Where It All Went Wrong

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Pray together.

Lord, we're grateful today that you speak a better word than our self-talk.

The things that we say to ourselves about ourselves that aren't always great.

The liberating truth of that is that we can all feel that.

But that doesn't mean that that's true.

That's who we really are.

We are more than what we think of ourselves and what we accuse ourselves of.

And the reason we're more of that is because the blood of Jesus was shed on the cross in our place and for our sin.

And so we don't have to just begin to believe the lies that we assault ourselves with.

And so, Lord, we just want to say thank you that you speak a better word.

We're going to open the Bible now.

We need you to speak a better word from it.

Illuminate, give us eyes to see.

We pray with the psalmist.

Open our eyes so we can see wonderful things in your law.

It is the law of freedom, which God, it doesn't make sense to our minds as human beings to use law and freedom in the same sentence, but yet that's how the Bible describes itself.

It is the law of freedom.

Translation: God has established a law that his people get to go free.

And so we reject, we renounce every form of bondage today.

Lord, let us see this in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, Amen.

You can have a seat.

You can have a seat.

If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Genesis chapter three.

It's like three pages in.

If you don't have a Bible, don't sweat it.

Everything I'll say will come up on the screen.

Let me say good morning to our online congregation.

Those of you who are joining us from your home, uh, those of you who watched the AM game and just woke up.

Yes, yes, there you go.

Yeah, you can't help yourself, can you?

Whoop, whoop, sister kissers.

Anyway, uh, there's somebody here that went to the game last night.

He told me in that lobby, he said, Yeah, I got home at 1:30 and I was all excited.

I walked in my bedroom.

I said, That didn't go well.

Uh he's like, Yeah, my wife's like, I stayed up and watched the game because I felt it was gonna happen and I prayed all the way to the field go.

So you're welcome for the victory.

No, no, my wife's like, What are you doing?

I said, I'm studying.

Uh no.

I just like watching Nick Saban have to admit the lost.

Anyway, uh, is that is that over the time?

I never know.

Anyway, uh, I want to talk to you today uh about this happy, shining topic, where it all went wrong.

Where it all went wrong.

Now keep in mind, we're in a series right now called Return to Design.

What do we mean, return to design?

We're going, we're looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis uh because we want to see the way God designed the world to be.

Because it's very easy to look around in our culture and think, hey, how could there be a God who professes to be good if the world is so bad?

And so we just want to go back and see the way God designed the world to be, and then we could get a better understanding of what went wrong.

Like, for example, in 1986, I walked walking up the stairs to the second floor of Marshall Hall, which is the uh a building on the campus of my college, and I looked up and I was happy, go lucky, in a good mood.

And I look up and people were horror stricken standing there.

And I was like, what's going on?

And they said, the challenger blew up.

And I was like, What?

And they said, Yeah, it took off.

And it and when they throttled up, it just exploded.

And it was it was so surreal that our professors were like, hey, let's talk about this.

I mean, I know it's not a this, it's not English literature, but let's talk about it.

And I remember thinking, wow.

And my thought was, what happened?

Well, when they begin to go back and look into it.

Matter of fact, there's documentaries been made about it.

What happened to the challenger?

It came down to this one engineer, he was on a team, but he was the one guy raising his voice saying, Hey folks, if the temperature is below a certain number, you do not need to launch because the O-ring, this gasket that keeps the gas from getting up uh up near this combustible material, that thing is gonna shrink down and crack, and you're gonna have a fuel leak and you're gonna have a problem.

And no one listened to him.

But he just kept calling out, kept calling out, and they said, Hey, we're gonna go anyway.

And so that what happened, you can see this big disaster, this catastrophe, and ask what happened, and there's a way to get back to it.

In the same way, it's easy to get mad at God or mad at the world or just think, I'm just gonna try to make the most out of it.

Yet the Bible says, let's kind of walk back and look back to where it all went wrong.

And if you like on the challenger, it's this huge rubber gasket that went wrong.

In the Bible and in life, it happens right here in Genesis chapter three.

Now, if you've ever heard this phrase, well, we live in a fallen world, this is what people are talking about.

It's referred to as the fall.

It's where people were created uh in a perfect world and they made it imperfect because they didn't trust God.

Okay?

I'm gonna read about 12 verses, I'll make some introductory statements, little points, and then I'll have three points.

Some questions come up on the screen for you to think about, and then you'll be dismissed.

Are you down with that?

Say yes.

All right, here we go.

Genesis chapter 3, verse 1.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent, now let me give you some background.

What's happened?

God created everything, he created Adam, he looked down and said, It's not good the man should be alone.

So he creates a woman and he brings her to Adam, and Adam is like, Oh, yes, finally, bone of my bones, flesh in my flesh.

And this is where we ended last week.

The Bible says the man and the woman were both naked and they were not ashamed.

Paradise, beautiful.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that's in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.

But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

And then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked.

And when they sowed fig leaves together, they made themselves loincloths, and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, God, among the trees of the garden.

Verse 9 says, But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you?

And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.

He said, Who told you you were naked?

Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

And the man said, Well, the woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate.

And then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done?

The woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate.

What do you mean when you say where it all went wrong?

You trace it back.

This is when this combustible material of human freedom it comes up against this temptation of opportunity.

Now, there's a lot here.

I could probably preach four or five sermons from this, and I'm not going to.

And for that, you're thankful.

Amen.

Uh, so let me just make a couple introductory statements by way of explanation.

Because sometimes there's things you read in the Bible and you're like, what in the world is that talking about?

Here's the first introductory observation.

Everything spiritual seeks a physical medium or means by which to express itself.

Now, I know your first thought is, I'm so glad you said that.

Uh what does that mean?

Let me say it again.

Everything spiritual seeks a physical medium or means by which to express itself.

Think of it like the coronavirus.

The coronavirus is a virus that we haven't, we can't decide if it came from a lab or some animal we've never heard of in a wet market, but the having a petri dish uh is no problem.

But when it finds a physical medium to infect, then it spreads to all the other physical mediums uh uh around the world.

Uh or as I like to say it, because when I say everything spiritual seeks a physical medium or means by which to express itself, uh is an easier way of understanding it.

Uh I did a wedding once, and my favorite part of a wedding is when we're done, and then there's like 70 an hour to an hour and a half, maybe or 75 minutes between when we're done and when they actually start eating.

That is called the cocktail hour.

Uh, and this is when people seek out the preacher because I do weddings, I stick around just long enough to they usually want me to pray at the meal, and then I leave.

And here's why I leave.

Not that I don't care about people, but no one wants to talk to the preacher.

I don't know anybody there.

What am I doing?

So I'm standing around, and they say, Hey, would you say the blessing at the meal?

And then you can go.

Okay, I'm standing around.

Guy walks up to me and he goes, Hey man, that was an awesome service.

Are you a preacher or you just do weddings?

I said, Both.

I'm a pastor and I do weddings.

And he goes, So you believe in a talking snake?

Thank you.

Thank you, right here, lady.

Because I'm like, What?

You you are over.

I'm looking like it's 20 minutes into the cocktail hour.

You're drunk already, okay?

Cut this man off, right?

And I'm like, I uh he could tell by the look on my face.

I was like, what the what?

And I said, What?

He goes, I mean, I mean the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, and this talking snake.

I mean, if that snake can talk, why can't all snakes talk?

That's why I don't believe in religion.

I said, Well, this is not religion.

You're talking about Christianity, okay?

And he goes, I don't believe in that either.

And I said, Okay, no, I don't believe in a talking snake, just for the record.

And he goes, So we agree.

I said, No, uh-uh-uh.

I didn't say that.

I said, I don't know, I don't believe in talking snakes.

He goes, Well, you're saying what I'm saying.

How do you not agree with me?

I said, What I believe is that everything spiritual seeks a physical medium or a means by which to express itself.

Well, what does that mean?

That means that I believe that Satan is real.

Satan is before he's a fallen angel.

His name was Lucifer.

He was expelled from heaven because he didn't submit to God's authority.

And not only that, but one third of the angelic beings were expelled with him.

Now, you say this at cocktail hour, people start just gathering up.

And so I got me a little, I'm like, somebody take a hat off, I'll take up an offering.

And he's like, This is awesome, man.

Keep going.

I said, and so basically, a spiritual being, for a spiritual being to talk or to express itself, it has to possess a physical body.

I said, if you think that's one thing, keep reading over in the book of Genesis and you come across this phrase, the Nephilim or the Nephilim, however you want to pronounce it.

It's these huge, evil people.

He's like, Yeah, yeah.

I mean, what do you do with that?

I said, you act like this is not easily explained.

Once again, anything that's spiritual, a spiritual entity seeks a physical means by which to express itself.

I said, the Bible says that in the days when the sons of God, that's a reference to angels, it's always been, and the daughters of men married.

He's like, yeah, yeah, and they had this new film.

I said, yeah, that's exactly right.

I said, the sons, these angels are not righteous angels, they're fallen angels who are now called demons.

They possessed these men, and these men intermarried these women and gave birth to an evil, evil offspring.

They ruled over the earth.

And he's like, Man, sounds like you've read the Bible.

And I said back to him, in love, it sounds like you haven't.

I said, If your whole thing about discounting Christianity is a talking snake, bro, you gotta step your game up.

And he's like, All right, I just wanted to say good job on the ceremony.

You're welcome.

Thank you very much.

And so, just by way of introduction, if you're in that category, how could this happen?

I would say that to you.

Second thing I would say is the goal is not denial but doubt.

The goal, Satan's goal, the enemy's goal is not to get you to deny God's existence.

Though some of you may do that, that's okay.

But it's really just doubt.

He said, What do you mean?

Look at what the serpent says.

He totally misrepresents what God said.

God said to Adam and Eve, You are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but of this one tree, don't eat.

Look at what the serpent says.

The serpent says, Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

That's that's not what he said at all.

But see, here's why this is important.

Uh, knowing the truth is what slays doubt.

And so if you don't put forth some effort to know the truth, eventually you'll become ashamed of yourself and you'll blame your faith.

Let me say that again.

Knowing the truth means you got to put forth some effort to understand what the Bible actually says.

Stop listening to things on YouTube, stop watching crazy people with a whiteboard in their mom's basement.

Hey, dude, you're 47.

You should be on your own by now.

Uh explaining all the mysteries of life.

Just open the Bible, put your face in it, come to a class or whatever, because it unless you put some effort, what happens is that you begin to choke on your own hypocrisy, but it's much more convenient to say, Oh, I blame Christianity.

I can't believe that anymore.

It's called now, it's very popular, very sexy name, deconstructing your faith.

What fuels a lot of this is people that have just never put forth the effort to understand what the Bible actually says.

And so the enemy knows this, and so he comes along.

He's not about denial.

He doesn't want you to deny the big things of the faith.

He just wants to sow doubt in anything that can get traction.

And so he the here's what Satan understands that faith can move mountains, but doubt can create mountains.

So his basic ploy with Adam and Eve and with you and I is never changed.

He wants to sow doubt about three things.

Number one, doubt about God's word.

Did God actually say?

Secondly, doubt about sin's consequence.

You'll not surely die.

It sounds like this nowadays.

Well, we're continuing adults.

We know what we're doing.

Look at me.

When you remove the consequence for sin, then there's no end to which you'll go to sin.

Does that make sense to anybody but me?

When you remove the consequence for sin, sin always has a consequence.

Like I grew up on a farm in a small town in East Texas, and my dad was not a righteous man.

He came to faith towards the end of his life, but my dad was righteous in this.

He would always ask us two questions what I tell you to do, what'd you do?

It was two questions and a command.

What I tell you to do, what'd you do?

And you had to confess your sins to Leon.

And then my dad would say, as he's doing this, bend over.

Like when my wife and I were dating, she said, Well, I want us to talk about, we were serious.

We were like, we we knew we were for each other.

I want us to talk about how we discipline our children.

How were you disciplined as a child?

Were you putting time out and made to think about your behavior?

And I just thought, I am marrying the tooth fairy.

What?

What?

What did you just say?

Think about your be.

I wish my dad would have put me in time.

You go sit in the corner and think about what you did.

I remember as a kid, the first time I saw a dirty hairy movie with Clem Eastwood, me and my brothers were like, Oh, that's our dad.

Because my dad would talk through his teeth like this.

And you're like, Oh my gosh, what'd I tell you to do?

What'd you do?

And then the rattlesnake came out.

That's the sound of that belt being liberated from the belt loops.

And then it was on.

Now, why why do I say all that?

Because I never doubted the consequence of my sin as a kid.

It was really mercy that I got disciplined.

But the enemy comes along, he wants to sow doubt about sin's consequence.

Thirdly, doubt about God's motive.

For God knows.

God knows what you're gonna be like.

In other words, God's fearful.

Uh and so you have to be careful.

Uh, nowadays that doubt sounds like the says and means game.

Says, S-A-Y-S, says and mean.

I know the Bible says this, but what does that actually mean?

Uh, it means what it says.

I hear it all the time, especially in counseling.

Some version of, well, how can God be good and not allow you to do what makes you happy?

Uh, here's a simple answer to that because God's goodness is most on display in changing my nature such that my happiness is found in what brings God glory instead of what brings me glory.

Evidence of conversion is you seek God's glory and not your own.

Now, now, now again, God so works in me that my heart is so changed that I want to do things that bring God glory instead of things that bring me glory.

Now, if you want to have fun today, lay that down as a filter over all your social media platforms.

See, and see, here's my thing.

Feel weird, I got it here right there.

Y'all are kind of like, what you talking about, Willis?

Uh no.

We so effortlessly seek our own glory.

I just want one of you parents out there, man or woman, don't tell me about how your kids made, you know, has a 4.7 GPA, blah, blah, blah.

I want anybody to put on any social media platform.

Our child is barely passing.

She has crippling anxiety.

We have long conversations at night, and God is still good.

Or our child graduated college and can't find a job, so she moved back home.

Glory to God.

Our son's a partner in a Wall Street investment firm.

It's like, yeah, I'm I I rejoice with you.

But anyway, here's the other introduction.

I gotta get to the sermon, right?

Really, I'm giving you two sermons for the price of one.

If you're visiting right now, you just thought, there's a price.

Wait a minute, they said it was free.

Here's a third introductory statement.

I don't have time to get to.

Adam and Eve are mutually responsible.

Adam and Eve are mutually responsible.

I think a lot of times Eve and women get a bad.

I think, well, you know, y'all ate the apple.

Uh, this is what happened.

By the way, we don't know it was an apple, we don't know what kind of fruit it was.

But Adam and Eve are mutually responsible.

Well, Adam wasn't deceived.

No, it's worse than that.

He was passive and silent.

And man, let me just say this: there's nothing more disorienting to a woman emotionally than a man, than a passive man who will not lead.

And so your wife thinks she has to.

And so they they're there together.

If you look in verse six, it says that the man was with his wife.

Uh, the first five verses, when it says you, that word in the Hebrew, the original language that Old Testament was written in, that word you in the first five verses is plural, it's not singular.

So he's talking to the two of them.

And so, just by way of introduction, just get those things in your head and now return to design.

What do you mean?

What do we take away from how God designed the world from this right here?

This sounds really bad.

Actually, it is bad, but the Bible says this in the New Testament, Romans chapter 8, in all things, God is at work for the good of those who love God or called according to his purpose.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

One of the things you have to do as you mature in the faith is you have to train your eye to see how God is at work.

If you want to have an interesting conversation at lunch today, ask everybody at your lunch table, hey, how do you see God at work in your life?

What do you think God's up to?

Men ask their wives tonight before you go, hey, how is God at work in our marriage?

What do we see God doing in our kids?

So basically, here's three things under the banner of returning to design.

Number one, God mercifully designed the world to be a place of consequence.

God mercifully, key word, mercifully designed the world to be a place of consequence.

Without consequence, we never know the destructive nature of sin or the restorative power of forgiveness.

We would never know the destructive nature of sin.

I think that speaks for itself.

You have to ask yourself, is sin still destructive in my mind?

And then, secondly, the restorative power of forgiveness.

There's nothing I know that captures it better.

Remember, I talked about my dad, what I tell you to do, what'd you do?

Bend over, and we would get disciplined.

Uh and it was not good.

Matter of fact, we cried.

My dad never said, I'm gonna whip you until you cry.

We would just cry when he said, What I tell you to do, cry if you want to, you're still gonna get a whipping.

Okay, go ahead.

And then I it was painful.

And here's the thing when I talk about the restorative nature of forgiveness.

After my dad would whip all three of us, my matter of fact, I told you this before, my dad whipped an entire Little League baseball team one time.

They were out at our farm.

My dad said, Don't go over and spook them chickens.

That's how I make money.

Y'all spook them chickens.

I'm gonna wear y'all out.

15 little boys playing hide and go seek in the chicken house.

My I saw my dad coming, putting his shirt on, coming out of the house, walking like, come here.

Lined up 15 of them, whipped every one of them.

This is how long ago that was.

When their parents picked them up, they all shook my dad's hand and said, Thank you.

That happened today, my dad would be in prison.

But here's the take.

I mean, we'd we would be like, and my dad'd be putting his belt back on.

Quit your crying, boy, quit your crying.

Time for crying's over.

Have you ever tried to quit crying when you're crying?

It's really hard.

You get shorter, you're like I'm sitting there, my dad with 15 strangers, and me and my two brothers.

So it's 18, and my dad's like, don't make me take his belt back off.

We're like, and then here's the restorative nature of forgiveness.

It's that first deep breath.

And you realize it's over, and you're gonna be okay.

That's what forgiveness feels like.

And look at me.

God doesn't come to whip you, He comes to give you that feeling of, oh my gosh, it's over, and I'm gonna be okay.

That's the God of the Bible, okay?

So when I say God mercifully designed the world to be a place of consequence, this is what I mean.

Without consequence, we don't know the destructive nature of sin or the restorative power of forgiveness.

The first thing they do once they realize they've sinned, they cover themselves and they hide from God.

What's the first thing God does?

God comes looking for them.

And by the way, notice the question, we'll get into this in a minute.

But God says, Where are you?

Not because he doesn't know.

When you're an all knowing being, like sovereign is the big word we use for that.

When you're sovereign like God is, you don't ask questions because you need information.

When God asks a question, he's not looking for information, he's looking for agreement.

He's saying, Do you see this the way I see this?

Do you understand this the way I understand this?

And so when I say God mercifully designed the world to be a place of consequence, here's what that means.

Look at me.

God did not create you and I to hide from him, to move away from him, and to hide and drown in our shame.

So he comes looking for us and says, Hey, where are you?

I like what Reinhold Nieber, the theologian from the 60s, said.

He said, All human sin seems so much worse in its consequence than in its intention.

It seems so much worse in its consequence than in its intention.

You may intend for just one little thing.

But here's the problem, okay?

Hear this.

You can choose your sin, you cannot choose the consequence.

Here's the second thing about the way God designed it.

God designed us for submission, not autonomy.

God designed us, human beings, for submission, not autonomy.

It's verse six, where after the serpent lays out his take on things, it says, So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was delightful to the eyes, that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

By the way, I don't have time to go into this, but the enemy always attacks you at your place of desire.

Always.

He's always going to come after your desires.

James chapter 1 bears this out.

James 1 · chapter mention

He says, Let no man say when I'm tempted, I'm being tempted by God, for God Himself tempts no one.

But so how are we tempted?

He says, Each everyone is tempted when by your own evil desires you are dragged away and enticed.

Do you realize as you sat here in church on a Sunday morning that you have desires in you that are so big and so powerful they can drag you away and make you do things that you by nature wouldn't do?

Do you realize that?

Say yes.

Yes.

If you're sitting there going, oh, not me, you're the person people should watch.

That the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

She took of its fruit.

Once she assesses the situation and says, This is how this is going to benefit me.

She took of the fruit and she ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her the whole time.

And he ate.

And then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew they were naked.

I asked you this last week.

I'm going to ask you again, have you ever been anywhere naked and didn't know you were naked?

It's the craziest thing in the Bible.

Why is that in there?

Here's why.

Look at me.

Because when you and I sin, you see yourself through a lens you were never intended to see yourself.

And it's never good.

It's never good.

And so when I say God designed us for submission, not autonomy, I mean God designed us to submit to the fact that there's a God in the world and you are not Him, I am not Him.

Instead of autonomy being freedom, our self-made, self-defined, self-described freedom, let me give you three statements that I want you to think about today.

The first one is this when you pursue freedom as the highest goal, it eventually leads to isolation.

When you pursue freedom as the highest goal, it eventually leads to isolation, which is one of the reasons I think anxiety is off the charts, not just in children, but in adults, because we're connected, quote unquote, on social media, but we're really not connected.

We pursue freedom.

And what we end up with is isolation.

Secondly, uh, when you try to create what we've already been given, you lose what you were given.

When you try to create, see, Eve falls for this lie of autonomy.

God's holding out.

God's afraid you're gonna be like him, and God's afraid, no, no, no.

Hey, you God created them free.

You are free to eat of any tree in the garden.

She doesn't believe that.

And so she thinks I've got to establish my own freedom.

Here's the third sub point I want to say is that humanity is always looking to experience freedom in what they don't do instead of what they do.

Humanity is always looking to experience freedom in what they don't do, like what I don't believe, what I don't submit to, I don't do that instead of what they do.

Allow me to demonstrate from my own life.

I became a Christian in July of 1982, right after graduating high school.

Up to that point, I engaged in behaviors that were not biblical.

Can I say like that?

Uh uh I engaged in behaviors that were illegal.

Uh my brothers grew things in the attic of our house.

Some of y'all are like, yeah.

And so I had a vast, this is gonna date me, I had a vast record collection.

Remember phonograph records, black things, circle the lines in them?

And so I love music.

My brothers love music.

Things will show up.

We were poor, but things would show up at our house.

And my older brother said, Don't go in there without oven mitts.

Everything in that room is hot.

I was like, I had to ask my friend, what does it mean it's hot?

And he goes, it's stolen.

Oh, oh yeah, that's my brother.

Yeah, exactly.

Uh and so, but I had albums.

I had like ELO.

Anybody?

Thank you very much, David Bill.

I had Ted Nugic, Cat Scratch Fever.

Yes.

I had ACDC back in black.

That's the devil's music.

Uh, and then I so I become a Christian.

Now, again, this is all under the banner of God designed us for submission, not autonomy.

Okay.

I believe that I was just I'm free.

I'm doing whatever I want to do.

I become a Christian about three weeks into my Christian uh uh experience.

Uh, a well-intentioned young man from my church comes to my house and music was played.

He goes, What are you listening to?

I said, Uh, I don't oh, that's Steve Miller band, Book of Dreams.

Anybody?

No.

Uh and he's like, walked over there, wow, flipped the switch off.

I don't think you should be filling your mind with that, Neil.

I'll bring you some Christian music.

I was like, okay.

He brought it over.

It was the lamest thing I've ever heard in my life.

I listened to it for seven minutes and I was just like, God, I can't do this.

Everything rhymes.

Life doesn't rhyme.

Why do these people do this?

And I was just, I was sad, I was depressed.

I did not read my Bible.

I mean, I became a Christian.

It was like night and day change.

I didn't read my Bible for two weeks.

I was like, no, I cannot do this.

And during this time, I was going to church, and then a friend, I won't say his name because he watches the podcast.

Um, a friend said to me, Hey, let's get lunch.

And we got lunch, went to a little hamburger joint, and he said, This was back in 1982 when they passed the plate, you know, offering time, the past plate.

We're eating, and he says, Now again, I this is submission and autonomy, okay?

I did not understand submission.

I had a very orphaned heart at the time, and so I would not submit to anybody.

I won't be autonomous, I won't be free.

And so we're eating, and my friend says, Hey, I notice when the plate comes around, you never put anything in it.

Have you ever been so offended you had a psychosomatic response?

I mean, my chest got hot, my ears started ringing.

And here's the truth: I was just embarrassed.

I had a job, I made money, I was just like, and I said this.

Well, I look around the church, I think they're doing fine about my money.

Not that any of you ever think that.

And he just kept eating me.

Now, by the way, he never raised his voice, he never condemned me, he never said, Hey, you little wicked sinner, God's gonna get you.

He said, Yeah, the church, but for the record, Neil, the church doesn't need your money.

You need the blessing of obedience instead of the curse of disobedience upon your giving.

I had never heard anybody talk about it like that in my life.

I was like, Well, what, what, what?

And so I'm dipping my french fries in ketchup and we're talking.

And he said, I just I'm not here to hate on you, man.

I'm just here to say, I think you've got a job.

I know you work hard, I know you get well paid, and all you're doing is inviting a curse upon you.

And and again, you would never do this, but the whole time I'm thinking, I'm gonna go back and start reading my Bible just to prove you're wrong.

And so that every time I get off work that next week, I'd go home and look up things, what the Bible said, and I was like, this sinking feeling that I was wrong and he was right.

And so the next Sunday, I begrudgingly reached in my pocket.

I had like$23.

I had a 10, two fives, and three ones.

I was feeling around for George Washington's head.

Where are you, George?

I just potlug.

I'm gonna go grab one and just throw it in there.

There goes my 20.

Just like, no, let me tell you something.

That man saying that to me was the greatest thing ever happened to me.

As a result of that, I say to my children now, hey, your mom and dad have a formula.

And by the way, all you have a formula when it comes to your money.

I tell my kids you gotta have a formula.

Our formula is 10, 10, 80.

We tithe 10%, we save 10%, we live off 80%.

Now, what this guy also said to me was he said, hey, here's the thing, Neil.

When you have the favor of God on your finances and the blessing because of your obedience, it is infinite, you can't just tithe, you can give an offering.

I was just like, just stop talking.

Why?

Look at me.

Because I wanted autonomy, I wanted me to be free on my own terms.

I didn't want submission.

Here's the beauty of the Bible, okay?

The last thing I'm gonna say, and then we're gonna have one last point and be done.

You were still with me, say yes?

Look at me.

When you submit to God, that's when you experience the freedom you were created for.

Here's the third thing.

God designed humanity to know when they've sinned.

God designed humanity to know when they sinned.

Can I tell you the craziest thing?

I've been here 15 and a half years.

The craziest thing anybody's ever said to me, a guy came up to me and he said, Hey man, I don't feel like I've been to church unless I feel bad.

You should yell at us more and make us feel bad.

I thought he was kidding.

I was like, Oh, real funny.

He goes, No, I'm serious, man.

I want to feel bad when I walk out of church.

I don't feel like I've been to church unless I feel bad.

And I'm like, Am I being punked?

Where's Aston Couture?

Is he coming out here?

I was like, No, are you serious?

And I said, Yeah, I said, That I don't think that's necessary.

Why?

Because this right here, God designed humanity to know when they have sinned.

That's why in verse 8, he says, and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you?

And it starts a series of questions.

Now, by the way, uh Adam isn't told uh by a parent or a principal or an authority figure that he has sinned.

Here's why Adam knows that he sins, okay?

He sees his behavior in relation to God, which is why he hides from God.

If you want to know who you see, you may you may say it like, oh, whose opinion I really value, or who I'm afraid, no, no.

If you want to understand who's who who's whose behavior, uh, how do I Adam says, I see my behavior in relation to God.

The problem a lot of men is you see your behavior in relation to your wife.

And that's not fair to your wife.

It makes her like she's the good cop and you're the bad guy.

No, no.

When you see your behavior in relation to God, you don't need anybody else to tell you, oh, you should feel bad.

You don't need a preacher to get up and yell at you and try to create some emotion in you.

So I would ask you today, when you think about your behavior, who do you see it in relation to?

Because when their eyes are open and they realize they were naked, Adam realized, you know what?

My life is intended to be lived in relation to God.

Said differently, I am to live my life for an audience of one.

And he realizes that.

And he doesn't want to face what's fixing to happen.

And so God comes, he asks this progression of questions because he wants not to condemn him again.

He knows.

He's not, there's nothing you can tell God about you that he doesn't already know.

But God wants Adam to connect, hey, your sense of shame and hiding is directly related to the fact that you've defied what I created you and told you to do.

And so God has three questions.

Let me give them to you briefly.

He says, number one, where are you?

This is a question of proximity.

You should ask yourself, where am I today in relation to God?

What is your proximity to God?

You feel far off?

You feel like this is crazy.

I just came because my friends invited me.

Where are you?

Secondly, who told you were naked?

This is a question of identity.

Thirdly, have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

This is a question of culpability.

Culpability.

And let me just say this and I'll be done.

Uh, even in our sin, God continues to seek us out.

Even when you've blown, if you're sitting in this room right now and you're like, dude, I went to the AM game last night.

I had too much of this, too much of that, and way too much of that.

God's not giving up on you.

He's not gonna go, dude, I thought we talked about you're never gonna do that ever again.

No.

God comes and notice what God does.

He doesn't give commands, he doesn't give condemnation, he simply asks questions.

Ask yourself this question: what is the most revealing question God could ask you today?

He says to Adam, Hey, where are you?

Where are you?

Who told you you were naked?

Have you eaten of the tree I told you not to eat?

God never makes a command, he never passes a judgment.

Because Adam sees himself in relation to God, he doesn't need help and understanding.

Oh my gosh.

We just messed up big time.

I did a wedding last night.

Now, by the way, you the reason I emphasize this is look at me.

We're just about done.

Look at me.

When you talk to people, they don't need you to judge them, they don't need your high and mighty religious.

Well, I'll tell you what, you know, the Bible says blah, blah, blah.

Yes, thank you.

I didn't know that.

If you want to be like God, don't pass judgment, don't give commands, ask questions.

Like I am, I did a wedding last night in a beautiful venue about an hour from here.

If you're looking for a place to get married, I got a place.

Uh, they have a beautiful chapel over here, then an incredibly uh breezeway open area, and then what I call the party barn over here where they had the reception.

And I'm standing out there holding the door, and I had to get in some pictures, and a guy's walking in, he goes, Oh, hey, hey, you're the guy that did the wedding.

I said, Yeah, and he just starts talking to me.

And the whole time we talked probably 20 minutes.

I never made a statement, I just asked questions.

He said, I said, Well, who are you?

He goes, Well, I'm so-and-so.

And how old are you?

I'm 24.

Blah, blah, blah.

And I said, Well, tell me about you.

He said, I said, Well, you got a girlfriend?

He kind of dimmed his lights.

And I said, Your voice kind of trailed off.

I said, You got some pain in you around the girlfriend?

Yeah, we dated for 11 years.

I'm like, Whoa, shut up.

He said, Well, I said, You're 24.

You dated for 11 years.

Did you start dating when you were 13?

There's a law against that.

Well, I mean, I mean, I mean, I uh I said, I ain't hating, but let me back away here.

And he's laughing, and I said, So, how'd you cope with that?

I've not made a statement yet.

I'm just asking questions.

How'd you cope with that?

This man who I just met two minutes earlier said, Oh man, I fell headlong into drugs and alcohol so much, so I had to go to rehab.

And I was like, shut up.

He said, No, you shut up.

And I said, Man, I am so proud of you.

I really appreciate you knowing yourself so much and giving yourself what you need.

Tell me how rehab changed your life.

And I'm holding the door to people to walk in.

Hey, great service.

Okay, great, great.

Remember, moderation in all things, okay?

And we're standing there and uh he we chatted, and he said, Well, I'm gonna go in.

And I said, uh, he goes, I think I might have a beer.

I said, Can you drink in moderation and not fall into self-medicating behavior?

I did not say, Hey, hey, you wicked sinner, don't go in there and drink that watered down flat beer.

He said, Yeah, I can.

I'll just have one or two and be done because I don't feel the way I used to feel.

I said, You ain't so mad at her, are you?

He goes, Nah, nah, I'm I'm I'm in a better place.

And I said, Well, what do you do for a living?

He goes, I work at a boat store.

I said, No way, I work at a boat store.

I worked at a boat store growing up.

I said, We used to service, uh, I used to rig up boats and service every motor.

We have Evan Romoters.

I said, Man, I'm so glad to meet you.

Tell me your name.

Told me his name.

Go have a good time, buddy, in moderation.

He goes, I got it.

And I walked out and left.

He was dancing with five little kids with a bottle of water in his hand.

Why am I telling you that?

God is not a God of condemnation, he's not even a God of accusation, he's a God of invitation.

He invites you deeper into who he is.

What's God inviting you to today?

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and give you some soul space to think about it.

A voice of prayer, and Clyde will come and sing something over to us.

Questions come up on the screen.

These are for you just to kind of think about.

You don't have to write them down.

You can just take a picture of your phone if you'd like.

Let me voice a prayer.

God thanks that thanks for who you are.

But you're not about condemning us, you're about inviting us.

So we have to think this morning about what you're inviting us to.

So now we're just going to be still and think to the glory of God.

Father, we're grateful today that when we're lost at sea, there's this fixed reality, there's this lighthouse.

Who is God?

Waving his big windmill arms of grace, like the third bait coach, saying, Come home.

Come on, this is home over here.

God, our nature is to run from you.

Your nature is to say, run to me.

Our kids remind us of this.

So when they fall and hurt themselves, they make a beeline for us.

They're that way because you're that way.

You're the unchanging reality we can always come home to.

So I pray for anyone in this room that feels like they've done so much that God could never forgive.

That's not true.

You're saying, don't run from me, run to me.

I'm a God of forgiveness.

I'm not here to condemn, I'm here to set you free.

Lord, for that, we're grateful.

So we say thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thanks for being here.

Look at me.

You're always welcome.

You're always welcome.

We want to help you in your spiritual journey.

We want to help increase your spiritual understanding so you can make spiritual decisions, okay?

Hopefully you've had a chance to pull out a guest card in the seatback pocket in your row.

If not, would you take the opportunity before you walk out, fill that out, and just drop it on the wooden boxes by the door on your way out?

And for those of you who consider this your church, and today's the day you worship God through obedience or generosity when it comes to tithing, that's where you take care of that as well.

Okay?

We have a few things to make you aware of by way of announcement, so give your attention to the screens.

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

Preschool Day in the Country is coming up on November 5th at the Bements Farm in Folshire.

Bring your little ones to go fishing, take a hayride with Mr.

Owen, and enjoy a picnic together.

It's always a great time to meet other parents in the church.

So be sure to register at grandparkway.org slash events.

Hilarious Sunday is next Sunday, October 17th, where all money given that day will go directly to the cost of our new sanctuary.

Our request is simple: pray, listen, obey.

Men's Breakfast is happening this Tuesday at 6 a.m.

in the warehouse.

Men, we would love to see you there.

Today is the deadline to register for the men's weekend.

Jared Wilson is our speaker, and we will enjoy the full weekend with worship, food, and time spent together to enjoy each other.

Register in the lobby or online at grandparkway.org slash events.

If you're new or you would like someone to pray with you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Today's the deadline.

Love for you to join us.

It's next weekend, Friday and Saturday.

Uh you'll be done at one o'clock on Saturday, okay?

Uh, one last thing, I appreciate your patience.

Uh, I want to introduce Jana McKee, our children's pastor.

Uh, she's gonna come now.

Good morning, church.

Um, nearly nine years ago, Neil called me into his office one day and asked if I would pray about coming on staff here, and that was truly one of the best decisions that I've made.

Um, and I really love serving here.

But this summer I felt the Lord releasing me from my position here at Grant Park Way.

Um, over the last eight years, this ministry has moved from meeting in the fellowship hall.

If you were here, it was complete chaos.

Y'all probably heard us during the service.

Um now we have a wonderful building that's full of energetic kids and enthusiastic volunteers.

And the ministry is thriving, but I'm just at a season in my life where I just don't have the capacity to meet the demands as it continues to grow.

Um, I want the elders to find the right person, and so I've told them that I will stay until they find the next person to step into this role or until Pine Cove City in June.

So I wanted them to have plenty of time to help make it a smooth transition.

My family intends to stay at Grand Park Way, so we're still going to be around, and this is definitely bittersweet because I love your kids so very much, and I love your families.

Um, so I will um I will definitely have a hard time, but I do know that this is the right thing for my family at this time.

And since there isn't a clear date, I did not uh mention it over in the kids' building.

So, parents, I want you to be able to share this news in a way that your kids can understand a way that's appropriate with the time and in ways since it's not happening right now.

Um so you can do that as you you feel led to.

And I just want to say that I'm forever grateful for my time here on staff, and I look forward to the kids' ministry continuing to grow.

And I know that the best days are ahead for Grand Parkway.

So thank you for supporting me during my time on staff here at Grand Parkway.

Be seated if you would for just a second.

Uh, asking Jana to join our team eight years ago was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

I said this, my wife's like, that that's not complimentary to a woman.

Uh, but I said it's someone, Jana's a mule.

My wife's like, no, no.

Uh here's what I mean.

Uh, she's not thoroughbred.

She had any special treatment.

You know, she just gets she just gets up and goes to work every day.

Uh, she's incredible, she's done an incredible job.

She came to us uh a month ago, maybe, uh, and just said, Hey, we're talking about expanding children's building.

She said, I just need to be honest with where I am, what God's kind of stirring in my heart.

I think my time here's coming to an end.

Uh, I'm willing to stay through Pine Cove camp in the city.

And Wade Bird just said, 2025.

But uh uh, but she said, No, my kids are getting older and I don't want to miss out.

And that's sacred ground for us.

And so I don't question that.

Uh somebody asked me, have you tried to talk her out of it?

No, no.

Uh I respect what Jan has said.

Hey, I want to not miss my kids uh before they get out of my house.

And so uh we're we'll start looking.

Wade Burgess, our executive pastor, will head up that search.

Uh, but just be praying.

Now, let me say this, because it's real natural to go, no, wait a minute.

Uh, our youth pastor left.

Now, Jan, what's going on?

Nothing.

There's no drama.

Uh, she just said, Hey, I thought my time's done.

I said, Man, we respect that.

Uh somebody said, Are you gonna stay?

She says, Yeah, this is our church.

We love Brian and Jan and their kids.

Uh, I'm excited for her.

As I stand here before you, you may be thinking, What's the plan?

Look at me.

This will bless you.

I have no idea.

Aren't you filled with confidence knowing that your leader just said that?

But here's the thing: here's the best part.

God does.

God is sovereign and God is good, okay?

And he'll bring the right person to this position, and the children's ministry will continue to be the consequential ministry that it is.

All right.

Let's be sure to take some time.

And we don't know.

Janet said, Hey, I'll stay through Pine Cove Camp in the city, which is uh in June.

Is that right?

Uh and so she she'll probably be around here for a while.

We want as much as Jan as we can get, if I'm just being honest.

And that sounds selfish.

No, I just know a good thing when I see it, okay?

So she'll be available down front.

Please come by and express your appreciation to her.

Let her know you'll be praying.

If you have any questions, you can ask Janna.

We practice full disclosure here, okay?

Stand to your feet.

Hold your hands out.

God created you to be free.

Stop settling for bondage and calling it your idea of freedom.

It was for freedom that Christ set you free.

Depart now and be free in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.