What Are You Seeking?

[SPEAKER_05]: God, we thank you for another year.

[SPEAKER_05]: We thank you for your grace in our failures.

[SPEAKER_05]: We thank you for your strength and our weakness.

[SPEAKER_05]: And we thank you for your goodness in every season.

[SPEAKER_05]: As we look back on this year, we see your hand over it all.

[SPEAKER_05]: We see your mercy, your goodness, and your power.

[SPEAKER_05]: We cherish the memories we've made and the lessons we've learned.

[SPEAKER_05]: And we look with faith, anticipation, and expectation toward another year.

[SPEAKER_05]: May this be a year of hoping, believing, and rejoicing, a year of helping others in the mighty name of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_05]: A year of learning your word, your will, in your ways, the year of growing.

[SPEAKER_05]: like a tree planted by streams of water, a year of brain casting our cares upon you, a year of waiting, knowing that your timing is always best, a year of trusting in your promises and in your faithfulness, and may this be a year of overcoming, because even in the darkness, the light shines.

[SPEAKER_05]: Whatever we face this year, we know we'll never have to face it alone because you're always with us and for us in Jesus' name, Amen.

[SPEAKER_03]: I hope you guys all had a wonderful Christmas like Adam said, my name is Martin, and I am the tech and communications director here, and I absolutely love it.

[SPEAKER_03]: So, it's pretty common for us this time of year to set really ambitious goals for ourselves.

[SPEAKER_03]: Like, I'm gonna work out every day.

[SPEAKER_03]: Or I'm going to go on more vacations this year.

[SPEAKER_03]: Well, I'm going to save more money this year, which I can't do that if I'm going on vacation more.

[SPEAKER_03]: Or I want to organize my house in my life, or maybe it's just quit that bad habit that I have.

[SPEAKER_03]: Of these goals, how many of you have set something similar for yourself this year?

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah?

[SPEAKER_03]: These are not bad goals by any means, but they are the most common goals.

[SPEAKER_03]: So I wanna challenge you this morning to think about the goals that you have set and ask yourself this question.

[SPEAKER_03]: What are you seeking?

[SPEAKER_03]: I wanna start off by building a salad foundation for the year and read Matthew 633.

[SPEAKER_03]: Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live right justly and he will give you everything you need.

[SPEAKER_03]: I'm gonna focus on the first half of this verse a little bit because in studying for this message, I realize that this needs to be my new year's resolution to seek first the kingdom of God.

[SPEAKER_03]: Seek God first in everything that I do.

[SPEAKER_03]: So what does that mean?

[SPEAKER_03]: Now I have never studied Greek and I am all power to the people who have, but I wanted to know exactly what was being said in this verse.

[SPEAKER_03]: So let me start by breaking down the very first word and that word is seek.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is typically what us guys do when our wives ask us to get something out of the fridge, or when we're trying to find our keys and because we didn't put them in the basket by the door.

[SPEAKER_03]: We read this verse as if we're looking for something that's lost, but that's not what Jesus is saying here.

[SPEAKER_03]: The Greek word used is Zateo, and it means to deliberately strive and desire something as an act of will.

[SPEAKER_03]: When was something important enough to you to strive after it with everything you had?

[SPEAKER_03]: Jesus emphasizes the importance of this again in Matthew 1345 and 46, when he says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls.

[SPEAKER_03]: When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is how Jesus is expecting us to respond, whenever we hear or read Matthew 633.

[SPEAKER_03]: Give up everything and strive after Him.

[SPEAKER_03]: The other part of this verse that I want to point out is above all else.

[SPEAKER_03]: The word used here is proton.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's a word that means first, but in context of the verse, it means first and priority.

[SPEAKER_03]: It tells Greek scholars that Jesus is talking about something we are making first and priority, not just first and order.

[SPEAKER_03]: Jesus isn't just saying, make a list and put me at the top,

[SPEAKER_03]: I want to be the paper that your list is on, and also the thing at the top of your list.

[SPEAKER_03]: Seeking the kingdom of God is needs to be both a foundation for your life and the main focus of your life.

[SPEAKER_03]: An example of striving after one thing above all else comes from one of my favorite shows called a loan.

[SPEAKER_03]: It is a wilderness survival show that puts 10 survivalists competing against each other in trying to live the longest off the least.

[SPEAKER_03]: They have a very specific set of items that they can bring.

[SPEAKER_03]: Here are all the prohibited items or a very condensed version of them.

[SPEAKER_03]: And you have 10 items that you can pick from, a tarp, some fishing hooks, some fish in line, maybe a few pieces of rope, or something like that, an axe.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's basically, here's 10 items live as uncomfortable as possible for as long as you can.

[SPEAKER_03]: And the first and only 100 day winner

[SPEAKER_03]: He built this in this insane shelter called Rockhouse.

[SPEAKER_03]: Now, this doesn't look like much, but some of the rocks and logs that are in there weigh over 200 pounds.

[SPEAKER_03]: Now, he talked in a few post interviews about how finding that shelter in building was his top priority.

[SPEAKER_03]: And that became very apparent when he started building rockhouse because he prioritized this one thing so much that he was able to kind of live comfortably after 25 days and just everything else fell into place.

[SPEAKER_03]: That was his highest priority building that shelter and everything else fell into place.

[SPEAKER_03]: Seeking the kingdom of God should be similar to that.

[SPEAKER_03]: Now, disfending a hundred days alone, isolated, living super uncomfortable, sound good, anybody else, or just me.

[SPEAKER_03]: My wife tells me I've packed too many clothes on vacation, so I'm not going to make the list for this.

[SPEAKER_03]: Not the lack of survival skills or training that is necessary.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's only the packing.

[SPEAKER_03]: our lives are busy and usually stretch pretty thin day to day.

[SPEAKER_03]: And so looking at our lives, we could probably find a few things that we prioritize over God.

[SPEAKER_03]: And I want you to think about your calendars as I bring up a picture of mine.

[SPEAKER_03]: And think about where in this schedule, do you have time for God?

[SPEAKER_03]: This isn't a picture to show you, hey, it's okay to be busy.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's not justifying the busy lifestyle.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's truly to ask that question, where do you have time for God?

[SPEAKER_03]: Two years ago,

[SPEAKER_03]: the calendar looking similar, I had a section that just said read Bible.

[SPEAKER_03]: It was to remind myself to allow God into my day.

[SPEAKER_03]: It was to give God permission to be a part of my day.

[SPEAKER_03]: The amount of times that I actually did that was probably about 20% if I am being very generous to myself.

[SPEAKER_03]: I wasn't pursuing the relationship with him.

[SPEAKER_03]: And so because of that, it caused me higher anxiety, higher stress, and it was all over the little things.

[SPEAKER_03]: And again, it was because I wasn't pursuing the relationship with him.

[SPEAKER_03]: We've all been there, right?

[SPEAKER_03]: Some of us may even be there right now.

[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe you're feeling like you're just going through the motions of your Christian walk with Christ.

[SPEAKER_03]: You may be feeling like I just gave up this huge thing and made this huge life change and it was supposed to be the one thing that makes me happy, but it's not, and you don't understand why.

[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe what you're feeling there is the Holy Spirit convicting you of the sins that you have.

[SPEAKER_03]: And it's a Holy Spirit trying to build a bridge back between you and God that you have put between mentally and emotionally.

[SPEAKER_03]: So I'm going to ask that question again and again.

[SPEAKER_03]: But before I do that, Luke 6 says, so why do you keep calling me Lord Lord when you don't do what I say?

[SPEAKER_03]: This is not a rhetorical question.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is a challenge.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is a challenge to repent, to actually give up everything, give God your sin, give Him your pain, give Him the brokenness, let Him be in charge of everything, let Him be your foundation.

[SPEAKER_03]: We have the answer right here.

[SPEAKER_03]: answer over and over and over again.

[SPEAKER_03]: So again, what are you seeking?

[SPEAKER_03]: Luke 647 says, I will show you what it looks like when someone comes to me, listens to my teachings and follows it.

[SPEAKER_03]: What he's stressed so much about filling our calendars with the most or having the nicest clothes and the nicest house or whatever it is, those things are not what we should be building our shelter in or comfort or peace.

[SPEAKER_03]: That should be God.

[SPEAKER_03]: God should be that foundation for what we are building our life on.

[SPEAKER_03]: He gave it to you, so why are you adding him to your calendar like an appointment or a medication reminder when he should be that foundation?

[SPEAKER_03]: Matthew 626 says, look at the birds.

[SPEAKER_03]: They don't plan or harvest or store food and barns for your Heavenly Father feeds them and aren't they far more valuable to him than they are?

[SPEAKER_03]: What you do and who you do it for matters more to God because if you're doing it for him, he's gonna give it to you.

[SPEAKER_03]: Philippians 4, 6 and 7 says, don't worry about anything instead pray about everything.

[SPEAKER_03]: To God what you need and thank Him for all He is done.

[SPEAKER_03]: Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

[SPEAKER_03]: His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ, Jesus.

[SPEAKER_03]: Let me reread Matthew 6, 33 again.

[SPEAKER_03]: knowing what we know now.

[SPEAKER_03]: Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live right to sleep.

[SPEAKER_03]: And he will give you everything.

[SPEAKER_03]: I was talking about the fruits of the Spirit here.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is not just, I'm going to give you exactly what you want because you just want it.

[SPEAKER_03]: He's talking about the fruits of the Spirit's, and it's everything that you need.

[SPEAKER_03]: So let's look at those goals that we set for ourselves in a new light, giving God the lead in that.

[SPEAKER_03]: But I'm gonna summarize it down to three.

[SPEAKER_03]: The first one, God, we help me to honor you through how I treat myself both mentally and physically this year.

[SPEAKER_03]: to God help me to find more rest in you as I do what you have called me to do.

[SPEAKER_03]: And three, God help me to be a better steward of my finances and my home in a way that is honoring to you.

[SPEAKER_03]: My challenge to you this morning is to reevaluate your goals this week.

[SPEAKER_03]: and ask God to reveal to you what you are seeking instead of him.

[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe he will answer it, maybe he won't.

[SPEAKER_03]: But if he does, I can almost guarantee that it's not gonna be something easy to give up.

[SPEAKER_03]: Let me be clear at the end as I summarize,

[SPEAKER_03]: is not without trials.

[SPEAKER_03]: There will be temptation, and a lot of New Year's resolutions, and a lot of failed ones along the way, but living with God as your one true priority, will give you a peace that allows you to have clarity in our sinful and broken world.

[SPEAKER_03]: want to pray as Adam and a few others come up and talk about how we can practically do this starting today and maybe we'll get to hear a little bit about how they apply it to their lives.

[SPEAKER_03]: Let's pray.

[SPEAKER_03]: Heavenly Father, thank you for this morning.

[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you for your peace.

[SPEAKER_03]: Lift up this new year and ask that you be our foundation in everything that we do.

[SPEAKER_03]: Be our true desire this year as we take a look into what's coming and how we can apply what you have said to our lives.

[SPEAKER_03]: What do we love you, and we thank you.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's in your mind, isn't it?

[SPEAKER_06]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you so much, Marty.

[SPEAKER_06]: I, it is now my privilege introduced you to our distinguished panel.

[SPEAKER_06]: And we'll start on the end with Andrew Miller.

[SPEAKER_06]: He is our pastor over service planning and worship ministries.

[SPEAKER_06]: Then we get to Pastor Jeff, the newest pastor of the crew over our groups ministries and all of that involves or all the adult ministries.

[SPEAKER_06]: And then we get to Pastor Barrett, who is very distinguished.

[SPEAKER_06]: And he is our junior high pastor and then we get to not Pastor Jenny, but wife Jenny, who is my wife.

[SPEAKER_06]: Yes, also very distinguished.

[SPEAKER_00]: You start calling me that wife, too.

[SPEAKER_06]: wife Jenny, yes, sister Jenny.

[SPEAKER_06]: And she will be the first lady as it were.

[SPEAKER_06]: She got it, I don't know, I don't know.

[SPEAKER_06]: We just, we just hit a button right there.

[SPEAKER_06]: I'm gonna pay for that later.

[SPEAKER_06]: All of our guests have some great thoughts to share with you that follow up on Marty's message today.

[SPEAKER_06]: So we're gonna dive into some questions and get into some wisdom that hopefully you can relate to and take away with you as we think about planning for the new year.

[SPEAKER_06]: So I will start with a question about something Marty mentioned, which is that at one point he kind of viewed time with God as a medication, to be taken at times when it was needed something to fix a bad day, rather than looking at God in our relationship with God as the foundation for what we are doing that day.

[SPEAKER_06]: So my question for you is can you describe a season where you realize that you were just sort of adding God into your day, sort of like as needed, rather than building your life around him?

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I can take that one.

[SPEAKER_04]: So ironically it happened for me in a time and a season where there were a lot of blessings in life about eight years ago.

[SPEAKER_04]: My family and I just went through an incredibly good season.

[SPEAKER_04]: We had our first son.

[SPEAKER_04]: Work was going well.

[SPEAKER_04]: Family, personally, we were all doing great.

[SPEAKER_04]: And what's always started to happen for me is good gifts from God.

[SPEAKER_04]: Gradually began to replace God and become twisted into idols.

[SPEAKER_04]: The gifts of God became more important than God.

[SPEAKER_04]: And in addition to sort of seeking medication from God, I began to treat him honestly just kind of like a delivery system for all kinds of things that would help my heart to feel good.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I'm looking back at that.

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm like, wow, how could I have treated like,

[SPEAKER_04]: God, who's so holy and glorious and powerful.

[SPEAKER_04]: He's so much more than that, so much bigger than that.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it's a call back to what Barrett shared last week with the prodigal sons, where both sons, one of the things of God, more than the things of the Father, more than the Father himself.

[SPEAKER_04]: And that's something I really,

[SPEAKER_04]: struggle with.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it felt really hollow.

[SPEAKER_04]: It felt empty.

[SPEAKER_04]: I think for those who around me in my life, I felt very needy and very demanding to be honest because I was looking to them and to other things to to fill something in my heart that only God.

[SPEAKER_04]: could fill.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it was actually a season of waiting and confusion and some suffering that God used to kind of open my eyes to that.

[SPEAKER_04]: I think when we suffer, we see things more clearly.

[SPEAKER_04]: Don't we?

[SPEAKER_04]: God can use seasons of struggle to open our eyes, to things that are true about the world and true about us, and God just made it very clear to me.

[SPEAKER_04]: Andrew,

[SPEAKER_04]: you are seeking what you can get from me more than you are actually seeking me.

[SPEAKER_04]: And so in prayer, I need to spend some time repenting of that.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I think something that can help when we do find our heart motivation and what we're trying to get from God becoming more important than God, just going to God and prayer and God in the sense forced me there because it was a tough season.

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't think I would have gone there and in myself, but God let me to him and prayer.

[SPEAKER_04]: And he was just able to show me where my heart was off and to kind of help me revamp.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it's, I think it's tricky and it's nuanced.

[SPEAKER_04]: I loved Martin's point so much about making God a medication more than a foundation.

[SPEAKER_04]: because I think it's really profound.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's not wrong to seek the blessings or the benefits of God.

[SPEAKER_04]: And in fact, the Bible writes frequently about that it's good to receive those.

[SPEAKER_04]: But when they become more important than God, there's something that is God out of alignment in our hearts.

[SPEAKER_04]: And for this little section, just wanted to kind of close my thought.

[SPEAKER_04]: with a short verse, David and the Psalms wrote often about the blessings of God and how good they are.

[SPEAKER_04]: And in Psalm 27 he says this, the one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most, the thing I seek most is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his temple.

[SPEAKER_04]: And so God Himself was first.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I think that's a good heart check for me and just for all of us as we head into this new year.

[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, that's really good.

[SPEAKER_06]: What are some ways that we can ensure that God is a foundation and not a medication?

[SPEAKER_06]: I think Marty mentioned God not being the items on the checklist, but the page.

[SPEAKER_06]: Did he talk about that in this one?

[SPEAKER_06]: I think he was going to, sorry, I was talking with Barrett about our young adult ministry 141, starting in February 5th.

[SPEAKER_06]: There you go.

[SPEAKER_06]: There's a promo.

[SPEAKER_06]: He's a distinguished after all, but I love that concept of okay, he's not the items on the checklist.

[SPEAKER_06]: He is the page.

[SPEAKER_06]: He is infused in everything that we are doing.

[SPEAKER_06]: So what are some ways that you've made that transition anybody from okay, God's an item on the checklist to know he's actually infused into everything I'm doing.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I can add a prayer for me when when I really first understood, pray without ceasing, what that meant to me is the best analogy I've ever thought of for it is rather than it being a phone call with God, where I say, dear Lord, blah, blah, amen, and the hang up.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's more just it feels like texting God just constant communication with my father just just always talking to him So for I mean for me that help just changing what does it mean to talk to God and the live with God is hey God Here's everything he knows everything I can talk to him whenever I need to so that was that was a big one for me

[SPEAKER_01]: I think most of us have some sort of underlining dialogue going on in our heads at some point, especially when we're at points of rest or at points of being tired.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if we're going to have that, why not turn that into a conversation with God?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know about you guys, but a lot of times when I'm tired or annoyed, I start to just, you know, cycle on something and start to ruminate on it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so instead of just allowing myself to get into my own head,

[SPEAKER_01]: Talk to the Lord about it, complain to Him, wrestle with Him, struggle with Him, all the songs are that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's such a beautiful example.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is it Isaiah 41?

[SPEAKER_01]: It talks about pouring your heart out to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think just allowing that inner dialogue to be that conversation can be such a powerful change because you're going to do it anyways.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and here's it anyways.

[SPEAKER_04]: So I might as well bring it to you.

[SPEAKER_04]: And what's so cool is we cannot with a good and the bad and everything in between.

[SPEAKER_04]: And so like our struggles bring to God, our victories bring to God.

[SPEAKER_04]: Our new year's goals and resolutions for this year is Marty said, like bring those to God, spend time taking those to God and really honest prayer and just listen and say God here.

[SPEAKER_04]: Here's my heart, here's my goal, my dream I desire for this year.

[SPEAKER_04]: What do you have to say about that?

[SPEAKER_04]: And maybe he'd bring a fodder of verse to mind, you know, through the power of the Holy Spirit to guide you.

[SPEAKER_06]: In Matthew 13, the merchant sells everything he has in order to get the Pearl of Great Price.

[SPEAKER_06]: So with all of the stuff we have in our lives, jobs and responsibilities and kids and cars and homes and all of that stuff, do we have to sell everything we have to get the Pearl of Great Price?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_06]: No.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[SPEAKER_02]: That was it everybody?

[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Have a good night.

[SPEAKER_02]: See you guys next time.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think within that parable, there's kind of the assumption, right, that if you would have find something in a field that's so valuable, that you would give up everything you have to have that thing to get that pearl.

[SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, that pearl is more valuable than everything you have to give.

[SPEAKER_02]: So even just like economically, this is a good deal.

[SPEAKER_02]: This is something you want.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that pearl is our salvation.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's what Jesus has done for us.

[SPEAKER_02]: If that's our relationship with Christ.

[SPEAKER_02]: If that's the pearl, then we're being told everything we have to give.

[SPEAKER_02]: You're not getting the the raw end of this deal.

[SPEAKER_02]: You're getting a good deal.

[SPEAKER_02]: Let it give of everything you have for what Jesus is offering.

[SPEAKER_02]: So kind of take that and then

[SPEAKER_02]: think of the fact that Jesus never, not never, often.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's not actually asking specific people in the gospels to literally give up everything they have, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: But he does come to the Rich Young Ruler, also in Matthew, I believe Matthew 16.

[SPEAKER_02]: And he comes to this guy and he says, how do I get in the heaven?

[SPEAKER_02]: And Jesus responds, give up everything you have.

[SPEAKER_02]: And he has him literally to give it up.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I think for all of us, the question is the hard question for me and for all of us, is that if Jesus were to come to you tomorrow and say literally, I want you to give up everything you have.

[SPEAKER_02]: What does it mean to view everything we have as less valuable in him?

[SPEAKER_02]: And so,

[SPEAKER_02]: in our real lives and where we're sitting today, where Jesus is not currently asking you, I don't know, probably not asking you for a valve poverty.

[SPEAKER_02]: What does it look like to live?

[SPEAKER_02]: As if every single thing I have is already his, everything I have, everything I do, everything I think, already belongs to him and then to live into steward my time, whether it's your calendar, whether it's things that might be pulling your tension away from him, whether it's real physical things.

[SPEAKER_02]: Just to see everything,

[SPEAKER_02]: through the lens of, this is already God's, and in that sense, sell it, give it away, give it to him and surrender it.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then I think the word that came to my mind is re-contactualized, it just re-contactualizes everything we do, everything that's on that calendar.

[SPEAKER_02]: So for me, I've got an 18-month-old, and when I'm changing a dirty diaper, how do you look at that and think, hey, God, this is a blessing that I get to take care of this little girl for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you're driving your kids to practice, if you're meeting up with a friend at lunch, if you're going to the in-laws for new years, whatever it is, viewing all of it as this has gotten this is a blessing and how can I use this for him?

[SPEAKER_07]: You know, I think somebody who's lived a lot of years, you know, at some point in our lives, it was a matter of Jesus really is that pearl of great price.

[SPEAKER_07]: He really is my number one priority.

[SPEAKER_07]: He is the one that I really appreciate.

[SPEAKER_07]: But as you live through life and you go through time,

[SPEAKER_07]: Are you aware of the fact that that pearl has faded in value, or that it's not given first place?

[SPEAKER_07]: And I think one thing that's really helpful for us is to ask those who are around us.

[SPEAKER_07]: What is it that we're passionate about?

[SPEAKER_07]: What is it that we talk about?

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm a pretty simple person.

[SPEAKER_07]: Those of you who know me know that I talk about my wife, Kathy, I talk about the world's greatest dog, Charlie, I talk about golf,

[SPEAKER_07]: I talked about the kids.

[SPEAKER_07]: I know, I know.

[SPEAKER_02]: I know it's not a bad idea.

[SPEAKER_07]: I talk about it.

[SPEAKER_07]: I talk about the chiefs.

[SPEAKER_07]: I talk about my kids and ministry comes in there.

[SPEAKER_07]: But I think if you guys are wondering, do I have any other idols?

[SPEAKER_07]: Do I have something else that's taking the place or in a where I'm valuing that more than this pool of great price?

[SPEAKER_07]: You can ask those who are closest to you and they can provide you with some feedback.

[SPEAKER_00]: feel like that's a fun, lunch topic for today.

[SPEAKER_00]: You also have to approach that with a very humble heart to be ready to receive what your family members have to tell you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I don't want to have that conversation.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'll just be a chance, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't.

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't get it.

[SPEAKER_04]: And that,

[SPEAKER_04]: I do think deep in our hearts, a lot of us know what it is.

[SPEAKER_04]: Some of us may not, but something like what is your pearl?

[SPEAKER_04]: What is that thing that your heart is most desiring, most seeking after?

[SPEAKER_04]: And oh my goodness, how challenging it can be to give that over to the Lord.

[SPEAKER_04]: And yet, how good of God and that often, not always, but often, God will,

[SPEAKER_04]: Give it back to us as a context where we can glorify Him.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's re-contextualized.

[SPEAKER_04]: I love that word, Mary.

[SPEAKER_04]: I like to take everything in your life, even the most important thing to your heart and contextualize it as worship, as a place where you can glorify God.

[SPEAKER_04]: You can do that with everything, with parenting work, with sex, with everything, every area of your life, give it to God, contextualize it as worship.

[SPEAKER_06]: really good thoughts.

[SPEAKER_06]: When I look at that slide of Martin's calendar, it induces anxiety.

[SPEAKER_06]: When I look at my calendar, I see all the little things everywhere and all the activities that we have to do, it causes a little bit of stress.

[SPEAKER_06]: Is there any way in which that stress or that anxiety can actually be a good thing that we use to help us?

[SPEAKER_07]: You know, I've got friends and family members who struggle with anxiety, so I don't want to minimize that at all, but for me, my anxiousness is actually manifested in the absence of peace and what I find that when I'm struggling in that respect is that I am.

[SPEAKER_07]: impatient.

[SPEAKER_07]: I have unkind words.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm irritable.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm not a joy to be around.

[SPEAKER_07]: You guys might think all that guy's always happy.

[SPEAKER_07]: Well, again, talk to my wife.

[SPEAKER_07]: But that's when God uses that, that anxiousness or that,

[SPEAKER_07]: that absence of peace is like a warning light on my car.

[SPEAKER_07]: It flashes, orange, and it says, hey, you need to check some things out.

[SPEAKER_07]: You've got some issues.

[SPEAKER_07]: And for me, the Holy Spirit takes me to Galatians chapter five to the fruit of the Spirit.

[SPEAKER_07]: And I ask myself, is my life right now full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

[SPEAKER_07]: You know what?

[SPEAKER_07]: It's painful to answer that because I know that I'm struggling in a particular area.

[SPEAKER_07]: And I know the reason why is because I have become disconnected from the source of peace.

[SPEAKER_07]: The Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the source of our peace.

[SPEAKER_07]: I really appreciated that part of Marty's message.

[SPEAKER_07]: Remember he talked about Philippians 4, 6 and 7 and he says this, he says, don't worry about anything and everything.

[SPEAKER_07]: Everything bring it to the God.

[SPEAKER_07]: But what I really like is where it says the new will experience peace, which exceeds anything you can understand.

[SPEAKER_07]: Isn't that unreal that exceeds anything you can understand?

[SPEAKER_07]: There's another verse in Isaiah 263 that gives a similar sort of thought.

[SPEAKER_07]: And that is that now, you know, when I was young, I was down, we'll keep him in perfect peace.

[SPEAKER_07]: Now, it's you will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, who's thoughts are fixed on you.

[SPEAKER_07]: Think about that word, think about that promise.

[SPEAKER_07]: It's perfect peace.

[SPEAKER_07]: It's there.

[SPEAKER_07]: So for me, I find there are generally three barriers to me having that piece.

[SPEAKER_07]: One is unplugging from the source of peace.

[SPEAKER_07]: The second is trusting in my own strength and the third is worry.

[SPEAKER_07]: And I find what has happened to me is that I've gotten sloppy in my walk with God.

[SPEAKER_07]: I've become too busy or I've become distracted.

[SPEAKER_07]: In the morning, my routine is,

[SPEAKER_07]: Sit down in my office and, you know, when I'm not doing things the right way, it's like read my email, check Facebook Start watching some reels and then Kathy comes up and gets up and says, what are you doing, you know, so

[SPEAKER_07]: So for me, I know what I have to do, and that is before I get the all of those distractions.

[SPEAKER_07]: I need to slow down, I need to pause, I need to just take the scriptures very slowly, and I need to reflect on them.

[SPEAKER_07]: Instead of going to a restaurant and just eating, eating fast, fast, fast, and not enjoying your food, I need to savor the scriptures and really meditate on those, and that helps me.

[SPEAKER_07]: just in terms of restoring that piece that I need.

[SPEAKER_07]: Mari shared that peace is not always easy, that comes with trials, it comes with temptations, and I think this, that peace isn't found in the absence of problems.

[SPEAKER_07]: But peace is in the presence of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_07]: And so my key verse for you is Closions 3, 15, which says in the let the peace that comes from Christ, rule, rule in your hearts.

[SPEAKER_07]: For as members of one body you were called to live in peace.

[SPEAKER_07]: And then when you do that, what is the verse says it goes on to say, and be thankful.

[SPEAKER_07]: Having peace, trusting in Christ leads us to be thankful.

[SPEAKER_06]: Well, we are almost out of time, but I want to get to a couple of more quick questions.

[SPEAKER_06]: One is a follow-up to what you were just talking about, Jeff, but this is for Jenny, because women in particular feel the stress of having to get all the things done and do so many things and stay so unbelievably productive all the time, especially if there are a mother and they've got kids and they're

[SPEAKER_06]: and all the different sports activities, and all the things while taking care of everything else, and some of them working as well, it's just a lot.

[SPEAKER_06]: What advice would you have for women who are feeling like, I just, I don't have any more time in my schedule at all.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think this EBS and flows throughout our life stages, you know, when you're single or you're in a career or you're working pre-kids, post-kids with kids, in the thick of kids, you know, even as an empty nester, I think sometimes there are times where we wrestle with what does this look like between anxious striving and how did you put it?

[SPEAKER_01]: I think you put it as healthy productivity, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: anxious striving or healthy productivity.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think one of the key things to remember is that Jesus in human form did not do everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: In his human form, he didn't speak to everybody in Israel.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't share the gospel with everybody.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't heal everybody like why Paul.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Apostle Paul did not go and share the gospel with everyone.

[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, there were times that the Lord actually stopped him from going to where he had intended.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so if that's good enough for Jesus and Paul,

[SPEAKER_01]: It's good enough for me and it's such a relief to recognize that I can't possibly do everything in one day but I can do what the Lord has set out before me for that day even if it is still frenetic and even if it is still a lot.

[SPEAKER_01]: So to follow up questions to that that I think can help discern between like an interest driving and a healthy productivity.

[SPEAKER_01]: One would be

[SPEAKER_01]: What is my primary driver?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is this healthy productivity or is this comparison?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think that anxious driving is always revolving around comparison, but situationally, I think a lot of us will look at something and see the dissonance.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we see this in our kids.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, they didn't do this.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I want this differently, but we're just kind of growing up kids.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, let's just be honest, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: So we see something on social media where we see something that a peer did or we see something that someone the same age as us did and like why should have been doing that by now, you know, we see all these scenarios and we instantly compare and that sends us down what can often turn into a journey of anxious driving.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think to ask the question of is this Lord a healthy productivity that you are propelling me to do because sometimes it's

[SPEAKER_01]: It requires that in our lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: Or is the heart matter behind this and anxious driving and starting there can be so helpful?

[SPEAKER_01]: And then the second thing is evaluating am I honoring my values in this circumstance?

[SPEAKER_01]: So we all have a set of values.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have values, not so much talking about moral values, more about things that we've value in our lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of your values are different than some of my values.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's fine.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're all going to have different ones.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's dependent on

[SPEAKER_01]: temperament, how God made us a personality, love languages, virtual gifts.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so on those values, I have to ask myself, am I honoring these?

[SPEAKER_01]: So one of them is quality time with family members, but I also have values of doing my work, my serving, my actual job well.

[SPEAKER_01]: I also have a value of keeping a hospitable home, not a clean home, a hospitable home.

[SPEAKER_01]: So as I look at those values,

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes they're conflicting and they pull against each other, but a noticing them and pulling in the people around me and sharing what's going on and then be just trying to evaluate what values do I need to honor here?

[SPEAKER_01]: What do I need to prioritize?

[SPEAKER_01]: What do I need to set aside?

[SPEAKER_01]: What am I honoring?

[SPEAKER_01]: What am I not honoring?

[SPEAKER_01]: Can help?

[SPEAKER_01]: I think to maintain that healthy productivity versus something that is anxiety driven.

[SPEAKER_06]: great thoughts.

[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_06]: Last one is just a lightning round, so from each of you I would love to hear what is a monthly or weekly or daily rhythm that you think is helpful for us to make sure that God is the foundation of what we're doing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I think starting your day off with just asking for wisdom, people down in kid connection is always my weekly prayer request is asking God for wisdom.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if you don't have that as a regular part of your life, just the moment you open your eyes and you are taking those first breaths, just simple prayer.

[SPEAKER_01]: God give me wisdom.

[SPEAKER_01]: James 15 says, if you ask for wisdom, he will give it, it's not a cat and mouse game, it's not inconsistent.

[SPEAKER_01]: He will give it if you ask for it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so when that infuses into your day, I think it changes everything.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, for me, my wife, both very tight be people.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you know us, we have a very tight be house, which means for us, the difficulty isn't that it was on a calendar and then we didn't do it.

[SPEAKER_02]: The difficulty isn't ever got on a calendar.

[SPEAKER_02]: So for us, it just kind of became our rhythm.

[SPEAKER_02]: Wednesday mornings are because of the nature of my job.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm here late Wednesday.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's like a free morning for us.

[SPEAKER_02]: So we kind of made it all rhythm every week.

[SPEAKER_02]: We tried to spend Wednesday morning together.

[SPEAKER_02]: read together and we just started a journal we're going through a Bible verse a day with each other and kind of just doing a study, but trying to have that time, not only like each of us independently having time with God, but then also having a time, her and I get to kind of spend together and spend it with God.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, for me, if you're a high cheever, if you're a go-go person, if you're a little bit obsessive-compulsive, any of those things, you can find yourself to be terribly organized.

[SPEAKER_07]: Then, when the reason we fail is because we try to do too much, we try to make our goals too big.

[SPEAKER_07]: Instead of saying, I'm gonna, you know, I need to get in shape and say, I'm gonna train for a marathon.

[SPEAKER_07]: No!

[SPEAKER_07]: start by walking 15 minutes and then take it to 20 and then 30.

[SPEAKER_07]: Those are the things we need to do.

[SPEAKER_07]: We need to start small and for us there are a couple for those of you in the business community have read some business books, atomic habits by James Clear and tiny habits by BJ Fog or great books.

[SPEAKER_07]: They talk about how to build change by linking tiny new actions

[SPEAKER_07]: So for me, the story I shared when I get up in the morning before I look at social media, before I read my email, I need to just thank God for this beautiful, unique day he's given me.

[SPEAKER_07]: I need to ask him to be in charge of the day because I want to be in charge.

[SPEAKER_07]: And so it's really that discipline of just yielding to the Holy Spirit, kneeling to God and giving him your day.

[SPEAKER_07]: and then just reading Scripture.

[SPEAKER_07]: If you need help, just a three-minute devotional is a wonderful thing.

[SPEAKER_07]: So, and then we end our day just by praying together.

[SPEAKER_07]: My wife and I, just thanking God for the day.

[SPEAKER_07]: And if we fall in short, we deal with that too.

[SPEAKER_04]: You know, something Adam mentioned off the cuff and a message a year or so ago is just the very last thing you in the night thinking about sticks with you in a powerful way and so that's a way that I've experienced seeking God is just a really short simple devotional at the end of the day, but

[SPEAKER_04]: Whatever your application is and there's so many that you could take from this, make sure that it's a way of experiencing the gospel and that it doesn't replace the gospel.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's the temptation of January to kind of come up with this program of self-improvement and oh, this is the thing that's going to make me whole.

[SPEAKER_04]: We're already made whole in Jesus and the gospel and any of these action steps are just responding to that and experiencing that in deeper and deeper ways.

[SPEAKER_06]: I want to thank each of you for your thoughts today.

[SPEAKER_06]: Really, really helpful.

[SPEAKER_06]: Good insights.

[SPEAKER_06]: I hope it's been helpful for you.

[SPEAKER_06]: something that you can take away with you this week and this year to help you build your life and that foundation on God.

[SPEAKER_06]: Let me pray for us that God would help us to do that Lord.

[SPEAKER_06]: We are so thankful for the wisdom that's in your word, but also for the wisdom that you give other people in the body of Christ to be able to share with us and teach us and train us and just give us their example to be able to follow.

[SPEAKER_06]: And so I pray God as we look now to the remembrance of your sacrifice

[SPEAKER_06]: And we're thinking about how you should be the foundation of everything we do in our lives, God, that your sacrifice for us, your death, your resurrection, the message of the gospel, the freedom, the forgiveness that we have in you, would really be infused into everything that we do Lord, that as Barrett mentioned earlier, even as we're taking care of our kids or as we're going throughout our lives, our jobs, hobbies, sports, all the activities that we have,

[SPEAKER_06]: that everything we do would be sort of reframed or contextualized in the sense of a thankfulness for the blessings that you've given us and a thankfulness for the forgiveness of sin.

[SPEAKER_06]: A thankfulness for the sacrifice that you made for us and the fact that we are now your children with a hope that we didn't have before.

[SPEAKER_06]: So God, we thank you for everything you've done for us, but especially that you would come to this earth.

[SPEAKER_06]: live as one of us, a perfect life, die on a cross in a very painful, very humility, but very public death, so that we could know today what you've done for us, so that we could know that you paid for our sins and that by trusting in you, we can be forgiven, and we can be a part of your family.

[SPEAKER_06]: So God, as we remember the sacrifice, as we remember Jesus, your body broken for us, your blood that was shed for us.

[SPEAKER_06]: I pray that you would bring to mind those things that maybe we've held on to that we need to let go so that we can make the pearl of great price that we can make our relationship with you, the most important priority that we have got, that you would be the biggest value in our lives and that we would show it this year more

[SPEAKER_06]: We ask for your wisdom and your help in doing that Lord.

[SPEAKER_06]: And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

[SPEAKER_06]: Well, we are going to turn our attention now to the Lord's supper and communion.

[SPEAKER_06]: And we're going to pass, trace through the rows if you're new with us.

[SPEAKER_06]: I want to explain how we do this here because it may be different than what you've experienced before.

[SPEAKER_06]: And if you're a follower of Jesus, you are welcome to participate with us.

[SPEAKER_06]: As we pass these through the rows, you're going to take a stack of two cups, the top cup has, the juice, the bottom cup has the bread every now and then they get a little stuck together so you might have to twist them or something to get them apart.

[SPEAKER_06]: If you need a gluten-free way for those are available in the middle of the tray,

[SPEAKER_06]: And if you're not a follower of Jesus, if you haven't placed your trust in Him for salvation, then you can just pass it along by that's perfectly fine.

[SPEAKER_06]: But now as we distribute these, this is a time for you to take a couple of minutes and just one-on-one talk with your Heavenly Father.

[SPEAKER_06]: confess your sins to him, get your heart right before God, and that's something that Paul tells us to do, to make sure that we are not eating or drinking unworthy.

[SPEAKER_06]: So confess your sins, spend time with your heavenly Father, pray about this week, pray about this new year, pray about the things that you've heard today that may be the Holy Spirit's been touching your heart with.

[SPEAKER_06]: And then in a couple of moments after everyone has served, we will take everything together.

[SPEAKER_06]: This is such a special thing that we get to do together.

[SPEAKER_06]: This is not just tradition.

[SPEAKER_06]: This is not just ritual for us.

[SPEAKER_06]: This is a reminder.

[SPEAKER_06]: And it's a reminder that it's supposed to stick with us.

[SPEAKER_06]: Jesus said as often as you do, do this in remembrance of me.

[SPEAKER_06]: And here we do this about once a month.

[SPEAKER_06]: And the whole point of this is to remind us of the sacrifice that Jesus made, his body that was broken, his blood that was shed, and how that should be a difference maker in our lives all the time.

[SPEAKER_06]: not just on Sundays.

[SPEAKER_06]: In fact, one of our distinctive values here is that Jesus is the difference.

[SPEAKER_06]: And he's in the difference in everything we do.

[SPEAKER_06]: We've talked about that today.

[SPEAKER_06]: He's not just on the list.

[SPEAKER_06]: He is the page that should be in everything.

[SPEAKER_06]: And it's all starts with understanding the sacrifice that he made on the cross for us.

[SPEAKER_06]: And so that is why we do what we are doing right now.

[SPEAKER_06]: I want to read you what Paul shared with the church in Corinth, and we'll start with the bread.

[SPEAKER_06]: as he was reminding them of why this matters.

[SPEAKER_06]: He said, for I pass on to you, what I received from the Lord Himself.

[SPEAKER_06]: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it then He broke it in pieces and said, this is my body which is given for you.

[SPEAKER_06]: Do this in remembrance of me.

[SPEAKER_06]: In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people, and agreement confirmed with my blood, do this in remembrance of me.

[SPEAKER_06]: Lord Jesus, we remember your sacrifice for us.

[SPEAKER_06]: And we don't just remember it, for now we remember it, for everything that we do.

[SPEAKER_06]: It is the foundation God of how we treat people.

[SPEAKER_06]: It's the foundation of how we show love that you first showed us.

[SPEAKER_06]: It's the foundation of our relationship with you, of the hope that we have, of the forgiveness of sins, that we can then offer to others as well, that same forgiveness as we've been forgiven.

[SPEAKER_06]: It's the foundation of every aspect of our lives, or at least it should be.

[SPEAKER_06]: I pray that you would help us to live that out this year, more than last year, more than ever before God.

[SPEAKER_06]: May 2026 be a year that for every single one of us is dedicated to you, and in Jesus name we pray, amen.