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June 19, 2026Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeJoshua 2:22-24I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for over 25 years. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word verse-by-verse and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church Support the show

Obedience and Opposition Dr. Jacob Harris Download “Obedience and Opposition”Ezra 4:1-24I. SYNCRETISM OR SEPARATISMII. GROWING AND UNRELENTING OPPOSITION

Introduction: Introduction: How Do I Love? (1 Corinthians 13:1-7) Love ABSENT. (1 Cor 13:1-3) Love ACTIVE. (1 Cor 13:4-7) 1 John 4:8 – God is love. Ephesians 5:1 – Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. LOVE is Patient. LOVE is Kind. LOVE Does Not Envy. LOVE Does Not Boast. LOVE Is Not Arrogant. LOVE Is Not Rude. LOVE Does Not Insist On Its Own Way. LOVE Is Not Irritable. LOVE Is Not Resentful. LOVE Does Not Rejoice At Wrongdoing. LOVE Rejoices With The Truth. LOVE Bears All Things. LOVE Believes All Things. LOVE Hopes All Things. LOVE Endures All Things. Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Questions and Answers: How Do I Love? Jeff Miller Download Audio Transcript 00:36Open up your Bibles with me please to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 13 While you're turning there as is our custom I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to communicate God's word clearly and accurately as I should and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us from his word today All right? Let's just take a moment and pray. Father, just a few minutes ago we were talking about being watchful in prayer. Father, make us watchful for the fruit that will come as your word is applied. The radical difference There will be when your people in this church apply what it is you've told us in this passage we're looking at today. Let your Spirit be our teacher. Father, open our hearts up. Remove any distractions from our hearts and minds. Help us to really dial in right now. We ask in Jesus' name.02:03And all of God's people said, Amen. Amen. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If you've been with us through this study in 1 Corinthians, you've seen that Paul was going through problem after problem after problem after problem in the church. This church had a lot of problems. There were cliques and there were lawsuits There was sexual sin, and there was people insisting on their rights, and they made the Lord's Supper a fiasco. But really, if you wanted to sum up chapters 1 through 12, it really all boils down to one thing. Paul's saying, your lack of love for one another is the problem.03:04They just didn't love each other the way that God has called us to love. And because that's the problem, now we get to chapter 13 where we get to the solution. It's love. It's love. And some of you might be like, ah, yes, yes, yes. 1 Corinthians 13, I know this one. This is where Paul writes the wedding poem.03:34But this passage is used a lot at weddings, but I want you to understand, Paul wasn't in the middle of addressing the church's problems and was like, yeah, we've got to figure out this spiritual gift thing because you're all messed up. Oh, I just had an idea for a wedding poem. I better write this down while it's fresh. It's not a wedding poem.04:00Pastor Taylor talked last week about how the Corinthian church was so messed up about spiritual gifts. And Paul's like, no, no, no, I'm going to show you a more excellent way. Here's the more excellent way. The heart of ministry. The heart of using spiritual gifts. It's not talent.04:30It's not who works the hardest. It's not who puts in the most hours. It's not who's the most creative. The heart of ministry is love. And if you're sitting here today and you're like, yeah, love's not really my thing. Well, it's God's thing. And if you're like, well, you know, I'm just not really a loving person.05:00Well, then you better get on board. Because love is at the top, according to God. When the fruit of the Spirit is listed in Galatians 5, what's first? It's love, right? Paul tells us in Romans 13 that love fulfills the law. Jesus in John 13 said, Do you know? Oh, come on. I gave you so many hints. It's love. It's love. We've got to get on board. We have a little problem, though, in our language. We use the word love so generically, right? We say love for everything, right? But it doesn't all mean the same thing, right?06:00I can say I love hockey and I love my dog and I love my wife, but I don't love all those things the same way. You see, the Greek was a more specific language. They had different words for love. One word was eros. That's where we get the word erotic. That's the hubba hubba, husband and wife kind of love. Another word for love is, That's friendship love. Like Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. But the grandest word for love we're going to be talking about today is agape love. Agape. Agape is self-sacrificing. Agape is you ahead of me.07:02And understand that love isn't about feeling. All right? Feelings come, sure. And feelings go. But love isn't about feeling. Love is about doing. Right? Did Jesus love? Did Jesus love? How do we know? Everything from washing the disciples' feet to laying down his life on the cross, everything he did was an experience.07:30of love.07:35So how about you?07:38Are you a loving person?07:45Oh, in church we certainly idealize it.07:49Right?07:52But do we actually do it?07:56So on your outline today, how do I love?08:00I want to encourage you to not let, look, okay.08:04Because some of you have told me that you like to try to fill in the blanks ahead of time.08:10All right, fess up. Who does that? Raise your hand. Who tries to fill in the blanks? Okay.08:14Come on, this is a safe place to confess, and it's also a good place to repent.08:18I'm going to ask you to please not do that, because you're going to look at the outline today, and be like, oh, this one's easy. Love, love, love, love, love, love.08:25I'm going to ask you to hold on, hold on, all right?08:28and just walk in step with me. Will you do that? All right. So how do I love? In this passage we're looking, it's a very familiar passage, and he just talks about two things. There's two things here, right? And the first one is love absent. Love absent. Look at the first three verses. He says, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love.09:01I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.09:08And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing.09:22If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned I have not love.09:31I gain nothing.09:36You see this list here, what he's doing.09:38He's mentioning certain spiritual gifts here.09:42Did you see that?09:43And what he's doing is he's giving exaggerated examples of using spiritual gifts.09:51Like using them to the max.09:54But he says, if I use spiritual gifts, even to their peak performance, if I use them, but I don't genuinely love people, it results in, you see it? Nothing. It's not worth a thing if you don't love. See, the Corinthians, like us, so many times want the gifts of the Spirit, but not the fruit of the Spirit.10:24Paul says anything done without love is useless. Look at this example list of spiritual gifts. First of all, he talks about tongues. We're going to spend in a couple weeks quite a bit of time talking about what the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues is about. But notice here, he says, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, like what's angel language? What is that? Well, biblically, there is no such thing.10:54You see throughout these verses, He's exaggerating everything. He's saying, even if I speak a language that they only speak in heaven. He says, even if I did that, but I don't genuinely love people, it's just noise. It's just like banging a gong over and over.11:24How would you last? Probably not very long, right? And somebody would say, well, what happened in church? And you would say, nothing happened in church today. Well, there was some great music. And then the pastor got up and thought he was on the gong show. It was ridiculous. Next, he talks about prophecy.11:54Oh, by the way, he says prophecy is the greatest gift. In chapter 14, verse 1, we talked about this before. Prophecy literally means speak before. It's speaking God's truth before people. We cannot possibly overstate the magnitude of what happens when the Word of God is proclaimed.12:24I was reading about preaching this past week, and one preacher put it this way. He says, when the Word of God is proclaimed, we are bringing eternity into time. I was like, wow, wow, that's what's happening. But to get up and proclaim the Word of God, motivated by self-glory or fame or pride, but not motivated by loving people, it's nothing.12:54Next gift he talks about is knowledge. Do you notice the exaggeration? Here it is again. He says, understand all mysteries and all knowledge. More exaggeration, right? Like, who understands all knowledge? Who understands all mysteries? Like, what do you mean by mysteries? Well, the mystery was just things unknown to man, things only God knows. He's like, even if I knew Every single thing that God himself knows. Things no one else knows. You see, church, you can be highly educated. You can know the Bible frontwards and backwards. But if you don't love people, it's a big nothing.13:55All right, next gift, he talks about his faith. Do you see that? He says, if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains. Does that sound familiar? Faith moving mountains. Jesus talked about that. Matthew chapter 17, Matthew chapter 21. You know, it's the person that's like, you know, I have all faith. I believe. I believe for it. I claim the promise. I believe for it.14:24I just don't love those church people. Paul says you're nothing. And then he talks about the gift of giving. Again, exaggeration, hyperbole. He says I could give away every single thing that I own. And we do know that giving can be motivated by man's applause, right? Matthew 6. Giving can be motivated by guilt or peer pressure or obligation.14:57But if your giving isn't motivated by love, it gets you nothing. Even, even giving your body to be burned. You're like, time out, time out. Who gives their body to be burned? Like, what other motivation could somebody have for giving up their life for someone?15:24or for a cause or... Well, you could ask the Muslims. Because in Islam, dying as a martyr is the only sure way to heaven. They tell these young men, yeah, if you give your life to the cause of Islam, when you get to heaven, you're going to have 70 virgins to enjoy for all of eternity. Do you think they're motivated by love? So see, you can be a martyr.15:56But it doesn't necessarily have to be motivated by love, does it? Here's the bottom line with these first three verses. Paul's saying it doesn't matter what you do in ministry. It doesn't matter how well you do it. Because if you don't love people, you're wasting your time. To what degree? Well, notice in verse 1, he says if you don't love, you produce nothing.16:23Right? Just a clanging cymbal. You produce nothing. Verse 2, he says, if you don't love, you are nothing. And in verse 3, he says, if you don't love, you gain nothing. You've wasted your time. Since this is true, we better understand how to love people.16:53Love Absent. Secondly, let's talk about Love Active. You didn't start filling in your outline yet, did you? Like getting ahead? You didn't start getting ahead, did you? Okay. All right, Love Active. Love Active. Like, okay. A lot of people have different ideas about what love means, what it looks like, how to do it. What does the Bible say? Well, I get some great news for you. There's no ambiguity here whatsoever.17:23Actually, there are 15 words and phrases here that describe love. All right? 15 sub-point sermon. When's the last time you had one of those? All right? Look at verses 4 through 7. He says, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.17:53It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Yep.18:27That's not really the point though, is it? The point's not FYI. The point is not for you to walk out here today to say, well, now I have a better understanding of how the Bible defines love. That's not the point. The point is, is this how you love? The point is, Does this list describe you? Does this list describe me? And isn't it just so ironic that church can be the hardest place to love people? Do you notice that? Sometimes it is. Why is that?19:27Well, we're not all BFFs, right? We're just not. We're a family. We're a body. It's easy to love the people that you like. But God allows difficult people in the church.19:53And difficult people are here to test you. To see whether you really love or not. Do you? We'll find out when you encounter somebody that's hard to love. So, here's what we're doing with your outline. You know, 1 John 4 and verse 8 says, God is love.20:26In Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 1, says, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.20:35So, if God is love, and we are called to imitate God, that means we are to imitate God's love.20:51So your outline here this morning is more of a test. And this is going to show you where you need to grow in love. Since God is love, and since we are to imitate God, here's what we're going to do as we go through, and we're just going to spend a moment on each of these.21:21in the Bible, you should be able to put your name in the blank. And if you truly love like God, the passage should still make sense. Right? So here's what I want you to do. As we go through these, I want you to write your name on the blank. And I want you to hold on to this outline. I want you to keep it as a bookmark in your Bible. And I want this to be a test that you give yourself to say, Does this describe me? Is this how I love people in the church? Alright? It's going to get uncomfortable. But we're committed to this. Right? Put your name down. First it says, love is patient. Put your name down. Can you say that? Can you say, Jeff is patient?22:23Is that you? Because you realize some people just require more patience. Have you noticed? Have you noticed that there are people that we deal with in the church are like, they should have gotten it by now. They should have gotten it six months ago and they still haven't gotten it. Are you a patient person? Patience means I don't write them off.22:51You know what? I'm done. Patience says, you know what? I'm committed to them. Put your name down. Jeff is patient. Can you say that? Secondly, love is kind. Put your name. Jeff is kind. Are you a kind person? The Greek root for the word kind is literally It's always trying to benefit others. Always looking to bless others. Kindness is not tearing people down. It's looking to build up and encourage. That's what kindness is. Can you say that? Jeff is kind. Put your name in there. Next. Love does not envy.23:51Jeff does not envy.23:56We saw last week in verse 31, Paul says, you're coveting the showy gifts.24:05Paul's like, you just want to look like you're the most spiritual person at the church.24:13They had a problem with envy.24:17So let me ask you, how are you doing with envy?24:23Like when somebody in church is talked about, and somebody says, wow, they are such a godly example. And you hear somebody being honored at church, and ooh, that just rubs you the wrong way. And you're like, they're nothing special. Jeff doesn't envy. You know why? Because love looks at people's gifts.24:50different. Love is glad when someone is used by God. Not critical. Love is cheering the rest of the team on. Not envying. Jeff doesn't envy. Next. Love does not boast. Put your name in. Can you say that? Jeff does not boast. This could literally be translated blowhard boasting. It's the person that does and says everything to make himself look good. Everything they do, everything they say, put the spotlight on me. Do you see how awesome and godly and great and perfect and biggest, best, most, goodest I am? Always wanting the attention, always wanting the accolades, You see, envy, wants what other people have. Boasting is to try to make people envy what you have. And love does neither. Right? Can you say that? Jeff does not boast. Next, love is not arrogant. Put your name in the blank. Write it down. Write it down. You're like, I haven't signed my name this many times since I bought a house. Right? Write your name down. Can you say that? Jeff is not arrogant. Arrogance is just the force behind boasting. Right? It's that belief that I'm better than everyone else. I'm the most spiritual person here. But you know, when you truly love other people, you're not going to exalt yourself over them. You're like, you know what?26:50I'm nothing special. I'm a saved sinner. Just like the rest of you. I'm not on any higher plane or exalted status. We're all in the same place here. Sinners saved by grace. So what do I possibly have to be arrogant about? Put your name in the blank. Can you say that? Jeff is not arrogant. Next, love is not rude.27:21Jeff is not rude.27:26That's just treating or speaking to people with disdain.27:32Right?27:32We talked about the rudeness of the Corinthians, right?27:35They had their potluck and people would show up early.27:41And they brought a tuna new casserole or whatever to share with everyone.27:45But they'd show up early and they'd hog it all down themselves.27:48And then people would come later and there wasn't anything for them. Do you know what that's called? Rude! That's rude! And love is not rude. So Jeff should not be rude. And you should not be rude. Right? Lots of ways to be rude. There's lots of ways. Interrupting people. Just talking right over them. Making sure you get in your jerky comment. Go zing them! Right?28:18Just being dismissive. Love isn't rude. Next, love does not insist on its own way. Can you say that and it still makes sense? It's convicting, isn't it? You think the only reason I'm sweating is because it's 120 degrees?28:51Jeff does not insist on getting his own way.28:59That's the biggest problem in church.29:04We're all self-centered.29:06We're all self-centered.29:08I want everything how I prefer.29:10Okay?29:11Church will be great as long as I get everything that I prefer.29:14The music, the kids' ministry, how money is spent, etc., etc., No, no, no, no. Jeff doesn't insist on getting his own way. Love says, look, I want what's best for everyone. I trust the leadership to make decisions. And if things are decided at the church, even if it's not my preference, I just want what's best for everyone. That's what love says. I was thinking about these characteristics, by Jesus, specifically this one, you realize Jesus never did anything just for himself. Did you ever notice that? Everything Jesus did was in perfect submission to his Father and to benefit and bless other people. Jesus never took a day where he's like, you know what, today's about me. I'm having a me day. I'm having a mental health day. I'm going to the spa. Jesus never did that.30:19Jeff does not insist on getting his own way. Next, love is not irritable. Can you say that? Put your name in the blank, write it down, write your name. Jeff is not irritable. This term, irritable, it's actually an explosive term. It's talking about the outbursts.30:48it comes when you're annoyed to the point of breaking. Do you know what I'm talking about?30:56Do you know what I'm talking about?30:58You're annoying me now. Do you know what I'm talking about?31:02I'm getting a little irritated.31:03Do you know what I'm talking about?31:05Where you're just like annoyed and you just keep eating it and annoyed, you just keep eating it and then find like, enough!31:11I've had enough!31:13It's explosive, right?31:15That's what this word means.31:17Like, irritable. Irritable. And some people just, they're personally offended by everything. Some people are just personally offended by everything. What will offend me today? They just roll out of bed on my way to church. What's going to offend me at church today? Is it going to be something said in a sermon? Is it going to be something said in a conversation where the ironing board used to be?31:50What's going to offend me today? Just constantly looking for something to irritate them. But no, no, no, no. Love doesn't do that. Love doesn't take up an offense. Love doesn't get irritated. I care too much about these people to take issue with everything. Jeff isn't irritable.32:18Next. Love is not resentful. Put your name down. Jeff is not resentful. By the way, your name. I keep saying Jeff because that's my name. I better not see your outline where it says Jeff down. Your name. Okay, so like irritable is the explosive term. Resentful is the slow burn term. Resentful. It's just, it's holding a grudge.32:47That's what it is. Actually, in the Greek, it was an accounting term. That's why some Bibles translate this, love keeps no record of wrong. Jeff is not resentful. Jeff should never keep a record of wrong. Can you say that? Oh, we're so good, right? Our memory is terrible.33:17except when it comes to other people's mistakes. Then our memories are great. Right? I don't like her. Why? Because this one time she said this. I don't like him. Why? Because this one time, you know, back in 1987, he did this. I will never forgive her for doing that. It's resentful. You know, somebody, that person could have been having a bad day.33:46The whole thing could have been a complete misunderstanding, but no, no, no, no. I got that in the vault now. All right? I'm resentful. I'm resentful. But love keeps no record of wrong. Do you know why? Do you know why? Do you know who else doesn't keep record of wrong? God. What is it? Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8, a promise so glorious. He said, in both testaments. God has promised under Jesus Christ He will remember our sins no more. And if there's ever anybody who is justified to keep a record of wrongs against me, it would be God. That because of Jesus Christ, when you receive Him, when you believe in Jesus Christ, when you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, He takes your sin away.34:48And he keeps no record of it. God keeps no record of sin. Love says, Jeff shouldn't either. Right? Can you say that? Next, love does not rejoice at wrongdoing. Jeff does not rejoice at wrongdoing. You're like, rejoice at wrongdoing?35:16Who does that? Everybody does that. We take pleasure. We take pleasure in other people's sins. Like, what do you mean? But just imagine if one of the leaders of our church was caught in some sin. Oh, you're going to see some nastiness come out of people if that would happen. One is you're going to see, People comparing themselves to that leader. You're like, well, I'm not a great person, but I'm not as bad as him. Or the gossip, right? The leader was caught in some sin. There'd be so much gossip. Hey, did you hear what he did? Did you hear about that? There'd be so much gossip going around about that. We delight in other people's sin.36:16Oh, and the slander. That guy, you know, Gossip's ugly cousin, slander. Like, oh, did you hear what he did? Oh, he's not so high and mighty now, is he? Oh, he, oh, leader in the church, huh? Oh, look at him now. Love doesn't rejoice at wrongdoing. So Jeff should not rejoice at wrongdoing because if something offends God, why would I take joy in that? Love is never happy at someone else failing.36:46But love rejoices with the truth. Jeff rejoices with the truth. Dishonesty leads to distrust. Relationships must be built on truth. Can you say that? You rejoice with the truth. You rejoice with honesty because dealing in truth is God's way. And homestretch here.37:16Love Bears All Things. Jeff Bears All Things. Your name Bears All Things. What does that mean? Bears All Things. Literally, the word means to cover. That's literally what the Greek word means. It's covering. It's covering someone's failures and covering someone's sins. Now, yes, when someone is in sin, we talked all about this, we address sin.37:46But what we do not do is parade it around for other people. Like we tell our kids, don't tattle. Right? Don't tattle. Why? Because love doesn't do that. Right? When I was a kid, you know what we called tattling? See who remembers. Being a narc. How many people remember being a narc? Okay? Don't be a narc. All right?38:16we address sin, but we don't parade it around. All right, next, love believes all things. Jeff believes all things. Your name believes all things. But that doesn't mean you're gullible. She'll believe anything. Like, hey, the moon's made out of ham. Like, oh, didn't know that. Like, no, no, that's not what it means.38:46It means believing the best about a person. That's what it means. It's believing the best about a person. It means not being suspicious. That means if a comment is made, if a comment is made that can be taken one of two ways, you take it the good way. That's what it means. I believe the best about them. I don't believe that he said that to hurt my feelings.39:15I believe the best about them. That's what it means. Does that describe you? Or like you hear some rumor, right? Like somebody's like, hey, you know, last Thursday I heard, I was at Walmart and the Browns were in Walmart and I heard Taylor cussing out his wife. I would say, I don't believe that. I don't believe that. Why? Because I believe the best about Taylor.39:47That's what love does. Like, I know this guy. He wouldn't do that. Love believes the best about people, right? Negative example, Job's friends. Remember we went through Job a while back. Remember them? They come to comfort Job and they're like, so you're having a bad day, are you? Well, you must be a terrible sinner. No, love believes.40:15best. Love hopes all things. Jeff hopes all things. Your name hopes all things. Can you say that? It's never giving up on a person. That's what it means. It's never giving up on a person. Oh, he messed up again. I'm disappointed again. Love remembers. Jeff remembers. You remembers. We are all works.40:45in progress. Every single one of us works in progress. And love says, he'll get there. He'll get there. I'm not giving up hope. And then finally, love endures all things. Jeff endures all things. Your name endures all things.41:18Can you say that? That means we survive. The relationship that we have survives even terrible times. That's what that means. With all this patience and kindness and selflessness, you know, the hard times are going to come.41:48And when the dust settles, I'll still be here.41:56No matter what happens, listen, I am for you.42:04No matter what.42:06Because love never lets go.42:13Our worship team would make their way back up to the platform. You might be looking at your list right now. And like me, you look at some areas here. You're like, wow, this doesn't quite describe me the way that I wish that it did. What do I do about that?42:43that are like, meh, meh. I guess I gotta try harder, huh? No. No. Because you can't, look, when it comes to love, you can't fake love. But you also can't muster it up. There's only one thing you can do with love.43:14And that's funnel it. It has to come from God. So I want you to hang on to this. Because wherever you are deficient, you need to take that to God. And I'd like us to do that right now. If you just bow your heads for a moment, please.43:43Just bow your heads. And I want to pray a prayer that is for all of us. Father, we look at your word, we look at this list that under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote to the Corinthians and ultimately to us. We look at this list, Father, and there's so many ways that we fall short. So many ways we should be doing so much better. So many ways we have completely blown it.44:15But Father, we thank you that this list describes you. You haven't given up on us. You continue to pursue and change us. Father, you have called us to imitate you. But the only way we can have love at all because you first loved us.44:48So Father, I pray not just for myself, but for my brothers and sisters here, for those who are streaming or listening to the podcast later.44:56I pray, Father, that we would take this list before you and take an honest assessment and cry out to you for the kind of heart change that only your Holy Spirit can bring about.45:13And Father, might we be a church where more and more our testimony is.45:25We're not perfect and we've got a lot of growing to do, but we are committed to loving one another.45:34We ask this in Jesus' holy and precious name.45:38Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 13:1-7What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Which aspect of love (1 Cor 13:4-7) seems the easiest (“most natural”) for you? Why?Which aspect of love do you personally find the most difficult for you? How can you grow in this area?Why do you think the kind of love described in these verses can be so difficult in the church? BreakoutPray for one another.

Galatians 1:11-24I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.

Introduction: What Does God Want Me to See and Know This Easter? (Ephesians 1:15-23) The HOPE THAT IS FOUND in Belonging to Christ. (Eph 1:18a) The UNENDING RICHES THAT ARE AVAILABLE in Christ. (Eph 1:18b) The RESURRECTION POWER of Christ. (Eph 1:19-20a) The SIMPLICITY OF SUBMITTING TO THE KINGSHIP of Christ. (Eph 1:20b-23) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Audio Transcript 00:00-00:05Please turn your Bibles to where Sydney just read, Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23.00:06-00:10Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 through 23.00:12-00:16You know, kids are so easily distracted, aren't they?00:17-00:19Their kids, their heads are often in the clouds.00:20-00:22They're not thinking about what they should be thinking about.00:22-00:25They're not looking where they should be looking.00:25-00:28They don't know important things that they need to know.00:29-00:33I know this from first-hand experience with my own kids, Sam and Emmy.00:33-00:40Sam and Emmy are so easily distracted, and it can be so hard to get their attention.00:41-00:47Sometimes I physically have to put my hands on their faces to redirect their focus.00:47-00:49Why do I do that?00:49-00:55'Cause I want them to see something so that they will know something.00:56-01:02Sam makes a huge mess and he's not cleaning up despite my many pleas for him to clean it up.01:02-01:07I have to gently put my hands on his face to redirect him to the disaster zone.01:08-01:14I want him to see the mess so he will know that he needs to clean up the mess.01:15-01:21Emmy throws a temper tantrum about something completely unreasonable and she's not listening to reason.01:22-01:26I lovingly put my hands on her face to redirect her focus to my eyes.01:27-01:37I want her to see the seriousness of my face so that she will know that she needs to say sorry, she needs to ask for forgiveness, and stop her pouting.01:38-01:46My kids are so easily distracted, and they need parental reminders from their mom and dad.01:47-01:50But if we're honest, we're not much better than kids, are we?01:51-01:53You and I are easily distracted.01:54-01:58You and I do not think about what we should be thinking about.01:58-02:01You and I do not look where we should be looking.02:02-02:06You and I do not know important things that we need to know.02:07-02:15You and I need our Heavenly Father to lovingly grab a hold of our faces and redirect our focus.02:17-02:25You and I need to see and know important truths that God wants us to see and know.02:26-02:33You and I need to truly see Jesus Christ for who he is so that we can truly know him both now and forever.02:34-02:45You and I need to truly see what is expected of us in this book so that we will know what responsibilities we need to carry out from day to day.02:45-02:47We're at the end of our latest series.02:49-02:49Respect the office.02:50-02:53Jesus' roles determine my responsibilities.02:53-03:00Last Sunday, we saw that Jesus is the ultimate prophet who perfectly represents and speaks for his Father.03:01-03:10When you truly see Jesus as prophet, you know that you must listen and believe whatever he says.03:13-03:25This past Good Friday, Pastor Jeff showed us that Jesus is our great high priest who laid down his own life, who shed his own blood as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross.03:26-03:36When you see Jesus as priest, you know that you must confess your sin, you must repent of your sin, you must ask for forgiveness of your sin.03:38-03:51This morning we will see that Jesus Christ is the king of all, who is high above any ruler, any president, any CEO, any billionaire, and nothing and no one can compare to Jesus Christ.03:51-03:58And when you see Jesus as King, you know that you must obey whatever he says.04:00-04:10As is our custom at Harvest, please pray for me that I'll faithfully proclaim God's word, and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive God's word.04:13-04:18Father, we come to you, And we thank you for what this day represents.04:20-04:27We thank you that because of your son, because of what he has done, we can have true hope.04:27-04:30We can have true life.04:31-04:36And if there are people in this room who do not have true life, may you seek and save the lost today.04:36-04:39May you bring the dead to life.04:39-04:42May you give faith where there previously was no faith.04:42-04:48And for the rest of us, Lord, may we be comforted, may we be encouraged, may we be challenged and built up by your word.04:48-04:52I thank you so much that you watch over your word to perform it.04:52-04:54Your word never returns to you empty.04:54-04:57It always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it out.04:57-05:00And Lord, I trust you and we trust you this morning.05:00-05:03We ask that you would do a great and mighty work in all of our hearts.05:04-05:08We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.05:10-05:19In the original Greek, the apostle Paul writes, one long run-on sentence in Ephesians chapter one, verses three through 14.05:19-05:26Have you ever listened to a family member or friend who breathlessly tells you a story, they're really, really excited, they just wanna get it out?05:26-05:30That was me growing up, no one could understand any story I was telling growing up.05:31-05:33That is the Apostle Paul in this passage.05:33-05:40He is so blown away by who Christ is and what he has done for the Ephesian church.05:41-05:48He gives a huge list, they have been redeemed, they have been rescued, they have been adopted into the family of God.05:48-05:54They have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and on and on the list goes.05:56-06:03In Ephesians chapter one, verse 15, Paul takes a deep breath, so he can go on for another run-on sentence.06:04-06:07So let's read the beginning of Paul's second run-on sentence.06:08-06:10In chapter one, verses 15 through 17.06:10-06:12of Ephesians.06:12-06:38He says, "For this reason, because I have heard "of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love "towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks "for you, remembering you in my prayers, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom "and of revelation and the knowledge of him." Paul isn't indifferent to the Ephesian church.06:39-06:40He isn't like, eh, whatever.06:41-06:46He has a deep love for these people because he ministered in Ephesus for years.06:46-06:50He personally led many of the Ephesians to Christ.06:51-06:55And since the day he left Ephesus, he has been receiving reports about them.06:55-06:56He's been checking in on them.06:56-07:01He's been hearing about their deep faith in Christ and their love for one another.07:03-07:13All that the Ephesians have been given in Christ and all they've been doing for Christ Paul to constantly give thanks and pray for them?07:15-07:16What is he praying for?07:17-07:19What is he asking for on their behalf?07:21-07:35Well he tells us in verses 17 through 18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know.07:38-07:39Let's stop there for a minute.07:39-07:41pick up the rest of Paul's thought very soon.07:42-07:44What is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians?07:45-07:48To see so that they will know.07:49-07:57To see important truths with the eyes of their hearts so that they will know these truths in their hearts for the rest of their lives.07:59-08:09The truths that Paul wants the Ephesians to see and know are the same exact truths that you need to see and know on April 5th, 2026.08:11-08:14Some of you are here because you really wanna be here.08:14-08:20You couldn't wait to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord with other brothers and sisters in Christ.08:21-08:23Others of you would rather be someplace else.08:24-08:26You're really hoping, I won't talk for too long.08:27-08:37You're really hoping that this service will be mercifully short so you can get back home, eat Easter lunch, hunt for some eggs, and pass out from a food comb on the couch.08:38-08:42And if that's you, I want you to hear a loud and clear message from me.08:42-08:44I am so glad that you're here.08:45-08:48I have been praying for you all week long.08:48-08:54I have been praying that you would see and know what God wants you to see and know.08:55-09:01Whether you are excited or unenthused to be here, you need to ask yourself one question this morning.09:02-09:06What does God want me to see and know this Easter?09:07-09:11What does God want me to see and know this Easter?09:12-09:15Number one, your outline, the hope that is found in belonging to Christ.09:16-09:19The hope that is found in belonging to Christ.09:22-09:26Let's return to Paul's thought that we left hanging a minute ago in verses 16 through 18.09:27-09:45He writes, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, "remembering you in my prayers, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom "and of revelation and the knowledge of him, "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, "that you may know." What does he want them to see and know?09:46-09:50What is the hope to which he has called you?09:51-09:57Paul wants the Ephesians to see and know the hope that is found in belonging to Jesus.09:59-10:02Have you ever noticed that the hardest words to define are the simplest?10:04-10:06We use words like hope every single day.10:07-10:08But what does it actually mean?10:08-10:10What is hope?10:12-10:13There are actually two definitions for hope.10:14-10:18There is the worldly definition and there is the biblical definition.10:19-10:24There is the wrong definition and the right definition.10:25-10:30And your personal definition depends upon your status relationship with Christ.10:33-10:38If you do not love and follow Jesus, hope is only wishful thinking and nothing more.10:39-10:42Hope is crossing your fingers and wishing for the best.10:43-10:47Hope is knocking on wood and longing that nothing bad will happen to you.10:49-10:52You have no basis for this hope beyond your desire for it.10:54-10:57That kind of hope is no hope at all.10:59-11:09In the next chapter of Ephesians, Paul says that until you trust in Christ for salvation, you are without hope and you are without God in the world.11:11-11:16So that is the wrong and unbiblical definition of hope.11:17-11:21Let's talk about the right and biblical definition of hope.11:22-11:28According to God's word, hope is confident expectation in the character and plans of God.11:29-11:34Hope is confident expectation in the character and plans of God.11:34-11:48When you trust in Christ and belong to him, you have a confident expectation that every single one of your sins have been wiped away, have been paid for, that your past, present, and future offenses are no longer held against you.11:49-11:57When you trust in Christ and belong to him, You have a confident expectation that God will keep every single promise in this book.11:57-12:06When you trust in Christ and belong to him, you have a confident expectation that you are bound for heaven and not hell.12:09-12:13These hopes aren't maybes or mightbes that you're unsure of.12:13-12:16These are firm and fixed realities that cannot change.12:18-12:23If you're a true born-again believer in Christ, You have no need for wishful thinking.12:23-12:25You have no need for crossing your fingers.12:25-12:27You have no need for knocking on wood.12:28-12:37When you truly belong to Jesus Christ, you see that he is trustworthy, and you know that there is a 0% chance that he will fail you.12:40-12:43What does God want me to see and know this Easter?12:44-12:48Secondly, the unending riches that are available in Christ.12:49-12:53the unending riches that are available in Christ.12:57-13:07At the end of verse 18, Paul goes on to pray that the Ephesians would see and know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.13:08-13:14If I were to ask you to come up with your net worth off the top of your head, would you be able to do it?13:16-13:19Some of you uber savvy and prepared individuals exact number.13:20-13:25This would also be really easy for you teenagers and college students because your net worth is practically zero.13:26-13:27You own nothing really.13:28-13:30Others of us would need to sit down and crunch the numbers.13:31-13:33Subtract our debts, add our assets.13:35-13:39Do you realize that all of your assets will belong to someone else?13:40-13:43All of your stuff will be passed on.13:45-13:52Maybe you've already thought about the family heirlooms, the keepsakes that you wanna pass down to your kids, your grandkids, your friends, your relatives.13:52-13:57Maybe you've already been the beneficiary of a very small or a very big inheritance.13:59-14:01You inherited a house and all that came with it.14:02-14:06You inherited a decent chunk of money that you were not expecting.14:08-14:19No matter what you've inherited in the past or what you plan to pass down to others in the future, these things pale in comparison to the inheritance that God gives to his children.14:20-14:21I mean, think about it.14:21-14:22What is God's net worth?14:24-14:25It's limitless.14:25-14:26It's incalculable.14:26-14:28What does God own?14:30-14:32You are the first service, so I'll give you some grace.14:32-14:33Let's try that again.14:34-14:36What does God own?14:37-14:41So if you belong to him, what do you stand to gain?14:42-14:43Everything.14:45-14:46God isn't a cheapskate.14:47-14:53If you're a born again believer in Christ, God doesn't put you on a weekly allowance plan that is based on your performance.14:54-15:08God's not up in heaven thinking, "Well, I was gonna loosen the purse strings a bit more "and give Taylor more this week, "but he really let me down, he really failed me, "so too bad for him, maybe next week, if he behaves better." That is not how God operates at all.15:09-15:11He is unbelievably generous towards you.15:12-15:15He's unconditionally loving towards you.15:18-15:21I know what some Christians in this room and watching online are thinking right now.15:21-15:23Taylor, that sure sounds nice.15:25-15:26But that's not my experience.15:27-15:31You're saying that I have everything, but I feel like I have nothing.15:33-15:35Life isn't going very well for me right now.15:37-15:40I get that, and I felt that.15:41-15:43You may feel like you have nothing.15:44-15:47You may feel like you are running on empty.15:48-15:52You may feel like you have nothing left to give.15:53-15:59But I want you to see and know all that is available to you in Christ.16:00-16:04In Christ, you have unlimited access to God the Father in prayer.16:04-16:10You can come to him 24/7 to bring your request, your Thanksgiving just to talk to him.16:11-16:14You've been given the very word of God.16:14-16:18You can talk to God in prayer and God talks to you in his word.16:19-16:23You've been filled with the Holy Spirit who leads, guides, and comforts you.16:23-16:29You have a protective and older brother named Jesus who is constantly interceding for you in heaven.16:32-16:37As a pastor, I hear so many people tell me, I just want more of God.16:38-16:40I just want more of the Holy Spirit.16:40-16:42I just want more from God.16:43-16:48Listen, in Christ, you have been given everything that God has.16:49-16:50You have been given all of him.16:51-16:55God cannot give you more of himself because he's given you all of it.16:58-16:59Do you really believe that?17:01-17:03Do you really live like you believe that?17:05-17:07No gift has been reserved.17:07-17:09No blessing has been withheld.17:10-17:13No grace has been kept back from you.17:15-17:19Even if you are financially poor, you are spiritually rich.17:20-17:25Even if you feel empty, you have been filled with the fullness of God.17:27-17:31If the past 12 years, my wife and I have shared a joint bank account.17:31-17:41And whenever we open that account, For some reason, PNC Bank put her name in bold letters on the top of the checks and me in smaller letters underneath of hers.17:43-17:44I'm told that's not how it usually goes.17:44-17:45Am I right?17:46-17:47It's very emasculating.17:48-17:51I think PNC laughs at me every time they print those checks for us.17:52-17:53But here's the thing.17:54-17:56My checks clear just as well as Kate's does.17:58-18:03My card withdraws money out of our account just like Kate's card does.18:05-18:14I have unlimited access to a bank account with my wife, but I also have unlimited access to an even greater account.18:14-18:18I share the resources of someone even greater than my wife.18:18-18:21I share the infinite riches of an infinite God.18:22-18:31On our account, his name is huge and mine is teeny tiny small, but I still get to access those riches whenever I want to, whenever I need them.18:33-18:37And the same is true for you if you've been adopted into the family of God.18:38-18:48And the same can be true of you today if you let go of the unsatisfying garbage of this world to grab a hold of the infinitely satisfying treasures of heaven.18:51-18:56God wants you to see and know the riches that are available to you in Christ.18:58-19:01What does God want me to see and know this Easter?19:02-19:04Thirdly, the resurrection power of Christ.19:05-19:07The resurrection power of Christ.19:11-19:21In verse 19, Paul prays the Ephesians would see and know what is the immeasurable greatness of his, God's power towards us who believe.19:22-19:23Power.19:25-19:28Power is such a foreign concept to so many people.19:28-19:34Power is such a foreign concept to most people who fill churches Sunday after Sunday.19:34-19:38Most Christians feel so powerless.19:40-19:44They feel powerless to resist temptation so they give in without a fight.19:45-19:49They feel powerless to serve the church so they sit on the sidelines.19:50-19:54They feel powerless to share the gospel so they stay silent.19:55-20:03They feel powerless to be the husbands and wives they've been called to be, so they settle for being passive rather than active.20:04-20:09They feel powerless to be godly parents, so they make excuses.20:12-20:13How about you?20:15-20:17Do you feel powerless?20:20-20:22If you feel powerless, you're not alone.20:23-20:24I certainly feel that way.20:26-20:31I certainly feel that way as a homeowner because I am not a handyman whatsoever.20:32-20:39If there's something broken at your house, I wouldn't recommend calling me as your first, second, 20th, 100th option.20:40-20:45When something breaks at my house, I mostly feel powerless to address it.20:47-20:52Recently, the toilet paper roll holder ripped off our downstairs bathroom wall.20:52-20:56I wasn't surprised, it's the bathroom my kids use the most and they're not gentle with the toilet paper.20:57-21:00It's like they're on the Price is Right rolling down the toilet paper.21:05-21:10I walked into the bathroom, I assessed the damage and I'll be honest with you, I felt an initial wave of powerlessness.21:12-21:16And I thought, well, guess what's gonna be savages in keeping toilet paper on the bathroom sink from now on.21:18-21:22But then I thought to myself, wait a minute, I own a drill.21:23-21:24I own wall anchors.21:25-21:31I have a teeny tiny screwdriver set that can be used as teeny tiny screw that locks this toilet paper holder into place.21:33-21:38I realized that I already had all that I needed to fix this issue.21:40-21:41And guess what?21:41-21:42I did fix it.21:44-21:45Thank you.21:48-21:52The next time you come to my house, I'll show you the glories of the toilet paper holder.21:57-22:09Whenever you feel that initial wave of powerlessness as a Christian, remember that you already have all that you need to face the issue in front of you.22:10-22:13What you already have is far better than a cheap set of tools.22:14-22:17You have the very power of the God of the universe.22:19-22:24And Paul tells us in verses 19 through 20 what this power is truly capable of.22:24-22:38He says that he wants the Ephesians to see and know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.22:41-22:47The power of resurrection isn't just something that Jesus experienced and no one else will ever again.22:49-22:57The power of resurrection is something that everyone who trusts in Christ experiences right now.22:57-23:03It is something that you will experience for all of eternity if you've given your life over to him.23:04-23:07Please catch this because this is truly life-changing.23:08-23:20If you have trusted in Christ for salvation, that same power that brought him back from death and raised him from the grave 2,000 years ago resides within you.23:21-23:26That same power raised you from spiritual death and gave you new life.23:27-23:36That same power will enable you to share the gospel, not caring what anyone thinks about you, not worrying about what the response will be.23:37-23:43That same power will inspire you to not believe the lies and discouragement of the enemy.23:43-23:49That same power will motivate you to love your wife, respect your husband, serve your children.23:50-23:56That same power will equip you to use your spiritual gifts in the life of the church.23:58-24:01Yes, in and of yourself, you are powerless.24:02-24:14In and of yourself, you cannot do anything of value for anyone, but in Christ, you have access to the death-defying, life-giving power the God of the universe.24:14-24:19It is at your fingertips whenever you want it, whenever you need it.24:24-24:33Do not insult the sacrifice and resurrection of your Savior by believing that he has left you unequipped for the responsibilities you've been given.24:36-24:41At this point in the message, you may be thinking, wasn't this supposed to be about seeing and knowing Jesus as King?24:41-24:42when is that part gonna come up?24:44-24:47Well, I'm gonna take a page out of Pastor Jeff's preaching book.24:47-24:49Everything I've said so far has been the introduction.24:50-24:51Here's the actual sermon.24:52-24:53Don't worry, it'll be short, it won't be long.24:55-24:56Everything leading up to this has been the warmup.24:57-24:57Here's the main event.24:58-25:01What does God want me to see and know this Easter?25:02-25:06Finally, the simplicity of submitting to the kingship of Christ.25:08-25:11the simplicity of submitting to the kingship of Christ.25:17-25:23When you hear the gospel story, it's usually concluded with the resurrection of Jesus.25:25-25:26Usually goes like this.25:26-25:30Jesus, God himself, took on flesh and came to this earth.25:30-25:31He lived a perfect life.25:32-25:36He had a three year long ministry filled with miracles and sermons.25:36-25:41He was crucified in the tomb for three days, rose again, roll credits, the end.25:44-25:45Is that actually the end of the gospel story?25:47-25:57There is a major event that is missed, and that is the ascension of Christ, which is a fancy theological way of saying that Jesus went back to heaven.25:59-26:05Paul wants the Ephesians as well as you and I to see and know the importance of the ascension.26:06-26:26In verses 20 through 21, he says, the same power that raised Christ from the dead also seated him at the Father's right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.26:28-26:33Through his crucifixion, Jesus is the Savior who destroys the power of death.26:34-26:39Through his resurrection, Jesus is the victor who destroys the power of death.26:41-26:48Through his ascension, Jesus is the king who defeats the power of those who challenge his rightful rule and authority.26:50-27:00Yes, Satan and the forces of darkness seem to be winning right now, but I promise you they have lost already because they cannot compete with the one who sits on heaven's throne.27:01-27:13Yes, people do and can resist the king right now, but one day, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.27:15-27:16You have two options.27:17-27:23You can willingly bow the knee right now, or you can be forced to bow in eternity.27:25-27:35You can joyfully proclaim that Jesus is your savior, your Lord in the present, or you can begrudgingly admit that you were wrong and he was right in the future.27:38-27:45No matter what you say, no matter what you do, you cannot change the reality of this universe's political situation.27:46-27:49Jesus Christ rules and reigns.27:50-27:55But your position, your side of this political reality can change.27:56-27:58Will you choose team pride?27:59-28:00The captain of that team is Satan.28:01-28:04Spoiler alert, that team is gonna lose big time.28:06-28:14There is team submission, and the captain of that team is Jesus Christ himself, who wins every single game in an absolute shutout.28:16-28:17What will you choose?28:19-28:22Will you resist, or will you submit?28:24-28:29Let's wrap up by reading more about the kingship of Jesus in verses 22 through 23.28:29-28:48Paul writes, "And he, God the Father, put all things under Christ's feet and gave him his head over all things of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Jesus Christ is the head, the ruler, the boss, the king of the church.28:49-28:56He's in charge around here, not me, not Pastor Jeff, not Pastor Rich, not the elders, not you.28:56-28:59Jesus Christ is head over the church.28:59-29:03He is in charge of every true church across the face of this planet.29:04-29:11And the church should be a living example of what it looks like to submit to the kingship of Jesus.29:12-29:16The church should be on the front lines displaying the love of Christ.29:16-29:21The church should show a watching world what it looks like to obey the word of God.29:24-29:29How are most Christians doing at setting that example of submission in 2026?29:32-29:32Not the best.29:33-29:42Most professing Christians act like they know Jesus, but they live like they do not know Jesus.29:43-29:49Many professing Christians seem to care more about their own personal opinions than the authoritative word of God.29:50-29:58Most professing Christians seem to love themselves more than the lost, more than their fellow church members.30:00-30:04Do you profess to know Jesus, but make Jesus look bad?30:08-30:13Do you give others around you a totally inaccurate picture of what it looks like to submit to King Jesus?30:15-30:21If your answer to those questions is yes, it's time for repentance, it's time to change course.30:22-30:31Earlier I said that God can never give you more of himself and that's 100% true, but you can always give God more of yourself.30:32-30:34God withholds nothing from you.30:35-30:37What are you withholding from him?30:39-30:40Is it your finances?30:42-30:47Do you foolishly think that all the money in your account belongs to you when it actually belongs to God?30:48-30:49Is it your time?30:50-30:57You've been wasting the most precious gift you've been given, time, by spending it on yourself and no one else.30:59-31:00Is it social media and entertainment?31:01-31:06You're constantly consuming garbage, yet you act surprised that garbage comes out of your mouth?31:07-31:09Is it your status and reputation?31:10-31:16You care so much about what people think of you that you're willing to tear others down and lie your way to the top.31:17-31:22Listen, care about nothing and no one more than Jesus.31:24-31:26The Christian life is so simple.31:28-31:31Do you want me to share the not so secret secret of the Christian life?31:33-31:34Doesn't seem like you want it, no one said anything.31:35-31:38Do you want the not so secret secret to the Christian life?31:39-31:40All right, fine, I'll share it with you.31:41-31:43Just do what Jesus says.31:46-31:47Just do what Jesus says.31:48-31:50Obey his word.31:50-31:56Life is so much simpler when you submit to Jesus in every single way.31:56-32:00It's so complex to figure out other masters to follow.32:00-32:06It's so unsatisfying to be the boss of your own life 'cause if you are honest enough to admit it, you are clueless.32:07-32:08You have no idea what you're doing.32:09-32:10You have no idea what's going on.32:13-32:17Yes, the Christian life is simple, but it's also challenging, isn't it?32:18-32:24It is absolutely pride crushing to admit that you know nothing and Jesus knows everything.32:25-32:29It's humbling to acknowledge that he is in control and you are not.32:30-32:35It's difficult to follow Jesus, not cater to your own personal preferences.32:37-32:39I have to tell you, you will feel miserable.32:40-32:48You will feel directionless until you see and know that submitting to Jesus is the only way to lasting joy.32:50-32:52The worship team can now make their way forward.32:54-32:59Do you see and know that Jesus is the ultimate prophet?33:01-33:05He spoke the truth 2,000 years ago and he still speaks the truth to this day.33:06-33:10Do you see and know that Jesus is the high priest?33:10-33:17He laid down his own life, he shed his own blood on the cross to wash away your many sins.33:19-33:22Do you see and know that Jesus is the king of all?33:23-33:31He resurrected from the grave, he ascended to heaven where he sits at the Father's right hand, where he rules and reigns right now.33:32-33:37This position of prominence proves that He is God and you are not.33:38-33:45This position of prominence proves that He is a rightful claim over your life and you have none.33:47-33:52If your heart is still unyielded to Christ, if your knee is still unbowed, what are you waiting for?33:53-34:00There is no better time to obey Jesus' command to believe in Him than this very moment.34:02-34:06There is no better opportunity to trust in Jesus for salvation than right now.34:08-34:16There is no better day than Easter Sunday to draw your line in the sand and say, today is the day when I gave my life to Jesus.34:16-34:19Today is the day when everything changed for me.34:21-34:29If you turn from your sin and you place your faith in Jesus, the old you will die.34:30-34:33never to be seen or heard from again.34:34-34:43A new you will rise from the grave with Christ, and one day you will live with Christ forever and ever.34:45-34:51That is the ultimate truth that God wants you to see and know this Easter.34:52-34:53Let's pray.34:56-34:59Father, this amazing news often seems too good to be true.35:00-35:10How could a holy, perfect, all-powerful God care about weak people like us?35:11-35:15People who have rebelled against you, who've wanted nothing to do with you.35:16-35:34Lord, instead of just turning your back on us, instead of just consigning all of us to hell forever, You sent your one and only Son to become one of us, to live the perfect life we could never live, to die the death that we deserved to die.35:36-35:38Lord, let this news never become old to us.35:39-35:40May it never become normal.35:41-35:42May it always blow us away.35:43-35:49And Lord, I do lift up those of us in this room who are still resisting, who are still doubting.35:51-35:54God, I can't change anyone, but you can.35:56-35:57I know you can save.35:58-35:59I know you can bring the dead to life.35:59-36:02Lord, I ask you would do that this very moment.36:04-36:05Lord, we thank you for who you are.36:05-36:09We thank you for what you've done, and we thank you for all that you continue to do for us.36:10-36:13We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Small Group DiscussionRead Ephesians 1:15-23What was your big take-away from this passage / message?What is the difference between worldly hope and biblical hope?What are the riches and blessings that have been made available to you in Christ?What does it mean that you share in the resurrection power of Jesus? How should this truth change how you live from one day to the next?How are you failing to submit to the kingship of Christ right now?BreakoutPray for one another.

Introduction: Psalm 32:5 – I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Proverbs 28:13 – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Conceal or Confess? If You Want to Confess: (1 John 1:5 - 2:6) You Have to Be Done LYING About Your Sin. (1 John 1:5-10) 3 Lies You Have to Stop Claiming: I BELIEVE in God. (When You Don't LIVE Like It.) (1 John 1:6-7) I'm a GOOD Person. (1 John 1:8-9) I Don't SIN. (1 John 1:10) You Have to Come to JESUS. (1 John 2:1-2) Your LIFESTYLE Proves Your Sincerity. (1 John 2:3-6) Hebrews 4:14 - Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Audio Transcript 00:00-00:09Open up those Bibles to the passage that Levi just read, 1 John 1.00:12-00:14While you're turning there, let's just quiet our hearts for a moment.00:14-00:19And I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to faithfully communicate God's Word.00:21-00:29And I'll pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us from His Word tonight.00:29-00:31All right, let's pray.00:33-00:44Father in heaven, I pray that this time would allow us to feel the weight of what it is we're remembering here tonight.00:46-00:48We're so distracted with so many things.00:50-01:02I just pray, Father, by the power of Your Spirit, everything is off our minds and hearts except your word.01:06-01:14And that we would be honest enough with ourselves to see things as you see them.01:18-01:24Thank you, Father, for the sacrifice that was made.01:26-01:29You spared not your own son.01:34-01:38We pray in the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen.01:40-01:41Amen.01:41-01:46We're in this series, this short series called Respect the Office.01:49-01:54That if Jesus presented a resume, it would have a lot on it.01:56-02:00But there are three roles in particular.02:02-02:07We're just sort of slowing down and looking at, and last Sunday Pastor Rich talked about Jesus as prophet.02:08-02:10He is the word of God.02:10-02:14Who God is, is represented in Jesus.02:16-02:22Tonight, we're going to see that Jesus Christ is our priest.02:25-02:27What is a priest, anyways?02:28-02:36Well, in the simplest terms, the prophet represented God to man.02:37-02:42And the priest represents man to God.02:43-02:50And in the Old Testament, the priests offered sacrifices from sinners to God at the temple.02:51-03:12So tonight, as our minds naturally think of Jesus Christ on the cross, what you need to see in your mind in that moment when Jesus was on the cross, was He was not only the the sacrifice that was being offered for sin.03:12-03:17At the same time, He was the priest who was offering the sacrifice.03:19-03:28Jesus Christ, as our priest, came to deal with our sin.03:32-03:51There is one thing you must do Before you can receive forgiveness, before you can have a relationship with God at all, there's one thing you have to do.03:52-03:53You have to confess.03:55-04:09And if you're a Christian, if you are truly born again, and you're sitting here tonight, and you're wondering why your walk is so weak, why you aren't the strong Christian that you thought you would be by now.04:13-04:15Maybe you stopped confessing.04:16-04:19Look at verse 9 again.04:21-04:30If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.04:34-04:36We're going to talk about confess tonight.04:37-04:39What does it mean to confess?04:41-04:44Well, in the Greek, it's a compound word.04:44-04:54It literally means, "say the same." In other words, to confess means that you're agreeing with God.04:56-04:58Agreeing with God that you are a sinner.04:58-05:02Agreeing with God that your sin is wrong.05:05-05:06I agree with God.05:07-05:08It's saying I'm guilty.05:09-05:11I'm not a good person.05:11-05:16I look at my actions and I do things that are just shameful.05:18-05:21I hear the words that come out of my mouth sometimes.05:22-05:24What is wrong with me?05:27-05:27Shameful.05:29-05:38So I look into my heart and I realize, there's something broken in me.05:40-05:41There's something evil in me.05:44-05:47How is it that I can be so full of selfishness?05:47-05:51How is it that I can be so full of hatred sometimes?05:52-05:53How is it that I can be so full of lust?05:55-05:56Why is that?06:00-06:01Confessing is agreeing with God.06:05-06:10And the three hardest words that you will ever say, it's not, "I love you." Those ones are hard.06:10-06:12But there are three harder words to say.06:13-06:24And those words are these, "I have sinned." To get to the point where you are saying this from your heart, "I've sinned.06:25-06:26I have sinned.06:27-06:30You know, I was thinking about that a lot this week and preparing for this message.06:31-06:32Why is that so hard?06:35-06:46I mean, it's clear in the Bible, it's clear from observation that we have a problem, but why is it so hard for me to get to that place where I say, "I have sinned"?06:46-06:49Why is it so hard for you to admit that, to confess that?06:52-06:53I think it's a lot of things.06:55-06:57I think the big reason is pride, right?06:58-07:02To admit that you're a sinner is also an admission of weakness.07:02-07:06I'm not the morally strong person that I want to think that I am.07:07-07:15Maybe it's hard to confess that I am a sinner because deep down the reality is we actually kind of like our sin.07:16-07:19We would miss it if it wasn't in our lives.07:19-08:13is that. If you're sitting here tonight and you're like, "Well, I don't feel like I love my sin. I want out of it, but I feel trapped in it. I'm in bondage to it." That's hard to confess. That something is so ruling over you. "I don't want to do this, but I keep doing it. What is my problem?" You know, I think really for a lot of us, it's hard to say I have sinned because it's just so hard to not see yourself as the hero in your own story. Sometimes you're the bad guy. So am I. Acknowledging sin is uncomfortable. It's offensive. And it just it goes against our natural inclinations.08:17-08:18Here's the reality from God's Word.08:20-08:21Unsaved people.08:22-08:29People who don't sincerely know the Lord, are always going to try to downplay sin.08:31-08:32It's not that big of a deal.08:33-08:36And one of the ways they do that is by trying to redefine sin.08:36-08:40We won't call it sin, we'll call it something else and kind of soften the blow.08:41-08:46But the big one is, unsaved people conceal their sin.08:47-08:48Let's keep it hidden.08:48-08:50Let's make sure nobody finds out about it.08:50-08:52They conceal their sin.08:55-09:05Saved people, on the other hand, according to that passage Levi just read, saved people confess their sin.09:08-09:10So tonight I just want to ask you one question.09:12-09:12What are you doing?09:16-09:18Conceal or confess?09:19-09:20Which one are you?09:25-09:32Bible's so clear about this and what's at stake in this.09:33-09:40Psalm 32.5 says, "I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.09:41-09:49I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." Do you see that?09:51-09:52Conceal or confess.09:55-10:20Same thing, Proverbs 28.13 says, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper. But he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." So what are you doing with your sin? Are you concealing it? Or are you confessing it?10:23-10:33So on your outline, if you're taking notes, it says at the top, "Conceal or confess?" And there might be some people in here that are honest enough to say, you know what, I'd rather just conceal it.10:34-10:37And I would say respectfully, I don't know why you're here tonight.10:41-10:42You should have stayed home.10:45-10:48But I do know that there are some people here tonight that are like, you know what?10:51-10:53It's gone on beyond too long.10:54-10:54I need to confess.10:56-10:57I need to confess.10:57-11:03Well, I'm so glad you're here, if that's you, because I want to help you with that, from the Word of God.11:03-11:07So on your outline, if you want to confess, number one, this is where you have to start.11:09-11:11You have to be done lying about your sin.11:11-11:12You have to be done with that.11:13-11:16You have to be done lying about your sin.11:18-11:19Again, look at verse five.11:20-11:29He says, "This is the message we have heard from Him "and proclaimed to you, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.11:30-11:31God is light.11:32-11:38We could spend a whole sermon series talking about that, but the bottom line is this, that represents life.11:39-11:40That represents holiness.11:41-11:43There is no death in God.11:43-11:45There's no unholiness in God.11:45-11:46There's no sin.11:46-11:48There's no darkness of any kind in God.11:49-11:54A man, on the other hand, I probably don't have to sell you on that, do I?11:57-12:04And you see, when we talk about confessing, yes, you absolutely must confess with your mouth.12:07-12:10But, it has to ultimately start in your heart.12:12-12:18Because you can say something with your mouth that isn't actually true in your heart.12:20-12:27And when you say something that's not true, that's called telling a lie.12:28-12:30And that's where John starts here.12:31-12:32Like, you want to confess?12:33-12:33You've got to be done lying.12:36-12:46You see, three times in this passage, he says, "if we claim" or "if we say" "if we say" "if we say" He's pointing out the lies We tell ourselves.12:47-12:48He goes, you've got to stop that.12:49-12:50Let's look at them quickly.12:51-12:53Three lies you've got to stop claiming.12:54-12:55You've got to stop these.12:55-12:57Number, or letter A, sorry, letter A.12:58-13:00Here's a lie that a lot of people are saying.13:01-13:02I believe in God.13:05-13:07When you don't live like it.13:09-13:15People are saying, yeah, I believe in God, but they don't live like they know Him at all.13:16-13:18It's a lie, right?13:18-13:19Not my opinion, look at verse six.13:20-13:31He says, "If we say we have fellowship with Him, with God, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.13:32-13:35If we claim we have fellowship with Him," do you know what that is?13:36-13:40That's the guy or the girl that says, "Oh, I believe in God.13:41-13:42"Oh yeah, yeah, I believe in God.13:42-13:43I know God.13:44-13:49I mean, yeah, I'm a Christian." But he says they walk in darkness.13:49-13:54They're living in some secret, sinful lifestyle.13:57-13:59And John points out here, look, you're living a lie.14:00-14:02You're just, you're living a lie.14:03-14:05I don't know who you think you're fooling, but it's not God.14:07-14:08And this is a hard truth.14:11-14:14that I think tonight we need to confront ourselves with.14:15-14:18Not everyone who claims to know God actually does know God.14:20-14:23Not everyone who claims they know God is actually heading to heaven.14:26-14:33Not everyone who's sitting in a church, not just tonight, any church, week after week, not everyone sitting in a church is saved.14:37-15:04I got to tell you, I talk to a lot of people who will be talking about a family member of theirs, their brother, or their adult children, or their parents, and we'll be talking about these family members, and I'm like, "Well, do they know the Lord?" And they'll say, "Well, yeah, they're Christians." And then they say, "But they haven't gone to church "in years, they're not interested in praying.15:05-15:08They really don't want to have any spiritual conversations.15:09-15:12You know, I invited them to Good Friday service and they absolutely didn't want to come.15:14-15:15But yeah, he's a Christian.15:18-15:24I mean, yeah, he's living in adultery right now.15:25-15:26Oh, he's foul-mouthed.15:27-15:29And he is such a heavy drinker.15:32-15:32But he's a Christian.15:35-15:36Based on what?15:37-15:39What are you basing that on?15:39-15:41And you know what the response usually is?15:41-15:47Well, one time we were in a church and they said they believed in God.15:48-15:51They like raised their hand in a service one time.15:54-15:55But what does the Bible say?15:56-15:58Do you see that in verse six?15:58-16:03If we say we have fellowship, but we're walking in darkness, what does your Bible say?16:04-16:05It says you're lying.16:06-16:06It's just not true.16:10-16:12But on the other hand, look at verse seven.16:12-16:25He says, "But if we walk in the light, "as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, "and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." Walking in the light.16:26-16:27No hidden sin.16:29-16:35No secret sin that you hope to heaven nobody finds out about.16:43-16:46You sin, you confess.16:48-16:49You are walking in the light.16:50-16:51You're like, yeah, I did sin.16:51-16:53That was wrong what I did.16:53-16:54It was wrong in God's eyes.16:54-16:55I've sinned against my family.16:55-16:56I'm confessing that.16:56-16:58I'm getting with God on this.16:58-17:04I'm getting accountability on this to help me drag this to the light.17:07-17:09So what's your plan tonight?17:09-17:10Are you going to conceal?17:12-17:13Or are you going to confess?17:20-17:23You're walking in the light or you're walking in darkness?17:26-17:28There's no middle ground, by the way.17:29-17:33The Bible doesn't talk about walking in half light or half dark.17:33-17:36What typifies your life right now?17:37-17:39Which one describes you?17:40-17:42Are you walking in the light?17:45-17:47Or is there a whole lot of stuff that you're trying to keep concealed?17:51-17:53Well, John says, "Stop lying.17:54-17:54"Stop lying.17:54-17:59"Your claim of believing in God means nothing if your life is characterized by sin.18:00-18:03All right, so that's a lie you have to stop claiming.18:03-18:06Here's another lie you have to stop.18:07-18:08Letter B, I'm a good person.18:11-18:12I'm a good person.18:12-18:14Well, let's see what the Bible says about that, verse eight.18:14-18:22If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.18:23-18:25We claim we're without sin.18:26-18:27I'm not that bad.18:28-18:32I mean, I'm actually a good person.18:33-18:39Like deep down, you know, deep down, I have a good heart.18:40-18:42I'm a good person deep down.18:44-18:45God knows that.18:48-18:49Here's what God knows.18:51-18:54God knows that you were born with a sin nature that you inherited from Adam.18:55-18:58that's been passed down from generation to generation, and you got it.19:02-19:02Don't believe me?19:04-19:07Sometimes I have people challenge me on this, like I don't think that we're born with a sin nature.19:08-19:09I don't think that that's true.19:09-19:11I don't think that we are born with a sin nature.19:11-19:13I'm like, have you ever been around a kid?19:14-19:15Ever?19:17-19:18(congregation laughing)19:19-19:21That's exactly what I'm talking about.19:25-19:28That's exactly what I'm talking about, that little sinner tried to hijack the sermon.19:31-19:33You just proved my point, little lamb.19:40-19:43And look, if you don't have kids, there's plenty of people around here that do have them.19:43-19:45I'm sure they'll let you hang out.19:47-19:49I'm sure they might ask you to watch them for a few days.19:55-19:56Who has ever taught a kid?19:58-19:59I mean, think of a little toddler.20:00-20:01Think of little Joey back there.20:02-20:06Does dad ever sit down with him and say, "Listen, listen, Joey, I'm gonna teach you "something important here.20:07-20:12"If you learn how to lie convincingly, "you're gonna go far in life, all right?20:13-20:17"I guess, son, what I'm saying is "always cover your tracks, okay?20:18-20:25"Because if you got away with it, then you've mastered the art of deception.20:26-20:29Has any dad sat down with their kid and taught them that?20:29-20:30I sure hope not.20:30-20:31You're a monster.20:31-20:33You're a monster if you're teaching your kid how to sin.20:34-20:36But you don't have to.20:37-20:45How is it that these kids automatically know how to sneak, how to lie, how to steal, how to be selfish?20:45-20:46How do they know that?20:47-20:50Like, were they reading some manual in the womb?20:50-20:51Like, what is going on here?20:54-20:55We're born with a sin nature.20:57-20:59So if you're like, "Well, you know what?21:00-21:01I'm really not that bad.21:01-21:05I'm not really a bad person." The Bible says you're deceiving to yourself.21:05-21:09You're telling a lie, and then you're turning around and believing the own lie that you just told yourself.21:12-21:13You say you have a good heart?21:15-21:30Actually if that's your stance, if that's your stance here tonight, to think that you're You're really a good person, I've got to tell you, you're in a hopeless situation when it comes to the gospel, because you're not going to confess.21:32-21:36What can God do for someone who doesn't think that they need Him?21:39-21:40It's a hopeless situation.21:44-21:45Look at verse nine again.21:45-21:56If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, excuse me, forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.21:59-22:02I did a lot of reading this past week in preparing for this.22:02-22:12And you get to this verse, and these scholars and commentators are like, is this verse for believers, or is this verse for unbelievers?22:16-22:28The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Confession is like repentance. Think about repentance.22:29-22:44Is repentance something you do when you first come to Christ? Yeah. But if you're a true born again believer in Christ, when do you stop repenting? Never. In Matthew 3.8, Luke 3.8, both say the exact same thing.22:45-22:49Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.22:49-22:53Repentance is to be the lifestyle of the follower of Jesus.22:54-22:56And confession is exactly the same.22:56-22:59In coming to Christ, you have to confess.22:59-23:07And if you're a Christian, your life is typified by constant acknowledgment of your sin before a holy God.23:11-23:18regular occurrence in our walk with Christ, Christians are characterized as confessors.23:20-23:23A true Christian is always going to God.23:23-23:25"God, I hate my sin.23:25-23:27God, this is what I did.23:27-23:29I messed up.23:29-23:29I sinned.23:30-23:33God, specifically, here is what I did.23:34-23:35God, I need to change.23:35-23:37God, I'm confessing that.23:38-23:42Thank You for the forgiveness that You've purchased through Your Son, Jesus Christ, God.23:42-23:49I need the power of Your Spirit to help me repent." That is how a Christian confesses their sin.23:51-23:54And John says that God's response is to forgive and purify.23:56-23:57Why does He do that?23:59-24:00Because you're worthy?24:03-24:03Not hardly.24:04-24:09John says he does that because he, he is faithful and just.24:11-24:17See, God's forgiveness is based on his promise, not your performance.24:17-24:21God's forgiveness comes to you on his terms, not your terms.24:22-24:28And God's forgiveness, the assurance that we have that we are forgiven is because of God's integrity.24:30-24:39that I can say, "I know that I have the promise of heaven," not because of me, I know I have the promise of heaven because I believe in a God who always keeps His word.24:41-24:42And this is what He's promised.24:45-24:50So if you're sitting here tonight, you're like, "Yeah, I'm a good person." You're really not.24:52-24:59As long as you think you are, you're not going to understand what the cross of Jesus Christ was all about.25:01-25:03Three lies you need to stop claiming.25:04-25:07Letter C, same vein here, right?25:07-25:08Letter C, I don't sin.25:11-25:12I don't sin.25:13-25:15Believe it or not, I've met people that have made that claim.25:15-25:16Look at verse 10.25:16-25:30He says, "If we say we have not sinned, "we make him a liar and his word is not in us." If we claim we have not sinned, that's the person, And again, I've met these people, they're like, "Sin?25:33-25:43I don't sin." Well, you did just call God a liar then because He says differently.25:46-25:50It's one of the interesting things about sin, wouldn't you say?25:50-26:00interesting, that we tend to minimize our sin and we maximize other people's sin.26:02-26:08Ours is so small and insignificant, but somebody else's, oh boy, they really blew it.26:14-26:16God wants to deal with you about your sin.26:18-26:24And you can't confess Jesus as a Savior if you say you don't have what He saves from.26:27-26:36And if you refuse to acknowledge your sin, you refuse to admit, you refuse to confess your sin, then the cross means nothing.26:38-26:45And we come to a service like this, we think of Jesus Christ on the cross, and we're really left wondering why did he die in the first place?26:48-26:49Concealer confess.26:53-26:53What are you doing?26:58-26:59Concealer confess.26:59-27:01Are you going to leave tonight lying to yourself?27:04-27:07Or are you going to finally agree with God?27:12-27:23So if you want to confess, if that's you, and I want to help you, first of all, you gotta stop lying to yourself, you gotta stop lying to God, you gotta stop lying to everybody, you gotta stop the lies.27:23-27:27Number two, you have to come to Jesus.27:30-27:33Confession is about the person of Jesus Christ.27:33-27:47Look at verse one, he says, in chapter two, "My little children, I'm writing these things to you "so that you may not sin." But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.27:49-28:01John says, "Look, I'm writing this so you don't sin." God's Word doesn't allow us to have a dismissive attitude about sin, which a lot of Christians have.28:02-28:05It's like, "Well, yeah, I sin, but it doesn't really matter.28:05-28:10I'm forgiven in Christ." we just sort of dismiss it.28:12-28:13John goes, "No, no, no, no.28:14-28:35I'm writing these things to you so that you are turning from sin." He goes, "But if anybody does sin, and you will," spoiler alert, "you will," John says, "when you sin, you have an advocate, if you're in Christ." And this is one of the most beautiful pictures in all the Bible.28:36-28:39You know, it's a courtroom scene actually.28:39-28:45Revelation chapter 12 says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren.28:45-28:46Do you know what Satan does?28:47-28:52He goes before God, and if you're a follower of Christ, Satan accuses you before God.28:53-28:55Satan's like, he's no good.28:57-28:58Did you hear what he said?28:58-29:00That's one of your guys?29:00-29:01Did you hear what he said?29:02-29:03That's what Satan does.29:03-29:06Satan, he's a slanderer, he's an accuser.29:06-29:10But you see, when Jesus Christ is your advocate, he is your defense attorney.29:11-29:22That when Satan says, "Do you see what a miserable person this is?" Jesus steps up and says, "He did sin, "but I took his sin on myself when I died on the cross." He's forgiven.29:22-29:25He is not guilty because I paid that penalty.29:27-29:28And Satan goes to the next person.29:28-29:30You see what a miserable person she is?29:30-29:31Do you hear how she talked?29:31-29:32Do you see what she did?29:33-29:43Jesus says, "I died for her." All of the sin that was committed by her, Jesus said, "When I was on the cross, I paid the penalty." She is not guilty.29:45-29:50That's what it means that Jesus as our advocate, and that is way better than Edgar Snyder.29:53-29:55Owen might not think so.29:57-29:58If you know, you know.29:59-30:00Look at verse two.30:03-30:10He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.30:11-30:12Propitiation.30:12-30:15Oh, that's like one of the best words in the Bible.30:15-30:20John's just hitting like all of the most awesome concepts in a row right here.30:21-30:27Propitiation, your Bible might translate it, atoning, sacrifice, but this is a concept that you really need to understand.30:28-30:29Propitiation just simply means this.30:30-30:34God is satisfied with what Jesus did on the cross.30:35-30:36That's what it means.30:36-30:43When Jesus was on the cross, God was pouring out his wrath on Jesus for my sin and for your sin.30:44-30:47God put all of the wrath that I deserve on Jesus.30:47-30:50And that is awesome news because you know what that means?30:50-30:52God has no more wrath left for me.30:54-30:57And if you're in Christ, he has no wrath left for you.30:57-31:07And Christian, you've gotta get this in your head I've talked to so many Christians that are like, "I just really feel like God's mad at me, "and I feel like God's so disappointed in me." He's not!31:08-31:16It's not like God poured out His wrath on Jesus, and then God turns around and sees you sinning, and is like, "Oh, I'm still mad!31:17-31:20"I gotta punish her now, too!" That's not how it works.31:22-31:23Propitiation, God is satisfied.31:24-31:29He has no wrath for you if you've truly received Jesus Christ.31:32-31:47And not just for you, not just for you, look at verse two, he goes on to say, "Not for ours only, "not for our sins only, "but also for the sins of the whole world." Again, this is where a lot of scholars get caught up.31:50-31:55I just, you're like, "Oh, you think you're smarter than those scholars." No, I don't.31:55-31:57I think they're too smart sometimes.31:58-32:01I think they make this way too complicated.32:03-32:04You know what I mean by that?32:04-32:16You know, I was reading, and I heard some pastoral panel thing, they were talking about this very verse, and they were like, what is being talked about here for the sins of the whole world?32:16-32:19Is he talking about the elect?32:19-32:20Like it's just for the elect?32:22-32:25Is this speaking to limited atonement?32:28-32:33You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be.32:33-32:34Do you know what this means?32:35-32:36Do you know what this verse means?32:36-32:38I'll tell you what this verse means.32:39-32:39Right here.32:41-32:49What this verse is saying is I can confidently say to anyone, when you believe in Jesus, you will be forgiven of your sins.32:50-32:52You will be adopted as a child of God.32:52-32:54I can say that to anybody, because it's for the whole world.32:54-33:04I can say that here, I can say that in Thailand, I can say that in Blonox, it doesn't matter where I am, this truth holds, Jesus forgives sin.33:06-33:08Let God figure out all that other stuff.33:10-33:14My job is to tell the world, and your job too.33:16-33:17Concealer confess.33:19-33:19Conceal or confess.33:21-33:31At this point, if you're still wanting to conceal, you're committed to walking out of here like, "Yeah, I just can't, I can't come clean about my sin.33:31-33:38"Not to God, not to anybody." Well, it's not gonna go well for you.33:39-33:45Remember what the Proverbs writers say, that if you conceal your sin, you're not gonna prosper.33:46-33:48It's not gonna go well for you.33:51-33:57But if you want to confess, that's business that you have to do with Jesus.33:59-34:16Not only confessing who you are as a sinner, but confession includes saying who He is, agreeing with God who Jesus is, agreeing with God that Jesus is your advocate, agreeing with God that Jesus is your propitiation, agreeing with God about that.34:17-34:24If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.34:28-34:34So this night more than any other probably reminds us why Jesus is the only one who can take your sin away.34:35-34:36Nobody else can do that.34:38-34:46Nobody else can make you be pronounced not guilty in the courtroom of God.34:49-34:50Conceal or confess?34:52-34:59Well, if you want to confess, number three, your lifestyle proves your sincerity.35:02-35:04Your lifestyle proves your sincerity.35:05-35:07Look at verses 3 through 6 again.35:08-35:13He says, "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.35:15-35:20Whoever says, "I know Him," but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.35:21-35:27But whoever keeps His word in him, truly the love of God is perfected.35:28-35:34By this we may know that we are in Him.35:35-35:41Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.35:44-35:48I'm sure if the hospitality team grabbed every person on the way out, do you wanna confess?35:48-35:50I'm sure they would get 100%.35:50-35:51Yeah, I confess.35:51-35:52I can, yeah, I confess.35:58-36:02We'll find out if it's sincere by how you live, right?36:03-36:05That's why he says it in verse three.36:05-36:06He says it at the end of verse five.36:07-36:08We know that we have come to know him.36:09-36:10We know that we are saved.36:10-36:12Like what's the evidence?36:12-36:15How do I really know if I'm saved or not?36:15-36:16How would I know that?36:16-36:17He tells you right here.36:17-36:19Here's how you know that you're saved.36:19-36:20You keep his commands.36:22-36:28The proof that you know God is just simply you do what he says.36:32-36:34It's not just what you claim.36:37-36:38Are you saved?36:38-36:38You know the Lord.36:39-36:40And people say, well, you know what?36:40-36:46I was baptized 17 years ago at First Baptist Church of so-and-so.36:47-36:47Goody.36:49-36:51That's not evidence that you're saved, though.36:53-37:05Or somebody says, "Well, I go to church almost every week." I mean, not when Declan has lacrosse, but every other week I'm in church.37:05-37:06Great.37:08-37:10I strongly encourage church attendance.37:10-37:13I think that's a good thing, but that's not evidence of salvation.37:14-37:17Evidence of salvation is I do what God tells me to do.37:19-37:22It's just that simple, according to John.37:24-37:30I believe, I believe not verified by what you say, I believe is verified by how you live.37:30-37:32Are you gonna conceal or are you gonna confess tonight?37:33-37:34Which is it?37:36-37:51Because obviously, if you really agree with God that sin is evil, you're going to be constantly confessing and forsaking sin.37:55-37:57So do you live a life of confession?38:01-38:04Do you agree with God about your sin?38:06-38:19And do you agree with God concerning what He said the crucifixion of His Son accomplished for the person who will turn to Him?38:22-38:23Our worship team would make their way back up.38:26-38:54And our communion servers, we're gonna close our time around the Lord's table And you do not have to be a member of Harvard's Bible Chapel to take communion, but you do have to be a born-again believer in Christ. This is for believers.38:58-39:02And fellow Christians, it is gathering around the Lord's table.39:02-39:06Well, this is a time to confess everything.39:08-39:11Everything that John said in this passage, we get to confess that right now.39:13-39:21When we take these elements, what we're saying, what we're confessing, I confess that my sin is evil and wrong in the eyes of God.39:22-39:23I confess that.39:24-39:27I confess that Jesus Christ died for my sin.39:29-39:35I confess that God is satisfied with the work that Jesus accomplished on my behalf.39:37-39:40I confess Jesus Christ is my advocate.39:41-39:46I confess that I need His Spirit to make me who God wants me to be.39:49-40:00I confess that I will prove that I believe when I obey God in every area of my life.40:03-40:16Hebrews 4.14 says, "Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.40:18-40:22Let us hold fast our confession.40:24-40:36We're going to ask, when you're ready, if you would come down to the center aisles and receive the elements from one of our pastors, and you can return to your seat by the outside aisle.40:37-40:49I'm going to ask that you hold on to it, and let's confess together tonight, church, that We are agreeing with God in all these things.40:52-40:54So please come, take the elements.40:56-40:57This is our confession.40:59-41:05This is our agreeing with God that Jesus is who God said He is.41:06-41:09And that Jesus accomplished what God said He accomplished.41:11-41:16The Bible tells us on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and he broke it and he gave thanks.41:17-41:20And he said, "This is my body, which is broken for you.41:21-41:45Eat this in remembrance of me." After the meal, Bible tells us that Jesus took the cup and he said, "This cup is my blood, the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sin.41:46-41:48Drink this in remembrance of me.41:50-41:51What are you doing tonight?41:54-41:56Conceal or confess?41:59-42:01Jesus has quite a resume.42:04-42:06As the prophet, he is the word of God.42:08-42:11As the priest, he takes away our sin.42:12-42:15I want to invite you to come back in two days on Sunday.42:15-42:26Pastor Taylor is going to talk about the other role that Jesus has, the King of Kings.42:27-42:28You don't want to miss that.42:30-42:31You are loved. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 John 1:5-2:6What was your big take-away from this passage / message?BreakoutPray for one another.

March 27, 2026Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeThe Revelation 18:22-24I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church Support the show

OPEN HEAVENSMATALA LE LAGI MO LE ASO TOFI 26 MATI 2026(tusia e Pastor EA Adeboye) Manatu Autu: Tausi lelei lau tane (Take care of your husband).Tauloto Tusi Paia: Kolose 3:18 “O ‘outou fafine, ‘ia ‘outou usiusita‘i atu ‘iā ‘outou lava tane, pei ‘ona tatau i le Ali‘i.” Faitauga - Tusi Paia: Efeso 5:22-24I le faitauga mai le Tusi Paia o le asō, o loo faatonuina avā e usiusitai pe gauai  ia latou tane i mea uma. O le vaega o le gauai, o le fesoasoani lea ia latou tane, e ausia faamoemoega o latou olaga, ia tausia ma saunia mea uma o latou manaomia. O avā, o fesoasoani ( Kenese 2:18-22) ma e tatau lo latou fesoasoani i mea e manaomia e latou tane i le agaga, tausiga i meaai ma lagona. E tausia e avā latou tane I le itu faaleagaga e ala  i le tatalo mo latou. O se avā lelei le mautinoa o ai i meaai paleni lana tane. E lē lelei le fia ai o le tamaloa ae lē fafagaina. Fai mai le Mataio 21:18-19, ina ua fiaai Iesu, sa lei mafai ona ia mauaina se fua i le laau o le mati, ona ia fetuu lea o le laau. O se muagagana Aferika e faapea, o se tamaloa fiaai o se tamaloa ita tele. A ē lē fafagaina lau tane, e iai pea lava se tamaloa ita i lou fale. E tatau foi ona mataitu e avā manaoga o le tino ma lagona a lana tane. E faateia a'u i nisi ava, e uma mai le fia fono tatalo e auai ai i le sailiga o le galue mai o le Atua ina ia alolofa e sili atu muamua a latou tane iai latou, peitai e faatalalē i manaoga o latou tane. Afai e ava le fafine i lana tane ma mataitu lelei ia saunia  ona manaoga i le faaleagaga, meaai paleni ma le tino, ae o loo tumau uma isi vaega, e lē tau alu solo i fono tatalo e sailia le siitia le alofa o lana tane ia te ia. A saunia manaoga uma o le tane e lana avā, ae tumau uma isi vaega, o le a alofa tele le tane i le avā ma faamanuia ia te ia mai le taele o lona loto (Faataoto 31:28). O nisi avā, o le faaaloalo ia i latou pule i fale faigaluega ma faifeau o le Ekalesia, ae leai se faaaloalo i latou tane. O ia faiga e lē fiafia iai le Atua. Fai mai le tauloto mai le Tusi Paia o le asō, e tatau i avā ona usiusitai ma gauai i latou tane i se auala e tatau ma le Alii. O lona uiga e iai le ituaiga usitai ma le gauai e lē tatau i le Alii. A gauai se avā i lana tane i nisi vaega ae nanā isi vaega ona o le manatu na o ia lava, e lē tatau i le Alii. A gauai le avā i lana tane ma fesoasoani i manaoga o lagona ma isi, e na te iloa ai o loo faatauaina o ia. A musu se fafine e gauai i lana tane, o loo ia faapea mai, e na te lē faatauaina o ia, ma e matuiā aua e faaosofia ai le manatu i le tane e maualalo ma lē taua o ia. Afai o oe o se avā, o loo tausia lelei lau tane e tusa ma le faamoemoega a le Atua mo lona olaga, a e faia lelei, e tatala ai faitotoa o le manuia mo oe. E tatau i avā ona gauai i latou tane, ma tausia o latou manaoga i le tino, lagona ma le agaga, i le suafa o Iesu, Amene 

Introduction: Three Valid Reasons for Liberty (that Don't Work When You Have a Weaker Brother). (1 Corinthians 8:1-13) I Have KNOWLEDGE. (1 Cor 8:1-3) Philippians 1:9 – And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment I Have WISDOM. (1 Cor 8:4-7) I Have GOOD THEOLOGY. (1 Cor 8:8-13) Matthew 18:6 - whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 25:40 - Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! AUDIO TRANSCRIPT 00:36-00:39Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 8.00:41-00:49Oh, that sweet, sweet, quiet lull of early service on Daylight Saving Sunday.00:51-00:52So tranquil.00:54-00:55Let's kick that up, shall we?00:55-00:56Let's have a fight.00:58-01:01Amen, somebody came ready to rumble.01:04-01:06Not like a fist fight.01:07-01:09Let's just have a good old fashioned argument.01:10-01:12All right, that'll get the blood boiling.01:13-01:15All in favor of having an argument?01:16-01:16Some of you.01:17-01:18(congregation laughing)01:19-01:20Little too eager.01:21-01:22All right, here we go.01:23-01:24Is a hot dog a sandwich?01:27-01:29Oh, did you hear that Pastor Taylor?01:30-01:31Apparently we struck a nerve.01:32-01:34Show of hands, how many people say that a hot dog is a sandwich?01:35-01:36Okay.01:37-01:39Some of you, okay, how many people insist that it's not?01:41-01:41Whoa.01:43-01:46Whoa, you might wanna pump the brakes on that.01:46-01:49I mean, what, it's like meat and condiments in bread, right?01:51-01:53Isn't that the very definition of a sandwich?01:54-01:57And you're like, well, but it's shaped different.01:58-01:59Well, I'm shaped different.01:59-02:00Does that mean I'm not a human?02:00-02:01Like, come on, what's that?02:05-02:07Some of you are a little too emotional about that.02:09-02:10It's silly though, right?02:10-02:14We're not really going to fight about that.02:16-02:24But when we get to this next section in 1 Corinthians, believe it or not, and you will, it was a food controversy.02:25-02:26That's what's going on.02:26-02:31They had a food controversy, but it wasn't about hot dogs.02:33-02:40It was about something that was much bigger problem for the church.02:41-02:44All right, let's just stop for a minute.02:44-02:51This is a challenging text, but we are going to get through it together.02:52-02:55I'm gonna ask you to pray for me, and I will pray for you.02:56-02:58Let's see what the Lord has to teach us today in His Word.02:58-03:01All right, let's just take a moment and pray.03:09-03:11Father, fire us up to receive your Word.03:13-03:17We don't wanna go into a lull because we lost an hour of sleep or whatever.03:17-03:23God, this is your Word, and we should be excited to see what it is that you have told us in your Word.03:26-03:30and we should be looking to see how we can reflect the truth of your word in our lives.03:30-03:46So God, give us the faith to really believe what you said to the point that it takes root, to the point that it's manifest in our hearts, in our minds, in our attitudes, and ultimately in our conduct.03:47-03:57We pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and all of God's people said, Amen, amen.03:57-04:03In this section in 1 Corinthians, it's kind of like a big Q&A session, right?04:03-04:05And look at chapter eight, verse one.04:06-04:07Do you see the first two words in your Bible?04:08-04:13He says, in this chapter, he says, "Now concerning." We talked about that, right?04:13-04:17It seems to be like, okay, next subject, right?04:17-04:20That's his clue that we're moving on to a new subject.04:21-04:46And the next topic that again is going to span next three chapters is Christian liberty. Just in case we didn't offend anybody with the last part of it, let's talk about liberty, shall we? Am I free to do whatever I want? I'm free in Christ! I can do whatever I want to do, right? Right?04:46-04:46Right?04:46-04:46Right?04:50-04:53Oh, legalism versus liberty.04:54-04:58It's the issue literally as old as the church herself.05:01-05:02Legalism.05:04-05:05That's one side.05:05-05:06Legalism.05:06-05:11The people that are legalists say to be accepted by God, here's some things you can't do.05:11-05:13Here's your list of things that you cannot do.05:14-05:16And if you keep the list, you're accepted by God.05:17-05:19That's the legalist likes the rules.05:19-05:24But on the other hand, you have the liberty people.05:26-05:28The liberty people say, "Hey, I'm saved by grace.05:28-05:30My performance doesn't matter.05:30-05:35Nothing can change the fact that I'm saved by grace and I can do whatever I want to do.05:36-05:38Nothing will separate me from the love of Christ.05:38-05:55I am free to do whatever I want to do." Well their particular liberty issue that became a problem for the church is what Paul is addressing in chapter 8, 9, and through 10.05:57-05:57Here's their issue.05:59-06:01Look again, chapter 8, verse 1.06:01-06:15He said, "Now concerning food offered to idols." That's meat that was sacrificed to a pagan God.06:17-06:19Like what in the world is going on here?06:21-06:24Understand in the Greek culture, they had gods for everything.06:25-06:29It was part of every aspect of life.06:30-06:33There was a God for literally everything.06:37-06:48And when a pagan worshiper would offer a sacrifice to a God, that sacrifice was divided into three parts.06:49-06:59Part was burned for the pagan God, part went home with the worshiper, but then the third part went with the priest.07:00-07:02The pagan priest, right?07:04-07:05How much pot roast can you eat?07:06-07:11Okay, so you can imagine, these priests, they had an abundance.07:11-07:14So they would take the extra down and sell it at the market.07:17-07:29There was other pagan meat at the market as well, because in the Greek culture, they believed that an evil spirit could enter you through what you ate.07:29-07:31So they believed that an evil spirit could get in the meat.07:31-07:34And when you ate the meat, now you had the evil spirit inside you.07:35-07:41So they would sacrifice to a God who would make sure that there were no evil spirits in the meat.07:41-07:53And on top of that, because it was such a pagan culture, the temple was sort of the community center, meaning weddings and parties were commonly held at the temple.07:53-07:55You're gonna see that come up here in this text.07:55-08:04And here's the point, my friends, Almost all the meat in this culture was used for pagan worship somehow.08:05-08:06Almost all of it.08:10-08:11So maybe you begin to see the problem.08:13-08:19For the church, for the Christians, for the Jesus followers, there was division.08:20-08:27For some, they were like, "Should we eat the pagan meat?" Absolutely not.08:27-08:28I'm not touching that.08:29-08:32They use that meat in pagan worship.08:32-08:34I'm not touching that with a 10 foot pole.08:35-08:37No way am I touching that.08:39-08:46And then there were more mature believers that were like, a hamburger is a hamburger, bro.08:48-08:50The boogeyman doesn't live in the hamburger.08:51-08:52Just eat it.08:52-08:52Come on.08:55-08:57Can you see why that would be a problem in the church?09:00-09:16People saying, "Eat the meat." People saying, "Absolutely, you shouldn't go near it." So in chapter eight here, and we're gonna be looking at the whole chapter, Paul is addressing the mature Christians who insisted on their liberty.09:19-09:26These mature Christians who said, "Hey, it bothers some of the weaker Christians that we eat the meat, but look, I'm free in Christ.09:27-09:28It's not haunted meat.09:28-09:31Am I not free to eat the meat if I want to eat the meat?09:38-09:44I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that this probably isn't an issue for this church.09:45-09:46Right?09:48-09:58I don't imagine you've had to sit down at the table debate whether or not the boogeyman was in the steak, if you should eat it or not.10:02-10:06But you know there's always been issues of legalism and liberty in the church.10:07-10:25Always. Always. Okay so we're not arguing about the pagan meat, but I mean look at look at church history. We have this, even very recently, we are constantly At odds trying to figure out some things.10:26-10:28Issues of legalism versus liberty.10:30-10:32Like things like playing cards.10:34-10:39I know young people that might be hard to believe, but there was a time that that was a big issue in the church.10:39-10:41Should you be allowed to play cards?10:43-10:50Things like dancing, movies, hairstyle, dress.10:50-10:50Yes.10:53-10:55Things you can do on Sunday.10:57-10:59You can't go to a restaurant 'cause you're making people work.10:59-11:00You can't wash your car on Sunday.11:00-11:01That's considered work.11:02-11:05And you're breaking the Sabbath and there's so much wrong with that thinking.11:05-11:06But it's an issue.11:07-11:08It's an issue.11:09-11:11Things like yoga.11:16-11:20Last and certainly my favorite, Trick or treat.11:26-11:27I hate Halloween.11:29-11:32Not because you dress up like Spider-Man and get a Kit Kat.11:32-11:33I think that's kind of cool.11:34-11:42But just what it does in the church, because you have people that are like, it's fun, let's let them dress up and get candy and see the neighbors.11:42-11:45And then you have people that are like, it's demonic.11:46-11:49And like, I don't know what to do.11:51-11:53That's kind of the flavor of what we're getting here.11:55-11:56See, all these things are gray areas.11:56-12:04There's nothing explicit in the Bible that we can point to where the Bible says, do not do this, do not go trick or treating, do not dance.12:05-12:09Yet we can't find verses in the Bible that explicitly say.12:09-12:12So what do we do with these gray areas?12:12-12:18And the liberty person would say, I'm free to do whatever I want to do.12:19-12:20'Cause I'm free in Christ.12:20-12:22I'm free in Christ, man.12:22-12:24I can do whatever I want, right?12:27-12:28No.12:29-12:37No, not if doing one of these gray area things could cause a brother to sin.12:40-13:34So Paul addressing their issue with the meat gives us principles that apply for all times even until today. I want you to think about this scenario as we go through this passage because here's a real-life scenario that could happen to you where you need to apply these principles, this could happen to you this week. Just imagine the issue of alcohol. First of all, are you free to drink alcohol? Well, the Bible warns about drunkenness, but yes, the Bible does not say, "Thou shalt not ever touch alcohol." Okay? So yes, technically you are free, you are free to drink alcohol.13:37-13:42If you're of age and avoid drunkenness and all that, sure, sure, sure.13:43-13:50Okay, but imagine this scenario, a man who recently comes to harvest decides he wants to go to your small group.13:52-13:55But this man is coming out of an addicted background.13:57-14:00He had a really bad problem with alcohol, he went to rehab.14:02-14:05And this man ends up coming to know Christ.14:05-14:06He's born again.14:06-14:08He received Jesus as his Lord and Savior.14:08-14:10He's been transformed.14:10-14:14And now this man hates how alcohol has wrecked his life.14:16-14:21And this man sees alcohol a whole lot different than you or I might look at alcohol.14:23-14:34All right, so that guy says, "Pastor Taylor, I want to get involved in one of your small groups." And Pastor Taylor gets the guy coming to your small group.14:35-14:43And this week, you're having a barbecue at your small group because the weather is oh so great as it has been.14:45-14:53And as a small group leader, you're wondering, "Well, can I have beer at our small group barbecue?14:58-14:58Can I?15:01-15:46We have alcohol at a church event?" And you're like, "Okay, well this guy's coming and Pastor Taylor sort of told me this man's background and I know that if we have alcohol at our barbecue, it's going to bother that guy. I know that, but I'm free. I'm free to drink it. Why is his problem my problem? Should I still have it even though this guy's coming? I mean, I can have it, so let's just go ahead and have it and he can figure that out, right? Well, that was the Corinthian dilemma. Some mature believers were eating the meat regardless of how it affected the weaker believers.15:47-15:53And I'm glad you're sitting down because you're going to be shocked that this resulted in more disunity problems for Corinth.15:55-15:57Those people fought about everything.15:59-16:00And here's another issue.16:03-16:12So on your outline, listen very closely to this next sentence because you have to understand the angle at which Paul's going after them.16:13-16:26Paul, in 1 Corinthians 8, is going after the three reasons that the mature believers were using to justify eating the pagan meat.16:29-16:33It's okay for us to eat it, and here's why it's okay for us to eat it.16:33-16:39Paul goes after those reasons, and they're the same reasons we use today.16:41-16:55And interestingly enough, Paul agrees with them, but he shows them why their reasons for eating the meat, their reasons for liberty, do not apply in light of how it's going to affect a weaker believer.16:57-16:58All right?16:59-17:03That's why the heading on your outline, it's a big one.17:04-17:10Three valid reasons for liberty that don't work when you have a weaker brother.17:12-17:17All of these are legit reasons for liberty, but they do not work when you have a weaker brother.17:18-17:18Y'all with me?17:19-17:20I can start over.17:21-17:22It's a hot dog and sandwich.17:25-17:28Three valid reasons for liberty that do not work when you have a weaker brother.17:29-17:31Here's the first one, number one, write this down.17:31-17:32I have knowledge.17:33-17:34I have knowledge.17:34-17:36I know some stuff.17:37-17:38I know, okay.17:40-17:40Back to verse one.17:40-17:50"Now concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge." Stop there.17:52-17:57You see, they were saying, Look, I know I can eat the meat sacrificed to the...17:57-17:58I can do that because I know, I know.17:59-18:01I know what the Bible says about food, okay?18:01-18:05And Peter had that vision, Acts 10, the sheath, everything's clean.18:06-18:09I know about that, I know, I know, I know.18:09-18:11And look, meat is meat, I know.18:14-18:16We do the same thing, by the way, with alcohol, right?18:17-18:18We know, we know some stuff.18:19-18:22Okay, small group leader thinking about having beer at your barbecue.18:22-18:26I know, I know, I know what the Bible says, okay?18:26-18:31And in fact, you know, back in biblical times, they didn't have refrigerators.18:32-18:37So their grape juice fermented, and it was really only like a 3% alcohol on some things.18:37-18:40And it was, but some of the drinks was only 1% alcohol.18:41-18:48And (mimics barking) Look, knowledge is great.18:49-18:56Actually, God's word exalts knowledge, knowing God's truth.18:57-19:01But here's the thing, knowledge isn't everything.19:02-19:02Okay?19:04-19:06Knowledge isn't everything because look at the rest of verse one.19:07-19:18He says, "This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." Just having knowledge puffs up.19:18-19:20Knowledge makes people proud.19:21-19:22That's what he's saying.19:22-19:23Knowledge makes people proud.19:24-19:25Have you ever been around that guy?19:26-19:27You know that guy?19:28-19:30The actually guy?19:31-19:32You know that guy?19:32-19:33That's like actually.19:33-19:34You know, you've been around that guy?19:36-19:37If you are that guy, I hope you repent.19:38-19:39But you know that guy.19:39-19:43You're like, man, it was like 80 degrees today.19:43-19:47Actually, it was 77 degrees.19:48-19:49(sniffling)19:50-19:51You got me.19:52-19:53I'm a big fat liar.19:54-20:00Or you're like, strawberries are my favorite fruit.20:01-20:04Actually, a strawberry is not a fruit.20:04-20:05It is a member of the rose family.20:06-20:08Actually, a banana actually is a berry.20:09-20:09Actually.20:14-20:15Knowledge puffs up.20:15-20:19The guy that's just knowledge, obnoxious.20:23-20:29He says, "But love, love builds up." You see, knowledge is about me, but love is about you.20:30-20:32Love is about building you up.20:32-20:37And that's why you gotta have love with your knowledge.20:37-20:38That's Paul's point here.20:39-20:41Actually, he said the same thing, Philippians 1:9.20:42-20:51"And it is my prayer that your love may abound and more with knowledge. You see that? Love with knowledge and all discernment.20:53-20:59All your Bible knowledge does you no good if you aren't operating from a position of love.21:01-21:16So look at verse 2. He says, "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know." Knowledge is a funny thing, isn't it?21:16-21:20You think you know something, and you don't.21:21-21:30The guy that's walking around thinking he's the expert and he knows everything, usually doesn't really know near as much as he thinks he knows.21:34-21:38You mature people, Paul says, you mature people insisting on your liberty.21:38-21:43You think you're so smart, but you don't know as much as you think you do.21:44-22:04because you're missing what the Christian life is all about and it is love. Biblical knowledge should move you to love. You're like, "Wait, wait, hang on.22:04-22:12How does that work? How does knowledge and love, how does that How does that work together exactly?22:12-22:17And Paul's like, "Like your relationship with God Himself." Look at verse 3.22:18-22:26He says, "But if anyone loves God, he is known by God." There it is.22:26-22:31Knowledge and love working together in your relationship with God.22:31-22:33Both of them have to be present.22:34-22:36So you can know about God without loving Him.22:38-22:45But you don't really know God without loving Him.22:48-22:49So what's he saying?22:49-22:50Here's the bottom line, alright?22:51-22:53Here's the CliffsNotes version of this chunk.22:53-22:58He says, "Your knowledge means nothing without love." That's what he's saying.22:58-22:59Your knowledge means nothing without love.22:59-23:06God doesn't care that you know stuff if you don't love your weaker brother.23:06-23:07That's the point.23:09-23:13So again, you're thinking about having beer at your small group barbecue.23:15-23:20Listen, and that guy's coming that's had the struggle in the past.23:20-23:26Look, that guy that's coming, he doesn't need your list of alcohol facts.23:26-23:27Okay?23:27-23:35What he needs is you to love him enough that you care more about him growing in Christ then you do you having your beer.23:39-23:48So if you're insisting on your liberty on the basis of, I know some Bible verses, you missed the big picture.23:50-23:52All right, I have knowledge.23:54-23:55Great, great.23:57-24:01Doesn't matter in the face of a weaker brother, you gotta love him.24:02-24:03I love 'em.24:03-24:06Number two, jot this one down.24:06-24:06I have wisdom.24:08-24:09I have wisdom.24:10-24:11There's a difference, right?24:12-24:13Knowledge, you know the facts.24:14-24:19Wisdom is like knowing how to apply the facts, knowing how knowledge works together.24:21-24:23Look at verses four through six with me.24:24-24:39He says, "Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but One.24:41-25:14For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords. Yet for us, there is one God the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." Wow. I could do like a whole series just on like the end of verse 6 there.25:15-25:16That is such an awesome verse.25:16-25:17You should highlight that in your Bible.25:21-25:23That's the gospel right there in verse 6.25:23-25:24This is the gospel.25:24-25:39God came to us in Christ, and we go to God in Christ.25:43-25:44That's awesome.25:47-25:50Regarding the issue at hand, Paul's here saying, "Look, right on, right on.25:51-25:52Hey, I'm with you.25:52-25:54The idol is just a trinket.25:54-25:55There's no boogeyman in the meat.25:56-25:57You have wisdom.25:57-26:03You understand the world in light of the truth of God's Word." Awesome.26:04-26:12Verse 7, "However, not all possess this knowledge." See that?26:13-26:14Paul's agreeing with him.26:14-26:15Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it.26:16-26:16I get it.26:17-26:18The idol's a trinket.26:19-26:19Right.26:21-26:22The meat's not haunted, I get it.26:23-26:23You're right.26:24-26:34However, however, look, God in his word has told us everything he wants us to know about him.26:38-26:42But we are all at different levels of understanding.26:43-26:50Some of us are just a little further down the road on our journey than others in maturing with Christ.26:50-26:51That's just the way things work.26:52-26:54We learn, we grow, we mature.26:54-26:56Some of us are more mature than others.26:56-26:57That's just reality.26:59-27:00And that's what Paul's saying here.27:00-27:01He's, "Look, good for you.27:01-27:02You know some things.27:02-27:04You know some things about the idols.27:04-27:05Guess what?27:05-27:07Not everyone understands.27:08-27:09Not everyone's where you are.27:12-27:13Not everyone gets it.27:15-27:42Look at the rest of verse 7, he goes, "But some," talking about the weaker brothers here, "but some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled." Your conscience, he says, "These weaker brothers having a problem with their..." What is the conscience?27:42-27:44We talked about this way and through the book of Hebrews.27:45-27:46Your conscience, what is your conscience?27:46-27:57The conscience is the part of your mind that approves or condemns what you do, based on how you understand right and wrong.27:59-28:00That's your conscience.28:00-28:04And some, Paul says, have a weak conscience, meaning it's immature.28:06-28:28not fully understanding yet. And if a weaker brother eats the pagan meat, they go against their conscience and Paul says, "They are defiled." That word "defiled" actually means "guilty." They feel guilty for doing it. They went against their conscience.28:35-28:49Have you ever believed something for so long that even when you learn the truth, it's hard to let go of that old belief that you held onto for so long?28:51-28:52I think we've all been guilty of that.28:53-28:54You know, here's one for me.28:56-29:01When I was a kid, I've always been an excellent singer.29:04-29:06(congregation laughing)29:14-29:14What is going on here?29:21-29:23Learning to have grace with the weaker brothers.29:24-29:25(congregation laughing)29:28-29:30Pastor Taylor, you are absolutely right.29:30-29:32That statement was sarcastic, you are right.29:33-29:34He is absolutely right.29:34-29:36He's not the weaker brother, he's right.29:36-29:38But I have always been a great singer.29:38-29:49But anyways, when I was little, I would sing at the dinner table, 'cause I'm always singing, I'm singing, doing everything, but I'd come to the dinner table and I'd sing.29:50-29:51And do you know what my mom told me?29:52-29:57She says, "You can't sing at the table because it," anybody know?29:59-30:00She made this up.30:01-30:05My mom said, she says, "You can't sing at the table "because it makes the angels cry."30:07-30:08(congregation laughing)30:12-30:13I am dead serious.30:14-30:18Now I found, I just this minute realized she just made that up.30:20-30:21'Cause I was expecting somebody to shout that out.30:22-30:23Nope.30:25-30:29So I grew up like, don't sing, when I get to the table, I'm like, don't sing, why?30:29-30:38because all the angels in heaven are like, "Oh, please." At first I thought it was just like anybody singing, but I think mom meant my singing.30:39-30:41My singing offended the holy angels.30:41-30:56But so I was like, "Don't sing at the table "because the angels, it just made the angels cry." And you're like, "That's silly." It is, admittedly.30:57-31:05But I gotta tell you, to this day, if I'm eating somewhere and I hear somebody singing, do you know what the first thing is that I think of?31:08-31:09You're making the angels cry.31:10-31:11Way to go.31:13-31:14Do you know what I mean?31:14-31:22I know that's not true, but I do cringe when I hear somebody sing at the table because it was just so ingrained in me my whole life growing up.31:22-31:23Don't sing at the table, don't sing at the table.31:24-31:24Angels are weeping.31:27-31:27Like...31:30-31:34And it was true in this culture that Paul's dealing with here.31:35-31:40Imagine the person that got saved out of idolatry.31:41-31:42That's a huge change.31:44-31:57You know, all this time, for all these years, the evil spirits live in the meat, got to sacrifice to the gods, you get the spirits out of the meat, the evil spirits live in the meat, and then they come to Christ, They get the truth of the gospel, and they're like, "That's not true.31:58-31:59There's no evil spirits in the meat.32:00-32:07It's not true at all." It's totally safe to eat, right?32:08-32:12I mean, it is safe, right?32:17-32:23But, I mean, it is pagan meat.32:23-32:41eat. I mean, I guess it's okay to eat it. I mean, gosh, I just don't feel right about eating it. You see the dilemma? I know, but I...32:46-32:55See, mature believers, mature believers, maybe you understand the real truth about the idols and the mate.32:55-33:05Paul's like, "But your weaker brother, he's not there yet." And love says, "I will forego something that might bother the weaker brother." That's what love says.33:06-33:13Look, spiritual maturity is deeper than right and wrong.33:16-33:30The mature believer says, "How does what I do affect the baby Christians?" And you see with the whole alcohol, with the small group barbecue thing, it's the same principle in play.33:31-33:38If the weaker brother is coming to the barbecue, the loving choice is to not have any alcohol there at all.33:40-33:42Not being legalistic, being loving.33:44-33:48I don't want this to be a problem for you, so we're just going to take it off the table.33:49-33:51We'll have a Dr. Pepper.33:55-34:05Look, if you're insisting on your liberty on the basis of, "I have wisdom, I know the ways of the world and how it works," you've just missed the whole picture.34:08-34:08One more.34:11-34:15Three valid reasons for liberty that don't work when you have a weaker brother.34:17-34:19"I have knowledge." That doesn't work when there's a weaker brother.34:19-34:22"I have wisdom." That doesn't work.34:22-34:26When you have a weaker brother, number three, here's one that we often use, I have good theology.34:28-34:30And see, these all do kind of bleed together, obviously.34:32-34:33But I have good theology.34:36-34:37Look at verse eight.34:38-34:41He says, "Food will not commend us to God.34:42-34:55"We are no worse off if we do not eat "and no better off if we do." Interestingly, that word commend is literally draw us near to.34:58-35:01What you eat is not going to draw you closer to God.35:04-35:04And that's what he's saying.35:05-35:11Eating doesn't make you holy, nor does eating make you a sinner.35:13-35:15That's good theology, right?35:16-35:16It's good theology.35:18-35:20What you eat will not draw you near to God.35:21-35:24There's only one way to draw near to God, and that's Jesus Christ.35:25-35:29He provided access to God through his death, through his resurrection.35:29-35:32That's the only basis you have of coming to God.35:33-35:35The only way you can draw near is through Jesus Christ.35:36-35:38But it certainly isn't in what you eat.35:41-35:43That's great theology, right?35:45-35:53So God doesn't care what we eat, But, but God does care about his weaker children and the way we love them.35:54-35:55He cares about that.35:55-35:57Look at verses nine and 10.35:58-36:05He says, "But take care that this right of yours "does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.36:07-36:23"For if anyone sees you who have knowledge "eating in an idol's temple, Will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?36:27-36:30Stumbling block, stumbling block.36:30-36:33That's something that makes you sin, right?36:33-36:34That's a stumbling block.36:35-36:41And Paul here says, you're insisting on your freedom can make the weaker brother sin.36:45-36:45What do you mean?36:46-37:03Just simply this, if their conscience says, don't eat the pagan meat, and they see you eating, they're going to feel pressured to go against their conscience and eat, and that will make them miserable.37:06-37:11They're gonna feel the pressure, they're gonna eat, and then they're gonna immediately, I shouldn't have eaten that.37:13-37:20But you know, he makes me feel guilty if I don't join in and eat, but then I do eat, and now I feel guilty that I did.37:23-37:24You see an obvious application, right?37:26-37:33You decide you're gonna go ahead and have alcohol with your little small group barbecue, volleyball extravaganza thing.37:33-37:35And you're like, I'm still gonna have alcohol there.37:36-37:39And that recovering addict shows up.37:40-37:43And he's like, yeah, I don't drink anymore.37:44-37:45It ruined my life.37:48-37:50But everybody else is drinking.37:51-37:54Man, I kind of feel like the odd man out here.37:55-38:01Maybe I should, I mean, these are new friends and I should try to fit in, right?38:01-38:06So, I don't want to look like a weirdo.38:08-38:08And then he drinks.38:10-38:11How does he feel about himself afterwards?38:14-38:15I can't believe I did that.38:22-38:26Listen, never ever violate your conscience.38:28-38:36I have people come to me for counseling all the time and it can be a gray area matter and they'll say, "I just have this conviction about this.38:36-38:39"Is that right?" I tell them the same thing, ask anybody that's come.38:40-38:42I'm like, I will never tell you to violate your conscience.38:43-38:50If you have a conviction and it's different than mine, and it's a non-biblical issue, I am not going to tell you to violate your conscience on that.38:51-38:56And at the same time, do not ever ask someone else to violate theirs.39:01-39:06With your conscience, yes, understand, seek to understand why you feel how you do.39:07-39:11Evaluate if it is from God, but never violate your conscience.39:11-39:13Look, you're going to mature in Christ.39:13-39:19Your understanding of God's word is going to mature, but don't force it.39:23-39:27Let the growth happen naturally for you and for the weaker brother.39:31-39:48And I know at this point in the message, there's still somebody, somebody's inwardly protesting all this, saying, "Why should I care what my choices "have to do with somebody else's conscience?39:48-39:55"Like, why is that any of their business?" Well, look at verse 11.39:57-40:07Paul says, "And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.40:13-40:13Why should you care?40:16-40:18Because Jesus does.40:20-40:23How much does Jesus care about this weaker brother, really?40:23-40:25How much does Jesus care?40:26-40:27Jesus died for him.40:28-40:30That is how Jesus regards this man.40:30-40:35That is how Jesus so loves this man that Jesus was willing to die for him.40:36-40:38And that's why you should love him too.40:41-40:57Verse 12, he says, "Thus, sitting against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ." Wow.40:59-41:00Paul ratchets it up.41:01-41:03This is the top of the mountain here.41:04-41:10He goes, "Do you need a reason to not offend the weaker brother?41:10-41:13Do you need a reason for that?" He goes, "Here's your reason.41:13-41:15Here's number one.41:17-41:21Jesus takes any mistreatment of his people very seriously.41:22-41:29You sit against that weaker brother, you're sitting against Jesus himself." And Jesus takes this very seriously.41:32-41:41Look, if you pressure my son into doing something he doesn't wanna do, we are having words.41:45-41:51Jesus has a much stronger stance on this than I do, actually.41:54-42:14Matthew 18.6, "Whoever causes," these are the words of Jesus, "Whoever causes one of these little ones "who believe in me to sin, "it would be better for him to have a great millstone "fastened around his neck "and be drowned in the depths of the sea." You sin against a weaker brother, you're sinning against Jesus.42:15-42:16He takes that pretty seriously.42:17-42:32And again, Matthew 25, verse 40, Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, "As you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, "you did it to me." Serious business.42:34-42:36And finally, verse 13.42:39-42:58Paul says, "Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, "I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." Paul's like, "Look, run the risk of sinning against Jesus?42:58-42:59Nuh-uh, uh-uh.43:00-43:18I'm not going to insist on my liberty, my rights." Paul says, "I will become a vegan before I cause a brother to stumble, because loving Loving my weaker brother is more important than having a burger.43:20-43:24And loving my weaker brother is more important than having a beer.43:28-43:35So if you're insisting on your liberty on the basis of, "Well, I have good theology," you missed the big picture.43:37-43:37All right.43:38-43:39That was the introduction.43:41-43:42Here's the sermon.43:44-43:47Your liberty goes only as far as love.43:50-43:56Like the Corinthians, you can say, "Well, I know the Bible and I understand spiritual truths.43:57-43:59My theology is on point.43:59-44:06I am free in Christ to do whatever I want!" No, you aren't.44:09-44:14You must be willing to lay down your rights if it means protecting your weaker brother.44:17-44:19For communion servers would come up, our worship team.44:23-44:32I'll give you one more reason why we should lay down our rights out of love.44:35-44:37And it's because we have a great example.44:37-44:45You know, the Bible says Jesus did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.44:45-44:46Wrap your head around that.44:47-44:55Jesus had the right to insist on all of the privileges that come with being God.44:58-45:02And he humbled himself to give them up.45:05-45:11The question I have for you this morning is, will you follow Jesus in that?45:13-45:19Are you willing to lay down your rights, your freedoms, out of love?45:21-45:22I want you to stand.45:25-45:31And when you're ready to receive the Lord's Supper, by the way, if you're a born again believer in Christ, this is for you.45:32-45:37You don't have to be a member of Harvest Bible Chapel, but you do have to be a born again believer in Christ.45:38-45:39And if you are, he invites you.45:40-45:49Come down the center aisle, receive the elements, and I'm gonna ask that you take them back to your seat by going to the outside aisle.45:49-45:56And when everyone has the elements, we will receive the Lord's Supper together as an act of church unity.45:56-45:57All right, please come.46:01-46:03Why should I choose to lay down my rights?46:07-46:11because I have a great example in my Lord.46:13-46:20The Bible tells us the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and He broke it.46:20-46:43He gave thanks and He said, "This is my body which is given for you. Eat this in remembrance of me." After the meal, Jesus took the cup He said, "This cup is the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sin.46:45-46:47Drink this in remembrance of Me." Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 8:1-13What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Do you tend to lean more on the side of “legalism” or “libertine”? Why?What exactly is meant by “stumbling block” (1 Cor 8:9)? How could you be responsible for someone else sinning (1 Cor 8:12)?Besides alcohol, what are some examples of gray areas today that we need to be careful to “not make a weaker brother stumble”?BreakoutPray for one another.

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Introduction: Genesis 2:24 - Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Enjoying Your Gift from God. (1 Corinthians 7:1-7) Married? Enjoy God's Gift for MARRIAGE. (1 Cor 7:3-5) 3 Laws of Marital Intimacy: The Law of DEBT. (1 Cor 7:3) The Law of OWNERSHIP. (1 Cor 7:4) The Law of HIATUS. (1 Cor 7:5) Single? Enjoy God's Gift of SINGLENESS. (1 Cor 7:6-7) Matthew 19:10-12 – The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! AUDIO TRANSCRIPT 00:36-00:41Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 7.00:43-00:51And as we said last week, it's going to continue for the next few weeks because we go where the text goes.00:54-01:00And today we're going to be talking about the relationship between a man and his wife.01:03-01:44discretion advised. We are going to be direct, but you know some pastors want to be like edgy by kind of pushing the envelope there and that's I don't think that's cool, but I do think we need to teach the Bible straightforwardly. So we are going to be direct but not explicit, okay? So whether you're sitting here or streaming this from home, parents you decide. If you saw last week's message that would be a good gauge as to whether or not your kids should hear this one.01:44-02:01But again I'll remind you that somebody's talking to your kids about this. I think you should really consider you know whether it's time for them to hear this from God, what He says about these matters.02:02-02:17Alright, so with that said, let's just bow our heads. I'm going to ask that you would please take a moment and pray for me to be faithful to clearly communicate what God said and I will pray for you to receive what it is that this passage teaches today. Let's pray.02:23-02:28Father in heaven, we are once again turning to Your Word for wisdom.02:33-02:38And we're dealing with what is going to be for many here a sensitive subject.02:38-03:05And I pray, Father, against distractions, and I also pray that our hearts and minds are open to what You actually say in Your Word. Not our opinion or not what we think your word might say about these matters, but to examine what it is that you have said, and that we would be faithful to apply.03:08-03:53Come meet us now, Lord, through the proclamation of your word, we pray in Jesus' name, and all of God's people said, "Amen." Amen. Many years ago, I was leading Bible study the prison, and one man raised his hand. He said, "I have a question. I have a question about what happens when we die." Well, I was ready for this. You should have heard. You should have heard the sermon. It's probably the best sermon I ever gave. It was just both barrels, and I explained to him, "Okay, first of all, let me explain how death came into the world. We went through Genesis chapter 3. Death We need Jesus Christ.03:54-03:56Jesus died on the cross to take our sin away.03:56-03:59He rose from the dead to give us eternal life.03:59-04:00We all need the gospel.04:00-04:05And if you've received Christ, when you die, the Bible says you are in the presence of the Lord.04:05-04:10Okay, and someday he is going to come and he's going to take his people to be with him.04:10-04:12John chapter 14, we talked about the rapture.04:13-04:17But if you have not received Christ, I talked about the tribulation that's coming after the rapture.04:18-04:21There's seven years of just hell on earth.04:21-04:26and then Christ returns, and I talked about all the millennial kingdom, right?04:26-04:41And then after the kingdom, there's the great white throne judgment, and at that point, you know, if you die and you're not in Christ, you do go to a place of suffering, Luke 16, but then you're thrown into the lake of fire at the great white throne judgment, and you should have heard it.04:41-04:44It was comprehensive.04:47-04:49So I got done, it was about 20 minutes.04:50-04:57I got done and I said, "So, does that answer your question?" He stared at me blankly.04:59-05:01And he goes, "No."05:02-05:03(congregation laughing)05:04-05:25I said, "Why not?" He goes, "I just wanted to know "if we become angels when we die." And I said, "No." He goes, "Okay, thanks." And I learned that day to answer the question that's being asked.05:27-05:30Well, the Corinthians, they had a lot of questions.05:31-05:35They had a lot of questions about marriage, about idols, about women in church, about the Lord's Supper.05:36-05:38Look at chapter 7 verse 1.05:39-05:45Paul says, "Now concerning the matters about which you wrote," stop there, we're entering a new section, okay?05:45-05:49He talked about the church unified, chapters 1-4.05:50-05:55He talked about the church purified, chapters 5-6.05:56-05:58And now you can see there's a shift.05:59-06:06He says, "You sent me questions and I'm going to give you answers now to the questions that you sent me." Do you see that?06:07-06:09And first up, marriage.06:12-06:13You're going to be shocked.06:13-06:14I'm glad you're sitting down.06:15-06:17But the Corinthians had a lot of problems when it came to marriage.06:20-06:28But you know, the problems that we bring into marriage are our own doing, because the Bible was clear on marriage.06:30-06:34Genesis 2.24, this is the most important verse in the Bible about marriage.06:34-06:38I know this because when asked, this is the verse that Jesus quoted.06:39-06:42When writing about marriage, this was the verse that Paul kept quoting.06:42-06:55The most important verse in the Bible about marriage says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." It's clear.06:55-07:00You leave, you join to your wife, and then the two become one.07:02-07:10Jesus was asked about marriage, divorce, all these matters, Matthew 19, we're going to talk about this later, but Jesus made, it was very clear.07:11-07:15Jesus said marriage is between a man and a woman.07:15-07:19Jesus said in a marriage, it's two people that are brought together by God.07:19-07:24Jesus said it's two becoming one, and He said it's meant to be unbroken.07:24-07:25That's God's design.07:28-07:32Bible's clear about marriage.07:32-07:38But in Paul's day, the Corinthian culture, there were basically four different ways to get married.07:38-07:51I'm just gonna, I don't usually like to preach my homework, But this might be helpful to give us some context as we go through this section, because there are a lot of ways that people got married in that day, all right?07:52-07:54So one way was for slaves.07:54-07:56Slaves weren't considered people, they were considered property.07:57-08:02So for slaves, the owner had the right to just pronounce them married.08:02-08:08If there were two slaves that wanted to get married, it's like, okay, you two are married, so you go stay over there or whatever.08:09-08:09And that was it.08:11-08:14There was also, in that day, common law marriage.08:14-08:20People that were living together unmarried for a year were considered married at that point.08:21-08:23A third way is a father selling his daughter.08:26-08:30And then the fourth way was the sort of the official Roman way.08:32-08:37Interestingly, it's through the Roman customs where we get our customs for marriage.08:37-08:38Did you know that?08:39-08:44from veil to flowers to vows to ring to cake, all came from the Roman culture.08:47-08:49So here's the point of all that.08:50-08:57In this section, Paul is teaching the sacredness of marriage no matter how you got there.08:57-09:07Okay, because there's going to be a lot of people that could raise objections, "But I was married this way, but I..." Paul's like, "However you got there, we're dealing with from here forward.09:08-09:10Let's talk about the sacredness of marriage.09:12-09:14They were a culture that had a high divorce rate.09:16-09:28They were a culture that had homosexuality, a culture of affairs, a culture of, believe it or not, feminists, and a culture of - we talked about this recently - prostitution.09:30-09:32So it's a culture a lot like ours.09:32-10:03There's nothing really new here as far as the kind of sin that they had to deal with with the same stuff. So the question is, "Well, what about sex and marriage?" Well, again, you're going to be shocked, and I'm glad you're sitting down, but the Corinthians had something else that they were divisive over, and that is this. Should you get married, or should you be single?10:06-10:08Which is the godly path?10:09-10:10That's the issue on the table here.10:11-10:13Which is the godly path, married or single?10:14-10:20Because some people said that righteousness is everybody must get married.10:21-10:22That was the Jewish mindset, by the way.10:23-10:24Everybody must get married.10:24-10:27You're not really fully righteous unless you're married.10:27-10:30In fact, you couldn't be a member of the Sanhedrin unless you were married.10:31-10:38So the Jews especially said, "Look, what's right is everybody has to get married." But then there's the other camp.10:40-10:42And the other camp said, "No, no, no, no.10:42-10:43No one should get married.10:43-10:45I mean, have you been paying attention?10:46-10:48Sexual sin is completely out of control.10:49-10:50Marriage is hard.10:50-10:57So being single and never touching a woman, that's the godly way.10:57-11:00In fact, you want to be godly.11:00-11:03If you're married and you want this godly path, you're just going to have to get out of your marriage.11:04-11:05Both of you be single.11:06-11:07That is more spiritual.11:08-11:09That is more devoted to God.11:09-11:13If you're single, you are more devoted to God.11:13-11:17And you know, there's people today that still hold that mindset, like in the Catholic church.11:17-11:18All right?11:18-11:19Priests don't get married.11:19-11:20Nuns don't get married.11:20-11:20Why?11:20-11:24Because you're devoted to God, and you can't really be devoted to God if you're married.11:27-11:30Well, what does the Bible say about that?11:31-11:35Well, let's see how Paul answers this under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.11:35-11:36Look at verse 1 again.11:36-11:48"Now, concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." Okay, stop there.11:48-11:50He goes, okay, first of all, it's good.11:51-11:53He didn't say it's the only good.11:54-11:54Okay?11:55-11:59Paul's not saying singleness is better than marriage.11:59-12:01He's not saying it's worse than marriage.12:01-12:09All he's saying in verse 1 is, "It's not wrong to be single." It is a fine option if you're single.12:11-12:12But there's another option.12:13-12:13Look at verse 2.12:14-12:36He says, "But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband." So Paul says, "The other option, which is marriage, is good too." I mean we saw this, right?12:36-12:42Chapters 5 and 6, there was so much sexual immorality in the church.12:42-12:44They tolerated sexual sin.12:44-12:46They excused sexual sin.12:46-12:48There was no sacredness for marriage.12:48-12:49Huge problem.12:49-12:56So you see, in Corinth and here, it is hard to be pure because of temptation.12:57-12:58That's what Paul is teaching here.12:59-13:04Because there are so many ways to sin sexually.13:08-13:14So Paul here says, because of the temptation to sexual immorality, get a spouse.13:16-13:28Notice he says, "Get your own spouse." design. It's one man for one woman and that one woman for that one man. That is how God designed it. Get your own.13:30-14:11So Paul is saying physical desires are natural and should be enjoyed the way God designed them to be enjoyed. All right? So we're gonna play a quick game here. We're gonna play a game called "Which is Good?" I'm gonna give you a list of two options and you're gonna shout out which is good. You ready for this? You ready? Come on, don't lay an egg here. I need you. I need you. I'll start over. I mean I'll start way over at the beginning. We'll bring the worship team up. We'll start the whole thing over. All right, so you You ready to shout it out?14:11-14:13Which is good, country music or rock music?14:13-14:14Rock.14:16-14:18The answer is both.14:20-14:21All right, which is good?14:22-14:22You ready?14:22-14:23Try again.14:23-14:24I'm gonna give you another chance.14:25-14:26Which is good, pancakes or waffles?14:27-14:28Both.14:28-14:31Both are good, okay?14:32-14:35All right, I think some of you are getting the hang of it.14:35-14:36Let's try one more.14:37-14:39Which is good, baseball or football?14:41-14:42(congregation exclaims)14:49-14:50I'm sorry, the answer is both.14:52-14:53All right, one more, you ready?14:55-14:57Which is good, being single or being married?14:58-14:58Both.14:59-14:59Both.15:02-15:02Both.15:04-15:05The answer's both.15:08-15:12Paul says here - look, if you don't get that, you're going to miss the whole sermon, so you've got to get this.15:12-15:17Paul says here in this passage, look, what you have, church, you have two good options.15:19-15:22Okay? You have two good gifts from God.15:22-15:24You can't have them both at the same time, by the way.15:24-15:26I think I don't have to explain that.15:27-15:29But you have two good options, two good gifts of God.15:30-15:31Single is good.15:32-15:34And married is good.15:35-15:37That's Paul's point here in these first two verses.15:37-16:13expounds on each. So on your outline, draw some things down here. Enjoying your gift from God. Number one, married. Are you married? Are you married? Well, enjoy God's gift for marriage. Okay, now Paul here starts with marriage because it's the norm. Most people are married. Again, one's not better or worse. Most people are married, so that's where he And again in Corinth, many thought you had greater devotion to God if you avoided physical relations.16:14-16:14But there's a problem.16:15-16:22There are some people that thought you have greater devotion to God by avoiding physical relations even if you're married.16:25-16:37And all the men said, "What?" And it's good to not touch a woman even if you're married, and especially if she's not a believer, or vice versa.16:37-16:47If your husband's not a believer, they believe that, look, if you're married to a non-believer, you definitely should not be engaging in any kind of relationship that way.16:48-16:50That was what the people thought.16:51-16:53So here in these verses, Paul's saying, look, are you married?16:53-16:58Then you should enjoy regular times of intimacy.17:01-17:04You should enjoy regular times of intimacy.17:05-17:20And you're like, "Oh, isn't that obvious?" And the answer is it must not be because God spent some time here in His Word explaining some things.17:21-17:22So I don't think it is so obvious.17:24-17:35So what we have here are three laws, three principles for married couples regarding God's design for healthy marital relations, okay?17:37-17:42So we're just gonna break these down by calling them the three laws of marital intimacy.17:43-17:45The three laws of marital intimacy.17:48-17:51First of all, letter A, let's talk about the law of debt.17:52-18:00If you're married, if you're married, You should be enjoying your spouse physically.18:01-18:03And here's the three guidelines, three laws for that.18:03-18:05The first one, the law of debt.18:05-18:06Look at verse three.18:07-18:22He says, "The husband should give to his wife "her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband." Stop there, that's the law of debt.18:22-18:23You're like, why do you say debt?18:23-18:26Because do you know in the Greek, it's literally the debt.18:26-18:30literally in the Greek, it says the husband should give the wife the debt.18:31-18:34And the wife should give her husband the debt.18:34-18:36That's what it says.18:37-18:47Also in the Greek, it's a continuous verb, meaning, Paul's saying husbands and wives, you should continuously be paying a debt to one another physically.18:50-18:57Now listen, the physical part of your marriage is not the most important part of your marriage.19:00-19:06But, it is a very important part of your marriage.19:08-19:09Okay, I'm gonna say that again.19:09-19:13I don't know if I've ever been so careful about the way I worded things in a sermon.19:15-19:20Because I don't want anybody to misunderstand, and I know there's a lot of things that can be easily misunderstood here, so I'm gonna say that again.19:21-19:27The physical part of your marriage is not the most important thing, but it is a very important thing.19:28-19:42And Paul here says, "You owe it to your spouse to allow your spouse to enjoy this." Listen, this is a very sensitive subject.19:42-19:43I know that.19:43-19:46Because there are people that have endured abuse.19:47-19:50There are people who are emotionally scarred.19:50-19:52There are people that have health issues.19:52-20:01And these things make regular, normal relations more difficult.20:06-20:08It might require extra work.20:08-20:12It might require coming to see one of our pastors for counseling.20:12-20:14We can help you with that.20:14-20:17If this is an issue in your marriage, we can help you.20:22-20:24But the principle here is very clear.20:26-20:29If you're married, you are expected to go after this.20:32-20:39God's design is that husbands and wives enjoy meeting each other's needs.20:44-20:59There's a book in the Bible all about that, by the way, right? Song of Solomon. That's what And I know there's some scholars that are like, "The Song of Solomon, you know what the Song of Solomon is about, Pastor Taylor?20:59-21:00You know what it's about.21:00-21:08The Song of Solomon is about the love relationship between Jesus and the church." Spoken like someone who never read the Song of Solomon.21:09-21:10It's not about that.21:12-22:19It is about a couple enjoying the physical aspect of their relationship, their love for another and all its expressions of that love, that's what it's about. God wants you to enjoy each other. I've heard stories of couples that only come together for a physical relationship when it's time to procreate, almost like it's some business exchange. And look, if that happens. If that happens, awesome, awesome. We'll always make room in the nursery. But to reduce the purpose of that just for procreation is still missing the point. The purpose of sex in marriage is intimacy. That's the purpose. It's not just a physical act. It's an act that strengthens love and is an act that sustains love.22:21-22:30But I know, listen, somebody can read this verse, "The husband should give to his wife the debt." Likewise, the wife give to her husband the debt.22:30-22:34Somebody can look at this verse and say, "That sounds so violating.22:36-22:38You mean to tell me…." Is that what you're saying?22:39-22:47I can't… What a patriarchal, male chauvinist church this is, that you're telling me that I can be forced to pay the debt.22:48-22:48Right?22:48-22:49Is that what you're saying?22:50-22:51Not even close.22:53-22:58And I would say that if that's your takeaway, then all due respect, you are completely reading the verse wrong.23:02-23:02Listen closely.23:03-23:10He's not saying that we go into our marriage relationship saying, "You owe me!" No, no, no, no.23:12-23:13Not lording it over.23:14-23:20It's not "You owe me!" It's the mindset of "I owe you." It's submission.23:23-23:26Notice he says to give the debt.23:26-23:27He doesn't say take the debt.23:27-23:28Do you notice that?23:29-23:32He doesn't say, "Husbands, go take what she owes you.23:32-23:35Wives, go take what he owes you." He doesn't say that.23:36-23:43He says in mutual submission, you have to give what you owe your spouse.23:45-23:46That's what he says.23:47-23:52A healthy marriage always focuses on the other person's needs.23:55-23:59And that applies also specifically here to intimacy.24:01-24:02That's what we're saying.24:05-24:09Give your wife, give to her what you owe her.24:10-24:12Wives, give to husbands what you owe him.24:12-24:13It's mutual submission.24:16-24:16All right?24:16-24:17So that's the law of debt.24:18-24:20Secondly, we have letter B, the law of ownership.24:22-24:23Law of ownership, look at verse 4.24:24-24:32And he goes on, "For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.24:32-24:40Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." Stop there.24:40-24:43Again, please do not read it wrongly.24:43-24:48Don't go through this and totally miss what he's saying because it would be easy to do.24:48-24:52This is not a pass for abuse.24:54-25:05This is, listen, this verse is not allowing for any kind of situation where someone is being forced into something in any way.25:06-25:08It is not saying that whatsoever.25:08-25:19You're like, "Well, what is it saying then?" In marriage, listen, when you make the decision to marry someone, you have released the authority of your body to your spouse.25:20-25:22And again, in the Greek, that's continual.25:23-25:26What you have in marriage is an exclusive claim.25:27-25:34It's saying no one else owns my body the way that my spouse does, and that includes me.25:36-25:37That's what he's saying.25:38-25:43He's speaking again of a mutual love and selflessness.25:44-25:45That's what he's talking about.25:47-25:55He's talking about a mentality of a husband going before his wife and saying, "Hey, hey, this is all yours.25:57-26:04This is all yours." And then the wife in turn turns to her husband and says, "Yeah, and you know what, baby?26:05-26:06This is all yours.26:11-26:14So have fun." That's what he's saying.26:18-26:20There's the law of death, there's the law of ownership.26:21-26:23Letter C, there's the law of hiatus.26:24-26:25The law of hiatus.26:26-26:27Look at verse 5.26:30-26:55He says, "Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time that that you may devote yourselves to prayer, but then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." The law of hiatus.26:57-26:59Again, he goes, "Stop depriving.26:59-27:07Stop depriving." Again, the Corinthian culture, "Oh, it's holy to deprive my spouse." No, he goes, "It's not holy.27:08-27:08It's just not.27:09-27:14Do not deprive each other, husbands and wives, do not deprive each other.27:15-27:16He says there is an exception.27:18-27:19There are rules for hiatus.27:22-27:23There are rules for hiatus, right?27:24-27:28First part of the rule, number one, is agree, right?27:29-27:30Agree.27:32-27:33That means consent.27:33-27:38That means it's not just one person making the decision.27:41-27:43It's not the wife saying, "You know what, honey?27:43-27:50I've really been thinking about this, and I decided we're taking a hiatus." And the husband's like, "Wait, what?27:51-27:52That's not how it works.27:52-28:00There has to be an agreement on that, all right?" And also number two, it says for a limited time.28:02-28:29a limited time. It's temporary. Again, that time should be agreed upon. You're like, "All right, well, why are we taking a break?" Well, he says very specifically, "If you two decide to take a break for a time from having normal relations, it should be for prayer." And he's not talking about prayer in general. I think he's talking about praying for something specific.28:31-28:43Maybe there's something in your life that is so burdening, so distracting, that you probably can't even enjoy intimacy in that season.28:43-28:45Do you know what I'm talking about?28:46-28:58Maybe you have a child that is really sick and in the hospital and like, "I can't." Obviously neither of us are in the mood for this right now.28:58-28:58We need to pray.29:01-29:33there's the looming threat of a job loss and the stress that comes with, you know, what am I going to do to provide for my family? And you know what, sweetheart, I think we should take a break from this for a season and focus on praying for God's provision in this way. But you agree upon it and you set the boundary of time, but when you're like, man, I just can't get into it as I should, then you take a hiatus, you agree to pray.29:33-29:53But Paul says, "Then, then you have to come together again," he says, "so that you don't get tempted." But the first part of that verse says, "Do not deprive each other.29:55-29:57Stop depriving each other.30:03-30:08Husbands and wives, you cannot use sex to manipulate.30:11-30:19Or more accurately, you can't withhold sex to coerce or punish the other person.30:21-30:35Listen, when you do that, when you use that as coercion or punishment, what you're doing ultimately is only hurting your marriage.30:36-30:37That's what you're doing.30:39-30:42Notice he says, "Come together again." Why?30:42-30:43Why should we come together again?30:44-31:12may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. In other words, closing the kitchen makes you a partner of Satan. All right? Because the urge is still there, and now all of a sudden the person who is supposed to satisfy me absolutely refuses to do that.31:13-31:15And then what happens?31:21-31:23Bitterness is resentment.31:25-31:27Then the evil thoughts start to creep in, right?31:29-31:32I'm so sick of not having my needs met.31:32-31:35I'm so sick of the bedroom being so cold.31:37-31:39And eventually that leads to adultery.31:42-31:55to physical, you find somebody that's scratching the itch that you have, whether it is that emotional itch for affection, whether it's a physical itch.31:58-32:20And then it's justified because, and I've heard it hundreds of times over my ministry, justified because I'm in a loveless marriage." You know, marriages struggle and ultimately individuals walks with Christ struggle because they're so frustrated physically.32:21-32:29It's like I have this appetite and it's just not being met and nothing good comes from that married people.32:30-32:30Alright?32:33-32:35So this is from the Lord.32:37-32:39Enjoy each other as much as possible.32:40-32:40Okay?32:42-32:43It's fun.32:43-32:50It's God's idea and in this passage he reminds us it is the best help in avoiding temptation.32:55-32:56It's the best help in avoiding temptation.32:57-32:58Think about it this way.32:58-33:00Just imagine this scenario.33:01-33:02Imagine this scenario.33:02-33:09Husband wakes up and he comes downstairs and he sees that his wife is baking chocolate chip cookies.33:11-33:13Seven in the morning she's baking chocolate chip cookies.33:15-33:16What a great wife, right?33:17-33:18Oh, it gets better.33:18-33:47He's baking chocolate chip cookies and he sees on the counter, she's obviously been at it for a while because there's a plate and there's a stack of them. And his wife says, "Honey, have all the cookies that you want." And like the dutiful husband that he is, he sits down and he has one, three, six, ten of them! And you know how you feel after eat a dozen chocolate chip cookies, right?33:49-33:50Just me?33:52-33:52(audience laughing)33:54-33:57You know how you feel after you eat a dozen chocolate chip cookies, right?33:59-33:59Thank you.34:00-34:01Thank you.34:02-34:09Your wife says, "Sweetheart, before you go to work, "I want you to have as many of these cookies as you want, "and I wanna tell you something else, honey.34:10-34:17"When you come home, there's gonna be more." So, you indulge.34:20-34:22Let me ask you something, when you get to work, are you hungry for cookies?34:25-34:25No.34:26-34:27Thank you.34:28-34:29Thank you.34:30-34:33One of you is on board now, the rest of you will catch up.34:34-34:35No.34:35-34:39You get to work, you're not hungry for cookies.34:40-34:46So what happens when the co-worker comes over to you and says, "Blink, blink, blink, blink, blink.34:47-34:48Would you like a cookie?34:50-34:56What do you say?" You're like, "I am full.34:58-35:03You wouldn't believe how many cookies I ate before work today." Well, you probably wouldn't say that.35:08-35:09We need to cut that one.35:10-35:11(audience laughing)35:15-35:19You would say, too much Taylor?35:19-35:20Too, oh, okay.35:20-35:27You would say, if she says blink, blink, blink, would you like a cookie?35:27-35:29You would say, no, thank you.35:31-35:31I'm full.35:34-35:35I have all the cookies that I wanted.35:38-35:45And you know, if you go a long time without cookies, self-control is much harder when someone else offers you one.35:49-35:52So if you're married, enjoy the wedding present that God gave you.35:52-35:52Alright?35:54-35:56Number two, single?35:58-35:59Enjoy God's gift of singleness.36:02-36:04I'm going to touch on this quickly.36:04-36:04Why?36:05-36:08He goes way into more detail later.36:08-36:11But right now, understand the point of what he's saying now.36:11-36:14The point of what he's saying now is two good options, right?36:14-36:14Two good options.36:15-36:16Marriage, good option.36:16-36:20And he's like, let's talk about the other good option, being single.36:20-36:21Look at verse six.36:22-36:35He says, "Now as a concession, not a command, I say this." In other words, he's like, look, I'm not commanding everyone to get married.36:35-36:38I'm just putting this out there because of human needs.36:39-36:39Right?36:39-37:19Verse seven, he says, "I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another." So Paul says, "I have this gift and I wish everyone had this gift." Paul's like, "You may not have this gift." Bible's clear, God gives different gifts to different people and some people are uniquely gifted by God for singleness.37:20-37:21Some people are.37:21-37:24Like that is from God himself.37:28-37:33Quickly, Jesus, Matthew chapter 19, again, we referenced this earlier.37:33-37:38He was speaking of marriage and divorce and adultery.37:38-37:41Look, Jesus, this is where Paul gets this.37:42-37:45Paul's just repeating what Jesus was saying here about singleness.37:46-38:07Like I said, Jesus just got done talking about marriage and divorce, and the disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry." But Jesus said to them, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only to those to whom it is given.38:09-38:19For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.38:20-38:24Let the one who is able to receive this, receive it.38:26-38:28Same thing, same point.38:29-38:32Some people have a gift of singleness given by God.38:34-38:41If you're sitting here, you're like, "Man, I couldn't do it." Well, then you don't have the gift.38:43-38:45That's just all there is to it, right?38:47-38:48If you're sitting here and you're like, "You know what?38:48-38:59am single but I really don't want to be, then you don't have the gift. Because it's a gift from God to be single and content.39:02-39:17It's from God to be single and content, not single and consumed by lust. You don't have the gift if that's the case. Not if single and constantly tempted, you don't have the gift.39:17-39:23Not if single and constantly preoccupied by the fact that I am single, you don't have the gift.39:26-39:26Right?39:27-39:32But for some, it is a gift.39:33-39:45And there are definite advantages to this gift that we're going to talk about very shortly down the road, he picks up on that really in verse 32.39:46-39:56So Paul is saying to the Corinthians, "God's Word preserved by His Holy Spirit saying to us same thing." Look, don't judge the single people, right?39:57-39:58Don't judge the single people.39:58-40:04Maybe they have a gift from God to be single and content, to serve Him in a unique way.40:04-40:04Don't judge them.40:05-40:08And on the other hand, don't judge the married people either.40:09-40:24God has given the gift of marriage, and each side here, the single, the married, each has a gift, so enjoy yours how God intended." Our worship team would make their way up.40:25-40:35You know, in talking about this subject, it's hard to not think about how I heard of this subject when I was but a wee lad.40:38-40:46And you know, growing up, I thought, I'm just gonna be honest with you here, I thought sex was a bad, dirty thing.40:50-41:05Growing up, I thought sex was just this really, it was this really secretive, dirty thing that adults kind of whisper about, and you're like, "Why did you think that?" Because that was the only way it was ever presented.41:07-41:27And you know, so much church, so much church is, "Don't do this, don't do that, don't do this." So much church is, "Let me tell you everything that we're against." And too seldom does the church say what we're for.41:29-41:35But listen, sex is not a bad, dirty thing.41:38-41:41You realize God created it.41:43-41:45You realize the whole thing was His idea.41:46-41:52God is 100% for husbands and wives enjoying the heck out of it.41:55-41:56That's what he intended.41:58-42:01Sex to be one of life's greatest pleasures for a married couple.42:03-42:10So it's a gift for the married and the unmarried get the gift of not needing that wedding gift.42:10-42:13So, which is good?42:15-42:17Married or single?42:20-42:21Both are good.42:23-42:23Enjoy.42:24-42:25Let's pray.42:26-42:31Father in heaven, every good and perfect gift comes from above.42:32-42:55And I pray, Father, that you would give us eyes to see the way that you have blessed and gifted us and that we would use the gifts in a way that honors and glorifies you, whether it's single, to serve you in a unique way, whether it's married, to enjoy this picture of Christ and the church to enjoy the intimacy that comes from knowing somebody so deeply.42:57-43:01Whatever it is, God, let us recognize and enjoy.43:02-43:04And thank You and praise You for all of Your gifts.43:05-43:07We praise You in Jesus' name.43:07-43:08Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 7:1-7What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Explain the “3 Laws of Marital Intimacy” in your own words (1 Cor 7:3-5).What does it mean that “the wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband does, (and vice-versa)”? Is this making allowance for some kind of coercion to intimacy? Why or why not?How would you respond to a single friend who asks, “How do I know if I have the gift of singleness?”BreakoutPray for one another.

OPEN HEAVENSMATALA LE LAGI MO LE ASO TOFI 5 FEPUARI 2026(tusia e Pastor EA Adeboye) Manatu Autu: ‘Aiga e faasaoloto (Meal that delivers)Tauloto Tusi Paia:Eperu 10:20 “i le ala fou e ola ai, ‘ua fa‘aavanoaina e ia mo i tatou i le ‘ie puipui, o lona lava tino lea,”Faitauga - Tusi Paia: Esoto 12:1-24I le faitauga mai le Tusi Paia o le asō, na faatonuina e le Atua ia Mose e logo le fanauga a Isaraelu e sauni mo se aiga faapitoa e faia ae lei faasaolotoina i latou mai le pologa i Aikupito. O le falaoa na latou aai ai e leai se faafefete na iai, ma o le aano o manu fasi na aumai tamai mamoe e leai se ila poo se maanuminumi. O lena aiga e tutusa lelei ma le paseka mulimuli na aai ai Iesu ma lona au soo ae lei lafoai lona ola e faasaoloto i latou o e talitonu ia te ia mai saisaitiaga o le agasala. E tatou te faaigoaina lenei aiga faa le Atua o le faamanatuga paia i nei aso ma e tatou te aai ai e fai ma faamanatuga o lo tatou Alii Faaola o Iesu Keriso e pei ona ia poloai mai ai (Luka 22:19-20). A tatou aai i le Faamanatuga Paia, e fai ma faailoga  o le tino o Iesu Keriso, o le tamai mamoe a le Atua e leai se ila, ma inu i lona toto. O lenei aiga faa le Atua e auina mai ai faamanuiaga e tele ma le faasaolotoga iai latou e aai ai ma le tatau. O le ai i le faamanatuga Paia ma le tatau ma le malamalama e faaaupegaina ai oe e maua le pule i soo se vaega o lou olaga. A mananao tagata lotu aitu e toe faafouina i latou, e masani ona latou saili i le toto o taupou ma inu i o latou toto aua latou te iloa e telē le mana i le faamamāina. O tatou o kerisiano faatuatua, o loo tatou aai i le laoai a le Alii i le tino ma le toto o Lē e Paia o Isaraelu (Isaia 43:3). Le au pele e, ia e maitau mai, e pei a ona aumai e le Faamanatuga Paia le faasaolotoga, e mafai foi ona aumai ai le saisaitiaga ma le faasalaina pe a aai ma le faalētatau (1 Korinito 11:28-30). O i latou e aai faaletatau, o i latou ia e lei lafoai o latou ola ia Iesu ma i latou ua maea ona avea Iesu ma o latou Alii ma Faaola, ae o loo faia pea le agasala.  O se faataitaiga, o Iuta le Sekara na ulutinoina e le tiapolo ao ia ai i le faamanatuga ma le agasala i lona olaga (Ioane 12:4-6) ma na iu ai ina faaumatia (Mataio 27:3-5). Afai o loo e ola pea i le agasala, faamolemole ia e salamo ma lafoai atoatoa ia Iesu i le asō. A e faia, o le a iai sou amataga fou (2 Korinito 5:17) ma e te agavaa ai e avea ma se atalii poo se afafine o le Atua, ma maua uma famanuiaga mai lenei aiga faapitoa. O le toto o Iesu e tatou te maua ai le manumalo io tatou fili uma (Faaaliga 12:11), ma o lona tino e le gata e taitaiina i tatou mai le ala e faaumatia ai ae aumai ai foi i tatou i le ola fou o le faaolataga, e pei ona tatou vaai iai i le tauloto o le asō. Ou te folafola atu, e te maua le faasaolotoga pe a e ai i le ola ma le mana o le Atua i le laoai o le faamanatuga paia, i le suafa o Iesu, Amene. 

Introduction: 4 Things to Say To Yourself When You're Tempted: (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) I can't EXCUSE sin. (1 Cor 6:12-14) I am ONE with Christ. (1 Cor 6:15-17) God says to RUN from sexual sin. (1 Cor 6:18) My body BELONGS to God. (1 Cor 6:19-20) Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! AUDIO TRANSCRIPT 00:43-00:45What kind of a church is this?00:46-00:48We are a church that sits on four pillars.00:50-00:53We proclaim the authority of God's Word without apology.00:55-00:58We lift high the name of Jesus in worship.00:59-01:01We believe firmly in the power of prayer.01:02-01:05And we share the good news of Jesus with boldness.01:09-01:19Speaking of that first pillar, we're going through a series here Corinthians, and we go where the text takes us.01:21-01:23And today we're going to talk about sexual immorality.01:26-01:28I'm going to be direct but not explicit.01:28-01:33The question comes up, "Should my child listen to this?" But parental discretion advised.01:33-01:36Again, direct but not explicit.01:37-01:44I would encourage you parents, whether you're sitting here or whether you're streaming somebody's going to be talking to your kids about this.01:44-01:54You should be, but they're going to be hearing a lot of different opinions regarding matters of marriage and sexuality.01:54-01:56I think it might do them good to hear God's opinion of it.01:58-02:10So I'm just going to ask you would please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's word clearly, and I will pray for you to have your heart open to receive what He wants to tell us today.02:17-02:30Father in heaven, let this not just be another sermon sat through, but let Your Word transform our hearts and minds.02:30-02:36Father, give us the faith to believe and act upon what You have already pronounced to be true.02:39-02:41Let this be the day of repentance.02:42-02:52Let this be a day of joy and celebration and truly embracing Your gifts.02:53-02:55Your Word says every good and perfect gift comes from above.02:56-02:57Father, we believe that.03:01-03:04And I thank You, Father, ahead of time for the work that You're going to do.03:05-03:12We pray in Jesus' name and all of God's people said, "Amen." Amen.03:12-03:331 Corinthians chapter 6, we're in a series through 1 Corinthians called "Unified and Purified." Unified, that's the first four chapters, unified, where Paul says, "Church, collectively, get it together." Right?03:34-03:53In this next section that we're in, the church purified, Paul says, "Each of you, be who Jesus saved you to be." And today we are going to be talking about sexual immorality.03:54-04:14And those of you who have been going through this series with us might be saying at this point, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, maybe the cold is affecting your brain, but didn't we talk about that guy two weeks ago?" Oh, you think there was just one person in that church struggling with it.04:16-04:18Did you hurt your head when you fell off the turnip truck?04:19-04:19No.04:20-04:32There wasn't just one person at that church dealing with it, and I guarantee you there's There's not just one person in this church dealing with it.04:32-04:34Look down to verse 18.04:34-04:36This is the sermon.04:38-05:10Verse 18, Paul says, "Flee from sexual immorality." "Flee from sexual immorality." See, in Corinth, they were famous for their temple to Aphrodite, And their priestesses were actually prostitutes, and they would by those means help men worship according to their religion.05:12-05:14That was their context.05:16-05:20But the principles in this passage aren't limited to that.05:20-05:22And you have to get that.05:23-05:37You know, we don't want guys sitting here going, "Well, I'm doing pretty good because I've never been with a prostitute." Flea, sexual immorality, that word sexual immorality covers it all.05:38-05:54Whether it's an affair, or pornography, or one of these apps that allow you to meet up with people, it's anything outside of God's design for marriage and sexuality.05:55-05:59And look, there is nothing new under the sun.06:00-06:06The problem that this church had is the same problem that the church has today.06:06-06:07We touched on this a couple of weeks ago.06:08-06:08Here's the problem.06:09-06:13It's not viewing sex as sacred.06:14-06:14That's the problem.06:17-06:24We've turned this gift from God into some gross form of self-gratification.06:27-06:30So what is the purpose of sex?06:31-06:32What is it?06:33-06:38Well, what is the purpose of everything that God created?06:41-06:44The purpose of everything that God created is to glorify Him.06:46-06:48So what is the purpose of marital intimacy?06:50-06:51You're like, "Really?06:51-06:53To glorify God?" Yeah.06:54-06:54Yeah.06:55-07:01Need I remind you that the whole idea of marital intimacy was God's idea.07:01-07:08The whole idea that this was to be a pleasure shared between a married couple, that was God's plan.07:10-07:12He designed that, right?07:12-07:15Genesis tells us male and female, He created them.07:16-07:19The two shall become one flesh, Genesis 2.24.07:20-07:30That's the purpose of intimacy, but what's the objective of sex?07:30-07:33What's the objective of sexual relations?07:34-07:45Well, some would say, "Well, the objective is procreation, that's it." That's not the primary objective.07:47-07:55And for some, they would say, "It's pleasure." There's that, but that's not the primary objective of sex.07:56-07:59The primary objective is intimacy.08:03-08:05And you need to learn this statement from God's Word.08:08-08:10Intimacy is for those in the covenant.08:13-08:15Intimacy is for those in the covenant.08:18-08:26See under the new covenant, God desires the closest relationship possible that He can have with His people.08:26-08:27So what does He do?08:28-08:31He lives inside the heart of a believer.08:34-08:40And the Bible tells us that marriage and sex is a picture of the gospel.08:41-08:45The man representing Jesus, the woman representing the church.08:45-08:47Ephesians 5, you can read that later.08:48-08:49Same point though.08:51-08:54God's relationship with man, man's relationship with his wife.08:55-08:58Intimacy is for the covenant.09:01-09:05And sex is the physical manifestation.09:05-09:08It's the illustration of such intimacy.09:13-09:19Because in the covenant of marriage, the man representing Jesus is initiating a love relationship.09:20-09:28And the woman representing the church is receiving an intimacy that the two exclusively enjoy.09:29-09:39And the fact right now that people would hear something like that and start to snicker and start to giggle shows you the problem.09:41-09:43That the whole idea of sex has been perverted.09:45-09:47Like obviously, right?09:48-09:49Like how did that happen?09:52-09:56Well the Bible tells us when Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately noticed what?09:58-09:59They noticed that they were naked.10:00-10:01Isn't that strange?10:02-10:06Because up until that point, they only ever saw each other naked.10:07-10:15Now all of a sudden that sin is in the world, now they cast a whole new light on this.10:18-10:22But all of the sudden they had to cover themselves up.10:28-10:33There is a shame associated with sexuality because of sin.10:37-10:46God's wedding gift to men and women has been misused and abused and perverted.10:48-10:58And like the Corinthians, the world's profane, disgusting view of sex has been brought into the church.11:02-11:10And like them, there are many people here that are indulging in some form of sexual sin.11:15-11:18So what's it going to take to get you to break free?11:18-11:18What is it?11:21-11:23I've been doing this a long time.11:23-11:24I know how sermons work.11:24-11:27This is the part of the sermon where you get the stats, right?11:28-11:36You get the statistics on pornography and usage in the church and out the church.11:37-11:39That doesn't make a difference to people.11:41-11:49Or this is the part of the sermon where I can tell you the effect that pornography will have on your marriage and your relationships.11:49-12:05And I can get, you know, line graphs up there or quotes from brilliant scientists talking about the effect that it has on your marriage and the effect that it has on your brain, and that's not going to move anybody.12:07-12:11We could talk about the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.12:15-12:24I don't really think any of those things are very effective to get people on track with God's design for marital intimacy.12:25-12:27What we need is the power of the Holy Spirit.12:28-12:31What we need is the wisdom that comes from the Word of God.12:33-12:37So on your outline, that's what we're going after today.12:38-12:50That when you find yourself in a place of temptation, through this passage you're going to see, there's four things that you need to say to yourself when temptation shows up.12:52-12:52Alright?12:52-12:55Number one, break this down, I can't excuse sin.12:56-12:59I just can't excuse sin.13:04-13:12You see, the Corinthians, in their culture, they had some popular sayings that they used to excuse sin.13:12-13:14Look at your Bible, here's two of them.13:14-13:26Verse 12, "All things are lawful for me." Verse 13, "Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food." Stop there.13:26-13:32Those were two of the sayings of the culture, two of the, you know, secular proverbs, so to speak.13:33-13:39But when they wanted to excuse and justify their sexual sin, they would say one of those statements.13:39-13:44And what we have here in 1 Corinthians 6 is Paul systematically breaking them down.13:44-13:51He's like, "Your reasoning is really messed up here." So let's look at it.13:51-13:58First of all, verse 12, he says, "All things are lawful for me." Stop there.14:00-14:01Is that true?14:05-14:20Look, if you are a born-again believer in Christ, if you are truly regenerate, if you are truly saved, you have freedom in Christ.14:21-14:25Yes, nothing can separate you from the love of God.14:25-14:30No sin that you commit will disqualify you from being a child of God.14:30-14:31That is true.14:31-14:32All right?14:34-14:35But let's look at what Paul says.14:35-14:48He says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful." Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.14:48-14:49This is Paul's first argument.14:51-14:54Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.14:57-15:01Can I have gummy bears and cream soda for breakfast?15:04-15:07Aaron, can I have gummy bears and cream soda for breakfast?15:09-15:11Yes, I can.15:12-15:15And you were all witness that she nodded her head yes.15:16-15:19Look, God's not going to condemn me for that.15:22-15:23Is it very helpful though?15:24-15:26What about, can I play the lottery?15:27-15:29Can I play the...oh, Aaron says no on that one.15:31-15:35For purposes of illustration, can I play the lottery?15:37-15:38Sure I can.15:40-15:44God's not going to send me to hell if I buy a scratchy ticket, right?15:45-15:49If I buy a scratchy lottery, Pastor Taylor, God's not going to send me to hell for that.15:53-15:54But does that make it a good idea?15:57-15:58It's not helpful, is it?15:59-16:00It's not wise.16:00-16:03The lottery is just a tax on people who are bad at math.16:06-16:11Okay, now how about sleeping with someone you're not married to?16:12-16:17If you're a true Christian, that is not going to send you to hell.16:21-16:29Saying that it is not helpful is one of the biggest understatements of all time.16:32-16:33I think that's Paul's point.16:35-16:35It's not helpful.16:37-16:39Sleeping with someone you're not married to is not helpful.16:40-16:44It can result in an unwanted pregnancy.16:47-16:50If she's married, you're going to deal with an angry husband when he finds out.16:52-16:56You're going to deal with shame in your workplace, in your church, in your community.16:59-17:03Your testimony, if you're a Christian, certainly not going to help that.17:04-17:10Oh, and if she's married, now you've destroyed two families, yours and hers.17:11-17:15And if you're not married, you've done damage to future spouses, yours and hers.17:18-17:19There's consequences.17:20-17:21So that's where Paul starts.17:21-17:25He's like, "All things are lawful for me." He's like, "Bag that excuse.17:26-17:30Not all things are helpful." Let's look at the next one.17:31-18:12Back in verse 12, he says, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved anything. Some translations, "I will not be dominated by anything." He goes, "Why would I mess around with something that could enslave me? Why would I do that?" It's just, it's foolishness, right? And sexual sin is addictive, right? Talk to the guy who struggled with looking at things on his computer that he shouldn't be looking at.18:13-18:14It's addictive.18:15-18:21Talk to the girl who's in that wrong relationship that she just keeps going back to.18:21-18:22It's addictive.18:25-18:31I mean, with any sin, one and done is bad enough.18:32-18:43But when you have a sin that just keeps drawing you back in, Paul says, "You really want to mess around with something that's going to consume your life?18:44-18:53I'm not going to be dominated by anything." He's like, "You can bag that excuse too." But there's another one.18:53-18:54Look at verse 13.18:55-18:59He says, "Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food.19:01-19:15And God, this is Paul's commentary on that saying, he goes, "And God will destroy both one and the other." The body's not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.19:19-19:21See that was the other excuse for sexual sin.19:21-19:24Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach's for food.19:24-19:25You see that argument?19:26-19:37The argument is this, look, the act of physical intimacy, it's just biological, right?19:37-19:39It's just a biological thing.19:39-19:43I mean, you guys are a little too uptight about that.19:43-19:46It's just a biological function.19:47-19:49I mean, let me break it down for you.19:49-20:00and my tummy is hungry, and I see food, I'm like, well, I see a connection here.20:00-20:02You two were sort of made for each other.20:03-20:04Let's get this together, right?20:05-20:07It's obvious what needs to happen here.20:08-20:10The food needs to go in my tummy.20:15-20:18He applied that same logic to sex.20:20-20:28It's like, "Look, I have body parts and there is a woman, so it's obvious what needs to happen here.20:28-20:36These two were made for each other." You see, Paul shoots that one down, foolish thinking.20:36-20:40He goes, "Yeah, food and stomach, that's an appropriate match.20:41-20:46body doesn't match with sexual sin.20:48-20:52What body matches with is the Lord.20:53-20:58So your little analogy is fundamentally faulty.21:00-21:04And Paul says further, "More food for the stomach." That's a temporary thing.21:08-21:10That's just a temporary thing.21:10-21:12But your body is the Lord's.21:14-21:15That's an eternal thing.21:16-21:26In other words, Paul says your analogy breaks down because while digestion, yes, is a biological function, sex is not just a biological function.21:26-21:28It's not just a physical act.21:28-21:28It's not.21:31-21:34By the way, your body is not going to be destroyed.21:35-21:36It's going to be glorified.21:36-21:5214, Paul says, "And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power." Paul is saying, "Your body has a glorious destiny.21:54-22:01Don't use it for lust." Paul is like, "Bag that excuse.22:01-22:03It's just a biological function.22:04-22:06You are not a dog, okay?22:08-22:15This act of intimacy is more than just some biological function like eating or drinking.22:19-22:23That saying, "All things are lawful for me," boy, that one didn't go away, did it?22:24-23:18I think we all know people that are like the ultra-grace people that are like, "Hey, because Christ died for me, I can do whatever I want. I have freedom in Christ to do whatever I want." That mindset overtook the Corinthians, and so many Christians today have such a skewed view of God's Word. Look, liberty is not license. All right? Liberty is not license. And I want to say this with as much love and compassion as I can muster here, but you are either unregenerate or you're a toddler Christian if you think freedom in Christ is a green light for anything and everything that you want to do." Those were their sayings.23:20-23:25Boy, we could spend a lot of time talking about some of the sayings that we threw around in our day, right?23:26-23:30We have other popular sayings that we use to excuse sin.23:31-23:32I've heard them all.23:34-23:40Here's a big one, you've heard this one, when people want to excuse their sexual sin, they're like, "Everyone does it." You heard that one?23:40-23:41Everyone does it.23:41-23:45Oh, okay, that's the measure of what's appropriate, right?23:45-23:47As long as everybody's doing it, then it must be okay.23:50-23:52You can bag that excuse.23:54-23:55Here's one that I hate.23:56-24:08I've heard so many times people say, "Well, you wouldn't buy a car without test driving it, huh?" A problem with that analogy, we're talking about a human being, not a car.24:08-24:17If I go to a lot and test drive a car and decide not to buy it, that car isn't going to carry emotional damage with it for the rest of its life.24:21-24:22You use cars.24:23-24:24You don't use people.24:25-24:27Beg that excuse.24:28-24:37You hear people say, "Well, you know, come on, a man has needs." Yeah, yeah, a man does have needs.24:37-24:38A man needs Christ.24:39-24:41Let's focus on that need.24:41-24:43That's the most important need.24:43-24:44Let's go after that one.24:45-24:46Or how about this one?24:48-24:49"Oh, you don't understand.24:49-25:01We love each other." Okay, well if you love her that much, then you should enter into a covenant with her and honor the Lord with it.25:02-25:10But if you don't love her enough to enter the covenant with her in marriage, then you shouldn't be physical with her.25:12-25:13Beg that excuse.25:15-25:18Paul says, "Your body's not meant for sexual sin.25:18-25:20It's not meant for self-gratification.25:20-25:21It's meant for the Lord.25:21-25:22It has a glorious destiny.25:22-25:31And here's the bottom line, church, you are never going to repent if you're always looking for an excuse to sin.25:36-25:43So next time you are tempted, you need to stop and say, "I can't excuse sin.25:44-25:45I can't excuse this.25:47-25:51There's nothing I can say before God that would make this sin okay.25:53-25:54I can't excuse sin.25:56-25:56All right?25:56-26:05Number two, when you're tempted, you need to learn to stop and say this, "I am one with Christ.26:07-26:09I am one with Christ." Look at verses 15 through 17.26:11-26:18Paul goes on, he says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?26:22-26:28Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?26:28-26:29Never!26:32-26:39Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?26:41-26:45Or, as it is written, the two will become one flesh.26:48-26:54But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.26:55-26:57I am one with Christ.26:57-27:05You see, Paul was talking to the Corinthians who were worshipping with the temple prostitutes.27:06-27:16Like you're taking a body, your body, the personal property of Jesus, and using it to gratify yourself in a relationship with a godless woman.27:19-27:25And this is equivalent to dragging Christ Himself into prostitution.27:26-27:29That is an absolutely horrible thought, but that's what He says.27:31-27:32Think about that.27:33-27:38Think about how repulsive and appalling this is.27:38-27:39Think about it.27:42-27:46I mean, would you call Pastor Taylor up and say, "Hey, a bunch of us are going down to the strip club.27:46-27:48You want to go with us?" Would you do that?27:52-27:54Not in a million years would I do that.27:58-28:05Or would you call up Pastor Rich and say, "Hey, we're going to go downtown and see if we can pick up some women.28:05-28:10You want to come with us?" You would never do that.28:14-28:18But see, the reality, according to God's Word, is far worse.28:20-28:29Because the Bible says we are one with Christ, and engaging in sexual immorality is joining Christ Himself in the act.28:33-28:36Be like asking Jesus to go pick up prostitutes with you.28:40-28:41Absolutely foul.28:43-28:50But you know, it's the same principle, men, when you're looking at things on your computer that you shouldn't be looking at.28:51-28:52It's the same principle.28:52-29:15It would be like calling Jesus up and saying, "Hey, why don't you come over and surf the net with me. Let's look at some stuff together. Would you do that? It's the same principle when you're sneaking around with a co-worker. "Hey Jesus, we're going to call my wife and say we're working late, but we're really going to meet up with so-and-so." Would you do that?29:17-29:21Or when you use an app to meet up with people for a physical relationship.29:24-29:28Look, if you're a Christian, the very thought of that's repulsive.29:28-29:30There's nothing funny about that at all.29:32-29:36So the next time you're tempted, you need to stop and say, "What am I doing?29:36-29:39I am one Spirit with Christ.29:39-29:44Why in the world would I drag the Lord into engaging in this garbage?29:48-29:56I'm one with Christ." Number three, four things to say to yourself when you're tempted.29:56-30:00Number three, God says to run from sexual sin.30:02-30:11Here it is, verse 18, "Flee from sexual immorality." Flee.30:12-30:13Get away.30:18-30:19This is how you win.30:25-30:26I grew up in the '80s.30:28-30:38And I, you know I never, I don't like bragging.30:40-30:44But I'm going to, for a couple of minutes if you'll indulge me.30:47-30:52But I grew up in the '80s, and one of my favorite things about the '80s was Mike Tyson.30:54-31:00Now some of you might remember, or might know of Mike Tyson, rather, seeing him in movies, or cartoons, or whatever.31:01-31:02That's not the Mike Tyson that I knew growing up.31:03-31:05Growing up, I could not wait.31:06-31:23HBO would show his fights, he'd come out with the ripped towel over his head, he had the coin laced in his boot, and he would just come out, and it would be like, "Ding, blaka blaka!" Like, "Ouch!" Look it up on the YouTubes if you don't believe me.31:23-31:28It was, he was an absolute monster.31:32-31:39You know, always the highlight, you know, to watch the usually 90-second fight or whatever.31:41-31:44But okay, I don't, but listen, like I said, I don't want to brag.31:47-31:52But I have never lost a fight to Mike Tyson.31:56-31:58And I know what some of you are thinking.31:59-32:10Some of you are thinking, "Yeah, Pastor Jeff, well, Mike Tyson probably didn't fight ten-year-olds." And I would say, "Look, my record speaks for itself.32:12-32:19I have never lost to Mike Tyson. Not one time. Do you know why I've never lost to Mike Tyson?32:20-32:26Because I wasn't stupid enough to show up to fight him. That's the principle here.32:29-32:37Look, it's the same thing with sexual sin. If you stay and try to fight, you will lose.32:39-33:04That's why you don't fight it. The Bible says you run from it. You run from it. And I got to tell you guys, that's why many of you are losing the battle with pornography today. You've isolated yourself again. You're on your computer or your phone again, and you lost again because you showed up.33:08-33:22That's why some of you continue to go too far physically with that person that you're not married to, because you ended up alone with her again, and you gave in to desire with her again.33:22-33:26You showed up again, and you lost again.33:30-33:34You will give in every time you show up.33:35-33:37That's why God says to run.33:38-33:38Run!33:42-33:42Why?33:42-33:44What's the urgency here?33:44-33:45Look at the rest of verse 18.33:47-33:49This is about as serious as it gets.33:49-33:59He says, "Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.34:00-34:01Please hear me.34:01-34:09Sexual sin is not the worst sin, but it is unique in its consequences.34:10-34:15The Bible says when you sin sexually, you are actually sinning against your own body.34:18-34:23Other sins don't affect you the same way that sexual sin does.34:27-34:28Other sins affect outwardly.34:29-34:33There's something different about sexual sin, it affects you inwardly.34:39-34:40Why is that?34:40-34:41Listen closely, please.34:42-34:55No other physical act that you commit in your body carries the spiritual weight that sexual intimacy does.34:55-35:02So no other sin is going to bring the impact that sexual sin brings.35:07-35:10It consumes, it destroys like no other sin.35:13-35:21You know, over the years I've seen a lot of preachers who have disqualified themselves for ministry because of sin.35:22-35:24Do you know what the most common reason is?35:27-35:28You could probably guess, huh?35:31-35:32I do a lot of counseling.35:33-35:38Do you know what's the most common area we find where people need help?35:43-35:44You probably guess.35:46-35:53We've lost ministry, we've hurt our families, we're doing damage control all because we didn't flee.35:54-35:59We showed up, we thought we could handle it this time, and we lost again.36:02-36:04Nobody's surprised but you.36:06-36:20So the next time you're tempted, stop, stop, and say, "This is so serious that God says I should run from it." All right?36:21-36:25And finally, number four, four things to say when you're tempted.36:25-36:28Number four, "My body belongs to God.36:31-36:35My body belongs to God." Look at verse 19.36:37-36:51He says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" Humans have a unique capacity.36:54-37:00are the only thing in creation that have the ability to be indwelt by God Himself.37:01-37:03No other creature can say that.37:05-37:10God lives inside you if you're a follower of Christ, if you're a believer.37:11-37:13You know, you are the temple of God.37:13-37:31In the Old Testament, the temple of God was a building, and when Jesus walked the earth, The temple, the tabernacle of God was in one man, Jesus Christ, but now under the new covenant, God's temple is in the heart of every believer of Christ.37:35-37:35You're the temple.37:38-37:38What would you think?37:40-37:54What would you think of someone who, during sermon time today, they were looking at explicit of the opposite sex on their phone during the sermon, what would you think about that?37:55-37:57Wouldn't you just sort of be appalled?38:00-38:04Like, I can't believe during the preaching of the Bible somebody was looking at that.38:04-38:05Wouldn't that be appalling?38:06-38:17Or what would you think if there was someone in this church that was having an affair, and they decided that this room was a perfect private place?38:17-38:22Some night through the week when nobody's here, they sneak in here and have an affair right in this room.38:22-38:23What would you think about that?38:24-38:28Wouldn't you be like, "What is the matter with you?38:28-38:39You did that in church?" I don't want to burst any bubbles, but this room, this room is really nothing special.38:40-38:41This is an office building.38:47-38:49That was a rumpus room before we moved in here.38:51-38:53And who knows what they'll do with it when we're gone.38:54-38:56This room is nothing special at all.38:59-39:02You are the temple of God.39:02-39:04You are holy property.39:04-39:15God says, "You are where I live." So every time you commit sexual sin, no matter where you do it, you're doing it in God's living room.39:19-39:35He goes on, look at verse 19, he says, "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price to glorify God in your body." You have a holy obligation to Jesus.39:35-39:36You are not your own.39:37-39:40Listen, you have no right to yourself.39:44-39:53You have no right to yourself, because you were bought with a price.39:55-39:56What did it cost to buy you?39:58-40:00It cost the blood of Jesus Christ.40:08-40:10You know, everybody is so concerned about their rights.40:12-40:14"I have rights!40:15-40:16I'm going to stand up for my rights!40:17-40:24I know my rights!" You know, as Christians, we have no rights.40:25-40:26Did you know that?40:30-40:34As a Christian, all I can say is, I'm not my own.40:36-40:37I don't even belong to myself.40:40-40:44This body belongs to Jesus.40:45-40:47This body was heading to hell.40:48-40:56This body was going to be separated from God forever, and Jesus Christ bought this back with His own death.40:57-40:59So this belongs to Jesus.40:59-41:00He paid for it.41:04-41:13So, you know the saying that was so popular, and there's still remnants of it, people walking around going, "My body, my choice." That's not biblical.41:15-41:34You want to make it biblical, you say it this way, "Christ's body, Christ's choice." So, he says, "So, glorify God in your body." We are a wholly motivated church.41:34-41:36We are wholly motivated.41:36-41:38Our highest priority is to glorify God.41:40-41:51Physical intimacy in the covenant of marriage, the purpose for which God designed intimacy, When that act occurs, that glorifies God.41:52-42:00And refusing to allow your passions to control you, when you flee from sexual immorality, you glorify God.42:03-42:07So next time you're tempted, you need to stop and say, "No, no, no.42:09-42:19This belongs to God." You know, the church is called the Bride of Christ.42:22-42:35Jesus desires intimacy with His bride, so He entered a covenant with His bride, and He keeps His covenant because He is faithful to His bride.42:35-42:39And that is exactly what we are called to emulate as children of God.42:40-42:49I keep my covenant to my bride because that's what my Lord does." Her worship team would make their way back up front.42:53-42:58Look, when you leave here today, at some point you're going to be tempted.43:00-43:09You're going to be tempted to think of something you shouldn't, to look at something you shouldn't, to do something that you shouldn't.43:09-43:34going to be tempted. Some of you, it might be tomorrow or Wednesday. Some of you, it might be on your way to the car from church. I want to encourage you, if that's a struggle for you, keep this outline and make it a steady habit in your devotions to read and review These principles from God's Word.43:36-43:45If you're unmarried and you keep finding yourself tempted, sit down and read these together with your boyfriend or girlfriend.43:48-43:53How about you make these four statements the lock screen on your phone?43:55-43:59I can't excuse sin because there is no excuse.44:00-44:03Number two, I am one with Christ.44:06-44:09God says to run from sexual sin.44:11-44:14And my body belongs to God.44:16-44:16Let's pray.44:20-44:32Our Father in heaven, I pray, Father, again by the power of your Holy Spirit, by the wisdom of your Word that today would be the day of repentance.44:34-44:46That some people for too long have just made excuses or shrugged their shoulders or have just given up any thought that this is a sin that can be avoided.44:47-45:07I pray today, Father, that we reexamine the purpose of it and that we would be a people You are truly wholly motivated to enjoy this gift in the way which you told us to enjoy.45:09-45:22Thank you, Father, for this glorious picture that you've given us of Christ faithful to His bride.45:25-45:26Give us the faith to imitate that.45:26-45:28We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 6:12-20What was your big take-away from this passage / message?Explain the expressions the Corinthians used to justify sexual sin (1 Cor 6:12-13)?What expressions do people use today? How do you refute those?How exactly is sexual sin different from other sins (1 Cor 6:18)?How would you respond to a Christian that justifies their sin by saying, “I have freedom in Christ to live how I want!”? (See 1 Cor 6:19-20) BreakoutPray for one another.

Seek God In The Praises, The Patience, The Problem; He Is Our Hope Lamentations 3:19-27 19I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

November 27, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily LifeThe Revelation 12:2-24I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

Big Idea: Trees thrive together… and so do you.1 Corinthians 16:15-24I. Submit for harmony.1 Corinthians 16:15-18Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them. I am delighted to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence. For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore recognize such people.II. Serve from the heart. 1 Corinthians 16:19-21The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home. All the brothers and sisters send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.III. Stand with hope.1 Corinthians 16:22-24This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.Next Steps: Believe: Today, I surrender to Jesus.Become: I will strengthen someone who is struggling this week. Be Sent: I will show Jesus's love this week.Discussion Questions: Has this book grown your faith?  If so, how?In what ways can you actively demonstrate love and support to someone far from Jesus this week?Who can you encourage to grow stronger in the Lord this week?How does Stephanas inspire you to serve our church and community?What practical steps can you take to ensure that our church community embodies unity and love?How can you prepare your heart and mind to live out the urgency of Christ's return tomorrow?Pray for the opportunity to serve someone in need this week. 

Ephesians 4:17-24I. You Have Been Taught Better (v. 20-21)“That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ” Ephesians 4:20A. Learning Christ vs. Learning About Christ •Paul says we “learned Christ” - not just facts, but a person •Christianity is encountering Jesus, not adopting a moral systemTruth isn't a system to master; truth is a person to know. And knowing Jesus changes everything. •The gospel itself contains the power for transformationB. The Truth That Is in Jesus •“As the truth is in Jesus” - a crucial phrase •Truth isn't abstract principle; it's embodied in a person •The reality of who Jesus is and what He's done changes everythingTransition to point 2“to be made new in the attitude of your minds; “ Ephesians 4:23A. Put Off the Old Self REMOVAL(v. 22)You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; •The “old self” corrupted by deceitful desires •Not gradual improvement but decisive break •ITS REMOVING YOUR GRAVE CLOTHESKey Question: What does this mean practically? •Not self-improvement through willpower alone •Recognizing the old identity is dead (Romans 6) •We're not trying to become Christians; we already areB. Be Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind  RENEWAL(v. 23)to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  •The often-overlooked middle step •Renewal is passive voice - something done to us •The mind must be transformed by gospel truthThe Pattern or renewing the mind •Our behaviors flow from beliefs •Wrong behaviors come from functional beliefs that oppose the gospel •Lasting change requires exposing and replacing false beliefs with gospel truthYou become like whatever you think about most.If you want to change your habits, change what you feed your mind.You can't control what pops into your head, but you can control what stays there.Your thoughts become your actions. Your actions become your character.Example Application: •If struggling with anxiety: What am I believing about God's control or care? •If struggling with anger: What am I treating as ultimate that only God should be? •Gospel renewal means letting God's truth reshape our deepest assumptionsC. Put On the New Self Replacement(v. 24)and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. •Created to be like God - our true destiny •“Righteousness and holiness” - not earned but received •Like putting on new, clean garments of identityGospel Connection: Before we can “put off” or “put on” anything, we must first understand what Christ has done for us. Moralism says “try harder.” The gospel says “you've been changed.”“God's plan for you isn't improvement—it's transformation.You can't change your life until you change your thinking.Change is not a moment in time…. It's a direction you purposely live your life inII. The Three-Fold Pattern of Gospel Change (v. 22-24)“Real change requires three things: Removal, Renewal, and Replacement.”

BG 9.24I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.Please feel free to join our Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Telegram group chat (for both prabhujīs and mātājīs): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/iskmnews⁠

After a hiatus, we've officially restarted the Uncommons podcast, and our first long-form interview is with Professor Taylor Owen to discuss the ever changing landscape of the digital world, the fast emergence of AI and the implications for our kids, consumer safety and our democracy.Taylor Owen's work focuses on the intersection of media, technology and public policy and can be found at taylorowen.com. He is the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications and the founding Director of The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University where he is also an Associate Professor. He is the host of the Globe and Mail's Machines Like Us podcast and author of several books.Taylor also joined me for this discussion more than 5 years ago now. And a lot has happened in that time.Upcoming episodes will include guests Tanya Talaga and an episode focused on the border bill C-2, with experts from The Citizen Lab and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.We'll also be hosting a live event at the Naval Club of Toronto with Catherine McKenna, who will be launching her new book Run Like a Girl. Register for free through Eventbrite. As always, if you have ideas for future guests or topics, email us at info@beynate.ca Chapters:0:29 Setting the Stage1:44 Core Problems & Challenges4:31 Information Ecosystem Crisis10:19 Signals of Reliability & Policy Challenges14:33 Legislative Efforts18:29 Online Harms Act Deep Dive25:31 AI Fraud29:38 Platform Responsibility32:55 Future Policy DirectionFurther Reading and Listening:Public rules for big tech platforms with Taylor Owen — Uncommons Podcast“How the Next Government can Protect Canada's Information Ecosystem.” Taylor Owen with Helen Hayes, The Globe and Mail, April 7, 2025.Machines Like Us PodcastBill C-63Transcript:Nate Erskine-Smith00:00-00:43Welcome to Uncommons, I'm Nate Erskine-Smith. This is our first episode back after a bit of a hiatus, and we are back with a conversation focused on AI safety, digital governance, and all of the challenges with regulating the internet. I'm joined by Professor Taylor Owen. He's an expert in these issues. He's been writing about these issues for many years. I actually had him on this podcast more than five years ago, and he's been a huge part of getting us in Canada to where we are today. And it's up to this government to get us across the finish line, and that's what we talk about. Taylor, thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me. So this feels like deja vu all over again, because I was going back before you arrived this morning and you joined this podcast in April of 2020 to talk about platform governance.Taylor Owen00:43-00:44It's a different world.Taylor00:45-00:45In some ways.Nate Erskine-Smith00:45-01:14Yeah. Well, yeah, a different world for sure in many ways, but also the same challenges in some ways too. Additional challenges, of course. But I feel like in some ways we've come a long way because there's been lots of consultation. There have been some legislative attempts at least, but also we haven't really accomplished the thing. So let's talk about set the stage. Some of the same challenges from five years ago, but some new challenges. What are the challenges? What are the problems we're trying to solve? Yeah, I mean, many of them are the same, right?Taylor Owen01:14-03:06I mean, this is part of the technology moves fast. But when you look at the range of things citizens are concerned about when they and their children and their friends and their families use these sets of digital technologies that shape so much of our lives, many things are the same. So they're worried about safety. They're worried about algorithmic content and how that's feeding into what they believe and what they think. They're worried about polarization. We're worried about the integrity of our democracy and our elections. We're worried about sort of some of the more acute harms of like real risks to safety, right? Like children taking their own lives and violence erupting, political violence emerging. Like these things have always been present as a part of our digital lives. And that's what we were concerned about five years ago, right? When we talked about those harms, that was roughly the list. Now, the technologies we were talking about at the time were largely social media platforms, right? So that was the main way five years ago that we shared, consumed information in our digital politics and our digital public lives. And that is what's changing slightly. Now, those are still prominent, right? We're still on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook to a certain degree. But we do now have a new layer of AI and particularly chatbots. And I think a big question we face in this conversation in this, like, how do we develop policies that maximize the benefits of digital technologies and minimize the harms, which is all this is trying to do. Do we need new tools for AI or some of the things we worked on for so many years to get right, the still the right tools for this new set of technologies with chatbots and various consumer facing AI interfaces?Nate Erskine-Smith03:07-03:55My line in politics has always been, especially around privacy protections, that we are increasingly living our lives online. And especially, you know, my kids are growing up online and our laws need to reflect that reality. All of the challenges you've articulated to varying degrees exist in offline spaces, but can be incredibly hard. The rules we have can be incredibly hard to enforce at a minimum in the online space. And then some rules are not entirely fit for purpose and they need to be updated in the online space. It's interesting. I was reading a recent op-ed of yours, but also some of the research you've done. This really stood out. So you've got the Hogue Commission that says disinformation is the single biggest threat to our democracy. That's worth pausing on.Taylor Owen03:55-04:31Yeah, exactly. Like the commission that spent a year at the request of all political parties in parliament, at the urging of the opposition party, so it spent a year looking at a wide range of threats to our democratic systems that everybody was concerned about originating in foreign countries. And the conclusion of that was that the single biggest threat to our democracy is the way information flows through our society and how we're not governing it. Like that is a remarkable statement and it kind of came and went. And I don't know why we moved off from that so fast.Nate Erskine-Smith04:31-05:17Well, and there's a lot to pull apart there because you've got purposeful, intentional, bad actors, foreign influence operations. But you also have a really core challenge of just the reliability and credibility of the information ecosystem. So you have Facebook, Instagram through Meta block news in Canada. And your research, this was the stat that stood out. Don't want to put you in and say like, what do we do? Okay. So there's, you say 11 million views of news have been lost as a consequence of that blocking. Okay. That's one piece of information people should know. Yeah. But at the same time.Taylor Owen05:17-05:17A day. Yeah.Nate Erskine-Smith05:18-05:18So right.Taylor Owen05:18-05:2711 million views a day. And we should sometimes we go through these things really fast. It's huge. Again, Facebook decides to block news. 40 million people in Canada. Yeah.Taylor05:27-05:29So 11 million times a Canadian.Taylor Owen05:29-05:45And what that means is 11 million times a Canadian would open one of their news feeds and see Canadian journalism is taken out of the ecosystem. And it was replaced by something. People aren't using these tools less. So that journalism was replaced by something else.Taylor05:45-05:45Okay.Taylor Owen05:45-05:46So that's just it.Nate Erskine-Smith05:46-06:04So on the one side, we've got 11 million views a day lost. Yeah. And on the other side, Canadians, the majority of Canadians get their news from social media. But when the Canadians who get their news from social media are asked where they get it from, they still say Instagram and Facebook. But there's no news there. Right.Taylor Owen06:04-06:04They say they get.Nate Erskine-Smith06:04-06:05It doesn't make any sense.Taylor Owen06:06-06:23It doesn't and it does. It's terrible. They ask Canadians, like, where do you get people who use social media to get their news? Where do they get their news? and they still say social media, even though it's not there. Journalism isn't there. Journalism isn't there. And I think one of the explanations— Traditional journalism. There is—Taylor06:23-06:23There is—Taylor Owen06:23-06:47Well, this is what I was going to get at, right? Like, there is—one, I think, conclusion is that people don't equate journalism with news about the world. There's not a one-to-one relationship there. Like, journalism is one provider of news, but so are influencers, so are podcasts, people listening to this. Like this would be labeled probably news in people's.Nate Erskine-Smith06:47-06:48Can't trust the thing we say.Taylor Owen06:48-07:05Right. And like, and neither of us are journalists, right? But we are providing information about the world. And if it shows up in people's feeds, as I'm sure it will, like that probably gets labeled in people's minds as news, right? As opposed to pure entertainment, as entertaining as you are.Nate Erskine-Smith07:05-07:06It's public affairs content.Taylor Owen07:06-07:39Exactly. So that's one thing that's happening. The other is that there's a generation of creators that are stepping into this ecosystem to both fill that void and that can use these tools much more effectively. So in the last election, we found that of all the information consumed about the election, 50% of it was created by creators. 50% of the engagement on the election was from creators. Guess what it was for journalists, for journalism? Like 5%. Well, you're more pessimistic though. I shouldn't have led with the question. 20%.Taylor07:39-07:39Okay.Taylor Owen07:39-07:56So all of journalism combined in the entire country, 20 percent of engagement, influencers, 50 percent in the last election. So like we've shifted, at least on social, the actors and people and institutions that are fostering our public.Nate Erskine-Smith07:56-08:09Is there a middle ground here where you take some people that play an influencer type role but also would consider themselves citizen journalists in a way? How do you – It's a super interesting question, right?Taylor Owen08:09-08:31Like who – when are these people doing journalism? When are they doing acts of journalism? Like someone can be – do journalism and 90% of the time do something else, right? And then like maybe they reveal something or they tell an interesting story that resonates with people or they interview somebody and it's revelatory and it's a journalistic act, right?Taylor08:31-08:34Like this is kind of a journalistic act we're playing here.Taylor Owen08:35-08:49So I don't think – I think these lines are gray. but I mean there's some other underlying things here which like it matters if I think if journalistic institutions go away entirely right like that's probably not a good thing yeah I mean that's whyNate Erskine-Smith08:49-09:30I say it's terrifying is there's a there's a lot of good in the in the digital space that is trying to be there's creative destruction there's a lot of work to provide people a direct sense of news that isn't that filter that people may mistrust in traditional media. Having said that, so many resources and there's so much history to these institutions and there's a real ethics to journalism and journalists take their craft seriously in terms of the pursuit of truth. Absolutely. And losing that access, losing the accessibility to that is devastating for democracy. I think so.Taylor Owen09:30-09:49And I think the bigger frame of that for me is a democracy needs signals of – we need – as citizens in a democracy, we need signals of reliability. Like we need to know broadly, and we're not always going to agree on it, but like what kind of information we can trust and how we evaluate whether we trust it.Nate Erskine-Smith09:49-10:13And that's what – that is really going away. Pause for a sec. So you could imagine signals of reliability is a good phrase. what does it mean for a legislator when it comes to putting a rule in place? Because you could imagine, you could have a Blade Runner kind of rule that says you've got to distinguish between something that is human generatedTaylor10:13-10:14and something that is machine generated.Nate Erskine-Smith10:15-10:26That seems straightforward enough. It's a lot harder if you're trying to distinguish between Taylor, what you're saying is credible, and Nate, what you're saying is not credible,Taylor10:27-10:27which is probably true.Nate Erskine-Smith10:28-10:33But how do you have a signal of reliability in a different kind of content?Taylor Owen10:34-13:12I mean, we're getting into like a journalistic journalism policy here to a certain degree, right? And it's a wicked problem because the primary role of journalism is to hold you personally to account. And you setting rules for what they can and can't do and how they can and can't behave touches on some real like third rails here, right? It's fraught. However, I don't think it should ever be about policy determining what can and can't be said or what is and isn't journalism. The real problem is the distribution mechanism and the incentives within it. So a great example and a horrible example happened last week, right? So Charlie Kirk gets assassinated. I don't know if you opened a feed in the few days after that, but it was a horrendous place, right? Social media was an awful, awful, awful place because what you saw in that feed was the clearest demonstration I've ever seen in a decade of looking at this of how those algorithmic feeds have become radicalized. Like all you saw on every platform was the worst possible representations of every view. Right. Right. It was truly shocking and horrendous. Like people defending the murder and people calling for the murder of leftists and like on both sides. Right. people blaming Israel, people, whatever. Right. And that isn't a function of like- Aaron Charlie Kirk to Jesus. Sure. Like- It was bonkers all the way around. Totally bonkers, right? And that is a function of how those ecosystems are designed and the incentives within them. It's not a function of like there was journalism being produced about that. Like New York Times, citizens were doing good content about what was happening. It was like a moment of uncertainty and journalism was doing or playing a role, but it wasn't And so I think with all of these questions, including the online harms ones, and I think how we step into an AI governance conversation, the focus always has to be on those systems. I'm like, what is who and what and what are the incentives and the technical decisions being made that determine what we experience when we open these products? These are commercial products that we're choosing to consume. And when we open them, a whole host of business and design and technical decisions and human decisions shape the effect it has on us as people, the effect it has on our democracy, the vulnerabilities that exist in our democracy, the way foreign actors or hostile actors can take advantage of them, right? Like all of that stuff we've been talking about, the role reliability of information plays, like these algorithms could be tweaked for reliable versus unreliable content, right? Over time.Taylor13:12-13:15That's not a – instead of reactionary –Taylor Owen13:15-13:42Or like what's most – it gets most engagement or what makes you feel the most angry, which is largely what's driving X, for example, right now, right? You can torque all those things. Now, I don't think we want government telling companies how they have to torque it. But we can slightly tweak the incentives to get better content, more reliable content, less polarizing content, less hateful content, less harmful content, right? Those dials can be incentivized to be turned. And that's where the policy space should play, I think.Nate Erskine-Smith13:43-14:12And your focus on systems and assessing risks with systems. I think that's the right place to play. I mean, we've seen legislative efforts. You've got the three pieces in Canada. You've got online harms. You've got the privacy and very kind of vague initial foray into AI regs, which we can get to. And then a cybersecurity piece. And all of those ultimately died on the order paper. Yeah. We also had the journalistic protection policies, right, that the previous government did.Taylor Owen14:12-14:23I mean – Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can debate their merits. Yeah. But there was considerable effort put into backstopping the institutions of journalism by the – Well, they're twofold, right?Nate Erskine-Smith14:23-14:33There's the tax credit piece, sort of financial support. And then there was the Online News Act. Right. Which was trying to pull some dollars out of the platforms to pay for the news as well. Exactly.Taylor14:33-14:35So the sort of supply and demand side thing, right?Nate Erskine-Smith14:35-14:38There's the digital service tax, which is no longer a thing.Taylor Owen14:40-14:52Although it still is a piece of past legislation. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It still is a thing. Yeah, yeah. Until you guys decide whether to negate the thing you did last year or not, right? Yeah.Nate Erskine-Smith14:52-14:55I don't take full responsibility for that one.Taylor Owen14:55-14:56No, you shouldn't.Nate Erskine-Smith14:58-16:03But other countries have seen more success. Yeah. And so you've got in the UK, in Australia, the EU really has led the way. 2018, the EU passes GDPR, which is a privacy set of rules, which we are still behind seven years later. But you've got in 2022, 2023, you've got Digital Services Act that passes. You've got Digital Markets Act. And as I understand it, and we've had, you know, we've both been involved in international work on this. And we've heard from folks like Francis Hogan and others about the need for risk-based assessments. And you're well down the rabbit hole on this. But isn't it at a high level? You deploy a technology. You've got to identify material risks. You then have to take reasonable measures to mitigate those risks. That's effectively the duty of care built in. And then ideally, you've got the ability for third parties, either civil society or some public office that has the ability to audit whether you have adequately identified and disclosed material risks and whether you have taken reasonable steps to mitigate.Taylor Owen16:04-16:05That's like how I have it in my head.Nate Erskine-Smith16:05-16:06I mean, that's it.Taylor Owen16:08-16:14Write it down. Fill in the legislation. Well, I mean, that process happened. I know. That's right. I know.Nate Erskine-Smith16:14-16:25Exactly. Which people, I want to get to that because C63 gets us a large part of the way there. I think so. And yet has been sort of like cast aside.Taylor Owen16:25-17:39Exactly. Let's touch on that. But I do think what you described as the online harms piece of this governance agenda. When you look at what the EU has done, they have put in place the various building blocks for what a broad digital governance agenda might look like. Because the reality of this space, which we talked about last time, and it's the thing that's infuriating about digital policy, is that you can't do one thing. There's no – digital economy and our digital lives are so vast and the incentives and the effect they have on society is so broad that there's no one solution. So anyone who tells you fix privacy policy and you'll fix all the digital problems we just talked about are full of it. Anyone who says competition policy, like break up the companies, will solve all of these problems. is wrong, right? Anyone who says online harms policy, which we'll talk about, fixes everything is wrong. You have to do all of them. And Europe has, right? They updated their privacy policy. They've been to build a big online harms agenda. They updated their competition regime. And they're also doing some AI policy too, right? So like you need comprehensive approaches, which is not an easy thing to do, right? It means doing three big things all over.Nate Erskine-Smith17:39-17:41Especially minority parlance, short periods of time, legislatively.Taylor Owen17:41-18:20Different countries have taken different pieces of it. Now, on the online harms piece, which is what the previous government took really seriously, and I think it's worth putting a point on that, right, that when we talked last was the beginning of this process. After we spoke, there was a national expert panel. There were 20 consultations. There were four citizens' assemblies. There was a national commission, right? Like a lot of work went into looking at what every other country had done because this is a really wicked, difficult problem and trying to learn from what Europe, Australia and the UK had all done. And we kind of taking the benefit of being late, right? So they were all ahead of us.Taylor18:21-18:25People you work with on that grant committee. We're all quick and do our own consultations.Taylor Owen18:26-19:40Exactly. And like the model that was developed out of that, I think, was the best model of any of those countries. And it's now seen as internationally, interestingly, as the new sort of milestone that everybody else is building on, right? And what it does is it says if you're going to launch a digital product, right, like a consumer-facing product in Canada, you need to assess risk. And you need to assess risk on these broad categories of harms that we have decided as legislators we care about or you've decided as legislators you cared about, right? Child safety, child sexual abuse material, fomenting violence and extremist content, right? Like things that are like broad categories that we've said are we think are harmful to our democracy. All you have to do as a company is a broad assessment of what could go wrong with your product. If you find something could go wrong, so let's say, for example, let's use a tangible example. Let's say you are a social media platform and you are launching a product that's going to be used by kids and it allows adults to contact kids without parental consent or without kids opting into being a friend. What could go wrong with that?Nate Erskine-Smith19:40-19:40Yeah.Taylor19:40-19:43Like what could go wrong? Yeah, a lot could go wrong.Taylor Owen19:43-20:27And maybe strange men will approach teenage girls. Maybe, right? Like if you do a risk assessment, that is something you might find. You would then be obligated to mitigate that risk and show how you've mitigated it, right? Like you put in a policy in place to show how you're mitigating it. And then you have to share data about how these tools are used so that we can monitor, publics and researchers can monitor whether that mitigation strategy worked. That's it. In that case, that feature was launched by Instagram in Canada without any risk assessment, without any safety evaluation. And we know there was like a widespread problem of teenage girls being harassed by strange older men.Taylor20:28-20:29Incredibly creepy.Taylor Owen20:29-20:37A very easy, but not like a super illegal thing, not something that would be caught by the criminal code, but a harm we can all admit is a problem.Taylor20:37-20:41And this kind of mechanism would have just filtered out.Taylor Owen20:41-20:51Default settings, right? And doing thinking a bit before you launch a product in a country about what kind of broad risks might emerge when it's launched and being held accountable to do it for doing that.Nate Erskine-Smith20:52-21:05Yeah, I quite like the we I mean, maybe you've got a better read of this, but in the UK, California has pursued this. I was looking at recently, Elizabeth Denham is now the Jersey Information Commissioner or something like that.Taylor Owen21:05-21:06I know it's just yeah.Nate Erskine-Smith21:07-21:57I don't random. I don't know. But she is a Canadian, for those who don't know Elizabeth Denham. And she was the information commissioner in the UK. And she oversaw the implementation of the first age-appropriate design code. That always struck me as an incredibly useful approach. In that even outside of social media platforms, even outside of AI, take a product like Roblox, where tons of kids use it. And just forcing companies to ensure that the default settings are prioritizing child safety so that you don't put the onus on parents and kids to figure out each of these different games and platforms. In a previous world of consumer protection, offline, it would have been de facto. Of course we've prioritized consumer safety first and foremost. But in the online world, it's like an afterthought.Taylor Owen21:58-24:25Well, when you say consumer safety, it's worth like referring back to what we mean. Like a duty of care can seem like an obscure concept. But your lawyer is a real thing, right? Like you walk into a store. I walk into your office. I have an expectation that the bookshelves aren't going to fall off the wall and kill me, right? And you have to bolt them into the wall because of that, right? Like that is a duty of care that you have for me when I walk into your public space or private space. Like that's all we're talking about here. And the age-appropriate design code, yes, like sort of developed, implemented by a Canadian in the UK. And what it says, it also was embedded in the Online Harms Act, right? If we'd passed that last year, we would be implementing an age-appropriate design code as we speak, right? What that would say is any product that is likely to be used by a kid needs to do a set of additional things, not just these risk assessments, right? But we think like kids don't have the same rights as adults. We have different duties to protect kids as adults, right? So maybe they should do an extra set of things for their digital products. And it includes things like no behavioral targeting, no advertising, no data collection, no sexual adult content, right? Like kind of things that like – Seem obvious. And if you're now a child in the UK and you open – you go on a digital product, you are safer because you have an age-appropriate design code governing your experience online. Canadian kids don't have that because that bill didn't pass, right? So like there's consequences to this stuff. and I get really frustrated now when I see the conversation sort of pivoting to AI for example right like all we're supposed to care about is AI adoption and all the amazing things AI is going to do to transform our world which are probably real right like not discounting its power and just move on from all of these both problems and solutions that have been developed to a set of challenges that both still exist on social platforms like they haven't gone away people are still using these tools and the harms still exist and probably are applicable to this next set of technologies as well. So this moving on from what we've learned and the work that's been done is just to the people working in this space and like the wide stakeholders in this country who care about this stuff and working on it. It just, it feels like you say deja vu at the beginning and it is deja vu, but it's kind of worse, right? Cause it's like deja vu and then ignoring theTaylor24:25-24:29five years of work. Yeah, deja vu if we were doing it again. Right. We're not even, we're not evenTaylor Owen24:29-24:41Well, yeah. I mean, hopefully I actually am not, I'm actually optimistic, I would say that we will, because I actually think of if for a few reasons, like one, citizens want it, right? Like.Nate Erskine-Smith24:41-24:57Yeah, I was surprised on the, so you mentioned there that the rules that we design, the risk assessment framework really applied to social media could equally be applied to deliver AI safety and it could be applied to new technology in a useful way.Taylor Owen24:58-24:58Some elements of it. Exactly.Nate Erskine-Smith24:58-25:25I think AI safety is a broad bucket of things. So let's get to that a little bit because I want to pull the pieces together. So I had a constituent come in the office and he is really like super mad. He's super mad. Why is he mad? Does that happen very often? Do people be mad when they walk into this office? Not as often as you think, to be honest. Not as often as you think. And he's mad because he believes Mark Carney ripped him off.Taylor Owen25:25-25:25Okay.Nate Erskine-Smith25:25-26:36Okay. Yep. He believes Mark Carney ripped him off, not with broken promise in politics, not because he said one thing and is delivering something else, nothing to do with politics. He saw a video online, Mark Carney told him to invest money. He invested money and he's out the 200 bucks or whatever it was. And I was like, how could you possibly have lost money in this way? This is like, this was obviously a scam. Like what, how could you have been deceived? But then I go and I watched the video And it is, okay, I'm not gonna send the 200 bucks and I've grown up with the internet, but I can see how- Absolutely. In the same way, phone scams and Nigerian princes and all of that have their own success rate. I mean, this was a very believable video that was obviously AI generated. So we are going to see rampant fraud. If we aren't already, we are going to see many challenges with respect to AI safety. What over and above the risk assessment piece, what do we do to address these challenges?Taylor Owen26:37-27:04So that is a huge problem, right? Like the AI fraud, AI video fraud is a huge challenge. In the election, when we were monitoring the last election, by far the biggest problem or vulnerability of the election was a AI generated video campaign. that every day would take videos of Polyevs and Carney's speeches from the day before and generate, like morph them into conversations about investment strategies.Taylor27:05-27:07And it was driving people to a crypto scam.Taylor Owen27:08-27:11But it was torquing the political discourse.Taylor27:11-27:11That's what it must have been.Taylor Owen27:12-27:33I mean, there's other cases of this, but that's probably, and it was running rampant on particularly meta platforms. They were flagged. They did nothing about it. There were thousands of these videos circulating throughout the entire election, right? And it's not like the end of the world, right? Like nobody – but it torqued our political debate. It ripped off some people. And these kinds of scams are –Taylor27:33-27:38It's clearly illegal. It's clearly illegal. It probably breaks his election law too, misrepresenting a political figure, right?Taylor Owen27:38-27:54So I think there's probably an Elections Canada response to this that's needed. And it's fraud. And it's fraud, absolutely. So what do you do about that, right? And the head of the Canadian Banking Association said there's like billions of dollars in AI-based fraud in the Canadian economy right now. Right? So it's a big problem.Taylor27:54-27:55Yeah.Taylor Owen27:55-28:46I actually think there's like a very tangible policy solution. You put these consumer-facing AI products into the Online Harms Act framework, right? And then you add fraud and AI scams as a category of harm. And all of a sudden, if you're meta and you are operating in Canada during an election, you'd have to do a risk assessment on like AI fraud potential of your product. Responsibility for your platform. And then it starts to circulate. We would see it. They'd be called out on it. They'd have to take it down. And like that's that, right? Like so that we have mechanisms for dealing with this. But it does mean evolving what we worked on over the past five years, these like only harms risk assessment models and bringing in some of the consumer facing AI, both products and related harms into the framework.Nate Erskine-Smith28:47-30:18To put it a different way, I mean, so this is years ago now that we had this, you know, grand committee in the UK holding Facebook and others accountable. This really was creating the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And the platforms at the time were really holding firm to this idea of Section 230 and avoiding host liability and saying, oh, we couldn't possibly be responsible for everything on our platform. And there was one problem with that argument, which is they completely acknowledged the need for them to take action when it came to child pornography. And so they said, yeah, well, you know, no liability for us. But of course, there can be liability on this one specific piece of content and we'll take action on this one specific piece of content. And it always struck me from there on out. I mean, there's no real intellectual consistency here. It's more just what should be in that category of things that they should take responsibility for. And obviously harmful content like that should be – that's an obvious first step but obvious for everyone. But there are other categories. Fraud is another one. When they're making so much money, when they are investing so much money in AI, when they're ignoring privacy protections and everything else throughout the years, I mean, we can't leave it up to them. And setting a clear set of rules to say this is what you're responsible for and expanding that responsibility seems to make a good amount of sense.Taylor Owen30:18-30:28It does, although I think those responsibilities need to be different for different kinds of harms. Because there are different speech implications and apocratic implications of sort of absolute solutions to different kinds of content.Taylor30:28-30:30So like child pornography is a great example.Taylor Owen30:30-31:44In the Online Harms Bill Act, for almost every type of content, it was that risk assessment model. But there was a carve out for child sexual abuse material. So including child pornography. And for intimate images and videos shared without consent. It said the platforms actually have a different obligation, and that's to take it down within 24 hours. And the reason you can do it with those two kinds of content is because if we, one, the AI is actually pretty good at spotting it. It might surprise you, but there's a lot of naked images on the internet that we can train AI with. So we're actually pretty good at using AI to pull this stuff down. But the bigger one is that we are, I think, as a society, it's okay to be wrong in the gray area of that speech, right? Like if something is like debatable, whether it's child pornography, I'm actually okay with us suppressing the speech of the person who sits in that gray area. Whereas for something like hate speech, it's a really different story, right? Like we do not want to suppress and over index for that gray area on hate speech because that's going to capture a lot of reasonable debate that we probably want.Nate Erskine-Smith31:44-31:55Yeah, I think soliciting investment via fraud probably falls more in line with the child pornography category where it's, you know, very obviously illegal.Taylor Owen31:55-32:02And that mechanism is like a takedown mechanism, right? Like if we see fraud, if we know it's fraud, then you take it down, right? Some of these other things we have to go with.Nate Erskine-Smith32:02-32:24I mean, my last question really is you pull the threads together. You've got these different pieces that were introduced in the past. And you've got a government that lots of similar folks around the table, but a new government and a new prime minister certainly with a vision for getting the most out of AI when it comes to our economy.Taylor32:24-32:25Absolutely.Nate Erskine-Smith32:25-33:04You have, for the first time in this country, an AI minister, a junior minister to industry, but still a specific title portfolio and with his own deputy minister and really wants to be seized with this. And in a way, I think that from every conversation I've had with him that wants to maximize productivity in this country using AI, but is also cognizant of the risks and wants to address AI safety. So where from here? You know, you've talked in the past about sort of a grander sort of tech accountability and sovereignty act. Do we do piecemeal, you know, a privacy bill here and an AI safety bill and an online harms bill and we have disparate pieces? What's the answer here?Taylor Owen33:05-34:14I mean, I don't have the exact answer. But I think there's some like, there's some lessons from the past that we can, this government could take. And one is piecemeal bills that aren't centrally coordinated or have no sort of connectivity between them end up with piecemeal solutions that are imperfect and like would benefit from some cohesiveness between them, right? So when the previous government released ADA, the AI Act, it was like really intention in some real ways with the online harms approach. So two different departments issuing two similar bills on two separate technologies, not really talking to each other as far as I can tell from the outside, right? So like we need a coordinating, coordinated, comprehensive effort to digital governance. Like that's point one and we've never had it in this country. And when I saw the announcement of an AI minister, my mind went first to that he or that office could be that role. Like you could – because AI is – it's cross-cutting, right? Like every department in our federal government touches AI in one way or another. And the governance of AI and the adoption on the other side of AI by society is going to affect every department and every bill we need.Nate Erskine-Smith34:14-34:35So if Evan pulled in the privacy pieces that would help us catch up to GDPR. Which it sounds like they will, right? Some version of C27 will probably come back. If he pulls in the online harms pieces that aren't related to the criminal code and drops those provisions, says, you know, Sean Frazier, you can deal with this if you like. But these are the pieces I'm holding on to.Taylor Owen34:35-34:37With a frame of consumer safety, right?Nate Erskine-Smith34:37-34:37Exactly.Taylor Owen34:38-34:39If he wants...Nate Erskine-Smith34:39-34:54Which is connected to privacy as well, right? Like these are all... So then you have thematically a bill that makes sense. And then you can pull in as well the AI safety piece. And then it becomes a consumer protection bill when it comes to living our lives online. Yeah.Taylor Owen34:54-36:06And I think there's an argument whether that should be one bill or whether it's multiple ones. I actually don't think it... I think there's cases for both, right? There's concern about big omnibus bills that do too many things and too many committees reviewing them and whatever. that's sort of a machinery of government question right but but the principle that these should be tied together in a narrative that the government is explicit about making and communicating to publics right that if if you we know that 85 percent of canadians want ai to be regulated what do they mean what they mean is at the same time as they're being told by our government by companies that they should be using and embracing this powerful technology in their lives they're also seeing some risks. They're seeing risks to their kids. They're being told their jobs might disappear and might take their... Why should I use this thing? When I'm seeing some harms, I don't see you guys doing anything about these harms. And I'm seeing some potential real downside for me personally and my family. So even in the adoption frame, I think thinking about data privacy, safety, consumer safety, I think to me, that's the real frame here. It's like citizen safety, consumer safety using these products. Yeah, politically, I just, I mean, that is what it is. It makes sense to me.Nate Erskine-Smith36:06-36:25Right, I agree. And really lean into child safety at the same time. Because like I've got a nine-year-old and a five-year-old. They are growing up with the internet. And I do not want to have to police every single platform that they use. I do not want to have to log in and go, these are the default settings on the parental controls.Taylor36:25-36:28I want to turn to government and go, do your damn job.Taylor Owen36:28-36:48Or just like make them slightly safer. I know these are going to be imperfect. I have a 12-year-old. He spends a lot of time on YouTube. I know that's going to always be a place with sort of content that I would prefer he doesn't see. But I would just like some basic safety standards on that thing. So he's not seeing the worst of the worst.Nate Erskine-Smith36:48-36:58And we should expect that. Certainly at YouTube with its promotion engine, the recommendation function is not actively promoting terrible content to your 12 year old.Taylor Owen36:59-37:31Yeah. That's like de minimis. Can we just torque this a little bit, right? So like maybe he's not seeing content about horrible content about Charlie Kirk when he's a 12 year old on YouTube, right? Like, can we just do something? And I think that's a reasonable expectation as a citizen. But it requires governance. That will not – and that's – it's worth putting a real emphasis on that is one thing we've learned in this moment of repeated deja vus going back 20 years really since our experience with social media for sure through to now is that these companies don't self-govern.Taylor37:31-37:31Right.Taylor Owen37:32-37:39Like we just – we know that indisputably. So to think that AI is going to be different is delusional. No, it'll be pseudo-profit, not the public interest.Taylor37:39-37:44Of course. Because that's what we are. These are the largest companies in the world. Yeah, exactly. And AI companies are even bigger than the last generation, right?Taylor Owen37:44-38:00We're creating something new with the scale of these companies. And to think that their commercial incentives and their broader long-term goals of around AI are not going to override these safety concerns is just naive in the nth degree.Nate Erskine-Smith38:00-38:38But I think you make the right point, and it's useful to close on this, that these goals of realizing the productivity possibilities and potentials of AI alongside AI safety, these are not mutually exclusive or oppositional goals. that it's you create a sandbox to play in and companies will be more successful. And if you have certainty in regulations, companies will be more successful. And if people feel safe using these tools and having certainly, you know, if I feel safe with my kids learning these tools growing up in their classrooms and everything else, you're going to adoption rates will soar. Absolutely. And then we'll benefit.Taylor Owen38:38-38:43They work in tandem, right? And I think you can't have one without the other fundamentally.Nate Erskine-Smith38:45-38:49Well, I hope I don't invite you back five years from now when we have the same conversation.Taylor Owen38:49-38:58Well, I hope you invite me back in five years, but I hope it's like thinking back on all the legislative successes of the previous five years. I mean, that'll be the moment.Taylor38:58-38:59Sounds good. Thanks, David. Thanks. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Ríos Live: XXVI: Gracia que nos sostiene en tiempos de angustia- Pastor Jairo CarmonaTexto. S. Juan 14 vs.15-24I. Sostenidos por el Espíritu - vv.15-17 A. El Espiritu Santo: Tercera persona de la Trinidad que viene a darnos apoyo y auxilio en todo tiempo.Paraklétos: Abogado defensor, Consejero, Consolador y Fortaleza.Cristo ruega, el Padre lo Envia y el Espiritu viene. B. El Espíritu de Verdad C. El Espíritu que la persona sin Dios, desconoce D. El Espíritu que Conocemos y que mora en NostrosEl Espíritu que moraba CON ellos pero que pronto estaría EN ellos (Hechos 2).Aprendamos a vivir en la presencia, bajo la dirección y el auxilio seguro del Espíritu Santo.II. Sostenidos por la Esperanza de Su regreso - vv. 18-20 A. Cristo nunca abandona a los suyos. EI Maestro también se había convertido en Su Padre Espiritual. B. Cristo volverá por los suyos Le verían de manera fisica. Se refería a la resurrección y plenamente a la segunda venida C. Cristo unido a los suyos - 1. EI misterio de la unidad del Trino Dios - 2. El misterio de nuestra unidad en CristoVer a Cristo en gloria debería ser el anhelo del corazón de todo creyente. Si vivimos a la expectativa de nuestro futuro encuentro con Él, seguramente muchas de las cosas que ahora nos angustian, perderían su poder ante la Esperanza gloriosa de los hijos de Dios. Podríamos decir con Job (19 v.25.) "Yo sé que mi Redentor vive, Y al fin se levantará sobre el polvo; Y después de deshecha está mi piel, En mi carne he de ver a Dios; Al cual veré por mí mismo, Y mis ojos lo verán, y no otro, Aunque mi corazón desfallece dentro de mí" IlI. Sostenidos por el Amor a Cristo - vv.21-24 A. Nuestra obediencia es la prueba de nuestro amor a CristoEl que no obedece a Cristo no le ama. Cristo le da una gran importancia a sus Palabras y enseñanzas. Las personas de Mateo 7 vs.21-23 ninguno menciona que le amor, todos reclaman sus obras. B. Nuestra obediencia de amor, hace florecer el amor especial de CristoDistingamos entre el amor benevolente y el amor especial de Dios. C. Nuestra obediencia nos permite contemplar al Cristo que mora en nosotros - vv.22-23#riosokc #rioslive #Iglesia #EspírituSanto

OPEN HEAVENSMATALA LE LAGI MO LE ASO LULU 17 SETEMA 2025(tusia e Pastor EA Adeboye) Manatu Autu:  E mafai ona faaaoga oe e le Atua o se fofō  (God can make you a solution) Tauloto Tusi Paia –  Isaia 60:1 “Tula‘i ia, ‘inā malamalama ia, auā ‘ua o‘o mai lou malamalama; ‘ua alu a‘e fo‘i le pupula o le ALI‘I i ou luga.”‭‭Faitauga - Tusi Paia: 1 Tupu 17:17-24I aso uma, e vaaia e tagata faafitauli e latou te fia faia se mea e fofō ai. Ae ā pe a faaaoga oe e le Atua e saunia fofō mo soo se faafitauli e te lua fetaiai, pe faaaoga foi oe o se fofō i se faafitauli ua tausagā i lou aiga? A tupu se faalavelave matautia i lou nuu, e mafai ona e faia se tatalo faigofie e suia ai ma e vaai atu i tagata na aafia ua suia le faanoanoaga i le fiafia?Ina ua sau le fafine o le toalua o se tasi o atalii o perofeta ua maliu ia Elisaia ona o lana aitalafu, e lei toe foi i le fale ma lona faafitauli. Na tatala e Elisaia mata o le fafine ia iloa le fofō o loo naunau iai o loo i totonu o lona fale. Na ia faaalia atu ia te ia le auala e soloia ai aitalafu ma ola i se olaga e mautu le tulaga tau seleni (2 Tupu 4:1-7). E iai taimi o le avea ma fofō i se faafitauli o seisi tagata e lē o le foai iai o tupe ae o le tatalaina o latou mata e vaai atu i mea latou te lei iloa muamua, e faaaupegaina i latou i le poto ma maua faamaumauga sa'o e soifua ai i se olaga saoloto mai saisaitiaga. Na fetalai Iesu, “E iloa fo‘i e ‘outou le mea moni, e tu‘u sa‘oloto fo‘i ‘outou e le ‘upu moni.” (Ioane‬ ‭8‬:‭32‬). O Iesu o le ala, o le Upu Moni ma le ola (Ioane 14:6). O lea, o le auala moni e fesoasoani ai i tagata ma o latou faafitauli, o le faailoa atu lea o Iesu iai latou. I le faitauga mai le Tusi Paia o le asō, ina ua oti le tama a le fafine ua oti lana tane,  e lei alu i le tupu mo se fesoasoani. Na liliu o ia ia Elia, ma na faaaogaina e le Atua Elia e toe faatu le tamaitiiti mai le oti. A tupu se mea faapea i lou siomaga, e mafai e le Atua ona faaaogaina oe e momoli atu ai le fofō? E mafai ona e faapea mai, ‘e lē o a'u o se perofeta e pei o Elia'. Peitai, e leai se faamaumauga i le Tusi Paia e na o faifeau faauuina e mafai ona faia vavega. Fai mai le Mareko 16:17-18 “E mulimuli atu fo‘i nei fa‘ailoga i ē fa‘atuatua; e tutuli e i latou temoni i lo‘u igoa; e tautalatala i latou i gagana fou; e fetāgofi i latou i gata; ‘āfai fo‘i latou te inu i se mea e oti ai, latou te lē afaina ai lava; e fa‘ae‘e atu fo‘i o latou lima i luga o ē mama‘i, ma fa‘amālōlōina i latou.”‭‭O Iesu o le fofō sili lea i soo se faafitauli, ma ua ia foai atu iai latou e faatuatua ia te ia le pule ma le mana e faia faailoga ma mea ofoofogia i lona suafa. E mafai ona e faia e ala i lou agaga ae lē o lou tino. Le au pele e, avea oe ma tagata faatuatua e suesue i le Tusi Paia ma tatalo faifaipea. A e faapea, e faaaoga oe e le Atua o se fofō i faafitauli o le toatele o tagata i lou siomaga. A e mafuta ma Iesu, o le Fofō sili, e mafai ona ia faaaogaina oe o se fofō i faafitauli i lou siomaga, i le suafa o Iesu, Amene. 

August 13, 2025Hope Alive: Applying God's Word to Your Daily Life1 Corinthians 15:58 & 16:1-24I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.If you would like to revisit today's Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. If this podcast ministered to you, please subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Reviews help us reach more people and spread the wisdom of God. Please follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopealivewithgod/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopealiveministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeComChurch/ -Lake Community Church 

361Firm Zietgiest Panel at the...Tech Summit (Feb. 25, 2025)   SUMMARY KEYWORDSAI innovation, venture capital, early-stage companies, technology revolution, market uncertainty, geopolitical shifts, consumer spending, debt management, leadership challenges, educational access, technological race, global alliances, investment strategies, productivity increases, existential risks.SPEAKERSZoe Cruz, Mark Sanor, Barbara Doran, Christopher Birne, Stephen Burke, Joe Mancini Mark Sanor  00:00I'm going to make a prediction if Eddy will give me his attention. Eddie and Maisy are doing a deal right now. That's the whole point, yeah. My prediction is that this might be one of the most educational five to six hours of your life. There are so many interesting things happening in the world. Again, we were talking this morning. It really is like a new world order. And what gives us hope is always technology, productivity and all those things, those great things. So we're going to talk about these aspects, and hopefully these are the things that we in this room can control, but we all don't know how to navigate, so we have specialists who that's what they focus on, you know, whether it's health tech or dual use. So let's all learn together. So I asked the panels a classic question, what scares and excites you, and share some insights. And I like to to do the following, and sometimes the what scares and excites you, of course, can be insightful. But by way of very quick introduction, introduce yourself, and then you'll be you about clean up. David, you'd like to clean up. Share it, you know, introduce yourself and share. Share an insight with the view of, we're in this, this very, you know, rapidly transforming world, and the rapidity is only increasing. So with that, I'm gonna, you know, I always like fund the funds, so I raise money. So a lot of people don't want to raise money for fund the funds, because you're like, you know, you don't get paid much. You have to long term journey, but the intelligence that you get from fund to fund. So I let Joe kick off, Barbara, we all, you all know from pickle ball or or CNBC, or the like. Zoe is new to us, maybe not to some of you, but she was the president of Morgan Stanley. Who else has been president of Morgan Stanley here? Not too many of us have been your perch, right? Your view, your vantage point. So and you're on to new frontiers, you'll share some of that. And everyone should know Stephen. Who does not know? Stephen Burke, has anyone has not been to our Tuesday briefing? It okay if you haven't, Olga, you haven't made it. Have you a Tuesday briefing of 361 firm? Has anyone not made it to one of them? You probably made it to 100 but it's 256 next Tuesday, our anchor man. So you'll anchor the panel. So I'm going to pass it off to you, Joe, and truly be inside tell us something we don't know.Joe Mancini  03:22Well, I'll start by just telling you what you don't know, which is who I am. My name is Joe Mancini. I'm one of the founding partners of a hybrid venture fund called front porch Venture Partners. About half our capital goes into early stage venture capital on the fund side, via kind of a classic Fund of Funds approach, and about half directly into companies at the early stage. Companies at the early stage. Super excited to be here this community as I've started to engage with it more and more. It's just a really authentic and interesting group of people. So I think it's going to be an amazing day. Is this the scares and excites? Part? Mark, or no? Mark Sanor  03:54Well, insights and or scares Excite? Yeah. I like an insightful perspective. Joe Mancini  04:01Yeah, insightful. I would say, you know, I mean, it's, obviously, it's a more dynamic world, I think, right now, than we've lived in in a very long time. It feels like every other day there's some new piece of news that's throwing us all for a loop. I focus on early stage venture. I would say I when we get to the scared and excited part, I both worry as well as I'm excited about the state of venture as an asset class and the state of early stage innovation. It's been a primary driver of the US economy for a very long period of time, and American ingenuity and innovation has put us, you know, at the top of the heap globally for a long period of time. And there's an interesting where, an interesting intersection in the asset class right now, where, you know, LPs are frustrated about liquidity, assets are being concentrated among some of the biggest managers. And meanwhile, innovation is happening globally. That's starting to put, I think, American innovation on its on its heels a little bit. So I can talk about. A more inspiring version of where I think we go from here, but that's where I sit today. Barbara Doran  05:11Hello, yeah, hi. Besides playing pickleball, and there were two women who won, by the way, will be defending next year. Anyway, I'm Barb Duran. I wear two hats. I'm here, really, on the investment Council of Penn State. I'm not staff member, volunteer. I've been on the board of Penn State for nine years, the Board of Trustees just after the Sandusky scandal was elected by the alumni, and have been on the Finance Committee ever since. So on the investment Council. And so I want to talk a little bit about the things that we do there. But also, excuse me, my other hat is I have my own firm, wealth advisory, asset management, and so I invest in public traded equities, and that's really my specialty as an independent professional, the things that excite me most really goes along with what Dan was saying are Bill Joe. Oh, jeez. Anyway, David. David anyway is really about technology. I don't think that should come as any surprise. There's lots of talk all the time about AI and what that means. We had a market sell off about three weeks ago because of deep seek. You know this Chinese competitor, potential competitor, to Nvidia and lots of other semiconductor players, but there's so much going on, and we're already starting to see the productivity increases that will come from businesses adopted it. And so far, in terms of businesses adopted, probably, you know, not even you know, only maybe 10% have really adopted, and we're not talking about the service now. So the salesforce.com but the businesses will actually implement to make their businesses run more efficiently, their sales, all that sort of thing. So that's just beginning, because everybody's looking at, how do we use it, working with consultants, etc. But there's going to be a lot more to come, and more new companies that we don't even know about yet, and that's why, like, for instance, at Penn State, we're doing we don't invest directly and anything, we're just not big enough. Our end down is maybe six to 7 billion, if you include our operating cash. So we have a great staff, but we invest in funds, you know. So that's the fund of funds who really have the expertise to dive deep. And we've been investing in in different venture capital funds that have different areas of expertise in technology. Some of them are AI. Others are other areas of technology, but AI has been a big one recently, and we're continuing to look in that space. And the publicly traded side at Penn State, we just do index is which I'm always the one speaking up like, why we should do some active managers. But for my own clients, I do a lot in technology. Like, for instance, I've own Nvidia since 2019 which had no idea it would happen as it has. But I looked up at that time, like, why did I buy it then? And it was really because they were one of the first actually using AI to help their clients run their business. And so that was, this was the beginning of and this is just the beginning, still, even despite everything that's happening on So, and I know I'm getting the look, but the things that I worry about really have to do with the current administration and the uncertainty being created by not knowing what's happening with tariffs. Is it more bark than bite? We don't know. We just had a pronouncement today about Canada and Mexico, or maybe it was late yesterday. Who knows? And also about the deportations. We don't know. Even company managements are worried about what that could mean in terms of labor shortage and the inflationary pressures there. So there's a lot we don't know. And right now, what's happened? Sure you've noticed, the last three days, we've had a market sell off, including today, in the equity market. 10 year yield has come down, and I think it's we're now having a growth scare, which we haven't seen for a while, and we'll see how that plays out. My view it's probably a buying opportunity somewhere in there, because the economy is still strong. It's consumer driven, and it's the mid to high income consumer that's driving it. And people have made trillions in the stock market. Their home prices are high, and they're employed. So despite all the noise in the frights of the last few days, I'm still, you know, optimistic on the market. Thank you. Zoe Cruz  09:09Thank you. My name is Zoe Cruz. It's actually Zoe Papa vimitrio Cruz. I was born and raised in Greece. I am what you call the American dream. Three years before I went to Harvard on a full scholarship, I didn't speak a word of English, and if it weren't a public school teacher that took an interest as to why I wasn't applying to Harvard, I probably wouldn't be here. And I joined Morgan Stanley right out of business school. It was a small investment banking boutique with 1800 people in three offices, Tokyo, London, New York. When I left in 07 it was 65,000 people. They had offices everywhere. That's a revolution. Finance was globalizing. Overnight, rates were 21% on their way to zero 30. Interest rates, the risk free rate of return for treasuries were 15% on their way to 1% as I say to people, a monkey could do what we did at Morgan Stanley, and we were not monkeys. So you have to recognize paradigm shifts. And I actually think right now we're in a massive paradigm shift. There is way too much in being spilled. Whether the Fed is going to use 25 basis points. Who cares? The world is de globalizing, fragmenting. The biggest assumption the markets are making is that we beat inflation. It's going to go back down to 2% I could be wrong, but I believe we're not going to save 2% in my lifetime. We should worry more about hyper inflation than deflation. The US government has $36 trillion worth of debt, and so for me, what I worry about is there is not enough talk about, how do you hedge your portfolio if it is a paradigm shift, and interest rates actually, the cost of capital keeps on going up, and availability of it keeps on going down. If I'm right about that assumption. A lot of your portfolio is in deep trouble, because that's the assumption most people are making. So what scares me at the moment, I'm an optimist by nature. I love you know, we are the lucky sperm club here, actually, most of us. What scares me is we are in the middle of an amazing technological revolution. But unlike what so it is amazing in the sense that when I look at the power of that thing, I downloaded all four perplexity, Gemini, grok, chat, GPT, all four of them, and I asked them the same question, all four. And by the way, they have their own biases. Just excellent. I don't need 12 research people. It's just in a second, I get the most complex answers to a question that's exciting. I mean, I can get a PhD basically, just, you know, asking that's exciting. Unlike other revolutions, you don't get the extreme risk of Elon, a brilliant man, whatever you want to think about his character. This is a brilliant man who has changed the world. Now everybody's talking the game, but he, I remember, if you look at his interviews only a few years back, he said there's a non zero possibility humanity ceases to exist. Well, that's kind of a big risk. So, so the mirror image of that exciting, exciting revolution is more of us should think about humanity is a wonderful thing, and how do you preserve us being masters of this revolution, as opposed to the other way around? Stephen Burke  13:14I'm done. First of all, I agree with most of what you said, and the stuff I don't agree with, I don't understand. So thank you, Zoe for that crash course. I worry about debt too, and I worry about debt being the current consumption of our future earnings, and we've gone way over our skis on that all over the world, and how we get that back is going to be a real problem. And the other thing I worry about is the lack of leadership that will make the hard decisions that we have to make to put the pain on the system that we have to go through to get the excesses out that we built up over the years. I also share the view that the move down in rates is going to be much more challenging the market is hoping for as investors, if we don't get our mind around that change that the last 15 years are done and we're back to a normal interest rate level on the low end of what we've historically seen, you're going to have problems valuing all your assets if we don't get that right. So I think we have to change the mindset there. I do think there's elements of this administration that are not getting credit for the positive outcomes because of the delivery on it, but if we can get digitize a lot of our government expenses, you only raise the level of trust in how our taxes are being spent, they can give you a whole different mindset towards government and deliver much better outcomes for our country, but I think it will be the same for other countries. Europe has a massive fiscal problem where their needs are far greater than their ability to spend to meet those needs, and that's not just on defense, it's on their regular day to day living. So I think the transformations that are going. On. I do think this is one of those periods where we've slowly walked into, over the last decade, big, secular, mega trends, whether it's demographics, whether it's the tech boom. You can go through the list. There's several other areas where we're seeing these mega trends. I think the anti immigration bias that we're starting to say is another worry, we're going to have a brain drain problem. We've already seen it in a lot of countries. The US cannot afford to lose the opportunity the edge that we've had in immigration, and we're on our way to doing that. So I think we're going too far in the pendulum all the time. I think we have to get back to a more moderate way of seeing how we deal with all the problems that we have. So I'll stop there more. Mark Sanor  15:42What do you think about the risk of of humanity? So arm and Sir keys on. He did this conference. He how long wasn the question of existence? Do we can, you know, sort of existential, the ultimate existential question. I'm surprised Stephen Burke  15:58they made it this far, so that's not a priority for me, but I do have four kids that it is a priority for. And I would say that I worry about our kids. I worry about the we called sending the bill to the kids table with the debt and the strains on the system, but I also worry what we've done to their future. I think their their ability to have hope is not the same that we had when we were growing up. And I think that's a real problem, because without hope and hope in our leaders, it's very hard to get out of the problems and deal with the problems Mark Sanor  16:32that we have fair enough. Well, I want to open up because I asked insights and scares and excitements, you sort of answered those questions, but did you hold back a scares and excites? Answer? I held back and excites. Okay, let's Yeah, and that Joe Mancini  16:46was really interesting. I appreciate this is a really smart crew up here. You know, like I said, I play in the early stage venture world, primarily in the US. I spend all day, every day, with fund managers and founders. I would say something that excites me with as concerned as I am about certain things, is how many founders are starting businesses right now in an AI native way. And what I mean by that is, you know that they're building these businesses now with AI tools in their pocket that are going to dramatically, I think, decrease the amount of capital needed to build a great company, right? Which means that, as an investor, there's an opportunity for great returns. Peter Walker, at carta has a great stat around the average series A employee count. Two years ago was 18. Last year was 13. It's ready to be under 10 within the next 12 months. So in terms of productivity, kind of carrying us out of this, I think there's a huge opportunity with this next set of tools, not just as a system layer for a lot of things that we do, but for founders and people who are creating and building things, and for our kids as they're creating and building things. So Mark, that's the more optimistic. So Mark Sanor  17:51do you know Esther Dyson? Does anyone know Mr. So she was we had this discussion about this time last year about companies that are the founders being an AI and the board members potentially being a is you guys have thought through that scenario, but it's they would Love to replace you too. So so it goes both ways. Joe Mancini  18:23I mean, some might as well be AI in certain cases, right? I mean, particularly at the board level, we work with a lot of boards as well, and, you know, there's some sleepy boards that might be better served being AI, right? We try to avoid those types of situations. Mark Sanor  18:39So, let's, let's open it up. Will Speaker 4  18:46First off, this was awesome. So far, I really enjoyed what you guys all said, a lot of brain power up there. We've talked a lot about, you know, uncertainty of geo politics, Global War, where interest rates are going. I'm curious, you know, from an investment perspective, it's sometimes easier to think about, what are the things that are not going to change amidst all this, and what will continue to just make sense. And I'd love to hear what you guys think about, what's not going to change, and how we could invest in slow, boring things that aren't going to change. Mark Sanor  19:18Who wants it? Zoe Cruz  19:22Great question. Sorry, yeah, it's a Mark Sanor  19:27girl he was being coached by the Pender, right? Zoe Cruz  19:30It's a great question. I'm not sure I have the answer that to the question you're asking. One thing will never change is basically, if you have short term clarity on what's going to produce cash, you know, even if inflation takes 5% of it, who cares? That's never I mean arithmetic, simple arithmetic is so good businesses, but I. Say what's also not going to change. Some of the best money I've made is after the crash, one of the best trades I've made, because I know how to read bank balance sheets in oh eight after the war fell apart, you could have bought if you had enough cash saved aside and not prematurely invested all of your portfolio and things you could have bought bill based stock at 50 cents of its book value. This is a company that was still making billions with an S every quarter. So what's not going to change is we know after major and I think we are in a paradigm shift. You don't need to be a great investor. You're going to pick up great companies. You're going to make me investments that give you a symmetry of risk reward. Most Great Investors basically have, so yes, you can lose half of your money, or you can make 100x that's a symmetry of risk reward. You should do the trade every day. I think right now, the asymmetry of risk reward is against the traditional portfolio, stocks and bonds. You know, when you can actually save there is inflation, the huge debt that the market, sovereign in particular, the US of A everyone is actually printing money, including even Germany. Basically, when there is huge debt, as I say many times, people forget there is only two ways of big debt, repudiation or inflation, we're choosing the latter, so that should guide your portfolio. Now the Argentinians don't have a reserve currency. So if you choose inflation, your currency goes down 98% Turkey 60% we are in a wonderful world of America with the reserve currency. The question is, we better be careful. I Barbara Doran  22:06just want to make a quick comment on that. We better be careful about the reserve currency, because when 22 when we used we froze central bank in Russia. You know, it suddenly woke up a lot of other central bankers to say, hey, maybe the treasuries aren't so safe after all. So it will be a long term process, but we can't take for granted. I mean, the near term, yes, will be the world's reserve currency, but over many years, and depending how it accelerated or not, by various administrative policies, current or future presidents, that is something to watch. And I share the concern over the deficit, which looks like it's going to be even higher, but what will not change? I mean, there's so many ways to answer that. One is about consumer spending. You know that Americans love to spend through thick and thin and and also market psychology, which we addressed in which Zoe said, back in it was oh nine in February, I remember looking at those bank stocks because a friend said, bar, what can I invest in, and I don't give friends ideas. But I said, if you really want to invest, because she knew nothing. I said it with Hank was bank America and city, which were like $2 stocks. I said, I don't know. The only thing I know is they're not going out of business when will return. It wasn't one, whatever it was. It was crazy. But the only thing I knew they weren't going out of business. So, Mark Sanor  23:23all right, yeah, what's Joe Mancini  23:24playing in my head, as you all are describing these situations, which I think are really good examples, is just, I mean, supply and demand, as far as I can tell, is always going to, you know, rule quite you know, rule every market and just about every transaction. So knowing where you sit in terms of, you know, where is demand, where is supply, and ultimately, where is price, right, can help you make really good decisions. Simple, but I think we go back to it all the time, Mark Sanor  23:52by the way, I'm gonna is amazing here. Of course, you stepped up. But we'll talk about pricing perfect timing, because we're gonna talk about talk about large pricing models. That's the next open AI that we've been looking at. Lots of hands were going up because you guys have asked lots of questions. I'm going to let Speaker 5  24:16Dave Thanks. So regarding rare and critical minerals, we're sort of hearing now that if you haven't already got any, gone into them, you're late, that they're not going to be very rare in a very short period of time. Do you guys have views on that? Mark Sanor  24:31I mean, Greenland and Ukraine? No views from the panel on that Speaker 2  24:40one? No, I don't know enough either. Don't forget the ocean too. Oh, Mark Sanor  24:44the ocean. We have two people in Alyssa. Where's Alyssa and Lisa on ocean research. We know so much. We spend so much more in space, not in the ocean. Chris, Christopher Birne  24:58thank you guys for your time. I guess. First, I would say, both my dad and I went to Penn State for our undergrad. So we are and I'm Greek. So CI do elada Go Blue? Yeah, oh, wow. So, I guess a lot of discussions I've had with other family offices, and I think Stephen You had mentioned this idea of, you know, a lack of leadership and its effect on making crucial decisions. You know, I think that the Obama administration was the last two year term we had for a president. And, you know, I guess you could argue that Trump is a two term president one time, separately, this political climate that we're in now and this shit, this paradigm shift politically, I think, where, you know, every four years to different president with a completely different outlook. What effect does that have? Like, kind of, some of the things you guys are discussing about the deficit and being able to make crucial decisions, Mark Sanor  25:48we do have elections every two years too, that impact Stephen Burke  25:52this. I'll start I think the I think the ping pong match of the party's policies is a terrible waste of money for the US, consumer and taxpayer. And I think we need to separate the budget out to a maintenance budget and investment budget the same way you would in a corporation, and then you would evaluate the return on your investment for like the infrastructure plan that was absolutely necessary. But you do that in a way that you actually look for an ROI the way you would in the business, and I think if we did that, the people would have a lot better response to the government spending and new government projects. So I think that's the kind of leadership that you need. You also need people to step up and say, I'm going to be a one term. Er, because what we need to do is the stuff that is the hard stuff, we're going to have to have to raise taxes and we're going to have to cut spending. You can't avoid the deficit problem that we have. You can't grow out of it. We tried that for the last 15 years, and all we did was make the debt worse. We avoided a financial crisis, but we just might have prolonged it instead of completely avoid it. Zoe Cruz  26:56I would say that we're focusing on the wrong the politics, the Democrats, Republicans. I think the Democrats pretend they care. The Republicans say they're going to do the right thing for the economy, but neither one, neither of the major parties, really focus on the one thing, the economy is no longer working for large swaths of the population. And if you read history, they pick up the pitch forks at some point. That's what's happening to me. Donald is the pitch fork saying he's a disrupter. We're going to throw a bomb. Tabula rasa. Let's start all over again. So the again, the amount of ink that's being spilled on Obama versus Donald versus at the end of the day, the reason Donald won is he had a great story line. I care. I listen to you. We've globalization eviscerated your town, your middle class America, your poor. I'm listening to you. That resonated now. What's going to happen if two years from now, he's not listening? Is what I worry society is fraying, not because Republicans did the wrong thing, or Democrats did the wrong thing. We're not focusing on fundamentally, when you have I think I read a statistic that's, again, I believe in capitalism, but we're not practicing it any longer. When you have three guys, bez, I think Zuckerberg and Elon, the three are worth more than the bottom 50% of us of a think of that statistic that's crazy. Yeah. So I think, you know, I talked to a couple of you, I think the caucuses we should have is, What is the purpose of leadership, but to actually get to our children, leave our children. I have three amazing children. I'm ashamed of the future I'm leaving them. My generation is the most self est generation of them all my dad fought in World War Two. They were starving, and here we are, my generation. I need, I want, I have to have. So I think that's what has to change, not Obama versus whatever. Barbara Doran  29:24Well, all very interesting. But I think your question was, was, really, how does it affect your investing, and how to think about it? So in a more granular, granular level, it does affect, I mean, you had leading up the election, you had the Kamala plays in the stock market. You had the Trump plays, you know, and after Trump won, then you had, you know, all his the areas, whether it was financials, materials, everything running. And so you do have to be cognizant. And of course, now, as I mentioned earlier, there's all this policy uncertainty, which certainly is, you know, impactful, because the Fed is on hold, and probably may hold a little longer to there more clarity, because they are. Worried, you know, if you deport too many people, you know could hurt labor, inflationary and tariffs and so we don't know yet. So there is uncertainty that you have to build in. Now, interestingly, there just was out yesterday, the second Consumer Confidence Report from the Conference Board, and last week with senior University of Michigan, a big drops in consumer confidence in terms of inflation expectations. But interestingly, there was quite a disparity, as we've seen in other surveys, between the Republicans and the Democrats. Democrats were much more pessimistic about it all, and Republicans, even though that number went up, they were not so very interesting. How either they're hearing separate facts or they're interpreting or focusing on different things. So this politicization that Zoe is talking about, you know, is real and is is harmful, you know, in terms of making informed decisions. Mark Sanor  30:47Question Tony, hold on one second, Speaker 7  30:55Zoe, I want to go back to something you said. I think you touched on concentration, concentration of wealth. Most people are focused on chasing the return based on what's happening in the market, and a lot of that has to do with technology. How do you, how do you properly address that concentration? Speaker 3  31:14You know, I hope this time around, it will be different. When you look at the history, when you look at, you know, this time, it's different. When you look at the history of capitalism again, the best system, on a relative basis, you have huge growth plateau, collapse, start all over again. That's how it so you look at, you know, the 1920s I'm rereading the great crash in 1929 you look at the parallels of what we constant, robber barons, concentration of wealth, gold, Gilded Age. I mean, so you look at the pattern. And my hope again is that we don't have this collapse, if people say, if you put your money in equities, you'll make money, yes, over the long decades, if you put your money in equities, right before the crash in 1929 it took you 40 years to make your money back. Let's pick or 30. So to me, I would say, right now, there's not enough, really, risk management these. How do you change the concentration of wealth? I hope it's not by, you know, I hope that those guys that there are worth trillions, don't figure out how they go to Miami to save taxes. They figure out how you actually use technology, you know. And again, Elon, to be fair, even though I think he's a deeply flawed human being, but I have enormous respect for his IQ, he started talking about again, years ago, when you listen to what he was saying, is, and that's why, by the way, they had this, you should have open AI, why he supported it. He said we should have the minimum income. I don't know if that's the right answer. But he thought about if 65% of the US economy is consumption, which means people have a job, they make money, and then they consume. That's America. So when you have all of them now say productivity, you are going to need to fire millions of people. We don't need them, and this time, it's not the machinists. It's actually the lawyers, the accountants. How does so? Again, we're not thinking about the paradigm shift. I am hugely positive about what will happen if we survive at the other the land of plenty, but I hope the transition, which was World War One, World War Two, is what transitions were this time. Hopefully it's different. Stephen Burke  34:13I would just add mark. I think the thing that's going to help the inequality is, can we use technology to make the access to education better than it is right now for the low end, because 49% of the spending in the US is done by the top 10% of earners, so they the others don't have a shot. They just don't have a shot right now. And the way our educational system works in many states, it's driven by tax revenues, particularly real estate revenues, and that is the definition of inequality. So I think we have to fix the educational access to allow them to have a shot to compete, because we're not giving them the shot to they're not starting on an even playing field to begin with. Mark Sanor  34:59So. What we haven't talked about is the global, the geopolitical Democrats and Republicans. But we're in a world, a shifting world. You talked about the dollar and in our debt loads. But how do you see, I guess, what scares and excites you on the geopolitical fronts? I I'll Stephen Burke  35:20start just the same thing inequality. You have a couple countries that are dominating all the discussions and all the influence right now, and it's the US and China, primarily, that are sucking the wind out of the air, out of the room, and they're not leaving much for the rest. And as we're carving up the world, we're creating a real problem with that. I think you have inequality on three levels. I think you have it on a country level, you have it on a corporate level, and you have it on the individual level, and we have to deal with all three of them to for this, to get it right. Zoe Cruz  35:59What I'm excited about is that it's possible to have the Chinese leadership and the US leadership meet to say, if actually humanity is what we're trying to save, maybe we work together, as opposed to because the nuclear arms race is now the technology race that the Chinese and the Americans are actually fighting so they don't lose on a technological revolution that they recognize they can lose control of. So my hope is those two guys meet and then we get to the land of plenty fast. Do Mark Sanor  36:35we have like this new, enlightened, mutual, assured technological destruction? Yeah, and that we should be enlightened, Zoe Cruz  36:43yeah? Because, I mean, I'm sure there are, there are people that are telling both Donald and she that there is a scenario we all die. I mean, there is, we all know that. And so right now, externally, at least what we are hearing and reading is what they want us to hear and read. Those two are the super powers, the unilateral whatever you call it, the world where America was the only one. Yeah, so those two guys, I think there must be at least initiating discussions Russia and all that. It's a human, horrible toll. The two leaders that need to get together, the two that count, that can change the trajectory of the world, is the Chinese and the Americans. Speaker 2  37:41Okay? And I worry long term about shifting alliances. You know, the US, it may not be seen as a reliable partner. And certainly Europe, basic leaders in the last week or so have said we've got to go it alone. And that will shift alliances all over the world. You've got Canada, Mexico, and we'll see where that shakes out. And, you know, I think longer term, it could weaken us and our ability, you know, to withstand all sorts of global pressures, the fact that we've done so well the last few years, economically, all these things, again, this is longer term. This will take time to shift, but that's what I'm concerned about. What's being set in motion now. So what? What that may lead to, and it may not be good for us. Joe Mancini  38:24I'll tell you a thing that I probably shouldn't say, that I actually wish had been a little less certain for a period of time, which is, I don't know if folks noticed the news story about a week ago that there was a 3% chance in 2032 that a meteor was gonna strike the Earth, right? And then we got a better look at the media, and we're like, Ah, it's one and a half percent. And then we started look back in history, and we're like, Oh, something hit, you know, the northern part of Russia in 1908, it wasn't that big of a deal. And now we're saying, yeah, it's probably not gonna hit. No big deal. I wish that that had stuck at three to 5% for a little while longer, right? And just tried to bring the world a little bit together around, okay, this is madness, but we have an existential threat. We can see it through a big, giant telescope. Let's get the best minds together to try to figure out what to do. Unfortunately, now it's like point 1% and we'll probably be fine. Mark Sanor  39:17All right with that. Thank you to our kick off panel. Zoe Can I ask you to stick around? Can you stick around? We're going to talk about AI and two of my panelists are not here, and I thought you might keep sharing some. There you go. It's a half an hour panel. All right. So if Thank you. Thank you so Ben and Maisie Jack is on on an airplane. Watch her. Please come up. We're going to talk about AI, and if you, if you, and maybe. Be Ben, you'll go first, introduce yourself again. Sheri, come join our 361 firm community of investors and thought leaders. We have a lot of events created by the community as we collaborate on investments and philanthropic interests. Join us. Ben. You can subscribe to various 361 events and content at https://361firm.com/subs. For reference: Web: www.361firm.com/homeOnboard as Investor: https://361.pub/shortdiagOnboard Deals 361: www.361firm.com/onbOnboard as Banker: www.361firm.com/bankersEvents: www.361firm.com/eventsContent: www.youtube.com/361firmWeekly Digests: www.361firm.com/digest

0:14Good morning, good morning, good afternoon.0:15How are you doing out there in the world?0:18And well, this is a revamp of prepare responder covers program we put on last two, oh, guess two years ago, right, We started with it.0:29I'm looking into all different aspects of what it is to respond to large scale emergencies and not just Emergency Management. Still, we're looking at law, fire, EMS, private industry, public side of things.0:47It's a broad brush.0:49And so I'm excited.0:51And so Todd and I, Todd Manzat is the 2 Todd's here.0:55Start talking about it, what it is and, and, and you know, he's got some really great insight.1:01I've known Todd for a while now.1:04And as you can tell here, the Blue Cell is the premier sponsor of this program.1:08And so I want to thank Todd for that.1:10And Todd, welcome.1:11Welcome to our show, I guess, for lack of better term.1:14Hey, well, thanks, thanks for the welcome.1:16And, you know, it was, it was kind of funny as we were kind of batting this around at the end of last year and, you know, here we are now getting ready to kind of jump right into it.1:29But certainly the world's events have helped us to have at least some stuff to talk about in the last 30 days.1:38It feels like it's April already.1:40And I know we'll get into a little bit of that.1:42But thanks for having me.1:43I'm glad to be part of it.1:46I think this is the longest January I've ever lived, Right?1:53Well, it's, you know, in some ways we're thinking back a little bit to, you know, what's going on.1:58I was in New Orleans this week and the events of New Year's Eve are in the distant past when they're worried about the Super Bowl.2:06They had a snowstorm and they had a a Sugar Bowl.2:09And it's, it's really interesting that the tempo right now is as real as it gets with regards to, you know, what we are going to be talking about here, you know, interested about that.2:22It's like, you know, obviously the, the events of January 1st with both New Orleans and Vegas, how quickly it came out of, out of the news cycle because you know, fires happened in, in, in California, you know, and that kept us hopping over here.2:40You know, obviously you guys all know that I live in, well, maybe not everybody, but I, I live in Southern California.2:46And so those fires directly impacted my area, not necessarily where I live, but close enough to where I have friends that lost homes and stuff in the fire.2:57So, I mean, and then then we got rain right after that, which is causing problems.3:03And then there's snow storms in in Louisiana in the South that's causing problems there.3:07And we're still not recovering from Hurricane Helene, You know, And then in the midst of all this, we get a new presidential administration, which is definitely moving fast, you know, And yeah, so are, are we going to be able to take your breath?3:28Well, you know, I don't know that we have a choice, right?3:30It's that kind of race.3:32And, you know, being as ready as we can be in different places, that's kind of part of it.3:38So that the folks who are sprinting as fast as they can can be relieved.3:41And one of the things that was interesting when I was in, in Louisiana this past week, they were talking about barring snow plows from another state.3:49Who, who does know how to do that, you know, pretty interestingly.3:52And then obviously, unfortunately, the events in DC with the, with the plane crash as the, you know, the most recent thing, another really, you know, significant type of event and response.4:09Just hearing, you know, some of the press conference stuff where they're talking about, you know, the things that, you know, I teach all the time, Unified command 300 responders out there.4:21Got to replace those responders.4:23Got a lot going on, got a lot of media, right.4:26All those aspects of something that makes any kind of response a little more complex.4:34Definitely it's going to be a a fun filled year of topics if we stay at this at this pace for sure.4:44Yeah, I want to talk about that plane crash here for forbid, not not about the plane crunch itself, but about how as a those of us in the field, you know, I know a whole bunch of people that are traveling at any given time.5:01I mean, you're one of them, a couple of friends down in Texas.5:05You have a friend of mine who carries Fronza, who's the president of IEM, who she was travelling during this time.5:13And I went to my, my, my click box of, oh, who do I need?5:17Who do I need to call to see if they're impacted by this?5:20And even if it's something as far away as DC, you know, and now you're going, oh, crap.5:25I mean, I called you or at least reached out to you to see if you know if you're travelling yet.5:30So you don't.5:30It's just this is amazing, like how small of a world we truly are when it comes to that.5:36And then I have friends that work and you do too, Todd, you know, that work in the capital that a part of Metro and and and DC fire and Fairfax fire.5:46And you know, you, you see this happening.5:48You're going, these are people who you know closely that are already impacted by this event, let alone the tragedy of the those lives that were lost, you know, in this tragic accident.6:01And I think that's part of the thing with what we do here between you and myself and, and the, and the organizations that, you know, we do touch every aspect of, of the United States and at some point global when it comes to Emergency Management, We're going to be able to bring those, that perspective to, to the this conversation.6:24Yeah.6:24I think the, the other thing that kind of jumped out at me was, you know, trying to think back through the history and, and certainly some of the legacy media folks were talking about the last time we had a crash and how long ago it was.6:38And in fact, I don't know if you picked up on it.6:41That last one was Buffalo and obviously Buffalo, NY.6:46You've got connections to that place, right?6:48Yeah, yeah, right.6:52And I'm headed to Binghamton, NY next Friday, which is not that far down the road.6:57So it's, you know, to bring it somewhat full circle, preparedness, response and recovery are interconnected.7:05All these disciplines are interconnected.7:09How we do things, we're trying to make them as interconnected, you know, as possible.7:17And I think it's going to be the right conversation, especially when we bring some doctrinal things in and and talking about some specific topics and then trying to overlay it to things that are really happening.7:31I think that's going to be one of the unique things about the conversation, hopefully, as we move the show forward.7:38Yeah, absolutely.7:39And I think the other thing too, Todd, that you know, you and I have some really deep conversations, you know, when it comes to the state of Emergency Management, the state of disaster response, you know, where where we need to go and how to get there.7:57And you know, the fact that we have a kind of book in this thing here, but we have progressive states that look at Emergency Management and disaster response and disaster preparedness and planning as holistic, right?8:13So that means like fire, police, EMS, public works, right, that we always forget, you know, public health, they're all involved in the conversation.8:23And then you have some States and somewhere areas that are myopic, right?8:27And they're very much silos on everything they they do.8:30I think some of the conversation that we're going to have here is hopefully to break down those silos and and be able to have those full conversations that we are all hazards approach to everything that we look at.8:42And I think that's critical, right?8:45And I think also in the, you know, our show concept, and I think it's important to share, you know, in this first episode, it won't just be me and you hanging out with each other.8:55I think our concept of bringing in guests as a, a third element to the show, a third voice, I think will be important.9:04I know you're working on lining up a few.9:06I'm working on lining up a few.9:08It'll be exciting.9:09And, you know, as we move into the coming weeks to get that guest line up out to folks and they can kind of hear a perspective and we'll definitely, you know, be leveraging our relationships.9:21I think to to bring in some strong, strong individuals to give a dynamic focus on, you know, what we're talking about.9:31And Speaking of relationships, I mean, you know, the other good part about this too is Todd, you and I both have some good relationships with some people that can bring really great insight.9:43And so we'll be leveraging those relationships as well to be able to bring you the audience some more insight to what what's happening in, in close to real time as possible.9:53And then of course, you know, my position with IEM allow some conversations to to happen as well.10:01And the Today as an example, well, we, we have to talk a little bit about the, the elephant in the room is what's going on with FEMA.10:10The, the president has set forth his vision on, on making changes.10:16And I don't think there's an emergency manager in the United States right now that doesn't think the Stafford Act needs to be, you know, looked at and, and fixed, right?10:30You know, it's an old act, right?10:33And that FEMA does need to have, you know, to be maybe remodeled a little bit.10:38Sure.10:39I, I definitely don't think it should be destroyed and taken away, But you know, where does it belong and, and, and how does it work?10:47And you know, I've been calling for a few years now.10:49Well, let's say probably over 10 years now that FEMA should be a stand alone agency.10:53And there's, there's cons and pros for both for, for all of this, right?10:59And then today I got to sit down with the acting administrator, Hamilton to hear a little bit about his background and what his, his, you know, his goals are.11:11And the good thing is, is what he's doing right now is listening to the emergency managers out there, meeting with the big groups such as IEM and Nima, big cities, meeting with them to discuss what their needs and goals and, and desires are when it comes to what FEMA is and can be.11:34And I think it's a really important first step.11:37And I, and I commend them for that.11:40Yeah.11:40You know, the, the, the basic rules and kind of organizational leadership are you, you got to, got to figure out what your objectives are, to figure out what your mission is, that type of thing.11:51And, and many times it's a driving factor in where you end up or who you're working for working under and, and how it's supposed to work.12:00I think, you know, that revisit it's, it's not something necessarily that, you know, every time you get a new leader in that you need to do that, But you also can't go 20 or 30 or 40 years and have problems and not do it.12:16And you know, there obviously is a, has been for some time a heartbeat out there saying, Hey, let's let's have it as a, a cabinet member.12:27And my position is whether it's a cabinet member or not, it's still going to come down to the mission, the organization, understanding what the mission is and the talent that's inside the organization.12:40I was in this little teeny organization for a short time called the United States Marine Corps.12:45It's a it's a branch under a department, but everybody knows who we are.12:51Everybody knows what we do because we've got a clear mission.12:53I've had it for 250 years and we're the best at what we do.12:57So in some ways, when you do it well, it doesn't matter that you're not equal to the Department of the Navy and under the Department of the Navy, just as an example.13:09And so I think that's going to be a hard, long conversation and a lot of work that'll have to be done to establish that capability that is not only understood but is respected and is effective in the field.13:27Because that's what's been coming into question is it's effectiveness in the field.13:31Where it sits organizationally probably doesn't have much to do with that.13:35So I think it'll be interesting moving forward.13:39I'm not watching from afar.13:40Certainly have a lot of folks that I'm talking to that are, they're nervous and they're trying to, you know, decipher what's happening and figure it out and where do I fit in?13:51In the end, you got to do the best job that you can and not have that question because you did the best job that could be done.13:58And so I I think that'll be something worth talking about moving forward and, and watching how it kind of transpires.14:08Yeah, absolutely.14:09And, and you're right, I think nervousness, I think is a good word to say.14:13Uncertainty, right?14:14It breeds nervousness a little bit.14:15And I think that's kind of where we're at.14:17And, you know, the current administration's communication style is, is interesting at the at the best or at the worst, I suppose, or whichever we look at it is sometimes I believe, you know, President Trump just floats things out there just to see how people react.14:34And, you know, he's a, he's interesting guy that way.14:40And I think it takes a little bit of time to get used to that style of communication.14:45Whether you agree with it or not.14:46It just says it is what it is, right?14:48You know, not just talking about the yeah, go ahead.14:55I was going to say that.14:56I was just going to judge.15:01We all have to get used to how Manhattan downtown developers do business.15:08That's, that's what we have to get used to.15:10And, and most of us haven't had to deal with that.15:13So it's a, it's a different way that things get done.15:17There's no question.15:19Yeah, absolutely.15:20And like I said, I'm not, I'm not judging it.15:23I'm not putting a value to it.15:24I'm just saying it is what it is.15:25And this is what we have to deal with.15:26You know, I, I think as emergency managers and, and, and guys that are in the field, you know, when we're looking at situations, we have to understand that we don't have time to placate on whether we agree with something or not.15:43We just have to deal with the consequences of what's happening.15:45And, and, and this is where we're at.15:47We have to deal with the consequences that, that, that are happening.15:51And so, you know, that being said, you know, what is the future of Emergency Management when it comes to to what the federal government believes in?16:03That's going to be a long conversation.16:05You know, you know, and we, we have a long history of things changing.16:13And I think we forget this because, you know, we we live in the generation that we're in, right?16:20And we may look back at the previous generations, but we live in where we're at and what we're used to and in that comfort zone.16:28And, you know, I think if we reflect back to when, you know, Franklin Donald Roosevelt created an office that would look at Emergency Management, if you will, without using the terminology.16:39It's where we grew up from, you know, to Truman turned it into really the civil defense of what we think of today, you know, with the Burt the Turtle and all that nuclear stuff that they were dealing with.16:50And and then it kind of got to Jimmy Carter at this point where he turned it into FEMA in 79.16:56And then, of course, the Stafford Act.16:58These are chunks that we didn't live in, right?17:01You know, some I, I, you know, realistically, Todd, you and I, we're from, you know, 70s into the, to the 80s when we were, you know, kids and then we're working.17:12The experience has been this short box.17:14So we look at these boxes that we've lived in and not understanding what the, what the history was and what the changes are.17:20So, so this too, you know, will be a little uncomfortable, but maybe it's uncomfortable that we need to be better.17:28And if we look at it that way and, and as long as we're part of the conversation, that's my only concern is if we start having conversation without us, then what does that mean?17:38Right, right.17:40And I think the, the other thing, just analyzing it a little bit as an outsider looking in, I think what are the alternatives going to be?17:51You know, they're, they're talking about a few alternatives and, and putting pressure or responsibility in other places, like for example, the states.18:00Well, they better do a true analysis of whether that capability is actually there.18:07It sounds great and it probably looks good on paper, but there's going to be a harsh reality that that may not be the answer.18:17And I'm, I'm not going to call out any one state or any 10 states or any 25 states.18:22I'm just going to say there will be serious questions as to whether certain states can take on those previous FEMA responsibilities.18:33And I think it could be a bigger mess and a bigger tragedy if that's not really looked at very, very hard and and very critically in terms of what the capabilities actually are in some of those locations.18:51You know, I think about the fires that we just had here in Los Angeles County and one of the last fires that kicked off as this thing was burning, you know, they were able to put 4000 firefighters onto a fire in in a very short period of time to stop it from burning up the town of Castaic or the village, I guess, right.19:13We got lucky in one aspect that there were already firefighters down here from all over the place that we can, we, we can move those assets over.19:20You know, that's one state.19:23State of California is unique in that aspect of it.19:26I mean, I don't think and, and I'm going to pick on a state and I mean, I can, you know, if, if you fear for that state, please let me, I'm telling you, I don't know the assets.19:35So I'm not not saying that you can't do it.19:37But if you took like Montana, for instance, who has lot of wild land fires, I don't know if they could put in in in 30 minutes of a fire kicking off, Could they put 4000 firefighters on that fire in 30 minutes of a kicking off?19:52Or Colorado for that matter, where you're from, you know, do they have those assets?19:57And, and maybe they do, maybe they don't, but that's the difference between having mutual aid and the federal government coming in to be able to pay for things on the back end than it is to to not right.20:09And and again, maybe Montana and Colorado could put those assets on their.20:13I'm not, I'm not trying to say that you're not on issues as an example, I want to be clear on that.20:19But you know, without federal assistance immediately, can the smaller states handle those large scale disasters as quickly as they can right now?20:34Sure.20:34I yeah, I definitely think that's, you know, that resource management piece is a is a big aspect of it.20:40But let's say you're a week into it, do some of the states have the ability to even manage that?20:50You know, when we start to think about some of the large scale operations and you know, maybe maybe you have an Emergency Management office, full time staff of 20 people that may not have, you know, the ability or the experience of handling, you know, that type of complexity.21:11That is the word that always bothers me.21:16The, the actual complexity.21:18You know, incident command speaks to it quite a bit.21:21We've got a pretty good system for incident command.21:23We've got a pretty good system at the top tier of who manages complex incidents and who's qualified to manage complex incidents.21:32Well, you know, some of that would somewhat come into question if you don't have that guidance from, from FEMA or even some of their support from an IMAP perspective.21:42And then we're that we're going to rely on a state agency of, of 16 people to, to be able to do it.21:51I don't know.21:52I I think it's definitely something that it's going to be a, a bridge we have to cross if that's the direction that we end up going.22:00Yeah, absolutely.22:01And, and, and going back to some of the smaller states.22:03And I'll pick on Maine here for a minute because I was talking, I was talking to one of the guys from Maine and they have volunteer emergency managers, you know, you know, and I'm like, well, and it blew my mind when we had this conversation with him.22:22I'm like, you know, I I never thought about that, that you have a town, you know, a state that's so, you know, sparsely populated in some areas that they just have some dude who's like, all right, I'll, I'll do it for a volunteer.22:34You know, like that means you get your regular day job that you're doing and in the evening, maybe you're, you know, you're doing Emergency Management stuff.22:42Yeah, that kind of that kind of blows my mind a little bit.22:45So, you know, what do we do with states like that that don't even have the ask the the ability to pay for emergency managers, you know, to live in what?22:53I mean, you know, how do we ask?22:56How do we?22:56And the support doesn't necessarily, you know, I want to rewind the minute, the support doesn't necessarily have to be be people on the ground, right?23:05You know, those volunteer emergency managers in Maine may have the the capabilities of doing it as on a volunteer basis because they don't have a lot of disasters that occurred.23:13That's fine.23:13I'm not, I'm not making fun of that position.23:17What I'm saying is they need support and the support that they might get might just be from training, you know, grants to help pay for things because obviously their tax base is going to be lower.23:29So they may need those, those grants from from the federal government to to pay for programs, you know, the send people to EMI or whatever they change their name to, you know, you know, for, for training, you know, the university.23:50Is that the university?23:52FEMA you or, or, you know, used to be FEMA you.23:56yeah.com.23:58Good Lord.23:59Something we're going to, we're going to send us hate mail.24:02Jeff Stearns, Doctor Stearns, We're not making fun of you, man.24:05We're just right.24:12Excuse me, but yeah.24:14I mean, we go into this like, how do we support those smaller states that don't have big budgets?24:20I'm lucky to be from living in California and from New York, which are, you know, have big budgets, but I mean, heck, even New York State, you know, I mean, if you want to take a look at the responders in New York State, there's the majority of the responders in New York State are volunteer.24:41You know, it's one of the states that there are more Volunteer Fire departments in New York State than paid, you know, So what does that look like?24:50And, and what support are they getting from, from the federal government, whether it's through FEMA, the National Forest Service, I help it out with, with different grants and stuff.25:00The you, you know, out here in, in the West Coast, we have BLM, which has firefighting assets and things that could be used.25:09There's a lot of stuff that National Forest Service.25:12There's a lot of stuff that we're relying upon and maybe even too much, right?25:17Maybe that's the back of our mind and and we're relying on those, those assets.25:22You don't compare it to saying let's pretend they don't exist, right?25:26I don't know.25:28That's the stuff I think is making a lot of people nervous about some of the changes that are going on right now of the unknown answers to unknown questions.25:39Yeah.25:41Well, it's going to be interesting.25:42It's going to be good.25:43And we'll kind of start to figure out right the next, next episode and who knows who's going to be in what jobs.25:54So we, we may, we may get a, a really good guess right as we, as we move forward or some of the folks who've previously been in those positions that give us some insight.26:06I think that's really our goal.26:10Absolutely.26:11Well, Todd, you know, we're trying to keep these within that 30 minute window and we're coming up to the last few minutes here on our conversation.26:22Is there anything that you'd like to say to the listeners out there that are coming back and, and how do we, you know, to the new listeners that might be just finding us?26:32I say, you know, TuneIn and we definitely will keep it interested and keep it moving from that perspective and, and give some feel reporting too.26:41That's one of the things I know that we've talked about that we want to incorporate here because I think it'll give a little bit different feel to to the conversation.26:52But I think this was a good one to get us started and look forward to talking to you next week.27:00Absolutely, my friend.27:01Looking forward to seeing you next week.27:03It's always, it's always nice to see that big smile right there very often.27:09Right.27:09Yeah.27:11All right, all right, everybody, until next time, you know, stay safe and well, stay hydrated. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emnetwork.substack.com/subscribe

John 7:1–24I. A Familiarity that Appears Desirable – 1-9II. A Yearning that Displays Authenticity – 10-24

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord.Psalm 109Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons1 Maccabees 3:42-60New Revised Standard Version Updated EditionNow Judas and his brothers saw that misfortunes had increased and that the forces were encamped in their territory. They also learned what the king had commanded to do to the people to cause their final destruction. But they said to one another, “Let us restore the ruins of our people and fight for our people and the sanctuary.” So the congregation assembled to be ready for battle and to pray and ask for mercy and compassion.Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness;    not one of her children went in or out.The sanctuary was trampled down,    and strangers held the citadel;    it was a lodging place for the nations.Joy was taken from Jacob;    the flute and the harp ceased to play.Then they gathered together and went to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because Israel formerly had a place of prayer in Mizpah. They fasted that day, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes. And they opened the book of the law to inquire into those matters about which the nations consulted the likenesses of their gods. They also brought the vestments of the priesthood and the first fruits and the tithes, and they stirred up the nazirites who had completed their days, and they cried aloud to heaven, saying,“What shall we do with these?    Where shall we take them?Your sanctuary is trampled down and profaned,    and your priests mourn in humiliation.Here the nations are assembled against us to destroy us;    you know what they plot against us.How will we be able to withstand them,    if you do not help us?”Then they sounded the trumpets and gave a loud shout. After this Judas appointed leaders of the people in charge of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. Those who were building houses or were about to be married or were planting a vineyard or were fainthearted, he told to go home, according to the law. Then the army marched out and encamped to the south of Emmaus.And Judas said, “Arm yourselves and be courageous. Be ready early in the morning to fight with these nations who have assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. It is better for us to die in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. But as his will in heaven may be, so shall he do.”Revelation 21:9-21English Standard VersionThen came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsProper 28Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 63Deus, Deus meusBCP p. 670OGod, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; *my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, *that I might behold your power and your glory.For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *my lips shall give you praise.So will I bless you as long as I live *and lift up my hands in your Name.My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, *and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,When I remember you upon my bed, *and meditate on you in the night watches.For you have been my helper, *and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.My soul clings to you; *your right hand holds me fast.[May those who seek my life to destroy it *go down into the depths of the earth;Let them fall upon the edge of the sword, *and let them be food for jackals.But the king will rejoice in God;all those who swear by him will be glad; *for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.] Psalm 98Cantate DominoBCP p. 727Sing to the Lord a new song, *for he has done marvelous things.With his right hand and his holy arm *has he won for himself the victory.The Lord has made known his victory; *his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.Sing to the Lord with the harp, *with the harp and the voice of song.With trumpets and the sound of the horn *shout with joy before the King, the Lord.Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, *the lands and those who dwell therein.Let the rivers clap their hands, *and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord,when he comes to judge the earth.In righteousness shall he judge the world *and the peoples with equity.  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons1 Cor. 10:15-24I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? "All things are lawful," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Te Deum laudamusYou are God: we praise you;You are the Lord: we acclaim you;You are the eternal Father:All creation worships you.To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,heaven and earth are full of your glory.The glorious company of apostles praise you.The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you;Father, of majesty unbounded,your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.When you became man to set us free you did not shun the Virgin's womb. You overcame the sting of deathand opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are seated at God's right hand in glory.We believe that you will come and be our judge.Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saintsto glory everlasting. Matt. 18:15-20“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus Dominus DeusBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersThe Lord be with you.And also with you.Let us pray.Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Suffrages AV. Show us your mercy, O Lord;R. And grant us your salvation.V. Clothe your ministers with righteousness; R. Let your people sing with joy.V. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;R. For only in you can we live in safety. V. Lord, keep this nation under your care;R. And guide us in the way of justice and truth.V. Let your way be known upon earth;R. Your saving health among all nations.V. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;R. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.V. Create in us clean hearts, O God;R. And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.   The CollectsProper 25Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

OPEN HEAVENSMATALA LE LAGI MO LE ASO SA 6 OKETOPA  2024(tusia e Pastor EA Adeboye)Manatu Autu: Tatalo Matautia ( Dangerous Prayers )Tauloto -Tusi Paia–Filipi 3:10 “Ina ‘ia ‘ou iloa o ia ma le mana o lona toetū mai ma ‘ia fa‘atasi a‘u i ‘ona tigā, ‘ona ‘ua fa‘atusaina a‘u ‘iā te ia i lona maliu,”‭‭Faitauga – Tusi Paia –2 Tupu 2:9-12; 2 Tupu 2:23-24I le fa'aauau ai pea o la'u a'oa'oga i vaega eseese o tatalo, o le asō, o le a taula'i la'u vaai i tatalo mata'utia. O nisi o tatalo e mata'utia auā o le tulaga e tupu mulimuli mai ai pe a tali le Atua i nei tatalo e lamatia ai le soifua. O le mafuaaga auā o lē ua tuuina atu i ai o mea e tele, latou te fai atu fo'i ia te ia e aumai mea e sili ona tele (Luka 12:48).O le tatalo ia fa'au'u oe e le Atua ma foai atu ia te oe meaalofa fa'aleagaga o se tatalo mata'utia. O le tele o lou fa'au'uina o le tele lea o le lamatia o oe e le fili. A e faitau i le tusi o Faamasino 15; e te iloa ai le malosi e tele na iā Samasoni. Peita'i i le Faamasino 16; o loo ta'u mai ai le mata'utia o lea malosi. O le mafuaaga lea e umi ai se taimi ou te tatalo ai mo lau fanau o loo galulue tāla'i mo le mālō o le Atua. Ou te faafetai i le Atua mo o latou olaga ma vavega o tutupu e ala iā i latou, peita'i ou te iloa fo'i o le fa'au'uga ua matilatila ai i latou i le vaai a le tiapolo, ma e mana'omia ona malu puipuia i latou.O tagata fa'au'uina, e tulituliloa i latou e le tiapolo. I le 2 Tupu 1:7-15, na auina atu e le tupu fitafita e 153 e pu'e Elia. Peita'i i le 2 Tupu 6:8-16, ina ua mana'o le tupu e pu'e Elisaia, o le sa i ai le faaluaina o le fa'au'uga sa ia Elia, na ia auina atu le autau atoa. E i ai se laasaga o le tamāoaiga ma le amanaia a e ole ai i le Atua ma ia avatu ia te oe, e i ai ona aafiaga ogaoga. O le ala lea, o isi taimi, e taofia e le Atua nisi o mea mai isi o le au uso, aua ua ia silafia latou te lē mafaia ona fa'afoe. E pei o Elisaia, a e ole atu mo se maualuga o le fa'au'uga ma avatu e le Atua ia te oe, o le a suia lou fofoga, e mafai ona e faamanuia ai ma e fa'amālaia ai fo'i. I le 2 Tupu 2:19-24, na faatonu e lē perofeta o Elisaia ona alu ese ai lea o le malaia sa i luga o Ieriko i le tele o augātupulaga, ua lē toe vaaia e o'o mai i le asō. Na faapea fo'i ona ia folafola se fetu'u i luga o ni tamaiti na faatauemu ia te ia e to'a 42, ma fano uma ai i latou.E lelei lou mana'o atu i mea tetele, peita'i ia e manatua le tusi o Numera 20:1-12, e 40 tausaga o ta'ita'i e Mose le fanauga a Isaraelu, ma e tasi lana mea sesē na fai ae avea ma ala na fetalai ai le Atua e lē o'o I le nu'u na folafolaina. O le mafuaaga lea e tāua ai ona e tatalo mo ou ta'ita'i e lē aunoa, aemaise i ou ta'ita'i fa'aleagaga. O le mana o ia i latou e mafai ona faa malolō ai ma fasioti. I le Galuega 5;1-11, na faatau e Anania ma Safaira se fanua, ma ave se vaega itiiti o le tupe na maua, ia Peteru, ma na feoti i laua i lo la tala pepelo.O le fa'au'uga e mafai ona faamanuia, fasioti, fa'amālōlō ma fa'ao'o le ma'i; ia faa mautinoa e mafai ona e tauavea ma faafoe ae e te le'i ole atu ia e maua. I le 2 Tupu 5:1-27; na fa'amamāina Naamanu i lona usitai i se fa'atonuga mai ia Elisaia, o le perofeta lava lea e tasi ma lana upu na lepela ai Keasi. Faa mautinoa ua fa'amamāina oe i le toto o Keriso ae e te lei ole atu mo le fa'au'uga mai ia te ia. I le suafa o Iesu. Amene.

OPEN HEAVENSMATALA LE LAGI MO LE ASO GAFUA 7 OKETOPA  2024(tusia e Pastor EA Adeboye) Manatu Autu: Tatalo e le mafaia ( Impossible Prayers ) Tauloto -Tusi Paia–Numera 13:30 “Ona vavao ai loa e Kalepo i le nu‘u ‘ia filemū i luma o Mose, ‘ua fa‘apea atu, “Se‘i tatou matuā ō a‘e lava i ai, ma fai ai mo i tatou; auā e mafai lava ‘ona tatou manumālō ai.”‭‭Faitauga – Tusi Paia –Mareko 11:12-24I le fa'aauau ai pea o la'u a'oa'oga i vaega eseese o tatalo, o le asō, o le a taula'i la'u vaai i tatalo  matua faigata e le mafaia e tagata. Fai mai le Tusi Paia e iai lava vaega e le mafaia e le tagata, ae o le Atua, e mafaia mea uma (Mataio 19:26, Luka 1:37). Afai e iai sina masalosaloga I lea tulaga, vaai I le Redemption City a le Ekalesia Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), e te iloa ai, e leai se mea e le mafaia e le Atua. E iai ni fale I totonu o le Redemption City e na o le fitu aso ma fausia ai ae o loo tutu pea ua sili ma le 40 tausaga. O le faleaoga muamua o le Kolisi Aoga Maualuga e fogafalelua, na fausia i le 18 aso. Ou te lei faaaogaina ni tagata inisinia, na ou faaaogaina inisinia mai le lagi, aua e leai se mea e le mafaia e lo'u Atua. O le taimi e faafofoga ai le Atua i lou fofoga faapea mai ‘e le mafaia', e ono le mafaia. Aua foi fai mai le Numera 14:28, “‘Ia e fai atu ‘iā te i latou, “O lo‘o ola a‘u,” o lo‘o fai mai le ALI‘I, “‘Ou te faia lava ‘iā te ‘outou e pei o a ‘outou ‘upu ‘ua o‘o mai i o‘u taliga:”E ui e le faatuatua le tagata, o le finagalo o le Atua e faia lava, ma e na te faatuina le augatupulaga fou e faataunuuina le galuega. I le Numera 13:14, e 12 tagata na o e asiasi i le nuu o Ieriko, e toasefulu na fo'i mai ma faapea mai, e le mafai ona latou avea le nuu ae toalua na foi mai ma faapea mai, e mafaia ona latou avea le nuu. Na faamautinoa e le Atua le tafieseina ma feoti i le vao tagata uma na fai mai e le mafaia, ae na o le toalua na faapea mai e mafai na o'o I le nuu na folafolaina. I le 2 Tupu 7:1-17, na folafola e Elisaia se tulaga e ono le mafaia, o le siitia o le tamaoaiga i totonu o le 24 itula. Na filemu tagata uma na faalogo iai ae tasi se tamaloa na fai mai, tusa pe fausia e le Atua ni faamalama I le lagi, e le mafaia. Na taunuu le siitia o le tamaoaiga, ae e lei tofo iai le tamaloa lea. Aua nei e faia se upu e le mafaia, o le taimi e fai ai e le tagata, e ono le mafaia ma taunuu I lea tagata. Ina ua fetalai Iesu i le Ioane 14:14, “‘Āfai tou te ole atu i se mea i lo‘u igoa, ‘ou te faia lava, e le faapea o fia malie. O lea, a ou ole atu I se mea, tusa poo le mea o loo ou ole atu e ono le mafaia, e na te foai mai ia te au aua e leai se pa puipui o mea ou te ole atu ai e tusa ma lona finagalo (1 Ioane 5:14-15). Le au pele, aua nei iai se masalosalo pe a oo I le Atua. Aua le taumafai e fia malamalama I mea e mafai ona ia faia poo le auala foi e na te faia ai. Na o le talitonu ma faatuatua. Talitonu a iai le Atua, e mafaia, ma e faia lava, I le suafa o Iesu, Amene. 

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord.Psalm 109Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons2 Kings 18:9-25English Standard Version9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”'”1 Corinthians 8English Standard Version8 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsProper 21O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

1. The first step is to be aware of your struggles. Acknowledge we all have struggles and that you are not alone. That the enemy wants us to believe his lie. We let pride get in the way and then we suffer in silence walking around with a mask. Fake to be okay when we really are not okay but that's where the enemy wants us to be. Romans 12:1-2Father, I present my body to You as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to You, which is my spiritual service of worship. I will not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of my mind, that I may prove what the will of God is.I Corinthians 2:16I have the mind of Christ; therefore I can know the thoughts of my Lord that He may instruct me.Ephesians 4:23-24I am renewed in the spirit of my mind and I put on the new self, which in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.II Timothy 1:7Father, I thank You that I do not have a spirit of fear, but I have a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of a sound, strong, firm, safe, stable and disciplined mind which produces Godly thoughts.I Corinthians 13:7I set my mind to believe, bear, hope, and endure all things.Colossians 3:2I set my mind on things above, not on things on the earth.Joshua 1:5-9I am strong and courageous, I will not fear or tremble or be dismayed. God's Word will never stop being spoken out of my mouth, for I meditate on the Word of God day and night and I am careful to do all that God commands, therefore success and prosperity are mine now!Isaiah 54:14, 17I am established in righteousness. I am far from oppression in my mind; and fear and terror will not come near me to control me. No weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that accuses me in judgment shall be shown to be in the wrong.Colossians 3:15I let the peace of God rule in my heart and mind and I am thankful to God in all things.Philippians 4:7-8Father, I thank You that the peace of God, which surpasses all knowledge, is guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. I command my mind to dwell only on that which is true, honorable, pure, lovely, excellent, and worthy of praise.I Corinthians 2:16I have the mind of Christ.

Ephesians 6:10–24I. Final Charge toward Spiritual Strength, Stability, and Prayer – 10-20II. Final Greetings toward Peace, Love, Faith, and Grace – 21-24

July 12, 2024 Today's Reading: Galatians 1:1-24Daily Lectionary: Judges 7:1-23; Judges 7:24-12:15; Galatians 1:1-24I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Imagine sitting in a church, and your pastor starts the sermon by greeting you with "Grace and peace to you," but then suddenly switches to a serious tone and asks, "What are you people thinking? Have you lost your mind? Have you gone crazy?" You would probably be taken aback, right? But that's exactly what the apostle Paul did with the Galatians. And there was a good reason for it. The Galatians were on the verge of losing the only true Gospel to save them from eternal damnation. False teachers had distorted the Gospel of grace in Christ into a religion of works, and the Galatians had fallen prey to it. Paul's stern tone was meant to shock them into realizing the gravity of the situation, and he went on to explain why only one Gospel saves. This message is just as important for us today as it was for the Galatians back then. False teachers are still out there, trying to twist and distort the true Gospel of Christ into something else.Paul simply points the Galatians back to Christ, who gave Himself for our sins. By His death on the cross, He delivered us from “the present evil age.” He took the punishment we deserved and suffered death under God's judgment in our place. He is our righteousness, our redemption, and the atonement for our sins. Paul was rather serious with the Galatians over their corrupt gospel. It simply was not acceptable in his sight or the sight of God. Likewise, your pastor might seem serious and even narrow-minded when teaching and preaching the Gospel. There is a reason for all of this; no other Gospel can save us apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord Jesus Christ, giver and perfecter of our faith, we thank and praise You for continuing among us the preaching of Your Gospel for our instruction and edification. Send Your blessing upon the Word, which has been spoken to us, and by Your Holy Spirit increase our saving knowledge of You, that day by day we may be strengthened in the divine truth and remain steadfast in Your grace. Give us strength to fight the good fight and by faith to overcome all temptations of Satan, the flesh and the world so that we may finally receive the salvation of our souls; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen  (Prayer For blessing on the Word, LSB 308)-Rev. Kent Schaaf is pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Little Rock, AR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.Your favorite study Bible is now available in a simple, intuitive app on your device! Distinctively Lutheran notes on the full ESV text, helpful articles, and custom user settings offer an engaging experience in God's Word anywhere you go. Download The Lutheran Study Bible App.

REPLAY OF PODCAST THEORY LIVE 7.9.24I've been part of the podcasting world in one way, shape, or form since 2015 and, without question, I've seen a lot of things change, evolve, even go away completely.Yesterday, I was building out a new video series and reflecting on how far I've come over the past decade in regards to confidence, delivery, speaking ability, and sharing my message in a clear, concise fashion.It got me wondering: if I was coming into podcasting right now, for the very first time, what would I do differently today that I didn't do 10 years ago? On this episode of Podcast Theory Live, I'm going to share my thoughts. If you're in the position of getting a new podcast launched or just broke into the podcasting scene, come learn from my mistakes so you can do things better than me!____________________________________Every weekday, I go live on the Bombtrack Media YouTube channel for new episodes of Podcast Theory Live featuring tips, strategies, and commentary focused on the world of podcasting.Please subscribe on YouTube and click the bell so you can join me and interact while these episodes unfold. But just in case you miss the sessions live, they'll be available on YouTube in the archives, as well as your favorite podcast streaming and listening apps under Season 4.There's only one way to feel like a VIP and elevate your podcasting game at the same time: book a Podcast VIP Experience with me today! Get all the details at bombtrackmedia.com/vipThank you for being part of the Podcast Theory experience! Past seasons of this podcast include:Season 1: 125 episodes of podcasting tips and strategies (known as Pod Theory)Season 2: Debunking Myths & Misconceptions of Podcasting (known as Pod Theory)Season 3: A Deep Look at Solo Podcasting (known as Solo Podcasting Simplified)Season 4: Replays of daily livestreams that take place every weekday on YouTubeGet hands-on, comprehensive assistance with your podcast efforts. Click here to learn moreCurrent Theme Music courtesy of Alex Grohl via pixabay.comPodcast Theory is A Bombtrack Media Production

REPLAY OF PODCAST THEORY LIVE FROM 6.11.24I came into 2024 knowing I wanted to make livestreaming a part of my production process...I just wasn't sure where it would fit and how I should proceed.Where I landed was doing a weekly livestream called Let's Blow This Up Live, an extension of my new podcast, aptly named Let's Blow This Up.I immediately fell in love with the process of livestreaming and knew I needed more!Hence, Podcast Theory Live, the very livestream you're consuming as we speak, was born.Now, admittedly, I'm still new at this. Yes, I've been podcasting for nearly a decade, but going live on a consistent basis is still a new venture (Let's Blow This Up Live started May 8th, 2024, just a tad over a month removed from the production of today's daily livestream).In no way, shape, or form am I an expert...but I've definitely learned a few things to this point that I'd like to share. Perhaps it's JUST the piece of advice you need to hear to get your own livestream up and running.____________________________________Every weekday, I go live on the Bombtrack Media YouTube channel for new episodes of Podcast Theory Live featuring tips, strategies, and commentary focused on the world of podcasting.Please subscribe on YouTube and click the bell so you can join me and interact while these episodes unfold. But just in case you miss the sessions live, they'll be available on YouTube in the archives, as well as your favorite podcast streaming and listening apps under Season 4.Set yourself up for podcasting success! Schedule a Podcast Strategy VIP Day today. Visit bombtrackmedia.com/vip to get startedThank you for being part of the Podcast Theory experience! Past seasons of this podcast include:Season 1: 125 episodes of podcasting tips and strategies (known as Pod Theory)Season 2: Debunking Myths & Misconceptions of Podcasting (known as Pod Theory)Season 3: A Deep Look at Solo Podcasting (known as Solo Podcasting Simplified)Season 4: Replays of daily livestreams that take place every weekday on YouTubeGet hands-on, comprehensive assistance with your podcast efforts. Click here to learn moreCurrent Theme Music courtesy of Alex Grohl via pixabay.comPodcast Theory is A Bombtrack Media Production

Emily breaks down the 5 traits all high quality leaders posses and how to attract them to your team, if you aren't one yourself.P.S. If you haven't signed up yet for Ignite Week 3.0 and you're wanting to dive deeper on how to attract HIGH QUALITY people to your business, Emily will be breaking down lead generation, her 5 step method to attract TOP LEADERS to your business (even if you aren't one yourself), and how to leverage video to bring in new customers, business builders, and top leaders (along with her MEGA LIST of closing flowcharts that I've never let out to the light of day before). We start ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!Click here to register: https://emilygibsoncoaching.com/step/secrets-of-sales-24I'm here to show you how to get to your next rank. The best part is that you won't need to lose your friends, ruin family relationships, or kill yourself working 24/7 and hit burnout to make it to the top. You don't have to have a giant network or be savvy with social media. It's not that it's going to be all rainbows and daisies, but it will not be as hard for you as it was for me because you will have me to show you a better way. I can get you there safely and faster, and that's what you really want. You ready?

If you get sweaty palms and worry about what people will think when you post, go live, and show up on social media, you're not alone! On this episode, I will teach you my 3 step system for calming down your nervous system to be able to take action quicker with peace and connection that you never thought you could have with social.Want all of my workbooks and social media super class hacks?! You HAVE to come to IGNITE WEEK: Secrets of Sales 3 Day Challenge! Early bird pricing ends THIS FRIDAY 5/31! Click below to snag your tickets before prices go up:https://emilygibsoncoaching.com/step/secrets-of-sales-24I'm here to show you how to get to your next rank. The best part is that you won't need to lose your friends, ruin family relationships, or kill yourself working 24/7 and hit burnout to make it to the top. You don't have to have a giant network or be savvy with social media. It's not that it's going to be all rainbows and daisies, but it will not be as hard for you as it was for me because you will have me to show you a better way. I can get you there safely and faster, and that's what you really want. You ready?

Three years of Summoning your Superhuman! 22.2.24I share my reflections and humble beginnings, my disappointments and achievements. And where to from here...Tune in and enjoy this short & sweet episode in tribute to S.Y.S 3 year birth-day special :)With love, Ria Mestiza

Today's episode emphasizes the importance of seeing yourself as God sees you. It discusses the negative impact of self-hatred, self-rejection, and low self-esteem and encourages listeners to adopt God's beliefs about themselves. By aligning your thoughts with God's perspective and rejecting negative self-talk, you can experience spiritual freedom and embrace your true identity as a loved and valued individual. Please leave me a review on Apple Podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-liz-show/id1629109236Here is a sampling of what God says about you:I am a new creation in Him! 2 Cor. 5:17I am reconciled in Christ! My message is reconciliation and freedom. 2 Cor 5:18-19I am righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:24I have been born again by the Holy Spirit: John 3:3-6I am saved by grace as a gift, not because of my performance. Ephesians 2:8I radiate light wherever I go. Matthew 5:14I am a child of the light and the day. 1 Thessalonians 5:5I am the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13I am a vessel of Divine Light.2 Corinthians 4:6I am chosen and called by God to produce fruit. John 15:16I am a co-heir with Christ. Romans 8:17I have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16I am a disciple of the Most High. Acts 16:17The shadow of your wings protects me. Psalm 17:8 ***LET'S CONNECT:*** Website: ElizabethLouis.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethLouisCoachingInstagram: instagram.com/elizabethlouiscoachingYoutube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/ElizabethLouis Linkedin personal profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louiselizabeth/

No good deed goes unpunished and no well-intentioned government loan program goes undefaulted upon, even more so when that government program was designed and implemented in the chaotic early days of the COVID lockdowns.We've all seen the headlines, but what do the numbers say, what sort of businesses have been defaulting on COVID loans in the UK? Well, Dr Maurizio Fiaschetti is writing the paper on it - along with Drs Ahmed Barakat, Meryem Duygun, Eddie Gerba (PhD), Tian Han, Enrico Onali, Afshin Sabri, Mike Tsionas and Huamao Wang - so I sat down with him to learn more.You can reach out to Maurizio at https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurizio-fiaschetti-6979073/ to learn more about the research and the publication scheduleIf you're interested in studying further at UCL, or indeed in reading their research, you can find the Institute of Finance & Technology at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-finance-technology/ucl-institute-finance-technologyAnd they're also on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ucl-institute-of-finance-and-technology/)Surprise, surprise, LinkedIn is also where you'll find me, and when you do, send me a connection request: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrangeMy action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this very show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24I met Maurizio while in Edinburgh at the 18th meeting of the Credit Scoring and Credit Control Conference - the next one is in two years' time and it's well-worth planning for. In the meantime, follow the CRC's work at https://www.crc.business-school.ed.ac.uk/homeIf you have any feedback or questions, or if you would like to participate in the show, please feel free to reach out to me via the contact page on this site.Keep well, Brendan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord.Psalm 109Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons1 Maccabees 3:42-60New Revised Standard Version Updated EditionNow Judas and his brothers saw that misfortunes had increased and that the forces were encamped in their territory. They also learned what the king had commanded to do to the people to cause their final destruction. But they said to one another, “Let us restore the ruins of our people and fight for our people and the sanctuary.” So the congregation assembled to be ready for battle and to pray and ask for mercy and compassion.Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness;    not one of her children went in or out.The sanctuary was trampled down,    and strangers held the citadel;    it was a lodging place for the nations.Joy was taken from Jacob;    the flute and the harp ceased to play.Then they gathered together and went to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because Israel formerly had a place of prayer in Mizpah. They fasted that day, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes. And they opened the book of the law to inquire into those matters about which the nations consulted the likenesses of their gods. They also brought the vestments of the priesthood and the first fruits and the tithes, and they stirred up the nazirites who had completed their days, and they cried aloud to heaven, saying,“What shall we do with these?    Where shall we take them?Your sanctuary is trampled down and profaned,    and your priests mourn in humiliation.Here the nations are assembled against us to destroy us;    you know what they plot against us.How will we be able to withstand them,    if you do not help us?”Then they sounded the trumpets and gave a loud shout. After this Judas appointed leaders of the people in charge of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. Those who were building houses or were about to be married or were planting a vineyard or were fainthearted, he told to go home, according to the law. Then the army marched out and encamped to the south of Emmaus.And Judas said, “Arm yourselves and be courageous. Be ready early in the morning to fight with these nations who have assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. It is better for us to die in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. But as his will in heaven may be, so shall he do.”Revelation 21:9-21English Standard VersionThen came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsProper 28Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Nearly two out of every three Colombian jobs are in the informal economy! That's a huge number that needs to come down, and no doubt it will, but until then, someone really needs to bring the benefits of formal financing to the small business owners in the informal sector. Enter Quipu with whose AI-powered loan decisions "growing is easier, fairer and more alternative".You can find Viviana on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/viviana-siless/There's a Quipu page there, too, https://www.linkedin.com/company/quipulatam/ but there's even more information on their homepage over at https://quipu.com.co/I am on LinkedIn, too, so feel free to find me and send me a connection request there: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrangeMy action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this very show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24I met Viviana while in Edinburgh at the 18th meeting of the Credit Scoring and Credit Control Conference - the next one is in two years time and it's well-wroth planning for. In the meantime, follow the CRC's work at https://www.crc.business-school.ed.ac.uk/home If you have any feedback or questions, or if you would like to participate in the show, please feel free to reach out to me via the contact page on this site.Keep well, Brendan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord.Psalm 109Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons2 Kings 18:9-25English Standard Version9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”'”1 Corinthians 8English Standard Version8 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsProper 21O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________ Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord.Psalm 109Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons2 Samuel 14:21-33English Standard Version21 Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.” 22 And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage and blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.” 23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 24 And the king said, “Let him dwell apart in his own house; he is not to come into my presence.” So Absalom lived apart in his own house and did not come into the king's presence.25 Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 26 And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king's weight. 27 There were born to Absalom three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a beautiful woman.28 So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king's presence. 29 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king, but Joab would not come to him. And he sent a second time, but Joab would not come. 30 Then he said to his servants, “See, Joab's field is next to mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire.” So Absalom's servants set the field on fire. 31 Then Joab arose and went to Absalom at his house and said to him, “Why have your servants set my field on fire?” 32 Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.'” 33 Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.Acts 21:15-26English Standard Version15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsProper 14Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Support Common Prayer Daily @ PatreonVisit our Website for more www.commonprayerdaily.com_______________Wednesday - Proper 7Opening Words:“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”Psalm 19:14 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Venite (Psalm 95:1-7)Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. Come, let us sing to the Lord; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving * and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.For the Lord is a great God, * and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the caverns of the earth, * and the heights of the hills are his also.The sea is his, for he made it, * and his hands have molded the dry land.Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: Come let us adore him. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord. Psalm 109Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lessons1 Samuel 7:2-17English Standard Version2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord. Acts 6English Standard Version6 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; * he has come to his people and set them free.He has raised up for us a mighty savior, * born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, * from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers * and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, * to set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship him without fear, * holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, * for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, To give his people knowledge of salvation * by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God * the dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, * and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsProper 7O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Collect of Saint BasilO Christ God, Who art worshipped and glorified at every place and time; Who art long-suffering, most merciful and compassionate; Who lovest the righteous and art merciful to sinners; Who callest all to salvation with the promise of good things to come: receive, Lord, the prayers we now offer, and direct our lives in the way of Thy commandments. Sanctify our souls, cleanse our bodies, correct our thoughts, purify our minds and deliver us from all affliction, evil and illness. Surround us with Thy holy angels, that guarded and instructed by their forces, we may reach unity of faith and the understanding of Thine unapproachable glory: for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

You may or may not know this, but in addition to hosting our podcast, I recently started hosting the free webinars Beyond BookSmart offers to help teach people about executive function skills and related challenges. We have panelists who add their insight and perspective and we cover a wide variety of topics but in a live setting, it's such a blast and I really love being able to connect with more people who are excited to learn about Executive Function skills and discover how life changing they can be to work on. We thought it would be fun to bring the audio from our latest webinar, “Your Kid's Not Lazy: How to Unlock Motivation Through Executive Function” to our Focus Forward listeners and share some bonus content for those who happened to be among the 1300 people who registered.This past week's webinar was all about motivation, how it works, their related Executive Function skills and challenges and some tools and strategies you can use to help make motivation a little easier for your kids and/or yourself. Throughout our webinars, we always invite people to ask questions using the q&a feature on Zoom and then we answer as many as we can at the end of the presentation on the feature topic. For this webinar, there were so many great questions left after we finished up the webinar and we really, really wanted to answer as many as we could. So, I invited our panelists, Amy McDuffie and Vin Kachurik to join me the day after to help answer a whole bunch more. Keep listening after the webinar audio to hear our bonus conversation. We cover all sorts of topics, including motivating kids with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, college survival skills, and self-advocacy, and using planners and calendars to support that planning, prioritizing and time management executive function skills. I really hope you enjoyed today's episode, and that you learn about motivation and its challenges, which is something I think we can all relate to. The new section starts around 44:08 if you want to skip right to it! If you're interested in actually attending the webinars live, you can find more about them in the resources section of our website, BeyondBookSmart.com. They're always free and we put a ton of work into them to make sure they're truly useful, relevant and relatable.In the meantime, here are some resources related to the episode: Full recording of the webinarMichael Delman's book, Your Kid's Gonna Be OkayBlog on ADHD & MotivationLink to agenda and webinar slides: Info about Executive Function coachingSupporting College Students - including Covey QuadrantsHow to Increase Motivation With ADHD: 10 Tips From Treatment ExpertsDr. Lisa Damour's Advice for Motivation to Do HomeworkContact us!Reach out to us at podcast@beyondbooksmart.comIG/FB/TikTok @beyondbooksmartcoachingTranscript:Hannah Choi 00:04Hi everyone, and welcome to Focus Forward, an executive function Podcast where we explore the challenges and celebrate the wins, you'll experience as you change your life by working on improving your executive function skills. I'm your host, Hannah Choi. You may not know this, but in addition to hosting our podcast, I recently started hosting the free webinars Beyond BookSmart offers to help teach people about executive function skills and related challenges. We have panelists who add their insight and perspective and we cover a wide variety of topics. It's kind of like Focus Forward live. It's such a blast. And I really love being able to connect with more people who are excited to learn about EF skills, and how life changing working on them can be. Hannah Choi 00:47We thought it would be fun to bring the audio from our webinars to our Focus Forward listeners. There's just such good stuff in there, and I wanted you all to be able to hear it too. If you're interested in actually attending the webinars live, you can find more about them in the resources section of our website, beyondbooksmart.com. They're always free. And we put a ton of work into them to make sure they're truly useful, relevant and relatable. So this past week's webinar was all about motivation, how it works, the related EF skills and challenges and some tools and strategies to use to help make motivation a little easier for our kids and ourselves. Throughout our webinars, we always invite people to ask questions using the Q&A feature on Zoom. And then we answer as many as we can at the end of the presentation on the feature topic. And this past week, there were so many great questions left after we finished up the webinar, and we really, really wanted to answer as many as we could. So I met up with our panelists, Amy and Vin, the next morning to continue answering them. So keep listening after the webinar audio to hear our conversation. We cover all sorts of topics, including motivating kids with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, college survival skills and self advocacy, and using planners and calendars to support that planning, prioritizing and time management executive function skills. I really hope you enjoy today's episode, and that you learn about motivation and its challenges, which is something I think we can all relate do. The audio begins when I introduce our panelists, I figure you wouldn't want to listen to all the housekeeping stuff that I covered in the beginning. And if you attended the webinar, so you've already heard the audio from it, you can jump ahead to 44 minutes to hear these Q&A questions. And now on to the show. Hannah Choi 02:39All right, let's get to know our panelists. Both of our panelists tonight are Beyond BookSmart coaches, and they also provide additional support to both our coaches and our clients caregivers as Executive Function Consultants. And first up, we have Vin Kachurik joining us from Ohio. Vin please tell us about yourself and your roles at Beyond BookSmart.Vin Kachuik 03:01Hi everybody. As mentioned, my name is Vin Kachurik. I use they/them pronouns. I live on a farm in Ohio with my spouse and my elderly Greyhound, he's sleeping over here next to me. I'm an executive function coach and consultant here at Beyond BookSmart. And prior to this, I taught creative and academic writing at the college level for about 10 years. Though, given that most of my students were first years, I feel like a lot of my classes would have been better titled "How to survive college 101". I feel like I spent as much time teaching students to manage the challenge of college as I did teaching them writing. But that experience really helped me develop a lot of the skills that I use now, experience that I hope will be helpful to you today.Hannah Choi 03:43Yes, absolutely. Thanks, Vin. It's really great to have you here with us tonight. Next on our panel is Amy McDuffie joining us from North Carolina. Amy, can you please share your background and the work you do at Beyond BookSmart?Amy McDuffie 03:56Yes, thank you, Hannah. Hi, everyone. I have been a coach with Beyond BookSmart for the past two years. And I'm also a member of our hiring team and an executive function consultant. I use she/her pronouns and my background is in special education, specifically in behavior and learning disabilities working with students from elementary through high school. I'm also a former behavior specialist supporting students from kindergarten through eighth grade with a focus on social emotional learning. I'm also the parent of two pretty awesome teens. I have a 14 year old daughter and a 17 year old son. And I'm so glad that you all are here and I'm really excited to be with you.Hannah Choi 04:39Thank you and welcome, Amy. All right. So let's get started. Motivation itself is not an executive function skill, but it is supported by and made much easier by a bunch of EF skills. If you hear me say EF it's short for executive function. Cognitive flexibility is needed to imagine a future state that is different from now and come up with ways to achieve it. Working memory helps to keep that future goal in mind. organization and planning are needed to sequence the actions to get ourselves to that future state. And task initiation gets it all going. And emotional regulation helps us maintain optimism and persevere despite setbacks. So it's not really surprising that kids with EF weaknesses or ADHD can have concurrent issues with motivation. However, these underlying executive function challenges are often to ignore are often ignored, or unrecognized, or worse, misconstrued as laziness. So all of these EF skills that help with motivation live in the prefrontal cortex, our thinking brain, it's right behind your forehead. So if we have these prefrontal cortexes and EF skills that are supposed to be helping with motivation, why is it still so hard to get motivated? For kids, one huge part of the answer to that question is that their executive function skills are still developing, they're still emerging. And these skills don't fully develop until our mid to late 20s. So in addition to not having access to fully developed EF skills, they also don't have as many years of experience as we do, and learning like what works and what doesn't work. And remembering this can help us be empathetic to our children when they're struggling with motivation. They're not doing it intentionally, or to be contrary, although it can feel that way. They're lacking the skills. And when we view their behavior only through our adult lens, it can set up unrealistic expectations for them. Hannah Choi 06:44Our motivation, and the related EF skills can also be impacted by systems in the brain. The limbic system, and especially the amygdala, which detects threats cannot differentiate between real threats like a car accident, or a bear attack, and perceived threats, like a lot of homework or having to clean your room. And so the limbic system detects the threats, and then says, "Alert, alert, get out of here or fight back, because this does not feel good". And in doing this, it actually hijacks the thinking part of our brain, and it sucks energy and blood and oxygen away from it, and makes it harder, sometimes even impossible to access our EF skills, which as we know, we need to motivate ourselves to do the things we don't want to do. So managing our emotions so that we can stay in the thinking part of our brain is a huge part of conquering motivation. So stay tuned, because we're going to cover the executive function skill of emotional regulation benefit. Another really, really, really important thing to look at is the ADHD brain, and how motivation is impacted by ADHD. Amy, you are our ADHD expert. Can you explain this for us?Amy McDuffie 08:00Yes, thanks, Hannah. So there's some fascinating research on the impact of ADHD on motivation. And understanding these dynamics can really help us to empathize with individuals with ADHD. So ADHD is associated with lower levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. And this changes how the ADHD brain perceives both reward and pleasure, which causes a lack of enthusiasm for starting or completing tasks. So this might be one reason you have difficulty with motivation if you have ADHD. And this can also mean that kids with ADHD experience much more frustration and failure than they do success, which has a negative impact on their self perception and also increases stress. So this can become a real barrier to getting started, it can become a self reinforcing negative cycle, and also results in less efficient processing because all that stress just makes the brain shut down. And another big difference in the ADHD brain involves the brain structure called the default mode network, which is the part of the brain that activates when we're daydreaming or not focused on a task or activity. And when the brain is directed towards a task or goal, the default network deactivates. But in ADHD, this part of the brain is more often activated, which leads to your focus constantly being pulled away from what you're doing in the moment, and toward completely unrelated thoughts. So that explains why staying focused on really tedious or repetitive tasks can be such a chore with ADHD. It really isn't a matter of will, it's a matter of neurology, and that's why brain based interventions can be really effective for individuals with ADHD. Hannah Choi 09:56Yes, thank you so much, Amy for that. I know it really helps me to understand what's going on in the brain. And I always work with my clients to help them understand. So I hope you all found that helpful too. And if you're concerned that the causes of lack of motivation in you or your child run deeper than EF challenges or ADHD, please reach out to a mental health provider to explore the possibility of depression or another diagnosis. Hannah Choi 10:25Okay, so now that we have a better understanding of how executive function challenges and learning differences, like ADHD can impact motivation, we can see how the label of "laziness" is often unfair. Yet, it can often go a step further, being repeatedly told you're lazy, can weave itself into our perception of ourselves and our inner narrative, like Amy said, and it makes it harder to break free from the label, as you may even begin to believe it yourself. And this is where having someone you can rely on for support, who's outside of yourself, who doesn't have the same perspective of you. And that becomes essential, they can help break those narratives and introduce new habits and ways of thinking. And I know this comes up often for us coaches, and so Vin, could you share a little bit about how you approach breaking that negative narrative with your coaching clients?Vin Kachuik 11:17Yeah, I'm happy to. So as Amy and Hannah both mentioned, that negative thought cycle can be really, really debilitating. So one of the first things I focus on with clients is finding and celebrating those easy wins. My favorite approaches to this are things like acknowledging overlooked successes, and also finding simple goals that are fairly quick to accomplish with little support. So for instance, if a client tells me that every day they get up with their alarm, I am just over the moon for them like to do that consistently is an absolutely amazing skill. It's a solid routine they can build other routines off of and it obviously not everybody can do that. And this shifts the perspective from what the client is not doing that largely comes from those expectations to what they are doing, showing them that they have skills and strengths to be confident in. And if that same client tells me that they want to do something like keep their clothes off the floor, but they just can't start that task of picking them, picking them up and organizing them. A simple win could be just taking the time to say, let's try it now and see what we can get done. There's no expectation of completion of the task here. The goal is to take some of the stress out of just initiating that task, and celebrate whatever progress comes of it, which can often be enough to sort of break that negative mindset. With both of these approaches, though, I always try to understand why the client wants to accomplish a certain task. Because often what reinforces the negative cycle are expectations that don't value the same things that our clients do. undervaluing the ability to consistently get up with your alarm makes the very tools that can help our clients seem worthless to them. And overvaluing. A tidy room can negatively incentivize our clients to prioritize a task that isn't really important to them and often sets them up for failure. So to kind of put it simply -"too long, didn't read", to help turn someone's negative narrative into a positive narrative set up and celebrate an easy win to show them their value, and then reflect on what they value and why.Hannah Choi 13:36Thank you so much. And I love that someone submitted this request with their webinar registration, which I think many of us will relate to. And it also gets to the "why" that Vin was just talking about. One registrant wrote, "Please help me understand why my son can be so motivated to get schoolwork done, but says that closing his dresser drawers and picking clothes up off the floor or cooking himself oatmeal is too much work". This is such a great question because it illustrates how much motivation is affected by whether we want to do this thing or not, whether it's important to us or not. And our parent perspective sure can be very different from our kid's, or even our partner's. So in this example, the student is more motivated to do schoolwork than household tasks. And it may be because his schoolwork is just more important to him. But to his parent, those household tasks are also really important. So how can we reconcile these differences in perspectives? Let's check in with our coaches to see what they have to say.Amy McDuffie 14:44All right, so I want to talk to you about a tool called HALT which stands for hungry, angry or anxious, lonely and tired, which I find to be really helpful to use this tool. These are all general triggers that can lead to poor self-control. And this is a good tool to use before addressing those differences in perspectives and just communication in general. You know, we all know that if someone initiates an important conversation when we're exhausted or haven't eaten all day, it's so much harder to receive the information and have a productive conversation. We're just not as great at communicating when those needs aren't met. And speaking of communicating with our kids, I know that we all want to help to problem solve to jump in and be a fixer. But we really have to remind ourselves that listening is the most important thing we can do when our kids open up to us. And this requires us to really tune in and avoid focusing on our own responses while our kids share their struggles with us. Our colleague, Denise taught me the acronym "WAIT" which stands for "Why Am I Talking?" as a reminder to just listen, we also have to remember that our kids experiences are very different from ours, we really have no idea what it's like to grow up in 2023. And it's just not helpful to operate from the place of "When I was your age...".Vin Kachuik 16:17That's so true, Amy, thank you. And another tool to kind of go along with that that I like a lot for this is Covey quadrants, Covey quadrants or sometimes referred to as the Covey Time Management Matrix, or the Eisenhower Matrix - it's got a lot of names- for prioritizing time, and tasks. So essentially, each task is classified by its urgency and importance, which then organizes it in to one of the four quadrants shown here. So quadrant one is the urgent and important quadrant, it's the top priority, the thing you really need to get done now. An example might be the big math exam is tomorrow, and you need to prepare. The action for this is do it to the best of your ability, complete that task as you can. But keep in mind that putting too many tasks in this quadrant can be overwhelming, and often causes burnout, which may be why, you know, in the question, the kid was like, "Oh, I can't make oatmeal, but I can do my homework". Well, that's because that quadrant was already full. In quadrant two, the not urgent but important quadrant. That's for things like keeping up with an exercise routine. The action for that is scheduled it. This is something that you want to make as routine as you possibly can. And because this is where the deep work and skill building really happens and where most people tend to be at their best. Quadrant three, urgent but not important. Something like it's garbage day, your chores need to be done tonight. An action for that is to either delegate it or ask for help with it. This quadrant often involves learning to set boundaries, and advocating for yourself by asking for help when it's needed, or learning to say no to what you can't accomplish. And lastly, Quadrant Four, the not urgent and not important quadrant. That's for things like watching Tik Toks, or TV. The action for this is unfortunately "delete it". These are often low value instant gratification and avoidance coping strategies, which isn't to say you can never enjoy a little fun and leisure time, but just not to the detriment of other priorities. Vin Kachuik 18:36So if defining urgency and important importance feels a little too subjective to you, something you can do is use just a simple one to 10 rating scale to help clarify the value of each task. Using this framework allows us to better see and illustrate our own value systems. But the most important important part of this is following up with those tasks that aren't as valued. For instance, watching hours of Tik Toks not as an act of laziness or defiance, but recognizing it as a poor coping strategy when faced with a bunch of disorganized and overwhelming tasks that you don't know how to start or manage. Recognizing this provides an opportunity, like Amy was saying, to better understand differing perspectives, and reconcile those differences in expectations that can often lead to conflict.Hannah Choi 19:28Thank you for those, Vin and Amy. And the other strategy that may help with sharing expectations and understanding perspectives is family meetings. And there's a lot of great resources online for learning how to hold effective family meetings. And yes, you'll probably get some pushback from the kids but stick with it. The experts promise that it's worth it in the long run. And you'll want to keep that HALT tool in mind and make sure everyone is well fed and rested before you start the meeting. Hannah Choi 19:54All right, so now that we've learned about the development of executive function skills, motivation and the the brain and how differing perspectives can play a part? Let's look at some specific tools that can support motivation. As many of you asked about this, then and Amy, what are your favorite tools and strategies through their coaching clients to help them get motivated?Vin Kachuik 20:16Oh, so one of my favorite one, it's actually two tools, I use them together. It's a combination of first step and five minute goals. These are two of my absolute favorites. And I tell clients to use this all the time, I find is really effective for task initiation, which can often be the most challenging part of any task. As the name suggests, first step is all about finding the first step to a task that makes sense. And five minute goals makes doing that step seem a little bit more manageable by setting the expectation of only having to do that task for, you guessed it five minutes, after those five minutes, if it's not so bad, then you know, keep going, great. If you can't do it any more than just celebrate that you did at least five minutes of work, which is infinitely more than doing nothing. It seems simple and straightforward. But part of why this is so effective, is that more often than not, we tend to view tasks based on their last step, we make dinner, we finish our homework, we go for a run, and so on. And we lose sight of the initial steps that we need to get there, like deciding what to make for dinner, gathering homework, materials, and warming up for a run. But even knowing where to start isn't always enough to muster the motivation, especially when the steps that follow feel big and insurmountable. So this is really where five minute goals comes in, to better manage those expectations and keep the focus more on those short term steps that ultimately lead you to that task completion.Amy McDuffie 21:50Thanks, Vin, that's really helpful. Another tool that that I like to use to address motivation is called decisional balance. And this tool examines the potential benefits and costs of making a change, and also for keeping things the same. And this can really help determine why making the change or doing the thing is important to you. Even if it's something that you find really mundane, you know, thinking about, is there some bigger benefit down the road. You know, motivation can really be impacted about how we feel about a task. And I just think this is a really great tool. It also supports self regulation, metacognition, and even planning, prioritization and time management skills.Hannah Choi 22:37Yes, thank you, Amy. And I wanted to bring up Covey Quadrants one more time, because in addition to helping us understand each other's perspectives, as Vin shared with us, this tool can also help us with motivation. And by completing the activity of the covey quadrants, you practice the executive function skills of planning and prioritizing. And Covey quadrants can help you define what you truly need to work on first, and because sometimes it can feel like everything is urgent and important, which can make it hard to get started. And so Covey quadrants kind of helps you narrow it down. And it can also remind you of those quadrants and those activities, sorry, in quadrant four, which might provide temporary relief from the discomfort of doing the things in quadrant one and three. But in the long run, these activities can have negative consequences. They divert time away from the important and urgent tasks in quadrant one. And they also divert time away from those energy giving and rewarding activities that are in quadrant two. And if you're having trouble getting buy-in from your child, or even yourself, to do this whole Covey quadrant exercise, you might instead try simply making a list of everything that needs to get done. It sounds simple, but it really does help to get it out of your brain and onto paper. And just like Vin said, thinking about tasks as a whole can feel insurmountable, but seeing them written down one by one can help. Hannah Choi 24:04Okay, so let's quickly visit the emotional right? Let's quickly visit emotional regulation. That's an executive function skill that is key to pretty much everything. That was what we - I mentioned that back when we were talking about the brain. So as we learned, being able to regulate our emotions is a huge, huge piece of the motivation puzzle. And it's much harder to use our EF skills to complete or even start a task if our emotional brain is taking control of the situation, instead of our thinking brain. So panelists, would you please share your favorite emotional regulation tools that help us stay in our thinking brain?Vin Kachuik 24:46Yeah, sure. I'm personally a big fan of breathing - Need it to stay alive but some simple deep breathing techniques can also do wonders for emotional regulation, especially with just a little bit of practice. What I'm particularly fond of is the four by four square breathing technique. So you breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, and hold for four. And there's tons of other variations on that as well. There's ones with visuals, geometric visuals and meditations to follow and things like that. But what I find most effective about this is that it gives something specific to focus on the counting, or the visual gives you something specific. I hear a lot from my clients, especially those with ADHD, that they just they cannot meditate, because they can't keep their mind clear, there's just too many thoughts. And they don't know how to put them aside, counting using the four by four can aid that focus to practice deep breathing, even without a clear mind, and you still get the one of the most beneficial parts of meditation from that.Amy McDuffie 25:53I totally agree with you, Vin. Breathing is such an important tool for emotional regulation. And going back to our HALT tool for just a moment, I think we also need to be mindful of the role that sleep plays and emotional regulation, we can probably all attest to the effects of a poor night's sleep, you know, we tend to be so much more irritable and vulnerable to stress without sleep. So just a few tips for improving sleep, are sticking to a regular wakeup time each day, getting some sunshine in the morning, if possible. This really just helps to reset our internal clocks, and making your bed a sleep haven. So avoiding using it for work or homework. And also avoiding blue screen light because that really stimulates our brains. I also encourage clients to establish a bedtime routine that includes calming activities, leading up to that time, you know, something like reading or practicing that deep breathing. Even using an adult coloring book can be really soothing, really just anything that signals to our brains that we are preparing for sleep.Hannah Choi 27:04 Yes, so important. Thank you so much for sharing those, Amy and Vin, those I use those, they work very well for me. And I also need to make sure I get a lot of exercise. And I also noticed my kids do a lot better when they've been active. So something to remember is that with these emotional regulation tools, and any of the other tools we mentioned tonight, we have to practice them regularly for them to do us any good. They need to be able to come easily to us when we need them. And that's only going to happen if we practice them. And sometimes kids can be resistant to using external tools. So what we can do is normalize using them by using them ourselves. And we can show them like, "Hey, I'm gonna write this down. So I don't forget it" or "My day is going to be crazy. So I'm going to write down everything that I need to do". And so showing them that you can use those external tools and have it be really helpful. Okay, so we're going to jump into our Q&A, and see what questions we can answer for you. Thank you for dropping some in there. Let's see. Hey, Amy, would you like to share how we can teach executive function skills over the summer summers coming up?Amy McDuffie 28:15Sure. I think summer is a really great time as coaches to work with clients on EF skills, because it really gives us the opportunity to work with clients in a you know, low stakes, low pressure situation, you know, looking at what their goals are, what their interests are. Personally, I have really enjoyed coaching in the summer by tapping into clients' interests. Last summer, I worked with a client who wanted to learn how to create a graphic novel. So we took that project and, you know, basically identified all the tiny steps to take along the way to, you know, to reach the bigger goal of developing that graphic novel and worked in so many EF skills along the way. So, yeah, there's just so many fun things to do over the summer with coaching.Hannah Choi 29:11Great, thank you. All right. So let's see. Here's another one. What are some strategies to help kids who know what they are supposed to do and how, but still avoid the task because they find it boring, time consuming and not engaging for their level of intelligence?Vin Kachuik 29:30I can take that one. Hannah Choi 29:33Okay, thanks, Vin. Vin Kachuik 29:35There's so first of all, a little personal background from that -been there. And both personally and professionally. One of the best recommendations I have is, honestly, I had another layer of challenge to what they're doing. I mean, a lot of times creativity and intelligence kind of go hand in hand. And so there's a lot of opportunity to invite a creative perspective on how They approached that work, maybe, you know, taking it up a notch to do beyond what the assignment asks for. And to do part that something is a little bit more interest to them, even if it means a little bit more work, at least there'll be a little bit more engaged in doing that. And sometimes to the other option, that I find is that a lot of times, a lot of times clients and students who have done that, or struggle with that, they're not being challenged enough in other ways, even just beyond the classroom. So even just affording an opportunity prioritizing something that is more fun and stimulating to them, can kind of open them up to like, Okay, well, that was great. So I feel good. Now I can just tackle these other tasks. Easy peasy.Hannah Choi 30:48Yes,Amy McDuffie 30:49I love that. Hannah Choi 30:50All right, I see a question that I'm gonna steal. How do you stay motivated through transitions, my kids always struggle with change, and their already rocky systems tend to crumble? Yes, this is very tricky. I actually interviewed a licensed clinical social worker for this, her name is Rachel Hulstein-Lowe. And you can listen to that episode, if you go back a few episodes in there in our podcast. And yeah, we talked for a long time about that, and how challenging that really is. And those transitions can come, they can be expected transitions, like the beginning of the school year, the end of the school year holidays, or they can be unexpected transitions, like you have to move or, you know, just some some unexpected change that can happen. And the most important thing is to have some thing for your kids to fall back on. So they have like a really safe place at home, they feel really comfortable at home. So a lot of that, like validation and connection that we can make with our kids to to give them a safe place to feel to be. And then also the sleep, nutrition, exercise. Those three are huge. Without taking care of those, it's very difficult to manage those already rocky systems. And so it can sound silly to just to say that those are important, but they truly, truly are. And then also practicing some mindfulness can be really helpful too. So, you know, just take some time to be in your body and to see how you feel. And to just check in with that can also be really helpful with that emotional regulation that comes with those challenging transitions. Hannah Choi 32:36So, all right. Let's see. Um, let's see, how do you support a 10 year old who is reluctant to change? Anybody want want to dive in for that?Amy McDuffie 32:54I'm happy to jump in on that one.Hannah Choi 32:57Thanks, Amy.Amy McDuffie 32:57Thank you. Sure. So working with with a younger client who's reluctant to change, you know, I think it all comes down to just being able to connect with them and find out what's important to them, even at 10 years old, they're gonna have strong opinions and interests of their own. So I think it's really important to tap into that with them. And then, you know, also see, you know, what is motivating to them? What are they motivated by in their interests? And, you know, look at, you know, kind of bigger picture, like, do they see areas where, you know, of their strengths, what are their strengths and areas that they need to, you know, maybe potentially grow in. And if you're able to kind of, you know, access that that gives you an opportunity to really work with them on, you know, let's see where we can make some small changes and just kind of experiment with some making some changes and see what happens.Hannah Choi 33:59Yeah, and that's why when we work with our clients, we never, like give extra work or anything, we just work with what our clients are already doing. So that can be helpful to get that buy in and make that connection is, in some is meeting them where they are. Hannah Choi 34:20All right, let's see, oh, someone would like Vin to share a few more examples of how to increase engagement by adding a layer of challenge.Vin Kachuik 34:30Sure. So one that I like a lot, actually. And this helps in two ways is actually timing your work giving limited chunks of time to do it. So basically challenging, so like, how can you get this done in an hour? Yeah, you're smart. You're good at writing, right? You know, can you write this paper in an hour? I bet you can. Yeah. And not only so that does a couple of things. One, it gives them a time limit to stay focused on the task. so they don't sort of lose themselves in the weeds and get bored. And then again, adds that layer of challenge to it. But the other could be something along the lines of, you know, giving them the freedom and flexibility or challenging them to do extra research into what they're doing. You know, if they're doing a set of math problems they know how to do, and it's just really boring to them. Then you ask them to maybe find new math problems or harder math problems, ask them to explain those math problems, to you to be the authority to be the teacher is the all of these are really good ways to add an extra level of challenge and also responsibility that can kind of take them out of that. This is routine. This is boring, I don't want to do it, feeling.Hannah Choi 35:47Love it. Let's go back to the brain. Amy, you noted that low levels of neurotransmitters means that successes can be less reinforcing for those with ADHD. If this is the case, do small wins or other strategies help someone with ADHD initiate tasks?Amy McDuffie 36:06That is such a great question, isn't it? Yes, yes. So yes, the answer is yes. Those small wins, absolutely help someone with ADHD, initiate tasks. As coaches, our job is often to help clients recognize those small wins, I find that working with clients with ADHD, they tend to have more difficulty, you know, recognizing what the small wins are, or just not seeing not seeing them at all. And we really have to, you know, look for those small steps that they're taking, and help them to recognize that, you know, because that's a bigger part of the issue is, you know, the, the negative reinforcement that they've received, and, you know, kind of that perpetuating, you know, narrative, and, you know, experiences of failures. So, it really is helpful to recognize even what we consider those small wins to help them get started.Hannah Choi 37:08That's great. Thank you. All right. My child is entering college in the fall. Any tips to help prepare for this change? It's a big one.Vin Kachuik 37:20Oh, man. So there's, yeah, there's a lot college is crazy. There's a lot to prepare for, for that. Um, honestly, I think the biggest thing and the most price specific advice I can get give is self advocacy. It's navigating college is really a matter. Like, I there's this mentality, that when you go into college, you have to listen to what everybody else says and does all the time. But like they're there to serve you. You're paying to go there, your education is a matter of what you choose and get out of it. So there's a lot of self advocacy needed, especially in terms of saying, hey, I need help with this, Hey, I need help with that. How do I do this? And there's tons of resources on campus, the best and most successful students I've seen are the ones who are not afraid to walk into somebody's office and be like, Hey, can you help me? And like, nine times out of 10, that person will, because that's their job. That's what they're there to do. So tell them you know, really tell them, Don't be afraid. You are ruler of the roost, king of the castle, they're, they're there to help, you know, and you have to advocate for what you need.Hannah Choi 38:32Yes, I always encourag/make my college clients make sure that their teacher knows their name by the end of the second week. And it has come in handy. So many times when they've had to remember I had one client who had to miss midterm because she was really sick but because she had developed a relationship with a teacher, that teacher was completely understanding and was really gentle with her and allowed her to schedule it on a different day.Vin Kachuik 39:04And the more you talk, the more you self advocate that yes, yes. And absolutely. And it makes that whole process so much smoother.Hannah Choi 39:12Yes, a lot of feedback that I get from my college clients is that they were scared or really nervous to approach their teacher. But then afterwards, they realize, Oh, they're just human. And then they were not they realized that they didn't have to be nervous, and then it was just so easy to do it the next semester. Yeah. Something else that I recommend for for entering college is just understanding that 80/20 switch. So when you're in high school, you know, like, the 80% of it is done, maybe like in in school, or with a lot of support and then 20% of it you're going to do on your own, but it's the complete opposite in college and there's just 20% of support given and then you are sponsible for that other 80%. And that can be really shocking. I had a client say to me, I realized that I have to spread out my work over a few days, and not just do it all like the night before it's due, which is usually what we have to do in high school, just do it the night before it's due. So that's a good thing to keep in mind. Hannah Choi 40:18All right, um, okay, so since this webinar addresses kids, are there any suggestions for motivation that apply to adults? I just want to say that everything all of this can use for adults.Vin Kachuik 40:37Apps? Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, really, any of this, this, this is not stuff that's unique to kids. There's plenty of adults who struggle with this, I would say, probably the best suggestions I have are for really kind of going back to that self reflection and understanding your values value system. It can get very easy to get sucked into the rat race of doing things to other people's expectations, and to the detriment of yourself. So I would say the tools that we use, like HALT, you know, checking, regulating yourself that way, because you can't help anybody else. If you haven't helped yourself, it's like oxygen masks on an airplane. And, and honestly, also, the Covey quadrants are a great way to kind of break down your day and your routine and say, like, what is really important to me right now? Yeah, it literally addresses that what is important, because it can be easy to get lost in things like saying, Well, my work is important, doing the dishes are important. But maybe in a given moment, spending some time with your family is actually the thing that's most important, it gives you that that sense of longing, or that sense of sorry, family and like reduces that sense of longing that you may feel that loneliness and HALT, right, and also just strengthens those bonds.Hannah Choi 42:03I love that. All right. I think we have time for one more. Do you have a suggestion of digital planners or calendars for those who have reading and writing struggles, maybe dyslexia and ADHD, who need more executive function help?Amy McDuffie 42:21I'm happy to jump on this one, Hannah. Thanks, Amy. Sure, sure. So absolutely. Digital planners and calendars are so helpful. I highly recommend Google Calendar, it's easy to use, it syncs across devices. And you know, even you know, younger children with access can even utilize them as well. I utilize them with both of my children just with us planning events and appointments so that they know what's coming up. And it's really helpful. There are so many other apps to use. As planners as well, there's iStudiesPro, My Study Life, I know that that one is free, and I believe it was actually developed by a students with along with her mom, it's a really good one. And I know a lot of clients who also use the Todoist app as well. So there are just a number of them out there. And just on a personal level, I also really, I knew this is not digital, but I use a bullet journal for myself along with my Google calendar. And it's just a great way to kind of list out all of my to do's each day in conjunction with my calendar.Vin Kachuik 43:37I add one thing to that bullet journal. Yeah, they did the motivation. One of the things I love about physical planners, is I always suggest to my clients, customize them personalized for them, and stickers, raw all over them. Because honestly, we like pretty things. And if it's pretty attractive, we're gonna use it more. Absolutely.Hannah Choi 44:01I love it. That's my combo, too is the Google Calendar and a bullet journal can't live without it. Hannah Choi 44:08Okay, so this is where we ended our Q&A section of the webinar. Now keep listening to hear the rest of the conversation that I recorded with Amy and Vin the next morning, which I might add was Vin's first day of vacation. Thank you, Vin for taking some time out of your first day off to add your insights to our answers to these great questions. Hannah Choi 44:31Hey, Vin and Amy, welcome back. We had so many awesome questions at the end of last night's webinar that we just really wanted to get back into and answer some of them right. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for joining me again.Vin Kachuik 44:48Sure. Thanks so much. It was great last night. Yeah.Amy McDuffie 44:51It was so fun.Hannah Choi 44:54Yeah, people ask such good questions, too. I always wish we could see them. That's the one thing that I don't like about I did it. I feel a little disconnected from our audience. So. Vin Kachuik 45:04So that is the part that you miss. Yeah, getting that like good audience feedback is really?Hannah Choi 45:13Yeah, it's like everyone has masks on, right? Yeah. Yeah, so let's dive in. Let's see, what's the first one? All right, what are the strategies to develop motivation and teenagers with Oppositional Defiant Disorder? What a great question.Amy McDuffie 45:34That is a really, really good question, Hannah. Honestly, I think that the strategies are pretty much the same as what we have already discussed. But just knowing that it takes so much more time, a lot of patience, you know, to work through those strategies. And, you know, really sharpening this communication skills that we had talked about is really, really important here. And I think that, you know, any opportunities for, you know, autonomy, and, you know, giving the child ownership in the process is super important in these situations.Vin Kachuik 46:14Amy? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean interrupt. I just in the webinar last night, you talked about like, the there's a lot of talk about, like the neurotransmitters basically, acknowledging the bad more than the good a lot of times. And do you think that Oppositional Defiant Disorder, like one of the issues is that being told to do something takes away that feeling of personal success and value of the task? Because you're doing it for somebody else's expectation? And not really your own? That makes it feel like extra negative? I don't know, does that tie in at all?Amy McDuffie 46:46I think it does, because I think that, you know, again, that that piece of autonomy is so important here. So I think that's a really good point, then. And, you know, kind of going back to that, you know, negative track piece, I think that this is another situation where, I mean, that's a hard diagnosis to have for a kid. It really is. And, you know, I'm always concerned, like when I see that label of what the child's perception is, and what they understand about that. So I think that that's all really important to take into account here. And I really love I love working with, with teens and kids that, you know, have ODD because I feel like, it's such a great opportunity to really connect with them. And that is the most important piece and to build that trust. And just to get to know them as a person versus, you know, what the, you know, what the label says, or what the challenges are. And something that I have found to be really effective is, you know, really trying to set them up for opportunities for success, you know, what are their strengths? And, you know, giving them opportunities for leadership, you know, how can we build their self confidence, you know, to combat some of that, you know, the negative, you know, framing that they've had for however long.Vin Kachuik 48:13Ties back into those easy wins strategy, like acknowledging what they're good at? And yeah, what's that? What's an easy task that we can support that they can do well.Amy McDuffie 48:22exactly, exactly. Yeah,Hannah Choi 48:24I had a, I had a client who I started working with her when she was a junior, and then through her senior year, and she had oppositional defiant disorder. And, and I did notice that, in the beginning, it was, well, I just noticed that biggest change in our interactions and her openness to try new things, was after a while, and after she learned that she could really trust me, and that I was like, trying to help her build that autonomy. And it took a while, but I did see a big shift in in her. I don't know her willingness to work with me, and to work on making some change after we had developed a really strong rapport.Amy McDuffie 49:10That collaboration piece is just so so important here. So yeah, great,Vin Kachuik 49:16Honestly, that I feel like that kind of ties into, because I saw that a lot with like, college age clients back when I used to teach college too. There's that mindset of, well, I have to only do what I'm told and I can't do. Like, I'd like I can have autonomy. What is that? I don't know her. And, like, I think that really ties into a lot of the struggle kind of jumping ahead of like pursuing the support services in college that we were alluding to back in the webinar. Like, I know that admitting admitting that you need help, too, is also a really hard part of the process. And again, I feel like the autonomy and the trust are the big parts of getting somebody to admit that they need help, like knowing that they're not going to be chastised for it or, you know, like made fun of or torn down or anything like that. Because again, there's just there's so much I hesitate to say fragile ego. But when, when the systems that you've been taught aren't working for you, and you've spent your whole life feeling like you're behind everybody else, you know, where do you develop the self esteem and the self confidence? You know?Hannah Choi 50:32Yeah. All right. And actually, I love that we started talking about that, because that was one of our additional questions that we got last night, pursuing us support services in college. So that's great. We addressed that as well. All right, I'm kind of on the same theme. is starting school, a starting a new school, a good time to start new habits? Or is that too much? What are your thoughts on that?Amy McDuffie 51:00I love that question. I think it's the perfect time to start new habits, because you know, starting a new school or a new school year, I mean, that is that is a fresh start. So I feel like that's the perfect opportunity to try doing some things differently. You know, getting into a different routine, and establishing, you know, those habits, figuring out what works. So yeah, I think it's the perfect time. Hannah Choi 51:27I think Vin's point about like, small, small things, like start small, maybe not overhaul your entire life.Vin Kachuik 51:37But I think another advantage of starting fresh is that there's fewer bad habits to have to break or overcome. First. I mean, that's one of the things that's kind of difficult about habit building, we'd like to think in terms of like building good ones. But a lot of times that means overcoming bad one, yes. Once that we don't even realize or habit. Right? Right, right. So starting in a new situation, you're a little bit more self aware. Sometimes that translates to self conscious, which can be a little overwhelming, but you know, you're more aware of new surroundings and all of that. So I think it's easier to avoid falling back into bad habits and building new ones fresh, as long as you start small.Hannah Choi 52:18Yeah, yeah. And I think it's really important to take time to reflect on what your previous experience has been, and what you liked about that, what worked for you and what didn't work for you, and what you want to change in the future. Because if you can spend some time having that conversation with someone who's going to be really supportive and open for that conversation, it can really help to narrow down what you want to start with, like what, what small goals you want to set for yourself. So that self reflection piece is really helpful in that in that instance. Great,Vin Kachuik 52:56Aefinitely a challenge of habit building, though, is taking it not just starting small, but taking a theoretically, I'm just like thinking, I'm thinking of the example of like all the people who are like, you know, New Year's resolutions style habit building of like, I'm gonna start my new diet and go to the gym, and, you know, I'm gonna be perfect and all of that. And it's like, okay, good luck with that, because, like, new skills and habits, you know, and you're like, expecting results in a day and setting super high expectations, and it just doesn't work that way.Amy McDuffie 53:26Yeah. And I think that like, that's a big piece of starting, you know, starting anything new is also looking at, like, you know, what's likely to trip you up? What's likely to get in the way here of, of this working for me, because it's, I think it's really easy for us all to, you know, to set goals. And unless we look at like, really, what are the obstacles? And how do I address those? You know, I think we can not be as successful if we don't look at those pieces too.Vin Kachuik 53:57Reckless ambition, the dark side of motivation.Hannah Choi 54:02I always ask my clients is the goal that you're setting realistic and reasonable, right? Like, be honest, let's look at you know, all of your life experience so far, Is this realistic and reasonable? Because you want to set yourself up for success? Nothing worse than not reaching any of your goals because you've set them too big? Right? Hannah Choi 54:24Um, okay. Here's a coaching question. How often would someone need to meet with an executive functioning coach to make it effective? Once a week, every other week more than once a week? I think well, it just really depends on the client. I think once a week is a great starting place. Sometimes I've done twice a week, maybe broken that larger time down into smaller chunks. What about you guys?Amy McDuffie 54:54Yeah, I do think it's a good place to place to start Excuse me. You know, just depending on what the needs are, and you can always, you know, make adjustments from there.Hannah Choi 55:04I think what it comes down to is consistency. Right? Right. So whatever, whatever you determine is the right amount of sessions or the right duration or frequency. It's the consistency makes a huge difference. Very important with anything, right? Yeah. Yeah, true. Basically with anything.Amy McDuffie 55:23Yeah, keeping that momentum going is so important.Hannah Choi 55:28Yeah, yep. Yep. All right, once a child gets interested in something that they wanted to do, how do you keep them motivated to continue with it, like clubs, clubs or sports, they love the sport and playing, but they don't want to go to practice.Amy McDuffie 55:43Oh, my goodness, this is so familiar, Hannah, just as a parent. So my, my response to this might be a little, a little different. But I just having had personal experience with this in my home with my kids. I, you know, we do things a little differently now. And, you know, when there's interest in, let's say, playing soccer this season, you know, we sit down and have the conversation about what those expectations are, and what it means to commit to doing this thing. You know, there gonna be days where you don't feel like going or you don't want to go, or you're just not as interested at times. But you know, we really talk about is upfront expectations so that we know what we're getting into. And, and the follow through that, like, okay, so you want to do this, and, you know, we're committing to do this for the next couple of months. And that means going to practice and just kind of laying it all out there before, you know, officially signing on to take on this thing. And you know, beyond that, if you decide you don't ever want to do it again, that's totally fine. We can look at other things. But, you know, again, I think it comes down to just having those conversations upfront about the expectations. And, you know, it's another opportunity to look at, you know, look at the why, like, why do you want to do it, and also look at, you know, those opportunities for successes, you know, within whatever the activity they're doing.Hannah Choi 57:14Yeah, my kids, both my kids both play instruments. And so we deal with this a lot. They both been playing for a few years. And so it comes up a lot that they're just like, I don't want to practice. And something that something that is important to me is that it is okay for our kids to have discomfort. It is okay for them to to feel like, this doesn't feel good. And I don't want to do this. But I signed up, I made the commitment. So I have to do it. If we always protect our kids from those feelings, and then say, okay, you don't have to do it. I know you signed up for it. But now you don't have to do it. Because you don't want to. No, like, I think they need to follow through on the commitment that they made. And yeah, they're gonna feel some discomfort. But they're also, you know, like you said, the expectations were set up. So now they need to follow through. And there's so many lessons to be learned in that experience. Yeah, it feels awful. But hey, you're part of a team, or you made a commitment to your teacher or whatever, whatever that commitment is that you made. I do think it is a great opportunity to teach kids about learning about that.Amy McDuffie 58:31Absolutely. And about perseverance, too. So yeah,Vin Kachuik 58:35Yeah, that discomfort really like learning to sit with that discomfort, is what helps you switch your perspective, from have to, to get to, which is very important for keeping up with that consistency. Because if you think of it is just a burden or responsibility, like, I have to go to practice. Yeah, that may not be the fun part. The fun part, maybe the game, maybe you like the sense of competition, you'd like to, you know, high intense energy, or maybe you just like the performing part or playing around with your new instrument or whatever. Practice is hard, but it's what allows you getting to do that is what allows you to get to the fun parts as well. Hannah Choi 59:18Yeah, and be better at the fun part. Vin Kachuik 59:19Yes, it'd be better like it makes it more enjoyable. Hannah Choi 59:23Yeah. Yeah. My dad said to my daughter, he's a musician too. And he said, you know, what the, your motivation should be for practicing is so you don't feel like a jerk at rehearsal when you're the only person who can't keep up with the music. Practice so you feel confident at rehearsal. That's great. Yeah. One of my favorite quotes ever is by a psychologist called Susan David. And if you guys haven't looked into her stuff before, you got to read it, read her things. It's, she's amazing. And she has this quote that, ah, "Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life". And I just love that. And so whenever I'm in a situation where I am feeling uncomfortable, I just remind myself like something good is gonna come out of this, you're going to learn from this, you're going to have some amazing experience or whatever. And it truly is. So, it's good for kids, too.Vin Kachuik 1:00:21of emotionally regulating that I can't stress the breathing enough and hold. Back to those references again. Like if you can't stand the discomfort, a there's either something wrong, you need to, you know, eat some food, drink some water, get some sleep, something like that. But like, if you all those needs are met, then just breathe. It makes it so much better. Just breathe few deep breaths.Amy McDuffie 1:00:45Yep, yep.Hannah Choi 1:00:48All right. Lessons for life. Just breathe, just breathe. Vin Kachuik 1:00:53It's literally a function of living. Hannah Choi 1:00:57Oh, my God, that was so funny when you said that last night. All right. Let's see. Here's, I think this is our last question. All right, my 19 year old son told me he's terrified about trying his hardest only to still fail. In the end. What are we just talking about? It breaks my heart. How do you address issues around motivation that are derived from fear of failure? Yeah. Perfect question to end with.Vin Kachuik 1:01:21Absolutely, yeah. That the way that you combat fear of failure is again, it's that "have to, not get to" that's where the fear of failure comes from. It's from the distance between where you feel you are and the expectations that are set above you. That's where things like shame and doubt just reign supreme, and can get the better of you. So a couple of things to do with that is seeing it less as the end result is the expectation and the doing is more the expectation, finding the value, and the joy in the doing the "Hey, I'm learning how to do this". Again, it comes back to starting small though, you know, do it with low stakes things, if it's a high stakes things thing, like a final paper or a big game or something like that, where it's all on the line. No, that's that's too much. It's very overwhelming. But I think giving like little like bits of like autonomy or responsibility to allow someone an opportunity to fail, and get comfortable failing, and learning from that failure in a low stakes environment. Things like, okay, so you know, you're going to be in charge at here's, here's a house plant, you now have a house plant, here's a living thing that's going to depend on you, here's some instructions for what it needs and how to take care of it. Don't let it try not to let it die, you know, kind of thing. And it's like, you know, find and take the opportunity to find joy and relaxation in doing that task. You know, given the opportunity, like here research, some some, you know, here's some resources on some plant blogs of people who have, you know, what they like to use and what they like to do. You know, I always one of my favorite things that I like learning about new clients is I always try and get at the heart of like, what do you geek? What's the thing that like you geek about and obsess over? Because finding that there's no fear of failure in that? Yeah, they love it too much to fear failure. And so I try and like bring that sense of, like, whether it's joy and or obsession, sometimes there's a fine line between those two things. I try and bring that into other tasks that we're focusing on and be like, how would you approach this? If it was, you know, this video game you love? Or you know, if it was this sport, you play? Or you know, this? I don't know. Kpop band that you're obsessed with? Right? Yeah, right. Yeah. And, and like, you know, because they don't, they don't have any sense of fear or worry over those things. Because they already feel like they're experts at it. Yeah. But it's because it's low stakes, nobody else has seen the expectations of them being perfect.Hannah Choi 1:04:12Yeah, that's great.Amy McDuffie 1:04:14Yeah, I mean, I think that's so important. And I, there's so much to be learned by failure. And I think, you know, like, as a parent, I feel like it's part of my job to to model for my kids that, you know, we all fail, you know, at times, you know, we all make mistakes. And, you know, it's like you said, it's not about, you know, the end result always it's the process of what you've learned along the way. And so I just do think it's really important to model that, you know, this is, you know, you know, it's part of life that that we run into, you know, struggles and, and failure at times. I remember when my kids were when my son was really young. I I read a book, I believe it was called The Gift of Failure. I can't remember the author's name. But it was really wonderful for me to read. And just to kind of look at failure from that perspective, because, you know, of course, we all want our kids to succeed and do well. But there is so much to be learned along the way with that struggle.Vin Kachuik 1:05:18The road to success is paved with bricks of failure, something something like that. Yeah.Hannah Choi 1:05:24Was it the Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown?Amy McDuffie 1:05:27No, it was not Brene. Brown. Hannah Choi 1:05:29Okay. Yeah, that's a good one, too. Something that I, that I really find helpful with failure is getting away from that black and white thinking of either success or failure, and how there's, there are so many layers to it, and so many, you might ultimately have failed, but maybe there's some kind of like, win along the way.Vin Kachuik 1:05:51Like you said, Any modeling for people, I think that's an important thing to acknowledge, too. I know personally, like when I was growing up, big time perfectionist, I would collapse and crumble at even the slightest hint of failure or criticism, and it made it so hard to learn and grow. And the really, I think, something that I personally had to do a lot of work for, was accepting that sense of like vulnerability, that feeling of discomfort, that feeling of it's okay to not meet these expectations, it's okay to not be perfect. And the thing that comes with that is you can be so much happier there. It's hard cultivating a lot of that inner strength. And I'm getting a little bit into, like therapeutic mindfulness, kind of talk here. But it, it's, it's ultimately so much better. I think it is that. I think that's the crux of the, what is it? Failure is, the the, or Hannah Choi 1:06:53Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life? Yeah, yeah, yeah.Vin Kachuik 1:06:57That's really what it

Two ways to support Common Prayer DailyBecome a Patron on PatreonMake a One-Time DonationVisit our website for a beautiful Daily Office Experience and More - www.commonprayerdaily.com----------------------Wednesday - Easter Week 7Opening Words:“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”Colossians 3:1 (ESV) Confession:Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God.Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen. The InvitatoryLord, open our lips.And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Pascha Nostrum (Christ our Passover)Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed:Come let us adore him. Alleluia.Alleluia. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us; *therefore let us keep the feast,Not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, *but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia.Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; *death no longer has dominion over him.The death that he died, he died to sin, once for all; *but the life he lives, he lives to God.So also consider yourselves dead to sin, *and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.Christ has been raised from the dead, *the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.For since by a man came death, *by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.For as in Adam all die, *so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed:Come let us adore him. Alleluia. The PsalterPsalm 101Misericordiam et judicium1I will sing of mercy and justice; *to you, O Lord, will I sing praises.2I will strive to follow a blameless course;oh, when will you come to me? *I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house.3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; *I hate the doers of evil deeds;they shall not remain with me.4A crooked heart shall be far from me; *I will not know evil.5Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; *those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide.6My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me, *and only those who lead a blameless life shall be my servants.7Those who act deceitfully shall not dwell in my house, *and those who tell lies shall not continue in my sight.8I will soon destroy all the wicked in the land, *that I may root out all evildoers from the city of the Lord. Psalm 109:1-4, 20-30Deus, laudem1Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise; *for the mouth of the wicked,the mouth of the deceitful, is opened against me.2They speak to me with a lying tongue; *they encompass me with hateful wordsand fight against me without a cause.3Despite my love, they accuse me; *but as for me, I pray for them.4They repay evil for good, *and hatred for my love.20But you, O Lord my God,oh, deal with me according to your Name; *for your tender mercy's sake, deliver me.21For I am poor and needy, *and my heart is wounded within me.22I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *I am shaken off like a locust.23My knees are weak through fasting, *and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.24I have become a reproach to them; *they see and shake their heads.25Help me, O Lord my God; *save me for your mercy's sake.26Let them know that this is your hand, *that you, O Lord, have done it.27They may curse, but you will bless; *let those who rise up against me be put to shame,and your servant will rejoice.28Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace *and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.29I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; *in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;30Because he stands at the right hand of the needy, *to save his life from those who would condemn him. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. LessonsEzekiel 11:14-2514 And the word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.' 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.' 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.' 18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me. Hebrews 7:1-177 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,“You are a priest forever,    after the order of Melchizedek.” The Word of the Lord.Thanks Be To God. Cantemus Domino (The Song of Moses)I will sing to the Lord, for he is lofty and uplifted; *the horse and its rider has he hurled into the sea.The Lord is my strength and my refuge; *the Lord has become my Savior.This is my God and I will praise him, *the God of my people and I will exalt him.The Lord is a mighty warrior; *Yahweh is his Name.The chariots of Pharaoh and his army has he hurled into the sea; *the finest of those who bear armor have been drowned in the Red Sea.The fathomless deep has overwhelmed them; *they sank into the depths like a stone.Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in might; *your right hand, O Lord, has overthrown the enemy.Who can be compared with you, O Lord, among the gods? *who is like you, glorious in holiness,awesome in renown, and worker of wonders?You stretched forth your right hand; *the earth swallowed them up.With your constant love you led the people you redeemed; *with your might you brought them in safety to your holy dwelling.You will bring them in and plant them *on the mount of your possession,The resting-place you have made for yourself, O Lord, *the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hand has established.The Lord shall reign *for ever and for ever.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. The Apostles CreedI believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The PrayersLord, have mercy.Christ, have mercyLord, have mercyOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The SuffragesO Lord, show your mercy upon us;And grant us your salvation.O Lord, guide those who govern usAnd lead us in the way of justice and truth.Clothe your ministers with righteousnessAnd let your people sing with joy.O Lord, save your peopleAnd bless your inheritance.Give peace in our time, O LordAnd defend us by your mighty power.Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgottenNor the hope of the poor be taken away.Create in us clean hearts, O GodAnd take not your Holy Spirit from us. Take a moment of silence at this time to reflect and pray for others. The CollectsEaster Week 7O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. Daily Collects:A Collect for PeaceO God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.A Collect for GraceO Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to the beginning of this day: Defend us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin nor run into any danger; and that, guided by your Spirit, we may do what is righteous in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for MissionAlmighty and everlasting God, who alone works great marvels: Send down upon our clergy and the congregations committed to their charge the life-giving Spirit of your grace, shower them with the continual dew of your blessing, and ignite in them a zealous love of your Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. General ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen. A Prayer of St. John ChrysostomAlmighty God, you have given us grace at this time, with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will grant their requests: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen. DismissalLet us bless the LordThanks be to God!Alleluia, Alleluia! BenedictionThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen*.*

In this episode, Jessica Vann talks about her journey to become a successful entrepreneur despite facing many challenges in her personal and professional life. She shares her inspiring story of how she overcame self-doubt and financial struggles to launch her own business, and how she has continued to grow and thrive in the face of adversity. The episode is packed with practical tips and advice for anyone looking to start their own business, including how to find the right mentor, how to stay motivated, and how to deal with setbacks and failures. Jessica's upbeat and optimistic attitude is infectious, and her story will leave listeners feeling inspired and empowered to pursue their own dreams and passions. Overall, this is a must-listen episode for anyone looking to start a business or overcome obstacles in their personal or professional life.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co . And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:OPC is getting a mobile app!Why you want to use the Magic Number CalculatorThe signs that you're not happy with yourselfHow to be kind to yourself and your journeyDon't judge yourself when you're in a bad place.Letting go of the presuppositions of how life is supposed to be.The importance of getting to know your body.Episode References/Links:OPC App WaitlistLesley Logan's Pilates Mentorship, eLevatePP Magic Number CalculatorGuest Bio:Jess Vann (she/her) is a multi-careered woman who is a Podcast host of "Tomfoolery and Shenanigans" actor, speaker, entrepreneur, singer, all while maintaining a full-time job that focuses on service learning and civic engagement that mobilizes folks to change! She is originally from Lansing, Michigan but calls Chicago home. She received a B.S. in Theatre and Interpretation: Acting from Central Michigan University and a M.A in Training and Development from Roosevelt University. Jess has been the guest on Black Educators Matter Podcast, Feature Article with National After School Association, After School Today and a featured blog with The Chicago Inclusion Project, May 2019.She balances her time running her business Creative Spaces, which provides arts based, anti- racism/social Justice work, leadership and professional development workshops/keynotes/coaching and consulting for emerging and veteran leaders in various work sectors and coaching. It would be safe to say she wears many hats and continues to find self-discovery.  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.Be It Till You See It Podcast SurveyUse this link to get your Toe Sox!ResourcesWatch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable PilatesSocial MediaInstagramFacebookLinkedInTranscript:Lesley Logan 01:01Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the multifaceted convo I had a Jessica Vann and our last episode. If you haven't yet, listen to that interview feel free to pause this now or go back and then come back. Or go back and join us. Come in. Listen to the order however you want. This is a really fun interview because she is a friend. And we we met a summer ago. But...Brad Crowell 01:56Was only one?... (Lesley: Yeah) Wow... (Lesley: I know) feels like we're known for a long time. Lesley Logan 02:00I know, I know it's because we like random. We'd like to hang out with her again, like probably more often than some (...)Brad Crowell 02:06l love this circuitLesley Logan 02:08And also like to be on the journey of her whole condo and all this stuff. So we definitely have had a nice journey with her. But yes, I think it was only one summer ago. I know super crazy. So what's fun about that interview we'll talk about in a bit is like we got to get into a lot of different topics about a life of hers. And I really enjoy that I think you can glean a lot from like, listen to someone else's story. But before we get into Jess Vann interview, first, we are so so close to kicking off our OPC members only challenge is the first time we're doing a members only challenge we've done the challenges before many of you are like where's the 100? Me? Well, guess what? It's with the members. That's where we're doing it. And so think 80s Members Only jacket, that's what I'm talking about. So. So if you are like, Oh, I missed an OPC challenge, well then come to OPC. And the OPC app is basically, it's happening, people.Brad Crowell 03:04Surprise! If you didn't know, OPC is getting an app... (Lesley: Yeah) We're really fired up about it, it's actually going to include a bunch of free content in there as well as access to paid memberships, of course. But it's going to be a really great resource. It's kind of going to be a one stop shop. And guess what... (Lesley: what?) you'll be able to listen to the podcast... (Lesley: on the OPC app?) on the OPC app... (Lesley: That's so fun) Yeah. So when you are listening to the pod, instead of wherever it is, you'll see now you can actually go into the app, which will be all things OPC and LL and all that kind of stuff, all rolled up into one spot. And you can listen to the pod right in there.Lesley Logan 03:44Good. So cool. I love that. What a surprise for me too. So check it out, the OPC app! Do you have a link?Brad Crowell 03:51Well, no, it's not out yet. It will be out in like about two weeks. So this is an announcement. It's comingLesley Logan 03:57out about to publicly launch (...)Brad Crowell 04:00If you are an OPC member already, we will be emailing you. Of course! If you're not an OPC member, that's totally fine... (Lesley: You can get the app) But you can still get the app because it's free content... (Lesley: You can listen to the pod) you can listen to the pod. Just go to opc.me/app and we'll put you on a little waitlist and we'll let you know when we're also emailing all the members to let them know to go download it. Lesley Logan 04:21Yeah, so I'm excited about this. It's a lot of fun. And we get to like make changes along the way. And you know what we could have been just like a website, it's ever going to be growing and changing and improving but we wanted an app for a really long time. Finally, eLevate Three is about to kick off in one month and at the time that this comes out there may still be some spots left. So you will want to go to lesleylogan.co/elevate If you're wondering what the hell is eLevate? It's not an elevator? although I do call the people in the eLevate group elevators. I love it. Elevate is a mentorship for Pilates instructors. You have to have done a somewhat comprehensive pilates training so at least the Mat, Reformer, Cadillac/Tower, Wunda Chair, and the rest of it I'm okay if your training didn't have that in there, we'll do a deep dive with that together. But it is we only like 12 people in the first two rounds are sold out, the third round as we speak, as we're recording this, there's a couple spots left. But by the time this comes out, it could be full, round for won't start till 2024. Because that works out that way, round for, 2024. I like the way that number works. So and again, we only take 12 people every round. So you're definitely going to want to get in on a round that you can get a spot on. So Lesleylogan.co/elevate If you are ready to connect more to your practice to your teaching to the connection to this method and have some confidence while doing it. It's for you.Brad Crowell 05:40It's totally for you. Yeah. All right. So this week, we had a different type of audience question. Normally, it's about like your practice, or you know, just fun things about life or whatever. But this one was like, totally a business question for people teaching corporate math classes. So if you're a teacher, and you wanted to get into, you know, like, what if you could, you know, get paid to go into a local company and teach there.Lesley Logan 06:06My friend used to teach at Sony every single week, and some of them taught at Paramount, like it was a whole thing. And I think they even like taught enough fitness classes there that they got insurance and I was approached to teach at Google. And I was like, oh, yeah, let me know in the West would want opens up and then COVID and we moved. But whether or not you're an in place teacher, the answer to this question, if you are in the service industry, or you work for yourself, this answer is going to apply. And so first of all, I don't know where you live, I don't know what you do. I don't know how many people and there's not enough information. And also, for me to give specific coaching on you'd have an agency member, however, the answer we give to every single person asked us how much do I charge for blank, it doesn't really matter what the blank is, you need to use our magic calculator tool, this is a free tool, you can go to profitablepiltes.com. And you can go to the free resources. And at the top, you'll see magic calculator... (Brad: Yep) And if you work for yourself, you'll pick that solo one. And you will fill in the blanks, there'll be some questions you have to ask specifically, like how much money you want to make any year gross. That means like in considering all your expenses, all your taxes, your profits, all that stuff in one lump sum, and then I'm gonna ask you a series of other questions, you'll fill that out, it's gonna spit out a number. Then if you got my book, where I'm sure you can find that on profitablepilates.com. Or you can get a paperback on Amazon. You're going to see there's a whole chapter that I have on charging for things like traveling to teach, because it is not just about your hourly rate is this magic number is it's going to have to include travel.Brad Crowell 07:39Yeah. But basically, you know, we can set you up to figure out what is the rate you should be charging with these tools that are already available to you right now, the magic number calculator is totally free, we encourage you to go to the site right now and just log in and use it. And it will help you clarify what you should be charging not only for the corporate thing, but your other rates for your other products as well. So whether you're teaching private sessions, or duets, or whatever it may be, this will really help you. And then we offer coaching after the fact if you're if you're not quite sure what you need to be doing with it, then you can join us an agency and we're happy to work really dig deep into your magic number with you. In fact, it's literally my favorite thing to do. I love this coaching call because I find it so revealing. And the thing that lights my fire is when people go, Wait, how much am I already making today? I didn't even realize that. And all I need to do are these steps and I can be making this other number, right? And it's really fun for me to like break it all down in a numerical way where you can logically look at things and go, Holy shit, I'm actually amazing. I love that. So anyway, that's why you should go just use the free magic number calculator on the profit body site. It'll help you dial all that stuff in. So amazing. Great question.Brad Crowell 09:28All right. Now let's talk about Jessica Vann, a woman who wears many hats. Jessica Vann is an actor, singer, podcast host and entrepreneur who also maintains a full time job working with civic engagement to build a more equitable and anti racist world. Jess is a ball of energy and pa... and she's passionate about sharing her journey through creative spaces, social justice and leading self discovery.Lesley Logan 09:53Yeah, I mean, like really multifaceted is the best word for her and I it's also really cool to see how someone can take different skill sets they have, and bring them along to other things that they're doing. And it's and also, you know, I think there's an interesting balance that we'll talk about as we go through this. So we're changing up a little bit this week, as well have a little bit more of an outline of what last episode was, and a few talking points. So if you remember just shared about how she went from Queen of the Chicago Hill, to being totally burned out, setting back and then finally, recap, recalibrating. So she can get back to being the badass, you know, she is, and she is such a badass, and she is just like, amazing. So we talked for about three things, one, identifying the problem. So specifically, the signs of mental health decline, which, by the way, so many studies are coming out that like, specifically teenage girls are like at the lowest mental health, like, like mental happiness levels ever. Brad Crowell 10:50The pandemic, I mean, there's so many things coming up.Lesley Logan 10:52I mean, it's just all the things which, which was one of the reasons why OPC is now sponsoring a charity that helps with anti bullying. But also like just and then you go in general, just look at the rest of the age groups are like, Oh, we're all definitely doing terribly bad when it comes to our mental health. So I think it couldn't be more important for us to understand how to identify the problem number two, recalibrating aka taking a step back. And then number three, the work you do to get good with yourself again, and whatever that means to you like you. And I think like, I think too often we spend so much time trying to get good with other people. And ourselves. Yeah. So anyways, Brad, why don't you dig into like some of the stuff and then we can go back to those three points.Brad Crowell 11:33Yeah, so those three big outline points here. But a quick recap on her story, right? So, Jess has been holding this full time job for a long time. She's lived in Chicago for 20 years, she was also doing consulting on the side helping companies with, like business development, and also like Leadership Development Team organizational structure, development, some HR stuff. And then when 2020 happened, and there was a demand some these massive demand for DEI consulting, she got very involved in that world, to the point where she felt like it was taking over her life. In fact, she felt like she was being pulled along, instead of leading the way that she normally was. And she was losing herself in that. And it was causing a lot of stress and depression and, you know, internal turmoil. And so I don't know if she was able to like, place a finger on it and identify the problem. But she did identify the problem. And then she did actually take a step back, and then she then she worked on herself again. And those those things are pretty amazing. And that's why we kind of wanted to run through each of those points, instead of just pulling out to smaller topics to talk about, I thought this was an amazing, like, I mean, there's a multi year journey that she went on here.Lesley Logan 13:01Yeah, and I and first of all, it's like something I wish every guests would like do sometimes like, so tell me about this. And they're like, here are three bullet points of all the things and I'm like, I think there was more in there. And they're like, Oh, it was great. And it's like, okay, but like so I really loved her vulnerability here. But she talked about, like, you know, certain notice, like negative self talk. And you guys, I bet there's a time you can remember you didn't talk negatively to yourself, I bet it doesn't have to be like the longest years of time. But I bet you there have been moments in your life where you weren't doing that. And if you start to notice that it's like adding up and it's becoming more of a thing. That is a sign that you're you're not a happy camper in where you're at.Brad Crowell 13:36Especially to with her the negative self talk was around things that she formerly was like, super passionate about. Like she went on to a, an audition, and she just shredded herself after the audition was over. And in fact, she said while she was on stage dancing and singing, she was like seeing herself from a third party perspective saying, you know, you're fucking it all out. What are you doing? This is the worst. I can't believe you're doing this. And she's like, whoa, like, clearly I'm not getting this audition. But what the heck? Well, this is not how I am. Lesley Logan 13:57You know, this actually brings me back to Dr. Bender's most recent episode where she talked about like, reasoning, like we try to reason and what I what I think I like about just like taking, like noticing the signs and then taking that step back to recalibrate it. It's, it would be easy for her to go Oh, auditioning makes me have negative self talk. But it it wasn't the actual, like she came into the audition to do something she loved. And then she started having negative self talk. So could have been the audition or could have been everything surrounding that what she was going through at that same time. So I think it's really important that it's that to also to say that identifying the problem doesn't mean that were the acute. It's kind of like your body, right? So I want to tangent. If you have pain in the front of your shoulder. The problem is not in the front of your shoulder. The problem is in the back of your shoulder. So Tip too often I think we we are so quick to like, identify what the problem is by like she could have so easily been like, oh, auditions make me talking to myself. I'm no longer auditioning. But instead, she like took that bigger step back and she started to notice the signs and figure out what these were. And then that allowed her to like, really start to take a look at things and figure out and it's an experiment, you're gonna be like, oh, when you do a little more over here, maybe do a little bit more over here. And you have to be kind to yourself and that journey and that recalibration.Brad Crowell 15:31Yeah, I mean, she also said she couldn't follow up or show up through with tasks, what's normally she's like, she she knows, I'm a leader, I execute and I get shit done. And she said she was really struggling to do that. She said, she felt like she was at the point of exhaustion all the time. She also said somehow, in the mix of it all, she was just saying, "Yes," to everything. And she's like, I literally should have been saying no to some of the stuff. But I was saying yes, because it was also, you know, like, she didn't actually say this. But I know like, when you're in demand, you know, it also strokes, your ego. It feels good. When everyone's like, I need you to help me, I need you to help me, I need you. And you're like, sure pay me. Here's my rates. And they're saying yes, yes. Lesley Logan 16:13Yes. You tart to worry. Especially when you work for yourself, you start to worry that if you stay no, that though maybe it'll stop.Brad Crowell 16:21Especially in the acting world. That's exactly what everybody talks about. Lesley Logan 16:24I mean, you, Jennifer Lawrence, how many years did she freaking film before she's like, I'm not filming for two years, I'm actually going to go marry someone and I'm going to like have a child but I'm going to do these things. And she'll completely stop. Yeah, she did, like disappear. And like, that would that's a that's you don't want to get to the point where you have to like literally stop everything, you know, so to get a recalibration.Brad Crowell 16:46Yeah. And I thought something was really that was really amazing was she actually was able to I don't know if in the moment again, but looking back on that she said she was being pulled by the momentum of the path, instead of leading as she normally does. And she was she felt lost in that. And that actually led to depression.Lesley Logan 17:07Yeah, oh, I mean, it just it just, well, of course, of course, you're going to be depressed, if you start to lose yourself asBrad Crowell 17:15Well, she also probably didn't feel in control, you know, like, but, but I, I suppose for me, this is really personal. Because I had a, I was in I was married before, right? And my ex kept saying to me, you need to slow down, you need to slow down, you slow down, you move so fast, fast, fast. And, you know, I know myself, I do move fast. I try to pack too many things in one day, all these things. So I embraced this idea as like my like, like a life embrace. And over, like, over like a year, I really started to slow things down. And I began to watch TV more. And I began to come home and make dinner more and all this kind of stuff. And and I did that for like a number of years. And then when our relationship ended, I didn't remember who I was. All I knew was I hated myself, I hated who I become. I was like, I did not feel like Brad. I didn't feel confident. I wasn't doing music. I wasn't doing anything. I wasn't going out. I wasn't meeting people. I like was not myself anymore. And it was really dark. And I didn't know, I didn't even realize that I had gotten to that point. You know, and it was like way past a healthy balance of slowing down. Lesley Logan 18:31I think that's actually fairly normal. Like y'all, if you're, if you listen to this, and you're like, oh, this I like really resonate with this. It's, it's like a frog in the boiling water. You don't put the frog in the boiling water, you just slowly turn the heat up. And so that's what is happening. And often it's like you're boiling by the time you're like, fuck, who am I? So if that is you, or that's been you, please don't judge yourself. Like sometimes it takes getting to that point to just really go whoa, like the universe was tapping on you. It was like going Hello, hello, stop. Don't say yes to that. And like trying to get your attention. And sometimes we get in the way, our ego you said it's the way the people pleaser in us can get in the way all these different things can happen. And so if you end up on the other side, we're like, I don't know who I am anymore. You're not alone. You you you can find it. And also, you're going to find the better if you actually take this the time to repeat to to identify the problem like she had and then recalibrate and then do the work, do the work to get back with yourself. You will actually come back better than ever. This year is the 10th year where I like blew my life up and I'm going to tell you right now, thank fucking god, I did that. Thank goodness I got to that rock bottom because I don't know if I had only gotten like one level down if I would have had done the work that I had to do the climb out to get to a different view of the life I wanted to live and so on. So truly, like, don't, don't be too hard on yourself, if that happened to you, because it can actually, you can actually become the best version of yourself on on the way out.Brad Crowell 20:07Yeah. Well, let's move on to the next big step, which she did, which was stepping back, right? So, recalibrating, when she really identified, you know that she was in a bad space. She did something that I thought listening to her story was pretty dramatic, like, pretty drastic, but absolutely the right thing to do. She started saying no, she put things she paused a lot of things. Even so the things that normally would have fueled her before she stopped doing such as reaching out to all of her friends and organizing events and going out to dinners and bars and stuff. She just said, You know what I need? Now I need to not do that like that, you know, like there needs to be. And she she set these boundaries into place. And she said she stopped seeking clients, she stopped pouring into her personal relationships, she was rethinking even the products that she began to offer as a consultant. Right? And then really, she dialed everything back to where she could focus on two things. Number one was her actual full time job where, obviously she's getting paid. And number two was working on herself. You know, and I think, you know, that that is really amazing to be able to, I mean, that's so hard, right? You like, what are you like, hey, why don't you go out for dinner on a Friday night? No. Oh, okay. You know, like, those kinds of things, or, Hey, we're all gonna go for a hike, you know, if somebody else is inviting you, or if you are the leader, which she's a leader, you basically stop being the person, the point person to coordinate the group, you know, that can be there's a lot of that can be a lot of fear, right? That's your identity, almost, you know, like, this is who I am, this is what I do. This is how I operate. And then she dramatically changed those things because she needed to.Lesley Logan 22:01Yeah, yeah. And that's okay, get to do what you need to do.Brad Crowell 22:04Yeah. And I thought there was something really interesting in that, that he didn't want to talk about before you go into point three, which was she had, she had these presuppositions of where she was supposed to be, how she was supposed to be living all this stuff. And she had, she had to let go of those things. And this is also like, this is a massive thing to identify, right? In her, in her teens, and early 20s self she was, like, course, I'm getting married, and I'm gonna have kids, you know, and she's like, 35, who the hell knows what, like, 35 I'm gonna be old and dying, right? And today, she's older than 35. And she said, I'm not married with kids, and I don't have a house, in the suburbs, all these things that I, I expected out of life, or I thought was just how it was gonna go. That didn't happen. And so, you know, like, how do you live with that? Do you beat yourself up over that? Do you feel like you're behind? Do you feel like you're failing? Or can you actually let go of that story that we've been telling ourselves that like, this is what life is quote unquote, supposed to be? Like? What? Who? Who defines that? Like, is that really something we've taken with us from childhood all the way to today?Lesley Logan 23:22I mean, I think that that really lends itself to the next point which is like, under the like, do the work to get good with yourself it's like she said, figure it relation to things that you love or loved. You have to like, like you have to do the you know, runaway bride think... try all the fucking eggs. Do you really still like a scramble? Do you like them over easy? Do you like them poached? And then figure out your relationship with your passion or your job? And then ask yourself Are you mentally and physically ready to embrace your passions again, because it is a muscle like if you used to be really passionate movement and then you just stop moving, you have to be kind yourself you can't just like go back and do the runs used to do you're gonna be so sore the next day and then you're gonna feel bad about yourself so you know something like and that's an that's a very literal one but like can also be like an analogy like go in it and really test and ask yourself like, how is this working out for me? And the more we can actually get to know ourselves the easier it is for us to the easier is for us to like truly be able... Do you know when we say yes to something that's a true yes and and know that it's like yeah, that's a no no confidence in that? And then also like just so some this whole point, it's like be yourself and not to be yourself is going to take time to know yourself.Brad Crowell 24:34Yeah, and I but I think that Well, you just said the the thing to be yourself, you have to know yourself. And you know the time that she gave herself by setting boundaries by saying no, by focusing on only her work and herself. It allowed her to get to know herself, so that she could actually revisit even the story she told herself have I'm a creative. Is she still a creative? Did she still want to be creative after that experience? Well her answer, you know, she came back to yes, that is what feeds her. But, maybe the answer is no.Lesley Logan 25:11Yeah, yeah. And that's okay too, you know?Brad Crowell 25:14All right. Let's talk about those Be It Action Items what bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Jessica Vann? Why don't you jump in here? Because I am so good at her Be It Action Items that it wouldn't make sense for me to talk aboutLesley Logan 25:51Yeah, no. No. So (...) Rest, oh my gosh, rest everyone, you know, we're gonna have an episode coming up with the Brain Profits and rest, Brad, is not going away. We in fact, last night, at the time recording this, I was like, no, like, I don't want you with dementia, you have to sleep more. So I was on annual dramatic eyes. Listen to your body. This goes very much back with a point number three like to be yourself, you have to know yourself, which means you have to listen to your body. Listen to it. And there's actually things that your body is going to do. There's gonna be physical reactions going to have, there's actually like, in holistic medicine, you can if you hold at least for at least my friend Karina, she holds something that our body wants, her body will lean forward, if she holds, her body doesn't want her body will lean back. So like getting really good at like listening to your body. And then she finally said at the end of the day, we are vessels. We are vessels and they need to be filled. And some of the strongest things that we need to do is fill it with rest... (Brad: Yeah) so I just, I thought that was such most people are like, here's all these things you can go do to Be It Till You See It and she's like, you gotta sleep.Brad Crowell 27:03Yeah, sleep and you know, eat, sleep, listen to your body, you know, all those kinds of things. Not my forte that's for sure.Lesley Logan 27:12We're working on it... (Brad: Yeah) we're Being It Until We See It. It's your forte, Brad.Brad Crowell 27:19I love it. I love the irony.Lesley Logan 27:24Well, Jess, thank you so much for being a guest of ours. I'm Lesley Logan,Brad Crowell 27:28and I'm Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 27:30We're just so freaking grateful for you. I hope you're enjoying these episodes and by the way I did you notice we added some things at the very end... (Brad: we did) we did, if you've ever wanted to be a fly on the wall this room, we are letting that option happen for you. And you don't even have to turn into a fly to hear what's going on... (Brad: just stick around to the end) just stick around to the end and you're gonna hear some fun outtakes and also just like truly really like I am so imperfect and I hope you've enjoyed that and it gives you permission. How you would use these tips in your life? We want to know tag the Be It pod, for this episode you can tag Jess Vann. She also is like so fun to watch on her reels I really enjoy them. And send this to a friend, ask us questions to the Be It pod if you want us to answer it here on the next recap and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 28:10Bye for now.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Connect With Me:Instagram: @insidethepressurecookerYouTube: @insidethepressurecookerTwitter: @chadkelleyPatreon: @InsidethepressurecookerFeedback: Email me!Website: https://insidethepressurecooker.comRate & Review The Show!Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts or Follow Us on Spotify or your favorite podcasting platform.Other episodes you'll enjoy:Ariel Guivi, Part 1: What is a Chef?Patrick Stark: The Untouchable EgosJosh Morris: Balancing a chefs drive with family lifeTranscript:Hey, and welcome back to Inside the Pressure Cooker. My name is Chef Chad Kelly, and I know it's been a couple of weeks since we put anything out there. We've actually been in the process of working on some new formatting. And the reason for this is we've had some really great guests on, we've had some really great shows and but unfortunately, we're only able to kind of hit the surface level of topics without having a show run hour and a half plus, which nobody really has the time for. So what we're going to be doing is we're going to be revisiting some previous guests and we're going to be doing more of a host co host kind of situation where we're going to be over the period of several weeks producing episodes that will allow us to do a little bit of a deeper dive into the topic. Thank you for listening. Welcome back. Enjoy the show.Speaker B 00:01:06All right, Josh. So kind of a new format, right, where it's not necessarily chef interviews, so to speak. It's more chef topics, current events, and kind of compare and contrasting to talking various, you know, your perspective versus my perspective. Right. I've got I'm much more of the old school chef mentality. The chef bringing, you know, even in culinary school, when I was going to culinary school, I had the threat of 64 ounce ladles being thrown at me if I put my foot on the counter when I was chopping. I'm not even kidding. This was like the second week of school and being yelled at by big Austrian guys and French guys, that was just kind of my upbringing. So obviously a lot of that has been ingrained in me and who I am. That's just kind of what I understand the industry to be. It's a very different world now. You grew up in this industry with kind of a different perspective and growing up. So the whole thing about this is going to be kind of talking the different perspectives. Right. All right. So topic at hand, art versus suspended suspension. Sustenance.Speaker C 00:02:39There you go.Speaker B 00:02:39Right? It's just more fun to say it my way. Suspects. It's like saying Warshire.Speaker C 00:02:48Worcester.Speaker B 00:02:49Yeah. Warchester Shire. I know. They're all wrong, and I don't care. It's just fun. So art versus Sussex. Where do we want to go with this? Kick this off.Speaker C 00:03:04It was just kind of a title to give. It kind of a broad scope because there's no telling where this conversation might go. No idea. Started was recently I saw the menu. Have you seen the menu yet?Speaker B 00:03:20I have not.Speaker C 00:03:21All right, well, it was marketed as, like, a horror movie when they were showing the previews. Right? Yeah. They really kind of geared it towards, like, it was going to be a horror movie. And that movie, it is hilarious. It is insanely funny. But the reason it's so funny is because it pokes so much fun at fine dining while also empathizing with the people that work there. Okay, so a lot of the guests I know you haven't seen the movie, but they have a very short guest list. There's only twelve guests, and you kind of want them to die. You kind of want bad things to happen to them just because there's, like, rich assholes who don't really give a shit about food. They're just there for the exclusivity of this. And while I was talking about this movie with some friends at work, this other thing came up where you might remember this, too. About a year ago, a little over a year ago, there was a chef in Italy, I think it was a Michelin starred restaurant, who served a citrus foam in a mold of his own mouth, and he didn't serve it with utensils. He told the diet to lick the foam out of the plaster molds. And it kind of spiraled into this conversation about, like, where does food end and art began and vice versa.Speaker B 00:04:57Well, and at what point is that art? And what point of that is just kind of a fuck you to the guest.Speaker C 00:05:02Yeah.Speaker B 00:05:08Because cooking itself is an art. It's a beautiful art. It's a combination of art and science. Right?Speaker C 00:05:16Yeah.Speaker B 00:05:17You really have to have a foot in both worlds unless you're in the pastry, and at that point, you're just man almost all science and doing lines of fucking all purpose flour in the back. They're a whole nother breed. Yeah. So if you're a pastry person, you want to get on the show, defend yourself. Hit me up. God. Lost Chuck. There. No, but I mean, it's all an art, right? But it's all about the guest. But at a certain point, the guest starts to weigh on you as a chef, where you're just kind of that, you know what? Fine. I'm going to do this. But it's just despite you, it's like, oh, yeah, you want to see how far we can go with it here? Fine. Fuck you. Oh, now you want to bitch about it? But then there's also was that chef so egotistical that he thought that was a good idea, too.Speaker C 00:06:33Yeah.Speaker B 00:06:34Which one is it?Speaker C 00:06:36I don't know, because it does seem kind of like a fuck you to the guest. If you're thinking about it just from a food perspective, that's pretty disgusting. But if you're thinking about food as art and you want to push art into a more progressive area, you're going to have to make some people uncomfortable. You're going to have to ruffle some feathers. Was that the best way to go about it? Probably not.Speaker B 00:07:09It got them attention.Speaker C 00:07:10Yeah.Speaker B 00:07:11Who knows? Maybe that was the only point of it. I mean, in today's world where people become so fucking desensitized to so many things because of the Internet and all this social media crap, that I mean, you actually need to have something pretty significant to shock people into reality.Speaker C 00:07:35Yeah. So a fan of punk rock, that guy, like, literally spit in people's faces to make a statement. But I don't know, it comes off kind of pretentious at the same time, too. None of it's like a justification or is he right or is he wrong? No, it was a strange thing to see, and it kind of got me thinking about that. Plus, watching the menu is like, how much justification of quote unquote art is there? I know you haven't seen the movie, but there is a scene where a cook shoots themselves in the dining room and the diners are like, oh, it's just part of the theater. I mean, they're literally saying, like, a chef could literally get away with murder as long as it's on the menu. I thought that was a very funny but thought provoking thing.Speaker B 00:08:41God. And it's also so fucking sad at the same time.Speaker C 00:08:45Yeah.Speaker B 00:08:46Because at that point, everything that I'm hearing so far and the reason I haven't watched it is, honestly, I've been avoiding all those shows because I can't stand the sensationalized versions of what's going on in The Kitchen and The Bear. I watched a few episodes and it was good. I got it. But then I was like, you know what? I lived that life for the last 20 years. I don't need to fucking watch it.Speaker C 00:09:20Yeah, I watched the first episode of The Bear Ride after I had gotten home from work.Speaker B 00:09:27Why would you do that?Speaker C 00:09:28It was like I was right back at work. It was perfect.Speaker B 00:09:32No, absolutely. I mean, I had been out of the industry for a year, and man, it brought back all the feelings, all the emotions, and I was just like, oh, God, Mike, I don't want to go through this again. And not in a bad way, right. But I was just like, no, I've lived it. I don't understand it. This is a whole another show is talking about that and people's reactions to it. Because when we start talking art versus sustenance, now we're also talking the types of restaurants because you're going to have your restaurant, which is I mean, it's just fuel, right? Food is fuel. And then you're going to have restaurants that kind of are in that middle world between fine dining and fuel, where they're putting a little more give a shit into the food. It's a little bit more plating. But they probably don't have the fine dining budget. They didn't have the fine dining clientele. And so there's adjustments. They've got to make sure they want to be creative and artistic. But it's all within that realm of what is feasible for that time and what's the guest can accept. Because at the end of the day, it still has to be good, right?Speaker C 00:11:15Yeah.Speaker B 00:11:21I've never lived in that world of the art. Food is art and not food. I've always poked fun at the tweezer chefs, and I know I do that at their expense, but it's a different world. I've just never been a part of it. And I understand parts of it for them, but it's never made sense to me because it goes against a lot of what I've known about food. Yeah, you're taking too damn if you need tweezers, you are taking too long to get that plate out. I've done way too much volume cooking to be like, okay, hold on. I need tweezers to put the garnish on.Speaker C 00:12:08Yeah. Two different places where they kind of utilize tweezers a lot more. And it was a very weird feeling once you get into the groove of it. And, like, this is something that they do, so they want you to do it, too. Yeah, it's fine. But coming from a background where you didn't even own a set of tweezers, it was strange.Speaker B 00:12:31But you get to like it, honestly. And I get it. Tweezers are just variations on chopsticks. And chopsticks were probably the earliest known forms of cooking utensils. I mean, chopsticks weren't eating utensils. They were cooking utensils that eventually became eating utensils. So they've just been Americanized by putting a little hinge on the back. I want to know the first person that started using tweezers. Like he went through his girlfriend's fucking cosmetics and shit. Yeah, I'll let that sink in for a minute. But, I mean, the two different worlds and where my mind is going on this art versus the sustenance is I kind of want to focus on the art a little bit, because, one.Speaker C 00:13:37I.Speaker B 00:13:38Understand it, but the art is much more that fine dining world. And Noma is closing at the end of the season. They put it out there because it's like, hey, this is just no longer sustainable for us. And then in Bon Appetit recently, there was an article that it was fine dining is dead, or something like that, or dying, and I'm glad I was like, I was part of it. I read it, and I was pissed off reading it because the person that wrote it, yes, they worked probably at the laundry or something. And a lot of what they talk about, like, listen, there's a lot of people out there. We all suffer from various physical conditions. Some do, some don't. That's the way it's always been. And over periods of time, stress catches up with the body. Right. How do we handle certain things? How do we take care of ourselves outside of the restaurant? Those are all pretty significant factors. And so if we don't take care of ourselves outside the restaurant, we can't put all the blame on the restaurant. We can't put all the blame on the industry. But I was just kind of annoyed because it seemed like some of this arrogance of calling out, like they were talking about the bear and how it brought out all the hostile work environments of kitchens and I was like, It's not a fucking hostile work environment. Yeah, it was intense. There's a lot of stress. What got me is like, listen, we all do this for the love, right? It's a passion. It's part of us. It's in our blood. As much as we want to say it's, the only thing we know, because it is part of us, and part of that as well, is also understanding that we are cooking for somebody else. We're not doing this for ourselves. I mean, to a degree, but we're doing it to make other people happy. We're doing this for the clientele, for the guest, right? And if it's not for them and they're not coming in, then we can't get paid. So no matter what the pay rate is, you can argue that all day long, but it doesn't matter if people aren't coming in. But there is this element of, like, it's stressed because every time a ticket comes in, there's a timer that starts. And if you don't have that sense of urgency, that sense of, I got to get on it, I can't get behind, it's an internal stress, right? You feel it. The person next to you feels it. All of a sudden, everybody's feeling it, right? And then all of a sudden, the machine starts going and it doesn't stop. Literally doesn't stop, right? And everybody is just looking at it like, I'm going to rip that thing out of the fucking wall. And that doesn't mean does that mean it's a hostile work environment? Because now you've got an inanimate object that's creating stress for you because people are coming in the door. Because now, at that point, everybody's stress levels are high.Speaker C 00:17:30Yeah.Speaker B 00:17:31Right. There's communication in the kitchen that's happening. Hey, I need this work, or that, hey, why are we lagging over here? One station starting to fall behind, so that causes more pressure on other people. So where's the hostility?Speaker C 00:17:49Yeah.Speaker B 00:17:52I get it.Speaker C 00:17:53I've been there. This is a long thing, because I think before COVID most people didn't give a shit. Restaurants were just restaurants and no one cared. For some reason, COVID happened, and then a bunch of people left the industry and it started opening up this wound, and people were like, oh, these are hostile work environments. They're not hostile necessarily. They are stressful, because we put a lot of stress on ourselves to do a good job. We're a fucking lot, most of us. If you want to be a professional cook or a chef, you have to invest yourself a lot to move to the next stage in your career. And if you don't, that's cool. If it's just a paycheck, that's cool for you too. But you have to pull your own weight, too.Speaker B 00:18:47Yeah. And I mean, that's pretty much many of the times where I've lost my shit, you've been there for some where it's just dealing with people that didn't give a shit. Right? And they were just blatantly like, fuck you, I don't care. And it's like, no, I've got way too much invested in this for you to fuck this up for everybody else and me, whether it was the front of the house or the back of the house. And I know we're kind of getting a little bit off tangent here, but I think it's all relevant to the conversation of art versus sustenance.Speaker C 00:19:21Yeah, for sure.Speaker B 00:19:24So art moves a little bit of a slower pace, so to speak, I would assume, because you've got more tension on each plate. But that doesn't mean that stress has gone away either, though.Speaker C 00:19:38Yeah. And going back to Noma closing, I was never under any pretense that I was ever going to eat at Noma. I never bought book. Like I like Renee Redepi. I bought the Fermentation book. That helped me a lot. But I mean, for the past almost 20 years, renee Reddeppi has been making people think differently about food. He's been a huge inspiration. But now the same media outlets that were calling him a culinary demigod ten years ago are fucking crucifying him. Yeah, they're crucifying him for having unpaid stages and interns. Every place has unpaid stages and interns. And you can criticize that system all you want, but at the end of the day, they volunteered to be there to join us. It's not like Renee Redzepi went and gathered village children and turned them into slaves, especially at a place like Noma. If you're going to go across, like, from America to Copenhagen and stage for a year for free, you either have some rich as parents or you did something really right in your life to have that kind of financial freedom. So I don't get where all this thing about the unpaid stages and the.Speaker B 00:21:10Interns no, honestly, there was a lot of unpaid interns and stages. To me, it's like one of the same intern and stage, which it wasn't because they weren't actively recruiting for that either. That's the one part that nobody talks about. People came to them and said, I want to work. I want the experience. I want to be a part of this. Right.Speaker C 00:21:48Yeah.Speaker B 00:21:50They created that spot for these people. Now, even then there's a certain point where there's just too much right. But then you're always going to have that one, maybe more. That is bitter about the fact that they weren't, like, in full production. All I sat there and just made like, I don't know, cucumber roses or something and it's like, well, it's kind of doing your part. I don't know what to say about that because I've never been in that spot. But that's the same thing. Did you allow yourself to be the victim? Was that the only task you were given? Because maybe you got there and went, shut the fuck up and nobody wanted to deal with you. Yeah, but yet so now you're bitter about it, and you're telling everybody, and all of a sudden it becomes a news article. Fuck you, man.Speaker C 00:22:55And because we live in an age where everybody's opinion is now validated because of social media, you have thousands upon thousands of people attacking Renee Red Zeppe, who has, like, he's openly come out and said, yeah, I was a dick. Sorry about that. But you have to have nothing to do with the restaurant industry. They're just coming up and bitching and bitching about it. It's upsetting. Yes, this is a hard industry, but you don't understand the love and the camaraderie that comes with it, and they don't touch on that in any of these shows either. The Bear there's a little bit how they're all pretty close, but really, for the past ten years, the best friends that I have are from work. I don't hang out with anybody that's not in the restaurant industry. I don't even know how that outside life works. It's too far out there for me. I think that happens to a lot of restaurant people. And it's not elitist.Speaker B 00:24:04No, not at all.Speaker C 00:24:06I don't think outside people get it.Speaker B 00:24:09No, they don't. They don't understand you. For the longest time, I never had friends outside the restaurants either. Honestly, the only reason I've got friends outside the restaurant now is just my wife. But that's the thing. They don't understand me, right. And I can't there's nothing that we have no relation. There's nothing that there's no common ground in so many things. You know, they've got what I've laughed about, you know, real jobs with the air quotes, right? And they just don't get it, and they never will. And so it's one of those there's nothing about there's not yeah, the common ground. I beat that one there. But I know we're talking about Red Zeppe here and the interns and all this stuff, and there's a couple of things that come to mind, is I feel for the guy, right, because he has done so much for this industry, and he has grown it quite a bit and just created so much attention. And I mean, his organization mad, right? Almost like on the political side of things that he is for that nobody ever talks about. And all that takes money. So sometimes, yeah, that someone's going to be unpaid, but because they volunteered for it, right? Like, we've already covered that, and then all of a sudden, he starts just getting fucking skewered and dealing with people bitching. Whether it was from the media, his staff, who knows? Maybe it's the next generation of staff coming in. It's almost to the point where I feel like he's closing, not because he's saying it's unsustainable to continue this model of paying everybody, but still charging $500 a person for dinner without any kind of wine or anything, right? You're easily talking about $1,000 a person just once you're there and have, like, 60 cooks or something executing that plus your chefs. And I mean, that takes a lot to execute at that level. And I honestly think that he's wrapping it up just because the love has been taken out of it for him, because he's like, you know what? We're going to finish off the season, which just pretty much says, we're going to finish off the reservations on deck and then, fuck you all. I'm going to go play in my kitchen and have fun again, because you I obviously don't appreciate it. And then the other part that nobody I don't see nobody, but I haven't heard anyone talk about, right. Is where did Red Zeppe learn so much of this? El Bulli. Fran andrea.Speaker C 00:27:33Yes.Speaker B 00:27:35I'm pretty sure we're going to go out on a limb here and say it was the exact same model.Speaker C 00:27:43Yeah, El Bulli closed, like, 15 years ago. And that was before I started really paying much attention to fine dining restaurants like that. But I would be willing to bet that when Ferrant Audrey said that he was going to pack up shop, everyone was just, like, at a loss. There's a huge loss to the culinary world. And no one was out there screaming at him or berating him for having an unpaid stage in his kitchen if.Speaker B 00:28:18It wasn't for him. Like, dude, I mean, you could go down the list of people that would not exist. I mean, okay, fine. There are people that exist, okay? Let's not get into that fucking whatever. Millennial just got pissed off at me. But as a chef, right? Jose Andreas Maximo.Speaker C 00:28:41Yeah.Speaker B 00:28:42Right? Red Zeppe. I mean, there's three people right there that are all products of frenandrea. I would say products, but he parked, he passed, he carved the path. That was fucking hard, right? And he created this world that chefs of that mindset all of a sudden just took off and allowed them to really grow. And he pretty much said, hey, you know what? This is okay. You can execute this. You can do this. But if it wasn't for him, we'll just call it ultra fine dining, if you will. There's no way to exist.Speaker C 00:29:39Yeah. And because of what he did, all the what do you call the hydrocolloids everyone basically uses now? Xanthem gum and agar. Agar. It's all Ferrant. He did all of that. And to produce another chef like Jose Andres, who's, like, he's taking his fame as a chef and turned it into what they called the World Kitchen.Speaker B 00:30:06World central kitchen or something like that. Yeah.Speaker C 00:30:08He travels the world feeding people in areas that are war torn or have had natural disasters. That's a pretty big fucking deal, man.Speaker B 00:30:21Oh, you know what, though? You know what really sucks? We better get media involved in this. Everybody that goes out there and works for Jose Andreas at the World Central Kitchen, they don't get paid. Yeah. Who do we call for that? Is that like, the UN? Who do we bitch to about someone going in and feeding millions of people after their country has been completely devastated and they just need the help? How do we get them paid?Speaker C 00:30:55I think it would be the UN.Speaker B 00:30:57Yeah. Okay.Speaker C 00:30:58International thing.Speaker B 00:30:59Yeah. There should be a number, just an 800 number out there. It just says, hey, we want 800. Fucking nobody cares. No, but to me, that's almost like the same thing, right? And honestly, if I was in a different situation and I didn't have younger kids, the amount of times I would have volunteered to go out and cook just because I've got the ability, why wouldn't I? And I've got no expectation of what I would or wouldn't be doing at that point. You're just, hey, you know what? You're a fucking mule. You get off the plane, say, what can I do? But that's the same mentality that I would have taken into any of those other stylish places wherever I went.Speaker C 00:31:47What do you need help with?Speaker B 00:31:48What can I do? Because that's how you learn.Speaker C 00:31:51Whatever it is, it is a learning.Speaker B 00:31:55Moment and appreciate being there.Speaker C 00:31:59Yes, it gets hard sometimes. Everyone gets burned out after a little while, but a lot of that is perspective, and you have to fight with that, too. As a chef or as a career cook, there's going to be moments where you're just like, Fuck this.Speaker B 00:32:20Oh, absolutely.Speaker C 00:32:22But, yeah, you really got to kind of take a step back and be like, you know what? This is where I wanted to be. I'm here. I'm learning. So isn't really that bad, but that's.Speaker B 00:32:35Another well, it's the world we live in. And I've said that many times. Every person I've interviewed, I've asked that same question because I know we've all been there, right? And if you tell me you haven't been there, you're lying. Because we've all just been in that spot where we just get home at the end of a shift. You may have fucking sliced your hand open or something, and you are just physically and mentally just done. And you just look at yourself and you're like, what the fuck am I doing? Like, you know, and it could just be after, like, a couple days of just getting your shit kicked in, and you're just like, there's got to be something better. And you know what? The grass isn't greener.Speaker C 00:33:24Yeah.Speaker B 00:33:24You know, and and I say that we ask ourselves that question all the time because it's just the life we live. But who's to say someone in another life, they're the lawyers or the jobs that we think the green or grass, right? I know they're asking themselves the same question, right? But it's still something I love.Speaker C 00:34:03You kind of go through little ways. I think it's like something like that after having three or four days of just getting absolutely crushed, sometimes you need something to kind of just give you a little break, a day off or whatever it is, and then you're right back at it because you love it. There is nothing else you would rather do. And I don't think a lot of people understand that either, the stressful situations than the hostile environments. I mean, it's just part of the part of it. It's not a negative thing. We thrive off that.Speaker B 00:34:38We live off that's fuel for us.Speaker C 00:34:41Yeah, I guess. But yeah, I was going to say, too, the other part to doing a good job after you have a service, whether it was like, okay, if you have a bad service, it's a bad feeling. But after a flawless service that high that you get, it can't be any different than a lawyer winning a case or a director finishing a film or something like that. It's got to be along those lines.Speaker B 00:35:14Absolutely. I was kind of laughing where you'll understand this. And some people were staying at home was more work and more hostile than I hope my wife doesn't listen to this one in more hostile than staying Home. I'd rather go to work because it didn't matter what was going to happen at work. I was in control. I've got amazing wife and kids, so I'm not saying anything negative about them. But there's no rest and relaxation at home because as a chef, like, when you're home and you've got kids, you don't get rest. You're not allowed to rest because you've been gone a lot. And so that's the hard part. When kids would be in school, that would be the best thing ever. But chances are I'd be at work. Sometimes home was more hostile than hostile. Being not physically, I didn't feel endangered or I didn't feel like, what the hell? I'm leaving this place. I'm not going to pay for this shit. But it was just mentally, it was harder to be home than it was to be at work.Speaker C 00:36:48Been there many times.Speaker B 00:36:50Fuck you all. I'm going to work. It's your day off. They just called me.Speaker C 00:36:55They need me.Speaker B 00:36:58Oh, somebody just called off. I got to go. Yeah. So how does this all tie into art versus sustenance?Speaker C 00:37:11I told you, man. It was a broad scope. Where we start and where we end up, don't really know. One thing I was going to bring up about Nova, which I didn't really think about before, but it was kind of interesting, was that he took that look of war thing, and he took it to a whole another level. And while Noma might be one of the most expensive restaurants there is or was as far as, like a per person average, they don't really use any luxury ingredients, which has been such a safety net for a lot of fine dining kitchens for such a long time. That's one of the things that kind of was really special about Renee recipe and Noma, and that's not. A shot at anybody. I mean, Thomas Keller serves fucking caviar and foie gras in his restaurants. It's part of the luxury that comes with fine dining. And now I will never say ever a bad word about Thomas Keller. I love that guy, but it gives you a whole new way of thinking when it comes to ingredients versus technique. I went out to eat with my wife not that long ago. We went to a restaurant that had just been, like, raved about. Right. We ordered damn near everything on the menu, and the best dishes were dishes that were just ingredient driven and not technique driven. And it became kind of depressing. You could put enough uni and caviar to make anything taste good. Where's the technique?Speaker B 00:39:03That's an interesting concept there.Speaker C 00:39:05Yeah. If you like fog. Do pretty much anything with fog raw. Just don't fuck it up. But it is what it is. There's nothing special about it here than at a different place. It's still just foie gras, but you take somebody like Renee Redzepi who can serve you a plate of fucking moss and make it taste amazing for pretty much the same price point.Speaker B 00:39:38Yeah, no, it's interesting. I didn't put those two together because you're right. Because so much of that fine dining out here. Once again, this is a broad paint stroke here, is about just the Japanese wagu caviar foie, regardless of how you feel about it.Speaker C 00:40:07Fucking truffles.Speaker B 00:40:09Truffles? Yeah. Lobster. Lobsters. I don't know why people still eat that fucking cockroaches.Speaker C 00:40:24I don't understand truffle.Speaker B 00:40:28No, I've been in that spot where I was at a restaurant in Dallas, and it was, hey, if we want to be at this level, I'm like, then we need to play this game, too. So why did it tell you how the travels came available? And I bought a pound for two grand. I think I was selling it. I think it was like a $40 up charge, and we just go out there and shave it at the table. I don't get it.Speaker C 00:41:02I don't understand.Speaker B 00:41:03No, don't get it. To me, it didn't do anything for me.Speaker C 00:41:07It doesn't really add anything special. No, but that's part of the fine dining world, right? It's the exclusivity. And I think the article you were talking about, that's why people want fine dining to die is because it's like it's only a little microcosm of inequality.Speaker B 00:41:31You mean it's elitist?Speaker C 00:41:33Yeah. Like, in this charge, $500 a person, and this other restaurant only charged $50. Well, there's a lot of shit that goes into that that you can't really just lump it into categories like that. And fine dining has had this criticism forever. At least in America, I think, where if you're going somewhere specifically for luxury and you can afford it, how can you justify that to yourself when there's restaurants that are just as good, if not better, down the street at a fraction of the price point, that are suffering because no one wants to eat there? No one knows about it. They don't have the same marketing team and the same big name chef and the same wine list and things like that. But it's not an easy answer. There's nothing that you can say that's going to fix the situation where it's $1,000 tasting menu here and $100 tab over here. It's just part of what goes into it. But when you take away those luxury ingredients, like I was saying, can you still charge that goddamn much? Yeah, you can. I think that's another was a big deal when Eleven Madison Park decided to go vegan. When you take away the safety net of all those luxury ingredients and you have a restaurant like Eleven Madison Park, do you know how fucking insanely creative you have to be to make an all vegan pacing menu and still charge the same price point?Speaker B 00:43:30Who is that? I'm going blank. The French chef that did that.Speaker C 00:43:39Lane Ducos, I think was the one.Speaker B 00:43:41Yeah, like overnight. Yeah, I mean, three Michelin stars and just overnight we're going vegan. And everybody was like, the fuck you are. And I mean, this was, god, 20 years ago. It was a while ago. And all of a sudden everybody's like, well, what about your stars? Are they going to keep your stars? I mean, are they going to take them? What's going to happen? Just because he's not serving the duck press anymore, the foil and all that stuff? Everything takes the same amount of attention. And in a lot of ways, vegetables, to become that star of the show, almost need a little bit more attention because they're not as forgiving no.Speaker C 00:44:31Yeah, okay.Speaker B 00:44:33One way you had that head turn, like yeah, but still I appreciate it because at that point, too, for me to go to Eleven Madison, it's now more of a commitment to go for the art, and I appreciate 100% of what's going on there. But there's also other places where, I mean, yeah, I'd love to go and have I don't know, when they were still doing meets and stuff, and they're pretty iconic for their duck. Right. But that's just me, though. That's like, where's my protein? And can they put enough in a way, animal fats or not in animal fats, but animal fats are what kind of create that fullness in a lot of people, right? So when it's just being vegan only, are you going to finish off a 20 course meal and then being like, hey, let's go grab a burger at Shake check right in that store?Speaker C 00:45:55At that point, you're right. You have to be more committed to the art than the sustenance. Hypothetically. I'm sure they've figured out a way to make you full from 20 courses of vegetables.Speaker B 00:46:11You've already finished digesting your first course by the time you got to ten.Speaker C 00:46:16That mentality is not just going to be you. That's going to be a lot of people.Speaker B 00:46:20Yeah, but that's the mentality of I'm paying to feel satisfied, like, almost physically as well as your soul satisfying. Right. Everybody needs a level of physical satisfaction when you're going out to eat. Right, your body's got to feel but I mean, there's plenty of other vegans out there that will argue that. I don't know. It's just never been a diet that I've chosen to go down. I have a hard time with that one.Speaker C 00:47:04Yeah, I try to do mostly vegetarian at home because it makes me feel better. Eating a lot of vegetables makes me feel better than eating a lot of meat just does. And you do have to be a little more creative. But I can't go vegan. Man, I love butter and eggs too much.Speaker B 00:47:27Yeah. No. What about your kids? Do they eat that same?Speaker C 00:47:34They'll try anything, but it's kind of a 50 50. And like, my my youngest, he loves, like, soups, like vegetable soups. Don't know why. He just likes the texture of it, I guess. And then my other one's a little more picky. But they'll try it. At least they're open to trying things.Speaker B 00:47:58You're somewhat lucky. I say somewhat because no, I've got my son that you just can't tell with him sometimes what he'll eat and what he won't eat. But at the end of the day, he's just a straight carnivore. And then you got my daughter that'll eat like Tom cow soup. But other stuff is gross to her. She'll do over easy eggs on toast. Loves it, right? Tom Cobb. But try to feed her anything else fucking gross. She'll make a face. And I was just all you can think of is like, you'll eat this, but not this. How is this? I wish I had a better example. But it's like very safe food. And they're like, no, that's gross. No, it's not. This is called entry level right here. The other stuff you eat is considered gross by a lot of people.Speaker C 00:49:13Well, they don't appreciate the art, do they?Speaker B 00:49:18Man, I'll tell you right now, my kids don't appreciate the art or the sustenance.Speaker A 00:49:26I hope you enjoyed episode one of the new format. Next week we're going to be talking about we get into my history of kind of where I don't want to say my resume, but just kind of where I started and my progress through my culinary career. And then we'll be following that up with Morris and his growth of where he came from. We've got two very different worlds that we came from, two very different pasts. But in a lot of ways, we kind of met right there in the middle. So look forward to those episodes coming up. We're going to be recording those over the next week or so. That's it. So thank you again. I hope you enjoyed the show. Don't forget, leave a five star review if you don't like this and you don't want to leave a five star review, don't leave a review at all. Five stars help us quite a bit if you're able to write out a quick review as well. Even better, and make sure you follow us on your podcasting platform of choice. That way, you get alerted whenever a new podcast episode comes out. Especially with our new formatting, we might be seeing more throughout the week. Thank you again for listening. Don't forget to like us, follow us, share us. Until next time.

Matthew joins me today to share his experience on the concept of Rigorous Honesty. Like so many of us, he's got experience being dishonest and shares he shares his experience and what he's learned from recovery about becoming honest with himself and with others. A powerful message of how getting sober can help us live esteemable lives. RIGOROUS HONESTYWho wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant? Who wants to confess his faults to another and make restitution for harm done? Who cares anything about a Higher Power, let alone meditation and prayer? Who wants to sacrifice time and energy in trying to carry A.A. 's message to the next sufferer? No, the average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect—unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself.TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 24I am an alcoholic. If I drink I will die. My, what power, energy, and emotion this simple statement generates in me! But it's really all I need to know for today. Am I willing to stay alive today? Am I willing to stay sober today? Am I willing to ask for help and am I willing to be a help to another suffering alcoholic today? Have I discovered the fatal nature of my situation? What must I do, today, to stay sober?Support the showNeed the Daily Reflection Book? Visit our web site Read about Recovery on our Blog Visit our Facebook Group Follow us on Twitter Support the Podcast: - On Patreon: https://patreon.com/dailyreflection - On PayPal: https://paypal.me/dailyreflection If you're struggling with alcohol or addiction, or wondering how to stop drinking it's helpful to know that there's a solution that has worked for millions of people. The Daily Reflection Podcast provides hope, and inspiration through the shared experiences of people that have found a way out.