WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.360 We are in Genesis chapter 33. 00:02.360 --> 00:07.840 If you remember from last week in Genesis 32, you have Jacob, of course, wrestling with 00:07.840 --> 00:10.880 the angel, which is a pre-incarnate Christ. 00:10.880 --> 00:14.940 And God is working on Jacob at this point because of the fact that he's going back to 00:14.940 --> 00:18.080 confront or to meet his brother Esau. 00:18.080 --> 00:22.080 And obviously he's afraid of what's going to happen when he meets his brother. 00:22.080 --> 00:26.080 His brother had threatened him 20 years before that he was going to kill him. 00:26.080 --> 00:28.000 And Jacob obviously understands that to 00:28.000 --> 00:31.520 certain degree on a practical level he kind of deserves this right he was a 00:31.520 --> 00:37.160 very cunning person he was very deceptive and earlier in Genesis 32 the 00:37.160 --> 00:42.560 servants of Jacob had reported that they had seen Esau and that Esau was 00:42.560 --> 00:48.520 coming with 400 men so the idea here that Jacob has in his mind is that Esau 00:48.520 --> 00:52.680 is coming to make war with them he's gonna come fight him he's gonna fulfill 00:52.680 --> 00:56.000 that which he said he's gonna do 20 years prior 00:56.000 --> 01:00.440 to this and you know God is working on Esau we have him being left alone in 01:00.440 --> 01:06.380 chapter 32 and of course he wrestles with the Lord and he does not let him go 01:06.380 --> 01:10.640 until he gets blessed by God right and this is essentially where we have Jacob 01:10.640 --> 01:15.600 being renamed Israel and both of these names are significant to him because it 01:15.600 --> 01:21.960 kind of pictures his old man and the new man right Jacob is characterized by 01:21.960 --> 01:24.000 being a liar, being deceptive. 01:24.000 --> 01:28.000 a heel catcher, that's basically like the old man. 01:28.000 --> 01:33.000 But when he wrestles with the Lord, he ends up being renamed Israel. 01:33.000 --> 01:35.500 As a prince, he has power with God and with men. 01:35.500 --> 01:38.500 This is essentially the picture of that new man. 01:38.500 --> 01:42.500 So now he has essentially from a spiritual perspective, these two natures. 01:42.500 --> 01:47.000 And from here on out, we'll kind of see him go back and forth between these two natures. 01:47.000 --> 01:52.000 So even though he has this new name, he has this quote unquote 01:52.000 --> 01:58.080 new nature, he still has a tendency to revert back to the old Jacob as well. 01:58.080 --> 02:03.080 You know what? That's an important principle because we as Christians, we, if we're saved, 02:03.080 --> 02:08.960 we have a new nature, amen? We have that new name written in glory, it's embedded within 02:08.960 --> 02:12.800 the registry of the Book of Life, we have the Holy Spirit of God, but we have that new 02:12.800 --> 02:18.720 man, but it's not at the exclusion of the old. We still have Jacob dwelling within us, 02:18.720 --> 02:19.720 so to speak. 02:20.000 --> 02:25.280 that we are still susceptible to the weaknesses of our old man. 02:25.600 --> 02:29.660 And if we feed Jacob and we've given to the desires of that old man 02:29.920 --> 02:33.580 We're gonna fulfill the desires of the luster of we're gonna be weak Christians 02:33.580 --> 02:35.880 And so just because God gave us a new nature 02:36.280 --> 02:43.200 Doesn't mean that we don't have the propensity to give in to the old as we see clearly with Jacob when he's wrestling with him 02:43.200 --> 02:45.200 He ends up touching the hollow of his thigh 02:45.200 --> 02:47.760 Causing him to have somewhat of a limp for the rest of his life 02:47.960 --> 02:53.600 Okay, so he injures him and it's an indication that he's met with God that 02:53.600 --> 03:01.480 He's been broken so to speak and it's that which has caused him to become humbled and it's for that reason that he's no longer 03:02.000 --> 03:04.480 Prideful right he doesn't have that same arrogance 03:05.000 --> 03:11.780 Pride deceptive nature about himself when he's gonna go meet his brother Esau now look at chapter 33 in verse 1 03:11.920 --> 03:18.480 It says in Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and behold Esau came and with him 400 men 03:19.200 --> 03:23.920 And he divided the children unto Leah and unto Rachel and unto the two handmaids 03:23.920 --> 03:29.120 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost and Leah and her children after 03:29.120 --> 03:34.880 And Rachel and Joseph hindermost and he passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground 03:34.880 --> 03:40.320 Seven times until he came near to his brother now this is pretty messed up and you know obviously 03:40.320 --> 03:45.920 We got to address this because you know Jacob though he cares for his family there's obviously 03:45.920 --> 03:47.200 certain people that he favors a little 03:47.200 --> 03:53.120 more than others. So what's going on here? Well, he knows he's about to confront Esau. 03:53.120 --> 03:57.760 He knows there's potential for war. He knows that Esau 20 years prior to this wants him 03:57.760 --> 04:01.840 to die. So what does he do? Well, on a practical level, we saw in chapter 32 that he prayed 04:01.840 --> 04:06.240 into the Lord. He has faith in God that God's going to deliver him, but then he still has 04:06.240 --> 04:11.400 somewhat some doubt in him, right? And so what he ends up doing is he puts the people 04:11.400 --> 04:15.200 that he doesn't care as much for at the front. Okay. 04:15.200 --> 04:21.720 You know he has all these wives and all these kids and we know that he favors Rachel over everyone else 04:21.840 --> 04:26.920 Okay, he loves Rachel more than Leia and of course he loves them more than the Handmaids 04:27.040 --> 04:30.520 So what does he do? He puts the Handmaids first, okay? 04:30.640 --> 04:38.000 He puts the Handmaids first then he puts Leia and then you have him and Rachel and their children 04:38.000 --> 04:43.120 So this is kind of showing us that Jacob still has not changed in that manner. He's not you know 04:43.200 --> 04:48.300 The hollow of his thigh being shrunken hasn't really changed his perspective on his wives. 04:48.300 --> 04:50.300 He's not like, well, you know, now I'm Israel. 04:50.300 --> 04:52.060 I'm just going to treat everyone equally. 04:52.060 --> 04:55.580 No, he still has favoritism. 04:55.580 --> 04:59.060 And it's kind of messed up because if he really thinks that Esau is going to come kill him, 04:59.060 --> 05:01.300 in his mind he's like, well, let them take the handmaids first. 05:01.900 --> 05:08.060 Once he gets through the handmaids, let him take Leah after that and then after he takes Leah let him take you know 05:08.460 --> 05:11.080 Rachel and me thereafter, but at least they spare Leah 05:11.220 --> 05:15.940 You know at least he gets to the handmaids and Leah before they actually get to Rachel 05:15.940 --> 05:22.180 And so this is obviously demonstrating here that though Jacob is a new man so to speak he still has that 05:22.900 --> 05:29.100 cowardice nature about himself where he's showing favoritism now again this kind of flies in the face of 05:29.800 --> 05:33.160 the fact that people think that polygamy is okay today, right? 05:33.160 --> 05:37.240 Oh man, no, it's wonderful. This is God's order. This is how God wants it. 05:37.240 --> 05:40.840 Oh yeah, let's go ahead and ask Leah about that, you know? 05:40.840 --> 05:44.760 Let's go ahead and ask the handmaids about that, how they felt about being 05:45.320 --> 05:51.160 second-class citizens, being, you know, Jacob willing to sacrifice them first before they got 05:51.160 --> 05:57.480 to Rachel. Obviously, that does not work, and that's not God's will, but Jacob is somewhat, uh, 05:57.480 --> 05:57.800 you 05:57.800 --> 06:01.720 fearful and so he's not willing to lose that which is most precious to him and 06:01.720 --> 06:05.080 obviously the principle that we can learn there is that that which is that 06:05.080 --> 06:10.360 which we highly esteem is what we keep close to us right Rachel is highly 06:10.360 --> 06:15.120 esteemed in the eyes of Jacob therefore he keeps Leah I mean keeps Rachel close 06:15.120 --> 06:20.700 to him whereas Leah and the Handmaids he's kind of got them on the outskirts 06:20.800 --> 06:28.800 And you know what? The biblical principle there is that we need to make sure that, you know, when we're going into spiritual battle, so to speak, 06:29.800 --> 06:34.800 against an adversary, we need to keep that which is most important close to us. 06:35.200 --> 06:36.160 What do I mean by that? 06:36.160 --> 06:38.520 Well, you know, when you're going through a spiritual battle, 06:38.520 --> 06:40.760 when you're confronted with an adversary, 06:40.760 --> 06:42.640 some sort of spiritual warfare, you 06:42.640 --> 06:45.360 need to make sure that you keep the Bible nice and close 06:45.360 --> 06:46.280 to you, right? 06:46.280 --> 06:47.400 In close proximity. 06:47.400 --> 06:50.800 Your church attendance needs to stay in close proximity to you. 06:50.800 --> 06:53.560 Your prayer life needs to stay in close proximity to you. 06:53.560 --> 06:54.160 And you know what? 06:54.160 --> 06:55.840 The other stuff can go on the back burner. 06:55.840 --> 06:57.160 You know, I'm sorry that we're using Leah 06:57.160 --> 06:59.320 in the Handmaids as an illustration of that, 06:59.320 --> 07:00.560 which is lightly esteemed. 07:00.560 --> 07:02.800 But that's basically the principle there, right? 07:03.200 --> 07:07.920 Obviously what you care about less goes on the outskirts because you're willing to sacrifice those things 07:07.920 --> 07:14.400 But that what you care about the most needs to remain nice and close to you. Look at verse number four. It says in Esau 07:15.200 --> 07:16.620 ran 07:16.620 --> 07:17.820 now 07:17.820 --> 07:22.960 Considering how fearful Jacob is I'm sure that scared him, right? He ran to meet him and 07:23.640 --> 07:26.860 embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him and 07:27.440 --> 07:29.100 they wept 07:29.500 --> 07:32.860 So keep in mind Jacob has this idea that Esau wants to kill him 07:32.860 --> 07:34.860 Esau comes with 400 men 07:34.860 --> 07:40.300 but instead of spearing him, killing him, stabbing him, going to war with him 07:40.300 --> 07:44.300 he actually runs up to him and embraces him, he kisses him, he's happy to see him 07:44.300 --> 07:48.300 Now what does this tell us? What does this teach us? What can we learn from this particular encounter? 07:48.300 --> 07:52.620 Well it shows us that sometimes we have a tendency to overreact 07:53.700 --> 07:56.820 Sometimes people don't want to reconcile relationships 07:57.320 --> 07:59.320 Sometimes they don't want to confront a situation 07:59.640 --> 08:02.660 Because they really think it's going to turn out really bad, right? 08:02.660 --> 08:07.020 And I think all of us to a certain degree have experienced something like this or like well 08:07.020 --> 08:08.740 You know I don't want to talk to this person 08:08.740 --> 08:14.340 Or I don't want to try to reconcile with my family member or I don't want to talk the situation out 08:14.560 --> 08:19.380 Because of all the possible outcomes they can stem from this right? 08:20.300 --> 08:25.100 And quite frankly, our imagination can run absolutely wild with us. 08:25.100 --> 08:29.500 When we think to ourselves, well, if I put myself in a vulnerable situation like this, 08:29.500 --> 08:32.700 where I'm talking to this person, this is how it's going to end up. 08:32.700 --> 08:35.980 You know, they're going to get mad. They're going to say all kinds of things. 08:35.980 --> 08:38.940 They're going to get me upset, and it's going to end up being worse. 08:38.940 --> 08:42.300 But often, you're just kind of overreacting, right? 08:42.700 --> 08:50.000 You're kind of just allowing your fears to conjure up a situation or an outcome that's not really realistic. 08:50.000 --> 08:51.500 It's not really gonna happen. 08:51.500 --> 08:54.200 You think like your greatest fears are gonna come upon you, 08:54.200 --> 08:57.700 but then what happens when you actually try to reconcile the situation? 08:57.700 --> 09:03.200 What happens? Esau actually ends up embracing you, kissing you, ends up being good. 09:03.200 --> 09:06.000 And I'm sure Jacob felt relieved. 09:06.300 --> 09:09.580 You know, he's thinking the worst possible case scenario, 09:09.580 --> 09:13.060 he's trying to soften the blow by sending gifts, 09:13.060 --> 09:14.640 and then he gets to that point and he's just like, 09:14.640 --> 09:17.580 man, I, you know, this is not as bad as I, 09:17.580 --> 09:19.000 as what I thought it was gonna be. 09:19.400 --> 09:22.800 And you know what, when it comes to the subject of reconciliation, 09:22.800 --> 09:24.800 because that's really what we're looking at here, right? 09:24.800 --> 09:27.400 The reconciliation between two brothers 09:27.400 --> 09:29.500 who are at odds against one another, 09:29.500 --> 09:31.400 they're adversaries, 09:31.400 --> 09:35.200 one is threatening the other 20 years prior, 09:35.200 --> 09:36.600 the other one is running for his life, 09:36.600 --> 09:39.200 I mean, he's literally in a foreign land for 20 years 09:39.200 --> 09:41.600 because he's afraid that his brother is going to kill him. 09:41.800 --> 09:54.800 What we have here is exactly what we should do and not allow our imaginations to just cause us to make a bad decision or to avoid confrontation or reconciliation. 09:54.800 --> 10:02.800 We need to make sure that we don't just allow our imagination to cause us to think, well... 10:02.800 --> 10:06.800 I know exactly how this is going to turn out, therefore I'm just going to avoid it. 10:06.800 --> 10:11.300 I know what they're going to say, this is what's going to happen, and that's not even the case. 10:11.800 --> 10:13.800 You know, what if Jacob just decided not to do this? 10:13.800 --> 10:16.600 What if he just said, well, no, I know my brother you saw. 10:16.600 --> 10:17.880 Bro's a hairy man. 10:17.880 --> 10:19.360 He's extremely angry. 10:19.360 --> 10:20.040 He's upset. 10:20.040 --> 10:20.840 He's bitter. 10:20.840 --> 10:22.560 Last time I saw him, he said he was going to kill me. 10:22.560 --> 10:24.520 So we're just going to go a different route. 10:24.520 --> 10:26.080 I'm going to avoid him altogether. 10:26.080 --> 10:28.440 Well, he wouldn't have reconciled with his brother 10:28.440 --> 10:31.880 and had this wonderful encounter with him, right? 10:31.880 --> 10:34.760 And so we as Christians, we're called, 10:34.760 --> 10:36.640 and I've mentioned this already in times past, 10:36.640 --> 10:39.000 but we're called to reconciliation. 10:39.500 --> 10:44.020 We're called to reconcile with others if there's 10:44.020 --> 10:46.420 ought between us. 10:46.420 --> 10:50.180 And you can't allow what you think the outcome is going to 10:50.180 --> 10:54.220 be, that imagination that you're conjuring up, to hinder 10:54.220 --> 10:56.300 you from actually confronting that person 10:56.300 --> 10:58.100 and getting it right. 10:58.100 --> 11:00.900 And let's just say, for example, that the worst 11:00.900 --> 11:03.180 possible case scenario actually does take place. 11:03.180 --> 11:04.900 You're still called to try to reconcile, though. 11:06.300 --> 11:08.020 You know, you're still called to do so. 11:08.020 --> 11:14.020 And look, Christians have a tendency to just come up with an entire storyline 11:14.020 --> 11:18.020 of what can possibly happen if I go talk to this person. 11:18.020 --> 11:21.820 And they're just, you know, they got the storyboard, 11:21.820 --> 11:25.540 every single word that's going to be said, and this is what's going to happen, 11:25.540 --> 11:28.020 and therefore I'm not going to go talk to this person. 11:28.020 --> 11:30.000 You know what that is? It's often just Satan. 11:30.700 --> 11:36.700 Just trying to whisper in your ear, trying to hinder you from being at peace amongst each other 11:36.700 --> 11:39.980 and being reconciled using your imagination. 11:39.980 --> 11:42.380 I mean, it reminds me of David, right? 11:42.380 --> 11:47.340 You know, obviously David is running from Saul. Saul is threatening to kill him. 11:47.340 --> 11:50.460 And on multiple occasions, Saul said, like, hey, I'm not going to pursue you. 11:50.460 --> 11:51.660 But then he ends up pursuing him. 11:52.540 --> 11:56.300 And then finally, at the end, Saul just comes to his senses and says, you know what? 11:57.500 --> 12:02.860 I'm not going to pursue you. You have spared my life and therefore I'm not going to try to kill you." 12:02.860 --> 12:07.100 And then David's like, all right, cool. But then in his mind, the Bible says that David said in his heart, 12:07.100 --> 12:10.220 I shall one day die by the hand of Saul. 12:10.860 --> 12:15.420 You know what he does? He ends up going to live in the land of the Philistines for over a year 12:16.140 --> 12:19.020 based upon that imagination. Wasn't true though. 12:19.500 --> 12:22.000 Saul was done pursuing David. 12:22.000 --> 12:24.500 Obviously he didn't have a good track record in that regard, 12:24.500 --> 12:26.600 but that one little thought, 12:26.600 --> 12:29.300 that one little judgment that he made, 12:29.300 --> 12:31.800 caused him to go into a foreign land, 12:31.800 --> 12:35.500 I mean literally, the enemy's camp for an entire year, 12:35.500 --> 12:37.100 just because he said in where? 12:37.100 --> 12:38.300 His heart. 12:38.300 --> 12:40.800 I shall one day die by the hand of Saul. 12:40.800 --> 12:42.900 And you know what? We need to make sure that, yeah, 12:42.900 --> 12:44.800 obviously we need to plan ahead. 12:44.800 --> 12:46.500 Obviously we need to be prudent. 12:46.700 --> 12:51.500 Obviously, we need to think about the worst case scenario, but don't allow that to hinder 12:51.500 --> 12:55.420 you from actually carrying out the reconciliation. 12:55.420 --> 12:59.580 And you know, we live in a day and age where a lot of people are just like anxiety driven. 12:59.580 --> 13:02.180 They're just very anxious about everything. 13:02.180 --> 13:06.980 They're super nervous, they're anxious, they just have like these mental breakdowns where 13:06.980 --> 13:08.700 they're just afraid of what's going to happen. 13:08.700 --> 13:11.900 And often that's due to just imaginations. 13:12.400 --> 13:14.400 Things that are just not really going to happen. 13:14.400 --> 13:16.400 Just not... 13:16.400 --> 13:19.400 It comes as a result of not casting down imaginations. 13:19.400 --> 13:22.400 And every guy that exalted himself against the knowledge of God. 13:22.400 --> 13:24.400 Oh, I just can't do it because what if this happens? 13:24.400 --> 13:26.400 But you don't know if that's going to happen. 13:26.400 --> 13:28.400 You have no idea what's going to take place. 13:28.400 --> 13:33.400 All you know is that you should go and reconcile with your brother or sister in Christ. 13:33.400 --> 13:34.400 Make it right. 13:34.400 --> 13:36.400 No, but they're going to think this of me. 13:36.400 --> 13:38.200 You don't know that! 13:38.800 --> 13:40.680 No, but they're going to yell at me. 13:40.680 --> 13:42.480 You don't know that. 13:42.480 --> 13:44.280 No, but this is what's going to happen. 13:44.280 --> 13:45.200 You don't know that. 13:45.200 --> 13:46.080 But let me say this. 13:46.080 --> 13:48.560 If you're the type of person that is overly anxious over 13:48.560 --> 13:51.760 these confrontations and reconciliations, let me just 13:51.760 --> 13:57.520 give you a tip that will help you to just overcome that. 13:57.520 --> 13:58.760 And it's very uncomfortable. 13:59.800 --> 14:07.800 It's not, it doesn't make the situation easier, it just makes it a lot easier going forward with reconciliations in the future. 14:08.800 --> 14:11.800 So let's say you have to reconcile with someone and you're just like, I'm just scared. 14:12.800 --> 14:14.800 Like I'm afraid of what's going to happen if I do. 14:15.800 --> 14:21.800 Well this is what you do. You think of the absolute worst possible case scenario. 14:21.800 --> 14:22.800 Okay. 14:23.300 --> 14:27.460 Let's just say Brother Marcos, you know, he's at Warwood. 14:29.140 --> 14:31.060 Let's just pick someone here. 14:31.060 --> 14:33.540 Who's easy to pick on right here? 14:33.540 --> 14:34.380 Who? 14:34.380 --> 14:36.840 Hi, that's too easy though. 14:36.840 --> 14:37.760 That's too easy. 14:37.760 --> 14:40.460 That's too close to the truth. 14:40.460 --> 14:44.260 Let's say Adam, because he just walked in, alright? 14:44.260 --> 14:47.000 So Marcos is at enmity with Adam. 14:48.000 --> 14:52.280 And you know, Marcos has this social anxiety about himself, 14:52.280 --> 14:55.240 and he knows he has to like reconcile with Adam, 14:55.240 --> 14:57.160 but he's just afraid of what Adam's gonna say. 14:57.160 --> 14:58.920 He's afraid of what he's gonna do. 14:58.920 --> 15:00.720 Adam is a high-tempered fellow. 15:00.720 --> 15:02.700 He's not, but we're just imagining here. 15:02.900 --> 15:07.380 You know, he's a high tempered fellow, he's extremely angry, he has a short fuse. 15:07.380 --> 15:10.420 And so, Marcos knows his responsibility to reconcile, but he's just like, 15:10.420 --> 15:13.060 I just don't want to because I don't know what's going to happen. 15:13.060 --> 15:16.740 Well, what do you think is the worst possible case scenario that can happen for the Marcos? 15:16.740 --> 15:18.340 I just feel as if he's going to punch me in the mouth. 15:19.220 --> 15:20.020 And it's like, Adam? 15:21.700 --> 15:25.220 You know, it's just like, you think he's like, yeah, I really think based upon my offense, 15:25.860 --> 15:27.460 that he's just going to punch me in the throat. 15:28.980 --> 15:29.480 Okay. 15:30.300 --> 15:35.300 And this is all an illustration, can never happen, okay? 15:35.300 --> 15:38.300 It's not gonna happen between these guys, these guys get along great. 15:38.300 --> 15:40.300 So what should Marcos do, so he just avoid it all together? 15:40.300 --> 15:44.300 No, what he has to do is just make peace with that. 15:44.300 --> 15:49.300 The possibility that Adam can just sock him in the throat. 15:49.300 --> 15:52.300 Okay? And I'm not kidding you, this literally helps. 15:52.300 --> 15:54.300 So Marcos has to say, you know what? 15:54.300 --> 15:58.000 The worst possible thing that can happen is that he chops me in my throat. 15:59.100 --> 16:03.700 Then what you do is you make peace with that and say you know what I'm expecting that if that's the case 16:03.700 --> 16:09.500 I've already made peace with it put it in God's hands and whatever happens. I'm in God's hands 16:09.500 --> 16:14.460 I just know what I'm doing is right. This is the worst possible case scenario, and I would say 16:15.460 --> 16:18.540 90% of the time Adam ends up not chopping him in the throat 16:20.500 --> 16:21.500 And you know what that does? 16:21.500 --> 16:29.320 It causes the person who is putting the effort into reconciling to have faith in reconciling 16:29.320 --> 16:33.660 future relationships because it causes them to have doubt in their own judgment for the 16:33.660 --> 16:34.660 future. 16:34.660 --> 16:36.820 Because it's just like, whoa, I actually overreacted. 16:36.820 --> 16:39.160 Like that was just an imagine. 16:39.160 --> 16:40.220 Nothing was even close to that. 16:40.220 --> 16:43.040 In fact, Adam was even mad. 16:43.040 --> 16:45.180 In fact, Adam forgot about the offense. 16:45.800 --> 16:49.800 In fact, Adam doesn't even remember when he said that, 16:49.800 --> 16:52.520 you know, when Marco said that to him or whatever, maybe. 16:52.520 --> 16:57.640 And so then you start deconstructing all of these narratives 16:57.640 --> 17:01.640 that your mind is coming up with against your adversary, 17:01.640 --> 17:05.480 and then you realize, like, man, like, I overreacted in my mind. 17:06.200 --> 17:14.000 So folks, if you are forced to reconcile a situation, a relationship with a friend, family member, whoever, 17:14.000 --> 17:17.240 just think of the worst possible case scenario and make peace with it. 17:17.240 --> 17:19.640 You're like, yeah, but what if it does happen though? 17:19.640 --> 17:22.280 What if Adam does chop him in the throat? 17:22.280 --> 17:23.480 Well, at least you called it. 17:26.700 --> 17:28.380 At least you called it. 17:28.380 --> 17:30.620 And now you know, like, OK, I kind of. 17:30.620 --> 17:34.660 And it will soften the blow, no pun intended. 17:34.660 --> 17:37.180 Because then you're like, well, I kind of expected that. 17:37.180 --> 17:38.300 That's what I thought was going to happen. 17:38.300 --> 17:39.460 You know, it wasn't even that bad. 17:39.460 --> 17:42.300 Adam didn't even chop me that hard. 17:42.300 --> 17:43.340 It's OK. 17:43.340 --> 17:45.740 And now we're friends now, because we talked it out. 17:45.740 --> 17:48.660 But I'm just going to tell you right now, 90% of the time, 17:48.660 --> 17:51.180 the worst possible case scenario that you can think of, 17:51.180 --> 17:52.860 most of the time does not happen. 17:53.300 --> 17:59.620 And it ends up helping you to, you know, essentially reconcile future relationships. 17:59.620 --> 18:06.220 Because if you're not the reconciling type, you're going to always have problems throughout your life with other people. 18:06.220 --> 18:08.220 Because you're always avoiding reconciliation. 18:08.400 --> 18:13.600 You're always avoiding, you know, reconciling with others and confronting others. 18:13.600 --> 18:17.200 Now, let me also say this is that there needs to be a balance to this as well, right? 18:17.200 --> 18:22.400 Meaning that we don't need to confront each other for every single little thing that we say against each other. 18:22.400 --> 18:26.600 Understand? Like, you know, I don't want Adam confronting me afterwards and saying, 18:26.600 --> 18:29.000 hey, I didn't really appreciate you using me as an illustration. 18:29.000 --> 18:33.400 You know, I kind of didn't like that. I'm just going to ignore him. 18:33.400 --> 18:34.700 I'm just going to walk away. 18:35.700 --> 18:36.700 Okay? 18:36.700 --> 18:38.660 Because that's not an offensive thing. 18:38.660 --> 18:41.660 You know, obviously I'm referring to like, grievous offenses. 18:42.300 --> 18:49.320 Where it's really affecting a relationship. It's really affecting you, you know where you know 18:49.320 --> 18:52.940 Maybe money's involved or something like that, right some sort of 18:54.060 --> 19:00.460 Situation that's really affecting both parties spiritually or there's just a really grievous offense that is just very blatant 19:00.780 --> 19:04.320 Then maybe even someone can potentially get thrown out for of the church 19:05.100 --> 19:09.580 The point that I'm making here is that we need to make sure that we develop 19:10.200 --> 19:14.200 The discipline of learning how to talk things out. 19:14.200 --> 19:16.200 When necessary. 19:16.200 --> 19:19.200 You know, it begins in the home. I mean, this is literally Jacob and Esau. 19:19.200 --> 19:22.200 Brothers, twin brothers at that. 19:22.200 --> 19:24.200 Twin brothers, amen. We got, you know. 19:24.200 --> 19:26.200 Twin brothers, you know. He's not even... 19:26.200 --> 19:29.200 He's cool with his brother, you know. 19:29.200 --> 19:33.200 But these are literally twin brothers. These are family members having to reconcile. 19:33.200 --> 19:34.100 And you know what? 19:34.200 --> 19:39.260 It'll help you to learn how to reconcile situations in church when you do it at home first 19:40.740 --> 19:45.960 Okay, it'll help you to learn how to reconcile situations when you know how to reconcile with your spouse 19:47.520 --> 19:49.320 And let me say this you know 19:49.320 --> 19:54.400 When you're married you will have instances where there will be conflict between you and your wife 19:55.080 --> 20:00.680 You're gonna be like Esau. She's gonna be like Jacob or you're gonna be like Jacob, and she's gonna be like Esau 20:01.800 --> 20:03.800 You know, there's like conflict. 20:03.800 --> 20:06.800 That's not a crazy thing to say. 20:06.800 --> 20:09.800 That's literally reality, my friends. 20:09.800 --> 20:12.800 And you know, I'll be honest with you, to be transparent with you, 20:12.800 --> 20:16.800 I grew up in a home where reconciliation wasn't really a thing. 20:16.800 --> 20:17.800 You don't really reconcile. 20:17.800 --> 20:19.800 That's not even a word. 20:19.800 --> 20:22.400 Like in our growing up, it just wasn't a thing. 20:22.500 --> 20:30.500 If there was some sort of conflict with my siblings or my parents or whatever, we just wouldn't talk about it. 20:30.500 --> 20:36.500 We'd fight and then you just waited out a couple days. 20:36.500 --> 20:38.500 You guys know what I'm talking about? 20:38.500 --> 20:45.500 You just waited out a couple days and then if they made you a meal or something, that was their peace offering. 20:45.500 --> 20:49.500 A week later, it's just like, come eat. It's just like, I think we're cool now. 20:50.000 --> 20:51.000 Same thing with my brother. 20:51.000 --> 20:53.160 You know, I remember, like, for example, my brother, 20:53.160 --> 20:54.720 when we would have fights, because we 20:54.720 --> 20:58.840 would fight all the time, it was just common for us to fight. 20:58.840 --> 21:01.360 And he was like, he's 13 years older than me. 21:01.360 --> 21:03.240 But like, we would fight a lot. 21:03.240 --> 21:06.640 Sometimes physically fight, sometimes verbally. 21:06.640 --> 21:09.360 And you know, I remember there'd be instances where, like, 21:09.360 --> 21:13.040 we just wouldn't talk for days. 21:13.040 --> 21:14.400 And we lived in the same house. 21:15.300 --> 21:18.600 We'd see each other and just absolutely avoid each other. 21:18.600 --> 21:20.500 Now if you're like, whoa, that's crazy. 21:20.500 --> 21:22.100 That's a real thing. 21:22.100 --> 21:24.800 OK, and I'm sure a lot of you know what I'm talking about. 21:24.800 --> 21:26.700 We would literally avoid each other. 21:26.700 --> 21:29.700 And the only time I knew that we were cool, 21:29.700 --> 21:31.340 because my brother used to love drawing, 21:31.340 --> 21:33.900 is that he would draw me something. 21:33.900 --> 21:35.740 And then he would leave it on the table. 21:35.740 --> 21:37.200 He would even be there. 21:37.200 --> 21:39.240 He'd just leave it on the table and they would say, like, 21:39.240 --> 21:40.500 for Bruce or something. 21:41.000 --> 21:42.540 And I get there, I'm like, okay cool, 21:42.540 --> 21:44.120 Melvin's cool with me again, you know? 21:44.120 --> 21:46.080 Like, we're cool, you know? 21:46.080 --> 21:47.820 And then we'd see each other and everything would be good. 21:47.820 --> 21:49.000 And you're like, oh, that's so nice. 21:49.000 --> 21:50.000 No, not really. 21:52.040 --> 21:57.040 The tension, the conflict, the uncomfortable feeling 21:57.120 --> 21:59.320 of just being at odds against someone, 21:59.320 --> 22:00.360 that's not a good thing. 22:00.360 --> 22:01.920 But you know, that's what happens when you don't really 22:01.920 --> 22:04.860 grow up in a Christian home around Christian principles. 22:04.860 --> 22:06.420 Whereas, you know, the Bible teaches us 22:06.420 --> 22:08.480 to just reconcile it, okay? 22:09.600 --> 22:16.400 And so, you know, learn how to be a reconciling type of a Christian at home. 22:16.400 --> 22:17.900 Start with your marriage. 22:19.000 --> 22:19.700 You know? 22:20.100 --> 22:22.100 I've had conflicts with my wife. 22:22.100 --> 22:24.100 Yes, we don't have a perfect marriage. 22:24.600 --> 22:25.300 You know? 22:25.700 --> 22:33.140 I've had instances where, you know, we argue and we don't get along for whatever reason. 22:33.140 --> 22:38.820 You know, maybe we're not sleeping enough and we're just both cranky and we're both acting a little bratty. 22:38.820 --> 22:41.540 And you know what? There's conflict. 22:41.540 --> 22:43.220 Okay? 22:43.220 --> 22:48.740 We're not swinging at each other or anything like that, you know, because she would just lose. 22:48.740 --> 22:51.860 It's just, that's super easy, you know. 22:52.300 --> 22:56.100 But you know, there's times when we would just like have a lot of conflict 22:56.100 --> 22:57.100 and you know what? 22:57.700 --> 22:59.700 Sometimes it's just... 23:00.700 --> 23:02.700 You're married for a certain amount of time 23:02.700 --> 23:05.900 and you know, you have personality conflicts 23:05.900 --> 23:08.100 there's things that you don't agree upon 23:08.100 --> 23:10.100 and then you're both snappy at each other 23:10.100 --> 23:12.400 That's literally what's happened in my marriage 23:12.400 --> 23:14.400 I've had that happen multiple times 23:14.400 --> 23:16.400 In fact, we had one this week 23:17.700 --> 23:18.500 Yeah 23:19.400 --> 23:23.600 That's why she's not in church. She's just mad at me right now. I'm just kidding. My daughter's sick right now. 23:23.600 --> 23:28.400 You know, we've literally had time. That's why she's not over there. You know, she's being a rebellious woman. 23:28.400 --> 23:29.400 No, I'm just kidding. 23:29.400 --> 23:33.400 We've, even this week, we had a conflict, you know. 23:33.400 --> 23:37.400 You know, what did you do? We just, you know, we just apologize to each other for what we do. 23:37.400 --> 23:42.400 You know, I'm like, you know, do you have something you want to tell me? 23:43.800 --> 23:51.800 Because you know, here's the thing folks is that life is filled with conflict and it's just not worth having conflict at home because we have it everywhere else. 23:52.800 --> 23:57.800 Just have it everywhere else. You want your home to be peaceful, well then you have to participate in reconciliation. 23:59.800 --> 24:04.800 And I have this conviction that you don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. 24:06.800 --> 24:10.800 Because it sucks. And look, I'll be the first one to tell you that I've done that. 24:11.900 --> 24:18.140 Okay, I'm telling you this because I want you to like to understand that like, you know, your pastor is not perfect 24:18.140 --> 24:24.220 Yeah, you know, I have an awesome marriage a great marriage and then I know when I share these illustrations with you. You're like miss Sarah 24:25.460 --> 24:29.320 She really I can't even picture that. Yeah, you know 24:29.940 --> 24:31.940 she's a sinner like everyone else and 24:32.700 --> 24:36.820 You'll never catch us fighting in public or anything like that. You know what I mean? Because I'll just give her the eye 24:38.200 --> 24:42.900 You know, we're not going to yell at each other in public or anything, but we've had conflicts, for sure. 24:43.900 --> 24:48.700 But you know we live by the principle of we need to reconcile this and I'm sorry. 24:48.700 --> 24:54.460 Like I even this morning, this morning, I text my wife over something and I just told her, 24:54.460 --> 25:02.060 hey I just want to apologize to you for X, Y, and Z. I'm really sorry and you know I shouldn't have 25:02.060 --> 25:07.500 said that and so please forgive me. And she doesn't leave me on read, okay. 25:08.200 --> 25:11.200 or put some bubbles and then go back. 25:11.200 --> 25:12.040 You know? 25:12.040 --> 25:14.840 You know what I mean? 25:14.840 --> 25:17.300 She's just like, well let them grovel. 25:17.300 --> 25:19.800 Let them grovel a little bit, you know? 25:19.800 --> 25:21.540 You know what I'm talking about. 25:21.540 --> 25:24.360 Where you text someone and then they're typing 25:24.360 --> 25:26.880 and then it goes away and then the bubbles come back 25:26.880 --> 25:27.720 and it goes away. 25:27.720 --> 25:28.800 Just like, just say it! 25:31.100 --> 25:33.100 My phone died, you know. 25:35.300 --> 25:37.180 And she forgives me right away. 25:37.180 --> 25:40.060 You know, I do the same. 25:40.060 --> 25:43.380 Because, you know, I married a sinner, and so does she. 25:43.380 --> 25:45.100 And so we're always going to have conflict. 25:45.100 --> 25:46.980 But here's the thing is that, you know, 25:46.980 --> 25:50.260 if we didn't practice reconciliation, 25:50.260 --> 25:53.820 my imagination can run wild. 25:53.820 --> 25:56.140 You know, my imagination can be like, oh, man, 25:56.140 --> 26:01.500 my wife is becoming a rebellious feminist. 26:01.500 --> 26:02.340 She's a feminist. 26:02.340 --> 26:02.500 you 26:04.000 --> 26:07.120 She's, you know, and then just come up with all kinds of crazy, you know, idea. 26:07.120 --> 26:10.080 And I'm sure she can come up with all kinds of crazy imaginations too. 26:11.320 --> 26:14.800 So to avoid all that nonsense, just go talk to Esau. 26:15.900 --> 26:20.700 Think of the worst possible case scenario that can come about this whole situation. 26:20.700 --> 26:21.500 And you know what? 26:21.500 --> 26:25.580 And I personally think one of the reasons why we're so quick to just squash, 26:25.580 --> 26:27.980 you know, whatever conflict we have, I'm talking about my wife and I, 26:27.980 --> 26:32.060 it's because we have experience in reconciling one with another. 26:33.340 --> 26:36.700 She has experience with me forgiving her and I have experience with her forgiving me. 26:37.900 --> 26:41.020 And so it just makes reconciliation that much more sweeter. 26:41.020 --> 26:42.300 Understand? 26:42.900 --> 26:48.900 But you know people who don't like to reconcile or they just leave things on the table for a long period of time 26:48.900 --> 26:53.900 They have a hard time reconciling because of the fact that they've never really put it into practice 26:54.900 --> 27:00.900 And you know we can't we can't blame ourselves per se or anybody else if that's how we were 27:00.900 --> 27:04.900 Because if it wasn't modeled to us then it's hard to do those things, right? 27:05.300 --> 27:08.500 So we have to take what the Bible says and just put it into practice. 27:08.500 --> 27:11.000 Like where does it say? Well we're looking at a story right now. 27:11.000 --> 27:19.800 Jacob literally going as cowardice as he is, as cunning as he is, he's just like you know what? 27:19.800 --> 27:23.500 Talking to my brother Esau is a lot better than staying with Laban at least. 27:23.500 --> 27:28.000 And we just have to do this. And it ended up being great. 27:28.500 --> 27:30.500 He won his brother over. 27:30.500 --> 27:33.140 You know, his brother was excited to meet him. 27:33.140 --> 27:34.020 It was great. 27:34.020 --> 27:36.420 You know, practice in your marriage. 27:36.420 --> 27:38.340 Make sure you practice with your kids. 27:39.300 --> 27:41.780 And kids, you need to make sure you practice this with your parents. 27:43.140 --> 27:46.580 If you're resentful towards your, towards mom and dad 27:46.580 --> 27:50.020 because of some offense or because you feel like you've done something 27:50.020 --> 27:52.580 and you're like, man, I don't want to go tell my mom and dad this 27:52.580 --> 27:54.740 because they might be even more mad. 27:54.740 --> 27:55.780 You'd be surprised. 27:56.900 --> 28:00.580 You'd be surprised if you go talk to Esau that it's not that way. 28:00.580 --> 28:02.500 And in fact, you know what mom and dad are going to do? 28:02.500 --> 28:06.900 They're going to run up to you, embrace you, and kiss you just like Esau did. 28:08.900 --> 28:10.900 And you know what, children? Let me just tell you this. 28:11.700 --> 28:19.300 Is that Satan is going to work overtime throughout these years while you're under your parents' roof. 28:19.400 --> 28:23.880 to try to convince you that going to mom and dad and talking to them about these things 28:23.880 --> 28:25.560 is just not the best idea. 28:25.560 --> 28:29.560 Oh man, if you go talk to mom and dad, they're going to be so mad. 28:29.560 --> 28:30.760 They're going to spank you. 28:30.760 --> 28:31.640 They're going to do this. 28:31.640 --> 28:32.360 They're going to do that. 28:32.360 --> 28:35.720 And then you just, you have all these, and you're like, oh, I'm just going to not say anything. 28:35.720 --> 28:37.640 I'm going to just keep this from mom and dad. 28:37.640 --> 28:39.000 I'm just going to lie to them. 28:39.000 --> 28:41.320 And then you end up making the situation a lot worse. 28:42.500 --> 28:48.020 Whereas if you actually put into practice, let me just go reconcile with mom and dad. Let me just go tell them the truth 28:48.620 --> 28:54.280 Explain to them what happened. You know, what's gonna happen. They're gonna have mercy on you. Yeah, they may be a little upset 28:54.860 --> 28:58.460 but let me tell you this if you are humbly going to them and 28:59.440 --> 29:04.860 Confessing whatever fault you have whatever sin you committed whatever offense you did 29:04.980 --> 29:09.540 The punishment is a lot less and in fact in many cases, there's no punishment at all 29:11.500 --> 29:18.460 Not 100% of the time, but you know a large percent of the time there's no punishment because parents appreciate listen to me parents appreciate 29:18.620 --> 29:20.460 When you just come clean 29:20.460 --> 29:22.060 understand 29:22.060 --> 29:26.220 Hey kids learn how to reconcile with your parents 29:27.420 --> 29:29.740 Learn how to apologize to mom and dad 29:31.020 --> 29:38.700 Learn how to just say i'm sorry mom. I'm sorry dad. I did this and I was wrong and you know what mom and dad will appreciate it 29:39.600 --> 29:40.600 And you know what they're going to do? 29:40.600 --> 29:41.600 They're going to be like Esau. 29:41.600 --> 29:42.600 They're going to run to you. 29:42.600 --> 29:43.600 They're going to embrace you. 29:43.600 --> 29:45.020 They're going to kiss you. 29:45.020 --> 29:47.440 And then all those imaginations just melt away. 29:47.440 --> 29:50.320 You're like, wow, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. 29:50.320 --> 29:51.800 And let me just tell you this. 29:51.800 --> 30:00.440 One of the most satisfying things to feel when you reconcile with someone is this imaginary 30:00.440 --> 30:01.760 burden that comes off of you. 30:03.000 --> 30:04.420 You guys know what I'm talking about? 30:04.420 --> 30:06.720 Like when you reconcile with someone and then it's all good, 30:06.720 --> 30:11.860 it's just like, man, I feel like a load has been taken off. 30:11.860 --> 30:12.980 You know what that's called? 30:12.980 --> 30:15.040 You're not guilty anymore. 30:15.040 --> 30:17.420 You've been forgiven. 30:17.420 --> 30:23.380 And often that load is loaded with, along with your offense, 30:23.380 --> 30:26.780 all the imaginations of the conclusions that can come about 30:26.780 --> 30:28.020 if you were to reconcile. 30:28.300 --> 30:32.300 So you're just loading that bag, loading that backpack, but you know what happens when you 30:32.300 --> 30:33.300 go reconcile? 30:33.300 --> 30:36.980 You take the backpack off and it's not as bad as you thought it was going to be. 30:36.980 --> 30:38.560 Learn how to reconcile with your spouse. 30:38.560 --> 30:40.740 Learn how to reconcile with your children. 30:40.740 --> 30:42.740 Learn how to reconcile with mom and dad. 30:42.740 --> 30:46.300 Hey, learn how to reconcile with other church members as well. 30:46.300 --> 30:49.160 And I know I talked about this, I don't know, a couple weeks ago, but the chapter's talking 30:49.160 --> 30:50.540 about it, so I'm here to talk about it too. 30:51.500 --> 30:54.700 You know, if there's beef with you and another church member, 30:54.700 --> 30:58.140 don't be this person who just avoids the conflict altogether. 30:58.140 --> 31:01.100 When you know that there's just some sort of glaring offense, 31:01.100 --> 31:03.740 or you're just feeling guilty about something, go get it right. 31:05.900 --> 31:11.100 Go get it right. If you've offended someone, if you are just grievously, you know, 31:12.220 --> 31:15.900 if you've just grievously offended someone, go get that right and just go apologize to them. 31:16.800 --> 31:21.920 Just go get it right, this is a church, this is what we do, these are Christians, this 31:21.920 --> 31:23.840 is how we're supposed to operate. 31:23.840 --> 31:28.520 And you're like, yeah, but I just feel like, I feel like the relationship's just beyond 31:28.520 --> 31:29.520 recognition. 31:29.520 --> 31:30.520 No, it's not. 31:30.520 --> 31:32.160 It's not beyond recognition. 31:32.160 --> 31:36.240 You're just allowing your imaginations to get the best of you is what you're doing. 31:36.240 --> 31:37.240 Okay? 31:37.240 --> 31:38.520 You need to learn the discipline. 31:38.520 --> 31:42.520 And look, as far as I know, everyone here, I could be wrong. 31:43.000 --> 31:46.080 Everyone here wants to stay at this church for the rest of their lives 31:46.720 --> 31:52.520 Okay, you know as far as I know so that means that you're gonna have to see these people for the rest of your lives 31:53.940 --> 31:58.160 Okay, so you better learn how to reconcile them 31:58.900 --> 32:01.100 Because if you're just going to see them every service, 32:01.100 --> 32:04.280 this is your church family, it's not worth carrying 32:04.280 --> 32:08.260 this burden of guilt, carrying this burden of bitterness, 32:08.260 --> 32:10.180 carrying this burden of resentment. 32:10.180 --> 32:12.180 Just go get it right. 32:12.180 --> 32:12.680 Go get it right. 32:12.680 --> 32:14.620 Go talk to Adam. 32:14.620 --> 32:16.500 Go talk to Marcos. 32:16.500 --> 32:17.740 Just go talk to them. 32:17.740 --> 32:18.300 Adam's gone. 32:18.300 --> 32:20.760 I don't even know where he got offended at the illustration. 32:20.760 --> 32:23.220 I got to go get that right with him later on. 32:23.220 --> 32:24.900 What's the worst that can happen? 32:27.100 --> 32:29.600 Go talk to Esau. 32:29.600 --> 32:32.600 And I'm just telling you right now, and look, you say, 32:32.600 --> 32:35.120 well, I'm the type that I like to reconcile things 32:35.120 --> 32:37.680 immediately, but it seems as though the people around me 32:37.680 --> 32:38.560 don't like to do so. 32:38.560 --> 32:42.760 Well, just give them some space for a little bit, you know? 32:42.760 --> 32:45.960 I'll tell you this, if I'm really upset, I'm not really 32:45.960 --> 32:50.680 necessarily ready to reconcile just at the drop of a hat. 32:50.680 --> 32:52.400 I kind of want to be pissed off for a little bit. 32:54.800 --> 32:56.800 You know what I mean? 32:56.800 --> 32:59.800 The anger needs to run its course. 32:59.800 --> 33:00.800 Okay? 33:00.800 --> 33:01.800 You know what I'm saying? 33:01.800 --> 33:04.800 Sometimes it's just like, I just want to be mad for a little bit. 33:04.800 --> 33:07.800 I just want to be upset for a while. 33:07.800 --> 33:10.800 And often that's necessary. 33:10.800 --> 33:13.800 Let me explain to you why it's necessary for me. 33:13.800 --> 33:17.800 Because if I'm angry about something and I'm super mad about something, 33:17.800 --> 33:19.800 because I do get mad about things. 33:20.600 --> 33:26.440 You know, my flesh, I have a temper, I can become wrathful, that's just my weakness. 33:26.440 --> 33:31.400 You know, if I'm angry about something, I want it to run its course, so then I come to my senses. 33:32.840 --> 33:34.760 Because then there's like a cooling period, right? 33:35.400 --> 33:37.560 There's a cooling period and then you're just like, man, I overreacted. 33:37.560 --> 33:41.560 I need to like stop being such a bitter person. 33:42.300 --> 33:46.140 I need to stop being such an angry individual and just go talk to this person, 33:46.140 --> 33:49.900 go talk to my wife, go talk to whatever, and just go get it right. 33:50.780 --> 33:55.100 You know? And look, there's been instances where I felt like I offended someone in our church, 33:56.300 --> 34:01.660 and you know, like Monday mornings are just like, I feel like an 18 wheeler hit me. 34:02.700 --> 34:06.060 And so I wait and I'm just like, man, and then I'm carrying these, like I remember, 34:06.060 --> 34:09.580 I don't know, it was like a couple months ago or something, I felt like I offended someone. 34:10.300 --> 34:13.060 And it was just bothering me. 34:13.060 --> 34:16.900 Like Sunday night, I went home and it was just on my mind. 34:16.900 --> 34:18.780 And I remember thinking to myself, like, man, 34:18.780 --> 34:20.140 this is really bothering me. 34:20.140 --> 34:22.140 And there's part of me that was just like, maybe I shouldn't 34:22.140 --> 34:24.300 say anything because maybe it's just my imagination. 34:24.300 --> 34:26.660 But then it's just like, if I keep thinking about it, I need 34:26.660 --> 34:27.900 to just clear myself of this. 34:28.700 --> 34:30.860 So then the next morning I text this person, I said, 34:30.860 --> 34:32.360 hey, I want to let you know, I just 34:32.360 --> 34:37.300 want to apologize to you for X, Y, and Z wasn't my place. 34:37.300 --> 34:38.780 I'm really sorry about this. 34:38.780 --> 34:39.820 And they're like, no, it's really cool. 34:39.820 --> 34:40.320 Thank you. 34:40.320 --> 34:42.500 I appreciate it. 34:42.500 --> 34:43.820 And that was it. 34:43.820 --> 34:46.060 And you say, well, how was your Monday morning after that? 34:46.060 --> 34:47.900 It was great. 34:47.900 --> 34:51.220 I was just like, well, you know, I moved on from that. 34:51.220 --> 34:53.180 You see, I'm not above being someone 34:53.180 --> 34:54.460 who offends someone as well. 34:54.460 --> 34:55.460 It happens to me too. 34:56.100 --> 35:00.980 Sometimes I feel like I offend someone. Now obviously I'm not gonna I'm not gonna apologize for anything. I say behind the pulpit 35:02.100 --> 35:05.060 If I offend you behind here you take that up with God 35:05.740 --> 35:11.740 Okay, I don't really care if you're offended of whatever I say behind the pulpit how specific I get or what kind of sin 35:11.740 --> 35:16.240 I call out if you take if you take it personally, then you take it good. I'm glad you did 35:17.200 --> 35:22.600 I'm talking about things that maybe we talk about on a one-on-one or maybe I feel like I go too far on something 35:22.600 --> 35:25.480 I take a joke too far or something because I have a tendency of doing that 35:25.480 --> 35:28.820 You know if I say something and then later I'm thinking I'm like, you know what? 35:28.820 --> 35:32.700 I probably shouldn't have said that I was wrong of me to do and I need to go 35:32.740 --> 35:37.180 But what if I just what if I just allow my imagination to run wild just think to myself 35:37.180 --> 35:39.920 Nah, I can't do that because they're gonna lose respect for me if I do that 35:40.600 --> 35:45.100 What are they going to think of me as the pastor telling them that I was wrong about this? 35:45.100 --> 35:47.100 That's a stupid thought. 35:47.100 --> 35:51.900 And people might think like, oh man, you know, yeah, that's the reason I don't go and talk to people. 35:51.900 --> 35:53.800 It's because I feel like they're going to lose respect for me. 35:53.800 --> 36:00.400 No, they're probably going to get more respect for you because you're willing to humble yourself and go talk to them. 36:00.400 --> 36:01.100 Okay. 36:02.100 --> 36:10.100 And so, you know, we need to endeavor to keep the spirit of unity in the bond of peace. 36:10.100 --> 36:14.100 What does it mean to endeavor? That means you got to put in all this effort. 36:14.100 --> 36:21.100 God expects for us to be in unity. He wants us to be tightly knit together, to be of one mind. 36:21.100 --> 36:26.100 But that doesn't happen on accident. You have to endeavor to do so. 36:26.200 --> 36:31.460 Meaning, you ask for forgiveness, but you're also willing to forgive when people ask you 36:31.460 --> 36:33.420 to forgive them. 36:33.420 --> 36:34.660 Make sure you do that. 36:34.660 --> 36:37.640 And don't run away from problems in our church. 36:37.640 --> 36:39.060 Don't run away from these conflicts. 36:39.060 --> 36:40.260 Don't run away from it. 36:40.260 --> 36:41.500 Don't just avoid it. 36:41.500 --> 36:44.580 Just deal with it and be done with it. 36:44.580 --> 36:49.140 And then you'll realize when you meet Esau, man, I guess it wasn't even that bad. 36:49.140 --> 36:50.340 Esau was actually happy to see me. 36:52.000 --> 36:56.160 Goes on to say in verse 5, and he lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children 36:56.160 --> 37:01.360 and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, the children which God hath graciously given thy 37:01.360 --> 37:07.280 servants. So we see a hint of humility in the voice of Jacob because, you know, when he's 37:07.280 --> 37:12.080 deceiving his father Isaac, he's like, Oh, you know, where did you get this so fast? He's like, 37:12.080 --> 37:14.320 the Lord provided it. It's just like you're lying. 37:14.700 --> 37:23.460 But this time he's actually being very humble and he's giving God credit for the family, the children, the possessions that he has. 37:23.460 --> 37:25.460 Verse 6 says, then the handmaidens... 37:25.700 --> 37:29.140 came near they and their children and they bowed themselves. 37:29.140 --> 37:32.260 And Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. 37:32.260 --> 37:36.900 And after came Joseph near and Rachel and they bowed themselves. 37:36.900 --> 37:40.740 And he said, what meanest thou by all this drove which I met? 37:40.740 --> 37:46.180 And he said, these are to find grace in the sight of my Lord. 37:46.740 --> 37:48.980 So it was essentially a sign of humility. 37:48.980 --> 37:49.620 He's just like. 37:50.100 --> 37:54.020 It's kind of like, forgive us, forgive me, these are my wives, these are my children, 37:54.020 --> 37:58.900 we're all kind of just like your humble servants. And obviously Esau is humbled at this. 37:59.700 --> 38:09.220 It says in verse number nine, and Esau said, I have enough, my brother, keep that thou hast 38:09.220 --> 38:12.100 unto thyself. Now I love this statement here that's made by Esau. 38:12.600 --> 38:20.600 Because not only is Jacob coming with humility with his wives and his children, he's bringing gifts, possessions 38:20.600 --> 38:26.600 Because Jacob is a very wealthy person, he has a lot of possessions, he's accumulated a lot of wealth 38:26.600 --> 38:31.600 And he wants to distribute that, he wants to give that to his brother Esau as a peace offering so to speak 38:31.600 --> 38:33.600 But what does Esau say? He's like, I have enough 38:34.600 --> 38:35.600 I have enough 38:36.700 --> 38:38.020 Now there's a couple things that we can learn from this. 38:38.020 --> 38:41.900 Number one is that Esau has been blessed by God too. 38:43.660 --> 38:46.100 Because keep in mind, you know, he didn't get the Abrahamic blessing, 38:46.420 --> 38:49.220 but he still was blessed of the Lord, right? 38:49.980 --> 38:53.220 He was not blessed to be a part of the lineage, but that's okay. 38:53.340 --> 38:56.500 He was still blessed of God. 38:57.340 --> 38:58.420 And you know what he says? 38:58.740 --> 38:59.660 I have enough. 38:59.820 --> 39:00.340 Now, 39:00.500 --> 39:05.140 Another thing that we can learn from this is that you know what you may not be blessed like someone else is blessed 39:05.140 --> 39:06.940 But you're blessed though 39:06.940 --> 39:08.300 right 39:08.300 --> 39:11.860 You may think to yourself well, you know, I don't have what this person has 39:11.860 --> 39:16.820 I don't have the type of marriage this person has the children that these people have 39:16.820 --> 39:19.360 I don't have the possessions the wealth or whatever 39:19.360 --> 39:23.780 I don't yeah, but you are blessed though and the attitude that you should have is I have enough 39:24.860 --> 39:26.500 Be content, right? 39:27.300 --> 39:29.740 Because Esau is not bitter, he's not upset. 39:29.740 --> 39:32.300 You would think that he would be, but he's not. 39:32.300 --> 39:34.180 Yeah, he sought it carefully with tears 39:34.180 --> 39:35.660 when it initially happened, 39:35.660 --> 39:37.860 and he found no place of repentance. 39:37.860 --> 39:41.060 But obviously, not only has God been working on Jacob, 39:41.060 --> 39:44.140 he's also been working on Esau as well. 39:44.140 --> 39:46.020 To the point where 20 years later, 39:46.020 --> 39:48.620 Esau comes and he says, I have enough. 39:48.800 --> 39:53.280 You don't have to give me anything. I've been blessed of the Lord. I have sufficient 39:53.280 --> 39:58.200 What does this tell us? It tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain. 39:59.920 --> 40:01.920 I have enough 40:02.040 --> 40:03.960 And what I've learned 40:03.960 --> 40:10.000 From my personal life and the lives of other successful Christians, other pastors, other church members 40:10.000 --> 40:13.640 Is people who feel like they've had enough are often given more 40:14.800 --> 40:18.400 They're often blessed with more because they feel like I got enough. 40:18.400 --> 40:21.000 I have everything to fulfill my needs. 40:21.000 --> 40:26.320 I have everything that I need like God has provided for me in a substantial way. 40:26.320 --> 40:28.200 I have nothing to complain about. 40:28.200 --> 40:29.280 You know what God ends up doing? 40:29.280 --> 40:30.480 He ends up giving you more. 40:31.400 --> 40:36.340 Because he's not gonna give you more if you're a greedy covetous person and you know what you saw is not a covetous person 40:36.340 --> 40:40.220 He's not a greedy individual. He's not a lustful individual in this regard 40:40.280 --> 40:46.880 He's a person who feels like he has enough and you know what we all as God's people need to learn 40:47.440 --> 40:54.100 To say I have enough God's blessed me enough. I have everything that I need and he thinks yourself 40:54.100 --> 40:56.000 Well, you know, I feel like I don't have enough 40:57.100 --> 41:00.940 Well, you know, you need to sing that song, count your blessings, name them one by one. 41:00.940 --> 41:01.940 Amen. 41:01.940 --> 41:04.100 Count your blessings, see what God has done. 41:04.100 --> 41:05.100 Because you know what? 41:05.100 --> 41:08.140 I've not seen the righteous forsaken or seed begging bread. 41:08.140 --> 41:12.380 I know that when God is blessing an individual, you say, well, I feel like God's not blessing 41:12.380 --> 41:13.380 me. 41:13.380 --> 41:16.860 I don't have the financial means. 41:16.860 --> 41:22.460 Well, you know, then you need to take inventory of your spiritual life. 41:22.460 --> 41:24.180 First of all, is there sin in your life? 41:24.180 --> 41:24.200 you 41:24.900 --> 41:30.700 If there's some glaring sin, then obviously that's probably the reason why your needs are not being provided for. 41:30.700 --> 41:36.100 Because of the fact that sometimes God just hits you where it hurts, and that is your resources if you're not right with God. 41:36.900 --> 41:42.300 But let's just say you looked at that and you say, well, I don't have sin in my life, I'm not perfect, 41:42.300 --> 41:45.800 but I don't have sin in my life, I'm reading my Bible, I'm in church. 41:45.800 --> 41:51.900 Well, it might be that God is just taking you through a season of leanness to teach you contentment. 41:52.300 --> 41:55.780 To teach you what it's like to have enough. 41:55.780 --> 41:59.580 To teach you to live below your means. 41:59.580 --> 42:00.580 Okay? 42:00.580 --> 42:07.300 The point being here is that we need to learn in whatever state we're in, therewith to be content. 42:08.200 --> 42:11.680 Because here's the thing folks, you know, we think to ourselves what can take a person out of church? 42:11.680 --> 42:14.940 You know, isn't it alcohol? Isn't it fornication? 42:15.400 --> 42:19.520 Isn't it just some sexual sins? Isn't it just railing? 42:19.520 --> 42:23.320 Well, you know, sometimes one of the things that takes people out the most is just covetousness 42:25.120 --> 42:27.720 So how so? Well, they start working extra jobs 42:29.200 --> 42:33.080 Missing church because they feel like they don't have enough 42:34.600 --> 42:37.840 They feel like, oh, I just don't have enough. 42:37.840 --> 42:38.960 No, you might just have enough. 42:38.960 --> 42:42.080 You just might be a greedy, covetous person, 42:42.080 --> 42:44.360 willing to sacrifice church services in order 42:44.360 --> 42:48.920 to make more money to buy yourself a helipad. 42:48.920 --> 42:49.960 Because you want a yacht. 42:49.960 --> 42:50.980 You want a helipad. 42:50.980 --> 42:52.520 You want this, that, and the other. 42:52.520 --> 42:55.680 And you're willing to sacrifice spiritual things in order 42:55.680 --> 42:56.920 to have those things. 42:56.920 --> 42:59.160 You're not a person who knows what enough is. 42:59.800 --> 43:02.600 Because once you get the helipad, you're not going to be happy with that. 43:03.800 --> 43:06.920 Godliness with contentment is great gain. 43:06.920 --> 43:11.560 We brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we will carry nothing out. 43:12.920 --> 43:16.680 You know, we need to make sure that as God's people, we protect ourselves from having 43:16.680 --> 43:20.040 the love of money, which is the root of all evil. 43:20.040 --> 43:20.540 Okay. 43:21.800 --> 43:23.640 Just like I've had enough, enough is enough. 43:23.900 --> 43:28.900 My brother, keep that thou hast unto thyself. 43:28.900 --> 43:32.900 And Jacob said, nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, 43:32.900 --> 43:36.900 then receive my present at my hand, for therefore I have seen thy face, 43:36.900 --> 43:40.900 as though I have seen the face of God, and thou was pleased with me. 43:40.900 --> 43:44.900 And look, you know, don't always think that when you don't have enough, 43:44.900 --> 43:49.900 and maybe it's true, that somehow that means that God is just cursing you or something. 43:51.300 --> 43:54.980 Okay, and this we need you know there's like a there's like a thin line 43:55.580 --> 44:00.380 That we walk between like being blessed of God equates to having money and possessions 44:01.060 --> 44:05.860 With having like scarcity at times because sometimes we need to go through seasons of scarcity 44:07.120 --> 44:10.000 We need to go some people just need to experience what leanness is 44:11.300 --> 44:15.580 Right some people need to know what it's like to not have a whole lot of money 44:16.260 --> 44:18.420 Because they've never struggled ever in their entire life 44:20.000 --> 44:24.000 They don't know what it's like to just struggle, to barely make ends meet. 44:24.000 --> 44:29.000 They don't know what it, maybe you've just been given a silver spoon, born with a silver spoon in your mouth. 44:29.000 --> 44:40.000 You don't know what it's like to like work hard and, and, and you know, earn money and pay bills and be behind sometimes and have to pray things down. 44:40.000 --> 44:45.000 You don't know what that's like. So you know what? You might need to experience a little scarcity in your life. 44:45.700 --> 44:48.600 Little bit of leanness to toughen you up a little bit 44:48.620 --> 44:53.180 Maybe it make you pray a lot more and you know what when people have too much. They don't pray a lot 44:54.380 --> 44:56.380 They have a tendency not to pray 44:56.420 --> 44:58.420 They have a tendency not to rely upon the Lord 44:59.140 --> 45:01.140 They have a tendency to just what? 45:01.460 --> 45:03.460 Expect it because it's there 45:03.580 --> 45:04.400 right 45:04.800 --> 45:11.440 Whereas, you know people who have experienced seasons of leanness of quote-unquote poverty 45:12.400 --> 45:16.440 Scarcity when they get something first of all they appreciate it 45:17.400 --> 45:19.980 But number two, you know what you know what they do 45:19.980 --> 45:25.260 They they don't just expect it all the time and they realize like this can be taken away at any given moment 45:26.400 --> 45:30.400 And if it is taken away, they're like why I've been here before I know what it's like to be broke 45:32.200 --> 45:35.000 You know, I know what it's like to not have enough money. 45:35.000 --> 45:38.360 I know what it's like to just barely get by. 45:38.360 --> 45:40.800 You're like, no, man, I'm going through a tough time. 45:40.800 --> 45:44.080 I can't buy any Starbucks. 45:44.080 --> 45:45.880 I can't get this. 45:45.880 --> 45:47.120 It's so hard. 45:47.120 --> 45:50.600 We're just barely making it. 45:50.600 --> 45:52.360 We're just barely. 45:52.360 --> 45:54.240 We get steak and stuff. 45:54.240 --> 45:58.160 But we can't have any sides or something. 45:58.160 --> 46:00.000 You probably don't know what it's like to struggle. 46:02.900 --> 46:05.900 You know, you may not even know what it's like to be hungry. 46:08.900 --> 46:14.820 That's a real thing. You know, you may not know what it's like to actually be hungry to not eat 46:14.820 --> 46:21.140 three meals. And so, you know, it's important for us to recognize what enough is. And if you're 46:21.140 --> 46:25.540 going through a season of scarcity, don't automatically view it as God punishing you. 46:25.540 --> 46:30.340 Maybe he's just training you because you're just really soft as a Christian. You don't 46:30.340 --> 46:33.220 really know what that's like. And you need to be toughened up a little bit. 46:33.700 --> 46:36.260 emotionally, physically, spiritually. 46:36.260 --> 46:39.620 And you know what? Maybe a moment of scarcity is good for you 46:39.620 --> 46:42.580 so that you learn how to pray things down from God too. 46:42.580 --> 46:47.780 Now I will say this, you know right now I feel like I'm experiencing a season of abundance. 46:48.300 --> 46:53.360 To the point where I feel like I can be a blessing to others. I can you know help my dad 46:53.360 --> 46:59.260 I can support my family my mom if she needs help my wife my children 46:59.760 --> 47:05.360 My dad gets to live with me. I get to just help him to just you know live a normal life 47:05.360 --> 47:11.560 I can give to the building I can give to others. I have like an abundance, and I'm thankful for it 47:12.400 --> 47:14.720 But I also know this stuff can be taken away at any given moment 47:15.700 --> 47:19.200 But it's okay, because I know what it's like to be broke. 47:19.200 --> 47:21.860 I know what it's like not to make a whole lot of money. 47:21.860 --> 47:28.260 My wife and I both know what it's like to just, you know, split fries as a date. 47:28.260 --> 47:30.380 Okay? 47:30.380 --> 47:32.100 You like split fries. 47:32.100 --> 47:33.100 Yeah. 47:33.100 --> 47:37.420 I remember that's how it was like when we first got married. 47:37.420 --> 47:38.740 You're like, oh, man, that's not... 47:38.740 --> 47:39.740 No, no, no. 47:39.740 --> 47:40.900 I'm talking about different poverty. 47:42.400 --> 47:44.400 I'm talking about like I got to cancel my memberships. 47:45.920 --> 47:48.480 You know, we're broke right now. We got to cancel Netflix. Oh 47:51.120 --> 47:53.120 We're so broke we can't afford prime 47:55.200 --> 47:58.160 We just don't know what we're gonna do you probably don't know what leanness is that 47:59.200 --> 48:00.480 Okay 48:00.480 --> 48:05.540 Learn what it's like to be able to legitimately say i've had enough. I have enough 48:05.900 --> 48:09.260 Now obviously Jacob is imparting this gift to his brother not because he needs it but 48:09.260 --> 48:11.820 because he wants to be a blessing to him. 48:11.820 --> 48:15.460 And it says in verse 11, take I pray thee my blessings, my blessing that is brought 48:15.460 --> 48:19.640 to thee because God had dealt graciously with me because I have enough. 48:19.640 --> 48:21.220 And he urged him and he took it. 48:21.220 --> 48:27.860 So I like what it says here that he takes it because you know Esau is very gracious 48:27.860 --> 48:31.100 but he also graciously receives as well. 48:31.100 --> 48:31.800 Okay. 48:32.100 --> 48:35.540 So what do you mean by that? Well we have to learn how to receive gifts as well. 48:36.980 --> 48:39.780 You know if someone wants to be a blessing to you, someone wants to be a blessing to you, 48:39.780 --> 48:43.140 let them be a blessing because it is more blessed to give than to receive. 48:44.100 --> 48:45.760 So you're like well, I don't need it 48:45.760 --> 48:50.460 But you know sometimes you just got to accept the gift just because they someone wants to give to you 48:50.740 --> 48:56.280 Someone wants to be a blessing to you be a humble person by just saying thank you so much for this. I really appreciate it 48:56.620 --> 49:02.540 Okay, so he takes it not because he needs it, but because he knows that his brother it means a lot to his brother 49:03.100 --> 49:07.020 Verse 12 says, and he said, let us take our journey and let us go and I will be before 49:07.020 --> 49:08.020 thee. 49:08.020 --> 49:10.660 And he said unto him, My Lord knoweth that the children are tender and the flocks and 49:10.660 --> 49:14.820 the herds with young are with me and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock 49:14.820 --> 49:15.820 will die. 49:15.820 --> 49:18.780 So basically he tells him like, you know, let me catch up. 49:18.780 --> 49:19.780 I'm going to be going this way. 49:19.780 --> 49:26.420 Now keep in mind that in chapter 31, God had told Jacob that he wanted him to come back 49:26.420 --> 49:28.800 or eventually come back to Bethel. 49:28.900 --> 49:31.300 Okay, but he actually does not do that 49:32.140 --> 49:34.140 Skip down to verse number 49:35.220 --> 49:38.940 16 it says so Esau returned that day on his way unto seer and 49:39.500 --> 49:41.500 Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and 49:41.780 --> 49:47.660 Built him in house and made boots for his cattle therefore the name of the place is called Sukkoth 49:48.200 --> 49:57.600 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Pandanaram and pitched his tent before the city. 49:57.600 --> 49:59.000 So we have a problem here. 49:59.000 --> 50:03.400 Because he's supposed to go to Bethel, but then he ends up going to Sukkoth instead. 50:03.400 --> 50:07.600 And we see that he's planning to be here for quite some time because he's building a house there. 50:07.600 --> 50:09.400 He's making booths for his cattle. 50:09.400 --> 50:15.200 So it's one of those things where it's just like he's obeying God by leaving Laban? 50:15.500 --> 50:20.300 and going in the direction of his home, but he's kind of only halfway obeying 50:20.300 --> 50:26.000 because he's actually going to suck off instead and remaining there for quite some time. 50:26.000 --> 50:27.800 Now he said, what's the significance of that? 50:27.800 --> 50:33.000 Well, the next chapter you'll see why that plays an important role and why he shouldn't have done that. 50:33.000 --> 50:34.000 Because what happens? 50:34.000 --> 50:36.800 Dinah goes to see the daughters of the land. 50:37.200 --> 50:43.160 Okay, and we're gonna visit that next week a major issue comes about that, but you know what this shows us 50:43.960 --> 50:46.420 That God expects for us to fully obey 50:47.880 --> 50:49.880 Not halfway amen and 50:51.240 --> 50:56.400 Sometimes when we only halfway a bit, you know half obedience is disobedience 50:57.840 --> 51:03.480 Delayed obedience is disobedience, right? That's what we teach our kids delayed obedience is disobedience 51:06.000 --> 51:09.000 And when they did that, they ended up suffering the consequences of it. 51:09.000 --> 51:10.000 Okay? 51:10.000 --> 51:13.000 And so, we'll visit that next week. 51:13.000 --> 51:16.000 What is the primary principle that we can learn from chapter 33? 51:16.000 --> 51:18.000 Well, if you learn anything, learn this. 51:18.000 --> 51:21.000 Don't be afraid to go talk to Esau. 51:21.000 --> 51:24.000 Don't be afraid to go reconcile with Esau. 51:24.000 --> 51:28.000 There's a problem that you have with the brother in Christ. 51:28.000 --> 51:30.000 What's the worst that can happen? 51:30.000 --> 51:32.000 And look, no one's going to punch you here. 51:32.000 --> 51:33.000 Okay? 51:33.300 --> 51:35.900 You know, no one's gonna chop you in the throat. 51:36.500 --> 51:39.200 You know, no one's gonna harm you or anything. 51:39.200 --> 51:41.100 You're like, well, I just don't know what they're gonna say. 51:41.100 --> 51:44.500 Think of the worst possible insult they can dish out at you. 51:44.700 --> 51:45.900 And make peace with it. 51:46.700 --> 51:49.700 Think of just the worst possible thing that they can say to you. 51:49.700 --> 51:53.700 The worst possible, you know, receipt that they can have on you. 51:53.700 --> 51:55.100 Make peace with it! 51:55.600 --> 51:56.500 And just go do it. 51:57.100 --> 52:01.780 But learn how to practice reconciliation. 52:01.780 --> 52:04.320 Do not avoid situations. 52:04.320 --> 52:05.720 Confront them. 52:05.720 --> 52:08.280 Especially if they're keeping you up at night. 52:08.280 --> 52:10.380 Especially if you're just like, if you can't, 52:10.380 --> 52:12.360 it's just like, man, it's destroying your life. 52:12.360 --> 52:14.220 Just go talk, come talk to me. 52:14.220 --> 52:16.980 If you're mad at me, come talk to me. 52:16.980 --> 52:18.620 What's the worst that can happen? 52:18.620 --> 52:19.460 You know? 52:19.460 --> 52:21.500 What do you think I'm gonna, well you might throw me out. 52:21.500 --> 52:22.700 Well that is true. 52:23.600 --> 52:27.760 That is true if you don't repent of a particular sin, right? 52:27.760 --> 52:30.320 You know, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 52:30.320 --> 52:33.080 But, let's just be honest, that's probably not going to happen 52:33.080 --> 52:35.920 Because if you're coming to talk to me, you're coming to reconcile 52:35.920 --> 52:37.060 Let's pray 52:37.060 --> 52:38.560 Father, we thank you so much for your Word 52:38.560 --> 52:41.700 Help us as your people, Lord, to be peacemakers 52:41.700 --> 52:43.480 Help us to desire reconciliation 52:43.480 --> 52:46.880 It's very uncomfortable at times when you have to reconcile with someone 52:46.880 --> 52:49.400 But, Lord, it's your will 52:49.900 --> 52:53.660 And it's the way we can endeavor to keep the spirit of unity and the bond of peace not just in church 52:53.660 --> 52:57.100 But in our families and our marriages with our children with our parents 52:57.740 --> 53:00.700 And with loved ones. I pray that you help us lord to keep that in mind 53:01.340 --> 53:04.620 And to make this a part of our christian life just as much as 53:05.100 --> 53:09.520 Bible reading is as much as prayer is as much as soul winning is that we would make reconciliation 53:10.300 --> 53:14.400 A spiritual discipline in our lives. We love you. We thank you pray this thing's in jesus name. Amen 53:23.300 --> 53:26.300 We have one last song this evening, song number 19.