Stretch Your Attitude

Well, let me just go ahead and ask you what the slide's asking you. Have you ever been triggered before?

! Does everybody even know what I mean by that?

! Some of you triggered. You're wondering if I'm asking you if you've ever been shot.

It's not what that means.

If you've spent any time on the curse that is social media, then you have probably come across somebody saying, you're triggering me?

It means you are, something is causing in you a powerful negative emotional response.

And so that's what we're talking about when we say, have you been triggered?

Listen, that's not the topic of today's sermon, but it is a good lead-in to it.

And so, what we're actually talking about is controlling our attitude.

Attitude. Or, to keep it in the theme of our series, Summer Stretch, stretching our attitude.

We've talked about stretching our time.

Talked about stretching our talk.

Last week, we talked about stretching our habits.

We're trying to break it down into where we live, week in, week out, day in, day out.

How do we stretch ourselves like God wants to stretch us?

The easiest thing is to never stretch.

We did this in week one of this series, and I think some of y'all really enjoyed it.

So, go ahead. You have permission. Let's all stretch.

Just get a nice, good one in there.

That way you don't get it out when I'm about halfway through the sermon,

and I think that you're falling asleep on me.

Stretching can feel really nice, right?

But like we said a few weeks ago, how about when you go to physical therapy?

Does stretching feel nice at that point?

If it does, they'll very quickly fix it and make it not feel nice, right?

That's their job, is to stretch you beyond your comfort zone.

Well, believe it or not, that's what God wants to do with us, too.

He wants to stretch us beyond our comfort zone.

Would you go to Numbers chapter 13?

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

Numbers chapter 13.

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

Today we're going to talk about stretching our attitude.

I need to go there myself.

Numbers chapter 13.

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

We're going to look at a few verses in chapter 13,

and we're going to get into chapter 14 as well.

We're reading quite a number of scriptures.

I'm going to let you keep your seats today.

But as we get into this idea of stretching our attitude,

let's keep that in the back of our mind as we read through this passage from the Old Testament.

The Lord spoke to Moses.

Boy, that ought to get your attention.

Anytime God is speaking, we ought to listen up, right?

So the Lord spoke to Moses,

send men out to scout out the land of Canaan.

I'm giving to the Israelites.

Send one man who's a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes.

So Moses did it.

This is, without diving into a lot of the backstory and taking up too much time for you this morning,

let's just focus on God promised this land to his people.

And so they have arrived.

They've gotten out of their captivity in Egypt,

and they have gotten to the place where he says,

all right, now it's time to go and scout out this land that I promised to you.

And so he said, here's how you're going to do it.

You're going to recruit some spies, some secret agents,

and these guys are going to go on a top secret mission,

and they are going to check out this land that I have promised to you.

So they did it.

Skip down now, would you, to verse 17.

Tell you what.

So let's look back in verse 6.

One of the spies was Caleb, son of Jephunneh.

I was waiting to see if anybody corrected my Hebrew, but there you go.

From the tribe of Judah.

Then jump down to verse 16.

These were the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land,

and Moses renamed Hosea, son of Nun.

That's why we didn't read verse 8, Hosea, son of Nun.

Moses renamed him Joshua.

Joshua, the son of Nun.

Who was the only person who had no father and mother?

Joshua, the son of Nun.

Thank you.

I'm a dad.

I have to throw a dad joke in there somewhere, all right?

Somebody just got that.

That's good.

All right, verse 17.

When Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan,

just like God had told him to do,

he told them, go up this way to the Negev.

Then go into the hill country.

See what the land is like.

Whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.

Is the land they live in good or bad?

Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?

What's the deal here, guys?

Give me a good report.

Verse 20.

Is the land fertile or unproductive?

Are there trees in it or not?

Be courageous.

Did y'all catch that?

That was their instruction.

Be courageous.

Some of you who already know how this turned out know the significance of that.

Bring back some fruit from the land.

By the way, it was the season for the first ripe grapes.

When we're talking about ripe grapes, this is what we're talking about.

So let's jump down to verse 27.

Tell you what, just by sake of the slide on the screen, let's look at verse 23.

They scouted all this area, then they came to the valley of Eshkel.

They cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes.

Now look, my favorite place to buy grapes is Spring Market.

Have y'all noticed?

The grapes there are better than anywhere in Wichita Falls.

They are awesome.

I've gotten grapes at I think just about every grocery store in Wichita Falls,

and the best ones are at Spring Market right here.

So, now yeah, you know, Costco, or what is it, Sam's Club has the cotton candy grapes and stuff like that.

But we're not talking about your bougie, just grapes.

They're good.

But I have never seen a cluster that looked like that.

So what did they do?

They had to carry it on a pole with two guys, one cluster of grapes, unique to this valley of Eshkel.

So jump down now to verse 27.

They got back.

They got home.

And I can imagine that these guys starting out on their journey had a little different attitude than they did when they got back.

Why?

Well, we're going to see in just a minute.

But starting out, it's like, hey man, this is cool.

We got selected for a top secret mission.

This is awesome.

We're going to go do the spy thing.

We're going to hang out with our buddies, and we're going to go out, all 12 of us.

You put 12 guys together on a road trip, you think some hijinks are not going to ensue?

It's going to get crazy.

So I'm sure they had themselves a time.

Until they got to Negev and Hebron and this area where the descendants of Anak were.

Do you know the significance of that?

We're about to read it.

Verse 27.

They reported to Moses.

We did it, Moses.

We accomplished our mission.

Mission accomplished.

We went into the land where you sent us.

Indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey.

That's an expression that means it was very fertile.

It was great for growing crops.

It was good, attractive land that you would want to settle in.

Here is some of the fruit.

See, Moses?

Have a great.

However, verse 28.

The people living in the land are strong and the cities are large and fortified.

We also saw the descendants of Anak there.

The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev.

The Hethites, Jebusites, Amorites live in the country.

And the Canaanites live by the sea along the Jordan.

Do you realize who all these people are?

They're all Israel's enemies.

They're all big, strong, scary warriors.

The descendants of Anak were mighty, mighty people.

So, these guys brought back the grapes.

And they also brought back this terrifying report

that this land is inhabited by our strongest enemies.

God didn't know what he was doing by promising it to us.

This is crazy.

We can't go there.

So, Caleb jumps in.

Remember those two?

Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb.

Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses.

Now, why would he have to do that?

Why would he have to quiet all the Israelite people

after the ten spies got done talking?

Fear.

Because they're scared, right?

They're freaking out.

What if I got up here today and said,

listen, there's a group of people that want to kill us

and they're all circled outside the church waiting for us to leave.

Would you all just settle in and enjoy my sermon?

Some of you would be jumping up.

I'm packing, baby.

Let's go.

Now, there might be a little unrest, right?

And so, that is what is happening

as the people are intent on going into this land.

They've marched there.

They're ready to go.

And all of a sudden, it's going to be war.

So, they start talking.

Caleb gets up and quiets them in the presence of Moses

and says, let's go up now and take possession of the land

because we can certainly conquer it.

Why would Caleb think that they could take on all their enemies and win?

Because God's on their side.

We have this thing called faith, right?

We believe in the one true almighty God, right?

He promised us this land, right?

Okay, let's go take it.

Do we think he's not strong enough to beat these armies that hate us?

Of course he is.

But the men who had gone up with him outvoted him.

They responded and said, we can't attack the people

because they're stronger than we are.

We by ourselves or we with God?

I'm sure that's what Caleb was trying to make the point.

So, they gave a negative report to the Israelites

about the land they had scouted.

Now, watch this.

The land we pass through to explore

is one that devours its inhabitants.

All the people that we saw in it are men of great size.

There are no women there, apparently.

Just men of great size.

We even saw the Nephilim there.

The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim.

To ourselves, we seemed like grasshoppers,

and we must have seemed the same to them.

They went from,

hey, there are our enemies living in this region,

to all of a sudden,

the fish story just got bigger and bigger and bigger,

and now there's these like mythical creatures

who are going to eat you

is kind of how they passed it off to the people of Israel.

It just kept getting worse and worse and worse

as they talked.

The Nephilim,

if you want to know about the Nephilim,

talk to Wade Pierce.

He's sitting back there.

He can tell you all about it.

I am not going to take the time in this sermon,

but go back to the beginning of the Bible.

We don't even know 100% sure what it's talking about,

what it says.

The sons of God came from heaven

and bore children with the daughters of men,

and it produced this crazy race or species of people

that was like giants and huge and massive.

This is kind of what we're talking about here, okay?

The little guy on the left down there,

he's about six feet tall.

Legend has it,

they grew as big as like 36 feet tall.

Who knows, y'all?

Well, I don't know that we've found dinosaur bones

or human dinosaur bones

that would correlate to that,

but listen,

saying the word Nephilim

was like a buzzword around the Israelites.

Man, what?

The Nephilim are there?

And then there was this rumor

that they were bloodsuckers

and maybe even cannibalistic,

and so if we go into the promised land,

we're going to get eaten.

That was kind of the terror

that they were experiencing at this moment.

And what happened?

Verse 14,

the whole community,

I'm sorry,

chapter 14, verse 1,

the whole community broke into loud cries

and they wept that night.

Probably had bad dreams too.

And then they started complaining,

and then it just got worse from there.

Now look,

without following this story on,

you should keep reading in numbers.

Fascinating reading right here.

But without following to its conclusion,

let's stop

and see

what the power

of your attitude

can do.

Your attitude

can change everything.

Yours,

mine,

it can change

everything.

So,

let's see what

Paul has to talk about it

when he was teaching

Timothy.

We talked about this

last week.

Have nothing to do

with godless myths

and old wives' tales.

I brought this verse back in.

Because last week

we talked about training,

we talked about habits,

we talked about all that stuff.

But look,

this right here

has exactly to do

with what those ten spies

were doing.

Two of them had faith,

Caleb and Joshua.

But the ten,

their attitude

was completely overtaken,

completely changed,

completely affected

by fear

and lack of faith

in the one

who had brought them

all that way.

So the warning is,

don't get caught up

in that trap.

and then don't

you be the one

to spread

those godless myths

and old wives' tales.

And often,

our attitude

will make us

do that.

If we are

against something,

then we'll all of a sudden

make it sound

a whole lot worse

than it really is.

Because

we don't want to do it.

Or we don't like it.

So we're going to go

on the attack about it.

And we're going to

trump it up in our mind.

And it's going to

become bigger

than it ever

really is.

Instead,

train ourselves

to be godly.

Start those habits.

And we talked about

that last week.

So,

how do we do it?

How do we stretch

our attitudes?

How do we change

our attitudes?

First of all,

we have to understand

that our attitude

shapes our perspective.

Our attitude

shapes

our perspective.

perspective.

You ever been

triggered by something?

Those spies

got triggered

by giants.

Listen,

I think I would

probably get

triggered by giants too.

If all of a sudden

God wanted me

to go out

and fight a giant,

I would be

a little terrified.

I'd be like,

God,

can you put me

on the phone

with David

or something?

Because I need

a lesson

in how to do this.

But our attitude

shapes our perspective.

So,

if I have

an attitude

of faith

and reliance

on God

and he said,

you get out there

and fight that giant,

then I would say,

God,

kind of like Peter

when God told him

to get out of the boat

or Peter

when God told him

to put the boat

back into the water

and go catch fish

when we've been fishing

all night

and caught nothing

and say,

God,

I don't really know

what you're doing.

This doesn't seem

like a good idea.

It doesn't seem

like it's going to work.

But because you told me

to do it,

I'll do it.

Sometimes that's

enough faith

to change our attitude

enough from a no

to a yes.

Listen,

I'm not saying

that there weren't

dangerous enemy tribes

waiting for the Israelites

in the promised land.

There were.

But God was going

to give them

victory over them.

And all they had

to get to

was from a no

to a yes.

And that is what

God is waiting

for me

and for you

to do.

We don't have

to be sunshine

and roses

all the time.

We don't have

to be all bubbly

about everything

that we feel

like God

is leading us

to do.

But we have

to get from

a no

to a yes.

And that's

going to come

from our

perspective.

So,

the ten spies'

perspective

is fear,

panic,

discouragement.

Joshua and Caleb's

perspective

was faith,

courage,

and truth.

They knew.

They knew

that God

would deliver them.

And the attitude

shaped

their perspective

on it.

Yes,

there are enemies,

but we have

God on our side.

So,

let's go

take them.

Let's go

see God

win a mighty

victory.

Not,

let's run

in fear.

1 John chapter 5

1 John 5 · chapter mention

talks about this.

Everyone born

of God

overcomes

the world.

I underline

that word.

It's in this verse

three times,

these two verses.

This is the victory

that has overcome

the world,

even our faith.

It's not our strength,

it's not our might,

it's not our smarts,

it's not how good

looking we are,

thankfully.

It's not how big

our bank account is,

thankfully.

It's not contingent

on all those

human things,

it's contingent

on our faith

in almighty God.

Because if we have

faith in God,

then that unlocks

God's power

to step in

and move.

So this is the victory

that's overcome

the world.

It's our faith.

Faith is the victory.

There's an old song

that said that.

Who is it

that overcomes

the world?

Only the one

who believes.

If you really believe,

then faith

will change

your attitude.

Faith will change

your perspective.

And you can go

from one

who cowers

in fear

or a negative Nancy,

so to speak,

into an overcomer.

This is what Caleb

was trying to get

the Israelites

to do.

He was trying

to break through

into those spies'

mind and say,

listen guys,

yeah,

they look scary,

but we can be

overcomers.

So are you

an overcomer today?

Does that characterize

your life?

Have you been able

to overcome

everything that the

devil throws at you?

You cannot

in your strength,

but by faith

you can.

By faith

you can overcome.

So attitude

shapes your perspective.

Can I get a volunteer

up here?

I need a volunteer.

Christopher,

I saw your hand first.

Come on,

let's go.

Let's go,

brother.

Come on,

son,

run,

let's go.

Come on,

let's go.

I don't get to coach

anymore,

I just wanted to do

something like that.

All right,

sir,

can you look out there

and see the crowd

pretty well?

Yes.

You see everybody's faces?

Yes.

They look nice,

don't they?

Some of them.

Some of them?

Wow.

I did not even

coach him to do that.

He just,

we need to stop

and pray for your

heart right now.

All right,

cool.

Would you just

put these on?

Do you wear glasses?

Yes.

You do wear glasses?

I have contacts.

You have contacts.

That ought to make

this real fun.

All right,

here you go,

man.

Would you mind

looking through those

and just see,

do they look as clear

as they did before?

No.

No?

Can you describe

how they look right now?

No.

No?

There are no words,

right?

Can you see Clayton

waving at you down there

vaguely?

Yeah.

Is it a little blurry?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

That's great,

man.

So would you say

that those lenses

are affecting your vision

and how you see

our beautiful church?

Yes.

Okay.

Good to know.

Great to know.

You can take those off.

Would you say that

distorted or changed

your perspective

a little bit?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Would you try those on?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Look at that.

Pretty cool, right?

By the way,

these were Dollar Tree's

finest lenses right here,

so.

What does that do?

How's everybody look?

Darker.

Darker.

Darker.

Interesting.

You can see them

more clearly probably,

right?

Yes.

But everything's

a little darker?

Yes.

That's cool.

All right, man.

Would you take those off?

You see everybody good again?

It didn't permanently damage your...

No.

All right, good.

All right.

Thanks, man.

That was awesome.

High five.

Let's give them a clap.

You did great, buddy.

By the way,

do you want these?

Here, Chris.

You can have these.

Catch.

Yeah!

Nice catch.

That was awesome.

Brandy was like,

you are going to kill me.

Does anybody wear

3.25 reading lenses?

Anybody?

No?

Just like,

thumbs down.

Nobody wants them!

All right.

Somebody come get them.

They're right up here.

I do not wear them.

All right.

The first time

he looked through

the enhanced readers,

y'all looked blurry.

I know that

because I tried them out

myself earlier.

He's still wearing them.

That's great.

You're awesome, Chris.

The second time,

he could see clearly,

but everybody

looked darker.

Everything looked darker.

Now look,

that's a silly little example.

But the truth is,

depending on the lens

you are looking through,

everything can look

a little darker

than it really is.

Believe me,

I've been there.

Or,

everything can look

distorted.

And you are not getting

an accurate view

of what you're looking at.

It's all because

of your lenses.

Y'all didn't change.

We didn't change.

The truth,

reality,

did not change.

Do you know

who always has

20-20 vision?

God.

He's the only one

who sees reality

as it really is.

The rest of us

are looking

through different lenses.

Looking through

different lenses

at different moments.

Those are driven

by our emotions.

Those are usually

driven by circumstances.

Those are driven

by what's going on

around us,

the people around us,

our experiences,

the triggers

that set us off.

And that immediately

changes our lenses.

And now,

the reality

that we're seeing,

the people

that we're listening to,

what we're watching

happen in the service,

what we're seeing

happen in the community,

what's happening

with our loved ones,

our friends,

what's happening

at home,

what's happening

the truth about ourselves,

those all of a sudden

become distorted.

We're not seeing it

accurately.

Or,

it might become

darker.

Everything just doesn't

look as bright anymore.

Everything doesn't

look as cheerful.

Everything doesn't

look as good.

The lenses

are our attitudes.

And that changes

our perspective.

Philippians 4.8

tells us

how to combat that.

Think on

these things.

Whatever's true,

whatever's righteous,

whatever's worthy

of praise,

there's a whole list.

Philippians 4.8.

This is what you think on.

This is what shapes

your attitude.

So,

what you look through,

the lens you look through,

shapes how you see life.

And a small shift

in that perspective

can have big impact

in your life.

number two.

Number two.

Before we get there,

I forgot to put this up there.

Do you see obstacles

or a chance

to overcome?

Do you see obstacles

or a chance

to overcome?

You can put that

in your bulletin.

Caleb was trying

to get the people

to be overcomers,

but the lens

those spies

were looking at

changed their

opportunity

to overcome

into obstacles

that they just

could not see past.

You ever been there?

Had an obstacle

in your life

you just can't see

how to get around?

God says

you can be an overcomer.

You might have

to take the long way.

Might be tough

going through it.

But God says

nothing is too hard

for Him.

You've got Him

if you're His child.

Now look,

if you're not

His child this morning,

then I can't help you.

You've got to take

that first step.

You have to take

that first step.

Become a child of God.

Recognize that

Jesus Christ

came and died

for your sins.

Not for anything

He did wrong,

but for your sins,

for mine.

Sacrificed His life

on the cross

and then rose

back from the dead.

We heard a wonderful

gospel presentation

from Ford Bachman

on his video

this morning

before he got baptized.

He put his faith

in that.

So many in this room

have put their faith

in the saving power

of Jesus

to forgive your sin,

to make you His child,

to give you a home

in heaven forever.

That's step number one.

And then,

God can help you

change your perspective.

God can help you

look through His lens,

not yours.

Point number two,

wow,

I am really getting

ahead of myself

and I apologize for that.

Before we get there,

oh,

that was not supposed

to be in there.

That's like an old version

of my slide.

Sorry guys,

I gave you the wrong thing.

Let's move along.

That was last week.

If you missed it last week,

it's on YouTube.

Here we go.

How do we stretch

our attitudes?

Our attitudes shape

the people around us.

Isn't that interesting?

Our attitudes do not

just shape our perspective,

they also shape our people.

They affect the people

that you care about.

I can promise you,

when I've got a rotten attitude,

everyone in my home knows it.

And Bo is like the biggest

empath in the world,

you know,

he feels deeply

and so he will come to me

and be like,

Dad,

are you stressed?

I'm like,

man,

you're too young

to be asking me that.

Yes,

I am.

Sorry.

But you know what?

It helps me start

changing my attitude

because it's like,

yeah,

you know,

it's affecting the kids

and they don't need

to carry that burden

right now.

Truth is,

I don't even need

to carry that burden

right now.

I need to give it

back to Jesus.

He's the one

who can carry it.

So our attitude

shapes our people.

Ephesians 4,

29,

do not let any

unwholesome talk

come out of your mouths

but only what is helpful

for building others up.

We talked about that

a couple weeks ago.

We talked about shaping

our talk,

building others up,

not tearing them down,

according to their needs

that it may benefit

those who listen.

I promise you,

someone is always listening.

Someone is always watching.

Someone is always affected.

And I'm not even

talking about the sense

in that someone's

checking up on you.

I'm talking about the sense

that whatever you do,

say,

think,

it affects others.

And usually,

the ones that affect the most

are the ones you care

about the most.

The ones I care about the most.

So let's benefit

those under the sound

of our voice.

Those in our circle

of influence.

The ten spies

fear,

spread,

panic.

You know what else it did?

Their negative attitude

caused Israel

to wander

in the desert

for 40 years.

But Joshua

and Caleb,

their response

was faith.

The people of Israel

still had to pay the price.

But Joshua

and Caleb

and all their families

got to go

into the promised land

someday.

Because they had faith.

Their attitude

of faith

affected

those around them

positively.

Those spies'

attitude of fear

affected all the people

negatively.

Ephesians 4.29

told us

to speak

words that

build up,

not tear down.

Can I tell you something?

Attitudes

are contagious.

You saw what happened

with the children of Israel.

Those guys

started telling

their tall tales

of just how bad it was

and they're going to get eaten

and all that stuff.

And what happened?

The people

lost it.

They freaked out.

That attitude

was contagious

and it spread

like wildfire

through the people.

So if attitudes

are contagious,

make yours worth catching.

Caleb and Joshua's

attitude was worth

catching that day.

Not too many

caught it.

So,

look at the person

next to you,

would you?

Say,

watch your attitude

around me.

Come on,

y'all can do it.

Say,

watch your attitude

around me.

I don't want

to catch

your bad attitude.

The kids

are having

way too much fun

saying this

to their parents,

man.

Bible says

respect your parents,

alright?

Honor them.

But listen,

sometimes parents,

we got to watch

our attitudes

around our kids.

Sometimes kids,

you got to watch

your attitude

around your parents

or around your siblings

or around your friends.

sometimes parents,

we got to watch

our attitudes

around each other.

We got to watch

our attitudes

in moments of conflict,

moments of disagreement.

Watch your attitude

around me.

Why?

Because it's contagious.

Because it can affect

so much.

It not only

affects your perspective,

it affects the people

around you.

And then number three,

your attitude

shapes your path.

It shapes

where you're going.

It shapes

what you're heading,

where you're heading.

Anybody like

Patti LaBelle?

Nobody likes

Patti LaBelle

in that room.

Okay, alright,

thank you.

Penny,

count on somebody.

I'm feeling good

from my head

to my shoes,

know where I'm going

and I know what to do.

I tidied up

my point of view.

I got a

new attitude.

There you go,

alright.

Nobody listens

to that stuff.

That's alright.

Listen,

I went through

that song,

I was like,

is there anything

wicked or unbiblical

in this song?

We're like,

no,

alright,

we're safe.

Look,

did you catch

that line though?

That's a silly

kind of example,

but did you catch

that line,

I know where I'm going

and I know what to do.

Why?

Because I got

a new attitude.

You know when you

usually don't know

where you're going

or what to do

is when you got

a rotten attitude

about life.

And that's when

you're kind of

sitting around like,

I don't know

what to do.

Like,

no,

but God does.

If you start

looking through

the lens of the Holy Spirit,

all of a sudden

He tells you

what to do.

The next thing is,

go make up

with your wife.

Go make up

with your kids.

Go make up

with your brother

or sister in Christ.

Go open the Bible

and read it.

Go for a walk.

The dog probably

wants to.

God will help you

figure out

what to do next.

It'll shape

your path.

And usually

what God's going

to do

is give you

the next thing,

not the next

hundred things

that's going to

take you ten years

to accomplish.

He's got all that

figured out,

but your attitude

day in

and day out,

moment by moment

will shape

the path

that you're on.

So,

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

and verse 6,

the mind governed

by the flesh

is death,

but the mind

governed

by the Spirit

is life

and peace.

I love that

it uses

the word governed.

We've got some

people in the room

who are in

county government.

We've got some

people in the room

who are in

school government.

We've got some

people who understand

firsthand what

governing is.

It's a legal

term.

Whose laws

are you living

by?

Whose laws

are governing

your mind?

Is it your

own?

Is it mine?

Is it society's?

Is it culture?

What's governing

you?

Your weaknesses?

Your flesh?

Your rotten

attitude?

The mind

governed

by the Spirit

equals

life

and peace.

We're all

chasing peace,

aren't we?

We all just

want that

inner peace.

Gurus

and shamans

and everybody

out there,

self-help

people,

they're all

trying to

figure out

how to get

inner peace.

Jesus

is the

only way

to find

peace.

God

gave us

his Spirit

to walk

with us

every moment,

never leaves

us.

So let

him govern

your mind.

And that's

kind of how I

want to close

this morning.

Whose laws

are you living

by?

Or we could

ask it this

way.

What lens

are you looking

through?

Christopher,

thanks for being

a good sport

up here.

He's still

looking through

those lenses.

It was a

little bright

in the room,

wasn't it?

Now it's all

darker,

yeah.

The lenses

make a

difference.

That cityscape

is so blurry

until you put

on the

correct lenses.

Change

your lens,

change

your life.

That's our

takeaway this

morning.

Change your

lens,

change your

life.

It's my

challenge to

all of you,

to all of

us.

Whatever

is going

on,

it doesn't

really

matter.

What

triggers me

is different

than what

might trigger

you.

When the

longhorns

lose,

I get

triggered,

all right?

But there's

serious stuff,

isn't there?

If everything's

not okay with

me and my

wife,

I get

triggered.

She knows

that.

It's like,

I gotta have

everything okay.

I don't need

to be looking

through my

lens at that

moment.

I need to be

looking through

the lens of

the Holy Spirit.

So moment

by moment,

whatever the

conflict is,

whatever triggers

you,

whatever's going

on in your

little world,

give it to

Jesus and

say,

God,

change my

lens.

Change my

lens right

now.

I might be

looking through

a blurry

lens and it's

distorted.

I'm not seeing

an accurate

picture of

this situation.

I might be

looking through

a polarized

lens and

everything's a

little darker

and it changes

the color and

things just

don't look

as good as

I know you

really are.

So God,

change my

lens.

Would you

make that your

prayer this

morning?

Would you

bow your

heads with

me right

now?

I've been

trying to give

you a little

prayer to say

and listen,

this is not

anything magical,

it's just

helping you

out if you

need that.

So I'll

give you this

right now and

if you'd like

to pray it in

your heart,

if you'd like

to pray it

out loud,

you can do

this.

God,

help me see

through the

lens of

trusting you.

I'll say it

one more time

if you need

to hear it

again.

God,

help me see

through the

lens of

trusting you.

Change my

attitude and

change my

life.

Change my

attitude and

change my

life.

In Jesus'

name,

amen.

God,

that is what

we pray for

in this room.

God,

there are

people who

don't know

you personally

as Savior

in this room.

I believe

that in a

group this

size,

it'd be

foolish to

think otherwise.

I'm sure

the majority

of the people

in the room

would raise

their hand

and say,

yes,

I'm a

Christ follower.

I do my

best to

follow Jesus.

Truth is,

we don't

always do

our best.

But God,

we just

don't want

to say no.

We want

to get to

that amount

of faith

where we say

yes to

whatever you're

telling us

to do.

There might

be somebody

in the room

who needs

to put on

the lens

of your

Holy Spirit

and say,

I see

how God

wants me

to see

this.

I'm going

to stop

looking at

it through

the lens

of my

selfishness,

my pride,

my self-centeredness,

my lack

of experience,

my lack

of wisdom.

God,

you're the

fountain of

all that,

so let me

see through

your lens

and trust

you

in this

situation.

How many

of you would

raise your

hand and say

there's something

going on in

my life

that I need

to trust

God in

and ask

him to help

my perspective

on it,

change my

attitude on it.

Would you

slip your hand

up right now?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Some of you are

in prayer and I don't

want to disturb you

from that.

Would you just

keep your seats

for a moment?

Linda's praying.

If you need somebody

to come pray with,

Jared and I are

up here,

you can come

grab us.

If you need

to turn around

and kneel

in your seat,

do that.

If you need

to come kneel

at these steps,

do that.

Whatever you

need to do

to do business

with God

for just a

moment.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.