago a century ago said, I have more trouble with D. L. moody than with any other man I have ever met. Well, the Bible has a special word for unperfected human nature, or the self, self life. In the New Testament, it's the word flesh. The flesh. You see it often in contrast to the Spirit. The Spirit wars against the flesh. The flesh is a life lived for yourself. If you took the word flesh and drop the last letter, the H, so you have fles, if you spell that backwards you have self. That really is a good description of the flesh. It is the self life. It is you left up to your own devices. You will degenerate. I will degenerate to that level of living for myself. Esther is the story of a woman who conquered the giant of self. She went from beauty queen to national hero because of the choices that she made. She closed the door on pampering herself, focusing on herself, and she opened the door to selflessness, self-sacrifice. She changed her world. And history is filled with such people, individuals who make a stand. One soldier, one artist, one explorer, one preacher, one inventor, one missionary who goes to a culture and a whole tribe is changed. Or one statesman who stands up and an entire country is changed. Or one citizen that steps forward and the community is different afterwards. Or one student that makes a stand at his or her school, and school policy is changed. Then there's the power of one vote. Never underestimate that. One vote. John Salisbury reminds us of that power with these words. "In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England. In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of German." Boy, I'm glad. "In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union. In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the US presidency. And in 1923, one vote gave Adolf Hitler control of the Nazi party." One person, one life, one vote. So powerful. This one woman named Esther, prompted by her cousin by the name of Mordecai, saved the Jews. Now, I don't think it's a coincidence that we are reading the story of Esther on the weekend that is the commemorative weekend for September 11, 2001. We sort of put these series together and just kind of map them out, but we didn't plan that it would fall in this day, but I think the Holy Spirit is behind it, because here is a weekend where we remember not just people who lost their lives. We are commemorating people who gave their lives, who stood in harm's way, who rushed into buildings, who saved other people. And that is the story of Esther. Esther was Jewish. She was a Jewess. She was part of the captivity that got taken to Babylon, and now that same group is in Persia. She is not only Jewish, she is part of a harem, a group of girls serving a king by the name of Ahasuerus, the King of Persia. The first queen was Queen Vashti. We don't have time to read the whole story. Queen Vashti was the original wife of Ahasuerus. But he didn't like her, because he called for her, she didn't show up, so he conveniently had her dethroned. And he was lonely. And somebody said, you've got to get a new queen. So he picked, of all the people in the kingdom, this young Jewish girl by the name of Esther. Now, we're about to find out why she became queen. By the way, she's about to find out why she becomes queen in our story. So what I want to do is take you through the story chronologically by the stages that are presented, first with a tragedy, followed by anxiety, followed by an opportunity, followed by bravery. We begin in chapter 3. And again, I'm just going to be summing these things up and reading a few key verses. But I'm going to show you a national tragedy that is going on. When we open up chapter 3, something has been signed, a legal document, something signed into law. It was an edict of extermination for the Jewish people. So look at chapter 3 verse 13. "And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women in one day. On the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, to plunder their possessions. A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people that they should be ready for that day. The couriers went out, hastened by the King's command, and the decree was proclaimed in Shushan the Citadel." Shushan is the capital city of Persia. The citadel is the palace. "So the King and Haman sat down to drink. But the city of Shushan was perplexed." The Jews had been in Babylon. Babylon was taken over by Persia, so now they're in Persia. The Persians allowed the Jews to go back to Israel to rebuild their civilization, their temple. Only 50,000 of them went back. Most of them stayed, I don't know, they had good jobs, they met people. They had bases of friendship, wives, children. So while 50,000 went back to rebuild Jerusalem, it is estimated that there were 15 million Jews still living in Persia. So most of them did not. There are 127 provinces, or there were in Persia at that time. One of the members of the royal court was a man by the name of Haman. We just read his name. Haman had an idea, because he hated Jewish people, and the reason he hated Jewish people is he had a run in with a guy in the story named Mordecai. Mordecai is the cousin of Esther. Mordecai is Jewish. So is Esther. He doesn't like Mordecai, because Mordecai doesn't bow down to him but stands up to him. And so he says, I really hate this guy. I want to kill him. But I better yet, I want to deal with the Jewish problem. That's what the Nazis called that in World War II. There were Jews in their country. How do we deal with the Jewish problem? So Haman comes up with an idea to exterminate every Jew in the empire. Had he been successful, he would have made the Holocaust of World War II look like a puppet show. Because Hitler killed 6 million Jews. If Haman would have had his way, 15 million Jews would have been slaughtered in the Persian Empire. So now anti-Semitism is legalized. The edict is signed. Mordecai the Jew, also working in the king's palace, knows nothing about this. And that's because he wasn't there when Haman approached the king and had him sign on the dotted line. Esther the Jewess, she doesn't know anything about it. She's tucked away in the palace, her own little palace as queen. So both of them are completely unaware. But they will learn of it, and when they learn of it, they're shocked. They're shocked. As they should be. And as I read through this story this week, I couldn't help but think back 20 years to September 11, 2001, because on that day, when all the dust was settling, we came to a sudden but very new awareness, something that we never knew before, that we were hated, that there were people around the world who wanted to exterminate us, who would want to end our civilization. Some of us knew some of that but, we didn't know the extent of it. We didn't know that there were swaths of people that referred to the US as the great Satan, and Israel as the little Satan. And so we came into a new awareness. And I looked at chapter 3, the very last verse, verse 15, and the very last sentence. So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed. They were confused. They were bewildered by this edict. Now, I just want to give you a contemporary note, before we move on to the next stage. The setting of this book of Esther is ancient, what, go ahead and shout it out. It's ancient Persia. So it's ancient Persia. Because I'm glad you're paying attention. Persia. This is the kingdom of Persia. Ancient Persia, and again, you can shout this out if you know it, is modern day what? Iran. So you know how Solomon said there's nothing new under the sun, and history as a way of repeating itself? I think we see that today. Because today, Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism on Earth. They do more terrorist attacks than any country on Earth. So says the United States' State Department and many other countries. And that's not just Iran. That's just not their mentality, but they have fostered different groups, proxy groups around the region, and they supply money and arms to groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon to attack Israel, Hamas in the Palestinian territories to attack Israel, the Houthis in Yemen to attack that region as well. And Iran's newest leader-- this just happened a few months back-- was elected by the name of Ebrahim Raisi, a hard line cleric. His nickname is the Butcher of Tehran. And I didn't know this, but I thought the previous guy was hard line. He's considered a moderate compared to the new guy. The new guy, Raisi, vows to liberate the Middle East from the scourge that is the nation of Israel. Repeatedly, we're just going to get rid of the Jews, we want to destroy Israel, they shouldn't exist. And if you think, well, that's just rhetoric. I mean, these people in the Mideast, they just talk smack all the time, but so what? Well, it's more than talk. Just this week, Iran announced it has quadrupled its nuclear stockpile of 60% enriched uranium. You know what 60% enriched uranium is for? Nuclear weapons. They have stated, we are building nuclear weapons. We mean business. And that is why this week as well, Israel's foreign minister Yair Lapid, of all places, in Moscow when he was visiting, made this announcement. "Iran's march toward a nuclear weapon is not only an Israeli problem. It is a problem for the rest of the world." And he urged the governments of the world to stop them from this stockpile. And then he said this, "If the world doesn't do it, Israel reserves the right to act." And if you know Israel, they will. So what you have going on in the Middle East, and now with a destabilized Afghanistan on top of Iran and its proxies, and what's happening this week is a very volatile situation. And the target-- there's two targets Israel, the little Satan. But the big Satan is us. So history is repeating itself. It may be another Esther moment that the nation of Israel finds itself in. But let's go to the rest of this story. So it begins with a tragedy, a national tragedy. Annihilate every Jew in the Empire. Followed by what is an expected anxiety, chapter 4 verse 1. When Mordecai learned all that had happened, hey, there's been an edict signed to exterminate us, when he learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. He went as far as the front of the king's gate, for no one might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. You can't show up for work in the palace dressed like that. And in every province where the king's command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. In other words, there was a very public, a very vocal, a very visible display of grief. Now, we in the West, we don't really get that. We have sort of been taught culturally that when we grieve, you know, we should have it all together, and that public displays of wailing and grief are uncalled for. Listen to the language at funerals. You hear it. There's the widow in the front row, and somebody goes, oh, she's so strong. Why do you say that? She's not weeping. Really? That's strength to you? Understand that in the Middle East, that thinking doesn't exist. It's exactly the opposite. If you love somebody, the more you love them, the louder you wail. And if you've ever seen Middle Eastern funerals, where you have a casket being taken to the streets, you have people throwing dirt in the air and wailing, and mobs of crowds and people clawing after the casket. That's sort of the idea for public grief. So that's Mordecai. Notice he puts on sackcloth. Sackcloth is like loose fitting very coarse goat's hair garment. Think of a gunny sack, a potato sack. It's meant to feel uncomfortable. It's meant to look disheveled. And then there are ashes that he put on that added to the look. You'd appear ghastly, unclean, grimy, purposely distressed. Because that's how Jews typically would grieve. The tearing of the clothes, the throwing of dust or the putting of ashes on the head, et cetera. And this deep sorrow spread, verse 3, to all the land, all the provinces were the news was making its way. Jews everywhere were in grief. By the way, ever notice how tragedy brings people together. We are 20 years after 9/11. Some of us who were a little bit older remember that day very well, and what we remember is how it brought people together, because all of us collectively have been put on the same level suddenly. We're all attacked as a country. So we remember the news reporters and the shaky voices and the tears in their eyes as they were saying, oh my goodness, we're being attacked. They just couldn't hold in the emotion. And we remember people out in the streets hugging each other, and Democrats and Republicans and Independents standing on the steps of the Capitol singing God Bless America, holding hands. Like we don't care about partisan politics. We're Americans today. We remember churches packed full of people for weeks, because tragedy does that. I can't read verse 1 of chapter 4 without thinking of New York City, where it says, "Mordecai went out into the midst of the city." I had the privilege of going to ground zero for three weeks following the towers' falls and doing work there. Every day I walked out into the midst of the city. Every day in the midst of the city I encountered New Yorkers who were desperate. I encountered in the midst of the city professionals who are at their wits end, didn't know what to make of this. They were struggling. They were weeping. And I heard in the midst of the city the vow of every New Yorker, and then every American to never forget what has just happened. Never forget. It's like my parents vowed never to forget Pearl Harbor. And we say we'll never forget 9/11. By the way, a side note. Actually fits right in. Do you know that the Jews to this day have never gotten over what Haman plotted with King Ahasuerus? Every year, every Jewish person celebrates to some degree the festival of Purim. It happens in the fall, March of every year. And they read the book of Esther. And for 24 hours, it's standard protocol in Jewish communities, every time the word Haman is mentioned for people to boo and hiss. Every time it's mentioned. Every time the word comes up. Boo. [HISSING] Ahh! All sorts of bad noises. Want to give it a shot? Yeah, let's do that. So look at chapter 3 verse 15. So the king and Haman. Boo! Come on, you can do better than that. Haman. Boo! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You got the idea. That's what they do. You do good. Sat down to drink. The city of Shushan was perplexed. Also, in the synagogues every year, the book of Esther is read, and the name of Haman-- Boo! --appears 51 times. 51 times in the synagogues as the story is read, and they mention Haman-- Boo! That's what you hear. Pretty fun service, huh? And in the synagogue, they will often shout out at the name of Haman. Boo! The Hebrew words yimakh shemo, which are translated may his name be blotted out forever. The same exact Hebrew phrase when mentioning the name Adolf Hitler. So they never forget. They haven't gotten over this. They resurrect this story every single year. So Mordecai wasn't there, but he hears of it, he gets wind of it. He's an officer in the court, but he has no direct contact with Queen Esther, even though she is his cousin. You couldn't just pop in go, hey cuz, let's hang out together. So he had to use a liaison, somebody to speak to her. And he chooses a guy by the name of Hathak. I can't vouch for these names. That's just his name. So he gets Hathak, and puts in Hathak's hands a little copy of the edict that was signed, so she has proof positive, and says, you go to Queen Esther, and you tell her what has been done by Haman. Boo! You tell her what that guy did, and what they're up to, and tell her she has to approach the king and do something. So she hears about it. Let me show you the opportunity now, the strategic opportunity. Verse 10, Esther spoke to Hathak, gave him a command for Mordecai. Boo. No, Mordecai is a good guy. You don't boo Mordecai. You you clap Mordecai. You'll make that mistake once. That's OK, though, but he's a good guy. The bad guy is Haman. Boo! Very good. The good guy is Mordecai. [CHEERING] All right, there you go. OK, good, good, good, good. You got it. So Esther spoke to Hathak, neutral guy, gave him a command for Mordecai. You don't have to clap. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces-- this is what she said. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king who has not been called, he has but one law, put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds up the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go into the king these 30 days. So they told Mordecai Esther's words. Mordecai told them to answer Esther. Now, listen to this little speech. Says, you go tell Esther this. Do not think in your heart that you will escape the king's palace, escape in the king's palace more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. You've heard this before, right? You've heard that phrase for such a time as this. Say that out loud, for such a time as this. That is what this book is built on. This is your time. Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. This is a speech for the history books. This is a watershed moment. This is the turning point. This is like Patrick Henry's 1775, "Give me liberty or give me death" moment. This is sort of like Winston Churchill in 1940 to the House of Commons during a very bleak time during that war, Churchill said, "Let us brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for 1,000 years, men will say this was their finest hour." This was their finest hour. Immortalized words. This is Mordecai saying, girl, this could be your finest hour. This could be why you are here. Now, Esther has a little bit of a problem that she mentions. You just don't go saunter into the king, go king, what's up? Because this is Persia, and nobody sees the king unless the king summons you. And he hasn't summoned me for 30 days. Now, if I'm the wife and I haven't seen my husband for 30 days, I'm a little nervous. It's like, OK, he has a harem, he can have a girl night after night, anything he wants. He hasn't called for me for 30 days. And I'm thinking, am I ugly? Do I have bad breath? Did I say something bad? And if I just show up like that and he sees me, it's like heads off. So I could die. This is risky business. He had his previous wife dethroned for not showing up. And if she just shows up unannounced, it could be equally as bad. By the way, I haven't told you this yet. The name of God is not mentioned once in this book. It's one of the unique things about the Book of Esther. The name of God isn't mentioned once. And this has bothered some people. It bothered Martin Luther. Martin Luther said, I wish the book of Esther would never have been written. But I want to say, Marty, you're way off base. I disagree with you. Though God isn't mentioned, I could make a case that God is the main character of this book. He shows up all over the place with his fingerprints on everything. It's called His Providence. God's Providence is God takes normal circumstances of life and weaves them together for His ultimate purpose. And that is so apparent in this book. Really, this is the beauty of Esther. God isn't always overt. God isn't always apparent. He's not always miraculous or audible. Jesus said the kingdom of God does not come by outward observation. So rather than noticing what isn't there, like the name of God, notice what is there, God working. Like John Nelson Darby used to say, "God's ways are behind the scenes, but He moves all the scenes that He is behind." God is behind these scenes and He is working. Now, in this little speech of verse 13 and 14 that we just read of Mordecai to Esther, he reminds her of three important truths. And I want to review them with you. Number one, he's saying that your position won't guarantee your protection. Your position as queen won't guarantee your protection. You're the queen, but you're still a Jew. And sometime the king is going to find that out. When he finds that out, since the edict says all the Jews you're part of that number. It'll be your life. And I got to think that there were probably some leftovers from the previous administration. Vashti, Queen Vashti. I'm sure that there are some people that kind sided with her, were loyal to her, and they would love to see Esther kicked out. It would be for that. So your position won't guarantee your protection. Second thing he reminds her of is your silence won't prevent our deliverance. Look at what he said. "For if you remain," verse 14, "if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place." Why does he say that? Because he's a Jew, that's why. Because this guy remembers, even though the name of God isn't mentioned, he knows the Abrahamic covenant. He knows that God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for the Jews to be in that land, that God would preserve and protect His people for his eternal purpose. So it might not be you, but God has got something up His sleeve somewhere. And you might die, Esther, and your family might die, but God will deliver the Jews somehow. So if you don't step in and do it, God will do something with somebody else. By the way, I hope you realize God doesn't need any one of us. God has a plan, and God's plan is in motion for His eternal purposes. And you and I have one of two choices, either get on board or don't get on board. Either you're all in or you're not. And if you're not, it's your loss. God didn't go, oh man, now what? He's like next. I'll use somebody, but I'm going to get this done. We get the privilege of being a part of it. So he reminds her of that. Your position won't guarantee your protection. Your silence won't prevent our deliverance. And third, your prominence is God's providence. You're queen because God puts you here. He didn't mention God. He didn't say that. But he implies that. Who knows, but you were brought to the kingdom for such a time as this. Queen Esther, if you are looking for a purpose for why you are queen, this is it. I got to think that Queen Esther sat on that throne from time to time, this young Jewish girl, and she scratched her head and she thought, how did I get here? What am I doing here? What is my purpose for being the queen of Persia? If she ever thought that, Mordecai is here to say, this is why. This is why. This is it. Listen, there are two significant days in your life. The day you were born, and the day you discovered what you were born for. And so if you wonder why am I in this position? Why do I have this job? Why am I in sales? Oh, I find myself in the legal profession. Well, why? What am I doing? What's God's purpose? I don't know, but figure that out. Figure that out. Discern what that might be. Because you could be at a very important moment where God is going to call on you soon to make some very important decisions that will benefit a lot of people. God never wastes a life. And so often, big doors swing on very small hinges. It's one of these moments for her. So we have a tragedy, anxiety, opportunity, and finally bravery. She has to do something with the information. What will she do? Verse 15, Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, OK, go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan. Why all the Jews? Because that's who it affects. Who are present in Shushan in the capital city. And fast, fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days. She doesn't mention prayer, but she does mention fasting. And I'm guessing that she's very cautious about letting out the idea that she is Jewish especially in light of this edict. But any Jew to another Jew, when you say fast for three days, note that includes prayer and fasting. Because in the Old Testament, prayer and fasting are like salt and pepper. Like peanut butter and jelly. They go together. And so I want you to fast for three days, implying pray for three days, and fast with your fellow Jews night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. She probably had some Jewish maids at work on her staff. Now, watch this. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law. I'm going to break the law. The law says I can only go in that throne room if I'm summoned. I'm going. Look at this. And if I perish, I perish. I need to do what's right. It could cost me my life. Bring it. If I perish, I perish. What a great answer. What a great woman. She decides to risk it all. Keep in mind, Esther has been in an environment that pampered her, an environment that told her to focus all of her attention on her skin and her looks and her beauty and herself, right? It was all about herself. Now, in this decision, she conquers the giant of self, and she suddenly becomes selfless, self-sacrificing, self-denying. In effect, she is saying, enough of the easy life, enough of the beauty queen stuff. I've been on Persian Vogue, on the cover. I've been in Elle Magazine. Everybody knows who I am. I'm a beauty queen. Enough of that. I'm going to go see the king and put a stop to this. And if a spear gets thrust through my body or a guard tackles me, so be it. Let this be my finest hour. Now, this is the commemoration for 9/11 as well. And the decision that Esther made is a decision that so many people made on that day, to sacrifice their lives, to rush into the towers, to work in the Pentagon, to bring people to safety, to commandeer airplanes that could become missiles. Whether they were firefighters, or Port Authority officials, or police members, or ambulance drivers, or clergymen, first responders, all, they ran to it. People like Moira Smith, a female New York City police officer who ran in and ran out with people to rescue them and rescue them, and finally she died in the tragedy. Or a chef. A chef who was a former Marine by the name of Benjamin Clark, who made sure that everybody on his floor, the 96th floor of one of the towers, was evacuated. Got them out. Lost his life. Or Father Michael Judge, the first victim of the 9/11 attacks. He heard of the explosions. He ran into the building. He was killed. Most of you know the name Todd Beamer. He was aboard United Flight 93. And he knew that the pilots had been killed. They were forced from the cockpit. They were knifed. They knew the plane was being hijacked. He got a report on the phone that other planes have been flown into the World Trade Center, another one into the Pentagon. They were probably going to commandeer this plane for the Capitol or the White House or some other target. So Todd Beamer in a moment knew this was an Esther moment. If I perish, I perish. And he told the other passengers what was going on. They concocted a very quick plan. And his last recorded words were, are you ready? OK, let's roll. And that plane went down in Shanksville. [APPLAUSE] When the Civil War was at its height, and Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States at the time, was feeling very discouraged and despairing, he went to church one Sunday, and he listened to the sermon. And afterwards, one of his aides that was with him said, Mr. President, did you enjoy the sermon? And Lincoln said, well, the preacher was clear. His points were logical. I'm sure he was very sincere. And the aide said, so you thought it was a good sermon? Lincoln said, no, I think he failed. He did not ask of us something great. He gave information, but he didn't ask us to do something with it. He didn't ask of us to apply something to our lives that would be considered great. What Mordecai asks of Esther is to do something great. This could be your finest hour. You could be alive and in this position for this moment. Do something good. Do something great. Let your life be raised to a higher level. I'm asking us to do something great. Here it is in a nutshell. Stop spending your life. Start investing your life. If you are planning your life for your comfort and my joy in my latter years, it's all about that, OK, you can do that. It's a free country. It's a free world, I suppose. But that's just spending your life. Invest your life into something that will outlive you. That's something great. Jesus didn't stay in heaven. He said, I'm going to come to this Earth. I'm coming to ground zero. I'm coming to where sin exploded and hit the human race. And I didn't come to be served. I came to serve, and to give my life a ransom for many. So that's the answer to self. One person wrote, Dear Heavenly Father, I'm working on a puzzle. Pure and simple, it is I. God answered back, Dear Searching Child, here's the answer to your puzzle. Pure and simple, it is I. That's always the solution to self, is you replace yourself with Himself. Your will with His will. Your plans with His plans. Your cause with His cause. This is the flesh. That's the Spirit. Father, you have called us to something great. You have called us to the kingdom of God. You have called us to rescue people out of darkness and deliver them into the kingdom of your son. This could be our finest hour. We need to be courageous. We need to be bold. We need to also mix that with grace, seasoned with salt. And I pray that you, by your Spirit, would help us to be those change agents in our culture. How thankful we are, Lord, as we remember back 20 years to those who willingly gave their lives by rescuing others. But I am so thankful for those who continue to do so in so many different areas, including our military and police officers and first responders, who daily put themselves in harm's way, and how we honor them today. And I pray that every person who hears this message would be elevated to something much greater than living for self. But that we would live to please yourself, our Lord, in Jesus's name. Amen. We hope you enjoyed this special service from Calvary Church. We'd love to know how this message impacted you. Email us mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can support this ministry with a financial gift at calvarynm.church/give. Thank you for joining us for this teaching from Calvary Church.

Chasing glimpses of his glory – Matthew 17:1-13 I love that Matthew and the other gospel writers include the Apostle Peter’s imperfections in their writings. Peter’s life, and the scriptural references to his spiritual growth, personality and character give us great hope that God can use us because we find Peter is far from perfect. In the two consecutive passages before today’s verses we read conflicting stories about Peter. In the first one he is praised because he received a divine revelation that Jesus is both the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God ( Matthew 16:13-20 ). In the second passage Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, “Get behind me Satan” because Peter’s outburst had become a hindrance to God’s plans ( Matthew 16:21-28 ). Some Bible scholars believe these two accounts happened on the same day. In each story Peter’s boldness shows him to be a man who is quick to speak. Why is this good? Why is this dangerous? Why do you think God called a man like Peter to lead his church? We learn from Peter’s life that God is not seeking perfection. God is looking for people who are willing to grow and be filled with his power. Filled with the Spirit of the living God, Peter was unstoppable. In today’s passage Peter and two other disciples will get a glimpse of God’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and again we find Peter behaving the same way. While he is fearful he is still quick to speak. Stop and take a moment to pray and ask God to speak to you before reading Matthew 17:1-13 , and then look for how this passage exposes Peter’s distinctive personality. 1 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.  2  He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.  3  Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.  4  Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5  While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!”  6  When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified. 7  Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”  8  When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone. 9  As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10  So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11  “Elijah is coming and will restore everything,” he replied.  12  “But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”  13  Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist. CSB How is today’s passage consistent with Peter’s story? Once again Peter’s boldness makes him a fast talker. In Mark’s version of the transfiguration in Mark 9:5-6 we see additional insight into his motivation.   5  Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—  6  because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified. CSB Peter suggested they build shelters for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus because they were terrified and he didn’t know what to say? I find that fascinating. So, even when fearful Peter still chatters away, as if he could talk himself out of his fear. This is a person with a very unique temperament. If we want to catch a glimpse of God’s glory, we must see he loves us and created our uniqueness. Just like Peter, we were created with an eternal purpose. With time God will transform us to look more like him, but he is never going to erase our personality. For example: when we are unkind or cruel that is not our personality, but our willful behavior, of course God wants us to give up our selfishness actions. Jesus wisely knows that sometimes our strengths and weaknesses are the same thing. We must give ourselves up to God warts and all. He made us unique for his purposes, so he even loves our special idiosyncrasies. God was transforming Peter, so he could become the first spokesperson for the early church. Peter on the day of Pentecost filled with the Holy Spirit is going to boldly preach to the crowds gathered and each person is going to miraculously hear his message in their own language ( Acts 2 ). But, even after Peter’s sermon on Pentecost he needed to keep growing because spiritual growth takes time. Remember, in Antioch when Paul confronted Peter for not standing up to the Judaizers who resented Gentile believers for being adopted into the faith ( Galatians 2:11-14 )? What we learn from the life of Peter, is God is not looking for perfection he is looking for someone who is willing to grow and learn to walk in his Holy Spirit’s power. What we need is more of God, not less of our uniqueness. Peter was extremely useful when his boldness was anointed by God. If we want to catch a glimpse of God’s glory, we must be willing to live with mystery. God is not predictable, but he is always good. There is no formula that we can follow to get God to do what we want. He is not our personal Santa Clause. He loves us dearly, but he has a definite agenda to advance his kingdom on this earth. Like these three disciples on this mountain, God sometimes puts us in situations that initially scare us. If we could always understand what God was doing it would not require our faith or a relationship with Jesus. But, most importantly if we could figure out all that God is up to, God would not be glorified. A synonym for God’s glory is God’s majesty ( Isaiah 35:2 ). How does this transfiguration experience reveal God’s majesty? The bright light shining from Jesus’ face was a tangible taste of all Jesus had left behind when he came to earth and put on a body. Who does Moses represent in this transfiguration? Moses represents the Law. Who does Elijah represent? Elijah as the greatest and most famous Jewish prophet represents the prophets. What do you think was the purpose of Moses and Elijah appearing to Jesus? Maybe they came to encourage and strengthen Jesus for the death he was soon to face in Jerusalem. But, I also think the Father’s voice and what he says next is very critical, “ This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” Remember as devoted Jewish men, Peter, James and John valued the Law and the Prophets in a way that is hard for us Gentiles to imagine. The Father is showing them through a terrifying vision that Jesus is the fulfillment and culmination of the Law and the Prophets. The unveiling mystery of everything God said on that mountain must have blown away their paradigm of what life with God looks like. But, in spite of their momentary fright, Jesus touches them as they cower in fear and tells them not to be afraid. As they came down the mountain, Jesus warns them to not speak of what they experienced until he had been resurrected. With this caution Jesus is not seeking to control them, but to bless them and teach them the importance of waiting on God’s perfect timing. After listening to his warning they ask Jesus more questions and learn more mysterious truths about John the Baptist. If we want to catch a glimpse of God’s glory, we must see he loves us and created our uniqueness, and we must be willing to live with mystery.   Why might God value our personal quirks? God often invites us to live with mystery. How does mystery increase our faith? I can relate to Peter’s specific imperfections because I am very quick to speak. His life and ministry give me hope because sometimes I don’t think through what I say. It is common to desire a life where nothing ever goes wrong, but God is much more interested in growing our trust levels. Do we really believe he is on our side? Let’s think about our own personalities, our distinctiveness, and the things that make us who we really are. God loves us and created us with an eternal purpose. Only he knows how important our idiosyncrasies are. How could this truth give us rest and set us free?

CHRISTIAN KILLERS Dr. Roger Barrier Jude 16 If you are a first-time guest today, I want you to know that we are examining the book of Jude during our teaching time. The Bible predicts that a large-scale turning away from Christianity will occur immediately preceding the second coming of Christ. Jude is often called The Acts of the Apostates. As a result, it stands at the doorstep to Revelation as a fitting description and warning about men and women who start out as Christians and then turn their backs on Jesus. In verse 16 Jude paints a further portrait of apostates and of how they behave. We must be careful lest hidden apostates irreparably damage churches and decimate individual Christian lives. What does Jesus really look like? Idolatry always begins in the mind of the artist—long before the idol is ever painted on paper or fashioned out of clay. When we make up a god out of our own imaginations—our picture is invariably flawed. Read Exodus 20:4 for God’s thoughts on this matter. Our view of God must come from an understanding of God as He is unveiled in the Bible. The essence of verse 16 is, “Apostates Don’t Like God So They Make Up A God They Can Like.” Again, Jude sets before us several earmarks of the falling away which had begun in the early Church and continues on even until this day. •These men are GRUMBLERS. Grumblers are always a nuisance, but Jude has in mind a special Biblical category of people who do more than merely make a constant background noise of criticism. He is talking about the people who continued to complain about the way God was caring for them on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Read Numbers 11:1, 4-5; 14:26-30; 21:4-9 (See John 3:14-16.). The idea is that they think that they know better than God what is best. The idea is that they have a better plan than God does. God hates this attitude—this is a sign of apostasy. The antidote to grumbling is To Recognize And Submit To God’s Hand At Work. •These men are FAULT-FINDERS. Whereas murmuring was directed against God, faultfinding was directed against His leaders. Read Numbers 12:1-15 to see how God treated Miriam and Aaron when they criticized Moses. Faultfinders usually start with one but they soon recruit scores of others. The antidote to faultfinding is To Encourage At Least One Person Every Day. •These men FOLLOW THEIR OWN EVIL DESIRES. Read about Korah in Numbers 16:1-50 and see how God treated him and his followers when he wanted to run “the show” his way! The Greek word for “own evil desires” is the same word Jesus uses in the parable of the sower to describe what choked the life out of the seed of the Word. Read Mark 4:18,19. The idea is that these people decided to follow their own inclinations instead of God’s. This is the natural result when we don’t like how God leads and treats us. Becoming a Christian means that we change allegiance and decide to “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” These people were going back on their initial commitments to Christ. We Christians are far from immune from the arrogant presumption of making God fit our own expectations and needs. The history of the church reveals how often Christians in every age have tended to develop a God that fits into their own culture and/or desires. Allow me to make three observations: Once we cease to believe in the God of the Bible, we will feel free to design a god of our own choosing. Once we think that we are free from God’s scrutiny, we will feel free to ignore His standards. We cannot lower God’s standards in the hope that if the terms are easier, more people will come to Christ. The antidote to following our own evil desires is T o Believe In And Follow The God The Bible Reveals. •These men BOAST ABOUT THEMSELVES. They were not denying that God would come (which was a different error Peter had to answer in 2 Peter 3:3-13), but simply that when He came, it would mean trouble for them. The opposite of boasting about ourselves is To See Ourselves From God’s Perspective. •These men FLATTER OTHERS FOR THEIR OWN ADVANTAGE. The most dangerous flatterer is the person who misleads about spiritual matters, and who tells lies about God because he wants the hearer on his side. Study God’s descriptions of the priests in Ezekiel’s (34:1-31) and in Malachi’s (2:1-9) day. The antidote to flattering others for our own advantage is To Be Honest In Every Relationship.

PROVERBS SERIES EIGHT WHY YOU WANT TO STAY AWAY FROM PRIDE Dr. Roger Barrier Proverbs 6:16; 8:12-13;11:2;13:10;16:5;29:23 Solomon teaches on the dangers and destruction pride brings. ●SLIDE : Proverb 6:16: There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. What begins with pride ends with discord among the brothers. “God hates Pride” is the theme of pride in Proverbs. ●SLIDE : Proverbs 8:13: I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. ●SLIDE : Proverbs 16:5: The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. When we understand why God hates pride so deeply, we will hate it, too! YOU CAN’T BUILD A STEEPLE THAT’S TALLER THAN GOD ●SLIDE: The proud teacher Dan, built a / Church and then planned / To built a tall steeple / That all of the people could see. So . . . ●SLIDE:he cut down a pine / One thousand and nine / Times seventy-five / Plus six inches high / To build a great spire / That was forty times higher / Than the steepest of steeples / That puncture the sky. ●SLIDE: “Why do you want / Such a very high steeple?” / Asked seven hundred and / Five thousand people. / “Because,” said Dan, / “I want everyone to know / How stupendous I, / Reverend Dan, am. / I’ll show them a church / They well can applaud / And build a great steeple / That’s bigger than God!” ●SLIDE:Then the sky clouded up / And a lightning bolt flashed / And a loud voice booms / As the thunder crashed: / “This is God, Reverend Dan, / Now whatever you plan /Try to remember / I’m pretty goodsized / And if you should climb / From May to December, ●SLIDE: You never could measure / How tall are the skies. / And even though all / In the whole world applaud / You can’t build a steeple / That’s bigger than God!” / God boomed and God thundered: / “See here, Reverend Dan, / Is a list of some things / That I’m taller than: ●SLIDE: I’m taller than grass / I’m taller than flowers / Shrubs, poles and trees / Chimneys and towers. / I’m taller than airplanes / Even jets in their flight / I’m taller than rockets / That launch satellites. / It’s too bad you’ve forgotten / (It’s quite a disgrace) ●SLIDE: For I’m taller than / Heaven and taller than space. / So you see, Pastor Dan, / You must tell the people / That I will always be / Taller than steeples.” / But Dan didn’t hear / The voice out of space. / He went out right then / To a very wide place / And started to build / At a very fast pace. ●SLIDE: He found the great pine / One thousand and nine / Times seventy-five / Plus six inches high,/And he stood it on end In a very strong wind / Till it disappeared / In the clouds of the sky. ●SLIDE: “Oh, Reverend Dan, / That is a high steeple!” / Said seven hundred and / Five thousand people./And as all of those/Near began to applaud/Dan beamed, “My steeple/Is higher than God!” ●SLIDE: And just as he spoke, / From the high clouds and mist / Came a thousand-mile hand / That formed in a fist. /It smashed the high steeple / Which fell all around / Shattered and scattered all over the ground. / Dan sat in the ruins / Of his tall splintered spire / Which no one around him / Now could admire. ●SLIDE: He started to cry when the voice from the sky / Said, “Dan, I’m so sorry it ended this way./But when life takes a turn/That helps us to learn / We ought to admit it’s been a good day.” ●SLIDE: No man is big who thinks he is big. / When we’re uppity-up, we’re only a clod. / We ought to remember we’re made out of sod,/ And we can’t build a steeple / That’s higher than God. Well, I am not a preacher building a church. No, but you are building a life. And it is possible to try to build it without on your own, apart from the wisdom and guidance of God. ●SLIDE: Proverbs 15:25: The LORD tears down the proud man's house ●SLIDE: And the bitter wrecks of foolish proud lives litter the human landscape all around us. ●SLIDE: The path of wisdom does not lie along the road of pride. It lies along the road of humility. What is Pride? ●SLIDE: Finney: "Pride is a disposition to exalt self, to get above others, to hide our defects, and to pass for more than we are." ●SLIDE: Webster: "Inordinate self esteem; conceit; ostentatious display." ●SLIDE: Some people grow up, but most of us just puff up!!! ●SLIDE: I once heard a person say: "Some people call me outgoing, but it's not outgoing, it's me that's showing through all the time." ●SLIDE: Barrier: “Pride is an over concern with myself.” ●SLIDE: Self-Reliance: “I don’t need you or anyone else. I am better than you and others.” ●SLIDE: Self-Centeredness: “I will take from you to meet my wants and needs.” ●SLIDE: Self-Condemnation: “You are better than I; therefore, we could never have a relationship.” ●SLIDE: OVERHEAD: WHY DOES GOD HATE PRIDE SO MUCH? ●SLIDE: 1. PRIDE RUINS OUR ABILITY TO FULFILL THE GREATEST COMMANDMENTS: LOVE GOD AND LOVE OTHERS. ●WRITE ON OVERHEAD: Matthew 22:37-40: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Lets take the definition of pride and apply it to the Great Commandment.   ●SLIDE: God Others My Self Self-Reliance Don't need Don't need Isolated/Alone Self-Centeredness Take/Disappointed Take/Disappointed Isolated/Alone Self-Condemnation Rejected Inferior Isolated/Alone Pride ruins relationships Satan: "I will be like God." - Pride Satan tempted Adam and Eve: "You can be as God." - Pride. Trace fall in Garden with the chart: SR, SC, SC Many of you are living here. I just described your life. Pride isolated and makes us alone. ●SLIDE: Proverbs 13:10: "Pride only breeds quarrels." Exclusive company. Think of how many church fights occurred because some one got proud. ●SLIDE: A poor farmer lived in the mountains of North Carolina, worked hard but was barely able to make a living for himself, wife, and son. The son was a bright boy. One day, the farmer said to the mother, “Our son is a natural born scholar, and if he is only a poor farmer’s son, he shall have as good an education as a millionaire’s son.” The father and mother economized and raked and scraped and got enough together to send the boy off to college. ●SLIDE: The boy did well at school, and often sent a letter home, telling how well he was doing. “Mother, these letters are all right,” said the father. “They cheer my heart, but my heart is lonely for the boy and I must see him!” ●SLIDE: He loaded his old farm wagon and started for the college town. It was a long, tedious journey, but every hour of his journey, as he drew near the college town, his heart grew lighter and happier. “In a little while now, I’ll see my boy. Won’t he be surprised! Won’t he be glad!” ●SLIDE: As he drove up the hill towards the college, he saw his boy coming down the sidewalk with several college companions. “There he comes! There he comes!” said the old man. He jumped off the wagon and ran to meet his son. “My son,” he cried. His son was surprised, but not glad. He was ashamed of his father in his plain old homespun clothes. ●SLIDE: “There must be some mistake, sir,” he said. “I am not your son, you are not my father. I do not know you. There must be some mistake, sir!” ●SLIDE: He might as well have driven a dagger into his father’s heart. The father went home with a broken heart and died not long after. Over concern with my Self. ●SLIDE: OVERHEAD. 2. GOD HATES PRIDE BECAUSE IT IS THE ROOT OF ALL SIN.   ●WRITE ON OVERHEAD: Proverbs 6:15-18: Pride, Lies (protect self and hurt others), murder (I have the right to decide (whether or not you live), wicked schemes (deceive others), evil (hurt others), gossip (, dissension.  ●WRITE ON OVERHEAD: Pride is the root and wicked ways are the fruit. Pride is the essence of wickedness. Pride is like the root of a plant. If we don't deal with pride, then we'll never have victory over the wicked ways. Like pruning plants - Prune the branches and all of the others grow stronger. Have problems with lying, murder (anger), deceit, evil, dissension? If deal with lying, all the others grow stronger. God wants to pull out the root, not just to prune off some fruit. By the way, Pride is universal. We all have trouble with it. It is so deceitful. ●SLIDE : The one vitamin we all have too much of is Vitamin I. ●SLIDE :: Young person: "I'm such a proud person, so I guess I'm a sinful person." ●SLIDE :"For thirty years I've struggled with pride, and I didn't even know that I was!" - Such is the Deception of Pride. ●SLIDE : OVERHEAD: 3. GOD HATES PRIDE BECAUSE OF THE ABSOLUTE DEVASTATION THAT COMES THROUGH THE SIN OF PRIDE. He hates to see people ruin and destroy their lives. ●SLIDE : Proverbs 11:2: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Number of lives messed up because of pride. ●SLIDE : Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. •SLIDE: A minister, a Boy Scout, and a computer expert were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot said that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot added, “ I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children.” So he took one and jumped. The computer whiz said, “I should have one because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me.” So he took one and jumped. The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a said smile said, “You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the last parachute and I’ll go down with the plane.” The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, there are still two parachutes left. The smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!” ●SLIDE : Proverbs 18:12: Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before hono r. ●SLIDE : 1 Peter 5 is the pride chapter of the Bible: “Satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” Roaring lion doesn't come to eat! He comes to call all the other lions to the feast. A group of birds is a flock. A bunch of cows is a herd. What do you call a group of lions? ●SLIDE : A Pride. Pride allows Satan to have a field day in our lives. How might pride manifest itself deep in our hearts? •BUILD SLIDE: It's a secret fondness to be noticed. •BUILD SLIDE:  It's a love of supremacy. •BUILD SLIDE: It's drawing attention to yourself in conversation. •BUILD SLIDE: It's enjoying being flattered. •BUILD SLIDE:  It's a swelling out of self when you're free to speak - or to pray. •BUILD SLIDE: It's loving to have your name at the top of the list. •BUILD SLIDE: It's when the praise of men is sweet to your taste. ●SLIDE : What are we talking about? A superiority complex! "Well, thank God that's not my problem! I HAVE AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX! I heard of a man who came running out of a Psychiatrist's office. He was so excited. Here's why he was so excited. He said, "I found out in there I don't have an inferiority complex! I am just inferior!" How many here have an inferiority complex? We don't like that term. Be more gentle... less harsh. Let's don't call it inferiority complex. Let's call it a "Shy Personality!" Does that sound better? “Shy Personality! That's me. God gave to me a shy personality.” ●SLIDE: Here's an article: “Darrell Wells, Always Out Front.” Somebody said, "Some people are all front door, and the minute they open the door, you're back door." When some folks walk in the room you're back door. Darrell Wells has a superiority complex. He's always out front! ●SLIDE: But now we're on the other side of the coin of pride: show off and shyness. ●SLIDE: Definition of Pride: An Over Concern With Myself Self-Reliance and Self-Centeredness—superiority complex Self-Condemnation—inferiority complex I'm suggesting that our self-condemnation, shyness, and fear of what people think of us are nothing more than the flip side of pride, which is sin. Why are you always withdrawing? Why? What's the problem? Perhaps you're afraid? You're afraid of what others will think of you. This is pride! PRIDE MANIFESTED AS SELF-RELIANCE AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS AND SELF CONDEMNATION FILLS THE PAGES OF SCRIPTURE. ●SLIDE : The Parable Of The Lost Son (Luke 15:11-31) ●SLIDE : The Story Of The Rich Man And The Poor Beggar Named Lazarus (Luke 1619-31). Deal with your pride relationship while there is still time. Prodigal Son found compassion from the Father while he was still alive. It was too late for the Rich Man. He was already dead when he tried to deal with his pride. ●SLIDE : HUMILITY IS THE ANTIDOTE TO PRIDE ●SLIDE : Proverbs 29:23: A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor. Proverbs 3:34: He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble . Proverbs 22:4: Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life. ●SLIDE : What does humility look like? Humility is allowing our needs to be met in the context of others. ●SLIDE : Remember the old song? “He laid aside His reputation, when He came and stood by me.” Why do we hang on to ours! It is impossible to go on to maturity in Christ until we have laid aside ours! OUR PRAYER should be: “Oh Lord, Deliver me . . . from the desire to be: extolled—honored—preferred to others—consulted— approved—rebuked; from the fear of being: humiliated—despised—embarrassed—forgotten—wrong; from the fear: that others may be esteemed more than I—that I may go unnoticed while others are praised. Amen.

Today we're launching into a brand new message series. It's called "The Grudge." We're talking all about forgiveness for the next few weeks. And let me just tell you kinda where we're gonna go in the upcoming weeks. We're gonna talk about the faith to forgive. Next week, we're looking at the big betrayals when someone wrongs us in a significant way that alters our lives. How do we have the faith to forgive something that can be so painful? We're actually gonna talk about reconciling with God, we might say forgiving God, although we know that God doesn't ever sin, so technically we don't have to forgive God. But perhaps you or somebody you know is actually holding a grudge against God, because God could have done something that God didn't or maybe God allowed something that you think God should have stopped. We're gonna talk about how do you reconcile with God and let go of a grudge perhaps against God. We're also gonna talk about forgiving yourself. It's one thing to recognize the grace of Jesus, that he forgives us, but sometimes we still live in the guilt of our past and can't seem to let it go. We're gonna talk about forgiving ourselves. Today we're gonna ease into it, but I believe it will speak to a lot of people. We're gonna talk about forgiving the small offenses that often will accumulate, lead to bitterness, and hold us back from I believe what God wants us to have. In fact, I'm curious at all of our different churches, it's no fun without you, how many of you would say you know someone who can be easily offended, raise your hands up right now. Just raise them up, do not point at them because you could offend them because they're so easily offended. If you don't know someone who's easily offended, chances are you're not on social media because it's a jungle out there! Everyone seems to be offended almost on everything. It's so easy to be offended by something small. In fact, you might find yourself tripping over smaller offenses. I don't know what it might be for you. Maybe someone rolls their eyes at you and it just sets you off. Maybe someone has a tone in their voice you don't like and you take offense to it. Maybe someone forgets to say thank you for something that you did to serve them to make a difference. I can get so incredibly offended when I'm driving in traffic and I let someone in, and they don't give me a thank you wave, which is somewhere in the Bible that you're supposed to honor the one who lets in. I'm like, "You didn't even give me just a nod, "a thank you, a thank you. "I could have left you there. "You could still be stuck in traffic right now "if it wasn't for my grace, godliness, mercy "to impart to you the gift of parking." You can get offended when a friend doesn't respond to a text or they slow respond. I hate it whenever I text someone and I know they read it because they started to respond, because I saw the bubbles. I'm like, "There were bubbles, there were bubbles, "you were bubbling me and now you ghosted me." I'm so offended. You can even get offended just by looking at social media, what people post, how often they post, if they comment on your friends' post, but not on your post. If they unfollow you, that is the unforgivable sin in the social media world. We live in an age of perpetual offense, quick to be offended, quick to call foul, quick to judge, quick to become bitter. I'm not pointing at anybody else, I can be the worst. I was driving home from church with Amy just a couple of weeks ago, just preached God's Word to God's people. Someone cut me off in traffic, which got me going. We pulled into a restaurant for Amy to go in to get some fast food, and someone didn't like my parking job and gave me a bad look. The next thing you know, there was a guy with his middle finger sticking out, and I was done, I was done. If you've been with our church for a while, you know I don't love cats and I don't like the middle finger. And so your pastor, who had just preached God's Word, put the car in park, opened the car door, and got out to settle the score, all for the glory of God, mind you, serving as the instrument of righteousness and justice in this world on behalf of the One who created it. I'm getting out of the car, I'm so offended. Then I realized he wasn't even flipping me off, he was flipping somebody else off, and I was offended on behalf of the other person and wanted to stand by that person. In other words, if you're on a continuous search to be a offended, you will always find what you're looking for. If you're always looking to be offended, you will always find what you are looking for. And I hope you'll understand, there is never, ever, ever, ever a win in living offended. I have never found myself saying, "Oh, I am so much better because I am so bitter. "I'm having a better day "because I'm offended over something small. "My marriage is stronger because I'm carrying a grudge. "My relationships are richer because I'm offended. "I'm closer to God, I'm making more of a difference "in this world because I've accumulated small offenses "that I let get up under my skin. "I'm so much happier today." There has never been a win in living offended, and that's why I tell myself over and and over and over again something I hope you'll internalize and tell yourself, and that is this. Your life is too short and your calling is too great to be offended by something small. Your life is moving by. Your calling from God to love in this world is so great to be offended, sidetracked, distracted, or hurting because of a small offense. In fact, I love Proverbs chapter 19, verse 11, a verse that we will revisit at the end of the message, but I wanna start it with the tone of this verse when Proverbs says a person's wisdom yields patience. It's to one's glory to overlook, everybody say overlook.   - Overlook.   - To overlook an offense. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense, and that's why the title of today's message is "I'm Over It." Nudge the person next to you and say, "I'm over it." It doesn't matter what you did on the way into church, I'm over it, I'm over it, I'm over it. How is it that we as followers of Christ get over the grudge? How do we grow past all the little daily temptations that we have to so easily become offended. I'm gonna give you one answer, one big statement, and we're gonna unpack that for the rest of our time together. How do you grow past the daily temptations to be offended? The answer is we close the gap with love. We close the gap with love. Proverbs chapter 10, verse 12, tells us hatred stirs up strife, you know this. Hatred complicates and distances relationships, but love covers all offenses. Love covers offenses. We close the gap with love. Let me unpack this for you for a moment. There is a dynamic that happens in every interaction. You may not notice it, but it happens in every interaction you have with someone. There is a gap between an action and your reaction. Someone acts and there is a micro gap, there is a moment, there's a split second where you make an interpretive decision based on what that action means. There's always an action, there's a gap, and then there is the reaction. There's always a gap between the action and your reaction. The key is this. You get to choose what you put in the gap. There's always a gap, and you get to choose what you put in the gap. For example, there is an action, a man puts his middle finger in the air as he's driving by your pastor. There is a micro moment, an instant, where I get to interpret the meaning behind his action and put something in the gap before I respond. We interpret the meaning of the action. The problem is we are horrible interpreters! You are, I am, we all are, and you know it because how many times has someone misinterpreted the meaning behind your words or your actions, and you thought to yourself, "How in the world could you think that I meant that? "I would never have said that "with that kind of intent in mind. "Don't you know me better than that? "How could you think "that I would ever do something like that? "I would never mean it." We're horrible interpreters. This is called the fundamental attribution error, and we almost all will slip into this. The fundamental attribution error is this. It is the bias to attribute our own behavior to our circumstances, while attributing someone else's actions to their character. We're attributing our own behavior to some external circumstance. In other words, there's a reason why I did this. You should know me, you know my heart, you know what I'm like, you know there must be a good explanation for this, while we attribute someone else's actions to their character, meaning they're not a great person. In other words, if I did something to disappoint you, there's a reason. Come on, man, give me a break, you know me, you know my heart. If someone else does something to disappoint me though, it's very tempting for me to attribute their action to their character. Well, he's just not a good person. Well, she's just inconsiderate. Well, he's just rude. Well, she just needs Jesus to save her soul. It's the misinterpretation, and you know this, we do it all the time. You walk into the store and your kid throws a fit. There's a reason, right? There's always a reason. Your kid didn't get a nap today. There's no snack, it's been a hard day, Give me some grace, my kid's just having a tough day. She's not always like this, give me some grace. Someone else's kid throws a fit in the store, and you determine that's a lazy parent raising a demon-possessed terrorist and we need to protect ourselves from them. Give me a break, there's a reason, but you are bad. There's always a gap. There's always a gap. You get to choose what you put in the gap. What do you put in the gap? We have a spiritual enemy. His name is Satan or the devil. One of his titles is the accuser in Revelation chapter 12. It says the accuser accuses the brothers, the brethren, day in, day out, he's always accusing us before... "You're no good, you're not worthy of God." How do we fill the gaps? Well, the devil wants you to fill the gaps with accusations. He is the accuser, and he wants you to accuse others. Fill the gap with this accusation. Well, she's always about herself. She doesn't care about me, he doesn't care. You can't trust anyone. Everybody's in it for themselves. The devil wants you to close the gaps with accusations. What do accusations do? Accusations erode marriages. Accusations split friendships. Accusations destroy churches. And the devil wants you to fill the gap with accusations. But God wants you to fill the gap with love. He wants you to fill the gap with love. Proverbs 17:9 says this, whoever would foster love covers an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Whoever foster love, it covers an offense. What does love do? Love gives the benefit of the doubt, right? Love chooses to believe the best. Love trusts the other person, believes the best in the other person. In other words, if Amy says, "Hey, did you take out the trash?" The devil would want me to say, "Well, she's just saying I'm lazy. "Well, she didn't do this, why is she always ragging on me?" Love doesn't do that. Love says she's probably just curious if I took out the trash. You choose what you put in the gap. Someone doesn't respond to your text, the devil would say, "Oh, well, he's not a good friend. "Well, she thinks she's too good for everybody. "Well, she's just too busy for me." Love does not do that. Love assumes the best. Her phone's probably dead, she probably just got busy. Maybe she saw it and she forgot about it. She's gonna get back to me, we're good friends. Love assumes the best. Scripture says this, Paul said it really clearly in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 2. He said, "Be patient with each other, "making allowances for each other faults." Why, because of your love. Make allowances, give the benefit of the doubt, make allowances for others because of your love, because of your love, because God loves you, because Jesus forgave you, because there's grace for you, have grace for others, make allowances because of your love. In other words, someone else's behavior is not all about you. Their bad driving is not all about you. Their bad mood is not all about you. The edge in their voice may not be all about you. They may just be having a bad day. They may be facing a battle of their own. They may have just gotten some really bad news. You want others to give you the benefit of the doubt, and so you do the same for them. Why, because of your love, because of your love. What if though somebody is just rude to you? What if they're intentionally mean or harsh, what do you do then? What I try to do is I try to realize that if someone is really unnecessarily hateful to me, they are probably very likely going through something that's causing that kind of behavior. And believe me when I tell you, if you wanna make a bigger difference in this world, you're gonna have more people that don't like you, and you've gotta learn to stay above those offenses. So whenever someone attacks or someone's unnecessarily harsh, what I try to do is I try to tell myself, I wonder what they're going through because I know hurt people tend to hurt people. So instead of being offended by, I wanna have compassion for. Instead of being offended by what they did or how they acted or what they didn't do, I wanna try to have compassion for them and make allowances because of the love that is in my heart. I wonder what they're going through. There's always gonna be a gap, and you get to choose what you put in the gap. If you put accusations in the gap, you're always gonna be offended, you're always gonna be carrying a grudge. He did and she did, and you will never wake up one day and say, "I'm in such a better place today. "My relationships are better than they ever have been "because I've been offended by small things. "My effectiveness for God is maxing out "because I'm carrying small grudges "over things that don't really matter." Because of your love, how do we do this? I love the power of Proverbs 19:11 that tells us this. A person's wisdom, it's wise to be patient, a person's wisdom yields patience, and here's the key, it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. It's to your glory. It's God-honoring to overlook an offense. Now what does it mean to overlook an offense? To overlook an offense, that's not the same thing as pretending like it didn't happen. To overlook an offense is a conscious decision to let it go. It's a form of forgiveness in realtime. I'm not gonna carry this and wake up three weeks later and decide I'm gonna forgive that thing. It's an in-the-moment realtime decision to stay above the offense, to forgive it in the moment, and to let it go because I am over it, let it go. In fact, the Hebrew word that's translated as overlook is the word avor, and what it means is it means to pass over. It means to pass over the offense. So in other words, instead of focusing on the offense, replaying the offense, rehearsing the offense, going over and over it in mind what I could have said and should have said, and will say next time I'm in front of that person, instead what we do is we get above it, we pass over it, we rise above the offense because we have a more important calling. I'm over it, I'm over it. My calling elevates me. My purpose lifts me. The devil wants to lower me into the offenses that would drag me down, but because my God has a higher calling, I'm already over it. In the moment, I'm over it. I have realtime forgiveness. I'm choosing to let this go. This isn't gonna weigh me down. This isn't gonna hold me back. This isn't gonna distract me from my purpose. In the moment, I'm deciding. It's to my glory, it honors God to get above it. I'm staying above it. I'm already over it. Your coworker doesn't invite you to the party, I'm over it! It's not gonna hold me back. Someone makes a snarky comment on your social media, I'm over it, I'm not letting that weigh me down. Your mother-in-law criticizes your children. That's a different category. We'll deal with that in a whole nother sermon. No, no, just joking, I'm over it! It may take me more than three seconds, but I promise I'm not gonna let that drag me down, I'm over it. Wisdom, it yields to patience. I'm over it, I'm over it. I've got a more important calling. My calling is to love. My calling is to represent Jesus. I'm not gonna let the enemy slow me down. I believe this is one of the most divisive, destructive tools of our evil one. In our culture today, offended by everything. Listen, nobody's ever changed the world by walking around bitter. We had an interesting deal years ago. Amy was driving, and it may have been 20 years ago, 15, 20, it was a long time ago. And she was in a little minivan, and she was pulling up to a stoplight going maybe five miles an hour and bumped a guy. Bump, just bumped, and she thought, "I probably should get out just to check," but it was kinda like, it may not need to. It was like a barely bump. And so she got out and checked with the guy, and he looked down and there was no damage to his vehicle, no damage to hers, and they were gonna go on about their business. And then evidently he recognized who she was, and his tone changed really quickly, and he called the police. And she's like, "Why are you calling the police?" And so she was being nice and gave him her information and such, and so the police came out. And the police officer was kind of offended. He was like, "Why are you calling me out here? "You guys go home, nothing happened, go your way." So Amy went her way and the guy called me and said I owed him, I think it was like $700 for damages and chiropractic stuff. And I was like, "No, no, no, no, "the police told you to go home," and he essentially kinda said, "Look, man, I know who you are, "and you don't want me spreading rumors "about the pastor not paying his bills." I was offended. I was not over it. And everything in me felt justified to stand my ground. I didn't pay, I'm angry, I couldn't sleep, I was rehearsing it, this isn't fair, no way, this isn't right, and I dug my feet in the ground. Well, Amy, like I'm married to the Holy Spirit, which has its ups and its downs. She's like, "Hey, we have the money in savings, "just pay him and keep going." No, I'm not gonna pay him. I'll pay him, I'll make him... And she's like, "Listen, it's distracting you "from what we're called to do. "At the end of our life, we're not gonna miss this. "Just let it go." So I reluctantly let it go. We wrote, well, it was the nicest note I could and sent the money, and we let it go. Don't let something small take you off mission to show the love of Jesus. Don't let it happen, don't let it happen. Imagine Jesus getting off mission, throwing a fit. "Matthew, you weren't paying attention "to my sermon on the mount. "You hurt my feelings, now I can't calm the storm." We're not much different than that sometime. "The Pharisees, there was one, "he was giving me a dirty look, he just hurt my feelings. "I'm just not in the mood to do any miracles today "because the Pharisee was so rude to me. "Thomas, you didn't even compliment my miracle. "I opened blind eyes, what do you want me to do? "Raise the dead? "I can't go on now." No, no, no, no, no, no, his mission was all about love. It was all about love. "I am here on earth to show the goodness, "the love of my Father in all that I do. "I am the embodiment of love. "I won't let anyone take me off..." Whenever you find yourself, "Well, that offends me. "Why that is a blah, blah, blah," just choose to show love. What I try to do is tell myself all the time that the calling ahead of me is greater than the offense that is behind me. I still have a calling from God. He has empowered me, equipped me. My life is way too short and my calling way too important to be offended by something small. I'm over it. My calling to love elevates me. My purpose in Christ lifts me. I'm not pulled down by the smaller lower offenses of this world. There's always a gap. We close the gap with love. We assume the best, even if they are angry and mean and hateful. Well, they must be going through something. Instead of choosing to be offended by, I'm gonna have compassion for. I'm over it. I'm forgiving in the moment. It's realtime forgiveness. So years went by after that little fender-bender, and Amy and I were greeting people in the lobby one week, and we met this girl who was probably in her early, maybe mid 20s, and she told us how her life was completely changed by Jesus at our church. And Amy asked her, "How is it that you came to church?" And she said, "Well, you probably don't remember this, "but years ago, Amy, you bumped into my dad's vehicle." I said, "Oh, I remember that. "I certainly do remember that." And she said, "Yeah, my family, we weren't Christians then. "When my dad kinda realized the situation, "he decided to try to get as much out of you as he could." And she said, "I'm really sorry for the way my dad acted. "You guys were so gracious." And she said, "I was just a little girl "when that happened and I remembered it. "And years and years went by and we weren't church people. "We didn't go to church, "but when I went through a difficult time, "I thought we're gonna go to the church "of that couple that was so loving "when my dad was so unfair." And so she said, "I came to church and I heard the message, "and I was transformed by the grace of Jesus." And that, listen to me, that is our mission. We're called to stay above it and we are called to love through it. That's what we do as followers of Christ. Man, if I could just sit down with every single one of you and try to represent what I really believe God would say today, it's like, come on, guys, don't get in social media battles, don't get offended by which politics they like, and just , and get all hateful. Don't defend your theology with anger and hatred. Where's the fruits of the Spirit in that? We're called to love, to love, to love. When I'm tempted to be offended, to be angry, to be hurt, to be self-righteous, to gather with others who are equally offended, "What's your small group about?" "We're just offended people, everything offends us. "We're angry about everything. "We have a mutual bond of bitterness." No, no, no, no, no, I'm over that, I'm so over that, I'm so over that. I've got a purpose, I've got a calling. I don't know about you, but I've done so many things to offend the heart of God, and the grace that he's showed me is the same grace that I wanna show others. I'll stand up for truth, but I'm gonna stand up for the truth in love, and I'm not gonna be offended by something small. Why, because the calling ahead of me is so much greater than the offense is behind me. My life is way, way, way, way too short. Boom, it's a breath, it's a mist. Here today and gone tomorrow, it's a breath. My calling is too great to be offended by something small. It's to your glory to overlook an offense. Next time the devil tries to pull you down, you say, "Nope, by the power of Jesus, I'm over it. "You tried to keep him down, "but he's got resurrection power. "His power lifts me, his grace sustains me, "his purpose drives me." Realtime, in the moment, choosing to forgive it, I'm over it. For the glory of God, we have more important things to do. So Father, we pray today in the name of your resurrected Son, Jesus, that by your power, through your grace, you would empower us, your church, to show love in all circumstances when there's a gap, God. There's always a gap. Help us to close that gap with your love. As you pray today at all of our different churches, those of you who would say, "Man, I know it, "I can be too easily offended, I'm a bad interpreter, "I want the help, the power, the grace of Jesus "to help me close that gap with love," would you lift up your hands right now? Every single one of our Life.Churches, hands going up all over the place, so thank you, God, that your Spirit is working. We pray right now, God, that you would burn these truths in our hearts, that every time, every moment we're tempted to be distracted by something small, you would elevate and lift our hearts, God, to a higher calling, a stronger purpose. Help us to get over it, God. Realtime forgiveness, just like Jesus prayed on the cross, in the moment, Father, forgive them, for they don't even know what they're doing, and he was over it, and help us to be over it. And help us in our marriages, in our friendships, in our relationships, even in our online interaction, to close the gap with love in a way that would honor you so others could know the same love that changes us through Jesus. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there may be those of you that you got a gap between you and God right now. If we talked kinda honestly and maybe sat down and I said, "Hey, how are you doing with God," you might not use this word, but you might say, "Essentially there's a gap, there's distance. "I don't know where I stand with God." Maybe you felt closer to him at some time than you do right now. Let me tell you what creates a gap. Sin always creates a gap. Sin, sinfulness, wrong doing, living against God's standards, it creates a gap because God is holy and sin breaks his heart. Here's the good news. God essentially closed the gap with love. Love is not just something that God does, love is who he is, and he sent his Son, Jesus, to close the gap. Who is Jesus? He is the sinless Son of God who is perfect in every way, who became sin for us on the cross, died in our place, and God raised him from the dead. He's over it. He is over sin, over death, over hell, over the grave. His name is above all. It is the name above every name. Because God raised him from the dead, now anyone who calls on that name, the name of Jesus, the Savior, the Risen One, when you call on him, your sins will be forgiven, you will be made brand new. You're forgiven before God, not because you're good, but because he's good, because he raised Jesus. At all of our churches, there are those of you, you know there's a gap. Jesus closes the gap. When you call on him, God hears your prayers. He makes you new. You're not just a better version of you, you're different. The old is gone and the new has come. At all of our churches, there are those of you, you realize that's why you're here right now. You've offended God, you've hurt God, you've sinned against God. Jesus closes the gap, call on him. God will hear your prayer. He will make you new, he will change your life, he will do it in this moment. At all of our churches, those who say, "Yes, I need him, I turn from my sin, "I turn toward Jesus today by faith. "I give my life to him," that's your prayer, lift your hands high right now, all over the place, and say, "Yes." Lift them up and say, "Yes, Jesus." Right here, praise God for you, and right back over here. Others of you today who say, "Yes, Jesus, I surrender. "I trust you with my life." Right back up here and over here as well, thank God for you, right here, praise God, ma'am. Others today, "Jesus, I surrender to you. "I give it all to you." Back up here, somebody give God some praise today. Church Online, you guys click right below me today, and at all of our churches, in honor of those coming to faith in Christ, would you mind just standing to your feet for just a moment? Just stand to your feet. We're gonna pray together, nobody prays alone. Pray aloud, pray heavenly Father,

The Victorious Christian Life Part 1 Joshua 1:1-9 S-1570 Have you noticed the all too often disturbing difference between what the Bible says Christians are—and what they really are? Maybe you have sensed that in your life. I wonder if people ever see us and say, “I have the picture of a Christian in the Bible—but, you don’t look much like it”? Several years ago Julie and her hairdresser talked me into changing my hairstyle. Got a curly perm. At least I had enough hair to get one then. I took one look in the mirror and was horrified. It was awful. “Get rid of it.” Convinced me to leave it on and see if I get used to it. I did not. I knew it was bad when I went to a meeting in Phoenix that week and one of the denominational leaders told me I looked like a gigolo.  I didn’t know what that meant. I looked up the word and was very offended. I had not been called anything that bad since high school. I have a picture of that curly perm—only because Julie and I were going to Brazil on a global outreach trip and I needed a new passport. ►SLIDE #1: So I got my passport picture taken that week.  I got that curly perm straightened after two weeks. Passports are good for ten years. I traveled to several countries on that passport over the next ten years—and each time I it took me quite a while to clear immigration to leave or enter a country. “I see your picture, but you don’t look anything like the picture.” Then they would chuckle. It is often difficult to recognize Christians from the description of Christians given in the Bible. ►SLIDE #2: God’s beautiful people don’t look much at all like the beautiful people of media land. People’s most beautiful people We don’t have to wonder what a Christian looks like. Let’s take a quick look at our photograph: ►SLIDE #3: The beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-10 Poor in spirit, mourn—comforted, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted because of righteousness, ►SLIDE #4: The fruit of the spirit: Galatians 5:22-23 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let’s add another dimension to this: victory. Many verses on the concept of victory. Here’s one. ►SLIDE #5: Romans 8:37: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” ►SLIDE #6: úπερνικωμεν:  The Greek word translated “more than conquerors” is difficult to translate adequately. The word conveys the idea of super- and supra-conquerors. The Christian doesn’t merely conquer – he overwhelmingly conquers. Most Christians believe we’ll win in the end. The Lord is going to be victorious finally. But it’s going to be close! It’s like a soccer game played to a draw. In overtime he’ll be awarded a penalty kick and beat the devil 1 to 0. No, that’s not what Paul says. It’s not the Christians 1 and the devil 0; it’s the Christians 100 and the devil 0. One of clearest pictures of the victorious life is found in God’s dealings with Israel. The book of Joshua is God’s object lesson on living the victorious Christian life. Explain OT uses as allegory and illustrations of NT truth. ►SLIDE #7: 1 Corinthians 10:11: These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. Talk several weeks about the victorious life from Joshua.  Open your Bibles to Joshua 1. ►SLIDE #8: Explain story of exodus, wanderings, and entrance to Promised land. Explain Genesis to Numbers = Deuteronomy Deuteronomy is story of Exodus and wandering. Joshua is story of entering Canaan. ►SLIDE #9: DRAW ON OVERHEAD: Understand that the Christian life can be divided into two stages, the Red Sea stage and the River Jordan stage, with a wilderness in between. The Red Sea was to Israel as the cross is to us. Crossing the Red Sea was the symbol their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. Just as the Cross is the symbol of our freedom from the bondage of sin. They celebrated the Passover as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Escape from slavery in Egypt was not God’s goal for his people. He took them out of Egypt in order to bring them into the land he had promised them. The land of Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey to be enjoyed in life here on earth. Picture of entering Canaan is our enjoying the fullness of the Christian life. It wasn’t enough to get out of Egypt. They had to get into the Promised Land. ►SLIDE #10: Deuteronomy 6:23: “But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.” This may surprise you, but Canaan never symbolizes heaven in the Bible. Church hymns may say that, but the Bible doesn’t. There were giants in Canaan – there are no giants in Heaven. There were battles to be fought in Canaan – there will be no battles in Heaven. God’s people sinned in Canaan – in Heaven all traces of sin will be erased. The real goal is for us to cross over the Jordan River and experience the victorious Christian life that he has promised us in Christ. This is not an incidental emphasis in Scripture, but its heart. ►SLIDE #11: Colossians 1:26-27: “…the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but now has been manifested to His saints… which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” God’s goal is the victorious full release of the life of Jesus Christ in you. DRAW ON OVERHEAD: He brought us out that he might bring us in. Many Christians are out but not in. They, like those spoken of in 1 Corinthians 10:5, die in the wilderness without ever experiencing the life of fullness in Christ. Are you in? Are you out? Are you still in Egypt? Are you wandering around in the wilderness? ► SLIDE #12 : Living in victory inside the land of Canaan is the normal Christian life. A victorious life is not a superior brand of Christianity. It is the normal life for every Christian.! The Christian life is a victorious life, and anything less is a cheap imitation of the real thing. ► SLIDE 13 : Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life. The first nine verses of Joshua tell us several important things about enjoying the life of victory: ►SLIDE #14: Read Joshua 1:1-9: The best way to define the victorious life is to describe it. ►SLIDE #15: 1. The promises of the Bible are experiential instead of theological (1:2-3, 6). God’s promises to Joshua were definite. He told the Israelites the land was theirs; they needed only to act – and the promises made generations earlier were fulfilled before their eyes. I’m afraid that many Christians look at the promises of God as I looked at Christmas catalogues as a boy. When I was about ten I spotted something I desperately wanted in the catalogue and I had to have it. It cost twenty-five dollars, but it might as well have been a thousand. Knowing it was beyond my reach, I would get out the catalogue, turn to the page that displayed the picture, and dream. No wonder the catalogue is called “the wish book”. I wished and wished, but I knew I couldn’t have it. And to many Christians the Bible is just that – a wish book. They read the promises, but never really expect to see hem fulfilled in their own lives. But the Bible is not a wish book; it is a faith book. Those who cross over into victory by faith, find that all the promises of God are real. ►SLIDE #16: 2. The Presence of God is most intimate (Joshua 1:5, 9). One of the promises God made to Israel and repeated often in this chapter is “I will be with you.” They would experience his continuing presence. God would be real to them. Ball game with dad in seat, parents at recital, or wedding ►SLIDE #17: 3. The Power of God flows increasingly (Joshua 1:5) Resurrection Power: “I pray that… you may know… what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe… in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, then He raised Him from the dead…” (Ephesians 1:18-20). The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is made available to us. You’re facing a problem. If God can raise one from the grave, he can do anything. You have resurrection power residing in you. Doctor after ileostomy: “People with your physical condition have to be careful. Maybe some day you can ride a bicycle.” After 1700 different sermons and a zillion services in doggie years, hiking alps, water skiing, basketball, etc. I believe in God’s resurrection power. ►SLIDE #18: Teen-facing temptation with sex, drugs, or peers ►SLIDE #19: Ethical issues at work ►SLIDE #20: Standing at the casket ►SLIDE #21: Lost job ►SLIDE #22: Mom tells you dad is not coming home again. ►SLIDE #23: VICTORY IS A GIFT TO THE CHRISTIAN (Joshua 1:3). Notice the tense: “I have given,” not “I will give”. It was already theirs. God had given the land with all its riches to his people before they even saw what it was like. Understanding that the victorious life is a gift already given us by God is essential. This means victory is assured. There is no reason why every Christian cannot live a life of victory. It is part of our birthright as a child of God. The victory of Christ is ours for the taking. ►SLIDE #24: however, VICTORY MUST BE GAINED BY THE CHRISTIAN (Joshua 1:5). You may think I am contradicting myself when I say that the gift must be gained. But the Scripture holds to both concepts. God told Joshua he had already given them the land but that they would have to possess it. Although the gift was absolute, it had to be appropriated. ►SLIDE #25: Hebrews 4:9-11: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” How do we gain it? What is our part? Three things are mentioned in Joshua 1. ►SLIDE #26: 1.The victory is gained by faith (Joshua 1:2). Joshua was to take God at his word and start walking. We exercise faith when we acknowledge that Christ has already won the victory for us. The Christian life is lived from a platform of victory already accomplished. Visualize the Victory. Illustration: The Inner Game of tennis: Inner game of golf: Visualize and learn to do it. Visually see self in place of victory and then do it. The quickest route to defeat is to concentrate on your circumstances. Illustration: Dog and prince Andrew. God had already given the land, but Joshua had to walk across it before he received it. And he was given only as much as he walked across. The same is true for us. God gives us only as much as we are willing to walk across in obedience. He lets us choose our level of spirituality. ►SLIDE #27: 2.The victory is gained by following THE DIRECTIONS (Joshua 1:7-8). OVERHEAD: The word translated “law” means “directions”, and that’s what God’s law is: divine directions on how to put together a successful life. Illustration: Directions to church in St. Chads: convoluted directions and driving on left hand side. Roads were clearly marked. The word “prosperous” carries the idea of making right and wise decisions. The word of God would give Joshua the ability to make the right and wise decision in every situation and thus ensure success in his appointed task. We must learn this truth. Regardless of natural talent or ability, only disciplined devotion to God’s word can quip us to do God’s will. Illustration: Dr with knee injury: You dummy, don’t you know…?” The Hebrew word translated “meditate ” has the overtones of “humming”. A famous popular singer was asked why he always kept humming. He answered that humming kept his vocal cords warmed up and ready to perform at a moment’s notice. Our constant humming of the word, meditating on it day and night, will keep us warmed up and ready to obey at a moment’s notice. The word of God us to be like a tune that you can’t get out of your head; it is to permeate your life and be absorbed into your system. Then and only then will you be able to act wisely. When you encounter a situation you don’t know how to handle, God will be able to give you unbelievable wisdom, because you have been abiding in his word. Watch Brass guys in orchestra. They whinny like horses to keep lips warm. Meditation on last man at Red Sea during time of stress. God is telling us that meditating on the word of God is the secret of spiritual prosperity! This third point may startle you. ►SLIDE #28: 3.The victory is gained by fighting (Joshua 1:9). When the people left Egypt, God could have taken them straight into Canaan, but he deliberately led them by a circuitous route. God deliberately made the journey longer. Why? ►SLIDE #29: The explanation is recorded in Exodus 13:17: “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." They weren’t ready to fight, and entering Canaan required courageous fighting men, so God postponed military confrontation until they were ready. When a person first becomes a Christian, it often seems everything is easy. We witnesses, pray, read the Bible with radiant and tireless enthusiasm. Temptations seem not to exist. God, as he did for the Israelites, is leading him in he easy way. He is not yet ready to fight. When he is suddenly besieged by difficulties, he becomes frustrated and confused and wonders what went wrong. At this moment Satan may take advantage of his predicament and accuse him of failure, trying to convince him that God has surely abandoned him. But God has not deserted him; he had merely enrolled the new Christian in basic training in order to get him ready to fight. The land of fullness is occupied by the enemy. We will not go in unopposed. Spiritual warfare is the order of the day when we move into our victory. Have you noticed that while in the wilderness, Israel didn’t fight a single battle (except among themselves)? Only when they entered Canaan did they encounter warfare. That is significant. Illustration: Eleanor: Daughter in Denmark: Converts mostly from witchcraft and occult. Spiritual hunger, incense to Diana. The life of victory. It is God’s goal and gift for every believer. It is already accomplished by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that every Christian automatically experiences this victory. There is something for us to do. We must appropriate what God has made available. ►SLIDE #30: Let me illustrate it like this. There’s a water fountain in the foyer of our church. It contains cool, refreshing water for those who are thirsty. Suppose one Sunday morning after the service I see you in the foyer on your knees before that fountain. With hands clasped in prayer, you’re begging the fountain for water, just one little drink. But nothing happens. And nothing will happen, except that someone may carry you off in a straitjacket. You don’t get water from a fountain by begging and pleading. You go up to it, bend over, push the lever, open your mouth and swallow. It’s that simple. Jesus invited all who were thirsty to come to him and drink. He doesn’t force our mouths open and our it down us. We must do our own drinking. The fountain is waiting; come and drink.

The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi.  The last chapter is chapter four.  The last verses are verses four and five.  They say, “Behold I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.  He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” He is called the Forerunner who will announce to Israel the coming of the Messiah who would bring the final judgment of God.  He would call the nation to repentance, a repentance that would show itself in a restoration of the father’s duty to communicate the truth to his children.  (Deut. 6:4-7) This is how our Old Testament “signs off.”  It says “look for the coming of a prophet like Elijah” or as Gabriel will say, one “in the spirit and power of Elijah.”  What is interesting, yea fascinating, is that the first thing recorded in the New Testament is the last thing in the Old – the coming of the Forerunner.  Gabriel appeared to Zacharias in the temple to say “he is coming.” Imagine John the Baptist like the Supreme Court Chief Justice.  At the swearing in, or the inauguration of an American President, the Chief Justice must be present to pass the mantle on to the next President.  He authenticates the ceremony.  In the same way John the Baptist was the Chief Justice, the key that fit the lock to open the door for Messiah.  The last of the Old Testament is the prophecy of the beginning of the New. John did six things. He  announced the Messiah. “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He  collected a group of disciples that he would hand over to Messiah. “He must increase.  I must decrease.” He  called the nation to repentance ; to a proper understanding of true righteousness versus legal righteousness. He  denounced the nation’s leaders , calling them “sons of vipers.” He  clarified just who Messiah He was not just a man but “existed before” John.  He was divine. But most of all he  pointed out Jesus to the nation. “Behold the Lamb of God.”  Upon his baptism of Jesus, the Spirit descended like a dove and the Father spoke from heaven.  “This is my Son.” Only one man can be the Christ.  The man upon whom the Spirit rests, of whom the Father speaks . . . and the one of whom the final word of the Old Testament, Elijah the last prophet would look to and say, “Behold, the Incomparable Christ.”

Before Christ we are wired to consume. When we meet Christ we are wired to serve. We have been gifted to make a contribution vs. constantly consuming. The eternal consequences of Christian service compel us to serve around Casas and in the community. Jesus described Himself as a servant and urged His followers to serve one another (Luke 22:25–27). The apostle Paul connected serving one another to the Great Commandment (Galatians 5:13–14). “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 12:1-13). What is the difference between spiritual gifts and natural talents? Natural talents result from physical creation. Spiritual gifts are given through spiritual re-creation. Natural talents are often the vehicle through which spiritual gifts can be used. The spiritual gifts are found in three separate passages in the New Testament (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12–14; and Ephesians 4). The lists are not exactly identical. Some overlap occurs. Perhaps we should look for our ministry on the left hand side (Ephesians 4 and Romans 12). Once we find our ministry, we look to the right hand side (1 Corinthians 12)) to see which gifts God may give to help us to carry out our ministries. "MINISTRIES OF CHRIST" Ephesians 4:11 (Building and Instructing) Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastor-Teacher Romans 12:6-8 (Supporting) Prophecy Helps Teaching Encouragement Giving Administration Leadership Mercy Does Every Believer Have A Gift? Can A Believer Have More Than One Gift? "GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT" 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 (Tools For Ministry) Wisdom Knowledge Faith Healing Miracles Prophecy Distinguishing spirits Speaking in tongues Interpreting tongues 1 Corinthians 7:7 Singleness (celibacy) How Are Spiritual Gifts Given Out? An Apostle is one who is sent to establish a foothold for Christianity in unevangelized areas by proclaiming the Gospel and establishing churches. A Prophet applies a message from God to a particular situation in relevant terms. This is mostly a preaching gift; however, in  biblical times it predicts the future. An Evangelist is spiritually anointed to persuade people through a variety of relevant methods to surrender their lives to the Person of Jesus Christ. They are quite successful at it. A Pastor-Teacher oversees the care and spiritual feeding of a church congregation. His/her teaching clarifies and preserves the truths of God. The gift of Helps is a God-given gift for meeting the practical needs of people. The gift of Encouragement exhorts people to active to Christian living through loving encouragement and/or firm discipline if and when needed. The gift Giving is the ability to make money and/or resources and to give them freely away with joy and delight. The gift of Administration is the spiritual capacity to organize and manage the church. The gift of Leadership is the spiritual capacity to energize people by creating a vision and inspiring them to make the vision a reality. The gift of Mercy brings the empathetic love of God to hurting people in practical ways. The gift of Wisdom synthesizes concepts, facts and truths in order to find a God-inspired solutions. The gift of the Word Of Knowledge is a supernaturally revealed communication for a particular reason. The gift of Faith is the spiritual ability to see something that God intends to do and to live accordingly even before God acts. Miracle gifts are explained in Scripture in this way: The gift of Healing refers to the healing of physical disease in response to the Holy Spirit’s promptings through confession, laying on of hands and prayer. The gift of Miracles is a supernatural event to authenticate the Word and/or reality of God. The gift of Distinguishing Between Spirits is the ability to differentiate between holy, human and demonic powers. The gift of Tongues is the ability to speak fluently in a previously unlearned language (dialektos) or in a Holy Spirit inspired spiritual prayer language (glossalia). The gift of Interpreting Tongues is the spontaneous ability to translate the language of one who is using the gift of tongues. What is the purpose of a spiritual gift? Spiritual gifts are for the common good. For victory, the church body must work together in harmony, fellowship and love under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. When utilized properly in a church setting, spiritual gifts intertwine to paint a picture of Jesus Christ. By the way the heed for utilizing spiritual gifts in a group setting speaks forever to the person who wants to go out on the hillside all alone and worship God all by himself/herself as the basis for his/her religion.

Let’s examine some Biblical principles to keep in mind during a bear market (a recession; “lean financial times”). The Bible carefully lays out a financial plan of money management that includes giving to the Lord, paying taxes, buying a house and planning for retirement. The Bible also addresses such issues as medical care, clothes, food and paying for college and refrigerators. Notice the two non-negotiables: Tithe (the top 10% or our gross income before paying taxes): Matthew 23:23 Taxes: Matthew 22:21 
Notice the “net spendable income” (money we have to allocate after tithe and taxes). “Batten Down The Hatches.” “It’s a recession if you lose your job. It is a depression if I lose mine.”
Get your emergency fund in order. How much? Many recommend three to six months salary. Proverbs 21:20: “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.”
Many of us need to “batten down” our attitudes. The Bear Market Blues Is An Excellent Opportunity To Review Our Financial Plans. If We Have No Plan, It Is Time To Get Some Help And Develop One. 1 Timothy 5:8: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” There are at least four levels of planning.
Getting control of our money begins with a Biblical concept we call a budget (Proverbs 27:23). The Bear Market Is A Good Time To See The Hand Of God At Work. God periodically uses recessions as wake-up calls.
“I know that God’s overall intention is to bless me” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
“Perhaps God has something better in store for me.”
“Now is the time to deepen my trust in God’s provision” (Matthew 6).
“Is there anything about my financial dealings with God that might need mending?” (Compare Proverb 3:5-6 and Haggai 1.)
“This might be a time for me to worship God at a deeper level than I ever imagined” (Job 1:20- 21; Romans 12:1).
The Bear Market Is An Excellent Time To Deepen Our Community. The early church shared what they had to meet each others’ needs (Acts 4:32-35). The Bear Market is a time to deepen our awareness of the needs of others.