Silent Sermons

0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.720 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.920 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:13.600 in your life. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:19.600 Enjoy the message. Welcome to church. 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:24.640 Welcome to the final installment of Bars and Battles. Yes, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.319 I know how tragic it is for you to learn 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.680 that this is our final week of this series. 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.199 How many of you have enjoyed it and then. 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:41.639 Got to stop somewhere. I learned that, and you got 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.640 to start somewhere. You got to stop somewhere. It's usually 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:46.519 harder for me as a preacher to know where to 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.240 start the sermon than where to stop it, because usually 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:52.839 usually I know where I'm going. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:53.280 When I start. 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:56.600 When I start preaching to you, I know where I'm going, 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:58.520 but I don't always know how to get you into it, 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.240 because well, when I first started. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.319 Preaching, I just assumed that at. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.560 The beginning of my sermon, everybody was as excited as 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.600 I was about what I had been learning all week. 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:13.440 But I found out they had real lives, and so 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.959 you got to start somewhere, and sometimes it feels like 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.520 we have to get our energy to match up. When 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.920 I first started preaching, I came in so, I came 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:26.080 in so hot. I've just come up screaming and yelling 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.000 and hollering at the people in the first five minutes. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:31.880 But I find out sometimes you got to give them time. 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.440 To merge into traffic and got to let the caffeine 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:38.840 kick in. My pastor, Pastor Mickey, he used to always 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.959 start his sermons the same way. Every time he started 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.479 the sermon. Well, he would read his scripture, and then 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.400 he would pray, and at the end of his prayer, 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:50.480 he would end his prayer the same way. Every single 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:54.920 time he would he would pray, read scripture, he would pray, 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.640 and then he would say, lit the words of my 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:01.160 mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.840 thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:06.680 And I thought he made that up. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.640 I didn't know he was plagiarizing Psalm nineteen fourteen. I thought, well, 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.720 that's so deep and profound, And one day I looked 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.720 and it was right there in the Bible. But I 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.600 kind of thought, maybe that was like a good luck 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:22.600 thing to say before you preach, you know, let the 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:26.640 words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.679 be acceptable in your sight. I thought it was like saying, God, 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.600 help me not to mess up, and help them to listen, 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.720 help them to pay attention. That's a good thing to 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.200 pray when you start a sermon. Let the words of 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:44.919 my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:46.200 in your sight. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:51.840 Oh Lord, my Strength and Redeemer. It's kind of cool. 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.960 Because it means that anytime I preach, there are two 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:59.600 sermons happening, the one that I'm preaching and the one 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.040 you're hearing. And sometimes those two are not the same. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.160 So I want to talk to you for a few 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:12.960 moments today about silent sermons. Silent sermons, and what we'll 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.600 do is we'll read the whole Psalm Psalm nineteen. 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:17.160 We'll read the whole thing. 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:19.280 I'm want to ask you to stand to your feet 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.680 in honor of the reading of God's Word at all 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:30.560 of our locations. Many say this is David's greatest hit 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:33.000 of all of his psalms. 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:37.120 This is to some of his finest work. C. S. 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.880 Lewis said it's one of the greatest lyrics in human history, 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:43.760 and who are you to argue with C. S. Lewis 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.760 touch somebody say this must be a good one. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:48.880 It really is. 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.960 Listen to all fourteen verses. The heavens declare the glory 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.720 of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands. 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:01.480 Day after day, they pour forth speech, night after night 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:06.680 they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words, 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.120 No sound is heard from them, yet their voice goes 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.200 out into all the earth. 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.080 What a paradox this is, he said. They have no vocal. 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:22.640 Cords, no esophagus, no larynx, yet they speak so loudly. 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.839 The skies declare the glory of God. 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.760 And the heavens show forth his power in such a 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:33.200 way that it reaches the end of the earth. It's 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:37.640 a silent sermon. Their words go to the ends of 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.039 the world. In the heavens, God has pitched a tent 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.640 for the sun. It's like a bridegroom coming out of 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.480 his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.279 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.239 it circuit to the other. Nothing is deprived of its warmth. 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.679 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.080 The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wives the 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:05.480 simple touch. 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:07.160 Somebody say, God's word works. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.200 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.559 the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.680 light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:24.280 enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:28.560 all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:32.719 than much pure gold. They are sweeter than Krispy Kreme 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:38.760 North Carolina translation. Then honey from the honeycomb. By them, 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:42.760 your servant is worn in keeping them, in keeping them, 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.440 not just in hearing them, but in retaining them. In 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:52.880 keeping them, there's great reward. But who can discern their 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:59.720 own errors? Forgive my hidden false Keep your servant also 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:00.960 from willful sins. 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:03.240 May they not rule over me. 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:08.880 Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. And 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:10.400 here comes Pastor Mickey's verse. 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.160 Made the words of my mouth, he said it in 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:15.040 the King James English. 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:19.320 Because Pastor Mickey is seventy eight, made the words of 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.400 my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Take it 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:28.919 down be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord, my strength 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.240 and my redeemer. And now that I said the scripture, 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.200 we can get the sermons started have a sea. It 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:42.520 matters where you start. It matters where you start. You 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:45.000 agree with me, it matters how you start your day. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.920 Let's use a few examples with your spouse. Holly and 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:53.640 I were very happy on our honeymoon night and the 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.680 next morning, I'm not going with this where you think 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:57.320 I'm going with this. 0:06:58.960 --> 0:06:59.880 When she looked at. 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.000 Me and I looked at her, and we had both 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.520 been up, and we had both brushed our teeth, and 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:06.640 we had both been awake for fifteen minutes, and we 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.240 had not said a word, And she looked at me, 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.800 and I looked at her, and we knew that we 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.640 had made the right decision because she looked at me 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.240 and she said to me, you don't like to talk 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:24.720 in the morning either, And I said, no, I hate 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:26.200 people in the morning. 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:32.080 And we knew it was meant to. 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:37.239 Be because we can start our morning without saying a word. 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.840 We could start our morning without saying a word. And 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:46.440 I found out that you can preach a sermon without 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.240 saying a word. Some of the loudest sermons I will 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.560 preach will be with my life, not with my lips. 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:56.160 In fact, if. 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.560 I've preached one sermon with my lips and another with 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:00.600 my life. It won't be long before nobody wants to 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.040 hear what I have to say, no matter how loud 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:13.440 I say that silent sermons, there's the one that I preach, 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:19.200 and then there's the one that I live. My grandfather 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.600 was a preacher. I only heard him preach one time 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.600 that I remember. Probably heard him preach other times that 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.640 I don't remember, but I remember only one sermon that 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:30.600 I ever heard him preach. Can't remember what he preached, 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.360 but remember hearing him preach one time. I saw him 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:40.280 preach hundreds of times. There's a difference. I saw him 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.440 comb my grandmother's hair when she didn't even know his 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:49.360 name anymore because Alzheimer's had completely erased her memory of him. 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:52.960 But it didn't matter, because, like you've heard so many 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.920 times before, he would say, she might not know who 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.880 I am, but I know I. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.520 Know who I am even if she doesn't. 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.679 And so I am the kind of husband that will 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.920 comb her hair and show up every morning when visiting 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.160 our start and not leave until they kick me out, 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:17.000 and take her to Wendy's every day for lunch. And 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:19.640 he had no integrity because they would share a diet 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.440 coke every day at Wendy's and get free refills and 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:27.880 only pay for one instead of two. But see, he 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.480 was preaching a silent sermon. 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:33.599 He wasn't the first one. 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:35.880 He wasn't the first one to preach a silent sermon, 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.800 because Moses was a man that God wanted to use, 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.400 but he wasn't very good with words. So God said, 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:45.440 don't worry about what you're going to say. 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.720 I'm going to give you a stick, And if you take. 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.080 The stick and stretch it out, touch somebody, say stretch 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.600 it out. It's always in the stretch that you discover 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.640 the supply. It's always in the stretch that you discover 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.480 the strength. It's always in the stretch that you discover 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.040 the supernatural. You'll be get warmed up by now somebody 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.320 shall stretch. God said, Moses, if you'll stretch your staff 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.120 over the waters, you won't have to say a word. 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:14.319 I'll make the water's part and the people will know 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.640 what kind of God I am, not by the words 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.840 that you speak, but I'll make the waters free for you. 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.000 It's a silent sermon. 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.280 Moses wasn't the only one who preached a silent sermon. 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.560 One woman in the Bible was so taken by the 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:37.200 presence of Jesus Christ that she's snuck in a room 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.839 with some perfume, some really expensive perfume. 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.440 The Bible says it was worth a year's wages. 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.080 And people knew that she loved Jesus not because of 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:51.040 her speech, but because of the smell of the fragrance 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.199 that she poured out at his feet. Now, I can't 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.760 find one time where she said a word in the passage, 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.960 but Jesus said, wherever the Gospel has preached, the memory 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.679 of what this woman has done will be told. Because 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:06.240 some sermons are preached through smell rather than by sound. 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:07.600 I'll prove it to you. 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.000 Shadrackneeshak in a bed and a go went down. 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:13.320 In a fiery furnace. I'm preaching now. 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.720 We passed the introduction, and they turned up the heat 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.560 seven times hotter than normal, and. 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:20.640 They thought it would kill them. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.800 But when they came out, they didn't even smell like smoke. 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.880 And when you don't smell like what you've been through, 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:28.000 and when you've been. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.640 Through the fire but you're not bitter about. 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:42.000 It, it's a silent sonon Jesus got down in the 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:44.600 dirt one day and a woman who had been. 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.920 Caught in the act of adultree was about to get stone. 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:53.520 Jesus said, if you've never done anything deserving of becoming human, target, practice. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:54.280 Goliad and fire away. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.200 And then he knelt down in the dirt, said not 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.119 another word. And everybody started walking away. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.199 And he said not a word. He was writing in 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:03.679 the dirt. 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.480 I think he was writing their names and what they 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:14.080 did on prom night, But I don't know what he wrote. 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:20.160 Maybe just the essence of his presence was enough that 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:24.760 his perfection became a reflection of their need for grace. 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:31.119 Some of the greatest sermons are silent sermons. Silent sermons. 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.520 Those guys preached one today. Before I ever opened my mouth, 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:40.480 the preaching started. Sam and Brian you don't know him. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:45.280 They brought my pulpit out. They said something before I 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:50.200 said something. First of all, they said that this is 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:55.839 a heavy pulpit they've been lifting. By the way, when 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.800 you're really strong, you don't have to talk about how 0:12:57.840 --> 0:12:58.440 strong you are. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.959 Real strength show, and when you. 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:07.240 Really love God, sometimes it's something that's a seemingly insignificant 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.640 act of service. I wonder if their sermon will actually 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.040 mean more to God than mine because nobody will download 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:14.960 Sam's podcast. 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:18.160 But he preached it's. 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.480 A silent sermon. People ask me off, and when are 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.760 you gonna let Holly preach more? Well, first of all, 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.560 she told me two times a year. Any more than that, 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:30.280 and she's leaving me. She don't liked it that much, 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:36.040 but she preaches every week. Every week, she preaches every week. 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:37.360 If you don't believe me, just look over at her 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:38.920 right now. She's got her notebook open and this is 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.720 the second time she's heard this sermon and she's still 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.720 pretending to take notes and writing a grocery lesson. That's 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:51.000 not true. She gets something new out of it every time. 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:58.960 It's a silent sermon, a silence sermon. Can you preach 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:04.320 a silent sermon? Lazarus did? The Bible says that Jesus 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:08.720 needed some way to reveal that he was not only healer, 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:13.560 but he was resurrection. But if he said it, people 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:14.360 might doubt it. 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.679 But if he did it, somebody had to die. 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.240 Sometimes the greatest sermon of. 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:24.120 Your life will be by the things that you went through. 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:32.280 In fact, I love it because that same passage where 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.040 the woman broke the perfume. 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:35.240 Her name was Mary. 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.160 She was lazarus sister, And while she was pouring out perfume, 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.480 Lazarus was chilling lean back at the table. He didn't 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:44.720 have to say a word. The fact that he was 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.200 dead and now alive, the fact that. 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.840 He was in the ground and was now sitting at. 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.480 The table, was proof of the power of God. 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.400 How many don't. Just the fact that you showed up. 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.960 To church today makes the devil sick. 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.000 He can't s the singing in the House of God. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:08.160 I'm preaching by my very presence, but it's a silent sermon. 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:14.120 So when David says the sun makes it circuit, he's 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:18.200 not giving us a science lesson. He's showing us something 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:25.920 about how creation preaches silent sermons day after day and 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:30.080 night after night. He said, they pour forth the glory 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:35.480 of God. They speak, but you can't hear it. Some 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:42.640 of God's greatest work is seen, not heard, not heard. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.880 The skies preach a silent sermon. The consistency of the 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.360 solar system says something to us about the nature of 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:57.080 life that it is cyclical. Some of the things that 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:03.680 you think are circumstance your life are actually cyclical. I 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:08.200 think that's a big part of maturity is learning what's cyclical, 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:13.800 and not just running around from situation to situation, but 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:18.680 understanding the cycles that create the situations, because if you 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.200 don't understand the cycle that creates a situation, you will 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:27.600 be dealing with situation after situation after situation after situation. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.760 I don't need to be a science teacher to explain 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.080 to you that the solar system operates on cycles. You 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.080 understand we're making a trip right now. We do it 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.960 every three sixty five. Sometimes it takes us three sixty 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:46.960 six on those leap years, but we're making a cycle. 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.960 David said that the heavens are declaring the glory of 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.760 God and they keep on doing it consistently in the cycle. 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.520 And although we know that technically he's not a explaining 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.800 how the universe works, he's giving us a picture of 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:06.040 the Sun in its circuit. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:08.679 The whole text kind of has. 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.320 This theme of it that we're going round and round 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:17.800 and round and round. He ends the Psalm saying, may 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.240 the words of my mouth and the meditations of my 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:25.280 heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.639 and my Redeemer. He starts with the solar system, the 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:33.320 heavens declare the glory of God, and he ends with 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:38.119 his soul. So from the solar system to his soul, 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.280 everything is on a cycle. 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:42.200 It's a cycle. 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.960 Whatever you're thinking about right now, it's because of a cycle. 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.840 In fact, I think it's very very good to start 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:53.840 your day with God because it starts the cycle from 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.360 the right place. I think that's why it's really important 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.560 if you can read a Bible verse before you read 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:05.080 a Facebook post, because it's just a better, purer cycle. 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:10.480 If it's possible before you check email, check your n email. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.919 I just threw that in for the corny people. I 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:19.679 would never say that. A lesser preacher would say something 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:20.280 like that. 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:26.120 To somebody, say it's a cycle, and he uses this phrase. 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:32.160 The meditation of my heart. You'll get it together. Wasn't 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:41.119 that bad? Meditation is not a hot yoga term. Meditation 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:47.639 is not a term reserved exclusively for Eastern religion. Meditation 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:52.080 actually in Hebrew is a musical term. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.600 How beut you didn't know that. That's why I'm telling you. 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:01.959 It's like, David, here's where I learned about what meditation is, 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.399 because for years and years and years and years I 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:07.000 thought that what I said to God was my prayer life, 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:10.399 as I say a lot of stuff to God, and 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:11.800 I would say all the stuff that I need God 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.000 to do, and sometimes I would lose focus, and I 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:15.800 had prayer lists and prayer thoughts and all that, and 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.520 it felt real boring. I didn't realize that there were 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.919 some things that God wanted to say to me. I 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:30.119 didn't understand the power of the silent sermon until I 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.919 went to see Ed Shearon in concert. 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.240 And I have nothing against Ed Shearon. 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:41.000 In fact, I think Ed Shearon has written some beautiful songs. 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.800 How many would agree that Ed Shearon has written some 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:46.919 beautiful songs three of you. 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.639 But I'm just saying this is not a rant against 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:51.360 Ed Shearon. 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:54.600 But I went to see Ed Shearon because Holly likes 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:55.679 boring music and. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.240 Ed Shearon had an interesting way of. 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.919 Doing a concert. And it was surprising to me because 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:13.080 Ed Sheeran did a whole concert without a band, a 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.840 whole ninety minute set in an arena. When I say 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:21.639 it was boring, now, maybe I'm just spoiled because I 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:25.600 passed her at church with the greatest musicians you will 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:27.800 find anywhere. 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:28.200 In the city. 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:32.240 The Saint come on GTA the continent. 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:37.119 To not ed no not ed ed. 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.760 Shearon didn't even have a band, no bass player, no 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:46.000 kick drum, no electric guitar. Ninety minutes of him with 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:53.439 his guitar and his accent, and he had this little pedal. 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:59.080 Come here, David's gonna help me. Yeah, give it up 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:01.280 for David. This is the other. 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:05.639 King, David. This is David, David. 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:10.040 Liota, the king of the strings, the king of the 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:14.240 six string guitar. David's going to do his best at 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:18.720 Shearon impersonation because what that Shearon. 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:20.440 Did, Now, I had to ask somebody. 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:22.000 The first time I saw I'd do this, I didn't 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:25.360 know what it was because I've saw him. He would 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.480 play something and then he would stop playing it, but 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.240 it kept going. And that's because he had one of these, right. 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.879 It's called a loop station. If you're taking notes, you 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:37.639 look like you're waiting for something to write down. At 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:42.200 some point in this sermon, write down the word loop, loop, loop, 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:45.480 and shows how the looping station worked. Because he doesn't 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:51.040 have a drummer because apparently he's cheap, so instead of 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.280 instead of hiring a drummer, he made his own drums 0:21:55.760 --> 0:22:07.399 on the guitar. Just give him an example. See what 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:13.960 he did. He looped it. Now we gotta beat See 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:18.120 you can move to that a little bit. But he's 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:22.399 not doing anything. But he set something in motion and 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:24.680 there it is. Now put something on top of it. Loop, 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:39.840 something else. Oh that's a nice David. I like that 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:42.720 jazzy Major seven stuff. 0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.919 That's pretty soulful for a white boy. That's good, David. 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.359 There's something else on it. All we're doing stack in 0:22:53.400 --> 0:23:02.120 the loops. That's all we're doing. Come on, that's too 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:06.680 sexy for church, David. Take it all the way back down. 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:14.200 Take something out, Take that out. 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:29.040 All started, all these layers started with a loop. 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:31.080 With a loop. 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:37.040 Now what I found out, David, how you make it stop? 0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:42.520 Because sometimes I wonder that about my heart? How do 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:43.359 I make it stop? 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:45.920 Yeah? 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:50.320 Because I get stuck in a loop. You ever been 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:52.720 stuck in a loop. I'm talking about it in. 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:54.960 Your mind now, not at the guitar or anything like that. 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:58.960 You've been stuck in a loop where you find yourself 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:02.600 in an absolute state of panic. 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:08.480 That started Watch this with a silent sermon. 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:16.520 Mosses isn't the only one who preached silent sermons. Lazarus 0:24:16.600 --> 0:24:21.600 isn't the only one who preached silent sermons. Jesus isn't 0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:27.200 the only one who preached a silent sermon. David isn't 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:30.840 the only one who preached a silent sermon. Not only 0:24:30.880 --> 0:24:35.960 do the stars and the sun, and the skies and 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:37.000 the solar. 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:40.800 System preach a silent sermon. I got bad news for you. 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:45.080 The devil preaches silent sermons. 0:24:46.840 --> 0:24:47.920 He gets you in a loop. 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:49.719 I'm done with you, David, thank you so much. Give 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:57.040 him a hand our very ownette searing. You ever been 0:24:57.080 --> 0:24:58.520 stuck in a loop of lives? 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:00.600 He's talked to me. 0:25:00.600 --> 0:25:02.560 I feel awful, lonely up here concord. 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:08.080 They're giving me no law. You don't admit it, but some. 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:13.040 Of your relationships went off track, not because of what 0:25:13.240 --> 0:25:16.760 was said in the relationship, but because of what was 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:20.760 not said, what you started saying to your self. 0:25:25.240 --> 0:25:27.760 He said within himself. 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:28.600 That's what the. 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:33.080 Rich man did in the parable when he said to himself, 0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:36.920 I'll build many barns, I'll take life easy. He didn't 0:25:36.960 --> 0:25:39.120 know that very night his life would be required. 0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:44.240 He said to himself. It matters where you start with 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:44.919 what you. 0:25:44.800 --> 0:25:49.800 Think about, and self is a very small sun for 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:56.600 your life to orbit around. It's a very limited loop. 0:25:57.520 --> 0:26:01.720 Self is a is a very small scale to see 0:26:01.720 --> 0:26:02.199 the world in. 0:26:02.720 --> 0:26:02.920 Yeah. 0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:16.240 In fact, sing with me, do ray me me me me. 0:26:17.440 --> 0:26:22.159 I'm just me singing the song me that many of 0:26:22.240 --> 0:26:30.440 us me have been singing all week? Me me me 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:32.600 me me? 0:26:33.840 --> 0:26:34.960 What's your favorite meditation? 0:26:35.359 --> 0:26:42.160 Me me? What are they thinking about me? Me? 0:26:43.000 --> 0:26:44.920 When is anybody ever gonna notice me? 0:26:45.920 --> 0:26:50.680 I changed the key, but it's still about me. Sometimes 0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:54.960 I can find a way to make anything about me. 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:57.560 Me me, me, me, me, me me. Come on, let's 0:26:57.560 --> 0:26:58.400 acquire practice. 0:26:58.800 --> 0:27:01.320 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of 0:27:01.359 --> 0:27:01.840 my heart. 0:27:02.359 --> 0:27:05.120 Me me me, me, me, me, me. 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:07.840 Me me me me me. 0:27:07.520 --> 0:27:11.160 Me me me. 0:27:09.680 --> 0:27:14.320 Me me me me me. 0:27:19.840 --> 0:27:21.080 I don't think it's a hit ella. 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:25.720 I don't think anybody's gonna buy the album. I don't 0:27:25.720 --> 0:27:28.640 think it's gonna bring me joy. I don't think it's 0:27:28.640 --> 0:27:31.680 gonna bring me peace. I don't think I'm gonna figure 0:27:31.680 --> 0:27:35.200 out a solution if I start with myself. I need 0:27:35.240 --> 0:27:38.560 a new loop, I said, I need a new loop. 0:27:39.440 --> 0:27:42.280 Some of you came to church today, not just the 0:27:42.320 --> 0:27:45.640 hero A sermon, but to preach one to yourself. Why 0:27:45.640 --> 0:27:49.120 don't you start with your source and not with yourself? 0:27:49.520 --> 0:27:52.800 Now to him, come on, who is Abel? 0:27:53.280 --> 0:27:54.040 Shout up town? 0:27:54.520 --> 0:27:57.600 To do immeasurably more than I asked for. 0:27:57.720 --> 0:28:03.040 Imagine, I'm tired of that track. 0:28:04.320 --> 0:28:06.760 Me me me me me me me me me me 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:07.800 me me me me me. 0:28:07.600 --> 0:28:10.280 Me me me me me me me me me me. 0:28:11.440 --> 0:28:13.600 I thought about singing it till it wasn't funny anymore, 0:28:13.600 --> 0:28:15.200 And it sounds like we're already at that point. 0:28:17.240 --> 0:28:18.360 I know how long it would take. 0:28:18.720 --> 0:28:21.720 How long will it take until you change that meditation? 0:28:22.160 --> 0:28:23.160 Realizing that if. 0:28:23.080 --> 0:28:25.760 You start with yourself, you say in yourself, and you 0:28:25.760 --> 0:28:28.080 will always be limited by who you are. 0:28:28.600 --> 0:28:30.480 But when you start with the great I. 0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:42.040 Am, David said, who's that? They said, I think his 0:28:42.120 --> 0:28:48.040 name's Goliath. David said, I'll fight him. Saul said, you're small. 0:28:49.040 --> 0:28:53.160 David said, I'm not coming against him in myself or 0:28:53.200 --> 0:28:56.360 in my name, but I come against you in the 0:28:56.440 --> 0:29:02.480 name of the Lord the Sky. I declare the glory 0:29:02.960 --> 0:29:06.480 of God. Notice David did not start with what was 0:29:06.520 --> 0:29:11.240 in his heart. You start with what's in your heart. 0:29:11.400 --> 0:29:15.520 You'll scare yourself to death. That's a horror movie to 0:29:15.560 --> 0:29:16.840 start with what's in your heart. 0:29:17.280 --> 0:29:18.400 I was going to preach. 0:29:18.200 --> 0:29:19.840 One time, and the guy who invited me, I've never 0:29:19.880 --> 0:29:20.240 been to. 0:29:20.120 --> 0:29:22.080 His church before. He said, just share us on your heart. 0:29:22.120 --> 0:29:23.520 I said, oh, no, you don't want me to do that. 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:28.160 I'm gonna share us in heaven because if I tell 0:29:28.200 --> 0:29:32.840 you what's in my heart, it won't help any of us. 0:29:36.000 --> 0:29:39.080 So I don't start my meditation with what's in myself. 0:29:39.200 --> 0:29:44.840 I noticed that every meditation, and again, don't think meditation. 0:29:47.880 --> 0:29:48.720 Think about the loop. 0:29:49.880 --> 0:29:52.400 Think about the lines that loop over and over again 0:29:52.480 --> 0:29:56.000 in the way that you think. Think about how you 0:29:56.000 --> 0:29:58.520 have this subtle way, if you let yourself into turning 0:29:58.560 --> 0:30:03.200 every interaction into a stage on which you. 0:30:03.120 --> 0:30:06.240 Were the star. I don't do that. I don't like 0:30:06.360 --> 0:30:10.320 to be noticed. I don't do that. I don't like. 0:30:10.280 --> 0:30:12.360 People to even look at me. I'm not that type 0:30:12.360 --> 0:30:15.360 of person. This must be a preacher thing. No, I 0:30:15.440 --> 0:30:20.480 promise you. You talk too much sometimes. I promise you. 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:23.400 Some of the stuff that you post. Oh you didn't 0:30:23.400 --> 0:30:25.560 think I was talking about your Instagram. 0:30:25.080 --> 0:30:25.600 Fee, did you? 0:30:26.200 --> 0:30:29.000 I promise you some of you need to go home 0:30:29.000 --> 0:30:32.400 and change the bio on your on your Instagram, and 0:30:32.400 --> 0:30:34.480 it should just say what it's really all about? 0:30:34.880 --> 0:30:36.440 Me? Me, me, me. 0:30:36.160 --> 0:30:39.040 Me, Just give us an expectation of what's going to 0:30:39.080 --> 0:30:47.440 happen on that fee when you're easily offended, when everything's 0:30:47.440 --> 0:30:48.120 an insult. 0:30:50.080 --> 0:30:50.800 Did you see how. 0:30:50.720 --> 0:30:53.520 They looked at me. They weren't looking at you. They 0:30:53.520 --> 0:30:57.720 were thinking about dinner. They have not bought groceries this week, 0:30:58.240 --> 0:31:01.440 and their mom has cancer. You get outside yourself and 0:31:01.480 --> 0:31:02.840 think about something bigger. 0:31:03.120 --> 0:31:05.000 The skies declare the glory of God. 0:31:05.120 --> 0:31:10.080 People like this, bigger than what happens in here. 0:31:12.760 --> 0:31:14.840 Do your neighbor a real favor, Look at him and say. 0:31:14.680 --> 0:31:19.800 Get out your head. Get out of your head. That's 0:31:19.840 --> 0:31:23.920 a horrible place to take your orders. Am I preaching 0:31:24.000 --> 0:31:32.240 or am I preaching? Every meditation, every loop that starts 0:31:32.320 --> 0:31:34.720 with self ends in one of two places. And I 0:31:34.760 --> 0:31:36.440 want you to look for this in your life this week. 0:31:37.920 --> 0:31:47.880 It's either going to end in scarcity or shame. Every 0:31:47.920 --> 0:31:50.200 sermon that you preach to yourself, and you are always 0:31:50.240 --> 0:31:55.800 preaching to yourself. In fact, Martin Lloyd Jones said that 0:31:55.960 --> 0:31:59.080 our problem is we spend too much time listening to 0:31:59.120 --> 0:32:05.040 ourselves and not enough time preaching to ourselves. Isn't that 0:32:05.080 --> 0:32:08.560 what David psalms have shown us where he would say 0:32:08.600 --> 0:32:11.120 to his soul, is time to go to school. Bless 0:32:11.120 --> 0:32:14.360 the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, 0:32:15.000 --> 0:32:19.320 Bless his holy name. He's preaching to himself, and. 0:32:19.200 --> 0:32:19.760 So are you. 0:32:20.120 --> 0:32:22.800 But when you preach to yourself from yourself, your sermon 0:32:22.840 --> 0:32:28.880 will always lead to scarcity. Brene Brown says that the 0:32:29.000 --> 0:32:32.480 number one meditation of many of our hearts is not enough. 0:32:34.640 --> 0:32:38.120 She says, we apply it to time, we apply it 0:32:38.160 --> 0:32:42.000 to money, we apply it to our talent, and the 0:32:42.040 --> 0:32:43.880 sermon that plays in our mind, if we would ever 0:32:43.920 --> 0:32:46.280 stop and listen to it, it starts every morning. 0:32:46.560 --> 0:32:47.120 Not enough. 0:32:48.120 --> 0:32:52.000 How much sleep did you get last night? 0:32:53.520 --> 0:32:55.520 How much money do you make on that job? 0:32:57.000 --> 0:32:59.560 Graham asked me the other day, Dad, is fifty six 0:33:00.320 --> 0:33:02.280 a year a lot of money? I said, it is 0:33:02.320 --> 0:33:14.880 till you make it. That might be the devil's favorite sermon. 0:33:14.920 --> 0:33:19.480 Not enough, not enough, not enough. He preached it to 0:33:19.520 --> 0:33:23.160 the disciples because they looked at five thousand men and 0:33:23.200 --> 0:33:26.400 women and children, and Jesus said, feed them. And they said, well, 0:33:26.400 --> 0:33:28.760 we don't have a whole lot. And we don't have 0:33:29.160 --> 0:33:31.440 a whole lot. We have five loaves and two fish. 0:33:31.520 --> 0:33:36.800 But that's not enough because they were starting with their selves, 0:33:38.600 --> 0:33:42.000 but they were standing next to the source. I wonder 0:33:42.040 --> 0:33:44.880 how different the story would be if you would ask 0:33:44.920 --> 0:33:47.920 the source instead of asking yourself. 0:33:49.520 --> 0:33:50.400 Check the source. 0:33:50.920 --> 0:33:56.240 He's smarter than enough. Somebody shout, he's more. He's small. 0:33:56.760 --> 0:33:58.000 YA will never shout in the. 0:33:57.920 --> 0:33:58.560 Back of the room. 0:33:58.560 --> 0:33:59.800 And I start hollering like this. 0:34:00.480 --> 0:34:01.840 I know y'all don't like it when. 0:34:01.720 --> 0:34:04.800 I holler, but this is not a silent sermon. This 0:34:04.880 --> 0:34:05.920 is a loud sermon. 0:34:06.280 --> 0:34:10.239 Somebody shout, he's more more than enough. 0:34:10.520 --> 0:34:14.160 Every need, every deficiency, all my failures. 0:34:16.160 --> 0:34:20.399 His blood is enough, his grace is enough, his word 0:34:20.520 --> 0:34:24.040 is enough. The law of the Lord is pure, reviving 0:34:24.120 --> 0:34:32.480 the soul. But if I start with myself, I end 0:34:33.080 --> 0:34:33.840 with scarcity. 0:34:35.160 --> 0:34:39.839 It's a loop because I start down here, and so. 0:34:39.800 --> 0:34:43.520 By the time I've looped around through my day, I 0:34:43.640 --> 0:34:47.000 end my day feeling completed. I wonder if you got 0:34:47.000 --> 0:34:50.120 a new loop. I wonder if you got a new 0:34:50.200 --> 0:34:56.320 loop and started with the source instead of starting with yourself. 0:34:58.360 --> 0:35:01.440 I wonder how the cycle would change if you started 0:35:01.480 --> 0:35:05.720 with your source. I know it's basic, but didn't David 0:35:05.760 --> 0:35:08.719 start with the heavens and then move toward his heart. 0:35:09.680 --> 0:35:14.200 The skies declare the glory of God. They show forth 0:35:14.239 --> 0:35:16.040 his power day after. 0:35:15.800 --> 0:35:19.560 Day and night after night, and day after day and 0:35:19.680 --> 0:35:22.560 night after night. And all I've got to do to 0:35:22.719 --> 0:35:25.480 stay and step with God is keep the beat of 0:35:25.520 --> 0:35:30.160 Heaven happening inside my heart. Because there's always enough in heaven. 0:35:30.440 --> 0:35:34.880 There's always enough patience in heaven. There's always enough provision 0:35:34.920 --> 0:35:39.560 in heaven. There's always enough bread in heaven. There's always enough, 0:35:39.960 --> 0:35:44.600 always enough, always enough. My God shall supply all of 0:35:44.640 --> 0:35:47.560 your needs according What if you got in that loop. 0:35:47.800 --> 0:35:53.920 What if you ask God to fill your empty places 0:35:55.400 --> 0:35:59.400 and you start with yourself, You in in scarcity. You 0:35:59.440 --> 0:36:07.239 start with your self, you end in shame. Because I 0:36:07.280 --> 0:36:10.719 look at myself and I feel like David. David does 0:36:10.800 --> 0:36:13.600 something weird. I think he wrote this song. It's contested 0:36:15.000 --> 0:36:16.560 he might have written it, he might have not written it. 0:36:16.600 --> 0:36:20.560 But let's give him credit because this is a song 0:36:20.600 --> 0:36:28.120 that embodies a characteristic known as wisdom poetry. It kind 0:36:28.120 --> 0:36:30.640 of switches beats in the middle of the song. It's 0:36:30.719 --> 0:36:32.560 going on and on about the skies and to have 0:36:32.719 --> 0:36:35.400 his For many years they thought it was two different 0:36:36.040 --> 0:36:39.520 poems put together as they were studying back and trying 0:36:39.560 --> 0:36:40.960 to find out how it was written and when it 0:36:40.960 --> 0:36:43.640 was written. It was such a sharp break at verse 0:36:43.640 --> 0:36:46.120 seven that they thought, well, maybe this is a different thing. 0:36:46.160 --> 0:36:47.840 You know, we're talking about the skies. 0:36:47.480 --> 0:36:51.759 And the sun and the stars. And then all of 0:36:51.840 --> 0:36:55.560 a sudden, David makes a break in verse seven and 0:36:55.600 --> 0:36:59.080 he starts talking about the law of the Lord. That's 0:36:59.080 --> 0:37:02.480 what he says, perfect refreshing the soul. 0:37:04.400 --> 0:37:09.280 Look at verse twelve. But who can discern their own errors? 0:37:10.600 --> 0:37:12.080 So he is an. 0:37:11.920 --> 0:37:21.920 Imperfect man looking into a perfect law. He's looking at 0:37:22.080 --> 0:37:24.520 what the law is and what it does, and how 0:37:24.520 --> 0:37:31.280 it brings peace, wisdom, and joy. But yet he knows 0:37:31.440 --> 0:37:35.440 that he has broken the very law that produces the 0:37:35.560 --> 0:37:39.080 very things that he wants. I don't think it's much 0:37:39.080 --> 0:37:42.240 of a break, because he is contemplating how the heavens 0:37:42.280 --> 0:37:45.279 are able to effortlessly declare the glory of. 0:37:45.239 --> 0:37:47.040 God, but he cannot. 0:37:50.200 --> 0:37:55.600 Because I'm stuck in a cycle called sin, and there 0:37:55.640 --> 0:37:59.439 are secrets in my heart that, no matter how much 0:37:59.480 --> 0:38:02.200 I dress him up with the words of my mouth, 0:38:02.560 --> 0:38:06.440 the meditations of my heart falls short of the glory 0:38:06.480 --> 0:38:06.920 of God. 0:38:08.239 --> 0:38:09.120 Paul knew it too. 0:38:10.160 --> 0:38:14.520 He said, what the law was powerless to do in 0:38:14.600 --> 0:38:18.440 that it was weakened by the sinful nature. Look what 0:38:18.560 --> 0:38:25.040 God did. God started a new loop. See through the law, 0:38:25.400 --> 0:38:28.160 man tried to reach his way to God. 0:38:28.440 --> 0:38:29.200 But it was a. 0:38:29.120 --> 0:38:34.359 Cycle of shame caused by sin. So I reach and 0:38:34.440 --> 0:38:38.440 fall short, and try and fall short, and repent and 0:38:38.520 --> 0:38:41.720 fall short, and get up and fall down, and reach 0:38:42.000 --> 0:38:45.200 and fall short and try and fall short, and get 0:38:45.320 --> 0:38:48.600 up and fall down. And God broke the cycle. For 0:38:48.719 --> 0:38:51.000 in the fullness of time, God. 0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:54.640 Sit for his son in the likeness of sinful man, to. 0:38:54.680 --> 0:38:59.000 Be a sin offering. For what the law was powerless 0:38:59.000 --> 0:39:02.480 to do in the I was weakened by the sinful nature. 0:39:02.840 --> 0:39:06.520 God did by sending his own son in the likeness 0:39:06.560 --> 0:39:07.399 of sinful man. 0:39:07.840 --> 0:39:11.120 So that we can say, there is therefore. 0:39:10.920 --> 0:39:12.600 Now no condemn. 0:39:14.640 --> 0:39:18.920 There is therefore let me give you a new loop. 0:39:19.360 --> 0:39:27.279 No condemnation, no condemnation, no condemnation for. 0:39:27.280 --> 0:39:28.880 Those who are in Christ Jesus. 0:39:29.360 --> 0:39:31.880 This is the kind of gospel preaching that got me 0:39:31.960 --> 0:39:32.759 to the cross. 0:39:33.120 --> 0:39:34.080 This is the kind of. 0:39:34.080 --> 0:39:37.080 Gospel preaching that will break the change of shame off 0:39:37.120 --> 0:39:37.920 of your life. 0:39:38.239 --> 0:39:40.879 This is the kind of gospel preaching that you can 0:39:40.920 --> 0:39:41.440 preach on. 0:39:41.440 --> 0:39:46.000 Monday morning, Tuesday nine, Wednesday afternoon. You can preach this 0:39:46.160 --> 0:39:52.879 stuff for yourself. There is therefore now no condemnation. Why 0:39:53.320 --> 0:39:59.480 because I'm in Christ. In other words, to seven people 0:39:59.480 --> 0:40:02.200 that tell them, I, I got a new loop. I got 0:40:02.200 --> 0:40:05.960 a new loop. That's what the gospel gives me. A 0:40:06.040 --> 0:40:11.080 new meditation. And watch this. I no longer live by situation. 0:40:11.560 --> 0:40:15.160 You're ready to jump up. I live by revelation. I 0:40:15.239 --> 0:40:20.759 know who he is, I know who I am in him. 0:40:22.120 --> 0:40:23.640 You better touch seven more people. 0:40:23.680 --> 0:40:24.840 Tell him I got a revelation. 0:40:25.560 --> 0:40:28.960 I got a revelation, or whatever I go through, I 0:40:29.040 --> 0:40:31.120 got a revelation of who's. 0:40:30.840 --> 0:40:33.399 In the fire with me. I know what he did. 0:40:33.880 --> 0:40:36.359 I know who he is. I know who I am 0:40:36.480 --> 0:40:40.480 at him. I got a new loop. I'm losing my voice. 0:40:40.520 --> 0:40:41.640 All shout for me. 0:40:53.280 --> 0:40:57.880 You get that in your heart, you'd be finishing the 0:40:57.880 --> 0:41:03.320 devil's sermons in no time. He might start them, but 0:41:03.400 --> 0:41:13.400 you let Grace finish them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The devil 0:41:13.400 --> 0:41:18.240 will be scared to talk to you. He will because 0:41:18.239 --> 0:41:22.240 every failure he brings up is going to trigger within 0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:26.480 your mind a new loop. To realize that Grace is 0:41:26.520 --> 0:41:28.360 greater than my failure. 0:41:29.640 --> 0:41:30.480 Grace is greater. 0:41:31.400 --> 0:41:34.880 I don't know. Maybe you're gonna live in a new loop. 0:41:38.480 --> 0:41:40.520 It is not the sermon that I preach to you 0:41:41.560 --> 0:41:43.120 that determines the course of your life. 0:41:45.200 --> 0:41:56.400 It's a sermon you preach to yourself. That's what you 0:41:56.440 --> 0:41:57.400 say to yourself. 0:41:59.040 --> 0:42:04.600 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of 0:42:04.640 --> 0:42:14.560 my heart be acceptable, acceptable, accept accept, Accept. 0:42:14.160 --> 0:42:15.600 What God says about. 0:42:15.320 --> 0:42:21.280 You, reject everything else, and live your life under. 0:42:21.040 --> 0:42:28.600 An open heaven. And the heavens declare. 0:42:28.280 --> 0:42:31.480 The glory of God, and the skies declare His wonder 0:42:31.800 --> 0:42:33.960 Day after day they pour forth speech, and. 0:42:33.920 --> 0:42:36.040 They don't need any words to do it. It's a 0:42:36.200 --> 0:42:37.120 silent sermon. 0:42:38.680 --> 0:42:41.520 It's the silent sermon that determines whether or not you 0:42:41.560 --> 0:42:43.920 step out on faith or stay in your comfort zone. 0:42:44.040 --> 0:42:47.000 It's the silent sermon you preach to yourself that determines 0:42:47.000 --> 0:42:48.720 whether you continue to live in a place of regret 0:42:48.719 --> 0:42:51.360 and resentment, or you step forward into your tomorrow believing 0:42:51.360 --> 0:42:53.120 that God will use all things for the good of 0:42:53.120 --> 0:42:55.520 those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. 0:42:56.719 --> 0:43:03.880 It's not this, it's the second sermon. We thought it 0:43:03.920 --> 0:43:06.879 was so weird that the. 0:43:07.040 --> 0:43:09.279 Preacher would pray, let the words of my mouth and 0:43:09.320 --> 0:43:11.960 the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. 0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:14.200 But I get it now. He was saying, there's two 0:43:14.239 --> 0:43:17.719 sermons happening. There's what I say to you, and there's 0:43:17.760 --> 0:43:22.640 what you say to yourself. And you've got to learn 0:43:22.680 --> 0:43:28.920 how to be the coach of your own soul. I 0:43:28.960 --> 0:43:35.920 wish Davo Sweeney was here. He could help us. I 0:43:36.080 --> 0:43:42.840 was considering hiring a coach recently for leadership, and I 0:43:42.880 --> 0:43:46.040 wanted somebody who could help me to analyze my own leadership. 0:43:46.080 --> 0:43:47.239 And that's probably a good thing to do. 0:43:47.280 --> 0:43:51.560 But I was praying about it, and God said, be 0:43:51.640 --> 0:43:59.560 your own head coach, head coach, you hear me. I 0:43:59.560 --> 0:44:02.800 thought about titling this message help. My mind is a mess, 0:44:02.840 --> 0:44:04.640 and I don't know where to start to put it 0:44:04.760 --> 0:44:07.959 in order that would be more accurate to our real lives. 0:44:08.000 --> 0:44:09.960 But I started to call it the Silent sermon instead, 0:44:10.000 --> 0:44:13.360 because I found out that I have a second self. 0:44:15.840 --> 0:44:17.919 I have the self that tells me everything that's wrong 0:44:18.000 --> 0:44:21.560 with me, and then I have this second self. 0:44:21.600 --> 0:44:23.200 It's not really even me. 0:44:24.840 --> 0:44:28.440 It's a deposit guaranteeing my inheritance is the Holy spirit 0:44:28.480 --> 0:44:31.600 of God dwelling in me. When I say he's in 0:44:31.640 --> 0:44:33.600 my heart, I'm not talking about an organ anymore than 0:44:33.800 --> 0:44:36.400 David is talking about the sun as being a celestial body. 0:44:36.400 --> 0:44:39.160 He's talking about the faithfulness of God in poetic language. 0:44:39.200 --> 0:44:40.880 It is theology wrapped in poetry. 0:44:42.600 --> 0:44:47.080 So when he said the meditations of my heart, I thought, 0:44:47.160 --> 0:44:51.399 I need to be my own head coach. I think 0:44:51.440 --> 0:44:55.040 that I need to let the God in me talk 0:44:55.080 --> 0:45:01.239 to the me and me. I think I need to 0:45:01.239 --> 0:45:05.560 start letting my second self talk to my. 0:45:07.320 --> 0:45:08.200 Screwed up self. 0:45:11.160 --> 0:45:15.600 I even started doing it practically, And for me, I 0:45:15.600 --> 0:45:17.040 have to get out of my head set to write 0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:18.319 things down because up. 0:45:18.320 --> 0:45:20.320 Here is whoa. 0:45:21.280 --> 0:45:25.879 I can't keep it straight, comes real fast, But when 0:45:25.920 --> 0:45:27.480 I write it down, it helps me. 0:45:27.440 --> 0:45:30.719 To slow down a little bit and focus. Slow down. 0:45:31.400 --> 0:45:32.640 It gets that constant me. 0:45:34.680 --> 0:45:36.560 Me, me, me, me. 0:45:41.160 --> 0:45:45.880 So that the real me can speak. 0:45:46.560 --> 0:45:50.719 And I write letters to me from the other me. 0:45:53.000 --> 0:45:55.200 I know what schizophrenic pastor is not what you always 0:45:55.520 --> 0:45:55.920 pray for. 0:45:57.560 --> 0:46:00.480 I'm gonna help somebody, though, I write on the top 0:46:00.520 --> 0:46:03.759 of my page. I write down every time I do this, 0:46:03.880 --> 0:46:06.640 three times a week, holy ghost coaches notes. 0:46:08.480 --> 0:46:10.440 I write it down, and then I talked to myself, 0:46:11.440 --> 0:46:17.960 like I like myself, believe in myself, see myself, and 0:46:18.080 --> 0:46:19.240 know myself. 0:46:19.600 --> 0:46:21.759 Because I figure all of those are characteristics of the 0:46:21.760 --> 0:46:25.239 God in me. So if I can sit down long 0:46:25.360 --> 0:46:27.279 enough to listen. 0:46:28.480 --> 0:46:33.279 To what Elijah heard as a still small voice, see 0:46:33.280 --> 0:46:35.440 the wind came through the rocks, and Elijah heard nothing. 0:46:36.880 --> 0:46:38.440 I could preach a good sermon. We can sing a 0:46:38.440 --> 0:46:42.520 good song, you might not get it. The fire blazed high. 0:46:42.840 --> 0:46:49.200 Elijah heard nothing, nothing reassuring. Wind blew the fire, Earth 0:46:49.239 --> 0:46:52.840 started shaking. Earth, wind and fire did an opening act, 0:46:52.600 --> 0:46:55.200 and Elijah wasn't impressed. 0:46:55.239 --> 0:46:57.680 But the Hebrew word is interesting. It says God was 0:46:57.719 --> 0:46:58.800 in the whisper. 0:47:01.360 --> 0:47:05.480 It was in that silent sermon that Elijah realized that 0:47:06.200 --> 0:47:08.400 what he was running from was already taken care of. 0:47:11.239 --> 0:47:13.439 It was in that silent sermon that he realized God 0:47:13.440 --> 0:47:16.000 had already appointed someone to put to death those who. 0:47:15.920 --> 0:47:16.839 Threatened his own life. 0:47:17.880 --> 0:47:20.719 It was in that silent sermon that Elijah realized that 0:47:20.760 --> 0:47:23.200 there was already a successor appointed, that his ministry had 0:47:23.239 --> 0:47:26.400 not been in vain. It was in that silent sermon 0:47:26.440 --> 0:47:28.680 that he realized that there was still work to be done, 0:47:29.440 --> 0:47:32.440 and I can't stay in this place of self pity anymore. 0:47:32.600 --> 0:47:38.920 It's the silent sermon, the silent sermon. I wonder if 0:47:38.920 --> 0:47:40.600 that's why Joshua told the people. 0:47:40.480 --> 0:47:42.520 Not to say anything for the first six days they 0:47:42.520 --> 0:47:46.920 walked around the wall, because he knew they would start 0:47:46.960 --> 0:47:49.480 saying stuff to talk each other out of going into 0:47:49.520 --> 0:47:55.040 the land God had given him. Sometimes the best strategy 0:47:55.719 --> 0:47:58.319 is shut up. I know you've always wanted to do this, 0:47:58.400 --> 0:48:00.920 and you hated touching your neighbor in church until this point. 0:48:01.200 --> 0:48:04.279 But look at them and say, shut off. That's the strategy. 0:48:04.960 --> 0:48:11.520 Shut off. Well, you like that a little too much. 0:48:12.239 --> 0:48:14.239 I'm worried about rock Hill. There might be a fight 0:48:14.280 --> 0:48:15.080 in the parking lot. 0:48:19.640 --> 0:48:24.879 And on the seventh day you can shout, but it's 0:48:24.920 --> 0:48:31.760 the shout after the silence. So I write little coaches 0:48:31.800 --> 0:48:34.640 notes to myself. No, you can't see them, they're not 0:48:34.680 --> 0:48:38.680 for you. I don't talk to myself like I used 0:48:38.680 --> 0:48:39.840 to as much anymore. 0:48:39.880 --> 0:48:40.400 I still do. 0:48:42.000 --> 0:48:44.040 I'll never forget asking Amy Korb, But do you always 0:48:44.040 --> 0:48:45.920 walk around telling yourself what an idiot you are? 0:48:46.440 --> 0:48:50.160 She said, I've never done that in my life. Oh yeah, me, neither. 0:48:50.200 --> 0:48:57.840 I was asking for a friend. I said, she's onto something. 0:48:57.880 --> 0:49:00.200 I realized one time, I would beat myself up. 0:49:00.360 --> 0:49:02.560 If anybody else was talking to me the way I 0:49:02.560 --> 0:49:03.799 was talking to me, I'd beat myself up. 0:49:03.840 --> 0:49:05.120 I would beat them up. 0:49:05.440 --> 0:49:07.319 If I was bigger than them, I would beat them up. 0:49:07.920 --> 0:49:09.920 If they didn't know any moves, I would beat them up. 0:49:12.239 --> 0:49:17.200 And I'm living in loops of shame and scarcity, and 0:49:17.239 --> 0:49:20.640 God has really given me his grace. And it'd be 0:49:20.680 --> 0:49:24.719 life changing for you to start some new loops. It'd 0:49:24.719 --> 0:49:27.240 be life changing for you to pray what Pastor Mickey prayed. 0:49:28.080 --> 0:49:33.640 It'd be life changing for you to change your silent sermons. 0:49:34.680 --> 0:49:39.200 Listen to them. Do they start with me? They're going 0:49:39.280 --> 0:49:43.120 to end in shame. Do they start with me, They're 0:49:43.120 --> 0:49:46.719 going to end in scarcity. But if you start with 0:49:46.800 --> 0:49:50.400 the source, I bet you'll find springs of living water 0:49:51.080 --> 0:49:53.120 that had been waiting to well up within you. 0:49:54.080 --> 0:49:56.320 They're waiting to burst forth. 0:49:58.360 --> 0:50:01.799 So good. The best sermon Jesus ever preached, as far 0:50:01.840 --> 0:50:05.400 as I'm concerned. He preached it to the woman at 0:50:05.400 --> 0:50:08.839 the well. I mean, he said a lot of good 0:50:08.920 --> 0:50:11.080 things to her. He said, I'm the water you've been 0:50:11.120 --> 0:50:14.640 looking for. Where you've been running around, what's been happening 0:50:14.640 --> 0:50:17.399 in your heart. It's like a well that can hold water. 0:50:19.360 --> 0:50:22.720 But my favorite part of his sermon isn't what he said, 0:50:24.680 --> 0:50:29.920 it's where he sat. The Bible says he sat on 0:50:30.040 --> 0:50:35.360 a well and waited for a woman. It took me 0:50:35.480 --> 0:50:39.760 years to see that he was a well. 0:50:41.920 --> 0:50:42.399 On a well. 0:50:45.920 --> 0:50:53.680 There is a well within you that will not run dry. 0:50:54.400 --> 0:50:58.720 There is a God within you who does not fail. 0:51:00.920 --> 0:51:05.320 There is a grace within you that is not ashamed. 0:51:07.520 --> 0:51:08.840 But I can't give you this water. 0:51:10.560 --> 0:51:14.200 You've got to drink it for yourself. 0:51:20.360 --> 0:51:23.280 I believe God wants to whisper to us in this moment. 0:51:23.640 --> 0:51:26.080 I want you to be very still, very quiet. Just 0:51:27.040 --> 0:51:31.520 close your eyes, quit thinking about. 0:51:31.239 --> 0:51:32.839 Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me me. 0:51:36.680 --> 0:51:54.920 See how good that feels. See right there is the 0:51:54.960 --> 0:52:02.160 presence of God. See right there is the peace that 0:52:02.239 --> 0:52:11.799 passes all understandable. See right there, how the blood of 0:52:11.880 --> 0:52:17.440 Jesus speaks a better word over your life. It's the silencer. 0:52:22.040 --> 0:52:27.239 It's the silence that can be heard. It's the part 0:52:27.239 --> 0:52:29.120 of you that knows that greater is he that's in 0:52:29.200 --> 0:52:35.080 me than he that's in the world. It's the part 0:52:35.120 --> 0:52:37.000 of you that knows that God will supply all my 0:52:37.080 --> 0:52:38.160 needs and be faithful. 0:52:43.160 --> 0:52:46.759 It's the part of you that knows, and it's in you. 0:52:49.840 --> 0:52:50.960 Thank you for joining us. 0:52:51.239 --> 0:52:53.680 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:52:53.760 --> 0:52:57.240 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:52:57.719 --> 0:52:59.799 You can click the link in the description to give 0:52:59.840 --> 0:53:04.120 no or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:53:04.160 --> 0:53:07.960 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:53:08.239 --> 0:53:09.560 You can share it with your friends. 0:53:09.840 --> 0:53:12.120 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:53:12.200 --> 0:53:14.319 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:53:14.320 --> 0:53:15.160 Elevation Church. 0:53:15.239 --> 0:53:16.880 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.