Latest / Reach Church Podcast / At The Movies Pt 4 - Who Are You Becoming? | Josef Everett

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At The Movies Pt 4 - Who Are You Becoming? | Josef Everett · Reach Church Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome to the Reach Church Podcast. This is
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  Speaker 1: Dave Snyder, pastor here at Reach Church. Each week we
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  Speaker 1: share messages from our Sunday gatherings to help you discover
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  Speaker 1: the love of God, be empowered for purpose, and impact
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  Speaker 1: your world. We pray this message encourages you and helps
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  Speaker 1: you grow in your walk with Jesus. Let's get into
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  Speaker 1: today's message.
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  Speaker 2: In the movie Mufasa, he gets taken in by a pride.
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  Speaker 2: And he becomes best friends with the one who's next
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  Speaker 2: in line to be king of that pride. So there's
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  Speaker 2: a constant conflict of who he could become versus who
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  Speaker 2: they've been labeling him as, as the stray or the orphan.
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  Speaker 2: But really there's an underlying question that not just Mufasa
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  Speaker 2: faces in the film, but something that every one of
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  Speaker 2: us on earth have to answer. And that question is,
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  Speaker 2: who are you becoming? See, a lot of times when
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  Speaker 2: we think of who we're becoming, we can tie it to,
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  Speaker 2: am I becoming the person I need to be for
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  Speaker 2: my family? We can tie it to, am I becoming
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  Speaker 2: the person I need to be to be successful in
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  Speaker 2: my job or career? Am I becoming who I need
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  Speaker 2: to be to be liked by the people around me?
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  Speaker 2: But today I want to reframe that question because it's
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  Speaker 2: so broad, but I want to look at it through
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  Speaker 2: the lens so we can ask ourselves, are we becoming
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  Speaker 2: who God has called us to be? Are we becoming
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  Speaker 2: who God has called us to be? Because I think
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  Speaker 2: so many of us, especially as adults, we start asking
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  Speaker 2: that question, right? Am I becoming who my family needs
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  Speaker 2: me to be? Who do I have to become to
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  Speaker 2: have the career to do good and raise a family
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  Speaker 2: and be successful in this life? But it's not just
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  Speaker 2: stuck at adults. Can I tell you today, it's among
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  Speaker 2: every generation, everyone's asking the question, What is my purpose
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  Speaker 2: and what is my meaning? Because who am I becoming?
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  Speaker 2: It's multilayered. It addresses my identity. It addresses my purpose.
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  Speaker 2: It addresses my meaning in life. And if we don't
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  Speaker 2: answer that question, sometimes we can just feel like we
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  Speaker 2: don't have any of it. There's actually a study, a
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  Speaker 2: Gallup study found that 30% of Gen Z middle school
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  Speaker 2: and high school students report that they feel little to
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  Speaker 2: no meaning or purpose for their life. That's shocking, isn't it?
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  Speaker 2: 30% have no purpose or meaning to their life. They
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  Speaker 2: just feel like they're existing. And we can try and
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  Speaker 2: talk about it. We can try and look at it
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  Speaker 2: and say maybe it's because their perspective they have for
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  Speaker 2: their life. Maybe it's because something someone has told them.
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  Speaker 2: But it also might just be they've never heard that
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  Speaker 2: there's a purpose for their life right here and right now.
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  Speaker 2: And so it's something that we all need to have
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  Speaker 2: an understanding for And we're going to look at kind
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  Speaker 2: of like a roadmap for us of what that looks like,
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  Speaker 2: who we're becoming. And it's found in Ephesians, Ephesians 2.10.
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  Speaker 2: And it says this, we're going to read it together.
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  Speaker 2: It says, for we are God's masterpiece. He has created
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  Speaker 2: us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the
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  Speaker 2: good things he planned for us long ago. See, we're
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  Speaker 2: told we're God's masterpiece. And so that's not just talking
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  Speaker 2: about how God intricately designed us and made us in
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  Speaker 2: our mother's wombs. But it's also pointing to God as
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  Speaker 2: our artist. And if you know anything about artists and
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  Speaker 2: when they work with Masterpiece, it's they continue to work
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  Speaker 2: with them. They continue to shape them. And so God,
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  Speaker 2: what he's doing in our lives as we're his Masterpiece,
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  Speaker 2: he's shaping us and working with us so that we
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  Speaker 2: can become the person he called us to be to
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  Speaker 2: do the things he's planned long ago. So we're going
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  Speaker 2: to kind of unpack that today. We need to be
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  Speaker 2: able to understand who you're becoming starts with us understanding
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  Speaker 2: that we're a masterpiece right now in this moment, not
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  Speaker 2: in the future, not when you have it all together,
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  Speaker 2: but right as you are. So if we're going to
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  Speaker 2: understand what it means to be who God called me
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  Speaker 2: to be, we have to answer the question, what does
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  Speaker 2: the word masterpiece mean for us? I think sometimes I
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  Speaker 2: know for me, a lot of times when I hear
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  Speaker 2: the word masterpiece, I kind of get uncomfortable. Because I'm like, masterpiece?
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  Speaker 2: I got this freckle here. I can't do this thing here.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm comparing all my flaws and the ways I
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  Speaker 2: see myself. But that's the tension point, isn't it? God's
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  Speaker 2: saying we're a masterpiece, and so we can't go by
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  Speaker 2: how we see ourselves. We have to remind ourselves to
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  Speaker 2: look how God sees us, how he created us, and
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  Speaker 2: what he has for us in our life. See, some
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  Speaker 2: of us, we need that revelation that we're a masterpiece,
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  Speaker 2: but also that God has purpose. Because we let too
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  Speaker 2: many things dictate what that purpose is. For some of us,
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  Speaker 2: our purpose and meaning in life is how liked we
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  Speaker 2: are on our social media platforms. Some of us, our
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  Speaker 2: purpose and meaning is dictated by what others have said
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  Speaker 2: about us, past or present. Some of us, our purpose
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  Speaker 2: and meaning is our accomplishments that we've had in the
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  Speaker 2: job or the successes we've had in our careers. But
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  Speaker 2: all of those things miss the mark. Because purpose and
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  Speaker 2: meaning isn't tied only to a job. It's tied to
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  Speaker 2: who God called you to be. Does that make sense today?
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  Speaker 2: I want us to unpack this because those areas I
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  Speaker 2: mentioned can seem like easy identifiers. Well, I'm walking in
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  Speaker 2: purpose because I'm bringing back the check for my family. Or, hey,
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  Speaker 2: I'm really doing good in my life because I have
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  Speaker 2: these people around me. But We're viewing it through our
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  Speaker 2: lens and not God's lens and what he created us for.
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  Speaker 2: Does that make sense? So we're going to kind of
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  Speaker 2: unpack this because the reality is my purpose and meaning
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  Speaker 2: can never come from a job title or a position.
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  Speaker 2: If you put your purpose and meaning in a job
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  Speaker 2: title and a position... The moment that leaves or maybe
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  Speaker 2: your situation changes, you're going to be felt squandering. You're
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  Speaker 2: going to feel like you're lost. What is the purpose
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  Speaker 2: of life? But if I realize my purpose and meaning
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  Speaker 2: goes back to who I am, if the job changes,
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  Speaker 2: if my title changes, it's just another outlet I have
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  Speaker 2: to walk in the purpose that I have. Does that
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  Speaker 2: make sense? I want you to hear this because on
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  Speaker 2: the other side, the other spectrum of it is there's
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  Speaker 2: some people who struggle continuing to walk in purpose and
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  Speaker 2: meaning because they can't get past who they were before.
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  Speaker 2: They say things like, I am who I am. It's
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  Speaker 2: just the way I've always been. Sometimes they even just
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  Speaker 2: are so fixated on the success of the past, they
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  Speaker 2: can't even look to the future because they're stuck in
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  Speaker 2: who they were. or what they were doing, or what
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  Speaker 2: happened in that situation. But God's saying, hey, my purpose
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  Speaker 2: and meaning don't have an expiration date. I want to
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  Speaker 2: continue to walk with you, and I still have more.
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  Speaker 2: You know, as I look through the Bible and I say,
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  Speaker 2: who can we really look at when it comes to
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  Speaker 2: purpose and meaning? I think of David, right? He was
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  Speaker 2: a masterpiece from the very beginning, but he walked through
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  Speaker 2: this process. David, if you remember how it all started
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  Speaker 2: for him, Samuel was told by God he had to
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  Speaker 2: go to the house of Jesse to anoint a new king.
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  Speaker 2: And so he goes and he tells Jesse to bring
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  Speaker 2: his family to a sacrifice. And there he's going to
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  Speaker 2: anoint the new king. And he thinks for sure, man,
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to see this person. It's going to be amazing.
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  Speaker 2: But in that time, Jesse didn't invite David. He was
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  Speaker 2: his family. He was his son. But David was left
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  Speaker 2: in the pasture shepherding the sheep. So here's Samuel. He
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  Speaker 2: sees the family. Maybe you see someone who looks like
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  Speaker 2: Pastor Isaiah. He's stout. He's built. That's a man who
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  Speaker 2: can lead the army of Israel. And he's thinking for
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  Speaker 2: sure this is going to be the one that God
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  Speaker 2: wants to anoint. And God tells him no. And the
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  Speaker 2: reality was Samuel was fixating his parameters on what this
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  Speaker 2: purpose and meaning was on the wrong things. 1 Samuel
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  Speaker 2: tells us this in chapter 16 verse 7. It says,
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  Speaker 2: But the Lord said to Samuel, Don't judge by his
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  Speaker 2: appearance or height, for I rejected him. Meaning the one
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  Speaker 2: who Samuel thought for sure was going to be king,
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  Speaker 2: God said, no, I've already rejected him. The Lord doesn't
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  Speaker 2: see things the way you see them. People judge by
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  Speaker 2: outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. See,
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  Speaker 2: it points back to what I mentioned before, right? God
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  Speaker 2: is looking at the inward things for your purpose and meaning,
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  Speaker 2: not things that you could accomplish or how you might
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  Speaker 2: look on the outside. See, he looks at the heart.
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  Speaker 2: He chose David. He said, is this all the sons
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  Speaker 2: you have? So I have one more. Let me go
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  Speaker 2: get him from the pasture. Man, that feels bad, doesn't it?
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  Speaker 2: Here comes David. God says, that's the one. He's the
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  Speaker 2: one I want you to anoint. And it wasn't because
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  Speaker 2: David looked any different, but purely because God was measuring
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  Speaker 2: it at the heart. So what I want you to
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  Speaker 2: hear today, the first point is who you're becoming is
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  Speaker 2: based on your heart and not on a position. See,
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  Speaker 2: who God wants you to be answers questions like, God,
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  Speaker 2: what have I been allowing you to do within me,
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  Speaker 2: inside of me? If you think about it, your transformation,
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  Speaker 2: when you accept Jesus into your heart, it's not always
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  Speaker 2: instantly apparent. It becomes a transformation from the inside out.
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  Speaker 2: He deals with your heart first, then all the things
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  Speaker 2: on the outside begins to change. See, he anointed David
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  Speaker 2: while he was still a shepherd, but then he started
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  Speaker 2: to call him to walk in his anointing and purpose.
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  Speaker 2: But do you ever stop and think, maybe David had
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  Speaker 2: to face some criticism from his brothers? I mean, we...
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  Speaker 2: see kind of how they treat him when he delivers
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  Speaker 2: the food at the army and they think, oh, you
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  Speaker 2: just came here to see fighting in war. So they're
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  Speaker 2: already looking down on him, but I'm sure they weren't happy.
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  Speaker 2: You mean you're not gonna anoint me? All the things
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  Speaker 2: I've accomplished, you're gonna anoint the one that we forgot about?
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  Speaker 2: How does that make sense? But David continued, Because he
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  Speaker 2: knew what his purpose and his meaning in life. See,
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  Speaker 2: that's part of the battle. Sometimes to walk in the
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  Speaker 2: identity that God has for us, we need him to
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  Speaker 2: help make us anew. See, you might be in the
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  Speaker 2: room and since I've been talking about the question, who
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  Speaker 2: are you becoming? Maybe you're struggling on the inside because
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  Speaker 2: you're thinking about your past mistakes. Maybe you're struggling to
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  Speaker 2: see past, maybe your past failures or your past struggles.
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  Speaker 2: And you say, who am I becoming? I know what
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  Speaker 2: I am. I don't know how I can move from
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  Speaker 2: this point to that point, but that's why it's so important.
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  Speaker 2: Like Ephesians told us, he created us anew in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: That means something for us. That's not just pretty language.
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  Speaker 2: It means God's rewriting your story. He's dealing with the
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  Speaker 2: things of the past so that way you can walk
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  Speaker 2: as the masterpiece he created you to be. He's trying
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  Speaker 2: to show you it's only through me, it's only through
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  Speaker 2: me keeping my eyes open on God and Jesus as
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  Speaker 2: the Lord of my life that I can get past
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  Speaker 2: who I was to walk into who he's calling me
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  Speaker 2: to become. See, there's going to be times where if
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  Speaker 2: God's created you anew and he's calling you for a
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  Speaker 2: greater purpose, there's going to be times you're going to
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  Speaker 2: be given some opportunities you're not comfortable with. There's going
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  Speaker 2: to be some times when you're given some opportunities that
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  Speaker 2: you could never even imagine that you could do, but
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  Speaker 2: that's when you have to go back to this foundation.
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  Speaker 2: He says he created me anew. He says, I'm his masterpiece.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm going to just give it everything I have. Guys,
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  Speaker 2: I've said this so many times in youth group, but
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  Speaker 2: I used to break down in middle school when I
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  Speaker 2: had to present a history project. And I'm just reading
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  Speaker 2: from a wiki page I printed. You know what I mean?
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  Speaker 2: But God was creating in me who he had me
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  Speaker 2: to become. And it took opportunity. It took me stepping forward.
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  Speaker 2: It took me leaving my own thoughts and say, God,
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  Speaker 2: this is what you have for me. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: trust you through the process. See, part of what the
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  Speaker 2: artist does is he shapes masterpieces, like I said before.
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  Speaker 2: And sometimes the process of being created anew is Jesus
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  Speaker 2: shaping us into who he needs us to be. See,
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  Speaker 2: he deals with the insecurities. He deals with the fears
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  Speaker 2: of And if we look through the life of David,
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  Speaker 2: he shaped him, didn't he? See, David went from being
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  Speaker 2: anointed as a shepherd boy to next thing you know it,
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  Speaker 2: he's musician for the king, current king. While he's musician
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  Speaker 2: and he's shepherd, he's asked to be errand boy for
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  Speaker 2: his brothers who don't even like him. While he goes
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  Speaker 2: on an errand and he's being faithful, he hears about
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  Speaker 2: Goliath who's mocking his God and he stands up and
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  Speaker 2: defeats Goliath. After he defeats Goliath, it opens the door
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  Speaker 2: for him to serve in Saul's army. He's faithful in that,
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  Speaker 2: gives everything he has in that. Then he's the commander
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  Speaker 2: of the army. See, opportunities arose. And if he just
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  Speaker 2: stayed with the mentality, well, I'm just a shepherd boy.
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  Speaker 2: I'm just the forgotten one. He couldn't walk in who
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  Speaker 2: God called him to be. See, I don't think musician
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  Speaker 2: was the first thing he had in mind after he
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  Speaker 2: received the anointing to be the next king. I don't
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  Speaker 2: think David was like, man, I'm really excited to run
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  Speaker 2: errands for my dad as the future king of Israel.
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  Speaker 2: But he made the decision in every circumstance, in every situation,
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  Speaker 2: every opportunity that was placed before him, he was going
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  Speaker 2: to be faithful and give everything that he has. And
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  Speaker 2: why I want to point that out is because Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: in our lives, God calls us to a process. And
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  Speaker 2: while we're in the middle of the process, it might
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  Speaker 2: be uncomfortable. It might be something that we are not
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  Speaker 2: super excited to do. But as we're faithful to walk
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  Speaker 2: it out, you'll be surprised to see what the Lord
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  Speaker 2: does in your life. See, Jesus puts it like this
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  Speaker 2: in Matthew 25, 23. He says, while he's sharing the
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  Speaker 2: parable of the talents, verse 23, the master said, well done,
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  Speaker 2: my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in
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  Speaker 2: handling this small amount, so now I'll give you many
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  Speaker 2: more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. Talk about a process, right?
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  Speaker 2: Well done, my good and faithful servant. You've been faithful
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  Speaker 2: in the small. Now I'm going to let you be
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  Speaker 2: faithful in the big things. That's a reflection of the
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  Speaker 2: process of what it means to walk in who God's
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  Speaker 2: calling you to be, right? It's not always going to
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  Speaker 2: be this giant task When God says, hey, have a
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  Speaker 2: purpose and a meaning in your life, sometimes it's going
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  Speaker 2: to start really small. And he's just checking to see,
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  Speaker 2: will you be faithful to give everything you have, even
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  Speaker 2: in the small, even in the overlooked things? You know,
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  Speaker 2: it's funny. This is like a foundational verse if we're
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  Speaker 2: raising children, right? We want to teach our children, hey,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to give everything we have and everything we do.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to do it with all our hearts, no
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  Speaker 2: matter how small, no matter how big, because what that
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  Speaker 2: does in them is it shows them that when we're
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  Speaker 2: faithful in the little things, when we give everything we
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  Speaker 2: have in the little things, more responsibility is given. I'm
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  Speaker 2: not going to just go ask my son to go
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  Speaker 2: mow the yard if he's never even had any concept
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  Speaker 2: of it. I'm going to start him small, see if
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  Speaker 2: he's faithful and trustworthy to walk forward in it, and
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  Speaker 2: I'll grow him More and more. He's four. I'm not
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  Speaker 2: doing it anytime soon, okay? Just want to, all y'all
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  Speaker 2: out here like, yeah, your kid's four. Okay, we're keeping
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  Speaker 2: an eye on you, Pastor. See, the second point is
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  Speaker 2: your heart of obedience will directly impact who you become
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  Speaker 2: in the future. Your heart of obedience will directly impact
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  Speaker 2: who you become in the future. Like I said, it's
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  Speaker 2: what has molded us to become who we are today.
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  Speaker 2: You can even ask yourself, you can look at your
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  Speaker 2: life and ask yourself, Have I been faithful in little
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  Speaker 2: things over my life? Has there been times that I've
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  Speaker 2: cut corners when maybe I should have just concentrated on
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  Speaker 2: the small? Because the reality is, and we could see
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  Speaker 2: it through David's life as well, God handed him small
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  Speaker 2: things a little bit at a time. And as he
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  Speaker 2: was faithful, he gave him more and more. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I started to think about no one wakes up and
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  Speaker 2: becomes a great king. Yes, people can wake up and
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  Speaker 2: now they're king because someone passed away. But you don't
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  Speaker 2: wake up and become a great king. But what you
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  Speaker 2: can do is you can wake up and start making
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  Speaker 2: small decisions that will grow you into a great king.
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  Speaker 2: Grow you into who you are called to be. See,
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  Speaker 2: it was David's process of becoming. God was creating him anew.
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  Speaker 2: He was walking him through. But God didn't only just
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  Speaker 2: plan for good things for David. He had plans for
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  Speaker 2: each of us. See, Ephesians 2.10 says, really ends with this,
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  Speaker 2: so we can do the good things he planned for
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  Speaker 2: us long ago. See, God's reminding us there's still good things.
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  Speaker 2: And I think in today's culture, in today's society and climate, man,
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  Speaker 2: everything is out to get you. I've yet to see
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  Speaker 2: a feed on Facebook, and maybe if I checked yours,
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  Speaker 2: you could prove me wrong, but they're always trying to
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  Speaker 2: tell you what's wrong and what's happening in the world.
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  Speaker 2: There's this pressure almost of negativity of just, hey, well,
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  Speaker 2: this happened here. This is happening in this government. And
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  Speaker 2: if we're not careful, we could get discouraged thinking about that, right?
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  Speaker 2: And if we're not careful and we're not paying attention
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: to the input we're allowing in our lives, we can
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: begin to get discouraged and walking in greater purpose. We
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: can begin to get discouraged and ask questions like, what's
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: the point? We're going to hell in a handbasket anyways.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: But that's not the perspective that God has for us.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: You see, I want to point back to that statistic
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: I shared about the 30% of middle school and high
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: school Gen Z students. See, they felt like there was
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: little to no meaning or purpose. I don't think it's
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: by coincidence that the most digital generation, the generation that
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: has the loudest input of culture in their life is
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: the prominent generation struggling to find what their purpose and
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: meaning is. I don't think it's a coincidence. They've lost
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: sight of the one who gives purpose. They're lost sight
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: of the one who gives meaning. They've missed out hearing
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: the promise that God has good things for them. See,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: they heard words probably like you can't or you won't
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: or what's the point more than the word of God
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: that tells them like in Jeremiah 29 11. For I
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: They're plans for good and not for disaster. to give
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: you a future and a hope. I know the plans
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I have for you, says the Lord. See, God's got
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: good plans for each and every one of us. It's
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: not today's plans. It's not just survival plans. It's not
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: even plans of disaster. It's good plans for us in
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: our lives. But if you're not reminding yourself of that,
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: if you're not paying attention to that, if you're not
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: in your word, It's going to be kind of hard
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: to see. it sometimes, won't it? Because God has good
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: things for us, but the reality is, what about the
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: situation that I've walked through? You know, some of us,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: we're hearing today that God has good things, but we're
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: holding on to the words that's been spoken over us,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: you'll never amount to anything. We say, oh, God has
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: good plans. He has a purpose. But no, you'll never
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: amount to anything. There's some people in the room, you've heard, hey,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: you're good for nothing. I don't even know why you're here.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: And without even realizing, those words that we hear shape
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: our identity. They shape how we see how God could
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: use us. They shape how we could be seen as
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: a masterpiece. And they shape how we could feel like
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: there's any meaning there. And if we're not careful, we've
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: just got accustomed, just like Mufasa, right? Mufasa heard his
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: whole life, you're a stray. You're good for nothing. No
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: one will ever love you. You're not going to be
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: part of this tribe. You're going to betray your best
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: friend one day. And he heard it, heard it, heard it,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: heard it. And so much that he struggled to see
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: how he could ever be something greater. We saw it
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: in the clip. He said, maybe that's just for him
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: to be. Right now, I'm just a stray. And it's
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: a Disney movie, but the reality is so many of us,
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: that's how we walk through our lives. We need to
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: let go of the words that people have told us
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: and take hold of the word of God that says,
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: I have good plans for you to give you a
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: future and a hope. You know, thank God we're not
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: a Disney movie. Like, thank God. It's getting crazy out here.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: But the reality is that means we have a God
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: we can depend on. That means I don't have to
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: walk out this journey of becoming who God called me
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: to be by myself. That means at times where I
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: don't feel like I measure up, at times when I
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: feel like I don't know how I could walk forward
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: in this opportunity or this situation you've given me, I
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: can say, God, you do. Take the lead. I'm going
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: to walk with you. We see it through David's life,
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: don't we? David was going through what God called him
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: to do, but there was obstacles that arose. See, Saul
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: tried pinning David three times. My mind's just blown. Saul
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: tried pinning David three times with a spear while he
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: played music for him. I kind of think about Tabitha
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: playing violin. I think after the first time someone throws
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: a spear at her, she's probably not going back. I'm
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: not going back. That's crazy. I don't care how good
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: you say I sound. But David knew that's what God
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: called him to be at the moment. And for him,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: it was more important to do what God called him
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: to do than his comfort in the situation. If that
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: wasn't enough, David was on the run from Saul for
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: seven to ten years, constantly looking behind him, constantly moving
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: from one place to the other. But he never once
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: took it upon himself to vindicate himself, to treat Saul
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: how Saul treated him. He said, I won't touch the
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Lord's anointing. I'm just going to walk through the process
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: that God called me to. He knew he was king.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: He knew God had anointed him. So it didn't matter
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: that the current one was out to get him. He said, God,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: he just had the understanding, God, when it's my time,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: as I'm faithful, Lord, you're going to open the door.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: And that's when I'll walk. So what I want you
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: to hear today is some of us were like, hey,
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: I've been trying to work, walk in the purpose that
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: God has for me. Some of us, we're like, I've
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: been doing what he's called me to do, but right
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: now there's some obstacles in the way, and I'm getting
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: really discouraged. That's okay. That's normal. And you might say,
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: I'm getting really just run down, and it's hard. It's
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: hard to keep on going forward. It's hard to just
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: not call it quits. But today I want you to
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: hear God's plans for you will always be better than
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: man's plans. Amen. So man might want to crush you.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Man might try and despise you. Man might try and
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: tell you that you're not good enough. Man might try
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: and tell you that you'll never amount, but God's plans
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: will always be better. And when our foundation is this word,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: and this foundation is the thing that we dictate our
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: life on, not off what someone said, not off by
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: experience we had, but we say, God, you said you
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: got a plan and a purpose. I'm going to believe
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: you for it. You'll be surprised the mountains he moves
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: and the journey he takes you through. Where you can
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: look back at the end of the day and say, wow,
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: where I was is nowhere close to where I am now.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: Because God, you've been faithful through it all. See, we've
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: got to get this word inside of us because not
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: only does it help us discover the plans, but it
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: helps us see his faithfulness. It helps us see that
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: he'd move forward. mountains, that he would come beside us
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: in moments that we feel like we're all alone and
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: we're broken. It helps us hear about people like David
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: and Esther and so many other ordinary people, just like
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: you and us, you and I, who God called, they believed,
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: they were faithful, and he brought them beyond where they
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: could even ask, think, or imagine. And it's not just
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: something specific for them. It's something that God has for
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: each and every one of us. We've got to get
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: this in our hearts because here's the truth. If he
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: could do it for them, he can do it for us. Amen?
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: It's changing the way we see ourselves. It's having the
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: lens of who am I becoming. See, as I get
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: ready to ask the question that we started off with,
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: I'm going to get ready to close if the worship
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: team wants to come up. That question is who are
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: you becoming? It's not what have you done or Who
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: do you think you are? Who do you think you
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: should be? It's all about who is God calling me
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: to be? We're going to look at Ephesians 2.10 a
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: couple more times, maybe just two. But I want us
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: to get it in our hearts because sometimes we hear
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: a verse in a sermon and we write it down.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: Maybe we write the reference and we say that's good.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: But sometimes we need the repetition of hearing because faith
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: comes by hearing, doesn't it? And so we're going to
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: read this today. And it says, for we are God's masterpiece.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: He created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: do the good things he planned for us long ago.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: You see, the thing is, we need it to not
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: be up here. We need it to be here in
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: our heart where it all begins. It can't just be
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: head knowledge anymore. It has to be something we believe.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: What I found in my life when I'm trying to
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: really apply the word of God, when I'm trying not
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: to just let it be a book I'm reading, but
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: I really want to make it personal. I take some
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: liberties in how I read a verse. And so I'd
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: like to do that with you today. Don't freak out, okay?
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: We're just going to switch some things. But I want
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: us to read it like this and see it like
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: this for the rest of this week. For I am
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: God's masterpiece. He has created me anew in Christ Jesus
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: so I can do the good things he planned for
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: me long ago. Let's do it one more time, okay?
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: If you feel like you got it, you can say
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: it with me. We're just making it personal. For I
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: am God's masterpiece. He has created me anew in Christ Jesus.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: So I can do the good things he planned for
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: me long ago. Changes everything when it's personal. It takes
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: the doubt out when you make it personal. The crazy
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: thing is when he inspired the person to write this,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: he had you on his mind. God already knew what
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: he planned for you to do. God already knew that
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: he was creating you as his masterpiece. Now it's just
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: for us to believe it. See, we've spent time today
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: unpacking how to start becoming who God has called us
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: to be, how it starts at our heart, not at
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: a position or a title. We talked about how a
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: heart of obedience will directly impact our future and even
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: right now, and how God's plan will always be better.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: And here's the beautiful thing. It starts in a moment.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: It starts in a moment. Obedience is a decision made
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: in a moment. Surrender is a decision made in a
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: moment when we say, God, here's everything that I have.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Because here's the reality. I look around the room and
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: I see a bunch of people that God created as
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: a masterpiece that he also says I have a purpose
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: and a meaning for. And the only thing he's waiting
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: for is for you to buy in and say, all right, God,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: I'm ready to walk out what you've called me to do.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: It's not this crazy thing. It's not us leaving service
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: and drastically changing our lives to chase after this purpose.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: It's making the decision today, God, I'm going to start
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: taking one step, no matter how big, no matter how small,
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: toward who you've called me to be, as I recognize
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: I'm your masterpiece and you have things planned out. To say, God,
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: I'm ready to fulfill your purpose in my life, not yours.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: And I just want to make this parenthesis, because sometimes
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: you hear the word purpose, you hear words like calling,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: you hear things like meaning, and I don't know why,
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: but in the church setting, we can so often view
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: it through the lens of vocational ministry or you have
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: to be a pastor or a worship leader or evangelist,
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: but that's not what he's talking about today. That's not
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: what Ephesians is talking about. He's talking about how each
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: and every one of us as Christians, believers in Jesus Christ,
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: he's created us as masterpieces to accomplish things he's set
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: in place and planned for us long ago. See, It
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: doesn't start with our thoughts of ourself. It starts with him.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: You know, before I go.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Any further, I can't help but address, you know, we're
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: asking that question, who you're becoming, but sometimes there might
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: be some people in the room, and the hardest part
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: of that question is the answer to the shame we've
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: been carrying in our lives. For some of us, the
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: hardest part of who I'm becoming is the answer, what
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: I do with this guilt I've been carrying because of
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: the mistakes I've made, or I feel so stuck, I
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: feel so ashamed of And you might be in the
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: room and you're hearing scriptures about how God created you
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: as a masterpiece and he has so much planned for you,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: but you just feel like, I don't see it. You
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: might be in the room and you're hearing how God
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: has a plan for a future and a hope and
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: you say, that's great, but it's so hard to see
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: right now. Can I tell you today, the only thing
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: that will change that is God changing the way of
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: your thinking. And one of the ways he does that
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: is through relationship with him. Because he can't change areas
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: we don't give him permission. He can't change the things
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: we don't surrender. And if it starts in our heart,
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: that means we have to be at a place where
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: we surrender our hearts to him and we say, God,
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: I'm done trying to do it on my own. Lord,
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: I just want to be in relationship with you. Because
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: I hope you see the heart today because he created
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: you a masterpiece, but he created you with the idea
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: and the intention to walk in relationship with you as well.
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: They're not separate. He wants to walk in relationship, and
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: as he enters into relationship, he begins to renew you.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: Our Bibles say in 2 Corinthians, those who are in
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Christ Jesus are a new creation. The old things are gone,
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: and now new have come.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to today's message from Reach Church.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: If this encouraged you, we'd love for you to share
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: this podcast and leave a review. It helps more people
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: hear the good news. For more information about Reach Church,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: our ministries, or how to get involved, visit us at reachchurch.world.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: We love you, we're praying for you, and we'll see
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: you next time right here on the Reach Church Podcast.