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Withstanding the Winds of Life with Pastor Rick Warren · Voice of Rick warren

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  Speaker 1: If you pull out your message notes inside your little
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  Speaker 1: program bag, we're looking at part four of our series
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  Speaker 1: today on building a better life with the title of
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  Speaker 1: Withstanding the Winds of Life. Now, during this series, we've
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  Speaker 1: been looking at two big ideas. One of them is
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  Speaker 1: that there's a better level of living than simply the
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  Speaker 1: good life. We call it the better life. Good life's good.
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  Speaker 1: You're already living the good life, looking good, feeling good,
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  Speaker 1: having the goods. But the better life is the life
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  Speaker 1: that's at the next highest level. And now is the
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  Speaker 1: perfect time to step up to this higher level. After
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  Speaker 1: all of the storms and all of the winds of
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  Speaker 1: change that we've been through this past year in our
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  Speaker 1: COVID pandemic and all the other storms that we've had,
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  Speaker 1: you've had to adopt to a lot of different things.
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  Speaker 1: God doesn't want you to resume the same old life,
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  Speaker 1: but instead he wants to reset a better life, reboot
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  Speaker 1: to a better life, rebuild, redefine life. restart for a
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  Speaker 1: new life. So, Farr, we've looked at eight principles, okay?
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  Speaker 1: We've looked at eight principles for rebuilding your life, and
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  Speaker 1: today we're gonna look at four more. Now, one of
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  Speaker 1: the most powerful forces of nature is wind, is wind.
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  Speaker 1: You know, Kay and I live out in the canyon,
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  Speaker 1: and we have canyon winds for several months in the year,
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  Speaker 1: and in the windy season, it's brutal. I remember one
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  Speaker 1: time we had a giant hurricane about a 15-foot trampoline,
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  Speaker 1: and the wind came along, and this is a heavy thing,
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  Speaker 1: and it blew it up against the second floor of
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  Speaker 1: our house, and in the wind, I had to go out,
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  Speaker 1: and I couldn't even pull it down. The wind was
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  Speaker 1: so strong, I had to take it apart one little
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  Speaker 1: spring at a time to take it apart. Have any
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  Speaker 1: of you ever lost patio equipment to the wind? Okay,
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  Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. One of the most
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  Speaker 1: powerful forces of nature is wind. You know, one time
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  Speaker 1: God actually gave a wind show to Elijah. Look up
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  Speaker 1: here on the screen. 1 Kings chapter 11, chapter 19,
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  Speaker 1: verse 11. It says this. The Lord told Elijah, go
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  Speaker 1: out and watch what I can do to a mountain
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  Speaker 1: with wind. So Elijah watched as the Lord sent a
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  Speaker 1: great and powerful windstorm to hit the mountain. And it
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  Speaker 1: hit with such a hurricane force that it split giant boulders.
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  Speaker 1: And everything was torn loose and coming apart. You know,
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  Speaker 1: that last phrase could be a description of this last year.
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  Speaker 1: Everything was coming loose and being torn apart. Everything was
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  Speaker 1: coming loose and being torn apart. Now, we know that
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  Speaker 1: winds are very powerful. Can winds knock you off balance? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: of course they can. Can winds blow you over? Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Can they cause you to fall? Yeah. Can winds blow
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  Speaker 1: away valuable things? Yeah. You've lost some things maybe from
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  Speaker 1: the wind. Can winds cause erosion? Yes. Wears things down.
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  Speaker 1: Can winds force you off course? Yep. You know, your
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  Speaker 1: head in one direction, the wind. Have you ever had
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  Speaker 1: to drive in a heavy wind and you just feel
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  Speaker 1: like it's pulling you over to the side one way
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  Speaker 1: or the other? It's a very strong force. Can winds
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  Speaker 1: wear you out? Yes. Yes, winds can wear you out.
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  Speaker 1: Is it harder or easier to work in the wind?
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  Speaker 1: It's harder. It's harder. And that's why part of stepping
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  Speaker 1: up to the better life that we're looking at in
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  Speaker 1: this series is means learning how to handle, how to manage,
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  Speaker 1: actually how to withstand the rogue winds of life. You see,
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  Speaker 1: living a better life, this life we're talking about for
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  Speaker 1: several weeks, it's not a problem-free life. You still have
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  Speaker 1: problems in the better life. It's just now you have
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  Speaker 1: a stronger foundation and you have better skills. Because you
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  Speaker 1: can handle the problems better in your life. There on
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  Speaker 1: your outline, Proverbs 10, 25 says this. Storms can blow
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  Speaker 1: away unrighteous people. But the godly have a foundation that
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  Speaker 1: keeps them standing firm. The godly have a foundation that
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  Speaker 1: keeps them standing firm. So that when the winds of
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  Speaker 1: life come into your life, you're not blown away by
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  Speaker 1: the problems that you have. Now, the Bible uses wind
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  Speaker 1: as a metaphor for a lot of different things, both
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  Speaker 1: good and bad. Both good and bad. And we're going
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  Speaker 1: to look at some of those metaphors. Before I share
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  Speaker 1: four biblical principles for withstanding the winds in your life,
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  Speaker 1: I just want to ask you to consider for just
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  Speaker 1: a minute a simple question. And the question is this.
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  Speaker 1: What kind of winds are blowing in your life right now? Okay,
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  Speaker 1: help me think this through. What kind of winds are
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  Speaker 1: blowing in your life right now? And I've written down there.
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  Speaker 1: Are there some winds of change? Are there some things,
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  Speaker 1: winds of change that have blown into your life? Are
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  Speaker 1: there winds of opposition? Are you facing some opposition? Physically
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  Speaker 1: and mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Are there winds of temptation that
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  Speaker 1: you're facing? Are there winds of conflict? that are causing
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  Speaker 1: problems in your life? Are there winds of trouble? By
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  Speaker 1: the way, these terms are all used in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Winds of testing, winds of trouble, winds of temptation. Now
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  Speaker 1: all of those things that I just mentioned, do you
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  Speaker 1: know what they have in common? They're all uncontrollable. Winds
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  Speaker 1: are uncontrollable. And that's what we're talking about this weekend.
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  Speaker 1: The things that you cannot control in your life. You
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  Speaker 1: can't control the wind. You never have, you never will.
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  Speaker 1: And there are relational winds, there are financial winds, there
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  Speaker 1: are spiritual winds, there are physical winds. These kind of
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  Speaker 1: things happen in your life. And what all these have
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  Speaker 1: in common, change, opposition, conflict, trouble, testing, temptation, You can't
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  Speaker 1: control them. Why? Because they're either involving other people and
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  Speaker 1: you can't control other people or they're involving circumstances and
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  Speaker 1: you can't control all the circumstances around you. So what
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  Speaker 1: I want us to look at this week as we're
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  Speaker 1: on this journey to moving from the good life to
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  Speaker 1: the better life is how do I handle the things
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  Speaker 1: in life that are uncontrollable? That's what I'm calling the
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  Speaker 1: winds in your life. The rogue winds. the winds that
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  Speaker 1: cause problems, difficulties, opposition, fatigue, but you can't control them, okay?
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  Speaker 1: These are all uncontrolled. They're uncontrolled. So what do you
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  Speaker 1: do with the things in your life that are uncontrollable?
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  Speaker 1: What does God want you to do with the things
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  Speaker 1: in your life you have absolutely no control over. You
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  Speaker 1: know what to do with the stuff you've got control over.
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  Speaker 1: But this weekend, we're looking at what about the stuff
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  Speaker 1: that you don't have control over? Well, the Bible uses
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  Speaker 1: the word withstand. You withstand the winds that come into
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  Speaker 1: your life. Winds of change, winds of conflict, winds of temptation, testing, trouble,
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  Speaker 1: all these different things. You withstand them. When I can't
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  Speaker 1: control a disease, when I can't control another person, when
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  Speaker 1: I can't control what's going on in my country, when
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  Speaker 1: I can't control the direction culture is going, when I
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  Speaker 1: can't control how my spouse acts or reacts, what am
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  Speaker 1: I supposed to do? The Bible uses the word withstand. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I've written down a definition here. You might write this down.
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  Speaker 1: It's on the screen. To withstand means to remain undamaged
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  Speaker 1: by a destructive force. This is extremely important, so write
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  Speaker 1: this down. To withstand means to remain undamaged by a
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  Speaker 1: destructive force. And all through scripture, this word is used
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  Speaker 1: about things you have no control over. God wants you
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  Speaker 1: to withstand the darts of the evil one and so many,
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  Speaker 1: many other areas. All right? Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13
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  Speaker 1: says this. Put on the whole armor of God so
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  Speaker 1: you'll be able to withstand in evil days. Circle the
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  Speaker 1: word withstand. You'll be able to withstand in evil days
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  Speaker 1: and when they're over, when those evil days are over,
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  Speaker 1: when those rogue wind days are over, you'll still be standing.
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  Speaker 1: You'll still be standing. So, since I can't control the
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  Speaker 1: winds that occur in my life, I can no more
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  Speaker 1: control the wind. Tomorrow's supposed to be really windy, and
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  Speaker 1: it'll be windier for the people who are here for worship.
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  Speaker 1: What do you do? Well, you withstand the winds, the
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  Speaker 1: destructive winds of life. What I want us to do
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  Speaker 1: this weekend is look at four passages that talk about
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  Speaker 1: wind and the antidote to winds by withstanding, all right?
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  Speaker 1: There are four keys. I'm gonna give you four more
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  Speaker 1: principles on how to move from the good life to
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  Speaker 1: the better life. This has to do with the problems
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  Speaker 1: in your life that you can't control, all right? Here's
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  Speaker 1: the first key. The first key to withstanding destructive winds
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  Speaker 1: in your life. Stay connected to my spiritual family. I
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  Speaker 1: need to stay connected to my spiritual family. God never
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  Speaker 1: meant for you to face destructive winds, whether it's a
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  Speaker 1: death or a disease or a detour or a delay
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  Speaker 1: or a difficulty. God never meant for you to withstand
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  Speaker 1: the destructive winds of life by yourself, on your own.
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  Speaker 1: The very first thing God says is it's not good
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  Speaker 1: for man to be alone. So whether you ever marry
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  Speaker 1: or not is irrelevant. What I'm talking about is you
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  Speaker 1: need a spiritual family. You need a spiritual family for
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  Speaker 1: support so you can stay connected during the rough times
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  Speaker 1: of life. It is one of the main reasons Jesus
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  Speaker 1: created his church, to be a family of support. Now
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  Speaker 1: let's look at a passage on this. Ephesians chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: verses 11 and following, down to 14. God has given
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  Speaker 1: his church... God has given his church gifted apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
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  Speaker 1: and teachers to equip God's people for their work of service.
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  Speaker 1: What's your work of service? That's your ministry. God puts
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  Speaker 1: you on this earth not to live for yourself, but
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  Speaker 1: for you to make a difference with your life. That's
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  Speaker 1: called your ministry. Your work of service is your ministry.
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  Speaker 1: So God gives these gifted people, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers,
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  Speaker 1: to equip you for your work of service so that we,
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  Speaker 1: in the body of Christ, may be built up together
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  Speaker 1: until we're all unified in the faith. Now remember, we're
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  Speaker 1: talking about building a better life. This is about how
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  Speaker 1: do we build a better life? How are we built up?
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  Speaker 1: We're built up in the better life together. You're not
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  Speaker 1: built up for the better life on your own. We're
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  Speaker 1: built up together until we're all unified in our faith
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  Speaker 1: and we become fully mature and grown up in our
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  Speaker 1: thinking like Christ. That's God's goal for you. Then here's
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  Speaker 1: the goal. Here's the result of it. Then we'll no
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  Speaker 1: longer be babies tossed back and forth tossed back and forth,
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  Speaker 1: blown here and there by every shifting wind. We're not
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  Speaker 1: blown here and there by every shifting wind of teaching
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  Speaker 1: from deceptive people who lead you into error with lies
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  Speaker 1: that they make sound like the truth. Now that passage
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  Speaker 1: has got a lot of stuff in it, so let's
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  Speaker 1: just tear it apart a little bit at a time. First,
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  Speaker 1: circle the phrase built up God's church is his tool
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  Speaker 1: for building you up in the better life. You cannot
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  Speaker 1: live the better life on your own. You can live
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  Speaker 1: the good life on your own, but you can't live
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  Speaker 1: the life that God intended for you on your own.
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  Speaker 1: You need a spiritual family. And it says in that
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  Speaker 1: spiritual family, God has gifted certain people to teach you
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  Speaker 1: and to build you up. I'm one of them. I'm
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  Speaker 1: a pastor. I'm a teacher. God has gifted me to
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  Speaker 1: build you up for the better life. My gifts aren't
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  Speaker 1: for my benefit. My gifts are for your benefit. And
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  Speaker 1: God has given you gifts and your gifts are not
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  Speaker 1: for your benefit. Your gifts are for my benefit and
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  Speaker 1: everybody else too. Our gifts are always for the benefit
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  Speaker 1: of others. That's how we need each other in the
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  Speaker 1: family of God. Now, It says that their job, these apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers,
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  Speaker 1: guys like me, women like me, it says their job
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  Speaker 1: is to keep you from being blown away by false ideas.
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  Speaker 1: Blown away by shifting winds of teaching. What are shifting winds?
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  Speaker 1: That's something that people believe it this year, and next
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  Speaker 1: year they believe something else. And next year they believe
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  Speaker 1: something else. Opinions shift. The truth never changes. If it
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  Speaker 1: was true 1,000 years ago, it'll be true in 1,000
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  Speaker 1: years from today. But an opinion changes. Facts actually change.
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  Speaker 1: You know, nothing is more irrelevant than a 10-year-old science book.
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  Speaker 1: And nothing is even more irrelevant than that, than a
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  Speaker 1: five-year-old computer book. They're worthless. You use them as doorstops. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because they don't stay current. Because it's not simply truth.
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  Speaker 1: And they get out of date. And stuff that we
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  Speaker 1: used to believe, we now know, oh, we don't believe
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  Speaker 1: that anymore. We know that's not true. We now know.
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  Speaker 1: Even stuff about biology and about anatomy, things that doctors
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  Speaker 1: used to think, well, that piece of the body is irrelevant.
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  Speaker 1: We now know, well, we've discovered a little bit more.
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  Speaker 1: It's more relevant than we thought. So our job, my job,
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  Speaker 1: is to help you not be blown away by shifting
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  Speaker 1: winds of teaching from deceptive people who lead you into
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  Speaker 1: error with lies they make sound like the truth. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: let me just say this. I beg you to stop
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  Speaker 1: watching cable news. I beg you to stop watching cable news.
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  Speaker 1: I don't care what channel it is. Just stop watching
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  Speaker 1: cable news. Why? Because they are deceptive. What do you mean?
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  Speaker 1: They're not telling me the truth? No, they're telling you
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  Speaker 1: a partial truth. Because now we don't have news anymore.
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  Speaker 1: We now have opinion. And people will tell you what
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  Speaker 1: they tell you is true, but it's not the whole truth.
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  Speaker 1: It's not all the truth. They're only telling you the
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  Speaker 1: part of the truth they want you to hear. They're
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  Speaker 1: not telling you all the truth. They're not giving you
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  Speaker 1: the whole picture. They're giving you partial truth. And partial
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  Speaker 1: truth means it's partial untruth because it's not the whole
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  Speaker 1: truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God.
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  Speaker 1: All right. So it says the first thing we need
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  Speaker 1: to do is we need to stay connected to our
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  Speaker 1: spiritual family. These people in the family help us with
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  Speaker 1: the shifting winds and all the deception that's out there
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  Speaker 1: and people who are sharing lies that make it sound
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  Speaker 1: like the truth. God's tool built up is to build
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  Speaker 1: us up for better life. By the way, let me
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  Speaker 1: just stop here a minute and say, I'm proud of
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  Speaker 1: you guys. I'm proud of you. I commend you. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because you have stayed connected to the body of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: In this last year, a lot of people didn't stay connected. Why?
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  Speaker 1: And they wandered off here and there. And I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you're here at service. The moment was opened back up.
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  Speaker 1: You were watching online. I value you. I commend you.
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  Speaker 1: I praise you for staying connected. Why? Because that's how
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  Speaker 1: you keep growing. Unfortunately, there are people that the moment
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  Speaker 1: we stopped having public services, they're gone. And they're never
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  Speaker 1: coming back. They won't be back at Church White. They
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  Speaker 1: got out of the habit. So I commend you for
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  Speaker 1: doing that. Here's the first key to withstand. Stay connected
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  Speaker 1: to my spiritual family. Here's the second key to withstanding.
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  Speaker 1: Write this down. Put into practice everything I learn. That's
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  Speaker 1: the second thing God tells us to do in order
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  Speaker 1: to withstand the tough winds of life. I need to
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  Speaker 1: not just hear the word of God. You've been hearing it.
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  Speaker 1: You've been listening to it online. You've been coming back
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  Speaker 1: to services since we reopened public services. But more than that,
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  Speaker 1: You put into practice. You don't just listen to God's word,
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  Speaker 1: you do it, you obey it, you practice it. And
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  Speaker 1: that's what helps me withstand stuff I can't control. Here's
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus said, a very important passage in Matthew chapter seven.
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  Speaker 1: It's the last words of his famous Sermon on the Mount.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew 7, 24 and 25, Jesus said, everyone who hears
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  Speaker 1: these words of mine and puts them into practice, circle that,
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  Speaker 1: puts them into practice, is like the wise man who
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  Speaker 1: built his house on a solid rock. The rains came down,
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  Speaker 1: and the waters rose, and the winds, there's that word,
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  Speaker 1: the winds blew hard and beat against that house, yet
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  Speaker 1: it did not fall. That's my goal for you, that
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  Speaker 1: when the winds blow against you, you do not fall. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because it had its foundation on the rock. Now notice,
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  Speaker 1: when a storm comes, it says three things happen. The
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  Speaker 1: rains come down, that attacks the roof of your life.
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  Speaker 1: It says the floods come up from the ground, that
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  Speaker 1: attacks the foundation of your life. And it says the
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  Speaker 1: winds blow, that attacks the walls of your life. So
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  Speaker 1: you're getting from the top, you're getting it from the
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  Speaker 1: bottom you're getting from the side and it said the
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  Speaker 1: only way you're going to make it through the rogue
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  Speaker 1: winds of life the stuff you can't control when you
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  Speaker 1: get a diagnosis that you can't control if you have
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  Speaker 1: a special needs child you can't change If you have
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  Speaker 1: a circumstance or an inability or a disability that you can't...
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  Speaker 1: You're going to have to live with your entire life.
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  Speaker 1: As you get old and things change in your life,
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  Speaker 1: what do you do with those things you can't control? First,
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  Speaker 1: I stay connected to my spiritual family. Second, I practice
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  Speaker 1: everything I learn. And it says there, then, because you
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  Speaker 1: put it into practice, your house... is built on the
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  Speaker 1: foundation on the rock. Now what's the rock? The rock
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  Speaker 1: is this book. It's the word of God. And the
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  Speaker 1: more I build my life on this rock, the more
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  Speaker 1: solid I'm gonna be. The winds can come at me.
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  Speaker 1: I can lose a son to suicide. I can have
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  Speaker 1: a wife get breast cancer. I can have enormous, physical
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  Speaker 1: problems myself, a brain disorder. I can have criticism. I
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  Speaker 1: can have all kinds of things that I can't control,
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  Speaker 1: but they don't devastate me. Why? Because I'm practicing what
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  Speaker 1: this book says. In John 13, 17, the next verse,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says this, now that you know these things, you
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  Speaker 1: will be blessed if you know them. Oh, it didn't
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  Speaker 1: say that, did it? Now that you know these things,
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  Speaker 1: you will be blessed if you what? Do, circle that, do.
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  Speaker 1: The blessing doesn't come in knowing. Right now, you're knowing.
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  Speaker 1: Right now, you're learning. I'm teaching you four ways to
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  Speaker 1: handle things that are uncontrollable in your life. The four things,
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  Speaker 1: all of these are antidotes to the winds of life.
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  Speaker 1: You need a strong family, spiritual family to give you support.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: You need a foundation of God's word that you trust,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: when everything else can be changing in your life, now
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: that you know these things, you'll be blessed if you
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: do them. You know, it occurred to me that some
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: of you are new to Saddleback Church. We have used
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: these outlines, these message notes, for 40 years. And a
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: lot of churches don't use these. You know, you don't
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: have anything to write anything down on, but it's one
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: of our hallmarks of Saddleback Church and maybe you're new
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: to Saddleback and I thought I might just pause here
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: as we're getting started back in public worship to remind
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: you why we use these things. Because maybe for the
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: last year you've been watching the service on your iPhone
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: or your Android or whatever and you're not taking notes.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Now that we're back I encourage you to take notes. Why?
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: Here are the reasons. Why do we use handouts? Not
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: everybody has a Bible, okay? Number two, it relieves embarrassment
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: in finding text. Some of you say, if I said,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: turn to the book of Job, and you go, where's
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: that one? Okay, and then you're over there thinking, Job? Oh,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: maybe this is a book about work or something, you know?
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: And what's this all about? Haggai, who's Haggai? We're gonna
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: look at him in the weeks ahead. It relieves embarrassment
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: in finding text. We can cover more verses in less
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: time when I put them all out here. We can
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: read verses aloud together. We can review what we learn later.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: We can compare multiple translations. We can emphasize key words
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: by circling or underlining. We can remember and retain more.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: And we can use it for small group study and discussion.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: I've told you this before. that the United States Air
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Force did a study and said that you forget 90
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: to 95% of everything you hear in 72 hours. You
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: forget 90 to 95% of everything you hear in 72 hours.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: If you want a statistic to depress a pastor, that's it. Okay,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: because it means I'll spend 20 plus hours preparing to
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: teach you You know, a lesson from God's word, realizing
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: that by Wednesday you will have forgotten everything except the jokes.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Unless you write it down. The shortest pencil is longer
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: than the longest memory. So what I need to do
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: is I need to write it down. Outlines help us
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: fulfill James 1.25. Those who look intently into God's word,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: perfect word, that gives us freedom. And continue to do this.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: And remember what they've heard. And then do it. They
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: are the ones who will be blessed in what they do.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: You want to be blessed? Notice the four things it
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: says you got to do in order to be blessed.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Four things. First, you look intently into the word of God.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: That's study it. You look at it intently. You don't
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: just listen. You look at it intently. And you continue
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to do that. That means you make it a habit.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: And then you remember what you heard. That means sometimes
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: you memorize a verse. And we'll do that. You remember
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: a verse. And then you do it. That's the practice part.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: He said, they are the ones who will be blessed.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: And these outlines help us do that. All right. With
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: those two out of the way, let's get to the
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: third and fourth key. And these are even more important
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: in understanding how to handle sin. Situations in your life.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: That are out of control. Number three. The third key
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: to withstanding wins is this. When it comes into my life.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Something that I cannot control. Turn my focus. Turn my focus.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: To how great God is. Turn my focus. To how great.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: God is. When I'm going through a situation. I have
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: no control over. I need to remember that it may
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: be out of my control, but it's not out of
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: God's control. Turning my focus to God and his greatness,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: there's a word for that. It's called worship. Anytime you
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: turn your focus to the greatness of God, you are worshiping, okay?
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: You're worshiping. Worship, listen, worship is the secret. of withstanding.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Worship is the secret of withstanding the uncontrollable things in life.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: When I go, I cannot control this. I can't do
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: anything about it. I need to flip my focus and
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: think about the greatness of God and his power and
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: how it's not be, it may be out of my control,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: but it's not out of his. I want to put
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: a sentence on the screen here that I want you
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: to write down. When battered by a wind, don't tell
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: God how great my storm is. Tell the storm how
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: great my God is. Okay, write that down. When I'm
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: battered by a wind, that means something totally out of
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: my control. I just can't do anything about it. My
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: spouse is having an affair. I can't do anything about it.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: My kids are going crazy. I got a bad health report.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: When I am battered by a wind, don't tell God
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: how great my storm is, how great the wind is. Instead,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: tell my storm how great my God is. My God is.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: I turn my focus to how great God is. Worship
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: is the secret. to withstanding. Now, there is a beautiful
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: example of this in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 8.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: And the story here is Jesus is out in a
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: boat with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee, and
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: he's asleep. Now, the Sea of Galilee is a huge,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: huge lake. And it's very easy for, quickly, for storms
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: to come up suddenly. In fact, Pastor Tom and I,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: many years ago, in a trip to Israel, went out
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and out
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in the middle of it, all of a sudden, it
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: was a beautiful day when we went out, and all
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: of a sudden, in the middle of the lake, the
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: dark clouds came over suddenly. It started pouring, raining. It
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: started getting windy. And I was that excited about being
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: in that boat. Okay, because it was like big gale
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: winds and choppy waves in the ocean. So here's the
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: story that gives us the example of how to turn
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: our focus to God and how great he is. Matthew 8,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: verse 24. Suddenly, that's always how storms come. That's always
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: how winds come. Suddenly, and they don't warn you in advance. Suddenly,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: without any warning, a violent wind hit hit the lake
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: so that giant storm waves swept over the boat and
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: threatened to sink it. But Jesus kept on sleeping. This
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: is funny, okay? The ship's going like this, tossing and turning.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: There's a little ship out there, a three-hour tour, you know.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: And it's about to capsize. Jesus is not paying any attention.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: He's totally asleep. He's at peace. He's not worried. Jesus
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: kept on sleeping. So the frantic disciples woke him up shouting, Lord,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: you must save us. And they didn't say it that calmly.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: You must save us. We're going to drown. Jesus replied,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: why are you so frightened? Your faith is so small.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Then he simply spoke to the winds. What are the winds?
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: The uncontrollable forces in your life. He spoke to the
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: winds and the waves of And everything became completely calm.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: What's out of my control is not out of God's control.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Everything became completely calm. And the men were amazed. And
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: they asked themselves, what kind of man is this? Even
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: the winds and the waves obey him. Now, this whole
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: experience leaves them in awe of Jesus. They're not afraid.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: They're worshiping him. Why? Because they've just seen him have
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: power over nature. And if God has power over nature,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: he's got power over everything else. Here's the point. Why
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: were they afraid? They're afraid the boat's going to sink.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: Do you really think it's going to sink with Jesus
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: in it? If they'd realized who was in the boat
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: with them, do you think they would have been afraid?
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: They forgot who was in the boat with them. If
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus is in your boat, your boat is unsinkable. It
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: isn't gonna sink. If Jesus is in your boat, it's unsinkable.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: So what are you afraid of? Now, worship, when I worship,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: when all of a sudden I've got negative things in
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: my life and a lot of stuff I can't control,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: I can't control my salary, it's set by somebody else.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: I can't control other things. All these things that I'm
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: worried about. Worship is a way to set your sail
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: so that the winds drive you in the direction you
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: wanna go rather than a direction you don't wanna go.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: And the direction you wanna go is let the wind
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: drive you to Jesus. Let the wind drive you to
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: focus on God. Let the pain, let the problem, let
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: the stress drive you to get closer to God. And
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: when I do that, I'm not gonna have to be afraid.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: That's a choice. Am I gonna worry or am I
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: going to worship? All right? Let worship set the sails.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: So that the negative things that happen in your life
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: actually drive you further in the direction you want. You
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: can't control the wind, but you can control the direction
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: of the set of your sail. And a good sailor
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: knows that you can take a wind that's totally opposite
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: you and still move in the direction you want if
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: you set your sail correctly. That's your attitude. That's the
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: way you trust. You can't control the wind, but you
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: can control the set of your sail. And I do
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: that by choosing to worship. Now there's one more, and
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: I wanted to spend the most on this, and that
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: is the fourth key to withstanding. How do I withstand
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: in stuff I can't change in my life that's just there?
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: And here it is, number four, very important. Remind myself
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: how much Jesus cares. When I am going through a
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: period that scares me to death, When I'm going through
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: a period I don't like. When I'm going through a
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: period I don't want. When I'm going through a period
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: that I can't control. I don't just focus on how
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: great God is, that's his power. I also focus on
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: his love. And I remind myself how much Jesus cares.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Now there's another boat incident in the Bible. This is
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: different than the one we just looked at that teaches
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: this truth. of reminding myself how much Jesus cares. In
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: Mark chapter six, here's another boating incident out on the
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: Sea of Galilee, Mark 46, 47, and 48. It says this,
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: another evening, the disciples were out in their boat in
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: So he's not in the boat with them this time.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: But Jesus saw his disciples were in trouble Okay, from
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: the shore. He could see they're in trouble. Rowing hard
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: with their oars because the wind was against them. So
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Jesus decided to walk out to them on the lake.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: This is his famous walking on water miracle. Okay, he
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: sees they're in trouble. Background of this story. Jesus had said,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: you guys get on the boat. I want you to
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: take the boat up to Bethsaida. It's a three-hour trip.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: up the coast of the Sea of Galilee to get
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: to Bethsaida. Nine hours later, they're way off course. They're
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee and
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: can't even get back to shore. They're way, way off course. Why?
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Rogue winds. And so rather than something that was going
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: to be a three-hour trip up the coast, it's nine
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: hours and they're dead tired. Now, In this passage I
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: just read you, I want you to notice, and I'm
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: not gonna go into this in detail, but in those
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: few verses I just read, we see six common reasons
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: we get fearful. We see all six of them right there. First,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: it says another evening, it's nighttime. They're in the dark.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: Isn't it true that your fears go up in the dark?
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: Isn't it true that you get more anxious, you get
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: more fearful, When you can't see your way, I don't
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: see any way out of this financial problem. I don't
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: see any way out of this mess. I don't see
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: how we're going to make it through this. When you're
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: in the dark and you can't see well, then you
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: get fearful. Second thing, they're in the middle of the lake.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: What's that mean? They're far from the safety of shore.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: They feel insecure. When you feel insecure... And you're not
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: near safety. You're out in the middle of the lake.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: You get fearful. Then it says they're in deep water.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: They're out of their comfort zone. They're in deep water.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: They're out of their comfort zone. They're not in the
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: shallows of life. They're way in over their head. Some
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: of you right now are in a situation where you're
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: way in over your head. And that's making you nervous.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: It's making you fearful. It's making you anxious. It's making
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: you anxious. So it's nighttime, but they're in the middle
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: of the lake. They're in deep water. The fourth reason
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: they're fearful is Jesus isn't in the boat. So they
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: feel like they're all on their own. And when you
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: feel like you're all on your own, maybe you feel
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: that way right now. This thing that I'm facing, I'm
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: facing it all on my own. I'm trying to handle
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: it all by myself. I'm sorry. That's why You need
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: to share it with your spiritual family and let other
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: people pray with you, pray for you, work with you,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: support you. That's why you need a small group. Jesus,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: when you feel like you're on your own. Then it says,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: and the wind was against them. We get fearful when
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: we feel opposition. When we feel like opposition is preventing
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: our progress. The wind was against them. What's against you
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: right now? What? uncontrollable circumstances are against you. And that's
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: causing you to feel fearful, okay? And then it says,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: Jesus saw that his disciples were in trouble rowing hard
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: with their oars because the wind was against them. They're
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: in trouble rowing hard. You know what? They're frustrated and
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: they're tired. And you know what? When you get frustrated
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: and when you get tired, your fear level goes up.
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Your anxiety level goes up. Now I'm sure many of
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: you are identifying with at least one of these things.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: You're in the dark. You feel insecure. You're out of
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: your comfort zone. You feel like you're on your own.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: There's opposition preventing your progress when you're frustrated and you're tired.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: You've been rowing all day and you're not making any progress.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: They've been on the lake for nine hours and it
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: was only a three-hour trip. Now that's the reason we
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: get fearful. But this same passage that I just read
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: gives us the three reasons why you don't need to
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: be fearful. The three reasons why you don't need to
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: be upset on the things that are out of your control.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: And here they are. First thing is it says Jesus
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: saw his disciples were in trouble the first reason you
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: need to be afraid is that Jesus notices our struggle
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: Jesus notices our struggle he pays attention to our struggles
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Did you know that everything you're going through right now,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: there's nothing that Jesus hasn't noticed? He knows what you're
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: going through. He pays attention to your struggle. And just
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: as he saw his disciples from the shoreline going, they're
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: having a hard time rowing and they can't get back
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: to shore. They can't get back to safety. He sees
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: where you're struggling. He sees where you're straining. Now here's
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: what happens. The disciples are unaware that that Jesus is
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: paying attention to their struggle, so they get scared. When
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: you're unaware, you get scared. When you forget that God
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: is paying attention to every problem in your life, then
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: you start acting like it's just you. It's not just you.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: You get scared when you're unaware that Jesus is paying attention.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Never forget that Jesus pays attention To every single detail
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: of your life. That's a fear reliever. Job 31 verse
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: 4 here on the screen says. He sees everything I do.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: And counts every step I take. So I should not
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: be fearful. Even in uncontrollable situations. In the winds of life.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Because Jesus is noticing. He's paying attention. It's not like
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: he's unaware. Number two. He doesn't just pay, he's not
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: just aware, he cares. That's the second thing. Jesus cares
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: about your fatigue and Jesus cares about your frustration. He
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: sees his disciples, they've been out there for nine hours
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: rowing and they're not making any progress and they're tired
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: like you're tired after what's happened all this last year.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: Jesus is not just aware. He cares. He cares. And
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: he saw that they were rowing hard. But there's another thing.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: He not only pays attention and he not only cares,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: he does something about it. The third thing we see
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: is that Jesus comes to me at my moment of desperation.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: Jesus comes to me. at my moment of desperation. This
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: story is actually told in the book of Matthew, in
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: the book of Mark, and in another gospel too. It's
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: in three different gospels. So Mark chapter 6 says this,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: it was the fourth watch of the night when Jesus
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: decided to go out to them. They're out there caught
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: in the middle of the lake, walking on the lake.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: It's famous walking on water miracle. Now It says it's
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: the fourth watch of the night. Do you know what
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: time that is? That's between three and 6 a.m. That's
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: the fourth night of the watch. In the darkest time,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: in the loneliest time, they're exhausted, they've been fighting, as
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: I said, the storm for nine hours. They're not getting
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: anywhere and the storm's blown them way off course. Many
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: of you feel that way that COVID and all these
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: other factors, these other storms that we've talked about have
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: blown you way off course. What does Jesus do when
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: you're desperate? He comes out to you. Notice that Jesus
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: did not stand on the shoreline and shout instructions. He
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: didn't stand on the shoreline and tell them what to do.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: He goes out to the people that he cares about
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: He comes to you in your moment of desperation. And
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: he goes out to where they are and he intervenes. Friends,
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: that's the gospel. A God who intervenes. A God intervenes.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: who becomes incarnate, a God who comes to earth, a
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: God who becomes one of us, who takes on all
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: our problems and dies on the cross for our sin.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: He didn't shout from heaven new instructions. He comes and says,
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: I'll solve the problem that you can't solve. He comes
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: out to you. I don't know what you're going through
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  Speaker 1: right now, but I will tell you this. You may
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  Speaker 1: feel abandoned right now, but you're not. You are not.
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  Speaker 1: God is with you. God is with you. And you
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  Speaker 1: need to open your eyes and see Jesus walking on
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: the water, coming to you in your moment of desperation
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: between 3 and 6 a.m. in the fourth hour in
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: the darkest part of the night. This is the promise
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: of Jesus. John 14, look here on the screen. John 14,
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: verse 18 says, I will not abandon you. What is
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  Speaker 1: it about that you don't understand? I will not abandon you.
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  Speaker 1: I will not leave you as orphans in the storm.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: I will come to you. Will you let him come
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  Speaker 1: to you today in the problem you're going through? Will
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: you stop trying to row and do it all on
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: your own power and let Jesus come to you By
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: the way, how does Jesus come to you when you're
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: buffeted by the winds? When you're buffeted by those uncontrollable
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: circumstances you can't change if you wanted to. How does
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: he come to you when you're buffeted by winds and waves?
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you how he does. Walking on the very
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  Speaker 1: problem you're afraid of. He walks alone. on the waves,
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  Speaker 1: they're afraid, I'm gonna lap into the boat and sink
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  Speaker 1: the ship. He's walking on the water. Why? He's God.
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  Speaker 1: And you say, how does he do this? Friends, this
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  Speaker 1: is not hard to understand if you understand that Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is God. Since Jesus is God, that means he created water.
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  Speaker 1: He can part the water. He can stop the water.
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  Speaker 1: He can get water out of a rock. He can
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  Speaker 1: walk on water. He can do anything he wants to
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  Speaker 1: with water. He's God. He invented it. Because he's the creator. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the story, there's a great sub-story of
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: faith and doubt. And it says this. So they see
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  Speaker 1: Jesus walking out to them in the middle of the night.
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  Speaker 1: Scares them to death. They think at first it's a ghost.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: And it says, then Peter... He looks out there and
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  Speaker 1: he sees Jesus walking. He says, Lord, if it's really you,
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  Speaker 1: tell me to come to you on the water. So
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, come on. Come on down. So Peter jumped
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  Speaker 1: out of the boat, started walking on the water toward Jesus.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: But when Peter looked at the wind, you're always going
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: to get in trouble if you stop focusing on God's greatness,
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: start focusing on the wind. When Peter looked at the wind,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: he became afraid and he began to sink. So he
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  Speaker 1: cried out, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus reached out
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: his hand, caught Peter. Why did you doubt? Jesus asked. Okay,
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: so you just had a little faith. Why did you doubt?
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: And when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: Then those in the boat, worshiped Jesus saying, truly you
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: are the son of God. Now I think this is
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: really kind of interesting here that before jumping out, Peter
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  Speaker 1: asks for ID. Lord, if it's really you, tell me
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  Speaker 1: to come be with you, okay? Can I join you? Now,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: Peter is not doubting the possibility of walking on water.
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  Speaker 1: He just wants to make sure it's Jesus. He wants
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  Speaker 1: to just make sure that he's really seeing the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Peter knew it's safer to be with Jesus out of
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: the boat than to be in the boat without Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: So he goes, I'd rather be out there with him
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  Speaker 1: on those waves than in here without him. And Jesus says, come.
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  Speaker 1: And you know what? I am absolutely certain that when
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: Peter said, Lord, if that's really you, invite me to
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: come walk on the water. I'm sure that pleased the
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  Speaker 1: heart of God. He thought, that's my boy. He's willing
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: to take a risk. He's willing to move against the impossible.
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: He's willing to move against the storm. He's willing to
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  Speaker 1: go against the uncontrollable winds. And I'm sure it pleased
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  Speaker 1: him so much because that's what faith does. It's a,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: Peter gets the experience of a lifetime because without faith,
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  Speaker 1: it's impossible to please God. John Ortberg wrote a book.
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  Speaker 1: If you want to walk on. water, you got to
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: get out of the boat. Where do you need to
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: get out of the boat post-COVID? Where do you need
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: to take a risk that you've never taken before? Now,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: it's interesting, in fact, you might write this down, that Peter,
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: as long as he focused on Jesus, he's doing just fine.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: As soon as he starts looking at the problem, he
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: starts sinking. You might write this down. When I trust
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: instead of think, I walk on water instead of sink.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: When I trust instead of think, I walk on water
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  Speaker 1: instead of sink. You know what the problem of many
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: of you is? You think too much. You overthink everything,
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: and that keeps you worried. But when I trust instead
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: of think, I walk on water instead of sink. Now, notice,
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: Jesus reached down to Peter, and he says, you of
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: little faith. Notice, he didn't say you of no faith.
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  Speaker 1: The guys in the boat were the guys who had
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: no faith. Peter had a little faith. He just kind
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: of lost some of it. But when Jesus gets in
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: the boat, you notice the storm stops because the only
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: unsinkable ship in the entire world was that boat at
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: that moment. Because Jesus is in it. John 6, 21.
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  Speaker 1: And after they took Jesus into their boat, they were
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: able to reach the destination they'd been trying to head
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: for on the shore. Are you getting this? After they
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: took Jesus into their boat, they were able to reach
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: the destination they've been trying to head for on the show.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: Some of you have been trying to get to a
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: certain destination, but you're doing it on your own power.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: You're rowing on your own power. And you're rowing against
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: uncontrollable winds. And you're not going to win against uncontrollable winds.
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: But you take Jesus in your boat. and you focus
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: on his greatness and you remember how much he loves
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: you and know that he cares and that he comes
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: to you in your deepest need. And they were able
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: to reach their destination. That is my goal for you
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: in 2021. I want as your pastor who loves you,
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: your friend, your buddy, your spiritual coach, I want you
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: to reach your destination in 2021. but you're gonna have
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: to do these four things we just talked about. Now
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: let me conclude by mentioning this. Sometimes God sends winds himself.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: They're not from Satan. Sometimes God sends winds himself in
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: order to help you grow. And opposition and problems can
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: actually be beneficial to you if you let it grow
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: your character. You grow stronger with opposition. You grow stronger
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: through difficulty. And opposition can be helpful if you respond correctly.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: A kite rises against the wind. A kite doesn't fly
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: with the wind. A kite flies against the wind. And
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: the stronger that wind is, the higher the kite can go.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: I have found in my own life that the greater
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: the opposition, the higher I can go. The higher I
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: can go. Kites rise with the wind. They use the wind.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: They use the opposition to soar even higher. That's what
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: I want Saddleback Church to be known for. That's what
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: I want you to be known for. Last verse, Psalm 104,
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: verse 4. You, Lord, use the winds as your messengers. Hello.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: What is God trying to say to you through your
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: uncontrollable circumstances? You use the winds as your messengers. What
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: message is God trying to get to you? What is
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: he trying to say to you? He's trying to say,
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: stay connected to your spiritual family. He's trying to say,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: put into practice everything in this book. Don't just hear it.
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  Speaker 1: You only get blessed if you do it. He's trying
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: to say, focus on my greatness and remember, I will
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: never stop loving you. And I care and I see
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: and I'm aware, and I pay attention to everything in
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: your life, and I will come to you in your
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: hour and moment of despair. Just trust me. And if
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: you'll let me get in your boat, there is no
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: way it's going to sink. Let's bow our heads. Jesus Christ,
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: thank you for your word, that it's practical, it's relevant.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: Think that you have given us a church family that
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: we may be built up together so that we all
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: become fully mature, so that we all become grown up
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: in our thinking, and then we'll no longer be spiritual
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: babies tossed back and forth and blown here and there
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: by every shifting wind. Lord, there's so many shifting winds
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: in our society today that are just wrong. They're wrong,
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: they're false, they're lies, they're half-truths. And they're led by
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: deceptive people who want to lead us into error, that
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: they make sound like the truth. Help us to look
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: to your word knowing that it will always guide us
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: in the right way. Why don't you pray? Say, Jesus Christ,
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: you know the winds in my life. You know the
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: uncontrollable circumstances in my life. that scare me, frustrate me,
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: and fatigue me. Help me to do these four things
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: you've told us to do, to stay connected to my
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: spiritual family. Help me to put into practice everything I learn.
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: Help me to focus on your greatness And to not
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: just tell you about how big my problem is, but
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: tell my problem how big you are. Help me to
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: remember that you will never leave me alone. Thank you
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: that you come walking on the water, the thing that
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: scares me the most in my deepest need. Amen. Jesus Christ,
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: if you've never invited him into your boat, say, Jesus Christ,
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: come into my boat today. Be in my heart. Be
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: in my life. Be my Lord and be my Savior.
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  Speaker 1: In your name I pray. Amen.