If I need you could find your seats and grab your songbook and turn to page number one
We're gonna be seeing Jesus. I my cross have taken one Jesus. I my cross have taken. Let's sing it together on the first
Would you open up with a word of prayer we're saying so I'm your song number 174 my Jesus
I love thee song number
174 my Jesus. I love thee 174 174 let's sing it together on the first
My jeez good thing at this time will have our everyone the verse of the week is Galatians 6 verse 9 Galatians 6
Verse 9 and let us not be weary and well-doing for in due season
We shall reap if we faint not Galatians 6 verse 9
Service times are 1030 this morning 330 this afternoon with so many times was 1 p.m. Today and 1030
yesterday
That's one on salvations. Amen sort of total of 93 for the year so far
All right, attendance is down below upcoming events. Please remember that we will start
our
New Testament challenge on January 1st and just looking to finish the New Testament in the month of January
Nine chapters a day. We'll get it done. So
Encourage you we got the mission. We got the purpose sent out by our leader that that's one of our goals for the year
So amen and he even said just the New Testament this year. All right, take a break
So push yourself now and then you're done. I mean, all right, that's not seven months challenge
That's a one month and after last year, I know you can all do it. All right, so amen. Let's get that done
first soul winning
Kind of special event that we're having for the next year will be January 10th. That'll be a Cheney soul winning
You know still plucking away Cheney is a much larger town than I originally thought. I'm very ignorant
I'm going to say when he said hey, we're gonna do it every month. I was like, okay
I'm like four months we'll be done, right?
Now it's actually a much larger town and we still got a ways to go
But hey chipping away chipping away chipping away those that look at the maps and know me and Ryan look at the soul winning map
Hey, if you're ever discouraged, what are we doing? Come look at the map and you'll understand
Hey, we've covered on this is not an exaggerator probably over a hundred square miles of spoken. It's big now
You know how big so can is but come see how much we filled in even a little church was being dedicated with
People going out all the time. We hit more and more blocks a few blocks here a few blocks there, man
It gets stuff done. So hey, let's go help them get Cheney filled out. Maybe not even this year
And that's not from lack of dedication. It's just a bigger town than I originally thought so but school home school
Day for January will be the 13th. Just let miss Kylie know and it will be here at the church on February 14th
We'll have been married couple's sweetheart banquet. So that'll be something coming up in February kids
Your verse currently is Proverbs 12 verse 22 Proverbs 12 verse 22
A lying lip or an abomination to the Lord, but they that deal truthfully are his delight
And I'm gonna I'll ask Remy if you know, do we get candy because I heard there's adult memorized verse
But I was like, I don't know like that childish. Yeah, maybe I can be bothered. I don't know about you guys
But it's encouragement right? That's what we do for the kids. And alright, we'll hear more about the memory verse challenge this year
Which chapter again?
When probably next year so with that information is down below rules are the same
We sung happy birthday
If you have any other prayer requests that you want to add to the bulletin, please just let the Thompson snow
They will get it in there. But with that let's turn to the Lord in prayer
All right, our next one was song number 355. What a friend we have in Jesus song number 355
What a friend we have in Jesus song 355. Let's sing it together on the first
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to beg
Thank to God in prayer. He's we often for
This pain we bear not care to God in prayer
Temptation so faith still despise for say good scene brother Paul. Would you bless the offering for us everybody?
Welcome back to sure foundation Baptist Church if you could take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter 2
That'll be our text for this evening
Exodus chapter 2 and as always here at our church
We read the entire chapter before the preaching
Exodus chapter 2 the Bible reads and there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi
And the woman conceived and bear a son and when she saw him that he was a goodly child
She hid him three months and when she could not longer hide him
she took him an ark rush bulrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch and
put the child there in and she laid it in the flags by the river's bank and his sister stood afar off to
wait what would be done to him and the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river and her
maidens walked along by the riverside and when she saw the ark among the flags she sent her maiden to
fetch it and when she had opened it she saw the child and behold the babe wept and she had
compassion on him and said this is one of the Hebrews children then said his sister to Pharaoh's
daughter shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse the
child for thee and Pharaoh's daughter said to her go and the maid went and called the
child's mother and Pharaoh's daughter said unto her take this child away and nurse it
for me and I will give thee thy wages and the woman took the child and nursed it and
the child grew and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter and he became and he became her son
and she called his name Moses and she said because I drew him out of the water and it
came to pass in those days when Moses was grown that he went out unto his brethren and
looked on their burdens and he spied an Egyptian smiting in Hebrew one of his brethren and
he looked this way and that way and when he saw that there was no man he slew the Egyptian
and hid him in the sand and when he went out of the second day behold two men of the
Hebrews strove together and he said to him that did the wrong wherefore smitest thou
thy fellow and he said who made thee a prince and a judge over us intendest thou to kill
me as thou kilts the Egyptian and Moses feared and said surely this thing is known now when
Pharaoh heard this thing he sought to slay Moses but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh
and dwelt in the land of Midian and he sat down by a well now the priest of Midian had
seven daughters and they came and drew water and filled their troughs to water their father's
flock and the shepherds came and drove them away but Moses stood up and helped them and
watered their flock and when they came to Ruel their father he said how is it that you
are come so soon today and they said an Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds
and also drew water enough for us and watered the flock and he said unto his daughters and
where is he why is it that ye have left the man call him that he may eat bread and Moses
was content to dwell with the man and he gave Moses Zipra his daughter and she bare him
a son and he called his name Gershom for he said have been a stranger in a strange land
and it came to pass in process of time that the king of Egypt died and the children of
Israel sighed by reason of the bondage and they cried and their cry came up unto God
by reason of the bondage and God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with
Abraham with Isaac and with Jacob and God looked upon the children of Israel and God
had respect unto them.
Brother Jake could you pray for the service please?
Amen.
Well thank you all for coming out.
Tonight is a sermon.
I know I talk about planning a lot but this one is not technical.
It's not, I haven't handed out anything.
You don't have to track what you do every minute.
With this one I want you to plan to be easy going this year.
Plan to be easy going this year.
Heavenly Father thank you so much for allowing me to preach this.
I just hope that this is edifying.
It's using your word, showing your people how they can be tougher, more resilient and
get more done this year by not being so stressed out about the small things.
Tonight I want to talk about this.
We just read basically the story, the start of Moses, and basically how his life went
ups and downs as it went.
But before you, we will come back to Exodus 2, but go ahead and turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11.
2 Corinthians chapter 11.
And while you turn there, I'm going to read from verse 6, starting in verse 7, it says,
"For we are brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content."
So here's the wisdom of the world.
A lot of people get stressed out, worked up, doing this.
They can't do stuff.
They get worried and just stressed out.
Well, here's the wisdom of the Bible.
Do you know you came to this world nothing,
with absolutely nothing?
You ever seen a baby?
They don't have anything.
You gotta dress them.
They don't have the clothes.
They don't have that.
And guess what?
When you die, you will have nothing.
So what are you gonna lose in this life?
Nothing.
You have no chance of gaining
or losing anything in this life.
Absolutely nothing in this world is, it's all temporary.
And if you're getting stressed out by something temporary,
then you're basically like,
it's like if you started caring about a paper towel.
Paper towel.
You use it for an instance,
it's gonna be thrown away immediately.
That's your life.
If you don't understand that, it is going away.
If you get so stressed out
that you gotta maintain every little thing,
you're probably not getting a lot done
'cause you are just focused on the wrong things.
And here's the thing is, the Lord literally tells us,
why won't you be content?
Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.
If you have God, you have salvation, you have eternity,
where's he going?
Like Paul, what's the main thing about this, sir?
I'm gonna ask you, as a personal question,
when you get in a group of people, do you ever wish,
I'm like, yes, high picky jerk is coming.
Yes, I'm so happy, that person's so specific
and everything up annoys them.
All that's so wonderful, I'll do it.
He doesn't, they don't volunteer, they don't help,
but man, are they opinionated
and they're gonna tell us about it, yes.
Sucks, who wants to be around that?
You want that easy going person's like,
yeah, sure, whatever.
Oh, okay, well, that's not what we're playing,
but yeah, let's do it.
Let's just go.
Easy going, going with the flow.
Now, here's the thing is,
can you do that if you're the leader?
No, you kind of have to push things forward,
but hey, you can still roll with it.
But let me tell you this,
easy going people get more done.
Easy going people are happier,
and easy going people are more enjoyed by other people.
You're like, where are you going to get that?
We'll get there.
'Cause hey, I guarantee you the Lord says don't complain.
If you're not a complainer,
it pretty much means you're easy going.
And the Lord gives us kind of examples.
If you've got clothes on right now,
and you've ate fairly recently,
Lord says, "Thereby be content."
He didn't promise that you need that tomorrow.
You don't worry about that.
Let that day suffice.
The evil of today is sufficient, all right?
So I had you turn to 2 Corinthians, verse 11.
It says, this is Paul speaking in the epistle,
and he's basically saying,
"Wow, you think your life's hard?
Oh, you think it's really hard?
Well, let's listen to Paul."
Be like, "Let me act like a fool here."
It says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 17,
"That which I speak, I speak not after the Lord,
but as it were foolishly in that confidence of boasting."
Paul's legit saying, "Hey, hey, I heard what you said.
Let me act like a fool like you are,
talking about yourself and your own problems.
Let me talk about me."
You want to act like a fool?
You want to act like someone who's like,
"Well, listen to my complaints, listen to what I do."
Well, Paul's like, "Fine, I won't speak after the Lord.
Let me speak after the flesh,
like I hear you all talking about."
In verse 18, it says,
"See that many glories after the flesh, I will also glory.
For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing yourselves as wise.
For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage,
if a man devour you, if a man take you,
if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.
I speak as concerning reproach as though we had been weak,
how be it were so, and he is bold.
I speak foolishly, I am bold also."
He's basically saying, "Hey, you know how you complain?
You know, like, oh, well, you know,
we've had to deal with stuff.
We had to do all that.
But look at me, look what I've done."
He's like, "You speak kind of foolishly
to just speak about yourself and worry
about your own concerns.
But hey, if that's what we're doing, I'll do that too.
Hey, are you a Hebrew?
I'm a, I am.
Are you an Israelite?
So am I.
Are you the seed of Abraham?
So am I.
Are you the ministers of Christ?
I speak as a fool.
I am more.
You think you've done stuff?
I've done more.
In the labor is more abundant, stripes above measure,
in prison more frequently, and in death often."
Now, I think he's saying in the threat of his life,
but hey, he was stoned, and it basically
sounds like he's resurrected.
Some people said he was really badly damaged,
or it was a miracle and he rose again.
Man, how would you like to complain to that guy?
Oh, you got a door slammed into your face and it was awkward?
Oh, oh my goodness.
Now, I don't think he's really-- he's trying to encourage
people like, hey, you need to stop self-suffocating.
And hey, thank you for all those that go out and deal
with the trials and tribulations.
Because hey, there is troubles you're
going to run to in your life.
But do you think you can really complain to Paul outside?
Like, you're like, oh, man, what I've done.
Like, dude, I told Mormons to go away.
I've really strived for Christ.
He's like, dude, I've been with deaths also.
He's like, in prison more frequently.
He's been in prison.
He's been striked.
Strikes above measure.
Of the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes, save one.
So basically, at that time, there was a maximum penalty.
Maximum.
He received 40 stripes.
And I don't know, like, really all this is.
But I do know this.
In Singapore, they still cane people.
Most people pass out after 10.
You've been hit by the cane they use, and they got a long one.
They've got a science down to where it almost breaks
the sound barrier when it hits your back.
It is so painful that most people, eight to 10 stripes,
they pass out.
They wait for you to regain consciousness
before they continue, because it doesn't
count if you don't feel it.
I don't know how the Romans did, but let me tell you this.
He's done this five times.
He has received 40 stripes five times.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was stoned.
The thrice I was suffered shipwrecked, a day and a night
I have been in the deep.
In journeys often, in perils of water, in perils of robbery,
in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the heath,
in perils of the city, in perils of the wilderness,
in perils of the sea, in perils among false brethren.
In weariness and painfulness and watchings often,
in hungers and thirst and fasting often,
in cold and nakedness.
He's literally said he's been beat and thrown in the water.
He is starved, and you know what?
Sometimes he doesn't get that heat.
He doesn't get that raiment.
But isn't it weird?
He says be content.
He's literally going beyond what God even says.
Wait, you got food and clothing,
why don't you be content?
He's like, I'm done without that,
and I'm still content in serving the Lord.
You know what, you don't get there
if you're just some prideful self-centered person
that's just gonna complain about everything.
In weariness and painful and watching often,
in hungers and thirst and fasting often,
cold and nakedness,
beside those things that are without,
that which are cometh unto me daily,
care of all the churches.
Who is weak, I am not weak.
Who is offended, I am not, I burn not.
He's like, hey, I'm not weak
and I'm not offended by this.
Now, what does this have to do with my point of my sermon?
Are you going to face hardships being Christian?
For surely you will receive persecution.
For surely problems will exist.
But you know what's interesting?
Paul gives an example.
Let me explain why I think he was kind of an easy going guy.
Most of us, if we were actually beaten 40 times,
the next time we get a soul-winning chance to go out,
our flesh might be like, eh, it just got all the time, man.
You see those letters like, hey, if I can,
I'll come visit you.
He's just rolling with it.
Like in the text, I see like, Lord, wherever I go,
now we know he should have not gone to Rome,
and he should have not done things.
He didn't do what the Lord told him,
so he didn't end up going to Rome.
But I'll tell you this.
A lot of times, he's just rolling with it.
He's like, man, I was stoned to death, resurrected.
He's like, it says he got up.
He went to the next town.
He's like, OK, that didn't work.
Did he stop?
He's like, OK, well, I'll just keep going.
I mean, he's saying, you know, the heathen outside,
he's getting protested.
But he says, brother within, he's
having interpersonal problems.
You see the ax.
He literally starts a church, gets people,
says, get the church going, and they reject him.
You're like, man, that would be really rough.
Yeah, but most of you, you probably
have fears of going to holiday parties
because Aunt Sue's trying to be vague
and her roles are going to suck this year.
And you're like, I don't even know if it's worth going.
Is that easy going?
Who cares?
They're doing a weird diet.
They're not making food as good as it was.
You know, relatives get old.
They're not as good as cook.
Is that a good enough reason to stop going?
You listen, and what I'm trying to say
is look at what Paul's basically saying.
In my flesh, I could boast about this.
But he's saying, it's foolish to do so.
Just serve the Lord.
But let me tell you this.
A lot of people are trying to boast of what themselves do.
But you know what they'll also do?
They would use these type of things
to stop going for the Lord.
And here's the thing.
In the flesh, you might understand.
I know I have never spent a day and night in the ocean
naked and starving and then been beaten, probably,
when I was rescued.
And I've been like, let's keep going.
You have to have a pretty go-forward,
just let it go where it goes kind of attitude
to continue to serve God like this.
And let me tell you this.
Paul must have been a pretty cool person to go out like.
If you are working with him, that's the guy you want.
They're like, I mean, and here's the thing is, hey,
I totally get it.
Hey, I've got a newborn.
There'll probably come a time, maybe it gets 30 below.
Probably don't want that little one out there, all right?
And none of us want to be out there,
and we can't be out there too long.
But what I'm telling you this is, there are times
that we don't go and do stuff, and if we actually
looked at what we're complaining about, we're like, yeah,
maybe I just need to roll with it.
I know a lot of these people, man, a lot of people in this room,
we've been poured on, like comically rained.
There is a memory I have with brother Ryan, I believe my wife.
It's like tropical storm raining.
People that would usually yell at us, knock on our door,
like, dude, what are you doing outside?
Like, it is raining so hard, we're
happy to be under this unbeliever's little canopy
while he's joking.
And it's like, whew, I get a little time
to have my face not soaked.
We've been at times where it's snowing,
like we're not at a door getting someone safe.
It snowed another six inches.
I swear, while we're on one porch.
Now, I actually think that was hilarious.
But here's the thing, in the flesh, you're like, man,
what are you guys doing?
You know what it is?
And then everyone's made sacrifices here.
I'm not trying to call out just certain people
and blame others.
It's like, we're just like, we're going to go.
We're just kind of easy going like that.
We're like, hey, we're supposed to do this, we just go.
Well, it's a little more difficult than I thought.
We get through it.
Things didn't really work out the way.
We did it.
Things are going to mess up.
Things are not going to go as planned.
Things are that.
And you know what you want?
You want a pause just like, well, we were stoned.
But hey, next city we might not be.
You know what, if I go out and work with people,
I want easy going people being like, man, we were arrested,
thrown in jail.
We're supposed to make it to choir practice.
Dude, what are we going to do all night?
Let's sing to the Lord.
I mean, is that what you see Peter do?
Is that what you see?
Like, they literally just started.
Like, people were like, they were beaten and stoned
through and they weren't stoned at that point.
But they were thrown in jail.
And they're like, they sung to the Lord
until they were let out.
Dude, that's some easy going.
But they're like, man, we're going to go through it.
Let's just make the best of it.
And to make the best attitude is a gift
that God gives us, that Christians can succeed.
And here's the thing is, the Lord,
which he says, he gives us the ability to--
like, people should look at us and go,
what do they have that I don't?
Like, it's beyond comprehension how
content we could be in life.
But sometimes we let this world get to us,
and we're like, man, our life is disposable.
The stuff we have, it's going to go away.
Don't get so tied up in this.
Be willing.
Now, I know we started off in Exodus 2.
If you go back to Exodus 2, then think of, like,
basically how Paul, just like, man, he just seems on fire.
He knows all this.
And what it is is this.
He hits persecution, but he doesn't stop him.
All right?
Hey, like I said, this town stoned me to death.
I guess I'll move on to the next one.
He's not immobile.
He's not inflexible.
But he just kind of rolls with it.
I actually kind of think I see that in the story of Moses.
Now, here's the thing is, starting in verse 14, it says--
and he said-- this is the Hebrew to Moses--
"Who made thee a prince to judge over us?
Intendest thou to kill me as thou killest the Egyptian?"
And Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known."
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing,
he sought to slay Moses.
But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh
and dwelt in the land of Midian.
And he sat down by a well.
Now the priest of the Midian had seven daughters.
And he came to drew water and filled the throats of the water
with his father's flock.
And the shepherds came down and drove them away.
But Moses stood up and helped them and water flocked.
And when they came to relume their father, he said,
"How is it that thou come so soon today?"
And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us
out of the hands of the shepherds
and also drew water enough for us and watered the flock."
And the, you know, base of the father is like,
"Whoa, this guy did this?
Where is he?"
And he said unto his daughters, "Where is he?
And why is it that he has left this man?
Call him that he may eat bread."
Moses contented well with the man
and gave him Moses' zebra, his daughter,
and she bare him a son and called his name Gesham,
for he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land."
Now, follow the story.
Really think about it.
I know we read through it and we're like,
"Oh man, you know, Moses is gonna do miracles.
He's gonna bring the plagues and do all that."
Well, understand kind of the...
Moses has a very interesting life.
I mean, here's the thing is, at the time of the story,
he's a prince of Egypt.
Now, what level of authority and wealth
and silver spoon in his tongue
he was raised by a Pharaoh's daughter in that land of Egypt,
he probably didn't have a rough life.
And if you just finished reading Genesis,
what do the Egyptians think of shepherds?
Abomination.
Now, you think a prince of Egypt wasn't brought up
in the idea that being a shepherd is an abomination?
I mean, that's their culture.
He's a prince of Egypt.
And basically, we don't know the motivation.
Like, we do know that he didn't like
the Hebrew being punished, so he intervened.
Whether he fought because he's a prince,
whether he could do that.
But Pharaoh sought him, he fled.
Life is not, all of a sudden, not going well for Moses.
He obviously had, like, 40 decent years in Egypt.
He was a prince.
He lived in one of, you know,
was raised as a prince of Egypt.
He was probably doing okay.
He had to flee, leave everything he has,
has nothing, goes into a foreign land.
And he's a stranger in a strange land.
Now, once again, he sees something
that kind of bothers him.
He thinks it's injustice that these herdsmen
just pushed these seven daughters away.
He intervenes, helps this random person.
Well, because he helped this one random person,
the father's like, "Dude, if you're gonna help,
"hey, you want a job?
"I mean, I've got seven daughters, I need some help."
All right?
But he's like, "Hey."
And it says here, "Oh."
Well, he's like, "I was a prince in Egypt.
"Now, couldn't we be like,
"man, I'm used to gold rings, fancy cars.
"I mean, I am royalty."
Yeah, but that's a different life, man.
Killing a person will probably change your life, all right?
Hey, let me tell you that people make choices
that they can't undo, all right?
Hey, a few years ago, one of the,
I find it funny, but we have these people, two men,
they set their lives, they have a decent life,
they're not that broke, but they decide,
"You know what?
"If we rob a bank, I bet we'll freakin' fix it."
And if you don't know, bank robbery,
no matter the cost, is a crime itself.
It's not the money you steal, it's robbing a bank,
it's a felony, and let me tell you,
there's three-letter agencies,
that's part of their job, is to find bank robbers.
So when they went into the valley,
they went up there and they robbed a bank.
You know how much money they got away?
$15.73.
Because they just switched over to automated machine,
they're like, "Do you have a bank account?"
"No, I don't have a bank account."
They're like, "I can't get any money out."
Like, the teller's freakin' out.
So she reaches in her pocket,
she had $15.73 on her.
She's like, "This is all I can give you.
"I don't have a cash store.
"I can't just hand you money."
And they freaked out and left the way.
So the truck they were driving and getting away,
I think they burnt more gas.
Maybe they had enough to get a Subway sandwich.
I don't think so, but your life is now ruined
because of this choice.
And you're not gonna undo that
and you're gonna have a felony.
They were caught, and I mean,
they're gonna rule the jail with that tar crime, right?
But what I'm saying is, things happen in our life,
and here's the sad part.
We can always look back in our life and be like,
"Man, if, if, if, if."
But guess what?
That's gone.
And Moses, the story could have just basically ended.
He was grieved and mourned and just wished to be a prince
and probably died in a ditch somewhere.
But instead he goes, "I don't have anything else going on."
Yeah, he dwelt with them.
And to me, I believe that means
he helped his daughters raise flocks.
And now here's the thing is, why I want to say,
what do the Egyptians think of being a flock or a herder?
It's an abomination.
He had to humble himself pretty quick.
Not only is he fleeing from being a prince,
he's now basically doing the inverse
of what a prince of Egypt would ever do.
Manual labor as a herdsman.
You gotta just accept where you're at
and just roll with it.
I'm not saying in old ways he was easy going,
but at one point he just says,
"This is where I'm at in life."
And what happened?
He gets a wife and kids.
He has a normal life.
Basically, God blessed him.
And here's the thing is,
is he a prince of Egypt?
No.
But for 40 years, he has a decent little life
living with this priest and his daughters,
has a family, grows up, recovers from that.
But guess what?
He's not living in the gold spoon like he was.
He had to just roll with what's reality now
and make the best of the situation.
And I believe that is just a good lesson to us
because let me tell you this,
the blessing of that he was content.
It doesn't say he was grieved.
It doesn't say he was jealous of his foreign life.
He was like, this isn't a bad life.
I'm hurting.
Now, he obviously knew he was of the Hebrews
and what were the Hebrews at the time?
They were herders.
Well, if you wanted to be one of the people,
go learn how to work.
Prince of Egypt probably wouldn't really understand
how to connect with the war laborers.
So for 40 years, he became a laborer,
he became a shepherd, you know,
basically a herdsman, a shepherd.
Hey, and that's just like his father, Abraham.
All right, that's like his lineage.
And he was content to dwell.
Let me tell you this.
I've said this, this has come up many times.
The Bible says this.
One of the greatest blessings you can have in this life
is contentment.
Joy is nice, but joy is temporary.
Happiness is great.
Laughter is great, but these are temporary.
Contentment is something you can have,
and you can sustain you through most of your life.
In Genesis, so just as I drill on,
so let's think of an opposite of easygoing.
Moses, hey, when he complained,
'cause we have complaints,
he always tells it to God himself, though.
He doesn't tell other people.
He was very meek to everyone else.
To God, he's like, Lord, just kill me.
Are we going to have complaints in our mind?
I'm not telling you you're not.
Moses did.
Moses, if you didn't know, really became kind of a prince
of Egypt 40 years later, but was a prince of the Hebrews.
He led them out of Egypt.
He actually, basically from the worldly sense,
then viewed like he conquered Egypt.
Now, it was God, not Moses, but Moses
became a very significant figure years later.
But he rolled with it and found contentment
no matter where he was, which I think
is a very good Christian doctrine.
Now, there's an opposite in the Bible, a prophet.
Who is not content, who is not easygoing?
Jonah.
If you want a not easygoing, opinionated person
that none of us want to go, do you want to go solo?
Anyone sounds like, I wish God would just kill me
instead of saving these people.
Do you want-- no one wants a Jonah.
Now, despite that, I mean, God used him,
but he even did the work.
He's done.
He still wanted the people to be burned to death like God.
And literally, the book ends with the guy like,
do you do well to be angry?
And you go like--
How else are you going to like-- what voice do you think?
Do you think he was kind to being the God
the way he was talking to him?
No.
He was grumpy and angry.
Let me tell you this.
Easygoing people who just go with it, man,
you get so much done if you could have
a group of people like that.
Well, I mean, I thought we were going to, what, Diamond--
whatever town.
But we're like, ah, turns out the passes close.
We're going to this Indian reservation.
People are like, man, all the flyers
said we're going to have an explosion of soul winning.
Like, how are we going to do that with Saxon Washington?
Does it matter?
No, we're all going out.
Now, here's the thing is, sometimes we want to do this.
We really hope we do this, but it all goes away.
Can you roll with it?
Because let me tell you this.
Hopefully, God doesn't need to throw you
into the crater of the earth in a whale's belly
until you are dying or dead.
And finally, after three days of agony,
you're like, fine.
Wives, I really hope your husband doesn't like,
is that the level of stress to get you to do what you want?
And hopefully, your husband, you don't have to, you know,
destroy his life in three days for him to go,
well, I guess we can go here.
I guess we can go to this restaurant.
I'm just so, none of you's ever made a decision on that.
But what I'm saying is this.
Easygoing people are way more likely to get more done,
and they are way more likely in a group
to get vastly more done.
Because if you can just roll with it,
you get so much more done.
Now here's the thing is,
when I say being easygoing,
I don't mean just give up on what matters.
That's not what I mean.
You turn to Genesis 32,
or sorry, Genesis 37, Genesis 37,
and I'll read from Mark 15.
You're turning to Genesis 37.
In Mark 15, 15th though it says,
"And so Pilate, willing to contend the people,
"released Barabbas unto them and delivered Jesus
"when he had scourged him to be crucified."
Now here's the thing, you're like,
"Well, I'm just rollin', this is what the people wanted."
I mean, that's pretty easy going, right?
I'm just trying to make peace.
So he sends an innocent person to death,
and he lets a murder or rebellious person free.
This is not what I'm telling you to do.
What I'm telling you to do is,
if you can just go through it, but let me tell you this,
if it's violating the word of God,
or it's doing something evil,
or you're just allowing wickedness,
ouch, like, that's not what I'm telling you
to be easy going with.
I'm not telling you to just be like,
let everyone be happy, like, why does it bother you?
Why are you judging?
Look, you're commanded to judge,
but you're not commanded to have your way
in everything that happens.
In church, in the house, at work, where you go.
Like, hey, when I take my entire family
across the street, or across the states,
and all of a sudden, somehow, I'm there on the day
after the park is closed, do you think
I can tell them reopen it?
No, I just kind of got a roll with it.
We're taking this trip to another state,
to something that's closed.
I have done this multiple times.
Not just to the theme park, we took him to a mine
that wasn't open, that was a great three hour drive.
But here's the thing is, I don't know,
says I found a beautiful restaurant, it was delicious.
Only thing opened in the town, the town's closed.
For the season, the restaurant was cool.
See, that's easy going.
You're like, well, hey, we drove.
This is kind of a funny story.
We had good food.
You just roll with it.
And in all parts of your life, you can just get over things.
And I'm not telling you to give up on your morals,
give up on your character.
Hey, we proudly state we're a fundamentalist church.
Guess what?
We're not just telling you, relax on this.
Don't get so uppity on this.
Hey, we want to get out and people will get as close
and on the word of God as possible.
But what I'm telling you is when you hit troubles,
when you have problems, don't stop.
And when you can, let me tell you,
is it possible when you hear like,
oh man, we're going to go to, you know,
a bunch of Indian reservations this year.
Can you start stressing out now about them dogs?
Yeah, you could.
I mean, there's, I mean, we were literally told
we were going to be mauled, me and Ryan.
We were going to be mauled by these evil dogs.
And we heard them for blocks.
The neighbor's like, don't go up there, man.
I don't believe in God, but I'm going to tell you this.
I'm trying to look out for you.
You go up there, you're going to be mauled.
And we heard these dogs for blocks,
because they controlled that block.
Now here's the thing is, could we, for our own safety,
have been like, we can do another block?
We could.
But we looked at each other, we were like,
man, this is our area.
We heard that bark, (barking)
in the distance.
We saw them running up and down the block,
because the person didn't.
If you've never been to a reservation,
fences don't exist, neither do leashes,
as far as I can tell.
They haven't been invented yet,
or they're just too expensive, I don't know,
they do not, they just aren't there.
And we're like, man.
And we got up them, and we walked right past them.
They looked at us, never barked at us,
then chased another kid on a bike.
Like, Lord protected us, I guess,
or we just didn't seem like a threat,
but hey, could the threat, like here's the thing is,
when I'm trying to emphasize this,
if we didn't just roll with it,
we just didn't go, whether by faith,
or just say who cares, if it happens, it happens.
But here's the thing is, the neighbors are like,
nah, they're like basically showing like the marks,
like you go up there, you're gonna get bit.
So it's an actual threat, we see the threat,
we have all that, we have every chance to be like,
anyone blame us?
Like, we can just knock, like,
we're not hitting this whole town,
we'll just get another block.
But we're like, they chase us off, we'll leave.
Never happened.
It was an imaginary problem,
even though it was physically present,
if that makes sense to you.
But you know what, we just rolled with it and it was fine.
Now here's the thing is, I think so far,
the only one mauled was my own wife.
She was mauled by a dog.
So it's not a made up example, dogs can attack.
And that was in my own neighborhood, all right?
So it's not so much, am I saying there's no threat,
we'll always be protected?
Well, no, it literally, I mean, Paul gives a lot of examples.
Was he captured?
Was he beaten?
Was he stoned?
Was he thrown in the waters?
Yeah.
But you know what's interesting, he just says,
life's short, better keep going.
I mean, it didn't stop him, why?
He didn't just focus on the pain,
he was focusing on the glory of God.
Now here's the thing is, in church,
you should always just be focused on,
what is the greater good?
What is God's service?
What's bringing glory to him?
Let me tell you this, you take this contentment,
this mindset that I plan, no matter what happens,
I'm just gonna keep going.
Man, apply that to your family.
Apply that to your work.
'Cause let me tell you, in all parts of your life,
you can find things like that,
you may have literally be harmed,
you may have been literally be pained,
but let me tell you this, a lot of what stops us
is we let either our minds take from our past
or what we've heard,
we develop these imaginary blockers and these pains
or what appears from us,
and that stops us from even going forward.
And what's amazing about the story of Paul,
what's amazing about the story of Moses,
is these are people, these are actual human beings
that literally had problems,
they literally went through pain,
life trauma, catastrophes,
and they just said, "I'm gonna go forward."
And hey, I've learned to be content
no matter what state I am in.
Later Paul says, "In abundance and in want."
'Cause you know what's funny about this?
You know, whether you're from the '90s
and you heard the very classy song,
"More money, more problems."
Some of us joke that we look back when we were then.
When I had nothing, like I was in my young 20s,
I just scraped it.
I've told you this, and this is true.
There are months in my life where I'm like,
"Do I want heat or food?"
And food always worked out, but you know what?
The back of that is like a really hard time
'cause I didn't have a lot.
So I didn't have a lot to stress out,
I just, that's how life was and I was just content with it.
But you know what's funny is like a lot of people,
and I think it's interesting people miss this,
he says, "In my abundance."
You know, sometimes we have way more than other people.
Sometimes we're in the best stage
that we might be in our life.
And you know what?
A lot of times that might be the least content.
We're like, "Well, I still don't have this boat."
Or, "I still can't afford a Lamborghini."
Or, "I still can't support 19 cruises this year."
Or, "Whatever it is, no matter how much you have, you want more."
Bill Gates owns more farmland than any other human being in the United States, and he's
buying more.
No matter how rich you are, you know they're the least content?
I'm going to tell you this.
If I had whatever imaginary amount of money, what Elon Musk I think is the head of the
game right now, like $300 billion, but they said, "He'll probably be a trillionaire."
I've actually thought about this, like a lot of times like, "Lord, can you imagine what
my tithe would be off of getting that much money?"
But I've actually thought about it.
If I had $100 billion, I would go insane and never get another thing done.
I'm sure like, "Oh yeah, I'll plant these churches, all this," but I wouldn't plant
$100 billion, a trillion, like there's nothing that would drive me because I know I could
never spend that amount of money in the rest of my years, even if God gave me the full
120.
So I know for me that would just like, something would go wrong, I just can't see me being
dedicated because anyway, that's a little personal thing because all I'm saying is you
can be in content in abundance.
Sometimes it's in when we don't have anything is when we find more content, we're like,
"Well, don't have any options, so I don't have to worry about it."
And I'm just saying, we don't need to just always seek for more, you can find contentment
where you're at.
Now I had you turn to Genesis 37, if you look down on verse 24 it says, "And they took him
and cast him to a pit."
This is Joseph and his pit, "And while it was going to be, there was no water in it.
And they sat down and ate bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold,
a company of Ishmaelites came from Galilee, and the camels bearing Spicery and Baum and
Myrrh going to carry down to Egypt.
And Judah said unto his brethren, Prophet is it that we slay our brother, conceal his
blood.
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hands be upon him.
For he is our brethren out of the flesh, and the brethren were content.
Now when I'm telling you to be rolled with it and be content, once again, I'm not telling
you to just let go of all morals.
I mean, all the brothers, minus one, and we love democracy, so you know, democracy always
works.
They're like, let's make some money, and they were content.
That's not what I'm telling you.
Do not let rolling with it be a way to just go past what's morally right.
So as I'm telling you to be easy-going, I'm not so much telling you to be that stoner
liberal who's just like, love everyone, you know, it doesn't affect you, why do you care,
God doesn't care what happens in other bedrooms, like, that's not what I'm telling you to do.
But I am telling you to kind of have that attitude of a stoner who's always just ready
to do whatever's happening.
I'm not telling you to be a stoner, but I'm telling you kind of like, because here's the
thing is, I'm not going to raise a hand, but I bet many of you in high school or whatnot
probably had that stoner friend that you had a later cut in life because they just didn't
work.
But why are they there?
And they're just always easy going and ready to go.
Like you just didn't mind them being around.
I don't know what they did, but they were just always there and you're like, "Oh, okay."
And that's the kind of attitude like I want, but people that want to do things.
Because here's the thing is, when we get too particular, you know, we just got to have
it our way.
Man, you just stop like, people don't want to be with you.
People don't want to work with you.
People would rather just do it on their own.
Hey, that's a problem.
God says love the brethren and work for us.
Let me tell you, more people are just
willing to just go with it, do what's being told.
Hey, today Remy just gave out kind of the year
end mission way forward.
And hey, if you're able to fill in those spots,
just be like, I'm going to roll with it.
Well, you know, I don't think I'm the best.
I hope someone else does it.
Like, no one needs that.
We just need to be able to fill rolls.
Let me tell you this, many hands make light work.
Some hands are stronger than others.
Well, let me tell you this, you get 12 other people working
at it even poorly, it's going to be stronger than the one.
All right, no matter what it is.
And that's where it is.
We just want people to go through.
And here's one reason why it'd be good for you
to become easygoing is because God hates complaints.
And let me tell you, complaints stop you
from doing better work.
They just cut down you, and God hates the idea.
If you turn to Exodus 16 to Exodus 16,
I'm going to read from Lamentations 3.
In Lamentations 3, in verse 38, it says, "Out of the mouth
of the Most High proceedeth not evil and good?
Wherefore doth a living man complain,
a man for the punishment of his sins?
Let us search and try our ways.
Turn again to the Lord.
Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in heaven.
We have transgressed and have rebelled.
Thou hast not hardened."
And where you turn in Exodus 16, verse 8, it says,
"And Moses said, This shall be when the Lord shall give you
in the evening flesh to eat, and the morning bread to be full,
that the Lord heareth your murmurings, which
you murmur against him.
And what are we?
Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord."
And what I mentioned a little bit earlier is here.
God doesn't like murmuring.
He doesn't like complaints.
Now, here's the thing is, do we have a lot of records
of Moses complaining?
But who's he complaining to?
God.
He's complaining to God.
He's not complaining to the people.
He's not complaining that.
To them, he's the meekest man in the world.
Now, isn't it interesting?
He says, hey, you know when you're complaining about this?
You're complaining to God.
What it is, they're like, oh, where's our food?
Where's all this?
And they're just like, God's like,
what are you complaining about?
And here's the thing is, I can go through
many different verses.
I know we've all covered this.
And hey, if you've read Exodus recently,
you'll probably remember this.
They complained about literally everything.
And if you want a picture of how you probably
are in the flesh, it's right here.
I mean, remember, they complained
that the bondage is too hard.
So God sends a miracle worker to them to do miracles,
to free them, defeats the Egyptians in front of them,
traveling in a pillar of smoke and flame, still not content.
Well, what did they complain about?
Well, they complained about having enemies.
They complained about not being able to live with the enemies
anymore, because they-- yeah, why can't we go back to Egypt?
They complained about water.
They complained about food.
They complained about having to fight.
They complained that they weren't able to fight,
depending on what time it was.
They complained that Moses isn't there.
Then they complained that Moses is there as their leader.
Notice that it just doesn't really matter.
We'll complain about everything.
They complained about having leadership.
They complained about not having leadership.
They complained about the laws, the customs.
And like-- you know, like I said,
like they complained to both about Moses.
I mean, when Moses was there, like, well, we're holy, too.
Why do we have to listen to you?
Then they're like, we don't know where he went.
Like, where did Moses go?
He's been gone for, you know, a month and a couple of days.
Well, let's make some bowls.
I think that's what led us across the water.
And literally, remember, basically the beginning
of the book is they complained about being in Egypt.
And in the end, they're like, why do we have to leave?
It was great.
They had leaks.
I mean, garlic and leaks, I've never
been motivated to go back into slavery for garlics and leak.
But I mean, I guess it was good food.
But here's the thing is, when we look at our past,
we can do two things that are damaging to us.
We can look back and think about old fears and even
real pains and suffering we've gone through.
And that could lead us to decide to not do stuff in the future.
Or we can look back at the pleasantries
and just glorify and be like, it can't ever be that good,
so I'm just not even going to try.
When I'm saying easy going, here's the kind of thing.
Live in the now.
Moses was like the nation was going to abort him at birth.
His parents did a lot of work to save him.
He was raised as a prince.
He then became a shepherd.
He then became God's man on earth at the time.
Like that's some ups and downs.
Do you think if he just looked in the back
for pains and sufferings or just like,
I'm a prince, anything that would have been done?
No.
Do you think Paul, when he was like the right hand worker
of the high priest, if he just said, well, that's who I am
and that wasn't going to roll with new information,
We wouldn't have the epistles.
Or someone would have not been written by Paul.
But he actually wrote one.
He's like, oh, well, that's true.
But my morals stand before that.
So I'm going to go with whatever is happening.
Because, I mean, he gave up his life, all his position,
his prestige.
I mean, this was a Pharisee of the Pharisee entrusted
with enforcing the rules of the Sinhanedrine.
But he went out as the right hand man.
Like, he would have authority and power and position.
He gave it up all for Christ.
That was before the beatings.
That was before the start.
That was before the shipwreck.
That's before the nakedness and the starvation
and the pains of that.
And yet, this man's just like, give it up for God.
He just rolled with it.
And that's how we should be.
Now here's the thing is, in contrast, once again,
Jonah had to be forced every bit of the way,
grumpy while doing it,
and then was bitter that he had to do it.
No one wants that.
Jonah didn't want it.
God didn't want it.
And if you are like this with your boss,
your boss doesn't want it, you're obviously miserable.
Every coworker around you is miserable.
You know what they want?
The person who says, "Okay, I'll do it."
Yeah, sure, I mean, I ain't going home until this time,
sure, whatever.
That's the people you want to work with.
Not the people that dodge,
not the people that hide from responsibilities,
not the people that are like,
"Well, I mean, it was rough last time."
I think Remy was talking about one of the people
he respected at work was like,
"Hey, I'm going to tell you what to do,
so I'm going to watch me do the hardest work, all right?
Because I'm going to tell you, dude, I'm going to do it with you.
It's not the person you want."
Now, in his position, he'd be like, "Hey, young boy."
I mean, authority-wise, you could do that,
but that's not who you want-- that's not
who you can develop respect with.
Do you think Paul could go into any church and be like,
I mean, hey, praise God if there was someone.
Paul went, "Well, at least I didn't
have to do like that guy."
But in the Bible, the best example we have is Paul.
He's like, "Let me act foolishly.
Let me explain.
You're complaining to me?
You're working too hard?
You've given up too much?
I'm sorry.
But you know what?
My attitude is like, hey, I'm just going to roll with it.
Because, hey, in the end, we want to be content.
That's a great blessing.
Go ahead and turn to Luke 3, because here's the thing is,
Jesus wants us to be content.
Now, here's the amazing thing about the mind.
The point of the sermon is that you
need to plan to be easy going.
What I want is for you to make the decision
that you're going to be OK in the future.
You're like, well, how can I do that?
Content.
Are you like-- we've been on a lot of missions trips,
and so far we've not lost one.
So we're probably going to bring you home.
What are you worried about?
Well, sometimes the food isn't excellent.
Sometimes it is.
What difference does it make?
Well, sometimes, you know, I mean,
I had a dog come up to me and it was dirty.
I had to throw it away in my pants.
OK.
Is that a sheep?
Like, can you look God in the face and be like,
I better get more pants in heaven.
Are you going to blame the God that you lost pants
because we went slow with him?
But I'm saying, like, the complaints we have,
the things we go, be content.
Jesus wants to be content.
Because let me tell you, the people that just know him.
And what I'm trying to say is this,
you can literally decide right now
if you're going to have a good event.
Do you know that?
Now, people think that sounds crazy.
Let me tell you something you have personal experience with.
You have planned to have a bad time.
You have planned.
I don't care if this is a family event, a church event,
a work event, how about a meeting?
Let me tell you, I'm an officer.
I go to a lot of meetings.
Let me tell you, a lot of those meetings
could have been an email.
I'm not in a good mood to go.
But do you know, like, when you do something,
you've probably already decided how you're going to be.
You can easily go to an event, and you've always like,
I didn't want to do this.
I didn't-- why did I have to do this?
I don't know.
Do you think you're going to go there and just like, great?
Nah, you've got to fulfill your self-made prophecy, don't you?
A lot of people don't go, you know what, it sucked last time.
It was horrible.
We got a flat tire.
It cost a lot of money.
But this time, no matter what, I'm going to have a good time.
You're probably going to have a way better time.
You're taking this as a challenge.
How about you set a challenge for yourself.
I am going to have a good time no matter what happens at this.
You're probably going to have a better time than you would
if you were just like, suck last time.
I'm going to suck this time.
And you start about two months before the event just telling
yourself that over and over and over again.
And I'm pretty sure you all have experiences
of what I'm telling you.
You pre-plan to have a bad time.
And you're going to fulfill that prophecy most of the time,
because there's probably not enough at something
to just blow your mind away.
And you're like, actually, that was great.
Now, most of the time when it happens, you're like,
I guess it wasn't as bad as I built up.
But you can decide.
You're like, you know what, it's going to be great.
It's going to be awesome.
Because you know what?
If it's the soul of anything, it's like, hey,
I went out and did what God told me to do,
and that's all I need to do, so it was great.
Why?
Because that's what I should do.
For work, you'd be like, hey, went through,
got my name out there, did work, did what I was supposed to do.
That's awesome.
For social events, hey, what are we trying to do?
Time to get together.
Was that succeeded?
Yeah.
Well, the board game sucked, the movie sucked, all the--
does it really matter?
You were there to hang out, to be with each other.
You don't have to stress out about the little things that
are actually meaningless in the end.
And what I'm trying to tell you is you plan the future.
Because I think most people that destroy events or destroy
their attitude and destroy other people's moods
and energize and optimism, they pre-planned to destroy it.
They won't say that, but they had in their heart,
I'm not going to be content, I don't want this.
If you were in Luke 3 in verse 12, it says,
"Then came also the publicans to be baptized and said to him,"
that's Jesus, "Master, what shall we do?"
And he said unto them, "Exact no more than that which
is appointed to you."
And the soldiers likewise demanded him, saying,
"And what shall we do?"
And he said unto them, "Do violence to no man,
neither accuse them any falsely, and be
content with your wages."
Understand what he both just told
the publicans and the soldiers.
Hey, you know what you get paid?
Just be fine with it.
Don't do more.
Are you both empowered to take way more than you're paid?
Yeah, they were.
Soldiers had weapons, and they could extort people.
It says, do no one violence, and be content with your wages.
Why do soldiers-- and here's the thing.
This is true in most other countries now.
Soldiers just extract.
You go to checkpoints in other countries,
you better be willing to tip.
They say America's tip culture, you've never
been to a corrupt system.
Tips are very well appreciated and mandatory.
Now here's the thing is, the publicans were the tax collectors.
All right?
And you know how they made money?
This is the system.
This is why they're talked about.
This is why everyone hates them.
The publicans-- and this is the way the Roman tax system went.
The Romans were like, I want this much money.
And they took bids.
Who can bring this much money or more?
Whoever said they could bring the most,
that's who got the bid.
Then they go down and they got to raise that much money.
But everything they get above that, that's their money.
So everyone knew they were taking more than they could,
because you wouldn't do it for free.
There's no one who takes taxes
just for the goodness of society.
So everyone hated them.
They had to take more to make a living.
But what Jesus says, be content.
Be content with money.
That's the hardest thing in America.
People are like, I just got to have more,
I got to have more, I got to have more.
Jesus is like, why don't you be content?
And what's interesting is, are we content in our poverty?
No, we're not content in our abundance in America.
I know I've done many sermons that really,
no matter where you are in society,
man, we eat fruit in the middle of the winter.
We shouldn't.
natural war we wouldn't, but we have so much wealth here
and so much infrastructure and so much that,
we have blessings now that literally kings didn't have,
you know, 150 years ago.
And I know that almost gets cliche now,
but literally the changes decided
in the last couple of hundred years is insane.
And we should be thankful.
In Philippians chapter four, in Philippians chapter four,
you know, this is kind of the whole main point
of the sermon, in Philippians chapter four, in verse eight,
it says, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,
whatever things are honest, whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are good report, if there be any virtue,
if there be any praise, think on these things."
Now, this is what I'm kind of saying.
Hey, it's an event, it's something coming up
that you're not too excited about,
it's not really your thing, it's not all that,
but man, you've been dragged into it.
Why don't you think about the good parts of it?
Why don't you think it might benefit you?
Why don't you think about how it'll benefit others?
How about you think about any type of thing
and you think about that when it comes to that,
because here's the thing is, you can find negative in everything.
And if that's all you focus on, you're
going to bring yourself down.
Then when you get in a group, you bring that negativity
to everyone else.
And guess what?
That brings everyone down.
If you're not going to be the cheerleader for the event,
how about you just be easy going?
You'll be like, oh, that's what we're doing.
That's what we're doing.
I mean, I thought it was 10 chapters a day,
but nine chapters a day sounds good too, right?
It doesn't really matter, right?
You just roll with it.
You just go with it.
And frankly, who cares?
But here's the thing is, I just had you read that,
but keep reading.
Those things which we have both learned and received
and heard and seen in me do,
and God prays shall be with you.
But I rejoice in the Lord greatly.
Now at the last care of my half forest again,
wherein ye are careful, but ye lack opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned.
In whatever state I am, therewith be content.
I know both how to abase and I know how to abound.
Everywhere in all things, I am instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ, which strengthen me.
So he's like, he's kind of telling you
the secret to Paul's ministry here.
'Cause most of us, you take that first lesson
right at the beginning of the sermon,
you can probably explain like,
hey, what got you out of the ministry?
Hell, I don't like to say this,
but I mean, being beaten a few times
and being knocked unconscious by being stoned
and I woke up in the water and didn't drown,
I just kind of lost heart.
And here's the thing is, God bless you.
I mean like, you have to understand that
if somebody literally told you that,
they're like, hey, why are you out of the ministry?
I watched my father be eaten by cannibals.
Is there stories about that?
I mean, hey, I hope to renew your heart,
but can you look at that person and be like,
well, you should get more.
Like, I've never given that much, who am I to say?
I think that's why Paul literally tells you,
you know how I went through all this?
I just thought about the good parts.
You're like, you know, he's out at sea,
skin's all blistered from being soaked.
You're like, it's sunny out here.
I've always loved the smell of salt water.
Now, I'm sure it was probably a little less fleshy.
It was probably like, hey, praise Lord Jesus,
if this is what you want.
I mean, you just give it all to God.
You're like, God, if this is what you want,
I'll be here until you want me not to be.
But here's the thing is, in all parts of our life,
can't we look at good things?
Hey, sometimes you're in, like, conferences.
I don't know if you guys sent to conferences.
I get sent to quite a few conferences,
and not all of them are really good.
But a lot of times where they have them,
they got good snacks.
So I know every two hours, at least I get some good snacks.
I mean, it seems fleshly, but here's the thing is,
how do you get through stuff?
You look on the next positive thing,
or something positive about that, all right?
Hey, you're like, well, things can be bad.
Hey, man, like, I had to bury my father, all right?
It's not really a positive thing, but hey,
during the hard times, man, I need to focus
on what the good parts was.
Why am I honoring this man?
Why am I putting on a funeral?
Well, I'm focusing on the good things this person did,
and I'm trying to honor them.
And you know what?
Not everything we'll be enjoying will go through.
Let me tell you, Paul's going through some stuff.
I'm not telling you.
Life's gonna be just full of happiness and praise,
and if you feel bad, you're in sin.
Hey, there are times to weep, there's times for joy.
And there's gonna be times, but how do you get through it?
You find what is good and lovely,
and you focus on that, all right?
If all I focused on was my dad dead in the casket,
and that's all I focused on for my life,
I'd probably go insane.
But I remember him being my coach,
raised me through T-Bomb, taught me how to ride my bike.
A little easier to ride that eulogy.
It's a little easier to get through the funeral.
'Cause if you just focus on what's negative,
and what's bad, and what's this,
if you wanna use anything for your past,
you use your past to learn from,
and it motivates you to move forward.
You don't use your past to hold you back,
and to complain about the future.
Roll with it.
'Cause guess what?
Hard things are coming, and they always will be.
And that's how Paul was able to say,
I know how to be a base, I know how to abound, all right?
And I'm, hey, it's, I have a joke, but it's true.
Like, we need a balance.
Isn't he showing you a balance here?
He's on all areas of what he needs to do.
There is a balance he needs to do, and he's easygoing.
It's not just one thing he's focused on.
In 1 Timothy 6, in 1 Timothy 6, and verse 3 it says,
"If any man teach otherwise,
and consent not to wholesome words,
even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and to the doctrine which is according to God in this,
he is proud, knowing nothing,
but dawdling about questions strife words,
whereof come envy, strife, railing, even semisynch,
perverse disputations of men of corrupt minds,
destitute of the truth, supposing gain is godliness,
for such, from such, withdraw thyself."
Isn't it amazing?
I mean, this is one of the harshest criticisms
I think Paul writes in the Bible.
It's people that just says,
well, if you're succeeding in life, you're godly.
He kind of does not like that.
Now, if you think of Paul,
I don't think him and Kenneth Copeland
are riding in the same plane.
I don't think he brought a lot of wealth.
I think as Paul sacrificed everything he had
to wear later when he's in jail,
it's like, hey, can you bring me a book?
I've got something to read.
I mean, his wants are very simple.
But if you're trying to tell Paul
that he's not godly 'cause he doesn't have a lot,
he's like, dude, this is a guy who knows nothing,
a corrupt mind, destined to truth,
because he's supposed gain is godliness.
Such one, withdraw yourselves.
Like if someone says, you know,
for you to be a godly person, you've gotta be of great gain.
He's like, withdraw from them.
That is just not true.
And it says in verse six,
but godliness with contentment is great gain.
You know what a true blessing of someone is?
You find someone that no matter what state they're in,
they're just content.
Hey, you know what, you're gonna have some upsets in life,
some horrible things are gonna happen,
and here's the thing is, you can just roll with it
and be content.
That's the greatest gain God can bring to us.
And where we started off in verse seven, it says,
for we brought nothing into this world
and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
Paul's kind of reassuring you.
Man, I don't think I've done as well in this life
as I thought I could.
He's like, no problem, don't worry about it.
You know what you came into this life with?
Know what certainly you'll live with this life with?
Absolutely nothing.
Now, a lot of people mock this idea that's mentioned,
I believe in Revelation, about the streets of being
paid in gold and heaven.
People may have different interpretations.
I'm not the most steady in this.
But the way I take that is this.
Gold will be absolutely meaningless.
We'll use it in the streets.
We'll walk on it, because it has no value.
If you have a different interpretation, that's fine.
But in my meaning is this.
When we leave this life, all the things this world cares about
will not matter.
So don't be so locked into that.
Just grow with it.
Be content with what you have, because in the end,
you'll have nothing.
I guarantee you, your portfolio will
be exactly the same as Elon Musk and Bill Gates in the end.
In the grave, our worldly wealth will be the same.
Hopefully, your heavenly bank account
will have a little bit more than them.
But your worldly portfolio of what
rust and corruption can take away will be the same.
It's certain we will carry nothing out.
And thereby, in having food and raiment, let us be content.
I think right here, Paul was probably
right to complain to God.
He's like, I've been at the sea for a day.
I'm a little hungry.
God will hear your complaint.
You're right.
Oh, shoot.
You were beaten so hard and left for naked
because it says in nakedness.
I don't know what time that is.
You can go, God, hey, God, you promised?
You know, I've eaten in the last, you know, a couple days,
and I've got some clothes on.
That would be great.
God says, if you have that, you can be
content with all that you have.
But if you have more than that, God's probably like,
you need to learn some contentment.
"But they that which are rich fall into temptation in a stair
and into many foolish hurts and lusts, which drown men
into destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil,
which some coveted after they have erred from the faith,
piercing themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, and patience."
Be content.
There's kind of this simple point in this service,
but here's kind of the main point I hope you to take away.
Plan to be content.
Don't wait for you to feel content.
Well, when I'm content, yeah, I'll be--
no, that's not the way it actually works.
You go, I could have a lot less.
I could be in a lot worse situation.
It could be worse.
But you know what?
Even if it does get worse, I already have God.
So I can get through whatever happens.
The Lord's not going to challenge me more than I am able.
So thereby, I plan, no matter what happens this year,
I'm going to be content.
I already have a good attitude.
I look at the church calendar, and I go, I can make that.
And I'm sure it'll be fine.
I can do that.
That'll be fine.
My hands can work rubber bands.
I could probably bun together some soul-witting pant.
You know, whatever it is.
Because here's the thing is, as I said, the main point of this
is, yes, I want you to be good to your life,
but here's the thing is, I want you to work well with others.
And that's in church.
That's at work.
That's with whatever else you do.
That's with your family.
Because let me tell you this.
As I will remind you, no one gets
excited to have that person with a metaphorical stick shoved
up their behind.
No one's super excited for that person to be there.
No one's being like, are we doing this again?
You kind of sucked last year when you did this.
You know, the way we used to do it is, who
likes that person there?
And here's the thing is, we've all been that person.
Some more than others at times.
But you know what we could do?
Energize that metaphorical gut, just easy going, like, sure.
Yeah, I'll do it.
Do anything else?
Yeah, that's not a problem.
Because let me tell you this, that's
who people want in groups.
That's who people want to be around.
The person who's just easy going will help, and do,
and go forward.
And the way you get there is you're just content.
You're like, sure, I'll do it.
Now let me tell you, it's not so much, man,
you've got to straight forward, just be the head.
I've got to be Paul leading the case.
And if you do, God bless you, and do it.
Be an example to others.
But for those that just are going to be part of everything,
and God bless you, that's a great place to be.
I am just part of many things.
And the reason why I--
sometimes you're like, why is he always there?
I just say, yeah, I can.
I'll do it.
And I'm content.
Live that way.
And I think you can find that throughout the Bible.
Be content.
Be happy where you're at.
And be joyful in the Lord.
And just say, no matter what happens, whether I abound
or whether I'm abased, praise God.
And someday I'll be in his presence.
With that, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for today.
Thank you for allowing me to preach this.
I hope it was edifying.
I hope some people found some use.
Let us just plan this upcoming year
that Lord, no matter where we are,
I'm just gonna have a good time and serve you.
And I'm just gonna serve my family
and wanna be part and be a good member
of whatever groups and gatherings I'm at.
In Jesus' name, amen.
- It's sermon brother Paul.
Funny when you brought the streets of gold
'cause I was thinking,
there was some guy in my old IFB church
that this was his sticking point,
like his Bible trivia.
Like it never says streets of gold.
It says a street of gold in Revelation, hmm.
So it was super funny.
Yeah.
Our last one will be song 363.
That was his claim to fame though,
was the street of gold.
Song number 363, Wonderful Words of Life.
Song number 363, let's sing it together on the first.
♪ Sing them up ♪
Team brother Ryan, could you close the water prayer?