Latest / HBCWestminster / 12.31.23 Psalm 101 Pastor Danny Gardner

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12.31.23 Psalm 101 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

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psalm 101 and if you would stand in honor of god's word as i read have the joy of preaching
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psalm 101 today and it will make perfect sense why in just a moment our men's group this fall
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memorized psalm 101 together just a couple of months ago the word of god says i will sing of
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steadfast love and justice to you oh lord i will make music i will ponder the way that is blameless
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oh when will you come to me i will walk with integrity of heart within my house
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i will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless i hate the work of those who fall away
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it shall not cling to me a perverse heart shall be far from me i will know nothing of evil
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whoever slanders his neighbor secretly i will destroy whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant
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heart i will not endure i will look with favor on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with
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me he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me no one who practices deceit
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shall dwell in my house no one who utters lies shall dwell in my house no one who utters lies
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shall continue before my eyes morning by morning i will destroy all the wicked in the land
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cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the lord as you pray with me lord god of heaven and
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earth we are your people we are the sheep of your pasture be honored this morning in the preaching
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of your word one more time this year convict us of the complacency we often express toward the work
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of your spirit
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we ask that you would lead us in the way everlasting in jesus name amen amen thank you church well when
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you were a kid how did you imagine yourself as an adult what did you want to be when you grew up
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where did you want to live who did you want to marry when i was in elementary school i would
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have told you that i was going to grow up to be a marine biologist that was my dream and it was my
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dream for many years actually all the time i was going to be a marine biologist and i was going to
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be a marine biologist all the way into high school i studied i read books on marine biology i wrote
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papers in school i even did major school projects all centered around marine biology my favorite
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theme park was sea world in san diego my favorite television show was flipper which is like the
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dolphin version of lassie if you guys remember lassie it was lassie but a dolphin it really was
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i watched every one of those
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jacques cousteau specials my hero was this tiny little frenchman who liked to be underwater
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and then what happened well two things happened number one i swam in the ocean and it was
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freezing i thought this is not for me i mean it was so cold and i thought okay maybe i'll just
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stay on the boat and so i asked my parents will you take me on a boat i want to try whale watching
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and so we went on this whale watching
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tour and during that tour we saw a total of zero whales i was seasick the entire time below deck
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what i had always imagined myself doing went quickly out the window marine biology
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was over when we were young we were fascinated with our futures
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we constantly wondered what our futures would be like and we were setting goals for ourselves to
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accomplish and primarily because the vast majority of our lives at the time was still in front of us
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that more of our life was in the windshield than in the rearview mirror as they say
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and as that has changed and the bulk of our lives now becomes increasingly behind us
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it seems as though we stop thinking about our futures in the same way
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we no longer wonder what we will do for a living or who we will marry or where we will live many of
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us have the jobs and the houses and the spouses that god has provided and
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content with those things we've settled those issues in our minds in fact for many of us myself
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included the prospect of changing any one of those things sounds like a nightmare i've even joked with
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hallie my wife that if we ever sell our house again we're selling it furnished have you guys
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had that talk like i am not moving all this junk again i'm just not this is the last time i'm moving
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that box i'm settled and the problem is that many of us have also become settled spiritually
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we no longer wonder what we will be like as mature christians or how we might grow in the lord in the
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next year we no longer set goals for ourselves spiritually we no longer make changes in our
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spiritual walks because we've become content with how we've ended up and honestly making those types
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of changes even spiritual changes we no longer make changes in our spiritual walks
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spiritual ones at this point in our lives just sounds like a lot of work
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in the year 605 bc the world was in turmoil the assyrian empire which had dominated the
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geopolitical landscape for two centuries was now being beaten back on every front by a much
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smaller and yet a much more powerful babylonian kingdom and their king nebuchadnezzar stretching
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across the largest continent on earth that babylonian kingdom would come to include
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palestinians
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israel nebuchadnezzar would be responsible as we know the story for the seizure and the eventual
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destruction of the great temple of the jews the temple that had been built four centuries earlier
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by king solomon himself in an effort to solidify and to unify his newly won kingdom nebuchadnezzar
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began importing youths from all over his conquered lands to become personal advisors
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and servants in his courts and one of these young men the most famous of them was daniel
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a fifteen-year-old who showed tremendous promise
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daniel and his friends were moved from jerusalem to babylon and forced into royal service
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they were given everything young men could ever have wanted at the time nothing was refused
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to 15 year old daniel and yet he made a decision we know the story
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not to defile himself with nor to indulge in the food and drink being offered but instead
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Instead, to walk in uprightness and according to the convictions that the Lord had placed in his heart.
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Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8 says,
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But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, nor with the wine that the king drank.
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And that word resolved, from which we get the word resolution, literally means to place in one's heart.
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It goes far beyond the mere fleeting thought.
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It is more than just a passing fad.
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It is the action that follows careful consideration.
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To resolve means that reflection has been made, conviction has been issued, and now action will take place.
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Reflection, conviction, and action.
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Spurgeon has called Psalm 101 a little taste of what awaits us in the promised land.
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Another person called Psalm 101 the psalm.
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It is a psalm of pious resolutions.
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A psalm of action.
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It makes it a fitting psalm to study on New Year's Eve as we all consider what resolutions
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we will make in the coming year.
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Psalm 101 is like a list of King David's New Year's resolutions.
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It is about action.
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It is about setting spiritual goals.
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It is about reflecting on our lives, coming under conviction, and making resolute changes
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to the glory of God.
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It is about what God has placed in each of our hearts to do and then going and doing it.
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And this New Year's Eve, we're going to ask, what has the Lord placed in my heart to do
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and what am I going to do about it?
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I'd like to offer seven New Year's resolutions taken straight out of the heart and mind of
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King David, who we know was the man after God's own heart.
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Seven I will commitments.
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And if you look at Psalm 101, just give it a cursory glance, you're going to notice how
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many times he says, I will, right?
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He actually says it 10 times.
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We're going to boil it down to seven resolutions, seven resolutions, seven I will commitments
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that Highlanders and really honestly that everyone else would be wise to make the rules
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which will govern their hearts and their homes in the coming year.
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Seven resolutions.
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And if you're taking notes, they're all going to begin the same way.
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You can just write one phrase down.
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The phrase, I will, by God's grace, make my heart and my home a place, and then we'll
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fill in the blank.
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I will, by God's grace, make my heart and my home a place, and notice resolution number
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one, where God is praised.
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Look at verse one.
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I will sing of steadfast love and justice to you, O Lord.
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I will make music.
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A life of praise can be defined as one that is constantly and consistently bringing glory
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to God.
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And this is true, but that's not all the psalmist says.
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He says he will praise by singing and making music.
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And to whom will he sing?
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He says right off the bat, verse one, to you, O Lord.
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Because no one else is worthy.
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Love songs are good.
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Love songs can serve a purpose.
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If you need to sing outside of a girl's window in order to get a date, then God bless you.
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It will probably work.
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But that's not who David resolved to sing to.
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He would sing to the one who was deserving of praise.
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But I've noticed a strange phenomenon, even in my own heart.
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I have seen people clap and shout and jump up and down while they're watching the Broncos.
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Maybe not so much this year.
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And then those same people come into church, half slumped, with hands firmly in pockets,
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barely willing to mouth the words during worship.
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How are we more passionate about the Broncos than we are about the joy of salvation?
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It just, these two things don't line up.
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I've seen people become animated and excited about shooting a bull elk at 350 yards.
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And they're bragging about it to friends and showing pictures and then bring half-hearted worship to the Lord.
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Highlanders, friends, let's make sure that our worship has the proper focus.
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Let's worship the Lord with music in our hearts.
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But let's also commit to sing the Lord's praise.
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And not only in the sanctuary of God, but in the sanctuary of our homes.
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Callie and I are on the verge of a new season of life.
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It's been a while since we've had a new season of life.
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One where our sons will begin to leave our home in order to establish their own.
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I often wonder what my sons will remember of their years spent in our house.
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I would hope that one of the things they would remember and be most fond of,
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along with laughter and good food,
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and good friends and the sound of Vin Scully announcing Dodger games on warm summer afternoons.
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I'm hoping one of the things they will be most fond of would be the clear voices of their mom and dad
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singing the praises of our Savior.
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I hope that they remember me leading worship in our living room.
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I hope they remember their mom.
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It's one of my favorite things about her.
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I love coming down the stairs early on Saturday mornings while she's making pancakes.
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She does it every Saturday.
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Making pancakes, singing wholeheartedly to the worship music piping out of her phone,
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laid on the countertop.
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I hope they will remember their parents as worshipers.
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I knew I'd say, well, Pastor Danny, that verse doesn't really resonate with me,
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because I can't sing.
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What if I can't sing?
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I heard a man say one time, it has always stuck with me,
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I've told you this before, it's my favorite.
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He said, you know, if God has blessed you with a beautiful life,
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with a beautiful singing voice,
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then you should sing as loud as you can to pay God back.
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And if God has blessed you with an awful singing voice,
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then you should sing as loud as you can to pay God back.
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You know, what you sing and to whom are far more important than the sound that you make.
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If you look over at Psalm 100, it's probably on the same page.
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You don't even need to flip the page in your Bible.
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Psalm 100 and verse 1 says,
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Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth.
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Notice he doesn't say anything about being on key.
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Rejoice and make music in your heart and home.
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That's resolution number one.
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Resolution number two, second.
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I will make my heart and my home a place where God is pondered.
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Look at verse two.
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I will ponder the way that is blameless.
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Oh, when will you come to me?
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The king here ponders the blameless way.
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You guys see that.
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And then he connects it to the presence of God.
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I will ponder righteousness and then ask you to be present in my life.
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Men have long tried to figure out a way to live well without the presence of God in their lives,
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but to no avail.
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There is no lasting happiness.
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There is no lifelong joy, no light, no life,
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apart from the great giver of each of these blessings.
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You will not find happiness anywhere but in the Lord.
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And Highlanders, friends, consider the presence of God in your own life.
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Consider the presence of God in your homes.
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I've never met a mature Christian who doesn't earnestly desire the presence of God in their homes.
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Isn't that what you want?
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Don't you want the presence of God in your home?
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Yes.
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But consider this.
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The presence of God cannot dwell.
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Dwell in your home if his presence does not first dwell in your heart.
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Let me say that again.
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The presence of God cannot dwell in your home if it does not first dwell in your heart.
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I've had parents say that they want their kids to come to church.
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The phrase they'll say is because they know it will be good for them.
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You've heard that before.
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I know it will be good for them.
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I want to bring them to church because I know it will be good for them,
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but then they themselves hold the church at arm's length.
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Can I just encourage you, if that's you,
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you must determine to set the example of godliness in your homes.
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Your kids must not be allowed to set your home's spiritual tone.
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Why?
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Because they're kids.
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And they have no idea what is best for them.
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This is why
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God gave them you.
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This is why kids have parents.
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Honestly, we know this to be true if it were up to them.
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If they got to set all the rules of your house, can you imagine?
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They'd eat nothing but ice cream.
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They would be completely toothless.
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Because they also wouldn't brush their teeth.
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They wouldn't take showers.
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They would be greasy.
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And they'd probably never grow taller than about three feet tall.
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Right?
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So malnourished.
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They wouldn't take care of themselves.
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But why do we think then that, spiritually speaking, things would be any different?
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They don't know what's good for them.
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When it comes to eating, when it comes to bathing, they don't know what's good for them.
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They also don't know what's good for them spiritually.
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The Lord gave your kids parents for a reason.
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And so I would encourage you, parent them.
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And I'm not referring here to an iron-fisted, legalistic parenting.
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Rather, to a compassionate and rejoicing faith.
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You can give your kids no greater gift than for you to walk in the presence of God yourself.
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Believe me, they will watch.
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They'll know.
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They'll know if your faith is a drudgery, a burden to you.
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Or if you rejoice in the joy of your salvation.
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And as you rejoice in the presence of God in your life, others in your home will be drawn not only to you, but also to Him.
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Have you ever seen one of those champagne pyramids?
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Have you ever seen one of these?
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I've never seen one in person.
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I've only ever seen them in the movies.
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But they're crazy to watch, right?
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It's this pyramid of champagne glasses, right?
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With one on the top, and then somebody pours champagne into the top glass, and it just begins spilling over into all the other ones all the way down.
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But it only works, I've noticed, if the top glass continues to be filled.
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Right?
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As that top glass is filled to overflowing, it fills all of the other glasses beneath it.
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And parents, you are the top glass of your homes.
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Husbands and wives, you're the top glass in your marriages.
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Roommates, consider yourself the top glass in your house.
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Classmates, consider yourself the top glass in your classes.
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Teammates, you're the top glass on your baseball team.
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And as you are filled, and now filled to overflowing, as Psalm 23 says,
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it will spill onto, that joy of the Lord will spill onto others.
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But keep this in mind, you cannot give away that which you do not first possess.
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If we as parents do not serve the Lord, our kids probably won't either.
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But if we as parents do not speak about the Lord, our kids probably won't speak about the Lord either.
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But if we do, they probably will too.
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Deuteronomy 6, a familiar verse.
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Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.
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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.
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And these words that I command you today shall be on your hearts.
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You shall teach them diligently to your children.
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You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise.
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You shall bind them as a sign on your hand.
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They shall be frontlets between your eyes.
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You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
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Our homes, whether you have kids or not,
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whether you're married or not,
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our homes should be a place where the joy of the Lord is spoken about.
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Psalm 78, verse 4.
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We will tell the coming generations the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and His might and His wondrous acts.
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Let me ask you, how are you doing at filling up the cups of those under your care?
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And you may be thinking, well, what if I'm a kid whose parents don't follow the Lord?
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What if I'm the kid version? You've been talking to parents.
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What if I'm a kid and I'm here by myself?
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And what if there's no one but me to set the example?
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Then I would encourage you with 1 Timothy 4 and verse 12.
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Let no one despise you for your youth,
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but set the believers an example in speech and conduct and love and faith and in purity.
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God, He says in verse 2, will be pondered.
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And what would He ponder? Notice He says in verse 2,
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the way that is blameless.
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David says, I'm going to sit around, I'm going to think about righteousness.
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When was the last time you sat there and daydreamed about righteousness?
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How can I live a more righteous life?
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How can I practice holy living?
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Even in my head, long before I ever have opportunity to employ it.
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Thinking, you know, the next time I'm invited to a place that I know is not healthy for me spiritually,
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here's what I'll say.
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I'm going to practice saying the words.
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The next time that coworker makes a joke like that, here's what I'll do.
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The next time I find myself in the midst of temptation,
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here's who I will call.
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Practicing, pondering righteousness.
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And if we want to be righteous in 2024, then we've got to ponder righteousness.
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That's second.
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Notice third.
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I will, by God's grace, make my heart and my home a place of protection.
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A place of protection.
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Verse two, he says,
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I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.
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I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.
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What would David protect?
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You guys all see it?
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What does he say?
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His eyes.
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Do you see that?
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His eyes.
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Charles Spurgeon has said,
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David would neither delight in it, aim at it, nor endure it.
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If wickedness were brought before him by others, he would turn away from it.
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He would not gaze upon it with pleasure.
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When David said he would guard his eyes,
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he was saying that he would be careful not to set before his gaze
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anything that would draw his attention away from where it should be focused.
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And church, let me ask you, where should our eyes be focused?
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Should they not be focused heavenward?
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Colossians chapter three and verse two,
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set your minds on things that are above, not on things on earth.
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Hebrews chapter 12 and verse two,
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fix your eyes on whom?
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Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faiths.
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How are you doing, friends, at keeping your eyes
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from things that will cause them to lose their focus?
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Fourth, I will, by God's grace,
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make my heart and my home a place of purity.
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Pick up halfway through verse three.
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I hate the work of those who fall away
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and shall not cling to me.
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A perverse heart shall be far from me.
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I will know nothing of evil.
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David says he would keep himself from dishonest work.
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He would not tolerate evil in his own heart,
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nor in the hearts of his companions.
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Those who would fall away, he says,
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I'm not going to chase after them.
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I'm not going to imitate them.
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I'm not going to emulate them.
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I'll keep them at a distance.
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How are you doing, friends,
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at keeping yourself from those who fall away?
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How are you doing
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at surrounding yourself
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with those who challenge and inspire you spiritually?
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We should not expect
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that if we surround ourselves
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with people who are not doing well spiritually,
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that we will somehow be that ray of sunshine in their midst.
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We know what happens
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when we surround ourselves with bad company.
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We become corrupted.
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They are a corrosive influence on us.
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And here David says,
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I'm going to find good friends,
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and I'm going to surround myself with them.
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And that's resolution number four.
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Resolution number five,
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I will, by God's grace,
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make my heart and my home a place
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where evil is purged.
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Look at verse five.
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Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly,
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I will destroy.
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Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart,
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I will not endure.
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What would David purge?
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Two things.
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First is slander.
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There was no room for gossip and slander in his life.
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And let me remind us, church,
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there is no room for gossip and slander in the church.
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It is astounding to me how often I will not only allow,
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but even participate in gossip.
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It amazes me how quickly words spread,
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how damaging words are.
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Instead, we should jealously defend
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the honor of our brothers and sisters who are in Christ.
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Twenty-five years ago, I was a high school teacher.
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This is how Zach and I met.
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Zach was in one of my Bible classes,
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he was in high school,
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and I was just out of college.
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There were these two students,
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classmates of Zach's, who were brothers.
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They were only a year apart,
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these two brothers,
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but they could not stand each other.
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It was kind of funny, actually.
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They were competitive.
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They were at each other's throats all the time.
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It was commonplace to hear that they had gotten into a fight after school.
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They would throw punches at each other during P.E. class.
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They were never on the same page.
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They were never on the same team, with one exception.
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If another student said even the slightest negative thing about one,
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then the other brother would pummel that kid.
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It was the funniest thing.
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They were awful toward each other.
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But if a third party came in and was awful toward one of them,
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the other one was quick to come to their defense.
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Now listen, church, I cannot condone it.
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But there is something admirable about that.
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What is your response
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when someone says something negative about one of your brothers or sisters in the church,
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even one of your brothers or sisters in the church that you don't like?
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Or about one of your pastors?
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What's your response?
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Even a pastor that you don't like?
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Does that loyalty not well up within you?
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And like I said, I would not be able to condone it,
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but I'm not going to lie.
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That my chest would swell a little bit with pride
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if I heard that someone from our congregation was being run down by somebody else,
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and if one of their brothers and sisters from Highland came along
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and told those folks to shut their mouths.
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You don't get to talk about my brothers and sisters in Christ that way.
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Slander, he says, has no place in the church.
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It must have no place in our hearts.
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He says a perverse heart shall be far from me.
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I will know nothing of evil.
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Verse 5, whoever slanders his neighbor secretly, I will destroy.
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But notice, not only is it slander, but it's also arrogance.
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Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart, he says, I will not endure.
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There is also no room for arrogance in the kingdom of God.
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We are a people in constant need of reminders of our own personal need for grace.
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Isn't that true?
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I mean, honestly, do you wake up every morning,
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and you think, you know what, I am awesome.
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You know what, I'm killing this.
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Look at me.
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You don't, right?
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You don't wake up every morning and think, Lord, help me again.
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Because I don't know if I can do it.
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Lord, I am up to my ankles in failure.
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That's how it feels.
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Lord, I cannot tell you how ineffective I feel.
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And so, Lord, you are going to need to bolster me
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by your grace.
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We stand, we are sitting on, think of it this way,
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we are sitting on the tree branch of the grace of God.
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Are we not?
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There is nothing else underneath us but God's grace.
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It is what's holding us up.
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And how dare we not offer that same grace toward others?
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It just doesn't make any sense.
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How can we bolster up our own hearts and say,
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look at how good I'm doing,
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having this haughty look and an arrogant heart.
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How can we look down on others
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when it is only the grace of God
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which keeps us from acting the same ways that they act?
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It doesn't make any sense.
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Sixth resolution,
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I will by God's grace make my heart and my home
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a place where faithfulness is promoted.
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Where faithfulness is promoted.
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Look at verse six.
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I will look with favor on the faithful in the land
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that they may dwell with me.
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He who walks in the way that is blameless
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shall minister to me.
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Who is it that David will promote in his heart
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and in his home?
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It is the faithful.
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The faithful and the blameless,
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he says in verse six.
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Those would be his heroes.
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Now let me ask you,
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who are your heroes?
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Who are your kids' heroes?
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Are you careful in your heart and in your home
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to promote the right kind of men and women?
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We wear,
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we wear sports jerseys with our favorite players' names
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all the time.
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There's nothing wrong with that,
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unless of course they play for the San Francisco Giants.
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Right?
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I imagine that you can get Russell Wilson jerseys
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for pretty cheap.
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Right now they're probably on clearance.
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Are we careful?
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Are we careful to admire and promote
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the right types of people
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in our homes?
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Are we shouting the right names?
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Are we pointing those we have influence over,
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our kids,
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our grandkids,
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nieces and nephews?
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Are we pointing them to the right types
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of men and women?
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Like I said,
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there's nothing wrong with wearing your Broncos jersey
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and all of that stuff.
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There's nothing wrong with that.
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But are we careful to promote character,
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character over physical ability?
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David resolved in verse six
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that he would look up to and be inspired
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by those who would hold him to faithful living
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and who would minister to him spiritually.
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They,
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they would be his heroes.
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Finally,
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number seven.
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Seventh resolution.
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I will,
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by God's grace,
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make my heart and my home a place
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where others' souls are preserved.
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Let me say that again.
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I will,
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by God's grace,
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make my heart and my home a place
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where others' souls are preserved.
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Not only is he looking out for his own soul,
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he's also looking out for the souls of others.
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Verse seven.
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No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house.
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No one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.
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Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land,
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cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.
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Who would King David preserve?
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The answer is those who are under his spiritual care.
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This topic has become a particular hot button for me
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in the last several years.
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I am amazed at the laziness
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that I encounter in my own heart
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when it comes to leading my home well.
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I am often amazed
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at how excited I am
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to participate in my favorite hobbies.
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Fly fishing,
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hiking,
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backpacking,
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sports,
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even wiffle ball.
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And yet how tired I am
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when it comes time to act like a man,
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to be a faithful husband,
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a diligent father,
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a devoted pastor,
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over my home.
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I've got time for my hobbies.
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I will wake up early for my hobbies.
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I will sacrifice a great deal for my hobbies.
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And then when it comes time
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to being a faithful husband, father, and pastor in my home,
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how often I will say,
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but I work hard and I just need a break.
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I'm shocked
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at how quickly I abdicate this role in my own heart.
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I'm not pointing fingers at anybody here.
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How quick I am to point out the faults of others
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before dealing with my own personal failings.
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Notice here the diligence,
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the consistency of King David
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in rooting out evil.
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He actually says,
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morning by morning,
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every morning King David would seek out
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and destroy wickedness.
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We must resolve to take that same attitude
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with our own sin.
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And then to create an atmosphere in our homes
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where the same is true.
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If we expect our kids to walk in righteousness,
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then guess what?
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We must first do the same.
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David's final resolution in verse 8
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is like a preservation over his home,
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a preservation over the city
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where both he and his family would dwell.
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It would become a place of spiritual nourishment
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conducive to all of his other resolutions.
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He prays over his own home.
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He prays over his city
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that it would be a place of praise,
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a place where spiritual meditation
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and contemplation would take place,
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a place where eyes and thoughts
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would be protected,
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a place of purity,
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a place without slander and arrogance,
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a place where the faithful
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would be held in high regard.
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As we are considering what changes
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we're going to make in 2024,
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let's do more than resolve
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merely to eat less
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and do some occasional push-ups.
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Those things are good.
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But I would encourage us
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to consider our spiritual futures.
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Where would you like to be
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one year from today?
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I would encourage you to write down
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some quantifiable goals
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so that you can look back.
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A year from now,
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you can look back
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and see if you achieved them.
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Saying things like,
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I will, by God's grace, do this.
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Share those things
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with your family and friends.
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I would encourage you,
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in a few weeks,
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we're going to meet
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in our Connect Homes
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all over the city again.
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Share them in your Connect Homes
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and ask people to pray for you.
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Ask your friends
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to hold you accountable as you do.
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I'm going to pray.
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I'm going to ask Carla
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to come and close us in worship.
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When she's done,
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I'm going to come back up
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and we're going to pray
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for a team that we're sending,
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a short-term team,
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a short-term team,
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two weeks to the Philippines.
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They leave tomorrow.
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They actually leave
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in about 15 hours.
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They're getting on a plane.
35:02
About 15 hours, two weeks,
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two dozen of our Highlanders
35:04
to go to the Philippines
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for two weeks
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to minister to the people there.
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So when she's done singing,
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I'll come back up
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and we'll pray
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for that team as well.
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And Lord God,
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thank you for your mercy
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and your grace.
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God, thank you
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for this challenge
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from your word
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to consider
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spiritual resolutions.
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Lord, we do not want
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to taper off in our zeal.
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We do not want
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to become complacent
35:26
and content
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with where we are spiritually.
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Lord, we want
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to challenge ourselves,
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to push ourselves,
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and to strive
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for righteousness
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in Jesus' name
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and for his glory.
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Amen.