The Importance of Understanding People's Needs

Speaker 1 0:30

All right , well , when we're back there , I will not be covering it up , but cheers to those of you who are cheering today and those of you who are just putting up with everyone else , so it's going to be a good day . Before I hop into this , I actually would love to ask a favor for everyone here . There's moments where I just like to put my ear to the ground and just to see and get a gauge of where you're at or where those who you care about in your life and your sphere of influence and who you're doing life with where they're at . And so I'm going to ask you , well , if you guys got a connection card as you came in today , if you just take a moment or two and write on that connection card , and I'm going to tell you how I'm going to read this . My question to you is what's going on in your life right now that you're losing sleep about ? So you can do one word and do a couple of words . That's how I'm reading it . This is not a . Hey , larry , I have your ear . I would like you to start doing . This is a . I'm going to read it , as this is what I'm losing sleep about . The second thing I'd like to do . What is your friends or the people that you're doing life with right now that aren't a part of this faith community ? A part of a faith community ? What are they losing sleep about ? Like what's going on in their life that's keeping them awake at night ? And so this is just my way to put my ear to the ground again , because I really desire deeply for our staff , our community , to serve you and those who you love so dearly well , and just to get a gauge and to know , like , hey , this is really what's going on , instead of guessing . You know , this is what everyone's really feeling and needs right now . So if you would just take a few moments , like I said , it can be one word , it can be three words . This is not a critique . This is a time to let me know , like , what's actually going on . I'm going to read it like that there's boxes in the back of this room and out in the lobby . You can just dump it in there and you can also use the card for all kinds of other reasons too , but thank you for doing that Right .

Speaker 1 2:22

So today we are going to be covering three verses . We've been walking through the book of Matthew , the gospel according to Matthew , for years . And it's because of days like today where we only do three verses and so we're going to attack these . We're in chapter 19 . So if you're with us you can turn it on the Bible . You can turn it on because you've got it in you know phone or a pad version . You actually have a physical one . You can open it up . We're in chapter 19 . I'm going to be covering verses 13 through 15 today .

Speaker 1 2:50

Pastor Ken last week got us through the first 12 verses of chapter 19 . And this three verses decided we're actually going to slow down and sit here , because these verses are ones A lot of times that we read , we're like , oh , that's sweet , we don't really think much , we just kind of glance and we pass by . It's not necessarily , it's really hard teaching that we're trying to . You know when I avoid it , it's just that we can just think it's not that important and kind of casually move on to what we think are more important things . And so we're going to spend our time in these three verses because I believe today that it's important and it's going to be important for us to unpack that . So here we go , I'm going to read them to you and then we'll continue . It says .

Speaker 1 3:34

Then people brought people like think moms and others around . They brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them . But the disciples rebuked to them . Jesus said whoa , whoa , whoa , let the little children come to me and do not hinder them , for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these . When he had placed his hands on them , he went on from there . Matthew 19 , 13 through 15 . So again , this is one of the things that you just read it , you're like , oh , that's a cute little story . And Jesus got upset and said no , actually I want to hang out with kids . They're allowed to come over to me . And then he places his hands on and then goes on from there and we'll get into on from there next week and more .

Speaker 1 4:19

But what I want to do is I want to pause and just recognize real quick , right off of that , some of you are hearing this story as just casual and like that's fine . Some of you , right now there is even something that's being stirred up in your spirit that's saying this is reminding me of trauma or experiences as someone who wasn't allowed to come to Jesus to let him pray for or to touch or to heal me that people thought that they were more important and that I was a an innocence and you hear that story . Largely how you hear that a larger depends on the type of childhood that you experienced . For those of you maybe one in four women or one in seven men who grew up in homes or situation in which the people that were put and made assigned the task to take care of you , be responsible for you , who are assigned the sassy they're allowed or they actually perpetrated the taking away of your virtue or your self worth , I want you to know that Jesus has a message for you today , or for those who maybe lost a parent through divorce or death , or one who was teased ruthlessly or maybe just neglected for a time , or those of you who grew up actually believing that you're just never quite added up , you just never kind of made the grade in the eyes of a coach or a teacher or a parent or a friend . You know , you just thought if you could just do one more thing , if you could just get there and accomplish this , it just would be a little bit better than people would love and accept you . I want you to know that Jesus has a message for you as well this morning . You are not and you were not alone in your suffering .

Jesus's Love and Comfort for Children

Speaker 1 6:07

Jesus was not unaware that he wasn't absent , which then begs the question if you've experienced these things or felt these types of feelings , well then , where was he ? Where was he ? Where was Jesus when all of these things were happening to children ? Well , I want to tell you that he was at the right hand of God the Father , interceding for you on your behalf , crying out for you . I don't want that to trigger you and give you this image of like . So you're telling me that difficult things happened to me and that people Made me feel unimportant or took something away from me or experienced something , and Jesus was just Sitting there at the right hand of the Father letting this thing happen . That's not the picture in which I'm trying to paint .

Speaker 1 6:55

You know , when you read Scriptures and you reread them over a number of times , you start to see certain patterns , and then you start to see exceptions as well . One of those patterns is you see , in the New Testament , that 15 times Jesus is described as being at the right hand of God the Father , and 10 of those times he's seated , he's at the right hand of God the Father , and it says that he's seated at the right hand of God the Father on the throne room of Heaven and seated with . It gives us this picture that we can grasp , that that is accomplished . He's sitting down as his work is complete , that he's come down to earth . He's shown us what God is like and who he is like . He's died for us , he's resurrected from the dead and now he's finished . He can have a seat at the right side of God the Father . So he's seated at the right hand of God the Father . 10 of the 15 times , then four of the times he has described simply as being at the right hand of the Father . But there is one time , one time out of the 15 , that he is actually described as Standing at the right hand of God the Father . So you would ask Well , what was different ? What's the one time ? Why was he standing at the right hand of God the Father ?

Speaker 1 8:14

Well , a man named Stephen , in the book of Acts , was on trial for his life and he was about to be executed . He was being persecuted for believing in Jesus and he was going to be executed by this slow , torturous death of Stoning and Jesus at that moment said he saw him standing at the right hand of God , the Father . Now I want to tell you when I picture this for myself , I find great comfort in that , I find encouragement in that , because what I see , and I really believe this is trying to depict , is that we do Don't have a Jesus who knows and then allows these things that happen to us and to experience these traumas , and he just sits there and watches . But in moments like this , we can get this picture of him standing out to begging and pleading , leaning in as like a loving parent that says I see you , I care for you , I love you . And so I find I find encouragement and comfort in this .

Speaker 1 9:17

And and I want to say too but I cannot tell you and I can't even show you from scripture that every time that you suffered Neglect or abuse or hurt or you felt left out , I can't tell you that every time that you suffered in those things , that Jesus was standing . But I can't tell you for sure . I can't tell you for certain whether you've come to church this morning and this is all new to you or you've been here many , many times . I can tell you for sure and for certain that one of the reasons why Jesus went to the cross and died for us since is For our healing and also for our healed hearts , not just so like we go to heaven one day , but that so God can do a work in us now , that he can do a healing or begin a mending Process in us on this tide side of attorney , so we can live our lives to the full in this moment . And I can also tell you that , without minimizing anything , and that any of us have experienced that , whatever happened in our lives , even if it's incredibly traumatic , even the painful events that happened to us in our lives , it's not what is controlling you or hurting you as much as Oftentimes , when we sit back and look at it , is our interpretation of the event .

Speaker 1 10:37

In other words , your mom or dad didn't show up to your soccer game and you were looking for them and they weren't there . And it wasn't so much as they didn't show up . It's the lie because of that event that you begin to believe that you believed . Now I'm not as important as the other boys and girls whose parents showed up , or , if you were hurt or wounded or beat up , told you're worthless . It's not what happened although it is terrible , in Traumatic and shouldn't have ever happened but it's our interpretation of the event and what you actually believed as the result , that maybe you were just getting what you deserved and you were worthless and you weren't worth it .

Speaker 1 11:20

So let me help you in this message , discovering and seeing Jesus's view of children , which , just so you understand who we all are Him as the father . Let me help you reinterpret those events . And if I've described you and any of what I've just said in the last three minutes , or if any of you are human and you've done a Minute of life , I actually , right now , before we move on , just want to invite you to bow your head and listen , because I want to proclaim and declare over you some of God's thoughts . So I just ask all of you actually , and even if you're online , not to stare at me , but to just take a moment , take a deep breath , bow your head , close your eyes . I Say to you , in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ , that your life is not a mistake . You have never been unwanted , you have never been alone , you have never been unloved . God created you out of the depth of his own Existence and called you into being at the right time and in the right place , and he has prepared a way for you to live and to heal and to mend and to thrive . But he has given up the life of his own son for you , simply because he loves you . You are his privilege , his delight . You are not a burden , you are not an intrusion . You belong and you are one of his own dear children . You are his treasure , just because you are not merely for what you can do . And Jesus is inviting you to open up your heart to him so that he can fill you With his unconditional love . And he's pouring that love out upon you right now . Receive it , accept it , embrace it . Let me reread our passage for you again today . It says Then the people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them

Children in the Gospel

Speaker 1 13:44

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Speaker 1 13:45

And then the disciples rebuked them . Jesus said Stop , let the little children come to me , do not hinder them from . The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these . And when he had placed his hands on them , he then went on from there . So what do you think about ? It is about children . That endears them to Jesus so much . Why does he love them so much ? Because you see , to the disciples , the children and the moms who were bringing the children , the people who were bringing the children , they thought the people who were bringing these children to Jesus was a nuisance , like it was frustrating , like because Jesus is important , so for them he's like hey , we've got important things to do , we're doing important work right here .

Speaker 1 14:31

Jesus is important and his disciples had their own idea of who Jesus's time was actually for . I mean , if you look at a lot of it was actually for them , of course , right , there was never a waste of time for Jesus to spend with them hanging out or going fishing or explaining something over and over and over again . That was never a waste of time . And Jesus's time was also for , you know , important people , which is kind of ironic because until the disciples met Jesus , none of them were important . But Jesus's time to them should be for important people , people that would be good investments , that would take the things that have been poured into them , that can give back and then contribute to be reproducers . Those are the people that Jesus's time should be for and the view of the disciples the rich , the wealthy , the ones that look like us , that this is who Jesus's time should be for .

Speaker 1 15:29

And so the disciples rebuked people and the children and the moms , because you're like , hey , get away from them . We're doing important things here , you're not important , get these kids out of here . Jesus is important , we have things to do . And Jesus then rebuked the disciples and said God Lee , you got it wrong all over again , essentially saying who do you think this is for ? Who do you think I came here for ? Who do you think the gospel is for ? And here we see two different groups of people . So I'd ask all of us who do you think the gospel is for ?

Speaker 1 16:03

If you came here and you're a guest , this is your new to Northgate . Did you know that a big chunk of Northgate , that this church , is for you ? We actually make decisions about the things we're doing and why we do them based on you , because we just want a whole pile of people who don't know Jesus personally to hang out with us . And maybe we could like rub off on you the good parts , right the way that we represent Jesus , the way and you watch us , the way that we live , and like we're honest and broken to , and a mess , and transparent in the way that we interact with each other , like we can actually love one another and care and kindness and care yeah , completely the way that we interact , the way that we worship and surrender ourselves and that our vision is to represent so that whatever broken version of faith you walked in with can be redeemed by Jesus , and maybe that would bring you closer to inviting Jesus into your heart .

Speaker 1 17:04

Do you know who the gospel is for ? It's for you If you're new . That's exactly what we're about here , because that's exactly what he was about . Everyone is important To those of you who have been with Jesus for a long time . Who is the gospel for ? Let me remind you and remind us .

Speaker 1 17:24

The gospel is for anyone . Now , that's really broad . Let's narrow it down a little bit . The gospel is for anyone in the Bay Area and which , where we live . Do you know that there's a 7.55 million people in just the Bay Area here and out of that , if you looked at that 7.55 million , how many of those call themselves Christians ? 12% . That means , if you do the math , out of the 7.55 million people that we do life with that , we do life around that , we interact with that , we go to schools with that , we go to work with that . 7.55 million people that are driving around today , that , if you take away that , 12% 6.7 million people that you're interacting with are literally facing a hopeless eternity and they're broken and they're hurting . That there's only 906,000 of us that have a relationship , or at least claim to have a relationship , with Jesus Christ .

Speaker 1 18:24

And this isn't a guilt trip . This is reality . Those are statistics that weigh heavy , heavy on the heart of the one we love most , jesus . Those are very important statistics to him . And here's a solemn warning that I think we can unpack from this little bit of Scripture that we're digging into , and this is with no condemnation , but it's this Be very careful not to hinder anyone from coming to know Jesus . Be very , very careful not to hinder and rebuke and say you can't come here . We have important things to do from coming to Jesus and we have to be very careful because in North America we can become just like the Israelites .

Speaker 1 19:09

So the Israelites made this mistake , one of the biggest mistakes that they made and this was God's people in the whole of the Old Testament . The biggest mistake they made is they thought that the gospel was just for them . It was only for them and they forgot that God actually wanted to bless them for a reason , give them laws for a reason and bless them . And this was the reason , so that all the people around them would say , wow , I have gotten to . What a great God the God of the Israelites is . I want to become an Israelite so I can hang out and maybe in relationship with the God , with the creator of the universe that cares for me . This was the purpose of God choosing Israel . This was the purpose of God choosing the church that we can live our lives in such a way that we do our sexuality , we manage and handle our money , we do our marriages , our relationships , the way that we drive or the way we don't drive around other people , the way that we care I actually care in what I do the way we want another , one another , the way we do everything , like literally everything actually attracts people to Jesus Christ . So be very careful who you hinder from coming to Jesus , like how you live , like how you live , because I'll tell you this , the people who don't know Jesus are watching those of us who say we do .

Speaker 1 20:47

Let me get back to the text . I think as disciples , if you look at this , I actually missed some of the earlier teachings , for in reality , I don't know the exact timeline . I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was within days that this interaction happened . We talked about this six months ago , back in September . This is the beginning of chapter 18 and verse 3 .

Speaker 1 21:08

The disciples are like duking it out with each other of who's the greatest and how are you the greatest in the kingdom ? And Jesus actually picks up a child out of the crowd and brings it in the midst of them and says listen up , boys , and listen . Good , I'm going to give you this really clear Unless you , followers of me , unless you repent and actually change the way that you approach life , the way that you think about life , the way that you think about each other , unless you change and become like little children , you aren't going to enter into the kingdom of heaven . Now , that's an incredible statement and incredibly difficult to digest . So let me just laser into that a little bit further without blinking , because it is so easy to move on to more important things . We're like there is way more important things to talk about . Why are we hanging out in this ? We could do it just like the disciples of Jesus does in this moment , and this is why I think Jesus repeats it here . I really think it's only been like it's been a very short period of time and they're getting into arguments and Ken talked about this last week and they want to like dissect some things and be like what exactly does this mean ? And he's like hold on time out . You guys are missing this . So don't stop the children from coming to me . For such these little children , this type of being , this type of personality , to such belongs the kingdom of heaven .

Speaker 1 22:32

So let me ask all of us this very important question how much time and effort did you spend this week into becoming more like children in your faith this week ? This is what you're supposed to be like . This is what you're supposed to be becoming Becoming more like children . How much time did you spend this week becoming more like children in your relationships with God and each other ? How much time did you spend exercising childlike faith in your prayers ? Do you know a child has no concept of on the answered prayers . Do you know why ? Because we told them Jesus loves to answer his prayers and they believed us . And then we grew up and we unbelieved because we had a couple of bumps in the road along the way .

Reclaiming Childlike Faith and Grudge-Free Forgiveness

Speaker 1 23:23

How much time are you putting into practicing childlike faith in your prayers ? How much effort this week did you spend into practicing grudge free forgiveness ? How much time this week did you spend working on unbridled delight in just the magic of life ? Did you spend time this week just being amazed , just pausing and realizing gosh , there's not a cloud in the sky yesterday ? Look how green the hills are , look at what the flowers are doing . Just the little miracles , unbridled delight . How much time this week did you spend dreaming or playing ? Make believe . Do you still dream ? Do you still dream about your marriage , your romance , your relationships , your work , your accomplishments ? Do you dream about the kingdom ? Or have you just settled in status quo which , by the way , is Latin for the mess you're in ? Do you still dream ? When did you stop dreaming ?

Speaker 1 24:38

And how easy is it just to pass over a teaching like this onto something that's more important ? I found it interesting that verse 15 , jesus laid his hands on the children and he blessed them . So I feel as if it's important for what we'll do , for the last little bit of this message is to look at how we should regress to the qualities that Jesus seeks in those he blesses children . I'm going to ask you will you give yourself a ranking on a scale of one to 10 ? Literally , give yourself , evaluate this week , these childlike qualities that Jesus finds so irresistible and loves to bless . What's the scale of this for you ? Between a one and 10 ? And a five does not count . Pick zero to five or five to 10 . Where am I really falling in these ? Give yourself an evaluation , because these are the qualities that he finds irresistible and loves to bless .

Speaker 1 25:42

The first of that quality is I reclaim and protect a childlike faith . What does that look like for you ? Well , some of you are like what does that actually even mean ? Like , how do we evaluate that ? It means this it means like , when you pray , you pray prayers that you actually , like you believe are going to be answered . Like childlike faith . Like it means I don't just pray prayers that are already pre-answered . We're so good at that when we become adults , like , we pray prayers all the time that are pre-answered . You know , like God , I'm just going to ask you to be with us . Where is he going ? He never said he left , he wasn't going anywhere .

Speaker 1 26:19

We , like , pray the prayers of pre- , like it's already been pre-there . It's like God be with us and he's like I'm right here , like let's get real , like let's get into the praying , let's get like bold and specific . You know , we get ourselves in a spot too because we're not specific . We're like God protect us , right . And he's sitting there going from what Like what do you actually want protection for ? What do you need ? This is the relationship . Tell me what you need . Don't just be like you come on , you know Right , we do that . Say it . Protect us from temptation . I mean , that's one of the daily prayers he has . Lead us not into temptation , maybe protect us from a bitter heart , from going into debt , from sickness , from illness , from complacency . Ask God specifically and some of us I think sometimes friends gets no answers to our prayer because we don't actually pray specific prayers and we're just like stuck . We're like he knew what it was and you're like you didn't even know what it was .

Speaker 1 27:15

And when you're praying , childlike faith actually means like envisioning that while you're praying that and actually envisioning that God Almighty is moving out to see that , to fulfill that . That's what childlike is like . I believe this is going to happen . I believe in him because he's invited me into this space to commune with him . That's what childlike faith looks like and we've got to develop it .

Speaker 1 27:40

Believing and protecting childlike faith also means that I explicitly trust in someone greater than myself . I understand that when I explicitly trust in someone greater than myself , which is like the antithesis to what we're taught . But Jesus even tells us what this means when he's like you got to be like a child and you're like what does that mean ? He then falls it up and he says it's to humble yourself or take this lowly position , which really just means dropping my own unhealthy pride . The pride of this is like I'm the one who can take care of best me . I'm the one who is the best at taking care of me and will continue to take care of me . And every once in a while when I need something or something seems a little extra on top , I'll hit you up , but it swings all the way back to you .

Speaker 1 28:27

How do I drop that unhealthy pride ? Am I willing to believe that God actually cares about the situation I'm in , the things I'm dealing with ? Am I willing to put my trust in his care , this childlike faith , trusting that in someone greater than myself ? You know that children . They don't have it all figured out . They live . They just keep living with faith .

Speaker 1 28:47

I mean , we understand that Proverbs 3 , 5 through 6 says trust in the Lord with all of your heart . It doesn't say just trust in the Lord when you feel like you can't trust yourself anymore . This is to lean not into your own understanding . In all your ways , submit to him and he will make your past straight , because live by faith , children , live by faith . What does that mean ? I'll tell you my personal definition of faith is living as if I believe what I believe is actually true . My personal definition of faith is living is if what I believe is actually true .

Speaker 1 29:31

So how are you doing on that ? How are you doing at reclaiming and protecting a childlike faith Scale one to ten ? You're going to make yourself one to ten , give yourself a number and then you're going to text it to this . No , I'm joking , you're not going to be that part , just for yourself . One to ten . Where are you at this week ? That's for those of us who have a relationship with God . Where are you at in childlike faith ? But for those of us who might be guests , those of you , that's kind of new . This is kind of new and you've been with us for a minute . You don't really have a relationship with God .

Speaker 1 30:03

So this is what I would call the offense , the offense of the gospel of Jesus Christ . We are arriving at that across roads right now , and the offense of the gospel of Jesus Christ is this you are completely powerless to save yourself . That's just what it is . We're going to have the real talk . That's why it's offensive . You have blown it . We have made mistakes . God calls them sins . You and I have made mistakes and we cannot make it right . That goes for all of us .

Speaker 1 30:31

And here is the dilemma Even if you could pay back all the people you hurt , you cannot pay back God . We've offended him , we've rejected him , we have hurt other people , we have done things , and even if you never do a bad thing again , there is not going to be anything you could do to make up for the things that you have already done . And it comes down to this . And this is just . I know it's straightforward , it's in your face , but this is the dilemma , the offense of it . You need a savior , you need this .

Speaker 1 31:02

And so the question for those of you who might not know Jesus and maybe you've hung around with us for a while now . Maybe today's the day . Would you be willing to ask God to forgive you rather than you trying to make it right ? Would you be willing to ask God to actually just forgive you and accept that , rather than you trying to prove it and to make it right ? Ask God to fill you with his unconditional love and value , rather than you trying to prove to God or to your teacher or to these parents or anyone else that you actually have worth . Would you be willing ? Because , see , unless you change , turn and repent and become like a child , you can't enter into the kingdom of heaven .

Speaker 1 31:52

And I get the fight there too . I've been there . There was a time in my life where I really believed . No one is going to tell me how to live and what to do , even God . I'm like oh , that's interesting , I'll take some advice . It's like I'll take advice from her with some wisdom and some counsel , but no one's really going to tell me I had to change . We've all had to change , turn , repent and become like a child and to say God , I need you . So how are you doing ? Scale of one to ten ?

Speaker 1 32:23

Secondly , I practice grudge-free forgiveness and sometimes this is beautiful . I even forget . Have you heard this saying before ? Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die . Don't make it your goal to forgive and forget . See , that's one of the beautiful things about children They've got grudge-free forgiveness . They might not forget , because it might not be possible , and we need to understand and be reminded that God , he's all-mowing . He doesn't actually forget the things that we've done in our past . He just doesn't remember it against us . And when he sees me , he looks through the lens of Jesus . He doesn't bring up the things and where I've screwed up and gone off course . And forgiveness means that I actually choose , when I look at you , to no longer judge you according to the way that you hurt me . It doesn't mean that I forget , it doesn't mean that it's gone away , but I just look at you as a person who God died for , loves and lives in . This is why he reminds us to do this every day in the daily prayers . This is how you pray every day , and you should , because you've got to remind yourself this .

Speaker 1 33:35

In Luke 11 , there's the line in there , or having the Father , how it would be your name , and then it goes down a little bit further . It says forgive us of our trespasses or forgive us of our sins , because we forgive not people , sins , those who trespass against us , not forgetting the things that have happened , but forgiving . I forgive people all of the time . There's freedom in that . I hope people forgive me and sometimes this is the beautiful part , and practicing that I actually forget some of those things , and that's the beauty . But my point is this though most of us know what forgiveness means , so scale one to 10 . How are you doing on that ? How are you doing on the forgiveness quotient ? Scale one to 10 . One meaning I'm not going to forgive Like they better pay first it's going to take so much or like they better be sorry first .

Speaker 1 34:35

I spoke about this actually two weeks ago , and I truly believe there is a ton of freedom and understanding what forgiveness does not mean , and I encourage you to check that out if you think that would be helpful . But here's the deal , friends Did you know that you can forgive people in your life today ? It doesn't have to wait for this special moment . There is no good reason why some of you are going to go to sleep with bitterness today , except pride , and that's not a great reason because children don't have pride . Number three I reserve moments of unbridled delight in the wonders of the world . How are you doing unbridled delight in the wonders of the world ? Psalm 65 says the whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders . Where morning dawns , where evening phase , you call for songs of joy , I would invite you to take moments and close your eyes , and maybe later , in a real reflection , and really close your eyes and just remember yourself as a child and then think specifically what was it that captivated you ? What was it that like , grabbed your mind and when did it stop captivating you and why ? And then ask this question is it still captivating To this day ? Is it still actually

Ocean Therapy, Play, and Dreams

Speaker 1 35:50

beautiful ? I am .

Speaker 1 35:51

I personally , I love going to the ocean . I call it ocean therapy . It's where I can see the power of God and His creation . It brings perspective to my life . I'm not sure if you can see it , but I'm not sure if you can see it . It brings perspective to my life and just some of the stuff that happens and God's power to create the world that he can actually handle , anything that we're going through . You see these waves and it's chaotic and they're slamming and you can literally feel it rumbling under your feet and it's chaotic , it's everywhere . And then you see this small little bits of sand that seem weak and nothing can fall through your hand . And yet God , the Father , created that as saying , like , look how powerful I am . I'll use sand to hold back these crashing , thunderous waves . I can hold anything back and I can use whatever I desire to do so . It is for me , it's ocean therapy , it's this perspective .

Speaker 1 36:51

How else can I discover unbridled delight ? What do children do for unbridled delight ? Playtime . They love to play . Some of you are thinking , well , nap , I like doing that . That's good Playtime .

Speaker 1 37:05

Some of us honestly friends don't play anymore . When was the last time you played or just like , laughed to laugh ? I love to laugh . Sometimes I'll actually just laugh to make other people laugh . And then you start laughing and you don't know why you're laughing and you can't stop laughing and then your belly hurts . And then you're like what's happening right here ? Or play tag or just like have fun , you name it . But some of us outgrew that , didn't we Like ? We're too mature for that . Reserve , friends , moments of unbridled delight and the wonders of life . Lastly , lastly , I reserve moments to dream .

Speaker 1 37:46

I imagine with God what could be , and what is far more abundantly than I could ask , think or imagine , and what that can actually look like . Do you still dream ? Would you be willing to dream again and stop thinking that this is just the way your marriage is going to be ? Get some counseling , go to a retreat , buy some roses , some flowers . Do something to revive your marriage or your family or your own health . Do something . Could you still dream of what could be ? Or have you just settled ? Children have this wonderful term . It's called make believe Like they believe , they envision and they imagine .

Speaker 1 38:29

And there's this theological principle in Ephesians , chapter three , verse 20 , says now to him who is able to do exceedingly , abundantly , beyond all we could think , ask or even imagine . Or , as the message translation puts it God can do anything far more than you could ever imagine or guess in your wildest dreams . He doesn't do it by pushing us around , but by working within us , his Spirit , deeply and gently within us , and one of the problems is we just don't imagine anything anymore . God actually wants us to dream . He wants us to envision with him what could be in all areas of our lives and dream and imagine about it . And what if the limit to your prayers is the limit in which you are willing to imagine ? God said to him who was able to do exceedingly , abundantly , beyond all we could ever think , ask or imagine .

Speaker 1 39:35

And some of us aren't even asking the basics and some of us , or a lot of us , aren't even imagining . Did you know that one of the beauties of being a part of a church family like that faith community like this , is we're imagining big things . We're imagining what could be . We're imagining what could be if we dreamt , if we were to be a people who stayed in God's presence , if we were present with the Father , if we actually changed and became like a child and we represented that . We're dreaming and we are imagining what it could look like Then if we represented the kingdom , represented Jesus to the 6.7 million people that we do life around and with , and that could experience hope and the healing that Jesus actually brings in blessings . Are you willing to imagine ? Because this is one of the qualities that Jesus finds irresistible in children and some of us have lost that because we've been hurt and that's why we have to reclaim and regress to the qualities that Jesus loves and for Jesus , I think the children was a bit of a break for him . You know they're having all this serious adult conversations like can I just go hang out with the kids ?

Embracing Unconditional Love and Value

Speaker 1 41:02

Kuna Matata , I hope that this morning was actually a bit of a break for you .

Speaker 1 41:11

I'm going to ask everyone now to bow your heads and again I want to proclaim this and pray this over you I say to you , in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ , that your life is not a mistake .

Speaker 1 41:26

You have always been wanted . You will never be alone . You have always been loved , and God created you out of the depth of his own existence and called you into being at the right time and in the right place . And he is prepared away for you to live , to heal , to mend , to thrive , and he has given up the life of his own son for you , simply because he loves you , because you are his privilege and his delight . You are not a burden , you are not intrusive , like you , are always important , you are always worth his time , you belong and you are one of his own dear children . You are his treasure , just because you are not merely for what you can do , and Jesus is inviting you to open up your heart to him so that he can fill you with his unconditional love and value . And he's pouring that love upon you right now through his Holy Spirit . Would you receive it , would you accept it ? And his powerful name would you embrace it ?