August 13, 2017 AM

The NFL would have been amazing dream. Tell me the ruler of the universe pretty dope having Unlimited Supply of Mountain Dew slushies and vanilla wafers. Now we're talking but the Bible says what good is it? If you gain everything that you ever dreamed of but you lose your soul what good is it? If you live for the now and forget to live for the future, I heard once that guys apparently our worst thing about the future name girls are they said I heard that guys and take him to the 25 before they start looking to the future. I was looking to the Future when I was younger. I was freaking out. So maybe I jumped into it too soon. But so often we just fall into the same pattern of living for now and still living instead of living for later. For those of you familiar at all with finances and money. Like usually it's the stuff that you wait on the ends up being more worth it. It's giving up pleasure now to store it for pleasure later. That is the way to go in even read that in the Bible Matthew chapter 6 5 one of those chapters where it says don't store up for yourselves Earthly Treasures where moth and rust destroy a store up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven. So, how do we do that? How do we begin to invest in our future? How do we not just invest in our Earthly lives? And I'm not just talking about retirement and all those things and you know being happy and a year or 5 years or 10 years, but how do we invest in our eternity? Because that's when life truly begins The biggest distraction is is just focusing on this life, which can be way too short. We need to live for eternity. And so how can we live differently? How can we do life differently, how can we Identify and cultivate God's desires for us. A couple things number one create silence create silence in your life. What pleasure does it that masks? And that mutes the voice of God again. They're good Pleasures bad Pleasures. I'm not I'm not yet. I love certain things. I love football. I love all these things having likes and dislikes know the thing is not a bad thing what I'm talking about his overuse or being satisfied and things in the end. That won't Matt. That's what I'm trying to communicate. And so how do we do that? We could do it by creating silent. How do we create Silence by separating ourselves from pleasure? Sometimes my no muscle isn't very strong all the time. You don't talk about that muscle that says that's inside of you that says no like when you're going to the store for me is when I'm driving past Speedway still icy Speedway. Am I going? And I have to exercise my no muscle has gotten really strong for everybody. I'm not advocating certain Lifestyles. I'm out of the kid in a lifestyle pursuing God's desires for you. And so exercising or no muscle of separating yourself from things like a missions trip. It was it can actually be really difficult in one sense. It's helping you create silence because you're getting out of your everyday life where you're most likely to find noise and by noise. I just mean I mean what what are we stimulated by RNR eyes or ears are our senses. Like if we are always feeling or sell it so easy to just like always pick up your phone anybody else like me where you check Facebook on your phone and put it down two seconds later pick up against helping someone messaged you like we just were trained to always be stimulated by something to always have something in front of us and God is called. To create silence in our lives so that we can separate ourselves from the noise so that we can hear him if he wanted to he could yell at us. But we all know the more you yelled and more people to new out until God has chosen to speak to us in Whispers talking about Elijah when when there was an earthquake there was fire there's all these things and it wasn't until Elijah heard the small voice of God that he knew that Scout speaking to me and I can only imagine what he had done fight. Like if I was there I'm telling you like earthquake happens on my God speaking. I don't know what he saying but he's saying something by her, so he's supposed to Elijah through fire before you must be speaking to me now than it was familiar enough with the voice of God that he knew as soon as he's heard The Whispers like that to my guy and he only was able to do that because he had practice of Lifestyle I think practice the lifestyle of creating silence next one really simple pray, but I'm going to challenge you to pray and be specific. It's so easy. I mean again, you know growing up in church. I hear all the common phrases quotes and Dear Lord God. Oh Lord God. We thank you for this food. Lord. Got yr. Fair going up there. Thank you for this food. Maybe if we play something else and just try to hope that we thought net prayers hoping that we catch God's blessings instead of being so specific. You might say like why you got to be asking for it. Like if he just continually you like gives you what you need. Is it more likely that we've come a little bit spoiled then if I were to say got me, I'm really struggling and my humility today. Would you help me not be so proud God. I'm really hoping that this Youth Event goes well, would you just help us to really engaging worship and help them to see you and not me God, would you I bless this Mexico trip keep us all alive and give me some tacos, please like I'm telling you a specific prayers. They work. There's a couple weeks ago to a more serious note where I was feeling like there's so much more that I could do for the kingdom kingdom of God. I'm very competitive and this applies to my spiritual like to buy dog. OMG my God help me be the best Christian I Can Be You No More anointed than that person or or more Dynamic them. It's really easy to fall into that even in my spiritual life. But again, I was just thinking about isn't there more than I can do and I really am so I asked for having perspective in three different times. I heard from like a speaker a podcast or whatever the same thought. God isn't calling me to be a superstar Christian. He's calling me to be faithful where I'm at right now. He's not calling me to look at the people. I'm not ministering to and worrying that I'm not reaching enough. He's calling me to look at him glorify him by serving the people who were right in front of me that he has open the door to Yeah, I was doing pretty good in Mexico this past week. I'm just chilling not in a feeling like I had to do everything empowering and equipping the team having an attitude of humility of serving others. As soon as I got home last night and start working on today's message like the old temptation to take the impact that I wanted to have in this message or you know the how people perceive or receive it the greatness of who I am and all that stuff started kicking in and it was really a challenge to I had to pray specifically God. Would you help me overcome this challenge that would you show me the way here and as you praying to these things in as he begins to answer request you I think you'll learn more and more. What should you pray for how you should so just be specific be specific in your prayer. If you're struggling with an addiction pray into that if you're struggling with how you view or treat others pray into that if you're struggling and feeling disconnected and alone pray into that specific need and just that way I can take your hand say this is the way through this. This is why I threw that cuz Is the journey take things one wants to hang out at I'm the last one is a scary word fast. And I don't know what your background is with that word. I know Dustin used to terrify me because I played football and to give up food for a day was like I felt like I would lose all the pounds that I gained in the weight room over the past 6 months if I stop eating for one for one day and then plus like I just I just like food and so the thought of giving that up was like the fear of how my stomach would feel those 24 painful hours. So that's obviously the main way of fasting but I think whether you call it fasting or something else, I think you know, like I said, you can just separate yourself from from things that you were lying to me it sent this message to myself into God when I give up something like sometimes maybe if I don't feel like I can give up food for a day. I'll give up like sugar for a day or because I know that I rely on that not because I don't care about sugar. I think you know, I care about it a lot but Separating myself and things I rely on causing me to rely on something else. And so am I first days of experimenting with experimental fasting it was really easy to like today. So let me watch some movies like to get me through this day, right? But if it separates if I'm doing it, right it Separates Me from things. I'm relying on so that I can teach my soul to rely on the Lord. And that's so huge for me. There was a few months ago. I was getting I felt like I was hitting a wall in my spiritual growth and I'm just like now I feel like I've been in the same place that nothing's happening and there was no like Revelation from heaven or just a couple people casually mentioning to me and prayers or are they are processing over me or whatever. It was. They just were praying over me that I hate Ross like a really think you should fasting as a way for you to just grow or get out of this place of non perfume at that you're in this place where you feel like you're not where you should be and so I did and it really it it's a many times it is a fun thing to do. And because at first I thought that first my body is screaming at me, that's a terrible idea. Like what if someone invites you over for a meal what if someone what if you know you just you you're you're you're running and you just collapsed because you haven't supplied yourself with food like in the beers are definitely real but as I did it, I began to see the value of it and became to become if it started to become a lot more natural and so what are things and exercising that. No muss. You're not even Jesus began his public Ministry without a 40-day fast and I'm not anywhere close to that level. I don't know if I ever will be or would want to be but there is value in that because what it does it connects you with a father take desire to take Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. That's how we can identify and cultivate the desires that God has put in US. So what does it mean to pick up your cross? It's picking up a mindset that sacrificing things to get Christ is a whole lot more worth it than sacrificing Christ to get things. Are willing to do that. Are we are serious in a relationship with Chrysler stay we want you more than anything else. I would like to tell you that I'm a great Christian who always desires the Lord over everything else but most often I do not most often and I can I can feel when my my flesh is taking me a different direction take me to Direction. That's not valuable.

But even though I'm not there yet and even though that I'm a long way away from really being satisfied in Christ fully. I want to take it one step at a time. And so whether you feel like a super Christian, Whether you feel like a lousy Christian or failure. It's not about becoming perfect. It's about taking the next step.

So what god-given desires have been sitting in your closet long enough?

Are you maybe she did call you in a minute for years ago and you never moved on it's never too late. Maybe he did call you to do foster care or another way of giving of yourself and you just kept in the closet. Maybe he has called you to do things and you just were unsure. Are you are you ready to pursue those desires?

Are you ready to replace the pain of a meaningless life for the pain of substituting pleasure for Heavenly desires. Either way, it's rough. If I were to give in to my desires will be rough because I would feel that empty void in my soul. And if I were if I were to choose Christ and pursue him, he says take up your cross daily. The crosses are not painless things, but I would much rather have the pain of growth and I'm giving them the pain of indulging if that makes sense. But this won't do you any good if you don't know Christ in the first place if you don't have that relationship with him. Rebecca if you can come play play on the piano and if everybody can stand up with me this morning was going to close the service in the time of prayer. Protein would you please come forward and be available for those who who need to pray? Thank you. Today I start off talking about team and that's ever so important. We cannot accomplish anything without Christ. But we also can accomplish anything without a team of family body and then it then we started talking about. Okay, how do we really do our part on a team? Because the team was really stink if it was made up of a bunch of people who are doing just enough to get by but when you combine people who are love God who love others and are willing to pursue Godly desires watch out world. That's when we can actually start to be the light that called God has called us to be If you're in this place and you don't really know what it means to be part of the family of God, it's this it's we have all sinned and made mistakes and that separates us from God. We all need forgiveness and that's something that that's not something that we could ever learn back. Once you've lost it and made those mistakes. And so Jesus died to be the punishment for those round things that we've done so that all it takes is nothing. I want to be part of your family. Would you forgive me? I believe in you and wearing his family as long as we continue to pursue a life of serving ham of surrendering our desires for his desires so that the things that we feel we could never ever bear to lose those pleasure than addictions that we can't even imagine ourselves being without Become worthless to us because the desires that God has given us over power them the desires to be loved and to love the desires to be committed to a cause greater than one person even greater than the whole body of Christ is all about him. And so

everyone with all their eyes and and their heads and just I just want to give you that opportunity or in this place and you've never accepted that it's not a light things. I'm not asking just anybody to raise your hand. I'm asking if you're in this place and you're like I want to be part of the family of God. I've never have before it and I want to make that decision to surrender my life. The Christ where is no longer about me making my own path is about me discovering the process of following the path that God has for me. If you are in this place, and that is you would you just raise a hand?

there's one more thing that I want to do before we close the service today and that is I believe that each and every one of us we have desires that are hiding in our hearts closet because maybe were afraid to pull them out because living for God is a the challenging scary thing sometimes maybe it's because we just have never slowed ourselves down enough to hear it. Maybe it's because we never really thought it thought that we wanted to do things God's way maybe we've been trying to do things God's way but we still feel like there's more to life that he hasn't revealed to us yet if you're in this place and you

Want to see if that was you just pray with me this morning and it doesn't have to be allowed. I can be in your own heart, but just something like this you God. Thank you for this day. We thank you for your goodness. And we realize that there are things in our lives that we have not reached yet because we haven't reached for them their desires that you put into us that haven't come to fruition because we've haven't put our Pleasures down and so God, I pray that for each of us. You wouldn't help us to identify and cultivate the things in our lives that you want to do. Give us the life of fulfillment and of love and joy and peace because we're willing to put down our Pleasures to pick up The Godly desire that you have for us forgive us when we put down your desires because it was too scary or require too much sacrifice father nothing you call us to do. Is ever going to be too much for us? We will always think that following you is worth it if we were able to take that step of Faith. So I pray to God that you help us to identify those things.

If you are the reason you need prayer for any need, but also specifically if you're in this place and you need prayer that God would help you identify the desires that have been sitting for a long long time. I just wanted to invite you to come to these people on front and I can't be specific pray that God would help you through specific challenges pray that somehow the overwhelming desire for things that are meaningless would be overcome by the desire for the things that are meaningful to you for for prayer in a few few minutes.

Oh my God, thank you for this day. And I just pray to God that you would go for with us. As we from this place. Thank you for your presence Among Us. Thank you for calling out the beer people encourage one another help us to love you first and foremost into love the people around us. Jesus name amen Wiley, if you were good to go quietly just be respectful to the people who are praying.