Harmony Christian Church

Tune in as we hear a fresh perspective from Griff Ray from Crossroads Church!

Tune in as we hear a fresh perspective from Ken Idleman from The Solomon Foundation!

Tune in as we hear a fresh perspective from Mike McCormick from Calvary Christian Church!

Tune in today as we hear a fresh perspective from Scott Taube of The Solomon Foundation!

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: The very first night we brought our oldest baby home from the hospital I was changing his diaper and I can remember exactly where I was because in the hospital when I changed his diaper I remember having this thought. “it doesn't smell! Maybe if you're the dad it doesn't smell to you…” Lol, I wasn't that sharp. What I didn't know is that it didn't smell because what I was changing was a substance called Meconium. I didn't know that Meconium is not the same thing as what would normally meet my faculties as I changed a diaper. It was that day, in the basement of my grandmas house in a blue bedroom - i'm telling you, this is seared into my memory that as I changed that diaper I was like, “Nope, Nope, I can smell it…” Ha It was unmistakable…. lol Some of you are like, “Kent, you're the worst talking about this in church,” ha! Here's what I learned that day… What goes in affects what comes out… Look, we're in this series “thinking Biblically” and I want to introduce you to a topic that I think matters so much if you are going to make in this world, this isn't even just a Christian thing, this is life thing… Paul says the “what goes in affects what comes out” thing by using a metaphor from agriculture: Galatians 6:7-8 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. b What Does Paul mean by “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked?” ILLUSTRATION: I was watching a reel the other day of this lady a “Karen”, does anyone else feel bad for actual Karen's? Lol, this lady was up in these teens faces yelling at them about getting her food wrong - one of the other employees came up and spilled something on the lady to defuse the situation. As the lady walked out they all started laughing and high fiving each other. When Paul says “don't be deceived, God can't be mocked” He's saying, God isn't some Karen for you to get a clip of and put your nose up at… In other words, God isn't a joke, and the things God calls people to is not a joke… A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. b Paul is saying that whatever you put into your life (sow) will affect what comes out of it (reap). b What does it mean to “sow to please the flesh”? b The flesh is the Bible way to talk about the part of you that is comfortable doing life without God. Paul describes it in Galatians 5: Galatians 5:19-21 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. If you're going to think Biblically - you're going to have to start to understand some basic things about this faith.. Not every desire you have is a good desire. ILLUSTRATION: You know this, right? A simple illustration is the last thing I need is another Oreo, but when I'm stressed, do you know what my flesh desires? An oreo… Peter says it this way… 1 Peter 2:11 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. b Your sinful, flesh based desires are literally waging war against your own soul. Why is that? Your flesh is you trying to attempt life apart from God. You are trying to find counterfeit versions of the real thing. When I go to the oreo instead of Jesus - I'm taking my need for God and His mercy to something that cannot really give me any relief. We all do this… -some of you run to booze -sex -rage against people -etc. The flesh is our attempt to do life without God and Paul is saying it will only reap destruction… So, what's the answer? Is it to just try harder? Be a better person? This is what almost everyone tries to do. I don't know how many people I've had tell me they are “trying to be a good Christian” or they will come to Jesus once they get their life in order… Christianity isn't about trying harder… b You can't "out-good" your bad… The answer is not to try harder, but to do what Paul says at the end of that verse when it comes to sowing and reaping… Galatians 6:8 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. The way you overcome the flesh is to change the focus of your life. Sow to please the Spirit… ILLUSTRATION: When I was a kid, I was a goof ball in school, you can probably guess that, right? I was in choir, I know, pretty impressive right? I was actually in the best choirs and never really had to try hard at it. As a matter of fact, I messed around a lot - you'll never believe this, but I loved the focus on me and my antics… One day, my choir teacher, Mr Anderson called me up after class and he said, “Kent, I'm kicking you out of choir…” I was shocked, I can remember my head kind of spinning, I asked him what I could do, he said, “Kent, you're a leader and all the guys follow you and when you mess around, they all mess around and I'm done with it…” I begged him to give me one more shot and the next day, I came in and Mr Anderson said, “let's sing” and all my buddies looked at me to see me mess around and I looked at them and I said, “let's sing” and they all sung… From that point on, my attention was on pointing everyone to what Mr. Anderson wanted rather than what Kent wanted… Trying harder is not the answer, choosing who you are trying please is the answer… b Are you going to please yourself or God? What I think you'll find is that as long as you're just trying to please yourself you are going to continue to hit walls and barriers in your life, you are going to feel alone and miss true joy, you are going to experience failure, rejection, shame, guilt and so much more because your aim is off. What's crazy is as you start to try to please God, ask anyone who knows Jesus well, you find you start to be pleased as well. Because it turns out what you needed all along was not little salvations from the sin and pain of life, but you needed God Himself walking with you… His freedom and joy cannot be robbed from you.. --------- Galatians 6:7-8 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[b] 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[c] 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. You were bought at a price… Most of us think of ourselves and our body as our own. It's a huge concept in American culture. But the reality is when you were bought by Christ, you were choosing to say “I trust you with even my body” You are trusting His way is the best way, that what He says is trustworthy even if you don't understand it. Our world is all about decadence and doing what we feel like and we have this sense that the things we do are separate from who we are, that is an ancient lie called Antinomianism: Believing that moral laws and physical actions don't affect the spiritual realm, leading some to indulge in behavior considered sinful by other religious standards, under the belief that it had no bearing on their spiritual state. STUDY: Paul's Argument Paul's point is that as a Christian you have been united with Christ and His spirit So when you unite yourself with a Prostitute, you and become one flesh with her - unite your body with her that you are now uniting Christ to something unholy. Your body is the temple of the holy spirit, you were bought at a price, honor God with your bodies... This is no longer just about you - when you became a Christian, you took Jesus on in your life and are a representative for Him, you are what He houses Himself in. Our world is getting more and more complicated when it comes to this because there is a disconnect from thinking about what we are doing and doing the thing - we are just sliding into things and not considering the implications or the potential risks of it to our soul - be the kind of person who thinks about the implications for your soul think death scrolling think using ai to create images and video God doesn't say "no" to things or create things to operate a certain way to strip us of joy, He creates it that way becasue it's the best way for it to work ILLUSTRATION: I'd like to some how capture the idea that people behave in a way as though consequences don't exist. We act as though the law of sowing and reaping is not a reality and then are confused when we reap what we sowed - even blaming it on God...

OPENING: Just read the scripture Acts 12:1-19 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. I can't even begin to imagine how traumatic this was for the believers. -Stephen had been murdered, Paul had started persecuting the church. Now you have James, the brother of John put to death with a sword. this is the John that you read his letters in the scripture… That guy's brother tragically murdered, and for what, their belief in the resurrection of the dead through Jesus. 3 When he [Herod] saw that this [killing James] met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is passover. It's the same time of year that Herod had allowed the Romans to put Jesus to death. He's now trying to garner popularity with the Jews by putting the leaders of Christianity to death. He's already murdered James - now Peter… Can I ask you a question? What do you do if this is you? What do you do when you see tragedy on a major level? What do you do when you've done everything right and you still have a child who rebels and walks away from the Lord? Or you lived a good God honoring life and just got diagnosed with early stages of dementia.. or there is some other major tragedy that seems impossible to overcome? What do you do? b Today, I want to show you what the early church did when they were facing terrifying circumstances. See, the story is going to get wild, Peter's going to be in prison guarded by four squads of four soldiers each - this is major - they are afraid someone might try something. Listen to vs 5 though 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Did you notice what the church did? The church gathered and prayed. They sought God on Peter's behalf and I want you to listen to the results… 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” Peter thinks he's hallucinating or having a vision and doesn't realize it's really happening. This wasn't what he was expecting. And who would? Who would expect that God was going to send angels to break the chains and walk him out of prison? But that's what God did. 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” I love this. Rhoda like opens the door sees Peter and slams it in his face and runs back to tell everyone else kind of thing. He's left standing there like… hmm de dum… She goes to tell everyone else and they can't believe it… I love it, they were praying but were not ready for what God was going to do. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I need to be honest with you guys. The past couple of weeks have been some of the hardest I've had in ministry. Lots going on and lots to be thinking about very quickly as a church. We've faced some pretty big hurdles and are continuing to figure out how to overcome them. But I want to tell you, what has been the most encouraging part has been to see how the Body of Christ still comes together to pray. Our church a week and a half ago found out that PCA was going to be closing their doors. That's a really big deal for everyone in this room whether you realize it or not. It's a big deal because our about 20% of our churches budget comes from the rental income from the space the school was renting. but what I've seen is people coming together to pray - you saw that video earlier. I've had so many people come together and tell me they are praying, their connect group is praying. I mean it's been a pretty amazing time in the midst of some hard stuff to see the people of God come together and seek God.. Here's what I want to tell you that has been on my mind through all of this. We don't have to wait for tragedy to seek God like this. b We can seek Him with all our heart, like our life depends on it, every day of the week… The church is at her best during tragedy because the Church knows who holds the world in His hands and we trust Him… This is not to say God is always going to fix everything. A few chapters earlier in the book of Acts Stephen is stoned to death and God doesn't stop it. But where God is, is He is with Stephen. See, what I am certain of is that God does not leave us alone, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. I want to close by reading one more passage to you to encourage you and then I want to ask us to do something a little crazy. I want to ask you to gather with a few people around you and pray out loud. I will give you a few things to pray for as Anthony plays guitar quietly and for you to pray over these things as the church coming together. Romans 8:35-39 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j] 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [prayer time - Anthony, play softly behind this as I give people things to pray for] Pray for the employees at PCA and the families Pray for the eldership at Harmony as we make decisions Pray for the lost in our community Pray for the churches of our community Pray for the hurting in our church ---------------------- Acts 12:1-19 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” 15 “You're out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place. 18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

ILLUSTRATION: You know what is one of the most terrifying questions as a dad? It's when I go to the pharmacy to pick up medication for one of my kids and they say, “What's their birthday” lol, I can tell you the day they were born on, but the year they were born? I still have to ask everytime. I get all nervous pulling up to the window. Can we all admit that there is something really special about moms? Whether you have a mom, are a mom, or just know a mom, there is something special about them. This morning, I just want to speak to the ladies in the crowd and encourage all of us when it comes to the responsibility God has put in our hands… SCIPTURE: In the Old Testament there is a story that I thought would be appropriate for today: There was a man named Elkanhah who had two wives - I know, I have no idea how he did it.. He had two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Every year Elkanhah and his family would go up to Shiloh to worship God, this is before Israel had a temple and they would worship God in a tent called the Tabernacle. When Elkanah would go up to worship God he would sacrifice an animal and give a portion to Peninnah for her and his children with her but he would give his other wife Hannah a double portion because he loved her and she was unable to have kids… Every year this would happen but a rivalry between the women happened. Can you imagine your husband having another wife - imagine the jealousy and the rivalry that would come up. You think comparison is bad with today's social media, imagine living next door to that person… Listen to what happened to Hannah 1 Samuel 1:6-8 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?” Can I just speak for a moment to those of you who on this mother's day are feeling excluded? I want you to know that God sees you and you are not alone. I know for some Mother's day is a reminder of loss. The loss of a mother, the loss of becoming a mother or never able to become a mother. Hannah knew what that was like, she was a woman who couldn't have children and had to share a husband with a woman who could and made her feel less than.. and her husband didn't get it… If that's you today, can I remind you of Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. God is close to those who are brokenhearted. Jesus said those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted. If mother's day is difficult for you, I'd encourage you to run to God and let Him draw you near. Listen to Hannah's desperate prayer to God… 1 Samuel 1:9-11 9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord's house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” this is the prayer of the desperate… We've all prayed this prayer… The priest Eli actually thinks she's drunk because he doesn't know what's going on and she just keeps mouthing the prayer. when Hannah goes home God answers her prayer and gives her a son that they name Samuel, and this is the part I want to hone in on and challenge us all with. listen: 1 Samuel 1:21-22 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,[e] an ephah[f]of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. Here's what strikes me about Hannah The thing she wanted most was the very thing she gave back to God. b As parents, it's tempting to believe our children are ours, but Hannah knew better. b Our children are gifts from God and it's our job to give them back to Him. b For most of us this means leading them to know Him, to disciple them, to talk to them about Jesus as a normal part of life. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: The reality is, Jenni is the one who knows things about our kids that no one else knows. She remembers all the sweet things they did when they were little and she has been watching over them all their life. But so have I. As your kids get older one of the hardest lessons to learn is they are not yours really. You are just a steward of them. The question I think God will ask us about one day is what we did with what He gave us. Did we teach them to love others like He does? did we teach them to love God? Or did we just make sure they were good at sports, or didn't annoy us too much? This sermon isn't meant to make you feel guilty, but to remind us of the how much God has entrusted to you - He believes you are capable of raising your children to know Him, it starts with giving them back to Him and realizing He knows everything about your child. Hannah dedicated her son to the Lord and He changed the world, He will be the one who anoints King David and out of King David will come Jesus - all because a mom faithfully committed her son to God's service… ------------------ 1 Samuel 1:1-28 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite[a] from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. 3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?” 9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord's house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” 12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.” 15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” 17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” 18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. 19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[b] saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” Hannah Dedicates Samuel 21 When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”[c] 23 “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his[d] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,[e] an ephah[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. Hannah prayed for children and God finally gave her Samuel. What's wild is she gives him back to God. The very thing she longed for, she gave to God. The reality is none of our children are ours, we all have the unreal expectation that we can control the outcomes of their lives, but that's not true. What we can control is giving them to God - committing them to Him through: Prayer Intention - raising your kids to know God as a friend Personal commitment

What if we lived like we actually believed Jesus is resurrection and life? How would it change us? Join us as we start our journey toward Easter! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: One of my favorite magic duos is Penn and Teller, I love them because they all the time tell you what they are doing as they do it to you. They perform a magic trick while telling you what it is. They both create mystery and take the mystery away at the same time. I love it! This morning we are starting a 5 week journey towards Easter morning. We are going to follow Jesus into life and my honest hope for you over the next few weeks is for nothing more than for you My hope for the next 5 weeks is for you to fall more in love with Jesus and to double down on your commitment to following Him through life… So, now I'm going to Penn and Teller this bad boy, I want to let you behind the scenes to see what we're doing with this sermon and then I want to perform my “magic trick” for you… Let's jump into it, but instead of jumping into the beginning of the story I want to take you where it ends, I want you to see what Jesus is doing before He does it so you can see where he's taking us.. SCRIPTURE: After the event we're about to unpack, people go out and start telling others about it… I mean the word is spreading everywhere. Word of what Jesus' big reveal was… I want you to see the result of what He did… listen… John 11:45-53 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” John tell us that Caiaphas is prophesying about the power of Jesus' death without knowing it, but listen to what happens… 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. I want you to hear this Whatever you hear in the next few minutes, remember that this is the event that triggers the religious leaders to decide that Jesus must die. Here's the question What in the world could have happened that would cause these leaders to come together to start plotting the death of Jesus? b What kind of heinous thing could He have done? REWIND: We have to rewind several days before. Jesus is not near Jerusalem, He's with his buddies and while He's hanging with them he gets a message from a couple of sisters that he had a very special place in his heart for them. Here's what their message said about their brother… John 11:3 “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Jesus tells his boys, “This sickness will not end in death… There's this crazy verse that tells us Jesus loved these two sisters and their brother.. and it says, “so, He stayed two more days…” Now, I don't mean to call what Jesus is doing here a trick - it's not a trick, that's just a metaphor to understand it, but there is a slight of hand Jesus is doing right now, He's like, “don't pay attention to what's happening to this guy” and He stays where He's at for a couple days… If you just look at it as a story and don't know where it ends, it's confusing, but Jesus is trying to get somewhere. We know whatever is about to happen is going to end with them plotting to take His life… Finally, Jesus leave to go to His friend's house. I want you to picture the scene. The tone of his disciples has been quiet this whole trip. Right before they left he had told them his friend Lazarus had died. they have walked in almost complete silence as the dust filled the air from their footsteps. Jesus seems determined but also a little more intense than usual. As they come around the mount of olives to Bethany they see a woman running to Jesus, tears have stained her face - streaks cut through the dust of the road on her face. Her voice cracks as she says to Him… I want you to listen to their exchange… John 11:21-27 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” If ever you underlined something in your bible, these verses should be underlined/highlighted - These are some of the most important words you will ever hear! Jesus says to Martha about her brother who has died… Think about the loved one you've lost - think about your own fear of death for yourself… Jesus doesn't say “he will rise again, he doesn't say, he will have life” Jesus says “I am resurrection.” “I am life” I don't know how to make you understand how outrageous this claim is… I don't know how to make you understand out how mind blowing it is… I think Martha would have kind of gag-breathed [shutter] Jesus is saying if you place your whole trust in Him that even if you are touched by death you will not die… b This is the confidence of every Christian who follows Him… I promise you, you will never hear words more powerful than that… I know, some of you know the rest of the story, but I have to tell it to you because He's going to prove it to us… CLOSING: Mary, Martha's sister will come out to Jesus and fall in front of him weeping. You can picture her beating Jesus' chest as he pulls her to her feet she with a tight voice tells him if he had been there her brother wouldn't have died… One of my favorite moments happens at this point. Jesus looks around and as God of the universe, He experiences the pain of death as a human experiences it. And Jesus wept. Not because death had won, but because grief is overwhelming, even if you know the truth… but this is the moment that Jesus has come for. He has them take him to Lazarus' tomb. They tell him there is not use because it's been 4 days. The jewish people had a tradition that the spirit hung around for 3 days and after that it left and there was no coming back from death. it is over by all accounts. Jesus tells them to move the stone from in front of the tomb. They don't want to do it. I can't imagine the anger at Jesus for Him asking this. The confusion. They tell Him that the body has started to stink by now - ever smelled a dead mouse, multiply that by 1000. They move the stone, probably a lots of protest of those around, this has got to be why Jesus needed 12 guys… :). The crowd quiets…. Jesus in a loud voice says this “Lazarus, come out!” and he comes out… Jesus is resurrection, He is life… Don't forget Penn and Teller though… All the while you thought Jesus was just telling us He is how death is overcome b He is actually secretly triggering His own death. He is both the conqueror of death and the one who will go through death… this is why we are here, it's the most important message in all the world… and we sit on it… What if this Easter, we started to pray and seek and say Jesus, I want to make you famous, I'm going to advance your Kingdom and invite people to hear the story of Jesus… I can promise you, I'm going to preach it with everything I've got. b What if you chose to invite people who need to hear the story of Jesus? People who needed to meet the one who is “resurrection” and who is “life”? ----------------

Are we climbing the wall or just walking around it? How we handle conflict matters. Let's talk about doing it biblically. Join us this Sunday! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill-in-the-blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. ------------ OPENING ILLUSTRATION: When I was an elementary kid, something I hated was in gym class they would set up this wall that we had to run, jump, and climb over…  If you couldn't get over the wall, you had to walk around and up onto the stage.  I was this chubby kid who would run at that wall and jump as high as I could, which was like 3 inches.  I'd hit the wall and kind of bounce off of it and have to just go around the wall… What I found out as an adult is that “going around the wall” is what most people do… b Rather than facing issues head-on, they gossip, manipulate, or stew. Let me give you an example ILLUSTRATION: Early on in ministry, I had a parent who was upset with me about something.  “The wall” would have been to come and talk to me. Instead, she got together a whole bunch of other parents, and she had them all write down questions about my ministry.  They passed the questions to her and she started asking me questions…  Have you ever felt like you want to throw up?  I was young and didn't know what to do.  She started asking questions under the guise of it being anonymous which were really her questions.  I was nervous and felt completely blindsided - thank God there was a guy there who finally stood up and said, “Who is asking these questions” No one answered and he said, “We're done!” and all the parents walked out.   She went around the wall instead of facing the wall - I'm not saying whatever her issue with me was wrong, I'm saying the way she handled it was wrong. WE: You've all seen this in your workplace, ever worked with someone who was underperforming and instead of going over the wall and dealing with the issue, the person was promoted? It's a weird way of getting a person out of a position rather than dealing with the issue… When you try to go around “the wall” the problem is, the wall doesn't go away, it just moves… b The question is, “How do you handle conflict biblically?” ILLUSTRATION: You ever have a conversation with your kid and you're like, “ok, it's time for you to mature a little bit…” I don't think of anyone in here as kids, but I will tell you, I'm preaching this because it's time as Christians we mature and handle conflict the way Jesus would want us to because Of all the dangers I've seen in “the church,” the division caused by conflict poorly handled is the most dangerous of all. So, today I want to do the rest of the sermon more like a Ted Talk. I want to address 2 things… Is it right for you to judge someone else's actions? How should I handle conflict biblically? b Is it right for you to judge someone else's actions? We've all heard it before, right?  “The Bible says you aren't supposed to judge people…”  That's not actually what it says, did you know that?  Listen... Matthew 7:1-3 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Jesus' warning is not to not judge - what His warning is that however you judge someone else is the standard by which you will be judged yourself… This is more about not condemning people than holding people accountable… There is a difference between judging a person and calling a person to accountability … 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 "12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”" Actually, as a Christian, you have a duty to look at the actions of your brothers and sisters and help make sure they are not dragging the name of Jesus through the mud… I felt like I needed to point this out because sometimes people feel wrong about holding other Christians accountable, but this is part of what we are to do - the key is to do it with Love and Grace. How should I handle conflict biblically? Matthew 18:15-20 15 “If your brother or sister[a] sins,[b] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'[c] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. ILLUSTRATION: as a Lead Pastor, I will have people come up and tell me something they are mad about with someone else at the church.  My first question is always some version of this… "Have you talked to them?” b Jesus very clearly lays out the process for dealing with conflict in the body of Christ Go point out their fault between the two of you If they don't listen, bring one or two other people with you to talk If they still don't listen, bring them before the church leadership If they still refuse, treat them like someone who doesn't know Jesus Do you know what typically happens in churches nowadays? Gossip to your small group, other volunteers, or others about it and get a bunch of other people mad who previously were happy Go straight to someone in authority and complain to them so they can deal with it Make a passive-aggressive social media post  Leave the church and complain about them at your next church b This lack of maturity in handling conflict and sin in the church is devastating the body of Christ in our world… b Jesus' call to handle this relationally and head-on is hard, but it's healthy… CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Some of the bravest people I know sit in this room around you and you don't even know it.  They are people who have had conversations with someone who loved them who called out their sin and they listened, and they stuck with Jesus and they fought for a relationship with Him and they didn't give up and they have matured beyond what you can even imagine. Look, I'm not advocating for you to go looking for people and go on a witch hunt, that would be the worst thing.  What I'm advocating for is when you do see something wrong, that you go over the wall or you shut up.  You do the hard thing and you walk with people through it.  You walk alongside of them because you know what it's like to have had a 2x4 in your own eye and now you can help them with the splinter they've got in their own eye.   One of the clearest examples I can think of was when a friend and mentor asked me a question when I was a new Christian and he said, “Kent, do you know what humility is?” I said, “No,” and he said, “Well, you don't have any…”  Oof, he could have just talked to others about how arrogant I was and complained to people, but instead, he had a hard conversation with me, and part of the reason I'm still in ministry is because He did.   I want you to be a disciple of Jesus - I want you to be growing in maturity in Him.  So, I'm calling on you - stop handling this stuff immaturely and go to the person and talk to them.  I'm not saying this because we have a problem with this in our church, I'm teaching it so we never do… At Harmony, we are the kind of people who climb the wall, not go around it! ------------------

Are we black cat fuses, ready to explode, or green fuses, slow to burn? What's shaping our hearts? Let's break rage together—tune in! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. --------------------- OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Something you wouldn't know about me is that I'm crazy when it comes to firecrackers - I'm the uncle who is over there lighting firecrackers and throwing them at your feet the whole time.  I'm the guy that people are like, “Maybe we shouldn't have invited Kent…”  I was thinking about how when I was a kid, I learned my love of firecrackers.  My brother and I would sit out in front of our house and light black cats and chuck them into the street.  My mom had told us 100 times not to do this - she said you're going to have one blowup in your hand.  I had also not learned yet to just throw it straight out from the lighter, so I was throwing them like a baseball.  One fourth of July I lit this black cat and pulled it up by my ear and it exploded in my hand and by my ear.   I couldn't hear for hours and my hand hurt pretty bad… I now prefer the firecrackers that have the little green fuses, because they are predictable.  The black cat fuses are unpredictable - sometimes you light em and they just go normal, but sometimes you light em and they burn up almost immediately… You are like, “Kent, why are you talking about fireworks in the middle of March?” Here's what I was thinking about… Most people are either black cat fuses or green fuses when it comes to their anger. b You are either unpredictable and explode out of nowhere or you are even-keeled and tend to have a slow burn towards anger. b Today, I want to help you become the kind of person who becomes a “slow burn” kind of person - I want to “Break Rage”.slow burn” kind of person - I want to “Break Rage”. Before we get to the scripture, I need to place a deposit in your mind - a concept that maybe you've never thought of before. Have you ever heard the idea of Spiritual Formation b The things inside are shaping your outside response Everyone has a spiritual formation - some people are intentional with it and some of us are just going with the wind - but everyone has been shaped by something. ILLUSTRATION: When I was a kid, I used to go down to this creek and take a bb gun and shoot out the lights at this bowling alley, it was so stinking fun… guess what, I know this will be a shocker, but my spiritual formation was weak back then and now, that is no longer a fun activity for me. Its would actually be disturbing to me. The change is that I've been shaped, or molded more into a Christ-like image. b Today as we talk about how to “Break Rage” I want you to know there is hope, but you have to be willing to be shaped and become a different person. ILLUSTRATION: Some of you don't even know that you are the kind of person who rages.  Here are a few ways to know.   -After you explode, do those close to you tiptoe around you? Do they try and minimize any stress? -Do people react in fear when you become passionate but are not angry? -Do you see your kids raging at each other, that was most likely learned (not always) -Have you put your hands on someone or broken things in your house or workplace? This isn't a full list - but if you've ever had to apologize for the anger you took out on someone, you probably have some degree of Rage… What do we do with it? How do you break rage? As always, we are going to the scripture - I hope you are noticing a pattern to sermons - God's word has the answers we need in it… This is from James, the brother of Jesus - talk about feeling bad about your anger, this guy grew up with people being like, “Why can't you be more like your brother” - because He's God, that's why! lol I want to read this passage and then unpack it, James is such a practical book: James 1:19-21 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Now, let's unpack it… James 1:19-21 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, Most of us are more concerned with being heard than listening - watch yourself, even when you are listening, are you preparing your response?  Your story to tell?  Your rebuttal to the counterpoint?   Quick to Listen: Being quick to listen means more than just hearing, it's taking time to actually think about the other person & their perspective b When rage engages, listening goes out the window. listening goes out the window. -you don't always know when you are entering a tense situation, but what if you let one of your spiritual practices be? Spiritual practice:  before entering rooms, think “I'm going to listen first” - without judgment, without mockery, without belittling, etc. judgment, without mockery, without belittling, etc.  Slow to Speak: I one time heard a guy talking about how he heard Dallas Willard talking to a student in one of his classes. The student was arguing with Dallas and at the end, Dallas finished and didn't rise up to win the argument. The other professor said, “what in the world, you could have stomped that kid, why didn't you?” Dallas said, “I'm practicing the spiritual discipline of not having the last word” What would it look like for you to add the spiritual practice of not having to have the last word? What would it do for you to be ok being misunderstood sometimes, to not have to exert your “rightness” all the time, to not have to always be on top? James says to us to be slow to speak. I'm terrible at this, the distance between my brain and my mouth is SO short. I've had to really learn to take this to Jesus and let Him recalibrate me. Slow to become Angry: This is where that short fuse comes in, how do we get a green fuse instead of a black cat fuse?  James knows this is the one that's gonna need more, so he takes us into how to do it…  Listen: 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. This kind of anger is ALL about you - it's all about trying to make yourself feel secure, putting yourself back into control, getting your way, etc. It's can't produce what God wants… James' cure - his spiritual practice to anger… Listen carefully: 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. James doesn't say to try harder - “Just try to not be so angry”  His answer is to check your inputs… Get rid of the junk in your life that isn't pointing you to Jesus… -What are you looking at during your day?  How much talk radio are you listening to or CNN or Fox News?  How much are you on social media?  What kinds of things are you binge-watching?   Spiritual practice you truly want to change your output? Change your inputs… b Get rid of the moral filth and dig into God's word - like hunger and thirst for it…filth and dig into God's word - like hunger and thirst for it… CLOSING: Jesus told this quick story about this - He said people are like a storehouse, we bring out whatever is stored up inside of us. If you want to break rage, you have to change what your input is. You spiritual formation may be so deeply ingrained you need to go see a Christian counselor to get the help you need. But are never going to experience the change by just saying “I want to quit” you have to replace what's in your heart. Some of you need to start today by coming up and repenting. I know it's scary - how has the “not scary” way been working for you? If you want to be uncommon - do uncommon things…

What if our anger isn't the problem, but how we use it is? Are we letting it lead us to sin, or using it to fight for others? Tune in this Sunday to find out! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. --------------------- OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I remember when I was in 6th grade our science teacher - Mr. Cronkite was trying to teach us to think outside of the box.  He said, like, if you are ever surrounded by a bunch of guys who want to get into a fight, you need to look for the person with the biggest weakness and go after it.  He then proceeded to tell us about a kid who got jumped after school and was surrounded by all these kids who were going to beat him up.  He saw that one of the kids had braces and he took Cronkite's advice and he punched that kid in the mouth as hard as he possibly could!  Blood exploded from the boy's mouth and all the other kids ran of terrified about what would happen to them… Needless to say, Mr. Cronkite was all the boys' favorite teacher after that… But he had a point, right, Usually, the one who wins a fight is the one who fights the dirtiest… Today we are starting this series, FIGHT learning to handle conflict (the healthy way) I'm going to give you the boring stuff - Cronkite knew how to make it exciting, but my goal isn't for you to learn to win fights, but how to go an entirely different route over the next few weeks… Especially coming out of this series on relationships… So, today we are going to look at when anger is a good thing, and when it's not so much Let me ask you a question, How many of you struggle with anger? b Better yet, how many of you would those close to you say you can be an angry person? ILLUSTRATION: I asked my kids this and they were like, “no dad, you're not.” But I know that's not always true… The reality is, just like you, I have times where I'm angry and where I explode… Today I want to look at when it's ok to be angry and when it's not. CAVEAT: Here's my worry with this sermon is that not everyone who is angry actually knows they are angry. Some of you have just accepted it as part of who you are. Here's how to know if you have a problem with anger. b Ask yourself this question, “If I had a boss who talked to me the way I talk to __(your spouse, kids, employees, etc)_. Would I put up with it?” If you're really brave, ask your loved ones if they think you are an angry person, but be prepared and give them 100% immunity from any repercussions - because if you are an angry person, I promise you, they are going to be scared to share that with you… The reason I'm preaching this sermon is because if you are someone who struggles with anger, you need to learn when it's appropriate and when it's not. In the coming weeks we are going to look at better ways to handle anger, but today, I want you to know not all anger is bad… I think there are at least two types of anger, Righteous Anger & Danger Anger b Danger anger is when you react with anger that's inappropriate to the situation -This is when your spouse burns the dinner and you rage at them. -This is when your kid leaves a trail of toys, going from one play session to another and you blow up at them -This is when you lock yourself of out of the house and get in the car beating on the steering wheel and cussing up a storm -You shut down and go into violent silent weaponizing withdrawal Danger anger comes when your well-being feels threatened BUT no real harm occurs. Look at this list of things that are often times underlying emotions that are presenting themselves as anger: guilt insecurity worn out confusion pain overwhelmed anxiety embarrassment rejection trauma threatened grief unfairness loneliness jealousy hunger helplessness stressed disappointment sadness Paul's challenge to us is: Ephesians 4:26-27 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Anger is a means to control what feels out of control, when you power up you put yourself in a position to feel protected… But so often it ends up being sinful. You say things that hurt, you do things that break down others. Paul's not saying to “don't be angry,” what he's saying is to not let your anger lead to sin - deal with it before it's too late. One of the things that challenges me is in the first chapter of Isaiah… God tells Isaiah He's done with all the religious things the people are bringing to Him, he sees them all as worthless, and here's why: Isaiah 1:15 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! He's done with them because of the violence they perpetrated. Later He will say: 17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.[a] Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. What do you do? You need to start asking yourself “What was that about?” You need to start identifying what is actually driving your anger and deal with that - communicate it to those around you who are experiencing your outbursts. “I'm sorry, I'm just feeling so anxious right now” or “I'm sorry, I'm just feel like I'm no good at this and it ticks me off and I get so angry”… What would it look like if you started to take your anger a different direction. God has given you a passionate personality, and there is definitely a place for anger to make a difference! b Righteous anger is when real harm is done to you or others - it's an appropriate response to what's happening What would it look like for you to take your anger and use it to help others? To turn your passion to protecting those who have no one to protect them? Jesus felt this kind of anger, listen to Mark Mark 3:4-6 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Jesus sees these religious guys who are willing to let this guy go unhealed in order to keep their laws and Jesus breaks the religious law to rescue this guy. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: As disciples of Jesus, we need some people who will care so much for others that they will let themselves get riled up for injustice - and it's fine to do that at a governmental level - I know so many of you get politically riled up, but what about the fatherless around us?  What about those who are dying apart from Jesus right now?  What about those who have no hope in this world?  Do you get angry for those who are being taken advantage of?  Do you get angry for the kids in foster care?  What about the single mom working 3 jobs?  What would it look like for you to turn your passionate personality into a response to help them? [Anthony - After the invitation song, I'd like to end with you saying, we want to introduce you to a way that you could put your righteous anger to use, watch this video and then when you exit today stop and talk to someone from Transform Scott County by https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O3rjPTS9YPjoTBJyI826dtZ5y3cfee64]

Are we creating an environment in our marriages where love and respect can thrive? Let's dig into this together in part 2 of this message on growing in your relationship with your spouse. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill-in-the-blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: If you weren't here for last week's sermon, you really will want to go and listen to it. If you remember we were talking about How do you go from frustrated to liberated in your relationship with your spouse? We looked at Paul's words in Ephesians 5:33 Ephesians 5:33 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. and then we started working backward and We looked at what it meant for a man to love his wife We talked about being unselfish, undivided, unstoppable b and I called you men to be fierce for your family. Ladies, are you ready for your part of the sermon? ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever been nervous to do something? Like when you were a kid getting up on the high dive at a pool. If you were like me, once you got up there you were like, “uh, well, l guess this is happening” and there's the kid behind you going, “Just jump…” Well, I feel like I climbed up a high dive and it's time to jump - ladies, I'm going to ask you to stick with me through this sermon, because I have a feeling at first you might want to just turn me off and be like, “Nope, this dudes a chauvinist” but I'm going to intentionally stretch it that way so where we actually land is the right place - you ok with that? Ok, I'm gonna jump and hope you'll stay with me… LADIES: When Paul says to respect your husband, this is the same word in Greek used to speak of “fearing” God. I want to ask the questions you might be asking: What does that mean? Is this just an example of men writing something to try and “put women in their place”? Before we answer that, let me give that argument a little more fuel Listen to this… Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Maybe you are like, “I knew it, the bible's just full of Chauvinist toxic masculinity” - submit to your husband? I'd rather stub my toe… Oh man, see what I'm saying… Ladies you don't have to say this makes you mad, but doesn't it? Doesn't it feel like some man is just trying to shut women up? I'd say that was right if we just took these verses out of context, but that's not at all what the context tells us… Listen to what Paul says in vs 21 vs. 21, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." b Paul isn't a chauvinist, he's a submission-ist (husbands and wives are to submit to one another) b Husbands and wives both have a role to play in submitting to one another (it's why we focused first on the men dying for their bride) b This is why last week I started with the men - I started by telling men they need to start giving to their wives the love they need - to be willing to die… Wives, what Paul calls you to is to respect your husband, and he is saying respect comes through submitting. b My guess is, ladies, that understanding what it means to submit is not near as hard as actually submitting… (ANTHONY - HAVE THESE POPULATE ONE AT A TIME) Wives here is a series of questions to ask yourself to find out if you struggle with an unsubmissive heart: Do you force your opinion on your husband? When deadlocked about a decision does your husband have the last say or do you? Does your husband's opinion about parenting decisions hold weight or are you dismissive of him? Do you manipulate your spouse to get what you want? Do you belittle your husband with your words and attack him with a barrage of emotions? Sometimes it can be very difficult to honestly evaluate whether you are engaging in one of these activities, so let me tell you The secret to knowing if you are struggling with an unsubmissive heart -If your husband is shutting down (he's relationally cold) in your relationship he is LIKELY giving you what he thinks you want, his submission ILLUSTRATION: I had a friend who I was talking with one day several years ago. He was expressing his frustration with not knowing what to do in his relationship. He said that he was just tired of being berated and belittled all the time by his wife. He said he had decided to put his head down and just do what he needed to do to make her happy because he couldn't win the arguments. He loved her, but emotionally he could not keep pace with her and it was easier to just say nothing, clean the house, put in time with his kids than it was to constantly be in a battle. “I just put my head down and do it” he kept saying... I know so many women who wish that their husbands were more responsive -that he would woo them again -that he would care about their day -that he would put down the remote But those same women are producing an environment where their husband feels like he will either be at war constantly or just puts his head down -and men follow the sin of Adam -We duck out of our responsibility The sin of Adam and that all of his sons have struggled with since is the sin of abdication of our God-given responsibility Ladies, you have the power to induce your husbands to become Godly leaders or to reduce them to submissive doormats b It starts with your attitudes, your hearts, and your willingness to do what Jesus called us to “The first must become last" b MEN: You either make it easy for your wife to submit or very difficult for her -A wife who knows her husband will be unselfish, undivided & unstoppable with his love will find it very easy to respect her husband and be submissive to him -after all, she will never have to question whether he is making the best decision for her because he chooses her over himself every time -she may not agree, and he may even be wrong ultimately, but his love will trump the doubt Wives - you are to submit to your husbands, but husbands you are to love your wives like Christ loved the church CLOSING: For Jenni and I, most of the time this isn't an issue, we work very hard to be on the same page. But there was a time when we were really on two different sides of an argument. Jenni had been working a job and felt very strongly that it would be wrong for her to quit. I felt like she was dying working the job and trying to be a wife, mother and pastor's wife. I said to her one night, “I am not going to play this card very often, but I am making the decision that you are going to quit that job”. She did not totally agree with me, but she graciously submitted to that decision. I'm telling you if she thought it was because I wanted her to stay home and wash my underwear, or for some other selfish reason, that would have been very difficult. She was able to submit, I think in part, because she knew my heart was for her… I was submitting my will to fulfill her desires and she was submitting to my decision… But it all came out of my willingness to die for my bride, which all comes from understanding what I've been given in Jesus…

Are we loving our wives like Christ loves the church—unselfish, undivided, unstoppable? What kind of man are we choosing to be? Tune in to be challenged and learn how to grow in your relationship with your spouse! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I asked Jenni to tell me what the most frustrating about being married to me and she said, “I just have to pick one thing??" Ha, that's the truth, right? There are so many things that can get under our skin in marriage -how you squeeze the toothpaste -leaving dirty underwear on the floor -constantly changing the channel -how you talk about one another -how you talk to one another -the way you spend money -etc. Marriage can be frustrating, but it can also be exhilarating and liberating b The question is how do we go from frustration to liberation? STUDY: This morning we are going to open up to Ephesians. Paul is in the middle of giving Godly advice for how to have all kinds of relationships, but in this particular passage he has zoned in on marriages and how a Godly marriage is supposed to work Ephesians 5:33 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. There was a Christian relationship book written using just this one verse, the book is called “Love and Respect" -the author takes Pauls basic statement and makes the argument that men and women both need something different -Men need respect most and women need love most (this is not to say that women don't need to be respected or men don't need loved) ILLUSTRATION: When my kids were young, they used to pick out a gift for their friends that they just KNEW they would love! They'd watch with anticipation as the kid opened the gift at their birthday party and then toss the gift in the pile of other gifts and say thanks. I can remember once watching my kid go over and timidly say, “um, can I play with it?” They were giving the gift they wanted, not necessarily the gift the other person would want b This happens in relationships all the time… We give what WE want rather than what THEY need b I think most men tend to want to fix things and give distance. Most women tend to want to give love, words, and closeness. and we try and give what we want… How many wives have been frustrated by a husband who wanted to fix their problem? How many men have been frustrated by a wife who just wanted them to talk more about what was going on… We end up giving one another what we want and both parties leave feeling unfulfilled, unloved, and uncared for... b Paul's answer: Men - love your wives Women - Respect your husbands Simple, done, sermon over! I wish it was that simple -but men, what does it mean to love your wife? -women, what does it mean to respect your husband? How does that play out in the middle of a big fight? -what does it look like to love your wife day in and day out? -what does it look like to respect your husband after a long day of work? This is where the rubber meets the road, this is where Paul's words are like fresh oxygen to a person who is running out of air MEN, what does it look like to love your wife? Ephesians 5:25-31 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. b Paul gives us a very clear picture of what it means to love our wives, we love them like Christ loved the church b Christ's love for the church was UNSELFISH, UNDIVIDED and UNSTOPPABLE UNSELFISH because He chooses the needs of His brides above His own needs - even to the point of death UNDIVIDED because He had eyes only for His bride - He was solely focused on winning her UNSTOPPABLE because He would let nothing keep Him from His bride - not the perception of others or the fear ofrejection Husbands, what kind of a man are you? -unmarried men, what kind of a man are you? Are you worth marrying? Men, does concern for your wives needs and her desires trump your own? -Christ was unselfish.. Your wife should be able to trust that every decision you make has her best interest at heart -Men, does your wife have to vie for your attention? Is the game more important? Do you talk about other women? Do you look at pornography? -Christ was undivided in his love and attention for His bride -you are killing her when you let other things take the place of her in your heart -every time you talk about another woman or look at another woman you are telling her that your love for her is not totally secure -Men, do you focus on being right instead of telling your wife that there is nothing she could do to lose your love? -Christ was completely unstoppable in His love. The rebellion of the bride, the hurtfulness, etc. could not keep Him from loving her ILLUSTRATION: Even when my daughters were young, I could see this desire to be loved and chosen like this. When they are hurt or sad or even mad they do one thing consistently, they run to their room and hide. They are in there waiting for me to come find them and hold them in my arms and tell them that I love them. Men, our ladies are much more sophisticated than that, and it may be an over simplification to say they just want you to hold them and tell you that you love them -but they do indeed need and want to know that you will have an unselfish, undivided, unstoppable love for them -you must find a way to show them, even when they push you away and run from you. Next week I'm going to talk about what it looks like for a wife to respect her husband, but this week. Men, I want you to start to consider the type of man you want to be… CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I recently took my son on a trip for his 16th birthday, I asked him if he knew what it meant to be a man. He had a pretty good answer. But as we talked about it, I told him my definition. It's being strong, but using your strength for others. There are plenty of strong men out there who are violently using their strength for their own ends. they ignore their wives, they abandon their children, they rage through their house, they drown their demons in a bottle or vaping it away. Men, God created you to be fierce. One time, years ago I was put in a position where someone I loved was being attacked and I literally grabbed the person who was attacking them, threw them on the floor and started slamming their head into the floor and yelling at them. I didn't know that was in me to fight for someone I loved like that. Some of you don't know it's in you because you've never been told as a man to be fierce, but to be fierce for God and for His Kingdom, for the ones He's put in your path to lead. When I was growing up church leaders would say the husband is the leader of the family. I never knew what that meant. Now I believe it means it's my job to get my family to heaven. To literally die for my bride if it's what it takes. What about you? What kind of a man are you going to be?

What if the key to a thriving marriage isn't fixing our spouse—but becoming whole ourselves? Tune in Sunday as we unpack what holiness really means and how it might affect you in powerful ways! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: There are things I wish people would have told me about relationships before getting married - it's the kind of stuff you never see in a RomCom… Like, no one ever told me that you are laying on your back playing with your baby - you know, doing the little airplane mode and that that baby had just eaten that you ARE going to get puked on.  And maybe a little bit of it is going to go into your mouth…  uck…  And not one tells you that when you call for your spouse that she's going to grab the phone to take a picture instead of helping you…  Lol… No one warns you when you get pregnant with a kid that you are going to not sleep for the REST of your life! There's no way of knowing when you are dating if the guy you are dating is the kind of monster who squeezes the toothpaste from the middle of the tube or not… Rom-coms don't tell us the whole story when it comes to relationships.  -What do you do when the man you married is shut off and emotionless -What do you do when she nags at you and never sees the good you've done -what do you do when you wish there was someone else or you'd made a different decision What do you do when your whole story finally comes into focus and all you see are holes? b First, let me say, there is hope for you… Don't give up, every good thing is hard… b But if we are going to go from holes to whole, we are going to have to learn some things no one told us about relationships. There is this thing I want to bring up in a moment, but I need to debug it a bit because most of us have grown up with a picture of the word Here's the word, are you ready for it? Holy What's the picture when you hear someone say holy? -for some of you it's a priest or someone who doesn't ever do anything fun -some of you it's a woman in a floral print button-down shirt, with a jean skirt on and a bible in her hand again, someone you perceive to not have any fun Telling someone to “be Holy” is the linguistic equivalent of telling someone to eat their vegetables in our culture. I need you to get a picture of that word in your mind so we can destroy it and rebuild it… 1 Peter 1:15-16 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[a] Holiness is looking more like God than the world around you… I think the best way to put holiness is Holiness is wholeness… Holiness is when we walk and look so much like God that people see a reflection of Him in everything we do. ILLUSTRATION: What inevitably happens when someone hears a sermon is we think of someone who needs to hear it.  It's kind of natural - we see others' weaknesses so much easier than our own - because if we had to live in full view of our own incapabilities we'd be crushed most of the time… Today, I'm going to ask you to do something to get beyond the Rom-Com way of thinking our world has handed down to us. b I'm going to ask you to stop thinking about your spouse and the holes they have and start thinking about what YOU need to be whole. b What would it look like for you to become holy? Because here's what Holy offers… -Holy gives you a sense of your value that isn't dependent on someone else telling you are worth something -Holy offers forgiveness that doesn't justify your faults but redeems them -Holy dives into a deep lasting love that restores and conditions your heart to be gracious -Holy gives peace when chaos reigns I want to just for a few minutes take you into a passage and help you see something there that I hope will start to unlock how you can be holy like God is holy… Paul, in the book of Galatians, is describing what it looks like when we live apart from the holiness of God and what it looks like when we live in the Holiness of God - what comes out of us… Listen Galatians 5:19-26 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ILLUSTRATION: I've been a Christian long enough to know when I'm walking in the “flesh” if you don't understand what he means by that, he means you're going back to the way of life that lived like there was no God.  For me, I can literally feel it in the way I think about people and talk to them - if I'm being super honest with you - I'm going to use a word that is not very church appropriate - I'm a butthole...  I am all these things that Paul is talking about.  My mind goes towards whatever will make me feel good without care for others unless they help me..  Honestly, it's pretty dark for me… but listen to what Paul says the person who is living in God's Holiness has: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. b How many of you would love a spouse that leads with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? b Let me ask a different question… How many of you want to BE that spouse? I mean really deep down in your bones, you'd do whatever you could to be that person? A person who is living centered on love, joy, peace, etc. is a whole person - wholly holy. b So, how do you get those things?  Do I just need to try harder?  Be a better person?  Is that the answer? CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I think I've shared this story before but when I first came to know Jesus, I was trying really hard to stop cussing.  I had a mouth worse than a sailor's.  I was praying because I just kept failing trying to be good and thankfully Jesus spoke to me and I was tuned in to listen because He said to me “Stop focusing on your sin and focus on me, I'm the one who takes away sin”.  I stopped caring about if I cussed or not, I just wanted to know Jesus more than I knew anything.   I want to have them put up the end of that scripture again: 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. How do you get the fruit of the Spirit? You die to your old life that led to trash and you learn to step with the Spirit of God… What would it look like for you to walk into your home after church today, and when things get tense because you remember the mess or the bills or he acts like he didn't hear a word that was said in the sermon instead of responding, what if you just paused and said: “God, where are you right now, cause I want to step with you.” I'll tell you where He is, He's going to be in love, He's going to be in joy, kindness, etc. Step with the Spirit - Walk with Him, where He walks and you will end up walking right into Holiness… ------------------

What do you do when you're not sure the person you are married to is actually your soulmate? Or even better, how do you choose? The answer might surprise you? Tune in to find out! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. ------------ OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I remember asking one of my parents how I knew I'd be in love and they said, "You'll just know". That felt problematic because it took me 25 years to figure out that every time I drank milk I got sick cause I was lactose intolerant. If I couldn't diagnose that, how would I ever have any luck with falling in love? I mean seriously! Today we are going to delve into some waters and talk about “love” as we do, I want you to be aware, that I'm going to poke at some ideas like “you'll just know” that might make you want to say, “Kent you're a dummy,” but stick with me…  Because… When it comes to “Love,” our world is saturated with ideas that make for great Rom-Coms, but make for terrible relationship guidance. Let me explain what I mean… Tell me if any of these ideas about love/relationships sound familiar to you: -You'll "just know" -Finding the "one" -Finding your "soulmate" -Finding the "perfect" person for you -That we can find our "happily ever after" -We were "meant to be" -it was "Love at first sight" Can I ask you a question? Why do Americans tend to believe these ideas to be true? I can't tell you how many times I've heard these pop up in marriage counseling either in a positive - He was my soul mate, or I just knew or in a negative way, I'm not sure we are really meant for each other You may have your own answers to why we believe these things, maybe you were like me, your parents told you that - but where did they get those ideas? But I will tell you one sure fireplace that has been peddling these ideas for decades has been Hollywood and now social media. A lot of these ideas come from ancient religions, myths, folklore, fairy tales, and more - Hollywood capitalizes on them to make great stories and we ingest them as if they were our own ideologies… Are these ideas really what love is? What does the scripture say about love? b Does it say there is a perfect person for you that “you'll just know”? b Maybe you're thinking “Kent, I don't know why it matters if I believe these ideas or not?” b It matters because your deeply held beliefs will dictate your behavior… ILLUSTRATION: What I mean is if you deep down have bit on these ideas there is a good chance that at some point when your marriage has gotten difficult, when the lust has worn off - because most of the time what we call love was actually lust - that you end up in my office going, “he looked good in the lighting of the club, but now that I've seen him in the daylight for years, I don't want this joker anymore.   I cannot tell you how many people I've sat with who will say, “I just don't love them anymore” and are ready to get a divorce or have already participated in an affair looking for the excitement Hollywood has painted for them. Have you ever noticed that Hollywood very rarely makes a movie or show about relationships after the rom-com?  They always end with the marriage or the relationship starting because all the things they've fed us about love don't work to make a marriage work and they don't know how to do it either.   Hebrews 13:4 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. b I want us to learn how to honor marriage today as we talk about what love should really look like… The apostle Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth to describe what it should look like for Christians to love - what our marching orders are when it comes to love. Now, he's not describing romantic love, but there is no difference - this is what it looks like to love another human being… As I read this passage, I want you to think about how well this reflects the ideology of the world's version of love… As we read this description of love I want you to think about what sticks out to you compared to the way our world views love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ILLUSTRATION: Jenni will be the first to tell you she's not perfect, but I believe Jenni tries to live this list out. I can't think of a time Jenni has dishonored me, I can't think of a time she threw something in my face I've done before. Do you see? Biblically, Love is not a feeling, it's an action. b Love is a choice… 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. Paul is making the argument that even the most spiritual of things you could think of will end, but love never does. Love goes further, gives more, and endures longer. Love NEVER fails. The caveat: Now listen this is not for those who are in an abusive relationship or for someone who has been abandoned by a spouse or whose spouse has had an affair. This is for the couple who get in arguments This is for the couple who struggles to remember why they got married in the first place This is for the people who have been thinking there has to be someone better out there for you b “Kent, how do I love someone who has hurt me? How do I love someone who seems to no longer care about me?” I never said Love, true biblical love was easy. The only thing I know to tell you is that the author of love, the one who loves Himself gets it.  He still chose to love us even when we were at our worst… Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. CLOSING: God demonstrates His love… It was while we all turned our backs on Him that He chose us. Recently I was thinking of Barabbas, if you don't know the story.  It is the day of the crucifixion of Christ.  He has been beaten to within an inch of His life, He has been brutalized all day.  Pilate, the Roman governor brought Jesus out and put him up against Barabbas, this guy was a criminal, who was slated for execution.  Pilate is certain the people will want to release Jesus over Barabbas, but when he asks the people, the chief priests stir up the crowd to cry for Jesus' crucifixion.  This is the moment where you expect all the bad to come to an end, people should have chosen Jesus to be freed, but instead, they crucified Him.  A criminal is set free and God is crucified…  And Barabbas becomes the first person in history to have the sacrifice of Jesus take His place. This is what love looks like.  Jesus could have gotten out of there, He could have just walked off.  But instead, He chose the worst so He could bring the best to us.  Listen, when Paul is telling you what love is?  He's just telling you what God is like, “love is patient, it's kind, it doesn't envy (because it already has everything it could want), it doesn't boast, or is proud… etc.”  Listen, you can't have this kind of love in a real way without submitting your life completely to the one who is love - He's where we find it.  He's where we start over and find new life.  what would it look like for you to give your life to love - not the Hollywood - done at the end of the romcom kind of love, but the deeper, richer, goes further kind of love?  Some of you need to accept Jesus today!

Ever feel like your prayers are hitting a wall or like they go unanswered? What's really going on? Let's dive into why some prayers seem unanswered. How can we tune into God's will? EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I was telling my son the other day that when I was in high school I had gone on this trip and was staying in a hotel room with one of my best friends - we were seniors, and this freshman kid we didn't know very well.  I came back from breakfast and went into the bathroom to use the bathroom and saw that the toilet was really clogged.  I asked the two guys who did it and both of them denied it.  My friend, who I trusted was like, “There was no way I did that… it's disgusting”  The freshman was like, “Well, it wasn't me…” so, I did what any senior in a position like that would do, I believed my buddy and told the freshman he had to go down to the front desk and tell them what he'd done and get someone to come un clog the toilet…  this poor kid was like, “really,” I was like, “if you do the crime, you have to do the time!”  lol.  He left and went downstairs.  I turned to my buddy and I was like, “Man, I can't believe that kid wouldn't just admit he did it…”  That's when I realized I'd made a critical error, my buddy with an evil grin looked at me and said, “That's because he didn't!”   I was so mad at him, he had totally let me blame this kid - and shame this kid for something he didn't do… You ever experienced that - taken the fall for something you didn't do? WE: Maybe at work, your boss made it out like her idea that failed was actually your idea and you just had to go along with it? Anyone who has an older sibling has been blamed for something that kid did -when I was like 8 I scratched a big “K” into the inside of my closet door - my younger sister later moved into that room - Katie, and guess who got blamed for it… lol -Or maybe your kids blame you for everything that went wrong in their life as though they had no part in the direction their life took We all know what it's like to be blamed for something we didn't do… but get this, so does God… See, one of the most common reasons I hear for people walking away from God has to do with them believing God did something He didn't do… I don't know how many people I've met who walked away from God because of unanswered prayers… b Sickness that wasn't healed, loss that wasn't avoided, pain & suffering that was not removed… b The underlying theology is: “A Good God would have done something about __________ for me…  He'd have answered my prayers” I know that's not the only reason, but let's assume it's a major one Why is it that some prayers seem to go unanswered? b Is it that just God isn't good? or is something else going on? 3 of the top reasons prayers go unanswered The reasons I'm about to share with you are not mutually exclusive The first reason prayers go unanswered: You're experiencing spiritual warfare and you don't know it… My experience is the average person has not spent a lot of time thinking about how the spiritual realm works in Modern America… ILLUSTRATION: It's kind of like when you were a kid and your parents would say “Just wait till your an adult, it's so much harder than you know - you have it easy right now.” That kid can't understand because they've never lived in the adult world. Most Christians don't take much time to live in the spiritual and think about it…. Let me show you something that took place in the book of Daniel, it gives us a sneak peak behind the curtain of the spiritual… Daniel was in a rough spot and had been praying to God and gotten no response… Listen to the response he ends up getting - this is an angel speaking to Daniel: Dan 10:12-14 12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” The answer to Daniel's prayer was delayed 21 Days because the Angel in charge of delivering the message was in a battle with an evil spirit.   b Sometimes what you are experiencing as God being silent or not answering is a direct result of God letting the battle for good and evil play out in the spiritual realm… b Sometimes the answer might be to pray for God to send more angelic forces to war for you. -Jesus says the angels of children see the face of God - we used to pray for God to send his biggest baddest angels to protect our children… Look, I know this is a more robust picture of the spiritual realm than most of you have probably been willing to step into, but it is very clearly what Paul is asking people to step into when he says: Ephesians 6:11-13a 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God Not every unanswered prayer, or silent period you experience is because God isn't working, rather it's because you are in a war with a desperate foe… The second reason prayers go unanswered: Your request isn't in the will of God James 4:2-4 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people,[a] don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Sometimes you don't have to because you're more worried about yourself than the Kingdom of God (you say to God “my will be done”)… John actually says when we ask according to God's will, your prayers are a “yes” or at least they are heard… 1 John 5:14-15 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. This means you have to know and understand the will of God… “Well, how do I do that Kent?” Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ILLUSTRATION: The most powerful example of this is when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane - He is about to be arrested and go to the cross to be crucified - do you know what he prays? “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will be done, but yours”… Can I tell you a secret - the cup is not taken from Jesus - that blows me away that Jesus' prayer is technically answered - but it's answered with a “I'm sorry son…” as a matter of fact on the cross Jesus will quote psalm 22, “my God my God, why have you forsaken me…” The third reason prayers go unanswered: You're not in the will of God Oof, that's a tough one… Some of you have treated God as though He is your magic spell book, there to use when you need Him and then put Him away on a shelf until you need Him again… I'm just here to tell you, that's not who God is… He is the one who speaks things into being that did not exist, he's the one who calls things that are not as though they are.   Jesus is not your get-out-of-jail-free card to be played whenever you desire… He is fierce and a warrior, He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth and He has already done the only one thing that can truly restore mankind - he died to rescue you and me from death, from hell, from sin, and to give us new life - to walk with Him.  He did all this to restore the broken relationship between God and man. Jesus didn't come to heal every sickness, or prevent every loss - He knew if He did that He'd have to end it all…  If He's going to stop wickedness, He needs to get rid of those who do wickedness - or He needs to infect them with a virus that will sweep through the system and write a whole new operating system into their hard drives…  And that's why He does - He comes to give new life - that's His will - not to destroy but to restore.   And so some of you are outside God's will and you're prayers are going unanswered because what He is really wanting to do is to restore you… He wants you - died for you…

What do we run to when our tanks are empty? Are we staying connected to Jesus, our true source of life? Let's ask ourselves: how do I get full when I'm running on empty? EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Oh man, there nothing quite as exciting to me as taking your gas gauge on a car down below the red line. Anyone else with me? I get all excited and nervous when it happens. Jenni hates it. She won't take her car past 1/4 tank left. For me it's a game to take it down as low as I can without running out of gas… Who are you more like? Me or Jenni? How many of you are daredevils and like running it low? How many of you can't stand to run it low at all? I don't know about you, but coming out of Christmas and the New Year, I feel like my personal tank is running low… Think about all the things that take your time, all the things that you pour out into… -Kid's classroom parties -Getting kids to games and practices -Year-end projects -Inbox's that are FULL to capacity I saw someone's phone the other day and they had like 1,000 unread messages - that would drive me crazy It feels like in today's world our days are chocked so full that our emotional and spiritual tanks are on empty. ILLUSTRATION: Jenni and I have had conversations around this. The words we would use are it feels like we are running ragged. We are just going and going and going, constantly pouring out and never being filled. I was praying on this a few weeks ago, I was literally just done.  So tired.  See if this sounds familiar.  I had found myself binging tv, I was getting irritated easily, I was overeating to find joy, I was not sleeping, literally getting like 4 hrs a night.  I was done.   I was praying and twice I had God speak to me about my emptiness. Once I felt like He showed me a bright light and I immediately looked away.  He was like, “This is what you are like with me” The second one I had decided because of the first that I was going to stop putting an earbud in my ear at night to listen to a show to go to sleep and instead I would pray until I fell asleep.  I was praying and getting pretty sleepy and I felt like Jesus was like: “Kent, you've run out of wine…” All of a sudden I was awake… Some of you are like, “Kent, what does your grocery list have to do with a sermon?” It's funny because Jenni and I don't even drink. but here is immediately what came into my mind. John 2:1-3 On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” If you know the story, Jesus' mom ask Him to fix the wine situation. Most scholars think they have run out of wine because they are likely a poorer family who can't afford wine. In an honor culture like the Jewish people were, this level of embarrassment at running out of wine would be too much, it would be a serious shame. You know the story don't you? Jesus has them take 6 huge jars and fill them to the brim with water. He then sends the servant to the master of ceremonies with a cup full of water taken from the jars. When the master drinks it, he says it's the best wine he's ever tasted. As I laid there that night I realized what Jesus was saying… b I am poor and running on empty and all I have to do is ask Him… It's the same thing Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 after asking her for a drink… John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Look, Hearing the voice of God is not about you mapping out your life's plan (although He might speak into that) b Hearing the voice of God is about you staying connected to the true source of life. b It's about ACTUALLY asking Jesus to give you the living water, to fill your jars, and give you wine. b Let me ask you a question, what do you run to in order to fill your tank/jars? -Maybe you were like, “Jesus would never tell me I've run out of wine” because I never run out - because liquor is what you run to -maybe it's feeling good about yourself, pleasing people and being needed -maybe when you can just get some alone time -maybe it's fidgeting and never being settled -or watching another game Most of those things aren't bad, but they are not living water, they can't fill you completely… Your deepest need as a human is connectedness to Jesus can I say that again? John 15:5-8 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Can I ask you some tough questions? Maybe you've been thinking about if you actually hear the voice of God and what that looks like for you. the question should actually be, am I staying connected to the vine? What does it look like for you to stay connected to Jesus? What priority does Jesus have in your life - if I looked at your daily agenda, where does He fall? CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Over the years I've planted several peach trees - at this point, I'm probably going to give up because I'm a HORRIBLE gardener.  But, I can tell you something, with each one, I've WANTED the tree to produce fruit.  It was my goal and aim, I bought books and studied.  I tried pretty hard.  I'm just terrible at gardening.   Did you hear what Jesus said,  “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” b Jesus wants you to bear fruit, He wants you to be His disciple. He's working on it actively… The real question is do you REALLY want that? Ya'll know sports - how many of you would be ok with someone who never listened to the coach, never came to practice, never put any time into the team? How long does that person last? See, hearing God's voice is the result of you being in connection with Him…  It's about you being on the team,  you showing up, you seeking Him, and saying connected to Him - remaining in Him… If you remain in Him, He will fill you up with living water, He will give you more wine, He will give you life… This morning, I want to give you some time to pray and I want to give you the prayer I said that day - we're just going to leave it up on the screen and play some soft music for a few minutes. [Anthony, play music softly with the screen up on the last slide for a few minutes] “God, I'm at the end of my rope, I'm so tired and worn out. Jesus, I just need you….” (repeat that last part until you believe it) b If Jesus speaks to you write it down, close your eyes, listen to Him…

Have we tuned our ears to hear God's voice, or are we letting the noise drown Him out? What if He's already speaking to us? Join us as we learn to listen to the good Shepherd. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: So, I have a major problem. I've always played this joke on my kids that they will say something like, “Dad, we need to go soon” and I will pretend to mishear them and I'll say, “did you say we need a goat platoon?” They are always like, “Dad, that's not funny…” the problem is, now I'm starting to really not be able to hear them… Lol, I'm getting old! This isn't just an old person problem. The other day we were in our car on the way to school and one of my kids popped up from reading their book and said, “You need to do something about that hair.” I laughed and said, were you listening? I asked the question because we had just spent about 5 minutes talking about the hair and how I can look like a rooster at times! Lol, they hadn't heard a thing because they weren't listening… We all have times we don't listen so well, right? B But what happens when you don't listen to God? In this series, we are going to talk about “hearing from God” But I don't mean this in a generalized sense. I mean actually hearing the voice of God… ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever heard some one talk about “Hearing God” speak and thought, “that's a bunch of hocus pocus”? I think that a lot. I think LOTS of people misuse and abuse the notion of hearing from God. They use it to justify all kinds of junk… So, before we go too far into this short series, I want to do a few things today: First, I want to normalize hearing the voice of God. Hearing from God should be a normal part of the Christian experience and show you how even if you don't think this is your experience, it might be. b Second, I want to give us some VITAL guardrails. I want to protect us from weaponizing a part of what should be a normal piece of the Christian experience. 1. Is hearing from God normal or signs of a mental condition? :) Lol, come on, you know that's what some of you are thinking “hearing voices in your head Kent?” That's crazy… But you do know this appears to be the normal experience of people in the scripture, don't you? [Put up as one slide so I can move through fairly fast] Abraham (Call of Abram: Genesis 12:1-3, Covenant with God: Genesis 15:1-6, Pleading for Sodom: Genesis 18:22-33) Moses (Burning Bush: Exodus 3:1-6, Mount Sinai: Exodus 19-20, Tent of Meeting: Exodus 33:11) Jesus (Baptism: Matthew 3:17, Transfiguration: Luke 9:28-36, Prayer in Gethsemane: Matthew 26:36-44) Paul (Road to Damascus: Acts 9:3-6, Thorn in the Flesh: 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, Prayer in Prison: Acts 16:25) Not to mention  Old Testament: Adam & Eve, Noah, Hagar, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, Job, Gideon, Manor & his wife (parents of Samson), Solomon, all the prophets, Balaam (a false prophet) New Testament: Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, The apostles, Stephen, Ananias, Cornelius, John the Baptist God seems to love to engage with His people… Listen to how Jesus says this: John 10:1-5, 14-16 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.” 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ILLUSTRATION: There is a funny video on Youtube (youtube.com/watch?v=e45dVgWgV64) of this person trying to call this shepherds sheep over to them. They call with the same words he uses to call them. The sheep just ignore the person, but when the shepherd steps up and calls the sheep, all of the sudden their heads look up, they see him, and when they do, they come running to him. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd” and that his sheep follow Him because they KNOW His voice! b But Kent, I've never heard a voice, I don't have visions or talk to really hot shrubbery, does that mean I'm not one of His sheep? Can I take the pressure off of you? There is a group out there of Christians that make everyone else feel like they don't hear from God - they say things like “The Lord told me I was supposed to buy this thing or do that thing” and they make it sound like God us up there as their personal administrative assistant telling them when to do everything… [reveal the below one line at a time] But I'll bet, if you say you've never heard God's voice that you have: Have you ever read something in the scripture and been moved by a thought that came over you? Have you ever been in a worship service and felt moved? Have you ever heard a sermon and felt like you were supposed to do something? b That's the voice of God ILLUSTRATION: for me, I always know it's the voice of God when it's something that Kent, in his Kentness wouldn't naturally do or think. I've felt like I was supposed to call someone and encourage them, that's not me. I one time was telling God I love Him and I felt like I heard Him say back, “I love you too” I just started weeping. I've felt like I was supposed to buy someone gas - that's not me, I'm more inclined to drive right by that person. I have a buddy who said he was thanking God for all the blessings he has and he heard God say, “what are you going to do with it?” For me, God's voice is not loud, it's not shouting at me, it's just quietly leading me like a shepherd. “hey, don't go over there…” or “hey, there's some really good grass over here…” Can I give you some Guardrails as we talk about this subject? Because I've seen, particularly spiritual leaders, abuse people with this… Guardrails to consider when learning to listen to God… If God has already spoken in the scripture about your situation - you don't need anything more (If you are waiting to hear God on whether to stay with your spouse or leave them for your mistress - God has already spoken on that…) Be humble and test the spirits (Not every idea/thing that comes into your mind is from God or even you.  Test what you are hearing against seasoned followers of Jesus and against the word of God) God does not tend to operate in either-or situations (Giving God the options of “God it's either this or it's that” - if you're truly inviting God to speak in your life, let Him speak what He wants to say, not your pre-populated answers) NEVER use what you believe God spoke to you as a means to beat others into submission - if God spoke it to you, He is more than capable of speaking it to them as well… ILLUSTRATION: Early on in ministry, I told a church that I felt God had told me we were supposed to move our congregation to a different building. I don't want to go into the specifics, but I felt like God convicted me, because in reality, I felt like we should make the move, but God had not directed me to do it. I confused my ego with God's direction and in the process, manipulated the sheep as though my words were from the shepherd. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Jesus is the good shepherd, and he laid down His life for you. My prayer as I was writing this sermon was not that people would learn a lot about listening to God, but that they would actually tune their ears to the God who is speaking to them. I have learned that as I age and my hearing actually gets worse, I have to lean in a little and actually listen to what people say. I have to really focus on it and when I do, I can understand them. What would it look like for you to tune your ears and your heart to God? One of the ways to do that is to lean into God, we are about to sing this song and I want to invite you to come up to the alter and lean into God. Pray and just tell Him, Jesus, if you want to speak, I'm listening. don't put any pressure on it, if you don't hear anything, that's alright. But what if you do? What if when you say, “I love you” He says, “I love you too!” Back. He has already said this to you! Come and give your life to Jesus!

Hey, good morning Harmony. I'm so glad that you guys are joining me. In light of having actual in-person church. I'm going to do a quick devotional online for us. I was thinking recently Jenny and I were getting ready for bed and she came to me and she said I just, I just have something to tell you. And you know in your marriage when your wife says something like that you're like, what did I do? Did I leave the underwear on the floor again? And instead of it being that it was something really sweet. She said, you used to come to at night before we go to bed and you would give me a good night kiss and you don't do that anymore. And I thought about it and I was like, yeah, I haven't done that for a long time. That was like a long time ago. And I said, baby, I'm so sorry, I haven't been doing that. And then it hit me. Do you know the reason I stopped giving my wife a good night's kiss? It was this stupid thing. Does anybody have one of these? It was a CPAP like I turned into Darth Vader every night. And so every night we would go to sleep and I would just put on the mask, turn into Darth Vader and I'd Roll over and go to sleep. And I stopped giving my wife a good night kiss. It reminds me of our relationship with Jesus and something that Jesus told the church in the city of Ephesus a long time ago, thousands of years ago, in the Book of Revelation. He's speaking to the Apostle John, and he says these words to the church in Ephesus. I want you to listen to this. He says this, but here's something I hold against you. You have turned away from the love you had at first. Jesus looked at this church in Ephesus, and he said, when you guys first fell in love with me, there was something about that love that was changing who you were. It was making who you were. And he says you have turned away from the love you had at first. And then he says this. Think about how far you've fallen. Think about how far you've fallen. Turn, Listen. Turn away from your sins. I don't know what your life looks like, but my guess is there was a time in your life when you were radically in love with Jesus. My hope is there was a time in your life, and maybe for you right now, that is that time. But my hope is that if. If that time is not right now, if it was in the past, that you would do what Jesus encourages the Ephesians to do. Listen to what he says. Think about how far you've fallen. What was. What was your life like when you first came to know Jesus? What was it like that got you so passionate and excited? What was it that had not burnt you out and kept you from just being turned on for who Jesus was? You were in love with him. And listen to what he says. Think about how far you've fallen. Turn away from your sins. Then listen to this. Do the things you did at first. When my wife told me about the kisses, you know what I've been doing? I've been ripping my mask off when she gets into bed and I've been rolling over and going and giving her a kiss. I've been like, let's smoochy, Ruchi baby. Do you know why? Because I'm going back to what I did at first. He doesn't say, I want you to notice this. He doesn't say, to go back to the love that you had at first. That. That was a childish, immature love. What he says is to go back and do what you did at first. Go back and act the way you did at first. I'll tell you when my relationship with Jesus gets a little bit cold, when I feel a little Distant. And again, it's never because Jesus has moved. It's always because I moved. You know what I do? I go back and I do the things that I did at first. One of those things that I've been working on lately is I used to at night, before I had cell phones before life was all crazy and you could keep your mind constantly engaged like you can in today's world. I used to lay in bed and I would just pray. And so I've been making it a personal practice to go back to that activity and to set my phone down to turn off the lights and just pray even until I fall asleep. Some of you might feel guilty about praying until you fall asleep. That's a great thing. What else would you rather be doing until you went to sleep? Pray and talk with God. Spend time with him. He's not going to be mad if you fall asleep. When Jenny and I were first dating, there were times when we'd be talking on a phone and you'd be talking and you'd be falling asleep as you're talking. You know why? Because I loved her so much, I wanted to stay on the phone with her. Right? That's not a bad thing for you to fall asleep. What if you went back and did the things you did at first with Jesus? What would it look like in your relationship? Look, I know. I don't know. I don't know what this week is going to hold. I don't know how. You may have lots of time. You may be stuck at home and you may be get to experience with lots of things, Experiment with lots of things of going back to the way it was with Jesus early in the days when you first fell in love with him. And maybe you'll have to go right back to work and jump right back into the rigmarole of life. But whatever you do, I hope that you will take the time to slow down a little it and do the things that you did at first with him. Fall back in love with him. Roll over and pucker your lips and give Jesus a big old kiss. Now that's a little gross. If you're a dude, like so maybe there's something else. Roll over. Give him a hug. Roll over. Tell him you love him. Roll over and turn to prayer. But do something. Tell Jesus you love him and go back to what you did at first. It will make a difference in your life. Stop sinning. Go back to what you did at first. Love you guys. And I hope that you have a really great rest of your week. I hope that there isn't crazy amounts of snow. And I get to see you soon. But until then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, whatever it is. I love you guys. Bye.

Why did God give us Christmas?  Does it even matter in today's world? Let's get real—what if we might be avoiding what God came to fix? Let's wrestle with this together. ❤️ EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. ------------------ OPENING ILLUSTRATION: When I was working on this sermon I asked my wife Jenni if she could think of any funny stories where she said to me “Why?” (needs to be said with contempt/confusion). Her answer: “I'm sure there were plenty of times where that happened…” lol. I think she's right. I can remember driving down a grassy hill when there was a road right next to it and her saying, “why?”. I can remember undergarments that ended up on the floor right next to a hamper and hearing a “why”? Lol. Let's be honest, living with me, that's probably the most often posed question… I want to flip the question on yall though and on God little bit.. I want to ask the question of “why” Christmas? Don't be too quick to answer… I know you probably have an answer, but I think people who are far from God don't get it… b They get the lights, and the fun, and the gifts, what they don't get is why the Christ of Christmas… b On first blush for the non-Follower of Jesus, Christianity feels like the answer to a question they are not asking or more likely, are avoiding… b CS Lewis said this about avoiding God “…in our own time and place, [avoiding God] is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you'd be safer to stick to the papers. You'll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or a snobbish appeal.” -CS Lewis b What are we avoiding? b We are avoiding our deep disfunction, what the bible calls sin, and our profound need for something more, God. b And when we do look for God, we end up looking in the wrong places… ILLUSTRATION: In the 1960's during the space race - the Russians who were atheists send Yuri Gagarin to space. When he came back he said, “I went to space, I looked and looked for God but never saw Him…” ILLUSTRATION: I get this way of thinking of God. When I was in college, I can remember really struggling. Our bible college had chapel services - in the evenings and I was so mad at God. I left the service and I went outside and I remember in my head just yelling, “God if you are real, I need to see you, I need to have you show up…” Yuri went into space, and I went out to a parking lot… CS Lewis' response about avoiding God came from his response to Yuri's statement, in that essay called “The Seeing Eye” he wrote, “looking for God is not like one person who lives on the first floor going to the second floor looking for the person who lives upstairs” It's more like a character in a Shakespeare play looking for Shakespeare. Even though Shakespeare is to be found on every page and in every word, he is not found in the pages. I heard Tim Keller talk about this once and he said the only way Hamlet would know about Shakespeare would before Shakespeare to write Himself into the story… This is the reason for Christmas. God saw the condition of our story, the condition of the world we had made for ourselves after choosing to go our own way and he wrote himself into the story… Listen to how John the apostle describes the need for Christmas… John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. ILLUSTRATION: John is saying “God wrote Himself into the story”… did you hear why He did this? It wasn't the reason most people seem to think - most people think God just wants to condemn the world. Isn't that how most people tend to perceive Christians and their message? That we are just in the business of condemning people? That's not why Jesus came. Jesus came to give life eternal… b it is literally God taking on flesh, becoming like you and me -> so He can redeem you and me out from under the crushing weight of our deep disfunction… Jesus came to give you life! John 10:10 (The Message Version) I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. How do you get this life? This eternal, “better than every dreamed of” life? b Jesus says He gives it to whoever believes in Him… ILLUSTRATION: years ago I saw this comedian from Canada who was mocking Americans because we are SO good at taking opinions and treating them like they are deeply held beliefs. He asked people what they thought of the Canadians sending elderly people out on ice flows to die. Americans were up in arms about it. The video was really funny… His point was Americans will have opinions about anything they are asked about… When John says that whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life. The belief he is talking about is not just a strongly held opinion. This kind of belief is a deeply held confidence and trust. b Belief is better seen than it is stated… This is why John says “it's plain to see who these people are, they come into the light - because they aren't afraid of being exposed by it - why aren't they afraid? it's because they know God didn't come to put His thumb on them and make them pay. He came to say, “There's an author in the story, and I want/long to rescue you out of the predicament you've gotten yourself into…” CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: You know that day in the parking lot looking up at the cold night yelling at God, I remember turning around and seeing all of the sudden someone walking in the parking lot - it was super odd, cause people didn't really cut through this part of the campus. I'm praying this in my head that I just want to see God in person and this person in a hoody where I can't see his face is walking right for me. I remember I started getting nervous, he kept walking closer and closer and was coming right for me. My heart was beating like crazy. He literally walked right up to me, looked at me for a split second and went “hey” and then walked right by me… lol. I'm sure God was dying laughing… Here's what I realized later. I wanted God to come into the world, but He had already answered that prayer. He did come into the world, He came and became completely, 100% human - God knows what it's like to go through puberty. God knows what it's like to have a crush on someone. He knows what it's like to be hungry and constipated and a million other human conditions. God knows it because He came in Christmas. And the reason He came was for you. He sent me all the way to Kentucky to walk right up to your face and look you in the eyes and say “hey”. For you to hear that God loves YOU! He loves you, He gave Himself - His only Son for YOU! All you have to do is deeply choose to trust in Him - place your confidence in Him. You are about to get and give a bunch of Christmas presents. What if TODAY you chose to accept the only true Christmas gift, the gift of the Christ…

Why would anyone give up everything for Jesus? What are we holding onto that keeps us from fully trusting Him? Tune in this week to be challenged to go deeper in Jesus! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I recently watched a thing on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, do you know about him? He was a pastor and theologian during WWII from Germany. As Hitler was rising to power preachers were literally saying he was sent by Jesus to the church and to Germany. Bonhoeffer was actually able to escape to America but after getting here he said he had to go back to Germany because how could he help the church rebuild what she was supposed to be if he had abandoned her during that time frame? He went back and was a part of a failed assassination attempt on Hitler-Valkeryie. Bonhoeffer and thousands of others were arrested and put to death for their resistance to Hitler and for helping smuggle Jewish people out of Germany. Here's my question: Why in the world would someone give something so costly as their life to the cause of Christ? I think it's a fantastic question at Christmas… And it feels ridiculous, doesn't it? Bonhoeffer's family didn't even know he had been sentenced and hung until weeks later. This guy died as what would seem a failure, as someone who died in anonymity. Why give your life for what seems like nothing? Isn't this the question we are all really asking? -I mean we ask it in little ways all the time. I want to look at an answer hidden in the Christmas story. b We are going to have to go back hundreds of years before that first Christmas to find the story.. SCRIPTURE: We have to go back SO far. It's not cold, but instead, it's hot - you need to picture Iraq because that's where we are landing. It was almost 500 years before Jesus would come into the world. But the land at this time isn't called Iraq, it's called Babylon. The King, Nebuchadnezzar had been having terrible dreams at night. You might know this story. He tells all of his magicians and enchanters that they need to interpret the dream, but that he will not tell them the dream. An impossible task. He orders all the wise men to be put to death - this includes a guy named Daniel who pleads for a chance to interpret the dream. The story is serious and would be terrifying. Daniel is answered by God and interprets the dream. After he does this, Nebuchadnezzar does this… Daniel 2:48 48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. b Daniel becomes the ruler of all the wise men of Babylon… There will be a change over of rulers in Babylon and Daniel will be considering the words of Jeremiah that said the Israelites would only be in Babylon for 70 years. As they are getting closer to that time, Daniel starts to pray to God. Daniel is visited by an angel - Gabriel is the same angel that appears to Mary… I want you to hear the word that God gives to this guy who is the ruler of the wise men of Babylon: Daniel 9:24-26 24 “Seventy ‘sevens'[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish[d] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.[e] 25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[f] the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,' and sixty-two ‘sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,' the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing.[g] People who are way smarter than me have done the math to figure out when the seventy-sevens would occur. Notice the things said about this person who would come: This Messiah (the “Anointed One”) will: Put an end to sin (Priestly function) Atone for wickedness (Priestly function) Bring everlasting righteousness  (Priestly function) Seal up vision and prophecy (Prophetic function) Anoint the most Holy place (the temple) (Prophetic function) Be a ruler (King) Be put to death and have nothing b ILLUSTRATION: I grew up watching Sesame Street, they used to have this segment where they would sing “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things does not belong..” They'd show red balloons with a blue balloon. I used to think I was a brilliant genius because I'd be like, “The blue one, the blue one doesn't belong! … You can stop singing the song, I figured it out…” Listen, One of these things in Daniel's vision is not like the others. Did you notice it? That the Messiah would be put to death and have nothing… What in the world? How can that be? Let me tie some things together now… Does anyone know what direction Iraq is from Israel? B East Do you know another word for wise men? b Magi b One last thing… Did you know about 1,000 years before Daniel there was a prophet (Baalaam) from the region of Babylon who made this prophecy? Numbers 24:17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. Let me tie this together… Listen…. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2:1-12 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. b Get this: There is a strong chance the magi that come to Jesus are men who have grown up in a tradition where they have learned from those who learned from Daniel… Did you see what these guys brought to Jesus? Gold (the gift for a king), Frankincense (incense used by priests), and Myrrh (oil used to anoint the dead). b “Kent, that's interesting, but how does this help answer the question: ‘Why in the world would someone give something so costly'” b Did you know some scholars have estimated the cost of these items at $4 million in today's money? b These guys came and worshipped Jesus at great cost to themselves… I think the reason Bonhoeffer was willing to give his life and why these men were willing to travel over great distances and at considerable cost to themselves was because of what Daniels vision said about this anointed one: [The Messiah would] put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness The reason someone like Bonhoeffer or these wise men are willing to give so much is because they gain so much more - eternal life! CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Jenni and I have been watching "The Summit" like survivor on the side of a mountain. They have people do challenges - one they had to descend a cliff on a rope, but at some point, they had to let go of the rope to connect to a zip line. One of the guys did not want to let go of the rope - the rope he knew was solid, the rope had gotten him down the Cliff, and the rope hadn't failed him, but the rope couldn't get him off the wall. He had to let go of the rope, abandon it to trust something different - the zip line, that could take him down to solid ground. Following Jesus is much like this. Jesus' gift is absolutely free and doesn't cost you something in the sense that you have to pay for it or earn it. He gave it freely, but if you don't give up on the old way of life, you will never truly enter into His life. As long as you hold onto the rope that got you here, and it probably worked for some things. It worked to get you to where you are. It worked to make you a shrewd business owner, it worked to make you a revered coach, it worked to make you even the good father that you are. But it can't take you all the way. It can't take you to eternal life, it can't take you into peace and joy, it can't take you into freedom from sin. At some point it leaves you hanging there - it can't tell you your purpose in life, or create real lasting meaning. What we give to Jesus is to offer those things to Him and to let go of the old life for the new life He offers. To get on His zip line and be whisked away into the life of God - which is SO much better than you can imagine. Knowing God, and having Him speak into your life is profound! You know, right before his hanging, Bonhoeffer said these words: “This is the end–for me the beginning of life.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer What if today, you chose to give your life to Jesus, He came to give you the best gift ever, what if you gave your life back to Him…

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: What do you do to prepare for Christmas to come?  Years ago we had a two-story house, our kids were young and they REALLY wanted Christmas lights on the house.  Jenni gave me the whole, “It would just mean so much if you'd put them up”.  So, I put the ladder on our back deck off the second story and started to climb up onto the roof.  I got up there and looked about 25 ft from the roof to the ground and I did what any reasonable person would do.  I sat there for about 20 minutes deliberating on if my life was worth putting lights up for the kids…  Lol.  I'm such a weenie, but I knew if I fell off that roof, it would be lights out for Kent.  I finally came off the roof and said, “I've got a great idea!”  Let's put the lights in the yard.  We strung the lights all over the ground and when it would snow, it was the coolest thing to see the light coming up through the snow… WE: Most people have traditions for getting ready for Christmas, don't they?   -In our family, we do all of our Christmas decorating after Thanksgiving -Some of you monsters out there do it after Halloween lol What's your tradition for getting ready for Christmas? All along the way in the first Christma,s there was someone who was getting things ready… Before Jesus was even born his mother Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant and this happened: Luke 1:41-44 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth's baby, John (the Baptist), was moved in the womb when Jesus came into his presence. This was what John the Baptist did, he got things ready for Jesus… Mark 1:1-4 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a]the Son of God,[b]2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”[c]— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'” 4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.” John the Baptist was a wild guy. He seems to be fierce and fearless in his pursuit of God and His Kingdom. One of my favorite passages in scripture comes from Johnny B… Listen to what he says when his disciples come to him to tell him that Jesus is getting and gaining more disciples than John… John 3:29-30 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.” Somehow, John was content to play second fiddle. He was content to become less and let Jesus become more… Here's my question: What was it about John that allowed him to take a back seat? b I think it's because John knew the part he played in the story. When John was asked who he was, this is what he said about himself John 1:23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'” John knew that his role was to make way for Jesus - so He could bring salvation to everyone. b John was knocking down barriers and opening doors for the message to get out. b He was, all along, the one who was getting us ready for Christmas - God coming into the world to save us from our sins. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: When Jenni and I got engaged we had this sweet guy in our church who had a photography studio.  He invited us to the studio and took these pictures of us for our engagement and at our wedding gave us a huge portrait of ourselves.  Now, I'm saying nothing, but we are not the kind of people to keep giant pictures of ourselves on our walls.  So, we did what anyone would do.  We started giving the picture away at Christmas parties as a white elephant gift.  What's super funny is for years that picture would show up at different parties as a white elephant gift as someone regifted it… lol I was thinking about all that John did to bring the message and hope of Jesus into our world.  You know he ended up dying because of his message, don't you?  His head got severed from his body and grossly displayed as a party favor at a birthday party.  Just sickening… John paid a price for the message of Jesus to enter the world. He gave us the gift of making the way for Jesus. b What if each of us this Christmas decided to regift the message in our own lives? b In what ways could you knock down barriers and open doors for the message of Jesus to get out in your world, your family, and your workplace? Here's a list of just a few practical ways I thought you could do this: Practical ways to regift the message of Jesus and prepare the way for others to know Him: Practice “love of their neighbor” Literally:  bake cookies for neighbors, add a note about celebrating the birth of Jesus and invite them to church this Christmas Do a prayer challenge at work: Tell people you are taking a prayer challenge till Christmas.  If they have something you could pray for, to text or leave you a note and you'll pray for them. Do a daily devotion with your kids: Read through the gospel of John with your kids over the next month and ask questions/talk about it together. Start a bible study at work: Send encouraging texts: For the next month send a daily encouraging scripture to friends, let them know they can opt-out any time. John made a way for Jesus' message and it changed the world, what if we regift Christmas this year!

When anxiety grips us, what do we do? This Sunday, let's talk about how God helps us face what feels overwhelming. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: In Kansas when there is a tornado, they take over the tv stations? And there are only two responses to a tornado… 1. You freak out, grab all your kids, dogs, pictures, and toilet paper and run to your tornado shelter. 2. Or you grab your binoculars, open your garage door and stand out in the storm looking for a funnel cloud. That's it. Those are your two options. Well, there's a third option, you move to Canada, but none of us in here are that chicken hearted… Which one would you be? tornado shelter or binoculars? There aren't any canadians in here are there? Phew… Ok… This week we are talking about anxiety. The scripture actually deals with anxiety a lot. When it comes to anxiety, there are really two kinds of people. There are people that are gripped by anxiety and people that are affected by anxiety. And of course, there's Canadians… the reality is, all of us face anxiety at some point. -When you see your child climbing 40 feet up in a tree and your heart skips a beat, that's a reasonable anxiety -When there are flashing lights behind you after you've been driving 90 mph, that's reasonable anxiety -when your boss says, “Later today, I need to speak to you in my office alone” that's reasonable anxiety. Anxiety is a natural, God given response to create a heightened state of alertness in dangerous or fearful situations. B The problem is for some of us our brains have a disproportionate response to the inputs we experience. b This can lead to excessive nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worry. b If you are the kind of person who is gripped with anxiety, you get this. ILLUSTRATION: You know what it's like to walk into a room full of strangers and feel like the walls are closing in on you, dreading every interaction. You're thinking, “you're lucky I'm even here Kent!” You know what it's like to be immobilized by a deadline, feeling the weight of it hanging over you like 100lbs barbell. You know what it's like to run the events of the day over and over again, rethinking every situation to the nth degree. When you are gripped by anxiety. It can feel desperate and hopeless. Here's the problem. Others of you are like the binoculars people with the tornado - you go through life pretty care free and don't get it. Some of you are not gripped by anxiety at all - you are only affected by it - it comes and then it goes. People who are affected by anxiety are the people who are trying to manage the anxiety of their loved ones and coworkers - they need extra patience and struggle trying to understand why the other person can't just get over it. ILLUSTRATION: I am a little of both of these people. As I studied this more, I have silly anxiety over little things - like asking questions that I think are dumb, or letting someone do something knowing they may not be as good at it as me. But I've also realized how often I'm the person saying, “Just get over it…” “You shouldn't be worrying about this…” What I've learned from researching anxiety is that very few of us are very good at dealing with it. b so, what do we do? Here's a few things I need to say before we jump into what the bible has to say about this. And I'm speaking directly to those of you who struggle with anxiety and are gripped by it. 1. You are not alone. 40 million Americans struggle with this. And it is more and more prevalent in younger generations. My guess is, if you are 40 or under, you identify with this and if you are older, you may be going, “I don't get it”? There are a lot of reasons for the increase in anxiety. But I believe one of the biggest contributing factors is lack of boredom. People can't even sit on the toilet without using a phone - DO NOT USE OTHER PEOPLES PHONES! Younger Americans are CONSTANTLY evaluating their outer worlds and give little to no attention to their inner worlds. Some of our anxiety comes from not dealing with the inner turmoil inside of us. I also want you to know, 2. It's ok to not be ok… ILLUSTRATION: after my dad died, I went to see a Christian Counselor (suggest cc's). One of the things he said was, “Kent, who's putting all this pressure on you. You need to stand up and say to your congregation that it's ok not to be ok, because Christians rarely admit that it's ok to not be perfect” That changed everything for me. God is not displeased with you just because you're not perfect. Believe it or not, that's EXACTLY why He died for you. the last thing I want you to know is this 3. There is hope to recover from Anxiety… Living with things like depression or anxiety it can feel like you are never going to get over it. I want you to know, if you don't give up, God won't either. it may take a lifetime, but God will NEVER give up on you - no matter how dark it may seem… reminds me of a passage of scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Before I speak into those of you who are gripped with anxiety, can I speak for a moment into those of us who are affected by it? As someone who has been on this side of the fence, I need to tell you - we need to repent… I have not been a man who has always led with compassion in this area, and I am so deeply sorry for that. if you are someone who is dealing with someone who is riddled by anxiety. 2 things to do to lead better with the anxious. 1. Let Love Lead 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. Rarely has my response to anxiety been about loving the other person, it has almost always been a selfish oriented response. I would never react that way to a sprained ankle or broken leg, but an emotionally mental challenge I react poorly to. 2. Come up with a game plan Work with the person to learn ways you can help in those moments. Maybe it's just giving them space and you handling the thing that is producing the anxiety. But come up with a game plan and ask them to trust that in those moments, you are trying to lead with love. Now for those of you who are gripped with anxiety. I want to offer you something a little different from a normal 3 point message. There are SO many scriptures that are so good for helping with anxiety. I was thinking, how do I give that to you in a way that's meaningful. So, I did something different. I took a bunch of these passages and I wrote them into a letter from your Abba - your daddy, God the Father… I want to close by reading this letter to you. I'm going to ask you to do something for me. I want to ask you to close your eyes, bow your head and listen to this letter from God to you… Dear Beloved, I know the crushing thoughts that pervade your heart. I hear the waves of anxious thinking that bombard your mind. I need you to know, I have looked you over, and I know your heart of hearts. I know all the good and all the dastardly, all the hidden things you want no one to know, and I need you to know, I'm here, not going anywhere. I'm here to lead you into a way that is everlasting - a way of hope, life, and peace (Psalm 139:23-24). Let that word, “peace," hang in the air for a moment - it is yours. It's what I offer. It is the peace that comes when you finally come to the end of yourself. When you finally realize your utter inability to control anything. It is a peace that comes when you recognize, in deep conversation with me, that I am utterly in control. You will know you are getting there when your mind shifts from fixating on everything you wish you were, to every good thing you've already been given. Listen to me dear one, I am not done with you. Your anxious mind wants to try and figure out a way through, it wants to bring control to what feels out of control. I'm inviting you to embrace your lack of control. I'm inviting you to the shelter I long to provide for you, my peace. It is a peace that will shock and amaze those around you; it surpasses and transcends what the world can understand. My peace is a guard for the deepest recesses of your heart and mind. Embrace it, even when it feels impossible to make sense (Philippians 4:6-7). I am a caregiver by nature - a nurturer of the broken, the gentle hand that restores. You are bent - I won't break you. Your spark smolders - I will not snuff you out. I will walk alongside, at the pace you can bear, because you are what I'm after (Matthew 12:20). You worry about so many things. I need you to know I see the constant whirlpool of shame, blame, guilt, and inadequacy. Do you still not know me? Do you not know I see what no one else sees? I look past the outside of the cup to what is within. I look past the frenetic. I look past your sense of inferiority. I look past all of what occupies your mind to the part of you that, like a child, looks for an Abba, a Daddy. I see your heart, and I like what I see (1 Samuel 16:7). There are a few things I need you to know. The waters will rise, yet I am still with you. You may feel as though the raging river will sweep you away, but I will not allow it to take you. You may walk through red hot coals in this life - I will keep you from being burned. You will not be set afire. I am with you (Isaiah 43:3). Don't you know my name? I'm the “Warrior Hearted One.” I have a fierce love for those I love. I know fighting, and I am on your side. Let me take up your cause, you can relax in me. I am your salvation. Can I tell you a deep secret? One I wrote long ago? Lean in close, let me whisper my truth to your deepest longing. “I take great delight in you.” I see you, and I delight in YOU. I know, the enemy has filled your mind with lies and half-truths, but I know nothing of them because I did not create them. They are a horrible fiction that has hidden my truth. You are my treasure, my love. My child, I long to sing over you in joy! (Zephaniah 3:17) I know it feels like there are so many things to fix, so many things to worry about, so many things that if you don't engage them will fall off the face of this earth. This is not my truth. My truth is that I can take care of it. For fun I spend my days dressing the flowers, feeding the birds, capping the mountains with white, and stirring the oceans. How much more do you think you are worth to me? Stop, don't answer that. I already have. You are worth everything, my very life - put on the line to bring you back into my presence (Matthew 6:25-34, John 3:16), and, get this, I did all that while you were at your absolute worst (Romans 5:8). So, what makes you think I can't handle what you feel you are now? Let me close with this. Hard days are in front of you - unimaginable pain, inscrutable distress. Don't lose heart, my dear one. I am the overcomer. I've overcome the stronghold of sin. I've overcome your dead heart and shocked it back to life. I've overcome the greatest enemy of all: death (John 16:33, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57). So, when I say this, believe it. I have a special book, a journal of sorts. In it I record the names of those who are mine. It is my “family reunion” list, and dear one, you are on it. I will have special compassion on you because you are my special child whom I love dearly. Rest in that (Malachi 3:16-17). With deep love, Your Abba (Daddy) [Need to have printed versions of the letter for people to grab on their way out] I want to give this letter to you as a gift to you in order to give you a practical way to slow down when you are in the midst of an anxious moment. Maybe you are going into an environment that always seems to trigger your anxiety, take 5 minutes and read this letter before. Keep it in your car or your wallet or somewhere you can read it each day. If you feel anxiety coming on, go back to the letter and read it, let it grab your heart and allow God to bring healing and His peace.

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Can I tel you a quick story, and I'm gonna be a little vulnerable here and expose myself some, is that ok, yall will treat me with kindness? So, a little over year ago Jenni and I started this journey to build a rental cabin at the gorge - we are taking out a loan and hoping to use it to try and build up a retirement. As we were doing this we started working with this builder. When he found out I was a pastor he asked me if I wanted to try and help him sell cabins and he would give me a percentage of whatever I sold. I thought, “we're doing this for our retirement, so why not” some of you may have seen some of my posts about it… Well, thank Jesus I had someone reach out to me, a fellow believer who had done business with this guy and had been taken advantage of him. I started doing research and found out this builder had been involved in a HUGE fraud case. I'll never forget it because it was Jenni and I's anniversary weekend and we had this trip planned. On that trip I started calling people I had in the pipeline to buy a cabin - 100's of thousands of dollars worth of cabins. I told the guy I was not comfortable doing business with him and we backed out of the deal. He began leveling threats at us… He was going to sue us if we did anything to ruin his business. I remember for weeks having this sick feeling in my stomach. How did I get here? But now I felt like I had put everything in my world on the line. My integrity was wrapped up with this guys - that's why it's embarrassing to share with you. My mind started spinning with all kinds of things, what happens if this guy sues me, I knew his business partner's dad is one of the wealthiest people in KY. What happens if these people that I sold on these cabins build and this guy takes advantage of them… My mind was spinning for weeks - I felt like an idiot and literally any time I got a text from that guy my gut would wrench and I'd get sick… I was experiencing a level of anxiety I'd never had before… What do you do to get yourself out of that level of anxiety? Where does that kind of anxiety even come from? Have you felt that before? -Maybe for you it was you following one bad business decision after another and having to finally tell your spouse that you lost your job -or Your car broke down and then your furnace went out and you started putting stuff on a credit card and then you foolishly bought christmas on a credit card and now you stuck every time the bill comes in you stomach drops… I did some thinking on where Anxiety comes from and I think these are at least a few of the reasons we experience anxiety: Where does our anxiety come from: [put up one at a time] Loss of controlILLUSTRATION:  We've been teaching our son Peter to drive.  He's a super good kid and really responsible, but I have to admit, on some of those narrow back roads of KY, I've had more than my fair share of my back end tightening up as we go around corners or putting my foot through the floor on my imaginary brake.  The reality is for most of us who are used to controlling our worlds, when we lose control - our hands get off the steering wheel, we become anxious. Past experienceILLUSTRATION: Unfortunately for me, one of the ways that experience affected me was it created in me this distrust of people…  I had been scammed and I found myself looking at everyone through a lens of skepticism… Some of you have had some SERIOUS pain in the past and experiences that have shaped the way you view reality now… Your view of the world was altered. It caused you to create little t truths - things that seemed true and little s strategies to deal with the way you experienced life and now when that comes up those truths and strategies take over… Fear of a projected future (almost always excludes the potential for God) ILLUSTRATION:  If i'm brutally honest with myself about my anxiety, the stories I'm telling myself about the future don't include God. They don't include, “what if God shows up?” In my projections I act as though I'm a practical atheist.  “If this is all up to me, then what am I going to do…”  But that's not reality.  You know the dark places this can take you to, don't you?  All the scratching and scrambling we do is tied up in this. Can I change the question from “where does that kind of anxiety come from?” to a more ancient question the Psalmist asked? b Where does my help come from? SCRIPTURE: This is a Psalm (or song) that people would have sang as they were walking up the mountains to Jerusalem to go there for worship. Imagine, it's a big holiday like Thanksgiving and you are on your way to the temple to worship. I find it SUPER interesting they are singing these words as reflection and worship of God on their way to this holiday… Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. But what about your crops that are failing at home and you left them to come worship… [Read the Scripture again] But what about how your traveling right now with a spouse who wants out of this relationship, what are you going to do if it all crumbles? [Read the Scripture again] What if the skin graft they took last week is more than just a blemish and it's cancer, how will I tell my family, what will my life look like, how much life do I even have left… How will my family make it without me? [Read the Scripture again] Look, I know you think what you need is one more list of things to do, you think you need a trick or some technique - if I just learn how to breathe or tap on myself. And I'm not doubting that stuff doesn't work. But What we really need is to learn what the ancients knew b When you seat yourself in God's story instead of your own, the pressure valve opens - you can take on almost anything… The apostle Paul said it this way… Philippians 4:11b-13 I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Paul had learned to seat himself in God's story, and when God is the one at the wheel, you can make it through anything - even death… b I want to give you Some practical suggestions of how to seat yourself in God's story when anxiety rises up in you. -Download/Use the One Minute Pause App https://wildatheart.org/apps/one-minute-pause/] -Start your day with our Daily Prayer [https://www.harmonychurch.cc/daily-prayer/] -Download the bible app and make a commitment to read the bible daily till at least Christmas [bible.com] CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I can remember the day I was driving home from the Gorge after all of that had gone down. I felt like an idiot, I felt like I'd put my family in a terrible position and possibly our church. I was so embarrassed and honestly ashamed and was over run with anxiety. I was trying to place myself in God's story, every time a thought came into my mind I was taking it to Jesus. I was reminding myself that in Jesus I could do anything. And then my phone rang. It was a close Christian friend that I have who is really wealthy. He knew about the situation and he said, “Kent, I've been praying and I felt like I should tell you, if this guy takes legal action against you, don't worry. I've got you, and I've got more money than he has…” Lol. Can I tell you something, I never had to pull the trigger on that, but what it reminded me of was I don't live in a Godless universe, I live very much in a world where God is alive and well and speaking to His people. If you struggle with anxiety, I'm inviting you to come up here and let some others pray over you. For you to seat your life in His story, some of you need to do that today! [put this up on a screen for me to read and end with] Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. ----------------

What's your day-to-day life look like?  Do you take the time to truly inspect your heart and invite God into your daily life? Join us as we explore Psalm 139 together! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: You guys should be excited for me, last summer we were able to trade our minivan in and get me a truck without having to make payments - you know what it's like being the pastor who shows up in a minivan :). When we were looking at trucks, I had found one that was a great price, was in good condition and seemed like a great deal. So, I met the guy who had it at Steve's shop to get it inspected by a mechanic to make sure I wasn't getting into something bad. Steve's mechanic called me out to look under the vehicle. The frame was so rusted you could literally poke your finger through it. It was crazy… I was like, “um, so, I'm not going to buy your truck…” The only thing that would have been cool about driving that truck would have been to see it split in half and it dip in the middle and seeing me driving around with it… lol Over the last few years, I've seen lots of people's lives rust through.  b I have a feeling it's because most people are going through their day to day life without ever inspecting their inner life… What about you? How much time do you spend in a day, week, month or year inspecting your heart? Listen, I don't mean having emotions. I mean taking deep thoughtful time away from binging shows, flipping on a phone, playing games on a device. I don't mean dealing with problems at work or dealing with issues in your relationship. How do you deal deeply with the questions of your heart? Do I matter Does God care What do I do b I think much of our anxiety comes from a deep disconnect with who we are and whose we were created to be. ILLUSTRATION: Think about it, you live in a world that is designed to keep you from noticing who you are and whose you are. You have billion dollar companies who are working night and day to capture your attention and sell it to advertisers. Do a quick check and look just on your phone - open your settings and look at your screen time. I can't prove it, but I bet there is a direct correlation to the anxiety you feel and the amount of screen time you spend. I want to take you to an ancient way of inspection that has almost been lost to us in our modern world that your ancestors would have just naturally done: 5 reminders to help you become the kind of person who inspects their inner life and answer the questions, Do I matter, Does God care, What do I do. What we are about to read is a psalm from King David. Psalms are literally the prayers/songs from someone. They are not meant to teach you theology as much as teach you how to bring your heart to God. with that in mind, listen to David's words.. 1. Remind Yourself of your Place in the Story: Psalm 139:1-24 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. I love that David says “such knowledge is too wonderful for me - to lofty… It is… David is reminding himself that nothing is hidden from God. His place in the story is he's a person and God is God. What would happen to your mental health if you started reading this psalm each day and reminded yourself that nothing you do is hidden from God? ILLUSTRATION: I have a friend who tells his kids “when I ask you a question, you need to know, I already know the answer…” God is like this. He knows everything, He's seen it all, every potential eventuality. You are not Him, you are just a person in the story. I personally try and go out in the country occasionally and find a spot to get out of my car and look at the grandness of the universe and remind myself of my place in the story… 2. Remind yourself of God supremacy in the story: Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. God is all penetrating - nothing is hidden from Him or outside of His purview. ILLUSTRATION: we are bound by time and place, light and dark. We are bound by our physical limitations. God is not bound by any of that. He is Supreme. When was the last time you reminded yourself of the supremacy of God? Spent time praying to Him and just speaking the truth of who God is outlaid? 3. Remind yourself of Your Value to God: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you. After all this, David is amazed to think that God thought it fit to create him… Can I just speak to the hearts of some of you right now. Some of you don't have a sense that you matter much. You matter more than you can ever imagine to God. You are fearfully and wonderfully made - God thought of you and decided upon you. He desires you and longs to help you unravel the things that have told you are less than and to help you see who you are. Look at the odds of you existing [Anthony, you can put these 3 on one slide - I'll boogie through it quickly] Chance of Your Parents Meeting: Their geography, social networks, timing, and life circumstances. Any of these things are different, your parents might never have met. The Odds of Conception: The chance of a particular sperm fertilizing the egg that created you is 1 in 100 million. [There are around 100 million sperm vying to fertilize a single egg.] Generational Odds: The chance of your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc., all meeting and reproducing as they did exponentially increases the odds.. A 2011 study from Dr. Ali Binazir tried to put a number to this improbability. After considering all the factors, he estimated the odds of any one person existing as roughly 1 in 10^2,685,000—a number so large it defies true comprehension. The odds of you existing are: 1 in 10^2,685,000 I don't even know how to say that number… and it's not just that you exist, but that you matter to God - He thought of you… 4. Remind God of the battles you are fighting: If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. I don't knwo that many of us would pray like David is here - but what he is doing is bringing his battles before God after settling his heart in the setting of who God is… What battles are you fighting right now? How are you bringing them before God? Are you being honest with Him about your feelings or are you telling Him what you really want (He might not do what you want - He will act out of love, but He will understand your heart) 5. Remind yourself of your need for God: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. David has poured himself out to God, he's reminded him of his place in the story and the supremacy of God, he's brought his battles to him and now he finishes by swinging back and reminding himself he still needs Jesus. Search me and know my heart - test me and know my anxious thoughts.. David is inviting God into the story of his real life… What about you? CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Something I've noticed in myself is that I've become a person who is reactive instead of a person who reacts. I think it's because I had gotten to the point where my heart was hidden away and I was just existing. I had gotten to where I didn't want to do things if I didn't have to. I had to make some intentional moves to remind myself of the things that matter. Today, what are you going to do? Are you going to keep going down the road your going down? How about you? Are you reactive or a person who is able to react - the way you would like to. This week, if I could give you one challenge it would be to read Psalm 139 every day and to take your heart to Jesus in prayer through it.

How would life change if we actually believed God loved us deeply and had our backs? Let's dive in and find out! Join Kent this Sunday at Harmony. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. ------------------------------- OPENING ILLUSTRATION: How many times a day does worry or anxiety pop up in your mind? I don't want to lose you by getting you to jump into anxious thoughts, but think about it for a second… Here's a few things I find myself anxious or worried about -I'm not sure how we're going to pay that bill -How are we going to get everyone to where they need to go -When am I going to have time to finish that project with everything I've got to do -I'm afraid I'm not going to be home on time because of this meeting -Oh no, my phone is ringing, what do I do? ;) -I feel like I'm losing my kid -I wonder if a person is secretly judging me -I'm worried we won't have enough for retirement -I don't know what to do with my kids -I can't figure out what I did wrong with my spouse I mean, let's be honest, we could go on and on, couldn't we? Worry and anxiety are at epidemic levels in our country. Look at this chart: [put chart on screen] If you are older, you don't get it and if you're younger, you don't know how someone couldn't get it… This calls for compassion and some reconsidering of our how we order our world… b I think it calls for going back to the one who created you and listening to see if His words could have some meaning in your life… I want to read some of Jesus' words and look at them in the context of how we all live our everyday life and then ask the question What if we took Him seriously - what would life look like for you? Mt 6:25-34 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Does anybody else feel like at this point you are wanting to say to Jesus “don't worry about life and eat or drink? That's all I do Jesus is worry” I feel like some of us make worry out like it's a sport - we're so good at it that if there was an olympics in worry, we'd have been in Paris this last summer… I want you to notice something about what Jesus is doing here. Jesus is trying to elevate your vision - move your eyes upwards. b “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” ILLUSTRATION: Years ago, I had a really good friend who I was talking with. After a few minutes of talking with him he stopped me and said, “Hey, what's going on with you, you haven't shared one real thing about your life with me, you're just keeping everything at a surface level.” Jesus is trying to get you past a surface level of life. He wants you to find joy and freedom, to be able to really embrace life - but you know as well as I do that when you are caught up constantly worrying about the next bill, worrying about your time, your food, your whatever that you are not living life, you are staying on the surface… Life is more… and your anxious, controlling, and predicting the future is keeping you from the now. 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? I want to ask you two questions that Jesus asks you here - really ask them. Are you more valuable than birds to God? It seems like a silly question at first - probably your instant answer is “yes”. But can I ask it another way? Do you really believe you are valuable to God? My experience has been most people can believe that others are valuable to God, but not themselves. I personally struggle with that. Intellectually I know God loves me, but at a gut level, I wonder how He could… Part of your anxiety, and mine, comes from an inability to rightly believe how much God really loves you. b What would change if you really believed God was good and that He loved you madly? some of you need to stop listening to this sermon and spend the rest of the service thinking about that question. Jesus asks - Can you add a single hour to your life through worry? No, we can theoretically add to our lifespan in modern times, but guess what, when you die, you are dead, there is no adding to that time. Your lifespan is not theoretical, at some point it will be defined. Your worry does not change that end - it's an illusion. 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? The NIV always translates this as “you of little faith” or “why do you have so little faith”, but I've heard Greek scholars say it would be better translated as Little Faiths (the Greek word is oligó(little)pistos(faith)) Can I give you a little encouragement… Jesus is talking about this because He expects we'll struggle with it. He gives the prescription because we all have the ailment. b His disciples who saw, walked, ate, ministered with Him - Jesus gives them the nickname “Little Faiths.” You are not alone in this… 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?' or ‘What shall we drink?' or ‘What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus very clearly tells us to not worry, but how can we do that? His answer is simple Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. b When worry pops up, when anxiety fills your brain - lift your eyes up, ask yourself, how can I seek His Kingdom and Righteousness today? Honestly, it won't be long till that turns into, “Jesus, how can I seek your kingdom and righteousness today - here and now… God is saying, “when you care for the things I care about, I will take care of you.” Actually as I really meditated on this something hit me that had never hit me before. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Recently Jenni and I had a huge financial burden strike us that we hadn't expected. I was really freaking out if I'm honest - I grew up poor and feel an incredible responsibility to care for my family and honestly always try and keep us from being in that position. I didn't know what to do. I prayed and just kept going towards Jesus and serving Him. Here's what's crazy. I got an envelope given to me - honestly, I didn't even open the envelope for a few days. But when I did, I found out it had exactly the amount we needed to pay the bills. It was crazy. But can I tell you what's even crazier? That has been my experience over and over again. That God takes care of our needs. He is faithful. One of the things that struck me is when you are seeking first God's Kingdom and His Righteousness - you tend to be around people who are doing that as well - we call this the church. And all of the sudden we are taking care of one another. I don't think Jesus is saying this will be magical. What He is saying is that when you are submitting your will to His Will, He will take care of you, part of how He does that is by using people who's will is submitted to Him as well. Can I tell you a secret? This isn't a get rich scheme. You can't do this to get God to pay your bills. He knows your heart and what you really seek. What it is, is insurance that if you give up letting money and security be your God and let God be your God, that He will take care of you. A great example of this is I heard recently how one of our connect groups stepped up to help a family in the group and supported one another - people giving money to care for the needs of others… See, When you give yourself wholly to Jesus you find a holy Jesus who holds you in His hands. --------------------------------

How do we fight the spiritual battles we face? Are we really prepared? Join us this Sunday as Kent brings the Word on spiritual warfare and fighting for what matters most. Let's gear up together and stand firm! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: So, I was working on a sermon about what we will look like after we die, and maybe someday I'll do that, but to be honest, I decided at the last minute to preach a very different sermon.  I think it will likely be shorter, but I think it's a vital sermon to preach.   I want to enter it by telling you a story… Years ago, when I was in college, I mean, like YEARS ago… I had a couple of friends I had known for a long time, I thought for sure they were going to get married, they were madly in love and had been as long as I can remember.  Out of the blue, one of my friends took this wide swing from her usual way of life. She started hanging with this other group of guys and was partying with them.  Her whole demeanor changed.  One night, I was with my friend and he said, “I feel like I need to go rescue her”.  We knew she was with these other guys in a hotel and they were partying.  I looked at him and said, “let's go”.  We went to the hotel, we walked in to the room, grabbed her, and literally walked out.  These guys - who we knew got in our face and were yelling at us.  I remember asking one of the guys what happened to him, he used to love Jesus.  I kept telling myself, “if they punch you, don't punch them back”.  For some reason, the guys left us and went back to the hotel room.  This memory is so vivid, we were sitting on the parking lot talking, my buddy, his girlfriend who was also a close friend and myself.  He kept trying to convince her that she had gone of the deepens.  We both were trying to reason with her.  And I just felt in that moment that what we were coming against was not of this world.   I told them I was going to pray and I began to pray against satan and against evil spirits. I prayed against demons and prayed that God would take the curtain off her eyes and help her see straight. I can remember my neck tingling as I prayed and I'll never forget what happened next. When I said amen, she lifted her head and was crying and she said she felt like a curtain had fallen from her eyes and she didn't know why she had been doing what she was doing, but she was done… It was the wildest experience of my life… Look, if I could just be honest with you as your pastor. Our church has been under what I would call a serious spiritual attack. Our staff has had major physical issues and financial issues.  We've watched as our church has had marriages being ravaged, we've had people struggling in ways they have never struggled before. And I believe it is all part of a Satanic attack on our church. Listen, I need to say this plainly to you. There is an enemy and He comes to steal kill and destroy (John 10:10) b And the enemy is not your spouse, coworker, the person at church that made you mad, or any other person.   b The enemy is Satan and He is making war on those of love God (Revelation 12:17) I want to read to you what Paul says in Ephesians 6: Ephesians 6:10-18 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We were trying to reason with my friend, but no amount of reason was going to overcome the delusion she was under because our battle wasn't against flesh and blood, it was against authorities and evil powers in this dark world. I've never had to convince people who come out of the drug scene or other darker forms of sin that evil exists - they've seen it. I had a friend who grew up in a family of real live witches - wicken - how she grew up she experienced true evil - some of her stories about what she watched and observed would turn your stomach.. Look, I'm not saying you don't have issues in your family b I'm not saying you don't have trauma that needs to be dealt with b What I am saying is that there is a spiritual component to what you are dealing with that can only be overcome through battling the darkness with the weapons of righteousness. Listen to what Paul says: 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Paul tells the Ephesians to put on their armor and take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God b Your weapon of righteousness is the authority of the Spirit and His word b Here are just a few of the weapons found in the word: -Deep true forgiveness of others (Eph. 4:32, Mt 6:14-15) -Praying with authority to cast out spirits (Mk 3:15, Mk 9:14-29) -Wholehearted Repentance (Acts 2:38) -Fasting (Acts 13:1-3) -Truth (See Jesus and the temptation in the desert Mt 4) You still have to deal with reality. Personally, I look for if there are any other reasons for an issue first. Did we make a bad decision, are there mental or physical reasons or the issue, but if not. I fight and fight hard spiritually. This is part of being a fully activated disciple is to learn to fight the spiritual battle. Your kids need you to fight this battle Your spouse needs you to fight this battle You need you to fight this battle CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: The first fight I ever had was with a kid who was half my size but who had grown up in an abusive family. I didn't know anything about giving someone a whooping and it's all he knew. He just beat the snot out of me while I pushed him around - honestly, he probably needed the win… But when I was in college I took a kickboxing class and learned a little about fighting.  I can remember this friend who asked me if I wanted to fight and he and I went at it - it was friendly boxing, but we really went at it.   Here's what I learned - The person who is trained and ready for a fight has the ability to stand in a way the untrained and unready cannot… Church, I'm calling you to fight I need you to fight I feel like right now there are a handful fighting Satan doesn't fight fair and it's time we stand in the authority we've been given. I'm going to commit to fasting for your marriages this week and relationships -if you have a need for someone to fight for you, come down here and have one of our prayer warriors fight for you… I hope you'll join me in fasting too

Are we living like the reality of eternity matters? It's time to get real about our future and what happens when we die. Tune in Sunday and hear Kent unpack what the bible says about where we go after we die and what that might look like! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Did any of you grow up going to haunted houses? I went almost every year growing up. There was something about standing in line to get the tar scared out of you. To come face to with some of your nightmares is incredibly scary. Today, we are going to talk about the afterlife Specifically, What happens to us when we die? Where do we go? What do we know about the afterlife? The biggest thing I want you to know is that if you are in Christ, nothing we talk about today, should scare you: 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. At the end of the day, even if what we walk through today, some of it may feel like a horror house, for those of you who are in Christ - you are safe - because he who is in you is greater than the one in the world. So, I want to give you .. Some ground rules 1. I will point out where the Bible is clear and specific 2. I will point out when the bible is not clear and leaves room for interpretation 3. I will tell you when something is my opinion So, let's jump into it: What happens to a Christian when they die? -do you become a naked baby that's interested in archery? -are you singing on a cloud with a harp? -do you become an angel? Most Christians believe their eternal/final resting place will be in heaven (a spiritual reality) - but this is not what the scriptures say: Revelation 21:1 & 3 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Our final resting place will be a physical reality - similar to our current reality. It will not be this dry boring place - when you read the descriptions of eternity - the things that we consider precious on earth are used as paving stones… So, when is this new heaven and earth established? there will be a great war - armageddon -all the peoples of the earth will gather to war against God -and the battle is just over… After it, Rev says this… Revelation 20:11-15 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. ILLUSTRATION: Normally when you see someone being convicted of a crime - they pay for what they did, but in Rev 20 -the offended is God Himself and when He opens the book of life, all He sees is your name with Jesus' blood covering it -you are forgiven… Those with no relationship with Christ will be cast into the lake of fire Isaiah 66:24 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” What about those who have already died? What happens between now and the judgment? Where do we go? What is that existence like? B For Christians, we go to the spiritual reality that most of us think about when we think about heaven. Philippians 1:21-24 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Paul understood that If he were to die, he would “be with Christ” While Jesus was on the cross, the thieve asked him to remember him, and Jesus said, Luke 23:43 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 & 6-8 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So, in death, the follower of Jesus is not simply unconscious awaiting the judgment. They are translated into a spiritual reality with Christ. So, just A couple of quick questions: 1. Do the dead know or care about what is going on here and now? 2. Do dead people watch what goes on here? Revelation 6:9-10 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” The martyrs under the altar clearly care about ending the suffering on earth, but it is not clear if they are actively observing it Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us Lots of people have connected this passage to saying dead Christians are watching us as a cloud of witnesses -but the cloud of witnesses is clearly describing the faithful in Chapter 11 - they those who have run the race before us and cheer us on It is not clear if the cloud of witnesses is meant to be taken as them literally watching your every moment. B We do know that Jesus was watching Stephen as he was killed for his belief in Jesus. Acts 7:55-56 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Luke 15 Jesus tells two parables that say all heaven rejoices when a sinner repents So, do dead Christians pay attention to us? Maybe? We don't really know. My opinion - as long as it doesn't become an obsession, it's not a “wrong” thing to think someone might be looking down on you. 2. Will we become angels when we die? This is a misapplication of Matt. 22:29-32 where Jesus says we become LIKE angels in regards to marriage Note: this passage also shows how God is the God of the living, not the dead - He speaks of ancient Jewish superstars as though they are alive So, what happens to those who do not know Christ before the judgment? I'm going to give you a few possibilities: 1. They go to Hades (Sheol in Old Testament) The parable in Luke 16 with a rich man and a leprous beggar - Lazarus who both die - the rich man dies and he goes to hades… the leper goes to Abraham's bosom. -it is possible that those who die who are wicked - those who die apart from the forgiveness of Jesus go to hades, essentially hell. 2. Their souls roam around in a spiritual wasteland that is dry and arid, searching for bodies to inhabit - this = “Hades” It just got freaky, right? Let me give you a quick argument for this one And let me be clear What I am saying is that the demons the New Testament speaks of are the disembodied souls of wicked people - what we would call a ghost. B “But I thought demons were fallen angels?” B There is no biblical evidence for this - the bible speaks of demons and fallen angels separately, but never equates the two. The Bible refers to demons as wicked impure or unclean spirits that possessed people and caused either mental or physical ailments and were under the authority of Satan (Beelzebub) Alexander Campbell - the founder of our movement of Christian churches wrote a great article on why we should think of demons as the disembodied souls of the wicked, I'm going to give you the quick version During the time of Jesus, the popular belief of the Greek/Roman world, the Jewish world, and the first couple centuries of Christian writers was that Demons were the disembodied souls of people - what we would call ghosts -actually, the Romans and Greeks thought of demons as good things - spirits that gave them special wisdom -it is only in the New Testament that we learn they are unclean spirits - meaning not of God When Jesus interacts with and confronts demons - He never corrects the thinking to say, “You've heard demons were dead people, but they are angels”. Instead, He operates within the assumption. With this concept in mind, listen to this passage where Jesus talks about unclean spirits: Matthew 12:43 43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. If impure spirits are those of people who are not with Christ, it would mean that those who die without Christ are roaming around in a spiritual desert, their only respite is to possess a human body and gain control over it - they seek out to be in the form that they have known their entire life… this is a terrifying proposition in my mind. Jesus understood how terrifying this whole prospect was Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I've had lots of scary moments in my life. Recently I made a super dumb choice while driving. It was only by the grace of God I didn't kill both myself and my wife. I pulled out with a car coming from the left and one from the right I didn't see. I ended up fish tailing and missing death by inches. You ever had one of those moments where you preempt your wife and you're like, "I know that was dumb..." Normally I'm pretty cool in those moments, but in that one, I knew we were inches from death. My heart was beating a million miles an hour thinking about the consequences of my actions... Some of you are closer to death than you know and you are acting like the consequences of your actions don't matter. I promise you. One day you will stand in front of the creator of the universe and you will be asked one question. What did you do with Jesus. If you chose to follow Him to let Him be your redeemer your name will be in the lambs book of life and you will walk with God. If not, you will have a wasteland of hell before you. Please, Please choose Jesus! It is time for you to turn on your old life and run away from it, leave it all behind…

What if God gave you exactly what you wanted for eternity? Would it be heaven or hell? Think about it while Kent digs deep into what the Bible says about hell. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I'm convinced hell is either going to be having to listen to kids fight over shotgun in a car or eternally helping kids with their common core math problems. Lol. Ha! What do you guys think about hell? I used to go to lunch with this guy who described himself as the guy who would be driving the bus to hell… I always thought, “either you don't know what hell really is or you don't believe it, because if you knew and believed, you'd have the hell scared out of you…” What about you? Do you know what the bible says about hell? Do you believe what it says about hell? Today's sermon is going to be a bit different. Today I want to ask and answer questions that I think you might have and attempt to give you a foundational way to think about the idea of hell… First, what is hell? Most of us have a picture of hell that's like those old cartoons with a red guy and a pitchfork who is torturing people for all of eternity… Our image of hell comes more from Dante's inferno than from the bible… Actually the word hell is a word we've used to translate several other words in the New Testament… One of the main ones that Jesus used was Gehenna Gehenna - was a trash dump outside Jerusalem where ancient kings had sacrificed their children. The trash was burned with sulphur and bodies of criminals were dumped there. b Jesus uses this picture to describe the place where those who are outside of a relationship with God will end up. The book of revelation says it this way: Revelation 20:10, 13-15 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Hades is used in the place of the Hebrew idea of Sheol (the underworld)… Hell is a place of eternal torment. but why? are people being poked with sticks for eternity? I don't think so, here's what I think it is… Colossians 1:15-17 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. The lake of fire, or hell is a place where those who have not chosen Jesus are given what they want, an existence apart from God (and ultimately Christ) b in Jesus, all things are held together. They are tormented because there is no longer a glue to reality - all things eternally separating. This is what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might ILLUSTRATION: CS Lewis paints an incredible picture of this in his book The Great Divorce where he imagines people in hell getting a chance to go to heaven and choose it. They ultimately choose hell because in hell they get whatever they want, even though it's not real - it costs them nothing and is worth nothing, it's only an illusion, if they want a house, they get a house, but it can do nothing to stop the rain from coming through. And because of this, they are constantly moving further and further away from everyone else going deeper and deeper into their own selfish desires… Listen, God doesn't send people to hell, He just gives them what they want… This is why Jesus will say things like, “If your eye causes you to stumble, it's better to rip out your eye than to go to hell with both eyes. YOU are choosing which life you want to live… But Kent, that still doesn't feel fair or right, what if I've lived a good life, just because I didn't choose Jesus? I'd probably ask you what is a good life? Do you just mean you are better than other people who are more terrible than you? I would probably ask you, “you have done some things you are not proud of, correct?” You've probably lied, or cheated, or had adulterous thoughts… Our problem is base our goodness on being better than someone else, but the standard is God… And the problem is what I have done hurts others… EXAMPLE: When I was a kid, I was pretty overweight. I would come home at night and go into my room and cry into my pillow because people would say horrible things to me, making fun of me. Even as an adult I've had people call me a whale and other terrible things… Here's my question. What should God do with those people who have made fun of me? If he just forgives them do they just get away with it? What about Justice for me? What about Justice for you? What about child abusers? Where do you draw the line on it's ok for God to sweep this little infraction under the carpet but not this one? Listen, God's love for all people demands Him to have a line of Justice for all wrongs committed. b It would be unloving to the person who had sin perpetrated upon them to just simply forgive the perpetrators with no penalty for the sin… But listen to what Romans says Romans 3:25-26 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. God doesn't send people “good people” to hell because there is no one who is actually good. b Instead, He gives all of us a way out of our sin, to receive Jesus' blood in the place of our own. Did you see it? God left our sins unpunished… This is what is shocking about God if you ask me, it's not that at some point He has a punishment, but it's that He is willing to for so long leave sin unpunished…. His mercy and His grace are so much beyond ours… CLOSING: At the end of all time, after all have died and Jesus has returned, the scripture tells us that God will bring out a book of life - it in it will be everyone's name who choose to follow Jesus for life. God will begin judging mankind on what we have done, but if your name is in the book, you will get to cut the line… It won't be because of how good you were, but because you were willing to lay down your life and admit how bad you were and accept His free sacrifice and gift for you. Can I just tell you something? Today, I believe there are people in this room who are going to hell, God will give you what you've been wanting. You still have time to choose Him. To choose the way the truth and the life. To have your name written in the lambs book of life through faith. All it takes is repenting of your sin and turning to a life with Jesus… The with God life!

Ever thought about why death feels so unnatural and final? Does God actually take our loved ones from us? How does your view of death shape how you live your life? Let's wrestle with these big questions together. Join us as Kent helps us dive into the hope Jesus offers. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Did you know originally gasoline was just a byproduct of creating Kerosene? I wonder what the conversation was when the sales team came up with how to turn a profit on it… “We've cracked gas-o-lean conundrum! Picture this, Met-tal tanks…” “Metal tanks?” “Metal tanks!” “Hmm, that should work as long as you don't put it near open flame or electrical” “Oh no, it'll be surrounded with electrical equipment and flames, but the flames will be VERY small…” “Hmm… Ok… we can probably make that work, just make sure any human is at least 50 yards away…” “We plan on strapping them on top of the tank…” “ok, ok… hmm, well, as long as the environment is stable…” “Yeah, the plan is to put wheels under it and hurl it at speeds of at the most, AT THE MOST 90 mph… but the roads will be super smooth, so…” “yeah, that sounds a little dangerous… I guess if I'm on the road by myself with the tank of highly explosive fuel, It will probably be fine as long as there's some safety equipment around it…” “for sure, it'll be safe, we're putting bags in it.” “bags? how will they stop the potential for explosion” “oh they won't, they're to protect your face from being ripped off in case you crash into someone else” “someone else, are you going to have other people around you?” “well, not around you, they'll be hurtling towards you at no more than 90 mph with their own metal tanks…” [quiet resignation to the inevitable] “Just do whatever you want…” Have you ever thought about how crazy humans are? You know they say a teaspoon of water will drown you… We're like, “hmm, maybe I'll fill a pool with that stuff and play in it then…” Ha Humans have an incredible capacity to ignore the potential for death in the world around us… I think this is because if we had to confront the potential for our own lives to be ended at every moment, it would completely cripple us. There are people who are plagued with this kind of anxiety and they can't leave their house… Today, I want to short-circuit your ability to ignore death and instead put it under a microscope. b I want to give you some theological perspectives on death. “Death feels almost unnatural”  ILLUSTRATION: I don't know if you have ever felt this way, but I remember one of the first times I was really confronted with a close personal death. It was my grandpa Wagner. I was really close with him and when he died I didn't really have a way to cope with it. I was an adult in ministry, I knew all the right answers that he was with God - he had been a Godly man who loved Jesus. But apart from everything I “knew” I kept having this thought “This doesn't feel natural…” That seems funny doesn't it, but if you have lost a loved one, you know what I'm talking about, it doesn't feel like it was meant to be this way… So, I did what I always do - I took my questions to Jesus and to the scripture. (which by the way, should be your response too) I started studying death in the scripture and that's when I came upon something that I knew but had never really connected with deeply… Listen to this… Genesis 3:2-3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” Now here's the deal, Adam and Eve don't immediately die - that's what this sounds like at first blush - if they eat the fruit they will die. What does happen though is mankind enters into a cursed state Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” God's original intention for mankind does not include death. Death is a consequence of mankind unhitching from God. b But there are echoes in our hearts of the good intentions of God. Solomon identifies this desire in us by saying Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has also set eternity in the human heart… Death doesn't feel natural because you were created to live forever and something inside you still knows this… It feels wrong because it is wrong! b This is why Jesus matters so much. 2. “Death feels so final” Illustration: It really does doesn't it? Death feels like a grand end. The world keeps moving when someone dies too, which just amplifies the finality. I can remember walking through Walmart after my dad had died feeling like my feet had been swept out from under me and no one else seemed even to care. I stepped into a dressing room so I could let my tears out… Death feels like an end. the scripture says it this way… Hebrews 9:27 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment Death is an end… It is the in-between time(birth-death) when God uses the God sized hole in your heart to try and draw you to Himself. Because, look at what the author of Hebrews says about Jesus coming into the world: Hebrews 9:28 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. or listen to Hebrews 2:14-15 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Jesus came to rescue us from the curse of sin and break the power the devil (the serpent) held over us, death. b Jesus came to set you free! This is why it was VITAL for Jesus to raise from the dead - because his death broke the power and his life showed us we no longer had to be afraid. Death is not final for the followers of Jesus! 3. “Why would God take my loved one?” ILLUSTRATION: Some of the worst things people say are to those who have lost someone to death. We say things like “God must have needed them more than we did” or “God must have needed an angel” or “it must have been the Lords timing.” The assumption is God kills people whenever He wants and that this is all part of God's grand plan. Maybe…? This idea is based on bad theology… It is based on a handful of poetic passages (Job 14:5, Psalm 139:16) that are not trying to teach us authoritatively how to think about God. b -What the scripture does teach is -death is part of our fallen world. -The world is full of wicked and sinful people. -God has given people free will and we all make our own decisions (this is why Christians are taught to say “your will not mine”) b Scripture teaches death is a sting of sin, not a sting from God. God came to rescue you from the effects of death… CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: There has been a lot of damage done to peoples faith because of this bad theology. I think some of the worst is it's caused people to look at God as the villain in their story instead of the victor. Can I just share what I think God's response is to death and the suffering we all endure when it occurs? The best way to show it is to tell you a story: Jesus had a really good friend who died. His name was Lazarus and Jesus wasn't there when he died. Lazarus' sisters take Jesus to task for this, “you could have healed him”. This is when Jesus says the famous words, “I am the resurrection and the life”. There is a peculiar little verse in this passage, the smallest verse in the whole bible. Jesus knows he's going to resurrect Lazarus. He knows He is going to make it all right, but He sees everyone else weeping and the scripture says “he was deeply moved” look what the scripture tells us about Jesus: John 11:35 35 Jesus wept. Jesus knew He was going to restore Lazarus and still he wept with them. God isn't taking your loved ones from you, He's weeping with you that death still is at work… but not for long Jesus came to set us free, he said blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. You don't have to be tied to and by the fear of it. You don't have to ignore it anymore, you can overcome it… Turn to Jesus today, come forward and accept him. Let's talk about salvation.

Are we really investing in the next generation or just hoping they'll turn out OK? Let's talk about what it means to fan the flame in their lives. Join Kent this Sunday! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I have a bad habit of trying to start a camp fire with as little kindling as possible. I'm the guy that is down there blowing on the tiniest spark possible trying to get it to take - I'll baby a fire for hours trying to get it to ignite. A few years back I was at an event where I was trying to get the fire going - the wood had been a little wet and I had tried my normal of lighting a little cardboard, working it to try and build it up and ignite a full log. I was sitting there getting super frustrated that nothing was igniting and really starting when this older guy came over and said, “what ya doing?” I was mad and told him I was trying to get a fire going. He asked me if he could help. I let him, but internally was fuming. I didn't need any help. He started teaching me about fire, and to be honest, I didn't want to hear anything he was saying. He started talking about how I was never going to get the log lit doing what I was doing. I was like, “Oh yeah, what do you know” in my mind…. :). He started talking about how you have to build a bed of coals first and take it slow and start small to build up to the bigger fire. You ever tried to help a teenager with something they are sure they know how to do already? Lol, that was me with this guy. I was rolling my eyes inside my head as he talked. I'd built so many fires… As he was talking he was breaking off little pieces of wood and trying to get sticks to catch, and slowly adding more little pieces of kindling and getting those to catch and in about 15 minutes he had a full fledged fire going and I was on fire on the inside. Because I realized something about myself. I'm wired for instant gratification… aren't you? -If I have a thought, I instantly look up the answer -If I want to eat, I get food -If I want to buy something, I buy it If I want a fire now, I just want it to work… The problem is, some things still take time and diligence. b I wanted a return with no investment.. I wanted growth with no sacrifice… We've been talking now for a month about “For the Next Generation”… We've been looking at what it takes for us to set up the next generation for success… But can I tell you a secret, Investing in a generation takes, well, investment… I want to show you an example of this in a passage that most of us would probably not spend much time on… Listen to it… This comes at the end of Paul's life. He is in prison and facing death. As far as we know, this was Paul's last letter and he died sometime after this. It is an intimate letter written to Timothy who had traveled with Paul and who Paul left in charge of the church. This is what Paul says to Timothy… Paul is remembering Timothy - he tells him he's in his prayers night and day and that he remember's Timothy's tears - we don't know why there were tears, but Paul and Timmy had the kind of relationship that was intimate and important - it was weighty… Listen to what he says about him… 2 Tim 1:5-7 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ILLUSTRATION: When my dad passed away, we only had 2 of our 4 kids, one of the saddest things to me is that my kids will never really know my dad. They know him through videos and stories, but that's it. But that's not really true, they know my dad because they know me. I have his sense of humor and his laugh, I actually see lots of my dad even in my kids who didn't know him. Why is that? It's because what was in him is now in me… Paul says of Timothy that his sincere faith lived first in his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice… b Timothy's faith was not just a product of his own intellect or desire to follow God, he was a product of people making weighty investments in his life. You might not know this, but Timothy didn't have all the cards stacked in his favor. Timothy's father was not a believer (as far as we can tell) what we are told about him in Acts 16 is that he is a Greek or gentile. We do know that Timothy wasn't circumcised even though his mom was a Jewish woman. In Judaism lineage follows the mother - that means by all rights - for Timothy's mother Eunice - she would have considered Timothy as Jewish. And yet she did not perform the ceremony that would initiate the covenant upon him - it is Paul who does this. Paul also calls Timothy his son in several places. We can only make conjecture about this, but I think there its a reasonable conclusion to say that Timothy's father was at the very least not supportive of the faith he had and the faith of his mother. Timothy needed these three relationships to become the young man of God he was - he needed his grandma, his mother, and Paul (an outside influence). b I keep asking myself, who will be the 3 in the lives of each of the kids in our church? -who will be the ones encouraging them when they are struggling -who will be the ones who have invested in weighty relationships? -who will be the ones who have cared and listened and encouraged? b Who was it for you? Who was the person or persons that you look back on and can see how they made a difference in your faith? The reason Paul can say the next thing to Timothy is because he's earned the right through investing in him… listen: 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. Paul can call Timothy to blow on the fire of his faith and giftedness because he had been a part of it… What would it look like for us to invest in the next generation so that we could one day call them to blow on the coal and set the world ablaze for Jesus? b How do we do that? CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Years ago when I was a youth pastor I was struggling because our youth group would grow and then it would inevitably shrink back down to a certain size no matter what I did. I couldn't figure it out. I took some of my interns and started having them do an informal survey across lots of churches of different sizes. They called these churches and asked them about the size of their church and the size of their youth group. What I found was in general a church's youth group - teenagers was about 15% of the size of the congregation. The bigger the church the smaller the percentage… that's when it hit me… If I wanted to reach more teenagers, I had to reach more adults. I needed to change families, not just kids…. Here's my secret. I never left youth ministry. My goal is to make you all youth ministers. For you to start to see the value of investing in the next generation. How do we do it? We give them our time We treat them like they matter We ask hard questions and call them to more (fan the flame) Who are you investing in? -it's ok if it's your kids or leading a small group or whatever There is a coal underneath all this wood of our church - it's time we start to blow on it and set the world ablaze…

What's one thing that's holding us back from inviting people to know Jesus? Let's tackle that together this Sunday with Kent's message. Don't miss it! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill-in-the-blank bulletins at my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Have I ever told you guys the story of asking Jenni out?  I was the youth pastor at our church and I was preaching some and leading worship at our young adults service.  Jenni was a teacher and went to church at that service.  I had tried everything.  I started a singles bible study she came to, I invited her and a bunch of friends over to hang out, but the thing I could never figure out was how to ask her out.  Think about how weird it would be for your pastor to ask you out… lol.  I didn't know what to do, so finally I just decided, I'm just gonna do it.  So, I put together the best sermon I ever preached, people were laughing, and crying, and I had them all in the palm of my hand.  Afterward, I walked quickly around the back of the room and to the side where Jenni was sitting.  As everyone started to leave I walked down her row, and she said “That was a really good sermon”  I said, “Thanks…  wanna go out sometime?”  Lol, she literally started walking backward away from me.  I was like, “Or maybe I could get your phone number or something…”  Finally, her friend forced her to give her number to me… Lol, normally I say, “and the rest is history” can I tell you a secret? If I had never asked, Jenni never would have said “yes"… I know this isn't a revolutionary idea, but it's an important one… If you don't ask, people can't say “Yes” because you've already said “No” for them. I want to read something Paul said about the question he was asking people all the time… 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. b Paul became all things, to all people so that every person he met had the opportunity to say “Yes” to Jesus… I don't know about you, but that challenges me… I feel the same fear about talking with people about Jesus that I felt about asking Jenni out… I'm worried about how I'll be perceived I'm worried they might ask me something I won't know the answer to I'm worried I might lose a relationship with the person… What about you? Do you find it easy to talk to people about Jesus or are there barriers? b What is it that was different about Paul than us? What was it that made him so adamant about telling people? I think to answer that, we have to go back and look at Paul's story. Can I read you a little piece from Acts 8? Acts 8:3 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Saul's name will later be changed to Paul when He becomes a Christian. This is the same guy… ILLUSTRATION: Paul was the guy who would walk into this room and grab women and children, husbands, and the elderly, and drag them out. Can you picture him dragging a woman by her hair out of her home, her husband in cuffs yelling for Saul to get his hands off of her, their children screaming and curled up in a ball weeping… for those of you who know this story, Saul will be on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians. Jesus will appear to him and blind him. He will send Saul into the city and tell a man named Ananias to go and pray over Saul. Acts 9:15-16 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Saul is changed forever… He goes from persecuting to populating the church b What made Paul so adamant about telling people about the love of God in Jesus? b Paul had experienced the unmatched, unfathomable, unmerited grace of God as a matter of fact, this is what Paul said when he was writing to his protege Timothy about God's grace to him… 1 Timothy 1:15-16 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. You know what's interesting to me about this passage where Paul is saying, Jesus came into the world to save sinner, of whom I am the worst. I've heard lots of people talk about Paul with this, but I don't know that I've ever heard a sermon on what Paul says right before that… “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:” b Paul is not just saying this about himself, he's saying it as a statement that is true of us all and should be our calling card as Christ's Followers... "Deserves full acceptance." b What if the reason we are really afraid to tell people, is because we don't know the full extent of what we were saved from? b We don't recognize that our sin is just as devastating to us as Saul's sin was. I get it, you may not be murdering people or dragging them out of their houses, but it doesn't mean you don't have the capability.  It doesn't mean that your sin is just as evil in the eyes of God… Romans 3:23-24 23 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. b All of our sins separated us from God equally. It is by the gift of God that we are invited back into a relationship with God. b What drove Paul to tell people and offer them the opportunity to say “Yes” to Jesus was that Paul understood exactly what He had been given… People want to know about truth, people freedom from the consequences of sin - they are dying for it because our world only offers surface-level answers… So, how do you know when to have these conversations - what I do is I look for the Not's Look for the “Not's” - for the times when people say, “I 'm not doing well” “I'm not from around here” “I'm not going to church” CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Jenni will tell you when she really said “yes” to me was not when I asked her at church.  As a matter of fact, she did her best to ignore me.  What got her was when she was in a town 4 hours away prom dress shopping for her little sister.  Her older sister said, took Jenni's phone and called me to ask a question.  She then said, “You wanna go prom dress shopping with us?”  and I said, “Sure” and drove 4 hours to be with her.  Jenni said that was the moment she knew I was the guy, who drives 4 hours to go prom dress shopping with someone for their little sister.  What she didn't know is I already wanted her to be my girl…  Listen, when you invite someone into a relationship with Jesus, it's scary and feels a little odd, but at least for me, when I found out that God Himself had come to die for me to forgive me my sins and give me a new life with Him where I was forgiven, for me, it was when I knew…  You are not inviting people to a myth or a story, you are inviting them to know the God that is already in love with them and came for them… This morning, some of you need to come and know Jesus and others of you need to decide you are going to give people in your world the opportunity to say “yes”

How do we help our kids fall in love with Jesus and live as fully activated disciples?

What will your mark on the Kingdom be? Let's explore together the legacy we're building. Catch Kent's sermon this Sunday and be inspired! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins at my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: My uncle Lou died in his forties.  I can remember, I was a freshman in high school and I can kind of remember that it wasn't going well.  My parents had gone to the hospital that was about 4 hours away to be with him.  I remember them coming home after he passed and the darkness as my dad dealt with the pain of losing his brother.  We were sitting there and my dad was talking about the last few days of my uncle's life.  He started chuckling and said, you know your uncle Lou wasn't doing very well and your uncle Roger was in the room with him..  He said, Lou motioned for Roger to come over and hold his hand….  He mumbled something softly and Roger leaned down to hear him.  Lou looked at him and whispered, “Pull my finger…”  lol, that tells you everything you need to know about Wagners…  Ha… We all have a legacy we leave for those who follow us. b Every one of us is promised just a few things We are born, We live, We die… b It's all the in-between stuff that sets one person apart from another. You have a legacy you are setting up to leave. Some of you are being intentional about it and some of you are not… What kind of spiritual legacy do you want to leave? What are the kind of faith stories you want to be told about you after you are gone? I want to take you into the story of someone who understood legacy, I want to then look at your own life and I want to challenge you to take a stand… SCRIPTURE: King David from the Old Testament is an old man at this point. He has been planning on building a temple for God as his crowning achievement. But God speaks to him and tells him because he is a man of war and bloodshed he is not going to be the one to build the temple, it will be his son. I don't know if you've ever had a dream of yours taken from you, but for David, this had to crush him. He had plans on what the building should look like, he had purchased the land for it. I've stood there in this magnificent spot in Israel. David stood there and knew everything he had put together for it was going to become someone else's. Listen to what He does… 1 Chronicles 29:1-3 (NIV) Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. David knows what he is asking Solomon to do, is going to take a lot from him. It's funny, the Hebrew word for inexperienced is “soft”. David knows Solomon hasn't faced the challenges that he has faced. He doesn't have what he's going to need to face the world that's in front of him. Isn't that true for every generation? ILLUSTRATION: I remember as a kid my dad telling me he was worried for us about what we were going to have to face as adults and now with my own kids, I feel the same way. David saw the challenges Solomon would have to face and was determined to set him up for success. That's what this whole series is about. It came out of these verses. I thought, “What an incredible thing that David took what He had and set his son up to be successful in this endeavor… What would it look like for us to set up our kids and the generations to come to undertake the mission of God in this world and to be resourced to do so? We have dreams for the next generation as a church, as a matter of fact, it's one of the places we put the most resources. b We want to expand and build out parts of our building that have never been developed to open up additional space for kid's ministry b We invest in staffing for our kid's ministry and see a need in the future to continue to expand those roles. b We want to reach more families and individuals and have them connect with the good news of Jesus in a way that leads them to become fully activated disciples for Jesus! It's honestly a palatial dream. What are your dreams? Listen to what David does to set Solomon up for success…. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise,[a] stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. 3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: David personally gave: 100 tons of gold 250 tons of refined silver In today's economy, a rough estimate of the amounts we are talking about is $6.11 billion in gold and $177.6 million in silver… There was something about David that got him to say, I'm all in… “With all my resources” Look, this is not a sermon to try and get you to “give more” to the church, although that's not a bad thing. My real goal for this sermon is to get you to pull your eyes up to look at something bigger than what you currently look at… I want you to think larger when it comes to your future than just your future… I want you to seek first the Kingdom of God even in your future planning… I really hope you will be asking a question like this: What will my mark on the Kingdom be? What will my Kingdom legacy be? CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: There is a family in West Texas that none of you have even heard of, but who has had a direct impact on you and what God is doing in your life here in Kentucky and the impact started in the late 1900's.  This family owned a home-building company that became super successful.  They started making lots of money and began to become very wealthy.  But they also loved Jesus a lot.  They were faced with the same question most of us are faced with, “What will I do with what I've been given?”  They knew if they left all their wealth to their kids it would set their kids up for success and they'd be wealthy, probably for generations, but they also knew their kids didn't love Jesus and their money would just go to satisfying their worldly desires.   They made a really tough call, they decided that they wanted their wealth to be used for the Kingdom of God. So they did something unusual.  They started a foundation to ask how can we invest in Kingdom endeavors.  They gave significantly to their church.  But one thing they decided to do was help young men and women who had a heart for ministry to be able to go to college without owing a penny when they graduated.  One of the young pastors they ended up giving a full ride to was a young guy named Kent.  I have always understood the sacrifice and gift that was given to me.  Honestly, at times it was what kept me in ministry, that these people gave their resources - gave it all for the kingdom.   Their legacy will be SO much more than they were rich and got to be snowbirds when they were old… That's the American dream, right?  get to the point where you turn back into a teenager with money and an old body? What if the dream instead was to take as many people with me to heaven as possible? What would it look like for you? How would you give? would you be paying for kids to go to camp and on trips? Would you be sponsoring kids to go to bible college? Would you be asking Shawn for a list of kids to be praying for? This isn't just something for those with money - it's about perspective. It's about aiming your heart. What would it look like for you to aim your heart like David did today, at setting up the next generation and leaving a mark on their hearts? Today, I want you to come up and write down what it is you want to see for the Kingdom of God on a piece of paper and leave it at the cross!

What are we doing with what we've been given for the Kingdom? Let's take some time to reflect on that together. Tune in this Sunday to explore this deeper with Kent. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. Interview with Staff What jobs have you held outside of ministry if any? What is the thing you hope for the people who serve in your ministry? What is one helpful thing you wish people knew about what goes on behind the scenes in ministry? Why do you do this? What in the world are you thinking - you could make more money in the business world, you could get insurance paid for you, you could be building up retirement. So, why do ministry? What was it that put the "why" in you? OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Give it up for our team!  Thank you guys for all you do for our church! You know, Ministry is a weird job. I've had calls at 2 in the morning from a kid whose mom just got thrown through a window and he needed me to talk him down from killing his stepdad.  I've woken up to a call to come over to someone's house and counsel them in the most dire of situations. I have sat by the bed of the dying and cared for them and met with countless couples who are considering throwing in the towel on their marriage.  On top of that we have daily concern for the spiritual life of those God has stewarded us with, even when they don't always personally care or think about it themselves. My job specifically I have to be able to lead with the business acumen of a CEO, be available for one-on-one counseling, be able to study like a scholar or professor, be able to get up and speak like a motivational speaker, be a manager and lead meetings, be humble, have a character that matters, be spiritually full to give to others who are spiritually hungry, be able to read a spreadsheet and talk to people who have never seen a spreadsheet. As a pastor, there are very few people you can actually be yourself with - most people feel like they can bear that burden, but the moment they find out their pastor struggles, they walk away.  It's extremely lonely. Why do we do it? Why would anyone choose ministry? ILLUSTRATION: Literally a few years back, before coming to Harmony, my brother called me and told me he was bummed because his Christmas bonus was going to be less that year. When he told me what the bonus would be, it hit me that his bonus was more than my entire salary for the year. Oof, that's tough… So, why would we do this? Why choose it? I chose this because I want to take as many people as I possibly can with me. b I want to see as many people as I can, find Jesus, and become His disciples.  Reminds me of the parable of the talents, you know the parable right? A landowner gives a few of his servants bags of gold, one gets 5, one gets 3, and one gets one bag of gold.  When the master comes back he finds out the guys that got 5 & 3 bags had invested it and doubled their money, but the other guy took his one bag and buried it.  The master berates him for just burying his gold instead of putting it to work for him.   Look, at the end of your life when you stand before Jesus, he's not going to ask you what cars you owned, or how big your house was. He's not going to ask how many subscribers you had to your YouTube channel or TickTock or how many days of vacation you didn't use. He's going to ask you one question, “What did you do with what you had for the Kingdom” You don't need to do what I do or Amber does. What you need to do is look at what you've been given and use it for the Kingdom. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: My favorite musician of all time was Rich Mullins - he was a Christian artist in the 90s who died tragically.  Rich had a passion for Native Americans and decided at some point to step away from his music career to be a missionary in New Mexico to the Navajo Indians. Rich tried it but was really struggling, it wasn't going like he thought it would.  He called his uncle and was talking to him and his uncle said, “Rich, you're not a very good missionary, but you are really good at making money.  Why aren't you making money and giving it to those who are good at being missionaries”  The reason I like Rich Mullins is not because he was a great musician, although he has some rich lyrics.  The reason I like him is because he decided he would be only be paid the average working man's salary and gave the rest of his money away.  Rich realized his job was to take as many with him as he could - not to hoard it all.  What are you good at you could use for the Kingdom? Are you good with kids? We need people in our kids ministry and student ministry. Are you someone people want to be around? Invite them to church with you. Are you good at making money? Redirect that to the Kingdom. You know, one of the biggest problems I think in Christianity is we professionalized it. Ephesians 4:11-13 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Look, Jesus didn't give me or our staff to do the ministry by ourselves b He gave us -> to equip you -> to do the works of service Today, I want to call you to something practical - we have this board out in the lobby that shows the holes in ministry that need to be filled.  We want you to pray and then go and fill those spots, to find your why, and to give it all for the Kingdom.

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Can I tell you a story? For thousands of years Christianity existed in fairly small churches for the most part. Primarily due to the fact that to travel much of a distance you had to harness up a horse. There were a few larger churches in cities, but for the most part they were pretty small This was the case until relatively recently in history… As the church began to grow new models of how to do church began to take center stage. One of the primary models that was front and center the last 20-30 years was something called “Attractional Church” This model used words like “Seeker Sensitive” b The basic premise was this: Your church needs to be attractive to people in order to keep them in the seats. Not bad, right, basically, make church cool and people will come. And it worked, until it became not cool to be a Christian. There are things that we believe that are no longer cool in our culture. Here's what model produced: we created a whole generation of Christians that were focused on what they liked rather than on what Jesus liked… And not their fault, it is what the church trained us to be… But that's not what Jesus was after Jesus was after disciples Listen to how Jesus described following Him Luke 9:57-62 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ILLUSTRATION: When I was in college, I wondered what it was like to be homeless - I know, I'm weird. So, I went out for a walk and decided I would sleep outside that night in the city. I never realized how freaky it was to sleep completely exposed with no protection, no one around you. When you sleep you are completely vulnerable. I ended up finding a bank and laying down in the light by their atm, but after about an hour I ended up going home… We don't know what happened with this man who said he'd follow Jesus where ever he'd go, but what we do know Jesus told him He was homeless - signaling, if you follow me you have to be willing to give up all your comforts Is this the Christianity you were sold? I have friends who have moved to other countries to follow Jesus, one of them literally lives in what we would consider poverty to share the gospel with people. Others put their lives on the line for Jesus. What level of uncomfortable are you willing to put up with to follow Jesus? ILLUSTRATION: I was challenged a couple months ago when I was leading a bible study with several men in Pakistan over zoom who had traveled from their homes to spend a weekend studying the scripture, only to go home to be persecuted. There was no fancy speaker, or big worship band, the only thing that drew them was Jesus. What level of uncomfortable would it take to keep you from Jesus? 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Can I ask you a question? How does Jesus' answer to this man strike you? does it strike you as harsh? Most of the time when I hear a preacher address this, they soften Jesus words - and maybe rightly so. -but I think Jesus was intensely harsh - or hard. There's a whole book on the hard sayings of Jesus It's why either Jesus is God or He's a lunatic, because no one should be allowed to speak like this. How would you respond to Jesus? b What gives Him the right to say things like this? b Do you give Him the right to say things like this in your life? ILLUSTRATION: I can remember when my kids were young I heard about some Christians who were brought out of their houses and parents were forced to watch as their children were executed in front of them. I remember struggling with God over this, if I was ever forced to do that, would I give up my faith? Then I realized, my kids are not mine, they are God's and I am just stewarding them… This passage reminds me of a time when lots of people left Jesus, He turned to His disciples and asked them if they were going to leave to? this is what Simon Peter said: John 6:68-69 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Who else would you go to? b The reason Christians, for thousands of years, have followed Jesus, even when it cost them everything, is because they were willing to give up what they had here and now for what is to come… 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” ILLUSTRATION: I didn't understand this till one of my friends in Western Kansas told me that when he was a kid, he and his other farm kid friends would all talk about whose dad could cut the straightest row. My friends and I talked about whose dad was strongest, but for a farmer, straight rows matter. Jesus is using farming language - he's saying if you put your hand to the plow to work for God, you can't be the kind of person who is always looking to go back to where you came from… See, Jesus' call to discipleship was an all in kind of discipleship. b BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Can I tell you a secret, did you know our church has 5 full time staff and 3 part time staff, we manage the entire organization of 500 people a week coming into this place and ministering to close to a thousand people all together. Do you know what we spend most of our time talking about? -How we can avoid competing with sports - because we know people will choose sports over church -How to try and make it as easy as possible to volunteer because we know if it's too hard we will end up with nothing -We struggle with how to find enough group leaders who are ready to lead others because we have lots of people wanting to be in groups, but very few people who are willing to lead a group -We spend inordinate amounts of time trying to decide if we are going to spend money here or there because our giving barely covers the expenses of running our church. These are the realities we deal with - you don't see it because we are good at making it look like everything is taken care of… I have dreams for our church - I would love to see us do missions trips and serve the poor in our community, but frankly we are so overwhelmed just trying to keep what we currently do afloat, to plug the holes. We have settled for being spiritual consumers rather than discipled contributors. b Jesus' dream was not a room full of people being pampered but a Kingdom of missionaries proclaiming the message of the King. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Several times in my life I've been confronted with a message where I could either shrink back or move forward. We've all been there, right, the coach that says “either you start showing up for practice or your off the team…” There are clarifying moments in life for us that help us to see things more clearly. We want to be a church who is all in for Jesus. We want you to become a fully activated disciple for Jesus. I'm standing up here asking if you are in with us… When I first started at Harmony I found out that the church had been in such a dire situation that we had stopped giving to Missions. I told our elders that we were going to give to missions 10% of everything that was given to the church and that I'd rather cut my salary than to cut missionaries. I will never forget getting up in front of the church and saying, “will you stand with us in this” - meaning will you stand in solidarity. But there was this older gentlemen who had a cane who when I said that shakily stood up. and with that, one by one others stood until everyone was standing. I want to ask you today, will you stand with us? let me be clear, I'm asking you to choose to be contributors in what God is doing at Harmony, not just spiritual consumers… We need you!

What's one step we can all take to feel less lonely and more connected? Join us this Sunday to find out! EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. OPENING ILLUSTRATION: One of the things I always loved about having little kids is how quickly they can become friends. If you've ever been around toddlers, you've seen it happen. They show up on the playground, walk over to another little kid - uninhibited and ask, “wanna play?” By the end your kid is asking if you can do a play date with them and telling you about their new best friend - they've planned their whole lives together… Let's be honest, as you get older, finding true friendship is hard. As a matter of fact, “In early 2024, the American Psychiatric Association's Healthy Minds Monthly Poll revealed that 30 percent of American adults felt lonely at least weekly over the past year, while 10 percent reported feeling lonely every day. Younger adults were particularly vulnerable, with 30 percent of those aged 18-34 saying they feel lonely daily or several times a week. These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing public health initiatives and interventions to combat loneliness on a national scale.” Have you ever wondered why we get lonely? What that is about? b It's because God created you for community Genesis 2:18 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” When God created humanity, He created us with an innate desire to be with other humans… God created you to be at your best when you're with others - in community Remember last week I told you Our hope for you is that you would become a fully activated disciple for Jesus b That doesn't happen in isolation, it happens in community. If it's true that most of us are struggling with feeling lonely If it's true that we were created for community and if it's true that it's hard to find true friendship as adults b What do we do? I'm gonna be straight up with you today My goal with this sermon is singular. I'm hoping you will sign up for a connect group at Harmony and give it a try. I want to give you 3 reasons You Need to Sign up for a Connect Group 1. Being in a group gives you people to stand with and to stand for Galatians 6:1-2 "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” My guess is most of you have friends, most of you have people who stand up for you. But my guess is very few of those relationships are intentional about challenging you to grow in Jesus. ILLUSTRATION: Years ago I was struck when I asked one of my buddies how his relationship with Jesus was and he said, “no one has ever asked me that before…” He had been a Christian for a long time and no one ever asked him how it was going… What about you? do you have people in your life who ask you how it's going? Who are there to carry your burdens and to confront you when you are stuck in sin? Paul is encouraging the Christians in Galatia to watch each others lives carefully and to carry one another's burdens. What would be different about your life if when your relationship was struggling you didn't just have people who sided with you and told you to dump your spouse, but people who said hard things to you about your own attitude? What if when you were struggling with your kids you had someone who reminded you of the blessing they were that God had put in your life? What if when you had to rush to the ER to take your wife who was having appendicitis you had a group you could call who would rush over to watch your kids for you? Why in the world are you going at this Christianity thing alone? Who told you that was a good idea? 2. Being in a group challenges your assumptions and pushes you to grow Prov 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” ILLUSTRATION: Toyota has a cultural principle called Kaizen, right? It's the idea of continual improvement. That nothing is ever a finished product. What would it look like to apply that concept to your faith? One of the things that a group does is push you on ideas you have held about God. They help to shape you and to challenge you. ILLUSTRATION: There was a period of time when I dabbled at making knives. I would always thing about this passage when I would use a file on a knife to smooth out rough parts. Listen, as Americans we are fiercely independent, which can be a really good thing. But when it comes to your faith, you need to see and experience others and be challenged by someone outside of yourself. It's the secret to turbocharging your experience with Jesus. The more you rub shoulders with people who are further along than you, the sharper your own faith becomes. 3. Being in a group provides encouragement when life is tough Heb 10:24-25 "24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." ILLUSTRATION: Just a moment of transparency. A while back I was really struggling with life. I went to David Burchfield, one of my friends at church and I said, “I really just don't like life right now, I don't need you to do anything, but I just needed someone to know”. This is going to blow your mind, but, if you're not around someone, you can't encourage them… The reason the author of Hebrews says to not give up meeting together is so we can spur one another on, encouraging each other. Most people think of church as worship and preaching, but at its core, the church is the body of Christ gathering to encourage one other to stay in the fight! -preaching is my part in that, worship is Anthony & Teams part -you have a part to play too. I keep wondering, what would it look like if the entire church - every person sitting out there decided to be a fully activated disciple - it doesn't take much more than being around Jesus and being around people. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: One of the reasons little kids can make friends so quickly is they haven't learned a different way of life.  They haven't been rejected, hurt, abandoned, mistreated, etc.  They just see a person and want to be friends with that person.  We get that's not you.  You've had lots of these terrible things in your life.  That's why we've done the hard work for you to put together groups you can sign up for. You can sign up and Amber will help match you with a crop that's a good fit.   One of the most impactful things in my life has been the Christians I've surrounded myself with. I still have a group of guys I go to that I met years ago that was formed into a group. God created you for community are you ready to take the step to grow in your faith and become fully activated for Jesus?

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Oh man, it's SO good to be back up here preaching to you guys. It's one of my favorite things to do with you guys. Didn't our guest preachers do a great job! Can you guys believe Summer is almost over? Ugh, I've been trying to keep my heart from accepting that fact. Have you ever gone on a trip in the summer where you have all these hopes for the trip - “I've needed this trip SO bad!” and then you get there and EVERY single thing seems to go wrong? Years ago, Jenni and I went to NYC, it was over her birthday and I had one hope for the trip, to get Jenni a cannoli in NYC. So, I found the best cannoli in the city, I researched it and planned this whole sneak attack. We went to pizza with some friends, when Jenni went to the restroom to wash her hands my friends slipped out and I started taking Jen on this little adventure. We walked through the streets of NYC making our way to Little Italy, Jenni kept being like, “what is this” all the anticipation was building. I had checked online and the cannoli shop was open till 10pm and it was 9pm as we started towards the shop. We could see a couple guys standing outside looking like they were shutting down the shop, so I told Jen we had to run over there. I could tell these guys were going to locking up for the night early, so I said, “hey aren't you guys open till 10?” they said, “yeah, but tonight we've got a party to get to.” You know the moment in a Hallmark movie where they guy does some big gesture to show the girl how much he loves her? I knew this was my moment, I said, “look, it's my wife's birthday and we've come all the way from Kansas for the best Cannoli in NYC, can we just slip in and buy one cannoli before you lock up for the night…” The guy looked at me in my flannel and jeans, he paused for a moment and then said, “nah, we gotta get outa here…” Lol, I was crushed! We all know what it's like to have a hope crushed don't we? -hope that girl or guy was going to be the one and say yes and they said no -hope to get offered the job only to not get a call back -hope to get on the last flight home only to have all the seats full Our leadership at the church as been talking about one question over the past few months b “What do we hope for those who come to Harmony” -I don't mean for all 500 of you, I mean you What do I hope God will do in YOUR life through YOUR time at this church. b We are working hard in the background to try and ensure that we are designing what we do in order to answer that question… I don't want you to get to the end of your life or the end of your time here and feel like it was all for nothing - I want things for you! I believe God wants things FOR you! b So, How do we keep you from feeling like the door is shut in your face? How do we help you find those the things God wants for you and start to learn to walk into them? b That's the question we're going to try and answer through this sermon series. Jesus told us very clearly what His hope for you was… Listen Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” if you went to bible college, when your professor talked about this passage, what they would tell you is the imperative in the verses is to “make disciples”. What Jesus wants for you, what I want for you, is for you to become a fully activated disciple of His. ILLUSTRATION: Over the summer our family got to hang out with my youth pastor and his wife. She started telling my kids stories about me when I was a teen. She said, I always tell everyone that when we would go on vacation that when we got home, Kent would be waiting outside for us… Lol, I guess I was border line stalker.. Ha, but it's because I had found a different way of doing life and I wanted to know everything about it. That's what being a disciple is all about. Listen to what Jesus said about becoming a disciple: Luke 9:23-26 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I know, I know, you've heard this passage before, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself, Why would I have to deny myself and take up my cross daily to be a disciple? b It's the same reason I was at my youth ministers house and sat in his office every day. b Because to learn completely a new way of life, you have to let go - completely - of your old way of life. Do you know how Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus wasn't trying to be cute by saying you have to become like a child. b Jesus was trying to illustrate the quality of the kind of faith it takes to follow Him - an unyielding, complete trust that His way is better If I had to speculates, some of you are holding back from being disciples either because you didn't know it meant learning a completely new way of life or because you knew and weren't willing to step into it. The thing is, when you deny yourself - you say no to your old way of trying to get things done - power, manipulation, and money b and you take up your cross daily - you say yes to the things God calls you to - even the hard things b You find life… What seemed like loss - giving up your old way of doing life, ends up being not giving up, but getting So, I've been thinking, how would I define what a disciple is/does for you? Discipleship is a life spent pursuing life with God b -it is hearing His voice and following it -it is finding your value/self-worth in God rather than what people think of you and what you can accomplish -it is seeking to exalt Him and His Kingdom over protecting yourself and your kingdom (ego and economy) CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: Some of you know that Jenni and I are building a cabin at the gorge to rent, we are doing that as a bit of a retirement play because churches as non-profits don't offer retirement and typically don't pay as much as the business world. Due to all that I've gotten in all these facebook groups for people running airbnb's and buying real-estate. One of the things that has hit me is how much all these people are like sharks when there is blood in the water if there is a deal to be had on real-estate. Literally within hours thousands of people will be commenting on and trying to get a piece of the pie. It reminds me of something Jesus said, He said imagine if you were walking in a field and found out there was a treasure - millions in gold - buried in that field. Wouldn't you go back and sell everything you had to purchase the field? Wouldn't you go after it like a shark in the water with blood? Then Jesus said, this is what the person who finds the Kingdom is like. They sell everything - completely let go of their old way of life to get the new way of life of the Kingdom. For some of you in this room, the most dangerous part of your life is you settled for simply being saved and missed that you were saved to follow the savior. What would it look like for you to orient around learning to hear and discern God's voice? To learn to unwind all the ways you've found value in this world and to entwine with Him or to seek His kingdom above yours and those of this world?

Guest Speaker Jake Stokesbary

Join us today as Dean Rase gives us a word about Gods Grace!

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I remember watching the very first back to the future in 1985 at my buddy Malachi's house for a sleep over. At the end of the movie we were all hopped up like little kids get when they watch the coolest movie ever. We were all hoping around and I remember what we all were saying, that now as an adult watching it was the most obvious statement in the world, we were all like, “they are totally going to make another one of those…” we all just knew that Marty was going to be back… Through this series the Story of God, I've hinted around at the most monumental moment in history, I've described it occasionally. The most monumental moment in history was when God chose to die to rescue us out of the story. ILLUSTRATION: You don't get how big this is because you've grown up an culture that accepts this idea, but I have talked with people who grew up differently and what they tell me is “I just can't believe that God would die” What seems impossible to some feels like the only, and most elegant, solution to the Story of God - the only rescue was going to be if God Himself restored us. b He would come in human form, become a servant, take on our nature, and He would do it perfectly. b He would then offer Himself as the sacrifice and go through death to redeem us out from under the law of good and evil - to break the authority of the evil one. b By us putting our allegiance with Him and His sacrifice, we find salvation from our sins and enter into the new “God” life. Probably most of you know the rest of the story. Jesus dies to redeem us from the story b and then He will rise from the dead 3 days later to prove He has complete and utter victory over death b This is the crux of the entire story of God! Then, Jesus leaves, He ascends to Heaven. He's gone… Do you know what all the early Christians were saying after this? b “He's totally going to come back!” They were like me and my pre-pubesant friends sitting there watching the end of back to the future and were like, “oh no he didn't!!! The next ones gonna be even better!” There's a lot in the New Testament about this, but I wanted to give you three things to think about: Jesus said no one will know the time or day: We're not be on the planning committee, but the welcoming party committee. Jesus was such a killer preacher - sometimes you don't hear it because you're so familiar with His stories… Matthew 24:42-44 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. ILLUSTRATION: When I was in college I house sat for some friends, right before they left they were like, “oh, by the way, 2 times our house has been broken into at night while we were sleeping and someone came into our room and stole stuff…” lol, nothing to make you feel comfortable about staying alone as a young 20 something… Jesus said when He comes back, He will sneak up on you like cat burglar breaking into a house… Some people spend all their time trying to predict exactly what it will look like. You'r job isn't to be on the planning committee for Jesus' return, it's to be on the welcoming party.. You're job is to be ready… I pray pray pretty regularly, “Jesus, I hope it's today!” Here's the question for you, are you ready? Are you prepared for His arrival? If He came today would you want the life He's going to offer, or are you still holding onto things that don't matter? Jesus isn't late, He's patient - He's giving people time to come to repentance…  Tell someone about Him! The early Christians thought Jesus would return during their time period, even then when He hadn't come back right away there were people asking the question, “what's taking so long? Peter addressed this in 2 Peter 3 when he said this: 2 Peter 3:8-9 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. ILLUSTRATION: My kids have a different understanding of time than I do. Jenni or I will say something like, “we'll go to the store to look at toys today…” If we say that too early in the day, do you know what question we will be dealing with all day long? “When are we going to go? Why aren't we going yet? What's taking you so long?” What our kids don't think about is we've got to get the lawn mowed, then we've got to clean up around the house and maybe run some errands… There's a difference between slow, and purposeful b God is purposeful… He is patiently enduring this world and all the pain and suffering it throws at humanity because He wants to save as many as possible… b ILLUSTRATION: Imagine if there had been a rescue boat for the titanic, can you picture a captain of that boat trying to pull people out of the freezing water. He's watching as some of those he's pulled out are shivering and their fingers getting frostbite, but he keeps going back for one more to rescue them. He can't leave till his boat is full.. This is a little bit what it's like with God, He is wanting to rescue as many as will come… b This is why it matters that we share with others and we grab a life preserver and throw it into the water to rescue more people - it's God's heart to save the world… CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: John in his vision of Jesus in Revelation 5 sees this scroll that no one in heaven can open, John literally weeps due to this and then he told not to worry, the lion of Judah has triumphed… This is David's tribe - this is a reference to the messiah… But what's crazy is what John hears about is a lion, but what he sees is a lamb… It looks as thought it's been slain, but it's alive. This lamb will take the scroll and start to open the 7 seals on it, then 7 trumpets will blast - literally, the rest of revelation is the lamb opening the scroll. We never see a scroll unrolled though, we only get a description of what it looks like, listen… Revelation 21:1-8 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death'[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Don't give up, don't give up. Jesus is coming, one day He will restore all things, until that time, your job is to hold on… And to those of you who have never taken hold, now is the time!

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Let me ask you to do a little math… Everyone divide 1 by 3. What's the answer? .3 repeating, right? Now, what's .3 repeating times 3? It's not 1! It's .9 repeating. Somewhere we lose .1 repeating… [mind blown]. Math doesn't work! this is why bridges fall down eventually! Lol… Have you ever discovered that something you believed your whole life was wrong? like Math… ;) I know you've felt this before -I've had friends who found out the people they thought were their birth parents had adopted them -I've seen families torn apart finding out that the person who was supposed to be faithful had a secret life It's almost never good when you discover that what you've believed was wrong… Today, I want to take you into a struggle I had with this, and then walk you through my study in the story of God to find a way out of it.. To start, we have to go back into the story of God back to a prophet Isaiah. When we covered Isaiah, I mostly told you about how his prophecy impacted me and brought me back to God… Isaiah was prophesying right before the fall of the Southern Kingdom into the hands of the Babylonians… b One of the key themes in Isaiah is what scholars have called the “Servant Songs” (Song 1 - 42:1-4; Song 2 - 49:1-6; Song 3 - 50:4-9; and Song 4 - 52:13-53:12.) b Christians say the Suffering servant in Isaiah is Jesus… If you've been a Christian for a long time, you've probably heard a sermon on some of these verses about Jesus… Except, the Suffering Servant isn't a person, it's the nation of Israel… ILLUSTRATION: Heard Rabbi's say this and thought they couldn't be right, I've read these passages over and over again, listened to pastors preach on it and never heard one of them once say that it's not referring to Jesus but Israel. The problem is, their right - Isaiah clearly identifies the suffering servant as Israel. I'm not going to read these all, but I will show you quickly on the screen that this is the case… [Anthony, can you get these references all on one screen] Isaiah 41:8-9 (NIV):"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen…I said, ‘You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you." Isaiah 44:1-2 (NIV):"But now listen, Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen…” Isaiah 44:21 (NIV):"Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant…” Isaiah 45:4 (NIV):"For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen…” Isaiah 48:20 (NIV):“…'The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.'" Isaiah 49:3 (NIV):"He said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.'" Here's the problem… The prophecies about the suffering servant are some of the clearest prophecies of what Jesus would do & He fulfills them… b If the prophecies are talking about Israel (Jacob) and not Jesus then what do we do? Look, let me set this straight - even if these prophecies were not directly about Jesus, it would be ok, wouldn't be the end of faith in Him, but would be difficult… Let me read something to you that on first blush will seem innocuous: John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. b Jesus says, “I am the true vine" b That's a weird thing to say, why does He say it that way? He could have just said “I am the vine” and not have to qualify His metaphor… To answer, we have to go back to the OT and to Isaiah… Isaiah 5:7 7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Or Jeremiah 2:21 [God speaking of Israel] I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine? b In the Old Testament Israel was called “the vine” and now Jesus is saying, “I am the True Vine…” b Jesus is saying He is replacing Israel as the vine… b But what about Israel is He replacing? We've been in the story of God for a long time now, and have covered a lot of ground… Do you remember the promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? "through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed" b Israel was meant to be a blessing that would bring relationship with God back to all nations… and they failed… -Instead in the Story of God, we see them bringing division, war, pain, selfishness, and idolatry (with little moments of blessing) It's not their fault, not sure any group of people could do it, I actually think that was God's point, to show us “this” had to be the way… Jesus is the new Israel - He comes to redo their story and become the blessing… b Let me show you… Jesus will start His ministry by being baptized… he even says… Matthew 3:15 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this tho fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. b John's baptism was a baptism for forgiveness of sin and repentance (Mark 1:4). Jesus is being baptized not for sin and repentance, but because Israel began in a baptism of the red sea… b Jesus gets baptized, immediately goes into the desert and is tempted by the devil for 40 days (1 day for each year the Israelites were in the desert). b I believe the righteousness He's fulfilling is redoing Israel's story… He is redeeming their failure to follow God b As a matter of fact, Jesus does a TON of things Israel does or that happen in Israel's History… [Anthony, I will not read all this - will you put a caption for people to take a picture and schedule to post it on FB on Sunday at 1pm as well - I'll reference a few things, but that's it] Jesus does this over and over again: Baptism > Red Sea Crossing Temptation in Desert - Grumbling and abandoning the worship of Yahweh Water to wine > Moses will bring water from a rock Jesus multiplies loaves > Moses gives manna in the desert Jesus is the vine > Israel is the vine Jesus walked on water > Elisha made an axe head float Jesus fed multitudes (both Jews - 5k, and Gentiles - 4k) > Elisha fed 100 (2 Kings 4:42-44) Jesus raises woman's son to life, Jairus' daughter, & Lazarus > Elisha raises Shunammite woman's son Jesus came to serve not be served > Rehoboam - "you'll be my slaves" 12 Disciples > 12 Tribes Jesus heals lepers > Elisha healed Naaman of leprosy Jesus is in a turbulent sea following God's mission asleep in a boat, stands up and rebukes the storm > Jonah in a boat running from God's mission, asleep in the boat, asks to be tossed into the sea Jesus blood and body take becomes the new passover, quotes Moses "this is the blood of the covenant", Jesus will rescue us from the authority we gave over to the enemy "the god of this world" > Passover is given to the Jews as rescue from slavery Jesus goes up on a mountain, his face and clothes become brilliantly white, like light > Moses goes up to meet with God and get the 10 commandments and his face glows Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a Donkey > Solomon rode a donkey to be coronated King b What does all this mean? It means that when we read Isaiah, we are reading a prophecy written hundreds of years before Jesus came into the world that describes Jesus perfectly… b Jesus came to become the blessing to the whole world… A blessing to you… CLOSING: Isaiah 53 I want to close by reading Isaiah 53 to you… Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b] 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e]; by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g] and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h] because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: I remember the day I became a father for the first time. Jenni had been in labor for quite a while. The monitor on Peter kept showing his heart rate drop to almost nothing, they would roll Jenni over on her side to get it to come back up. What we didn't know was that the umbilical cord had been around his neck. We would find out soon. As he came out, his body was blue and limp. I will never forget the doctor pulling him out and holding his little body. It was that moment I became a father, because in that moment I felt a wave of fierce pulse through my body I had never felt. It took everything in me to hold me back from grabbing that doctor, shaking him, and forcing him to fix this. That's all that kept running through my head, “fix this, fix this…” From the earliest moments in the story of God there has been a voice whispering, “Fix This, Fix This…” We've heard the echos of this throughout the story, whether it's Adam and Eve eating the fruit and God sacrificing an animal to cloth them or it's God calling to Abram to be a blessing to all Mankind or God reaching back out to humanity through Moses and the Jewish people. Over and over again God has been rumbling towards humanity and over and over again humanities heart beat drops as we turn away from God. b And God has been whispering “Fix This, Fix This…” Listen, I know for some of you the idea of a good Father is a messed up idea But surely you knew someone who had a Father that you wished was your Father. The kind of person who was fun, loving, kind, fiercely strong, but unyieldingly gracious. Good Fathers will do anything to rescue their children… Can I read to you the Father's rescue story for us? [shut off all lights in the room except a very soft spot light on Kent in center of stage - almost no light] John 1:1-18 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. John looks at the story of humanity and he takes us back to where it all started b “In the beginning…” This is how the book of Genesis starts “In the beginning the earth was void and formless and the spirit of God hovered over the waters…” John says at the beginning, the creative force of God was His word and that word was God and was with God. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… ILLUSTRATION: I love going to tour caves. Jenni and I went and did the underground kayaking at the gorge a while back. Have you done that? They are floating us around in this giant cavern with HUGE fish, next time I'm bringing one of those pocket fishing poles ;). But all of the sudden they turn off the lights and you are just floating in pure pitch black - the kind that's thick. You could put your hand in front of your face and not see a thing. Darkness is pretty powerful, it's scary, it's disorienting b But no amount of darkness can overcome even the smallest bit of light… The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. “But Kent, what does this have to do with the story of God? What does this have to do with a Father rescuing?” b It's everything! b John starts takes us back to Genesis because that is where the story began and went off the rails. It's where sin entered the world. It's where darkness took over. Listen 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ILLUSTRATION: I know some of you don't know the bible super well and that's ok. But what John is telling us is the story of Christmas. He's telling us of the time when God Himself came into the world… “The word became flesh”… Remember the word is the creative force of God - it is God. And God became Flesh and made his dwelling among us. The word in the Greek for “made his dwelling” is literally, “pitched a tent” among us… God saw the predicament we were in due to sin entering the world. b We had abandoned a relationship with God and were paying the penalty for it - death, the sting of sin. b And He came to rescue…. He came to fix it.. I know lots of you weren't here when we talked about Adam and Eve, but Adam and Eve weren't just eating a fruit because they were hungry. The lie they were eating was that they could be like God, that the didn't need Him anymore, they could be in control of their own destiny. The problem was, when they took that gamble, they lost everything. They abandoned their relationship with God and death entered the world. Did you hear what John said about this word that became flesh, flesh like you and me? He said that when God came into the world, that light came into the darkness… [all lights come on] Even though those who should have known him didn't receive Him, to those who do, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.. Jesus came to rescue you from the story of mankind and allow you to enter into the story of God. He came to “fix this…” CLOSING: That day with Peter, the doctor holding his little lifeless blue body. I was screaming inside, holding myself back from beating the doctor up and shaking him till he fixed it. The doctor took a rag and rubbed Peter's body hard. All of the sudden the most beautiful sound in the world happened. This little baby's body responded and he gasped for breath and let out a blood curdling cry. Some of you are dead in your sins this morning. You have been chasing the story of mankind over the story of God your whole life. “I'm in charge” “I can fix this on my own” “I don't need anyone” But what you don't know is it doesn't have to be clawing, scratching, and fighting. You have a father that came to rescue you. This morning, I'm here to rub you and rough your soul up to try and get you to take a breath and live! God came down to rescue you. He answered your prayer of “God, if you're real, why don't you come down here and show us?” The problem is, you just don't live during the time when He did it… God pitched a tent in the world and He did it for you. So he could bring you back into a relationship with God. The way you do this is by believing in His name - that means becoming intimately involved with Him, loving Him, accepting His leadership in your life. ------------- Jesus - Jesus enters the world to redeem and restore all of this story of God and to start writing a new story in your life, one that will change all of eternity. He is the perfect representation of God and He came to bring all of mankind out of the delusion of sin and death Hebrews 1:3 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

The Cost of Being a Disciple Luke 14:25-33 (NIV) 25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.' 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

What kind of person do we want to be in this tumultuous world? Join us as Kent dives into Daniel's resilience and courage. Tune in for a challenging sermon. EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316 to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give). Get the fill in the blank bulletins my.harmonychurch.cc/bulletins. ---------------- OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever heard the saying, “you're gonna have to hang in there like a hair in a biscuit…” Lol, I had a buddy say that the other day and it cracked me up. What he meant was sometimes in life you have to hang on hard to make it through. We've all ben there right? When life feels like it's thrown a wrench at you and you weren't able to dodge… WE: -The moment when the divorce settled in and the night felt darker than it's ever felt sitting alone in your living room -The way it takes everything you've got to make it through a day to look normal to everyone else since returning from deployment -Or that time when every day it was literally “which bill do we not pay right now…” We've all had those moments where you are holding on by the skin of your teeth.. US: I believe we are in a moment in history where for Christians, you following Jesus is not going to be easy… ILLUSTRATION: I was invited recently by a missionary to Pakistan to give a devotion to some people who had converted from Islam to Christianity there. I wasn't able to do it, but before I knew that, I asked him what he wanted me to say to them - if anything. Here's what he told me. He said, “Can you encourage them, many of them have lost family, jobs, etc. to follow Christ. It has cost them everything.” Then he said something that has been challenging me ever since, “But also encourage them to be bold in their faith and to not be afraid, the world they live in it's dangerous to be a Christian and they need to know not to be afraid…” Reminded me of something Jesus said, Matthew 10:28 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Today in the Story of God we are at a place where those who are left have to hold one with everything they've got - like a hair in a biscuit… I think for us as Christians there is a lot to learn from the guy we are going to look at today… SCRIPTURE: The Kingdom of Israel has been split, the Northern tribes have been swept off into Assyria and one will ever hear from those people again… Now the Southern Kingdom is being attacked by the Babylonians - They will take the entire nation into exile in Babylon. Much of the rest of the bible - the prophets Jeremiah, Lamentations, Isaiah, and minor prophets - Malachi, etc. either take place during this time frame or right after. This moment in history will change the Jewish people forever. They will move from being a religious group centered around worship at their temple to a group that is dedicated to the Torah (the Old Testament). b Rabbis and Synagogues will become a thing. Judaism as we know it finds its root in the Babylonian exile. b The people finally are met with the dilemma, do we obey the covenant with God, or disappear from history? b They seek to obey the covenant But even this will become corrupt with rule-following to abandon the God of the covenant… This moment in history - terrible moment… Imagine it. One night you are sleeping in your beds, you've been comforting your children all night long telling them it will be alright, the city walls of Jerusalem are strong. They finally went to sleep but you have stayed up all night listening to the fighting men whispering in the streets as the Babylonian fires grow outside the walls. The next day attack occurs. and by the end of the next day you and your children are being forcibly removed from your house, marching without water, men with ropes around their necks and arms tied to horses. your voice gone from screaming and your tears all cried out. You do everything you can to protect your children as they watch horrors executed around them. It's too easy to read about these things and events and not realize these are real people who are ripped out of their homes and sent to live in lands where they do not speak the language and where they are in captivity long enough for an entire generation to disappear. That brings us to the collision with this moment in history, one of the people who was captured and taken as a prisoner was Daniel… You may have heard of “Daniel and the Lion's Den” it's that Daniel and that took place while he was a captive. When Daniel is captured he is a young aristocrat - likely in the house of Judah. The Babylonians had an effective means of assimilating people. They take the young up-and-coming leaders and indoctrinate them into the society and culture, letting them eat from the King's table and teaching them the ways of the Babylonians. Daniel is one of these young men. But Daniel is different - he's gonna hang on like a hair in a biscuit, listen to Daniel Daniel 1:8 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel was someone who understood there was more going on in his world than just being successful in the situation he was in… As a matter of fact, this is who Daniel is over and over again The reason you know about him being thrown into a lion's den is because he is unwilling to stop praying to God, no matter the consequences. b Daniel was living for a different Kingdom than the one he lived in. As a matter of fact, Daniel also over and over again spoke bravely about this Kingdom… Listen to some interpretations of dreams he gives to Kings: To Nebechudnezzer who has had a dream about massive statue that represented different kingdoms… Daniel says… Daniel 2:44-45 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. Or in a vision Daniel had that disturbed him greatly, he saw 4 beasts that represented different kingdoms of the earth and at the end of his vision he saw this: Daniel 7:13-14 13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. b Daniel isn't waiting for a Jewish Kingdom, he's waiting for God's Kingdom to come! b The reason Daniel could stand firm in a corrupt generation is because He feared God more than anything people could do to Him. b I believe we are in a time when being a Christian will take engaging God with grit. b Holding on to love with strength. b ILLUSTRATION: I remember being in High school when it hit me. I have to choose who gets my greater allegiance, the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of America? They are not the same thing, no matter what you've been told. For me, my political persuasion is always held against Jesus and His Kingdom. The word of God is my standard. If you don't know it yet, Jesus came to fulfill Daniel's prophecies. Jesus came to bring a Kingdom that would be subversive and would change the world from the inside out. b Through you and me… Luke 17:20b-21 20b “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,' or ‘There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” CLOSING: My poor wife has a curse on her life. Literally, has the worse luck. Every restaurant we are ever in, she gets the fork with food on it or hair in her food. She can tell you what it means to hang on like a hair in a biscuit. That sucker aint coming out. What about you? Have you decided the kind of person you want to be? Do you want to be a Daniel who hangs on to Jesus no matter what this world throws at you, choosing your allegiance to the Kingdom God has put in you. Or, do you still want to be the kind of person who eats the food this world puts in front of you, who gives in over and over again to the little concessions that will ultimately assimilate you into a life that's far from the heart of God? Make the choice today what kind of person you want to be!

What are you doing to protect, pursue, and grow in commitment in your relationships like God intends? Tune in to Kent's sermon on the Song of Songs for insights.