Ep 498 | Not My Chair After All - Cole Branch 4/30/23

When we had our first daughter. So now is a great time as well

for me to apologize if the girls are disrupting service that you

got Charlie here. So hopefully you're used to it

but if you hear noises, I'm sorry.

It came with our territory. But when we first had Georgia,

we were always second or third row up on the left hand side of

the building. That's just where we set every

single service. That's where we were, but then

Georgia came along and you don't want to be up and In front of

everybody, with the crying baby all the time.

So when we had Georgia, Georgia made made us move our seat.

We had to move out of our normal seat, and I don't know if that's

a big deal for you or not, but I'm kind of a guy, a routine and

I just do the same thing day after day.

It was a big deal for me. I do learn that it wasn't my

seat anymore. How important is your seat to

you this morning? There's some of you here this

morning that maybe you're like, no, I'm a floater in school and

class and congregation some people are floaters and they'll

sit here, one day here. The next, some of you this

morning are probably the type A that's like No, that's my seat,

that's my seat. How important is your seat to

you? How long have you sat there?

I gave this lesson and Oakdale and some people kind of move

their seats for like Sunday or two and then they're like, I'm

done with this. I'll tell them my parents right

now. Mom and Dad, never moved.

And they've sat in the same seat for as long as I can remember,

we've even moved congregations and it's like right here.

This is this is where I sit for has been.

I can Least remember 20 years. So how long have you sat do you

do this anywhere else? Do you do this in classes?

I did it in classes to no assigned seating, but I go and I

sit in the same place you can Google this.

So Google seat selection, behaviors, sometime in your free

time and you'll find This this term.

It's called territoriality it's a term associated with nonverbal

communication, that refers to how people use space to

communicate ownership or occupancy of areas.

And Possessions, the anthropological concept branches

from the observations of animal ownership behaviors.

In Oakdale. I know where everybody sits

weighed probably knows where all of you sit and you all probably

kind of know that well that area that's kind of them there.

The left Siders where the right Siders Could it affect anything?

This morning is where we're going to kind of start.

Could it affect anything? The Bible actually talks about

seating, the Bible, actually, teaches in Jesus teaches that

seating at times does play an important role.

There are times that seating Choice matters, Luke chapter 14

Luke 14:8

verses 8 and 9. Jesus says when you were invited

by anyone to a wedding Feast, Do not sit down in the best place.

Let one more honorable than you less one more.

More than you be invited by him. And he, who invited you and him

come and say to you, give place to this, man, and then you begin

with shame to take the lowest place.

So, sometimes seating can be an example of humility would be an

awkward situation. If you are sitting somewhere,

you skew, chosen the head of the table and then the person

putting on the feast said, hey I got this real important guy.

I want him to sit next to me and then you awkwardly have to get

up and move. There's time that seedings

matters and we're going to look a little bit more that this

morning. The the study premise is going

to be surrounding Unity of our congregations.

How can we Foster Unity amongst our congregations?

But then in a broader sense it's about the habits that we get

into the things that we begin to do without even thinking about

them. And what can those things begin

to affect that? We didn't even realize that it

was affecting. Before we go any further, we're

going to pray to God this thing. So for our study this morning,

we'll go through it in three parts.

I'm going to try to get an idea. I'm blocking anybody's view from

where the Bliss place to stand days, but we're going to go

through our study in three parts.

This morning, we're going to look first of all, at how to

choose a seat. We've already kind of

introduced. That idea will move.

Secondly, to the chair, which is surrounding like we introduced

our habits and some of the little things that we do on a

regular basis that may have an impact, Fact that we didn't

realize, and then we'll conclude with spiritual torpor, which

torpor is a word that means is defined as a state of physical

or mental inactivity. And that really for me is the

root of this study is trying to look at the things that I've

I've removed my decision-making from and some of the

consequences of those decisions. So, how to choose a seat?

Most, if not all of us have already chosen a seat before.

We've got to the building, I know one guy at Oakdale, did he

even has his route planned. He knows where he's going to sit

and he knows how he's going to sit there because he wants to

talk to certain people. He wants to control, maybe

you're like that, maybe you're not, but most of us have already

chosen our seat. Would you give up your seat?

if somebody came in, And wanted and needed a seat.

Would you give up your seat or if you came in and somebody was

in your seat? If I would have come this

morning and I would have chosen your seat.

I was, I was trying. I asked Wade, where am I allowed

to sit this morning? If I would have chosen your seat

and like your butt and your Bible was there and everything

and I still just sat there, I sat in your seat.

What would your response have been?

Would you have said? Oh, it's great to see you.

Do you mind if I have my Bible? Would you have been like, that's

my Bible and that seat right there.

Are you going to move or you gonna give me my Bible?

What would your response be? Would you give up your seat in

James chapter 2 verse 3? The end of the verse he is there

James 2:3

talking about the poor man that comes into their assembly.

And he says that these people would say to them, you stand

there or sit here at my footstool, it's possible to have

the attitude about sitting and and what our seats represent and

the place that they represent to us, that some people will treat

with the attitude of, I'm not giving up my seat.

To you, you can stand right over there, you can sit over here at

my footstool but you're not taking my seat, that's a

possible attitude to have. And you might know somebody like

that that when there's visitors or there's a meeting going on,

they're not going to give up their seat and they're going to

be kind of irritated for a long time.

If somebody takes their seat, that's a bad attitude to have

not, not approved of in James chapter 2 and verse 3, or you

James 2 · chapter mention

could go over to Romans chapter 12 and verse 10.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And here's a passage that says be kindly affectionate to one

another with Brotherly Love in honor giving preference to one

another. That's a much better attitude to

have as we consider this topic about how we were interact with

people, be willing to give preference to somebody else.

Be willing. Instead of just getting up,

maybe in saying here, let me get a seat for you.

So here, you can have my seat all go, find somewhere else to

sit. Give preference to one another.

Other even if that means in our seating arrangements.

So if you would give up your seat.

Hopefully, I've painted it well enough that you're like, well,

okay, fine, I'd give up my seat this morning.

If you would go to give up your seat.

Let's now consider some potential reasons that I would

propose to you, that we should choose a seat because you're

like, okay, why do we got it? Okay.

Funny everybody wants their seat, and we kind of see this

Behavior. But why does it matter?

Why do we talk about it on a Sunday morning, we're here to

worship Jesus. We're here to read.

A Jesus. Why does it matter this morning?

Jesus, we're here to remember his body.

We are his body this morning as the church and I think our

interactions with one another matter.

So how to choose a seat? The first reason that we should

choose a seat potentially instead of just going through

the motions and sitting wherever as that, there should be no

divisions Among Us. Paul says in First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 and verse 10. He says now I plead with you

Brethren by the name of our Lord.

Jesus Christ that you all. Speak the same thing and that

there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined

together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Paul's plea to the Corinthian Brethren is that you be unified

be unified with one. Another have care for one

another in everything. So now would be a great time to

say. We're talking about a lot more

than just our seats this morning.

If your Seat means something to you that represents a dis Union

with your brother. Then we're talking about your

seat but if you're like, my seat doesn't really matter to me.

There's other things that I could work on.

We're talking about Unity this morning, our seating.

Only applies to this study as much as it applies to our unity

and our connection. With our brothers Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4, and verse 32 says, now, the multitude of those who believed

were of one heart and one soul, Neither did anyone say that?

Any of the things? He possessed was his own but

they had all things in common. If you go back to Acts chapter 4

Acts 4 · chapter mention

and you start looking at the early church, you look at those

first century Christians and what they did for one.

Another what they were willing to sacrifice for one another

share with one another. They're pretty much goals for

Unity, they cared about one another, they looked out for one

another and if we want an example on how to grow together

and how to bond with one another study the brethren in Acts

Acts 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, they were like-minded, they were one in

purpose and light of looking at them and having all things in

common. I hope we don't say about

somebody. They took my seat this morning.

They took what was mine, okay? This to me is where the

practical application of your seat begins to potentially

affect some things. It's a mathematical concept,

it's called permutations and combinations combinations, go

talk to Wade afterwards, if this doesn't make sense, but if

Visions chapter 4 and verse 16 says Christ, from whom the whole

body joined and knit together by what every Joint supplies

according to the effective working by which every part does

its shared causes growth of the Body for the edifying of itself

in love. So Christ is what's bonding us

together where to grow in unity and were to grow from the

strength of one another. Combinations and permutations.

If you have four people, okay, person a can sit next to person.

B and person C can sit next to person d, right?

You can have three connections made their so Chris can be

friends with whoever sitting next to him.

And Frank can be friends with Tina, they're making a

connection, Chris isn't making a connection with anybody this

morning. But you'll make the connection

with whoever's next to you and if you don't move, if you stay

where you're at all the time, you make the connection with the

same person over and over again. And you'll have missed the

opportunity that even in just four people, there was six

connections that you could have made with four people.

If you sit in the same place you only made three different

connections, you only made three different friends, but if

everybody moves around and jumbles up six, people can be

friends, follow with where we're going now.

Oakdale and off. So, the two congregations, that

I've been a part of mostly kind of two different extremes.

Oakdale has 150 members off had about 20 members, so, Arliss of,

if you're from a large congregation or a small

congregation, you could say, well, we're we're just a few

members, we all know, everybody, everybody knows everybody, and

it doesn't really matter how much if I sit next to.

So, and so, I mean, no one in the large congregation.

You're like, yeah, you probably don't know that person all the

way over there, you probably didn't talk to them for the last

three months, but, here's how it works out.

If you sit in the same seats, with the congregation of 150

149, different connections can be made.

With 20 different people. 19 connections could be made if you

sit in the same seats over and over, but there was an

opportunity to make eleven thousand one hundred and

seventy-five connections or 190 connections.

The point is is that in as we consider being knit together as

we consider growing together as we consider the strength of our

congregations if we will interact with one, another

something as simple as walking in and choosing, I'm going to

sit three rows back today. Everybody's going to now have to

jumbled up is gonna make a difference.

You're going to have to talk to somebody else.

Some of us that's an awkward thing.

Frank is probably cool to sit next to whoever and he's just

going to talk That's not my personality.

So when we had Georgia and I had to move and I went from front

left, row to back, look for your seat because you don't have one

back there yet. Now, I gotta sit next to the

right ciders and I got to have these conversations of people

that my whole life. I've worshipped with you, I've

worshipped with you my whole life but I don't really know you

that well. I'm shaking your hand every

Sunday, probably for 20 years but now I sit next to you and we

talked together and now I know something more about you than I

knew before from one simple decision. so as we think about

simply that the unity of our congregations and something, as

simple as choosing a seat, the first thing that came to my mind

when I started considering seating was George Strait

singing, the line that wasn't my chair, after all, maybe you know

the song, but that got my thought process going about

other things that I do on a regular basis habitually And

just like, I have bitch, Ali sit in a seat and usually the same

seat at different places. I habitually listen to music

many times, right? Like I walk in, go to the same

seat, I get in my truck, turn on the music Pandora, here we go,

country music, it's it's the conservative genre, right?

Like country music, it should be the best genre to listen to.

It should be the just put it on Pandora country music.

And just like, I never really give thought to my seat and hey,

I could have made so many more friends.

I could have made such a stronger congregation.

I don't really think what's George Strait singing about.

He is the king of country music, but then I stopped and as I was

thinking about these habits, these things that we just do.

Let me summarize, I'm not going to read the lyrics to you but

I'm going to summarize the lyrics for you.

George walks in. He doesn't explicitly say where

he walks into and he says excuse me ma'am.

You took my chair Can I buy you a drink?

Are you single or are you taking?

Can I drive you home later? I gotta tell you that actually

wasn't my chair off to roll. Now, maybe you're sitting there

and you're saying we're talking about a George Strait song and

kind of the innuendos that are in the George Strait song.

I mean, Have you listened to the music in 2023 of Ike or maybe

you're sitting out there and you're like yeah, get that

George Strait song. I've been saying this for 40

years, George Strait shouldn't be singing about some of the

stuff. He's singing about the point

though, whichever wherever you come from is for us to stop and

think. About the activities that we

engage in habitually unconsciously and where our mind

is taken. There's not really any denying

what George was singing about And when we stop and think about

it, we're like yeah, in principle.

I don't believe in participating in most of those things.

I believe that a man and a woman should be married.

I believe that you should be sober minded like, in Concept in

and value. We believe that.

But yet at the same time we engage in these things

habitually that take our mind to different places.

Proverbs chapter, 23 verses 6 and 7 says, do not eat the bread

of a miser nor desire, his Delicacies for As he thinks in

his heart. So is he eat?

And drink? He says to you, but his heart is

not with you. You may say, I was just

listening to music. I was just reading the book.

I was just watching this what we think about is us what is in our

mind is, who we are, who do I give that control over to Who am

I willing to say here? Here, take me for a few minutes.

Take me and my soul. And my spirit.

And my mind for an hour or two, who do I give that control to?

That's what I want us to think about Proverbs chapter 12 and

Proverbs 12 · chapter mention

verse 8, it says a man will be commended according to his

wisdom but he who is of a perverse heart will be despised.

Our hearts, our minds are so important.

This morning, Jesus said to him you shall love the Lord.

Your God with all All your heart with all your soul.

And with all your mind, this is the first and great commandment.

How much room is left in my mind and my soul, For God.

Consider the amount of time and you may have different things

that you need to consider. So don't feel like I'm important

the finger at you. I made this lesson, I know where

my weaknesses are. I know where my shortcomings

are. These are the things that come

to my mind. How consider the amount of time

and entertainment. What do you choose?

What do I choose? How do they direct my mind?

Consider your phone habits. We're going to talk a little bit

more about this kind of this evening in the lesson that will

call gaslighting. Hopefully you'll stay.

I found the study extremely profitable for me, but what are

your phone habits? I was telling the family last

night at dinner, I've admitted to myself.

I haven't I have a tendency to be able to be an addictive

personality, so when I get this phone in my hand, that's

extremely smart, that has all of these apps on it.

I got to pay attention. To what what?

I'm letting on my phone because it's going to take my mind, it's

going to take me and I'm going to have been zoned out for an

hour and a half and Anna will be like, where were you?

You weren't even checking in the babies are screaming.

I was asking, and I what are your phone habits?

How does your phone or your technology affect you?

I watched a movie on the plane, it was called tenant.

This is not. You can see, the says

confession, I don't really remember the movie.

So if it shouldn't be recommended I'm not recommending

the movie. The point of this movie, though,

is it was one of those Sci-Fi movies that you go back in time

and forward in time. And you try to figure out where

what's happening I left that movie.

So, it's an hour and a half two hours, you're on a plane and you

follow the movie, you track the, the media that you're watching

and afterwards. I just remember feeling like

Where am I? Is this real again, or is is

what's time. The malleability of the mind is

a real thing. And sometimes we can take

reality for granted if you will. It's a real thing for people to

lose track of what reality is in mental illness.

Some of them are things that happen with old age, such as

Alzheimer's and Dementia. Some of them are things that

happen because of decisions that we make in our lives and things

that we get, It's a real thing and we look at those and we

forget in our day-to-day minute-to-minute moment on the

decisions were making we take for granted that we know what

reality is we have a good mind in us and that mind is valuable.

And what I'm trying to remind myself is, is this mind is a

blessing and I need to use this mind for good things and I need

to keep it on the trajectory that God wants me to be on.

The mind is so important. Proverbs 4:23 says keep your

Proverbs 4:23

heart with all diligence for out of it spring, the issues of

Life, the mind is everything, the heart and soul that you have

within you is so important. Keep it with all diligence.

Now, we'll move to spiritual torpor.

Where you sit entertainment and free time that we habitually

participate in Evangelistic activities.

We haven't talked about that yet.

How do you evangelize? What your involvement like and

worship? What your involvement, like, in

your personal Christian, Life on a day-to-day basis?

What are your habits? These are some examples of where

we can get into Comfort zones and we remove mental, activity

from the process. We don't think about it anymore.

It's just what I do. It's just Frank was talking

about how some last night, how some things are.

Just, that's just how you do it. You, you saddle a horse from the

right side. Left side, see left side, always

the left side. Why from the left side, he had

some reasons but no, it's just the way you do it.

That's fine. He had good reasons for why your

saddle horse on the left side, some things though I just do and

maybe you just do because that's just the way I do it.

That's just my personality. I'm an introvert.

So I don't sit next to other people.

But removing the mental activity and questioning, why am I

spending my time doing this? Sometimes has consequences that

we don't want. Romans chapter 13 is where this

Romans 13 · chapter mention

word comes from. Romans chapter 13, verses 11

Romans 13:11–14

through 14. Paul says, and do this knowing

the time that now, it is high time, it is definite time it.

There is no question that now, was the time that we're talking

about Out do this because it is absolutely time for us to be

paying attention to this. It is time to awake out of

sleep. This phrase awake out of sleep

Barnes defines as figuratively, spiritual torpor.

Torpor we already said is a state of physical or mental

inactivity. You're just not really doing

anything. You're just mentally not engaged

or physically, you're not staying with your workout

routine. Like you should, you're not

engaged in it, but there's a spiritual side that Barnes is

drawing on here. And that is way more dangerous

than any simple mental or physical inactivity that you're

going to do. You can spiritually, check out.

Paul is saying he's saying, wake up its time right now to awake

out of your spiritual in activity.

For. Now, our Salvation is nearer

than when we first believed. it's time now because we're even

closer now than we've ever been It was important when we first

believed and now we're even farther along.

Get busy in our spiritual life. Our overall goal is to recognize

any place that we can find, that we have spiritual inactivity.

He says the night is far spent. So, as you think about being

spiritually, disengaged Paul says the night is far spent.

You've spent enough time in the night, you spent enough time in

the darkness, maybe that hits with you.

Maybe it doesn't. It hits with me?

I can look back and I can say, The night is far spent.

It's time to wake up. You spent enough time asleep.

You spent enough, time in the darkness, going down the wrong

path. Wake up.

The night is far, spent the day is at hand.

Do you ever wake up? If you're a morning person, this

will hit with you. If you're not a morning person

you're gonna be like terrible example, coal should've gone

there. The day is at hand that feeling

sometimes when the sun is rising, even if it's 9:00 or

10:00 11:00, when you wake up, there's that moment that you're

waking up and you're like, Day is here.

What am I going to do with my day?

I'm done sleeping. Now, I've taken my rest now,

it's time to do something. The day is now at hand.

Therefore let us cast off, the works of darkness.

So because it's time for us to get busy.

Put off anything and everything that is work of Darkness.

If there's some habits that are left over, that we're not really

maliciously, engaging in them now.

But we just kind of develop these things in these habits,

think about those put off anything.

That is not pushing you towards your goal and your spiritual

goal of faithfulness, to our Lord, Jesus Christ, and let us

put on the armor of light. Cast off anything that's

darkness and put on the armor of light, you put on that armor of

light and now you're unstoppable.

Now, you can do anything for the kingdom, you can live in

confidence. Now, you can live in peace,

knowing that you're doing your best Faithfully every single

moment. Put on the armor of light, let

us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness.

Not in lewdness and lust not in strife and envy.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the

flesh to fulfill it in its lust. That last phrase right there?

Make no provision for the flesh. Is where we're spending most of

our time this morning. It's not just about yeah you

know what I'm really went off the deep end.

You know I really just kind of knew I shouldn't have gone there

but I did that's not exactly what we're talking about.

We're talking about looking for a place that's kind of a

provision that it's it's not really like terribly awfully

wrong but it's kind of pushing me in the wrong direction.

I see that it's kind of leading me the wrong way.

Make no provision for the flesh, make every provision to put

yourself to where you will be wearing your armor and fighting

like you should be for your lord.

Instead of continuing and spiritual inactivity, let's find

any potential spot for failure and get rid of it.

We have a responsibility to put on Jesus, even when that means

uncomfortable Growing Pains, even if it's weird, even if it's

hard for us, even if it goes against my personality, that's

my job as a Christian. That's my job.

As his servant, we have that responsibility.

So in summary of not my seed, after all, how to choose a seat,

we can increase our mindfulness in our congregations, to Foster

Unity. Even if that means that I choose

maybe a different seat, next service, the second portion was

the chair that our daily habits deserve regular consideration to

evaluate my Christian trajectory and finally spiritual torpor.

We need to remain engaged and awake in our Christian lives as

opposed to living in a state of inactivity.

How are you this morning? Do you need to awake from your

sleep? Do you need?

To get back on the right path or maybe you need to get on the

path this morning as a Christian, I trust and know and

trust and believe that you've heard the gospel, we've talked

about being a Christian and living as a servant of Jesus

this morning, but Jesus is our King.

He's the one who gave his life for us sacrificed for us so that

we can be cleansed from our sins.

We must believe in him as our King.

We must be willing to repent of our sins confess his name before

men and be Taste for the remission of our sins.

And then once we do that, that's not just like a check my box.

And I'm a Christian now, Romans chapter 6, and verse 4.

Romans 6 · chapter mention

We begin to walk in newness of life, we're on the great New

Path. And we need to stay on it.

There's times though that something needs to be taken care

of, and sometimes it's of a public nature.

So, the congregation at this time, has chosen to offer that

opportunity while we stand. And while we see We thank you

for listening to our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ

at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you

would like any additional information or you would like to

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Please email us at info at search of Christ.

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Please make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our

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