Rooted Part 4 | Hurry to Eliminate Hurry with Jess Schlotterbeck

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Good morning! Good morning. I always have to

go to the bathroom before you come and you turn

it off and then you got to turn it back on. But

yes, I'm Jess and you guys don't need to know

that, but I like to tell you unnecessary details

because sometimes I just think it's funny. Anyway,

so I am so thankful and grateful to be present

with you today, right? And if you're watching

us from home. And from not here and wherever

you are, I love you. And I am so glad that you've

chosen to be with us and you're with us in spirit.

And so, but if you're in the house today, it

is so good to be present here with you. It is

so good to be with people. It is such a privilege

to worship together. Wasn't that a worship was

like, I surrender all to you, God. Man, that's

just amazing. There's nothing like being present

with another person, right? There's nothing like

the presence of somebody in the room. And I just

appreciate each and every one of you. And this

place, this house of miracles, is such a blessing.

So I'm just thankful and grateful to be able

to share with you today. But I do have a confession.

As much as I love being with you, there's nothing

as great as the presence of God. And the presence

of God together is amazing. As Rhett was praying

there, just... practicing the presence of God,

like acknowledging that God is in this room.

We at the Vineyard believe God is here in this

place today. Has anybody felt the presence of

God here today? I feel it all over the place,

right? And the presence of God is so essential

to me. It's like air in my lungs, you know, but

it's so difficult to remain in God's presence.

Sometimes when we leave this space or in the

busyness of life, right? And so today I'm going

to share with you a few things that helped me

stay. in God's presence, and help me get back

into the presence of Jesus, into my life. So

to be present with God. Today we are going to

be discussing how to practice the presence of

God. We're in the fourth week of our series,

Rooted, where we have been discussing what it's

like to practice the way of Jesus. If we're Christians

or we say we believe what the Bible believes

and we're little Jesuses, we should be doing

the stuff that Jesus did. Amen? We shouldn't

just read about him. We should do what he's doing.

And so what we're doing is going through and

talking about certain practices that will help

us be Jesus in everyday life. It's 2nd Colossians

2 says, let your roots grow down into him and

let your lives be built on him. Then your faith

will grow strong in the truth that you were taught,

that you will overflow with thankfulness. I don't

know about you, but I want faith. I want strong

faith that is true. And I can only do that in

the presence of God. And I want to be thankful.

I want to be thankful for all God's given me.

And I want to overflow with that. Because if

I don't have my roots in Jesus, things happen,

right? And I can be blown away because you know

life is hard, right? Everybody knows sometimes,

sometimes it feels like all the time, life is

hard. And faithfulness and thankfulness can be

torn away if our roots don't grow down deep.

Have you looked at the image? We have the image

of our series poster right behind us. And these

are some serious roots, right? In fact, these

are some roots that are inspired by J .R .R.

Tolkien, the author of Lord of the Rings. Here's

a picture of him sitting on the roots. And this

is a picture of our own Matt Pointer, who created

the series image, sitting there as well. These

are the roots that inspired some of his writings.

And J .R .R. Tolkien believed that trees were

magical, and they could come alive, and they

just ushered in the presence of God. Does anybody

here love trees? Okay, I love trees, and I could

talk about trees for a long time, but I'm not

going to do that for you this morning, but it

just brings me back to childhood. I just have

a lot of great memories of climbing trees as

a child, and everywhere we go, I just look at

the different kinds of trees and all God created,

and it just brings me back to Jesus, right? So

when we look at these roots, think about how

many roots it takes to be rooted and grounded

in love. rooted and established in love. In Matthew

7, 24 through 25, it says we read these words

spoken by Jesus. So then, let everyone who hears

my words and puts them into practice is like

a wise man who builds his house on the rock.

The rain comes down, the waters rise, the winds

blow and beat against that house, but it does

not fall. Our roots are essential to build our

lives on that foundation of Jesus, right? Practice

is essential as followers of Jesus, as it says

in that scripture. In James 1 .22, it says, don't

just listen to the word of God. You'll fool yourselves

if you do that, but you must do what it says,

right? So we can't just read the word of God.

We can't just read what it says in the Bible.

We have to do it. And one of the examples of

that, you know, spring is here, right? Does anybody

know spring is here? Kind of. Some days it feels

like spring. Some days it still feels like winter.

But guess what? The daffodils are up. Spring

is coming, and it feels so good after a long,

hard winter. We've had a long, hard winter, right?

And some seasons in our life are long, hard winters,

right? And we just see that life bursting forth

from the ground, and we think, spring is coming.

God did something. Everything isn't dead. God's

still growing something. And that's what roots

do. They establish us, right? And it's the spring,

right? So we have spring sports. And for my family,

it makes all the kids go from hibernation mode

right out into the spring sports field. So I

live in Williamsport by all the school fields.

And so we have baseball games and track meets

and all these different things going on. And

so you don't even think about, when you think

about sports, you always think about the word

practice, right? There's no way you would give

your kid a book and tell them about baseball.

Read this book on baseball and now go out and

you can be in the major leagues. That's ridiculous.

And sometimes we do that as followers of Jesus.

We think, okay, I'll read the Bible and then

I'll just try. Or I'll just read the Bible. That's

what I've got to do to be a Jesus follower. But

no. We've got to practice. And we're all in that

mode where we have to practice. And practice

isn't a bad word. It's a good word. Okay? Practice

is a good word. You know that you have to practice

to get proficient at anything you do, right?

We know that... Do you guys know the saying,

practice makes perfect? Anybody ever heard that

old saying? No? Just me? I'm only... Okay. All

right. I must just be old, right? So practice

makes perfect, right? But I would like to say...

I would like to change the statement. Did anybody

read my email? That's okay if you didn't. I still

love you. I would like to change the statement

that says, practice makes permanence. Because

we don't need to be perfect followers of Jesus,

right? We need to be permanent followers of Jesus.

And that's what we're talking about today. Not

perfect followers of Jesus. Not practice makes

perfect. We'll be these perfect Christians. But

we will be permanent Christians. That our lives,

our roots will go down deep. And when the winds

come, when the rains come, we'll be able to stand

against those hard times, right? Because they

are going to come. right? But I want my life

to be established in the kingdom of God for my

kids, for my grandkids, for the kingdom of God

to come and his will to be done on earth as it

is in heaven forever and ever, right? And so

I just don't want me to, I just don't want to

be tossed and turned by every wave, right? I

want to have my roots to go down deep, and so

I have to practice. So most of this talk, I have

to confess, comes from the book I listened to

on Audible beginning last summer. So it's about

a year that I listened to this book. It's by

John Mark Comer, and it's entitled The Ruthless

Elimination of Hurry, which is his book is entitled

from a quote from Dallas Willard. If anybody

knows who Dallas Willard is, he was a theologian.

But what his life did, anybody that knew him

knew that he knew Jesus, right? Because he didn't

believe that we just had to read God's Word.

We have to do. what Jesus said, right? And so

the quote that John Mark Comer wrote the book

from, it says, hurry is the great enemy of the

spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly

eliminate hurry from your life. There is nothing

else. Let me read that again. Hurry is the great

enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must

ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. There

is nothing else. And when I listened to the book,

I had kind of come to a place in my life where

I felt like I was doing things for God, but I

was on this hamster wheel. I was so rushed and

I was so hurried and I was doing Christian life

and I was doing the church and we're doing ministry

and serving my family and serving in the community.

I felt like I was on this little wheel. And I

was so tired and I was angry and I was unkind.

Right? And I wanted to change. And so there's

a famous quote by Corrie Ten Boom. And Corrie

Ten Boom was a Holocaust survivor. And she also

helped Jewish people escape. She was a watchmaker.

If you haven't read her autobiography, it's a

beautiful story of how God used her family. But

her quote says, if the devil can't make us bad,

he will make us busy. If the devil can't make

us bad, he will make us busy. Because what I'm

talking about here isn't necessarily sin per

se, right? It's not like I went out and I was

like, okay, I'm going to go cheat on my husband

or I'm going to go and do these different things.

It was just I'm so busy that I'm angry, right?

I'm resentful. I don't enjoy life, right? And

so I decided to try a new journey. I decided

what I was doing wasn't working, and I wasn't

able to just quit and go off and just have a

midlife crisis, right? But I decided to practice.

I decided I would practice the presence of God

in my life. I would take what I was learning

in this book, and I would apply it to my life

little by little by little every day and see

what God would do, right? And so I'd like you

guys to go on this journey with me together,

and you can try it. Everybody's journey is a

little different. But I'm telling you, it worked

for me, and hopefully it'll work for you, and

it'll get you closer to who God wants you to

be and make you a little happier in your life.

So let's pray. Holy Spirit, come. Have your way.

God, this is your stage. God, this is your room.

This is your church. We're your people, God,

and we just ask that you would just speak to

us today, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So

the first step I did was to eliminate hurry.

The first step, and what John Comer practiced

in this book, is to eliminate hurry, right? John

13, 34, and 35 says, so now I'm giving you a

new commandment. Love each other just as I have

loved you. You should love each other. Your love

for one another will prove to the world that

you are my disciples. If we're followers of Jesus,

the only thing we can do for this world is give

them love, right? If we're not loving our neighbors,

if we're not loving our families, if we're not

loving those around us, what are we doing? What

are we doing here? The world says, no thanks.

I don't want an anxious Christian. I don't want

to do life like you. I don't want to be busy

like Jessica. I don't want to be mean. I don't

want to be in such a hurry. I can't have a conversation,

right? We need to be loved to the world, right?

And if we're called to be Christ followers, we

have to bring that love into the world. James

1, 19 through 22 says, understand this, my dear

brothers and sisters, you must be quick to listen,

slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger

does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your

lives and humbly accept the word that God has

planted in your hearts. For it has the power

to save your souls. But don't just listen to

God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise,

you're only fooling yourself. Do what the word

of God says. So the first thing we want to talk

about is Jesus never hurried, right? Jesus never

hurried. He was never busy. Here's an example

of this. Mark 5, 32 through 34, it says, but

he kept on looking around to see who done it.

The frightened woman trembled in realization

of what had happened to her, came and fell to

her knees in front of them and told him what

she had done. And he said to her, daughter, your

faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering

is over. Your suffering is over. So this is Jesus.

I didn't give you the whole context here, but

I will right now. So this is Jesus in the midst

of a crowd. He's out. He's busy. He's doing the

things that God wants him to do, right? And he's

going to heal someone else, right? But while

he's walking that way, a woman reaches out and

touches the hem of his garment. She's so desperate

for healing. She's so desperate to be seen. She's

been bleeding with an issue of blood. She's unclean

for years. And she reaches out, and her faith,

I need a miracle from God. I want to reach out,

and she touches Jesus, and he's not too hurried.

He understands what she wants, and he turns,

he finds her, and he says, woman, your faith

has made you well. He says to her, I see you.

I see your pain. I see what you're going through,

and you're important to me. I'm not too busy

for you. You're important to me. And so if Jesus

could be walking and he recognizes that this

woman needs him and he stops and he does what

he sees, he heals her, right? Just by touching

him, she's healed. And then he stops. He acknowledges

her, right? And then he goes on and he heals

again, right? But he was never hurried. He was

never in a rush. He stopped and saw her for who

she was. It's so important as Jesus followers

just to see people, like I see you people, like

to have a relationship with you, to talk to you.

We all just want to know that we're seen. We

want to know that God loves us and that we're

important and that we matter, right? And God

does see you. But we as Jesus followers need

to be that for other people, right? We need to

have those relationships where we're not in a

hurry so that we do sit down and see. what you're

going through. So for me, when I wanted to practice

this, I'm trying to think, okay, God, how do

I practice? We're going to stay back on the first

point. Sorry, I'm not ready to practice the second

point yet. So, oh, so it's not there. So, but

he was never hurried or busy. So for what it

means for me in my life is I took and I said,

okay, where am I hurried? Where am I busy? And

I said, the first thing I need to do is just

get in God's presence. So I just carved out time

in my day just to spend with God. just to be

seen by God, just to have that devotional time

again, just to be in his presence. And I had

let that time slip away. I had been doing my

devotionals, but they were quick, right? I had

been like, okay, check, check, check on the Bible

app, right? It was a list of things I was doing.

But I actually got up, and I spent time with

God, and I sat with him, and I was seen by him.

And I poured my heart out to him. And it took

time, it took practice, but gradually I started

to change again, to know how loved I was by him,

to know that my identity was with him, not with

what I was doing, not in the other things that

I needed, not in the people, not in my relationships,

but Father God saw me, right? Because Jesus was

never hurried or busy, and God wants to spend

time with you people. The second thing we are

going to talk about today is the practice of

silence and solitude. Now, I know some of you

guys, this is a little much. You're like, okay,

I don't really like to be alone with my thoughts.

I don't really like to do this. But we're going

to practice, okay? Luke 6, 12 says, One day,

soon afterwards, Jesus went up to the mountain

to pray. He prayed to God all night. Matthew

14, 23. After sending them home, he went up the

hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he

was there alone. So this is Jesus. Mark 1 .35

says, before daybreak the next morning, Jesus

got up and went to an isolated place to pray.

He practiced silence and solitude. Jesus spent

time with God. Now, if Jesus needed to spend

time with God in silence and solitude, I think

we do, right? I think it might be important for

us, right? One way that I did this in my life

to practice silence and solitude is I started

just turning off the radio, just started turning

off the noise. So even at my house, sometimes

I'd be listening to worship music or I'd put

on an audible book like you heard I like to do,

and so I would just stop and just not put anything

on at all, not listen to anything, just be present

with myself and with my thoughts, what was going

on, right? And I started to gradually get more

comfortable with silence and solitude. I actually

enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed collecting my

thoughts and not being so scattered and not acting

out of the next thing, right? And so it just

takes time. It takes practice, right? So Moses...

Moses, does anybody know the story of Moses?

You hear the famous story of Moses who led the

people out of Egypt, right? And he did all these

great things for God, right? Well, Moses didn't

know his identity for half of his life, right?

He was raised by the Egyptians as royalty, right?

And he was Hebrew. And so when he saw the Egyptians

beating and beating, and beating his people,

when he saw the injustice being performed, he

reached out and he killed the Egyptian out of

anger. That righteousness was planted in his

heart by God, but that anger wasn't good, right?

The anger wasn't good, but God took him away

to silence and solitude to figure out who he

was so that he could use that righteousness that

he felt to free his people to do it God's way.

Sometimes we have these agendas where we see

something and we get angry, right? And we want

to go and fight and do the stuff, right? But

God's saying, wait, let me show you who you are

first and then do it my way. Moses, when he was

in, when God took him away to silence and solitude,

he was in the wilderness and he was walking.

Silence and solitude, not paying attention to

everything. He saw the bush and he turned and

he noticed it. And he saw that the bush wasn't

burning up, right? And he said, that's odd. Why

wouldn't the bush burn up? He just noticed things

in nature. God was using him. And it said when

God, when he turned and saw that the bush wasn't

burning up, then God spoke, right? It took Moses

being in a place of silence and solitude for

God. God was trying to speak, right? And then

when he turned, God spoke. Sometimes we're so

busy in our lives, we don't notice the things

that God's trying to tell us, right? We're just

so focused on, I almost feel like sometimes I'm

a horse with blinders on. You know, I'm just

focused on what's next on my schedule. I don't

see what God's doing around me, right? But Moses

noticed what God's doing, and then notice, God

told Moses who he was. God told Moses, you are

my child. I have called you to save your people.

You are going to pull people out of Egypt, right?

You are going to free your people. And Moses

was like, who, me? That's not who I am. And God

said, yes, that's who you are. Some of you today

do not know who you are. You're not who your

parents said you are. You're not who your friends

say you are. You're not what social media says

you are. You're not what the society tells you

you are. You are who God says you are. And God

says, you're valuable. You're worth my time.

I have a plan and I have a purpose for your life,

but you have to know who you are and your authority

and me first because I'm going to do the work

through you. I'm going to do the work through

you. Moses was like, how is this going to happen,

God? Trust me, God says. Trust me. I don't know

how God's done everything in my life, but I have

to trust him, right? And so when we know who

we are, when we spend the time with silence and

solitude with God, we can trust that he's going

to do the work in our lives. Because we know

it's not about us. It's about God. And then God

brings people into Moses' life to help him, and

he just continues to have that time with God,

and he continues to have times of silence and

solitude while he's a leader. Silence and solitude

is so important in our lives. Just start by little

steps. The next thing I'm going to tell you today

is to practice Sabbath. To practice Sabbath.

We read Genesis 2, 2 through 3. It says, on the

seventh day, God had finished his work of creation,

so he rested from all his work. And God blessed

the seventh day and declared it holy because

it was the day that he rested from all his work.

All the work of creation, God rested. So if God

rests, do we not think we need to rest? Forrest

Frank, one of my singers I like right now, he

has a song that says, even God takes breaks.

Even God takes breaks, people. We need a break.

We need a time out, right? We need to know that

it's okay to rest. Rest is a gift from God. We

are actually, in the Old Testament, God commanded

his people to rest. Exodus 31 through 13 says,

tell the people of Israel, be careful to keep

my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath day is a sign

of the covenant between me and you from generation

to generation. It is given to you. so you may

know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. God

gave us a gift of Sabbath, of rest. Mark 2, 27,

then this is the New Testament. Jesus said to

them, the Sabbath was made to meet the needs

of the people and not people to meet the requirements

of the Sabbath. right? The Sabbath is God's gift

to us. He doesn't care how we take it and what

we do with it, but he knows we need it, right?

If God needs rest, we all need rest, right? And

so Psalms 23 says, he lets me rest in green meadows.

He leads me beside peaceful streams. There he

renews my strength. And so how I practice this

in my life is I decided, you know, we work on

Sundays for church. We take Mondays off, which

is supposed to be our Sabbath day, but we choose

to work on Mondays too. So we decide to do our

laundry, cut the grass, go and plan our week,

do all those kind of things, right? So we've

packed our Sabbath into all this stuff that needs

to get done, right? And those things are important.

So what I did is I prayed and I go, God, how

can I have Sabbath in my life? How are there

times of rest? So I practice, okay, Saturdays.

So we've taken like half a day on Saturday or

I've done different things here or there just

to have some times of rest where we don't have

anything on our schedule. Where I can just enjoy

my family or I can take a walk with my dogs,

right? I can look up, we were taking a walk with

our dogs yesterday and we saw that in the woods,

we saw the daffodils blooming, right? It's beautiful

just to get out in God's creation on a day of

Sabbath. You know, even if it's just a few hours,

practice it. Practice it. See how you feel. Notice

how you feel the next day after your Sabbath,

right? The fourth step, or the fourth thing I

did, it was practice simplicity. Practice simplicity.

Matthew 6 .33 says, Seek the kingdom of God.

above all else, and live righteously, and he

will give you everything you need. God will give

you everything you need. God will give you everything

you need, right? Not everything you want, right?

But everything you need. Mark 6, 8 through 10

says he told them to take nothing for their journey

except a walking stick, no food, no traveler's

bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals

but not to take a change of clothes. So Jesus,

this is when Jesus is telling his disciples to

go out and preach the good news, right? He said,

you don't need anything. You just need my good

news and you need these simple things, right?

We've complicated it so much, people. Jesus says,

you don't need much. right? If you have the kingdom

of God, we are living in an age that everybody

has just way too much stuff, right? We went over

to Kenya in the spring, and just to see those

families and what they had was humbling, right?

At first, I'm like, oh man, I have so much stuff.

and then a widow let us come into her home, and

she had five kids, and they each had a bed, and

they had concrete floors, and they had a picture

on their wall. It's just so ironic to me how

much I spend time making my house nice and decorating

my home, and her home was clean, but she had

one of those pictures from an auto place where

you get where it's a calendar and a picture together,

and that was her artwork on her wall, and then

a picture of the matriarch of the family, and

that's it, right? And she had curtains in between

the rooms. But they were living, and they were

thriving, and they were smiling, and they loved

Jesus, and their life was fine, right? It was

simple. Sometimes we overcomplicate things. I

have in my house, how many pairs of shoes do

you think I have in my house? I have six kids,

and I have Chris, and you have me. So we have

probably, each of us probably, I'm not underestimating,

probably have ten pairs of shoes, right? That's

like 80 pairs of shoes alone in my house, one

pair of house, and one house. And so what I did,

oh, and then Phoenix has a lot of toys, so we'll

talk about that later. So what I did is I was

like, okay, God, what do I need? And so I just

started going through my home, and I just, all

my days of rest, I just simplified, okay, I'm

going to get rid of this stuff and this clutter

because I can't take care of it. It becomes where

I have to spend days and days cleaning and taking

care of the things that I have. And so I'm like,

what's important to me and what's not? And so

I've been able to give away so much. But just

practice going through my closet, getting rid

of this, getting rid of that. You don't need

that much. Because when I live simply, I'm able

to breathe. I don't have as much laundry to do.

Sometimes I even take off my clothes. I go and

I work out, and then I put my clothes back on.

I used to change my outfit like three or four

times a day. No lie. Because you get up, you

put your pajamas on. And then you get up, and

then you put your workout clothes on. Then you

change your workout clothes. You jump in the

shower, you put the next clothes on for work.

Then I put on clothes for later in the evening.

And then I change again. I'm like, I'm just wearing

all these different clothes, right? And so for

me, in my life, it was simplifying what we have

in our home. And even our son, Phoenix, it's

funny, last week, I got to spend the whole week

with Phoenix, me and him alone. So Chris went

down and spent time with his daughters in Florida

and Boca. So he hung out with them, and so it

was me and Phoenix. And so I'm trying to practice

patience, so we'll talk about this later, but

I'm like, Phoenix, let's pick up our room. And

I've just said, he has so many toys. He can't

keep track of all the ones he has, right? And

so it's like almost impossible for him to focus

and put his toys away. So finally, after two

hours of him trying to clean up four toys in

his room, I just picked the trash bag up. I said,

obviously this isn't important. And I put him

in the trash bag and I said, okay, we don't really

need these because you can't pick them up anyway.

And he said, yeah, I don't need them. He calls

his dad. His dad goes, oh, I heard you had some

toys thrown away. He goes, yeah, it was good.

I got my room cleaned up and I didn't even need

them. those toys anyway because I got plenty

you know what I mean so it's like it's so impossible

for him to clean up all the toys he has right

because we have so much stuff we don't even know

what's important to us or valuable so trying

to practice simplicity of our life Jesus said

beware this is Luke 12 15 it says guard against

every kind of greed life is not measured by how

much you own Life is not measured by how much

you own. So, you know, I love audio books. I've

already confessed my sin to you. So I was going

to get Chris at the airport on Friday, and I

downloaded The Psychology of Money. I don't know

if anybody's heard that book. But they talk about

how people acquire all this wealth, you know,

from the stock markets. I know nothing about

this. I'm just trying to learn this stuff. The

psychology, like people that have been raised

poor and have gained all this wealth and just

lost it because they've been greedy. They were

like, they had millions and millions and millions

of dollars and they weren't satisfied, so they

decided to cheat and then they end up in jail,

right? Or they take these risky investments,

you know, because what happens is the stock market,

what I'm learning is investments over time work,

just like practice. So you need to know, like,

if you're going to invest, it's going to... make

results for you over time. It multiplies over

time. So if you get scared and you need your

money to work for you super fast, right, and

you take your money out, you could lose a lot

of money. So you just need to know that your

investments are going to work over like a 30

-year period, not over a two -year period. So

what people do that are successful is they start

investing early and they know that their investments

are going to take time. And so that's what we're

talking about when we're talking about practicing

the spiritual disciplines in our life. It's going

to take time to build wealth. right? It doesn't

come overnight. And they also talked about in

this book how many, and they said nobody's crazy,

which I would argue everybody's crazy in the

book. I always say everybody's crazy. He said

nobody's crazy, but that's another way to say

it. But he said everybody is in their own, their

minds, right? We do things because of what is

in our heart, right? And so he talks about the

millions of people who buy the lottery ticket.

And he said, you're not crazy if you buy a lottery

ticket and you're one of the people that can't

even afford to pay your bills, right? Because

you think, okay, this is a chance. I'm taking

a chance that I can pay my bills tomorrow, right?

Right? So it's only a dollar and I'm making an

investment. I might pay my bills tomorrow, right?

So in our minds, we think it's a good choice,

right? Because of what you've experienced in

your life. The things we do in our life are because

of the things we've experienced, the situations

we've been in. And so what we have to do is we

have to retrain our brain to say, I have all

I need. I'm not poor. I am rich in the kingdom

of God. God, show me how to invest my money wisely.

God, show me what to do with this. What is important

to me? What's important to my family? If you

feel like you have greed, ask God, why? Why do

I need all this stuff? If you're overeating,

if you're like, okay, I've got to get the next

thing. Donuts just look so good, you guys. We

had these guys come in and cut our trees yesterday,

and I told Chris, I know they're bad for me,

but they just look so pretty. I'm just like Eve,

like the apple that's up in the street. I'm like,

I know why she ate it. Things are just presented

to us in these such packages. They're marketed

so well that we're like, we've got to eat that,

right? But it says, Jesus is the bread of life.

We don't need the donut, right? But our minds

are telling us we need the donut, right? When

we feel like we're hungry, why am I eating this,

God, right? Why am I making this choice? Am I

hungry for you? Have I spent time with you, God?

Do I know who I am in you? Did I just have a

situation come up that was stressful? Did I have

to look at my money and then I just bought a

donut instead because it's not going to work

out anyway, right? So we have to ask God, why

is it that I overspend or I overbuy? What's it

doing to me? Psalms 23 .1 says, the Lord is my

shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I have all

that I need. I have all that I need. Fifth thing

I did is I practiced slowing down and meditating.

Slowing down. So I have slowing and meditating

on the outline. Slowing and meditating. Proverbs

19 .2 says, Enthusiasm without knowledge is no

good. Haste makes mistakes. Ecclesiastes 3 .11

says, Yet God has made everything beautiful in

its own time. He has planted eternity in the

human heart. But even so, people cannot see the

whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

You know, roots take time to grow deep in the

soil. If I took a seed right now and put it in

the ground, it's not going to produce roots for

a long time, and we've got to water it, right?

And we've got to add sunlight and soil, and we've

got to keep caring for it so our roots go down

deep. It takes time. We can't see all the things

God's going to do in our life. We can only see

this moment in time, right? And so when we grow

our roots down deep, right? And when we take

time, when we make choices, we're not going to

make mistakes, right? There's so many times that

I've made quick decisions, right? And then later

been like, oh, hindsight is 20 -20, right? Right?

Hindsight is 20 -20. So one of the things that

John Mark Comer says to practice in the book

is if you want to practice slowing down, practice

doing things like getting in the longest line

at the grocery store. Right? So I tried to get

Chris to practice this. He was not a fan of it.

He said, no, Jessica, I will not do that with

you. And I was like, okay, that's fine. I will

do it when I'm not with you. So I tried. I've

tried several times to be able to practice standing

in the long line at the grocery store. I do have

a five -year -old who runs away a lot, though,

so I kept running back and forth while I'm in

line. So just practice those things. And then

I practiced getting in the slow lane of traffic

and just going slow. Have you guys ever practiced

going slow? It's very interesting. Apparently

the fast lane is the slow lane, which drives

Chris absolutely nuts. And it does drive me nuts

when I'm trying to get to the airport on time.

So yesterday I realized, I'm like, okay, so this

morning before church, I'm driving up here and

somebody's going like 25, like those Sunday drivers,

don't they know that I have to get to church,

right? And I was like, God, I was like, you're

so funny, God. You are so funny. You want me

to slow down and practice slowing down because

I'm going to be talking about it today, right?

So it's not a one thing. So things that would

take time. Practice cooking a meal from scratch.

Practice cooking together as a family. I know

that's one thing I love to do is just to take

fresh whole foods and just have your kids cut

up the vegetables while you're putting worship

music on and just make cooking a family affair

because when you cook together, good things take

time, right? Good food tastes better. If you're

opening something out of a package, and I'm not

saying, just sometimes. We're going to start

with one night a week that we make a dinner.

I can't say it. Obviously, I need a meal. We

will start with one night a week that we cook

together as a family. Maybe it'll be on our Sabbath.

Maybe it'll be Sundays. Or maybe it'll be Tuesday

nights because nobody has a game that night.

And so just practice it. See how you feel. See

what works. See what doesn't work. See how you

feel. And just see if you like it or if you don't,

and then switch it. It's no big deal. It's practice.

See, you don't have to be perfect. So what we're

going to do right now is we're going to practice

together slowing down, and we're going to practice

meditating on God's word. So meditating is a

new word, right? No, it's not a new word. God

told us to meditate. David said meditate on the

word of God, right? And so it's a thing that

Jesus and God's told us to do. And in the church,

we've gotten so busy, we've stopped to say, hey,

you guys need to meditate on scripture, right?

And so what we do when we meditate is we take

the scripture and we say, what is this really

saying? What is this saying to me right now?

And what does God want to say in his words, right?

Because if God has given us... The word of God,

and it's alive and active and sharper than any

two -edged sword, it should be able to do something

in your life, right? So we're going to practice

slowing down and meditating on the scripture.

And what I want you guys to do is I'm going to

read it so you guys can get in a comfortable

position. I know you're sitting down already,

but you can open your hands or you can close

your eyes or you can stare at my beautiful hair,

whatever you want to do. My nice shirt that Lisa

got me. Okay, so you can just practice and just

get in a comfortable position. and just be willing

to receive from God, okay? You don't have to

do anything. Isn't this great? So take a deep

breath in. Let it out. Deep breath in. Let it

out. As you breathe in, just think about breathing

in God's presence and holding it as you breathe

out. Think about blowing out everything that's

weighing you down. Everything you don't want,

just... Don't blow too hard. You don't want to

blow your neighbor away, but... Yes, blow out

all the things that are holding you back right

now, all the things on your mind. And we're just

going to get in a sacred space with God. And

you guys can do this anywhere, at any time. So,

I'm going to read Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd.

I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green

meadows. He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength. He guides me along right

paths. bringing honor to his name. Even when

I walk through the darkest valley, I will not

be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your

rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You

prepare a feast for me in the presence of my

enemies. You honor me. By anointing my head with

oil, my cup overflows with blessings. Surely

the goodness of the Lord, your goodness and unfailing

love will pursue me all the days of my life.

And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen. Amen. So notice, when I read that, What

words stood out to you? What phrases stood out

to you? Maybe those are something that you're

asking from God right now. Will you be my shepherd?

Do I have rest? Are you protecting me from my

enemies? Am I at your table, God? And what we

would do if we were in another place, we would

just read that scripture again. And we'd see

what God's saying again, right? And you just

write out, like, what are you doing with this

here, God? And you'd notice, right? And that's

what it's like to meditate on God's word. Super

simple, super easy, but it takes a few minutes,

right? I've noticed in my day lately, I've been,

what I do is I get frazzled by the middle of

the day. And so what I've been doing in the middle

of the day is saying, okay, I need a minute.

And so when I go out, instead of getting on my

cell phone or instead of turning on a song or

instead of doing something, I just stop and I

pause and say, God, I give you my frazzled day.

God, I give you my anger and my frustration at

my child for not listening. God, I give you my

schedule because I don't know how it's going

to work. And God, it says in your word that a

righteous woman's steps are ordered to the Lord.

And so God, you order my steps this afternoon.

May I walk in your peace. May I walk in your

love. May I walk with you. Because all we can

do is give Jesus to the world. All we can do

is be a non -hurried presence in a world full

of anxiety, right? And when we're non -hurried

and we're present with people, they can experience

the love of God. Romans 12 says, here's what

I want you to do. God helping you. Take your

everyday, ordinary life. You're sleeping, you're

eating, you're going to work, you're walking

around life, and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing

you can do for him. Don't become so well adjusted

to your culture that you fit into it without

even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on

God, and you'll be changed from the inside out.

readily recognize what he wants from you and

quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around

you, always dragging you down to its level of

immaturity, God brings out the best in you. And

develops well -formed maturity in you. And that's

what we want, people. We want you to know Jesus.

We want you to know his love. But we want you

to be mature Christians that you know that you

know that you know. When those storms come, that

God is here and he's in control. And your roots

are growing down deep. Right? And some of you

right now might not know this love I'm talking

about. Might not know what Jesus is all about.

To me, I've sold a pretty good product today,

right? Who doesn't want peace? Who doesn't want

joy? Who doesn't want love in their life, right?

And if the way you're doing it isn't working,

I invite you into God's presence today. Can we

all pray together this salvation prayer that

I feel like we need every day, but you can choose

to pray it or not, right? So we're going to just

invite the Holy Spirit to come. So come, Jesus,

come. Come, Holy Spirit. God, I'm broken, full

of doubt, regret, shame, fear. Change me. I believe

you're God's son. I believe you love me, you

came for me, you died for me to set me free.

I give to you. All my burdens. All my distractions.

All my needs. Be present with me. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. You know, this week, when I was walking

around this week, I just realized, do you know

how much Jesus loves God? Have you ever thought

about that before? Sometimes I think about God

and I'm like, God, why did you send Jesus to

die? Why did you send your son to die? Because

I have three sons and I just couldn't do that.

I think, oh my gosh, I couldn't do that. But

Jesus chose to come because he loved God so much.

He knew how good his father was and how much

God wanted to have a relationship with each and

every one of you that he chose to die. He chose

to come to earth. and live a humble life because

he loved God so much. And so to me, that's a

good, good father, right? That's a father I want

to serve, somebody that I love so much. I'm willing

to lay down my life and die for him every day

because he loves me so much. So just something,

just an extra bonus. So right now, you guys,

we have some prayer. And so if this message spoke

to you, if you need extra prayer, I'd like you

to come and get prayer on the side. We also have

some words of knowledge. Here at the Vineyard,

we believe that God is here in this room. God

has shown up because we're here. And there's

times for miracles. There's times for healings.

And so we have some words of knowledge. If you

have pain in your tailbone, issues with breathing,

your ribs hurt, you have a hearing loss, Or if

people are using hearing aids and want some more

healing. Issues with watery eyes, right hip pain,

or neck pain. Sorry, one more. Left leg pain

that has some sort of infection. We want you

to come to the front and get prayer. But if you

need prayer for anything else, just come to the

front. So can I have everybody stand? I'm going

to ask you to do one more thing, right? Before

you leave, right now, I just would ask you to

just high -five or hug somebody and just say,

I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here

today. I'm so glad you're here today. I'm so

glad you're here today. Right? You guys go Sabbath.

Have a great week. We're going to be finishing

the message next week. Chris has a great follow

-up. Oh, pour it out.