I Can Relate - Power

Well, Ken's gonna come up and finish up our series on marriage.

Who has enjoyed the last two weeks, just out of curiosity?

I have uh I I've loved it.

I've loved it.

What I've loved about it is that it's all it's all really simple stuff.

The first week was about valuing understanding.

Do I really care that I understand my spouse, or have I just given up on that?

Last week was about expectations, making sure that we have healthy expectations and understanding all the reasons why our expectations for the people that we're in relationship with can get out of whack and how to get those how to get those expectations right.

And all this is it's simple stuff.

There's no magic formula.

Ken's not coming out sharing the secrets that no one has ever unearthed on how to have a healthy relationship in life.

It reminds me a lot of what we're doing in Dave Ramsey in Financial Peace.

We have a bunch of us that have just finished Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace.

We'll offer that again in the fall, is what we're thinking.

But in that class, 180 people took it, and in 10 weeks,$350,000 of debt was paid off.

Isn't that crazy?

And$78,000 of savings was saved up by the people in that class in 10 weeks.

And that's something worth celebrating.

That's awesome.

And it wasn't because of some magic new discovery that Dave shared.

It was because of things that God made sure were written down in Scripture thousands of years ago.

And it's just taking God's truth and choosing to live it and apply it.

And when you do that, the results are transforming.

And that's the same way it is in this marriage series.

Everything that Ken has shared with us, it's all been in Scripture for thousands of years because God wants us to know it.

And the secret, if there is one, is just following it, just doing what God asks us to do, not to simply please him.

It does please him, but because he knows it's what's best for us.

So pray with me and let's invite Ken out to speak with us.

Jesus, thank you so much that you are alive, that you have conquered every obstacle that we could ever face, even death.

Thank you that you value our lives.

You value every aspect of our lives, our relationships, our marriages, our futures.

And right now, Lord, we want to ask that we would have teachable spirits, that we would be people who are actually hungry for you to challenge us and encourage us and show us what we can do to live out the incredible life that you have for us.

So give us that as we listen to Ken Share Your Word, and we ask all this in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

Ken Kington.

Cool.

Well, this morning is where we look at power, uh, where we look at the true what power looks like.

It is also where we look at what our society would literally hate.

One word I said last week is a word that our society hates, and I know why.

Because it goes counterintuitive to what our society is about.

And with that in mind, I just got to take you back to uh this past Friday, I was invited and asked at the last minute to speak at a spiritual emphasis week at my kids' school, and I'm like, okay, and and I'd kind of been praying through a lot of different pieces, and I'm sitting there, and they said, Okay, students, get out your phones, and we want you to have a devotion.

Go to this website.

So there's like 450 kids looking at their phone, and I'm thinking, really?

They're gonna do a devotion here.

So I'm like, you know what, Lord, that's this is great.

And uh I I believe firmly that God sent Christ to the earth and he walked with the disciples and he hung out with them and he taught them.

And when he died and he rose again and he ascended, he literally said, I'm sending you me in the form of the Holy Spirit.

So the same Jesus that uh was there when the Bible was written and that walked with the disciples is here tangibly with us.

And so I've just lived to learn more and more in that on a daily basis.

So I'm sitting there on the front pew of this church and these students behind us, and I'm just like, Lord, is there anything you want to show me today?

Um, is there anything you want to just share with me?

And I'm just listening, and I look up, and it was literally, now God has never spoken to me audibly, ever, but through circumstances, through visual, through friends, through life, it just it's so obvious at moments.

And I look up and there's this stained glass, Jesus, at the front of this church behind the pulpit and all that.

And it was like Jesus was sitting there right next to me going, That ain't me.

Uh nothing about that is me.

And I just looked at this stain and goes, It's beautiful.

It fit in the church, but it was Jesus in this white robe.

Apparently, Jesus wore white robes everywhere, okay?

And and he walked around like this everywhere he walked, you know, just and he had this sash that turned into a flame behind him.

And it was walking on water, and he's got this flame, and I'm just thinking, he has a white robe and he walked everywhere.

He must have had a monster, monster laundry bill because he just had white robes and they were always perfectly white.

So it just blew my mind.

And then there was the kicker because I'm just, and literally, he's just like, you know, again, I I wasn't white.

I wasn't a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Republican.

I was not, I was not that.

And and I'm just sitting here laughing, and then it hit.

I'm looking at this, and apparently they got tired of the detail because Jesus only had one foot.

He, I mean, I guess the robe covered, and it was like, it was like, I had two feet.

Two, I had, I had two.

And uh, and I'm just sitting here laughing, and I'm thinking, wow, this is this is the religious Jesus.

This is the religious Jesus.

And some of us, unknowingly, as we go to church and we come here, or maybe we went somewhere else, or we grew up, we started buying into religious Jesus.

Was where we want to go and we want to get something, and well, that sounds good and it's true, and it's been here for thousands of years, and that's awesome, and okay, I guess I should trust it.

And and Jesus is stained glass and two-dimensional.

And yet, what I want us to experience, and what I've started to experience in my life is this Jesus in the multi-dimensional, the real Jesus, the one who walks with me, who says, Hey, I know your spouse is crazy.

I know that.

And uh I want to help you with that.

I I know your boss is an idiot, and and I and I've got the answer for this.

I know you're frustrated, I know you failed, I know, I know you.

And today, today, I I want to walk with you and I want you to experience power and peace and perspective that you can't get on your own.

And I want real Jesus.

I I want that.

And in our marriages, that opportunity is there, and and in the midst of that struggle, that is not uncommon to man.

That struggle, that perspective is where God is like, that that's where I want to be real.

That I'm ready.

I got not only the truth, but I got my presence, and I'm gonna guide you.

And if you'll ask, I'll show you.

And if you need me, I'll walk with you.

I'm right here.

But that is the first part of this, and in Ephesians chapter 5, it talks about marriage.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

And there's this beautiful, beautiful verse that is above the passage that we hear referred to all the time.

I'll read the verse in just a second.

You can read it while I'm talking.

But so often we hear about marriage, we hear about Ephesians 5, and then they start with the next verse, and they're not gonna put the next verse up, but they'll start with verse 22.

Wives, submit to your husbands.

Submit.

And all the guys are like, it says it, do that.

Yeah.

And that's that's that's religious Jesus.

That's where we're taking the truth, and we're gonna make something religious out of it, and and we're gonna just take it as two-dimensional.

But God is going, Jesus is saying, Man, I'm way more dimensional.

And I know Elon has spoken here.

I love listening to Elon.

She's a great communicator, and ladies, you're gonna have a blast at the ways get away, and and it's gonna be great.

And she's a language arts teacher, as is my wife.

And if you look at language arts and you look at the structure of writing a paper, do you remember that far back where you write the introductory paragraph, and then the body, body, body, and then the conclusion.

Well, you don't start in the body.

And if you start in the body, where it's like wives, husbands, children, that that's all part of it, but it starts here.

Here's what it's about.

And it's about this submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

That's where it starts.

And if you really want to get the meaning of it, you have to be dyslexic.

Because it starts with reverence for Christ.

It is impossible.

The reason why our society hates the word submission is because they don't grasp the concept of submission to Christ.

They don't understand the power doesn't come from us lowering ourselves, it comes from us letting God fill us.

And and he who was God became a man, submitted himself to become human, submitted himself to his very creation, submitted himself so that he could experience the name above all names.

And God lifted him up.

And if we want to experience power in our marriage, at work, in our relationships, we have to understand this word submit.

So I want to unpack that a little bit.

And in Galatians chapter 6, it kind of gives us a great overview.

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

But even before I go into that, I want to just share the idea that a pastor friend of mine who just nailed it, he said, you know what?

Our society is racing to get away from anything that is controversial, painful, or work.

And we just want easy.

We just want easy.

We just want it to be easy.

And once it's easy, then that must be the goal.

And I love the way he put it.

He he put it in this quote.

He said, We way overestimate our ability to handle success.

And we way underestimate our ability to handle adversity.

Because God wants to show us that there's his economy, there's gonna be some pain, there's gonna be some trials, but in the midst of that, normal, he's the power that overcomes that.

He's it.

And we honestly, if we're just gut level on, so you know what, if I didn't have any problems, my life would be great.

And we think, you know what, if I won the lottery, man, then all my problems would be over.

Have you read the statistic about the lottery?

Have you, how many of you have heard those where the person wins like$10 million, within seven years they're bankrupt and everybody hates them?

Why?

Because they don't know how to handle success.

And Jesus is saying, hey, I want to walk with you so that you can not only have success, but power and purpose and meaning, fulfillment, and joy, no matter what the circumstances are.

So I want to dive into that.

In Galatians chapter 6, verse 7, it says, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.

Galatians 6:7

For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

For the one who sows of his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption or destruction in some verses.

But the one who sows or plants seeds of the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life and abundant life.

Let us not grow weary, lose heart in doing good.

For in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

This idea of where are we planting, true submission is saying, okay, who am I going to submit to?

Truth is we are all submitting to some direction every day.

We're either submitting to what we feel, think, and reason, or we're submitting to what God says and longs for us to experience, which are we submitting to.

We have the choice.

Now, our society is going to sell us on a counterfeit bill of goods.

They're going to take a little bit of that truth, and they're going to be the religious Jesus.

They're going to go, yeah, that you know that's good.

You should take a little bit of that, but but you know what, you really want to have fun here.

You really want to do this.

So just get a little bit of that, a little bit of this, and weigh it out, and it'll balance out in the end.

But real Jesus is like, don't fall for that.

Don't fall for that, that counterfeitness.

Now, I'll put it this way, where it says, those who sow of the flesh reap destruction.

Let me ask this question.

At any point in life, whether you're a believer or not, how many of you, and I'm gonna ask us to raise our hands in a second, had come to that fork in the road and going, man, I know I know I probably shouldn't do this.

But man, look at all people are doing.

They're having a blast, and they're doing it, and I, you know what?

I mean, and then we start saying, well, if they're doing it and then everybody's done it, it's been done for years, then we do that, whatever that is, and I'm not gonna tell you mine, you don't have to tell me yours.

I'll give you one example in a second of mine.

But we do that, and then maybe it's hours or maybe even days or weeks or maybe even months, but we just realize that was stupid.

I I wish I had not done that.

Has anybody else here other than me had that experience?

Oh, yay, I'm not alone.

All right.

And and I want to get very specific about one where when I was a, I mean, I was a Christian, not only a Christian, but I was really following Christ, and and I was even transitioning into what I'm doing now and have for 26 years.

I was in my mid-20s, and I had left the corporate world and I had started pursuing, speaking, and performing, and and circumstantially, it was not going well.

It was not what I expected it to be.

I expected, I follow God, everything is perfect.

I have no problems.

Financially, I'm well, and everything is great, and I and everything just lays and works out.

And it was not, it was the opposite.

Circumstantially.

Now, when I look back, I realize God was forming my character, developing my path, preparing me for what was ahead to be able to handle what was ahead.

But at the moment, it was painful.

And in the moment, I made one decision in the midst of this that I'll never forget.

It was one of those, shouldn't have done that.

I'd met a young lady.

She was attractive, she was a leader, she was a Christian, she was from another city, and I thought, wow, Lord, well, this must be your oasis for me in the midst of this desert that I am experiencing.

So I'm gonna pursue this.

And I called her, hey, I'm gonna be in town over where you're, and and can we go out?

She was a little taken back.

She goes, uh sure, yeah, let's let's get together.

And I'm telling you, in the as clear as I could discern it, God just kind of began to whisper in her heart, Really?

You're gonna follow your flesh in the middle of this.

You just want her, you want her affection, you want her, you really that's that's your motive.

And I'm just like, I I literally, I'm driving down 75 to 285 to go, and I'm just like, hush, just hush.

Because what you called me to, it's not working out.

And this is the only decent thing I've seen in months.

So I'm I'm going, doggone it.

And I and and I never felt once condemned by God, going, well, you do it, and I'm gonna show you what for it.

I never sensed that from God at all, but I sense this constant tug of can, this isn't gonna end well.

But I'm gonna be right here, I'm gonna go with you.

And I remember go fast forward two months, and we had interacted, and and I'd made some dumb decisions, and and she was on the right path, I'm on the other path, they weren't supposed to be on the same path.

And and and my biggest fear in life relationally, was that someone would settle for me.

That was my biggest fear.

And towards the end of this two months, it literally came out in one weekend like that.

We were supposed to go to a dinner, and she she I called her, I said, Hey, are you still coming?

She goes, Oh, yeah, uh, I guess if you want me to, I'll I'll still come.

And uh, you know, that's what you want to hear in a date, right?

And uh she got there and she was miserable the whole time, and everything in her countenance, everything in her words, everything in her tone was literally, God, uh, you know what, you're not what I would pick, but you're okay for now.

I'll be there.

And that was it for the the whole weekend was like that.

And I'm just like, okay.

She said goodbye, and that was truly goodbye, and and I'm telling you, I was broken.

And the next morning I'm like, God, go ahead.

Tell me.

And you know what's amazing about God in the midst of that?

And it whether we do what is of the flesh or we do following the spirit, you know what God's reaction is when we come to that point where we're like, God help.

You know what his reaction is?

It's not, I told you so, or way to go is like, oh good, okay, now let's move forward.

Um, past is a past, let's go.

And he brought to my mind in Romans where it says, I will work all things together for good.

Those of you are called according to my purpose.

And I'm like, What?

Really?

And he's like, Yeah, dude, I'm in.

Oh man, I wish, I wish you didn't have to hurt.

I wish you would have trusted me and not followed your flesh and followed the spirit in this, because it hurts me to see you hurt, but let's move on.

Let's go.

And you know what?

The the world will, and and the enemy lies.

There's a verse I shared it in week one where God says, Hey, I came that you would have life and life abundant.

The enemy comes to steal and rob and destroy.

When we follow the flesh, it will steal or rob and destroy.

When we follow Christ, it will give us life and life abundant.

And I'll give you another example of this, and this is one of my favorite new ones.

Um, who has ever been to like an unbelievable buffet?

Like, just, I love buffets.

Have you really?

That's awesome.

Now, I I want you to raise your hand high if you think they may have thought they've been to the greatest buffet ever, but I have been, I have actually been to the greatest buffet ever created on earth.

Anybody feel that way?

Okay.

Um, for me, it would be like a seafood buffet down by the beach where they've got crab legs and lobster and fish and steak and all this.

Like, oh my goodness.

I I save up, and once a year on vacation, I'm just like, I've worked out for two months.

I'm gonna be, I'm eating the buffet, and I don't care what it costs, I'm gonna enjoy the buffet.

And I love the buffet.

Now, follow me on this, okay?

Let's say you and I, and you're like, Ken, take me to this buffet.

And we're there and we walk up.

And there's there's the Maider D, and he says, Hey, you know how many?

And we're like, There's two, but we're killing the buffet, man.

Tell them to start cooking now because we are here.

And he goes, Well, it's a it's a 45-minute wait.

And we're like, you know what?

It's all right.

But then this guy comes over, he goes, Hey man, uh it's 45 minutes, isn't it?

We're like, Yeah, it's 45 minutes, but it's a buffet.

And he goes, Hey, you know what?

I can I can show you the same exact food, and you don't have to wait 45 minutes, and you don't have to pay a penny.

Really?

Yeah, come with me.

And we're like, should we go?

Okay.

And as we're walking, we're like, same food, same exact food.

And it doesn't cost anything, doesn't cost anything.

And he walks us behind the restaurant and he slides open the door to the dumpster.

And he goes, man, eat up.

And we'd be like, did he tell the truth?

Yes.

It is free.

And is it the same food?

Yeah.

And he's pulling out crab legs, hey, there's a little left on this one.

And uh just uh.

But would it be worth the wait?

Would it be worth the regular price to eat the buffet?

Yes, that's God.

That's religious Jesus is saying, listening to those who steal and rob and destroy.

That's listening to the enemy twist the truth.

When God says, hey, so of the Spirit, submit to me.

Turn to me and say, God, where do I need to submit to your spirit?

In this situation, whatever the circumstances are, do I submit to you in the reverence of Christ?

If I will submit to God, then what I'm doing is saying, God, the circumstances don't matter.

And what he says, and this is one of my favorite Psalms 34.8, it says, Taste and see that the Lord is good, and blessed are those who take refuge in him.

In other words, going, God, I don't understand all the circumstances, but I'm gonna trust you.

I'm gonna submit to you and your truth and your word.

If I really want to experience power in my marriage, it's gonna be to say, okay, God, here's my circumstances.

Help.

She's illogical and crazy, and and we're not clicking.

He is he is just not what I expected him to be.

And God, I want to submit to you first.

Will you help me?

Will you show me?

Because once we submit to God, then he literally empowers us to see with his perspective.

If I could do if I could describe it this way, there's a difference between the two.

Um, somebody on the front row, uh, young lady on the end here.

What is your name?

Sherry.

Sherry.

What is it?

What is this?

Can you see it?

Not really well.

She's at least in her 30s.

Okay.

Up?

No.

No.

You can step forward.

That's fine.

What is that?

That's 20.

Okay, stay right there because I got another couple questions, okay?

This is 20.

How much is a 20 worth?

It's not a trick question.

$20.

Very good.

Um, but what if I what if I what if I said that and watch very closely?

What if I go?

You're horrible, I hate you.

You're ugly.

That's not even a green.

You're stupid.

Now, how much is it worth?

Still worth$20.

God, what if I tore it a little bit?

Now you're broken.

Now you're that's disgusting.

Your hair looks weird too.

Now how much is it worth?

Okay, hang on.

What if I wrote the word worthless on it?

Now how much is it worth?

Still worth$20.

Okay, this isn't working.

Um what if I just did this and I was just like, okay, you're you I you stink and I hate you and you're ugly and and I lick it.

And now how much is it worth?

It's still worth the what,$20 bills.

This isn't working.

What if I threw it down and I stomped on it and I kicked it and I said, You're you're you're horrible, and I kicked it.

Now how much is it worth?

No, you can leave it there.

No, no, no, no, no.

Leave it there.

It's gotta it's gotta be down there on the floor.

How much is it worth?

Now let me ask you this, Sherry.

If you were walking down the street and you saw that, don't tell me what you'd do.

Show me what you'd do.

If you're walking down the street and that's laying there.

Oh no, no, no, you don't have to give it to me.

But no, no, no.

If it was just sitting on the floor, it's down on the floor, it's ugly.

I hate it.

What would you do?

Would you pick it up?

You'd pick it up.

Why?

Because what is it worth now?

It's yours.

Thank you for helping out.

Take it to your seat.

Now, I'll take it one further.

If you miss this, that's us.

And it doesn't matter what the world says about us.

It can hate us and call us ugly and be broken and that.

What if I was that 20 and and somebody wrote on the back of it every place that I shouldn't have gone, everything I shouldn't have done, shouldn't have spent it on, and it was written on that$20.

What is it worth?

It's still worth 20.

Because the world, in my opinion of it, doesn't matter.

It's the maker of that 20 that says this is worth 20 bucks.

And that is God to us.

And Sherry is Jesus in this.

And as he walks by it, our condition is there, and he's like, You're priceless to me.

And I think you're awesome and you're amazing.

What the enemy does, though, is the enemy will take that and he'll say, Hey, walk to the dumpster, and it's really the same food.

And you should try this.

And man, you know what?

I know Jesus says you're worth 20, but here's you need to, you need to cash that in.

You need to go do this, and you need to, you need to be a part of this.

And man, you know you want it.

That's just the way you were made.

And God made you that way.

So you should do it this way at this time and this.

And you know what?

You're still gonna end up with$20.

And at the end of whatever that is, whatever you've done, whatever I've done, the enemy gives us$20.

But the problem is, is this is the$20.

It's it's not real.

It's not real and it's not worth anything.

And see, that's the difference between following the flesh and following the spirit.

In our marriage, there's a there's a time where we're like, hey, I'm burdened with this.

And if we want to experience the greatest joy in marriage and in any relationship, it's stopping to say, okay, I'm gonna sow of the spirit.

And when it says to submit, it says to submit to one another out of reverence or devotion to Christ, what that does is it literally unlocks the power.

And when we submit to one another, and you may sitting there going, but you don't know my you don't know my situation.

And you're right, I don't.

But I know the answer.

And when you and I say, Well, here's my situation, and we pick up God's truth and we say, God, will you speak to me?

Because here's my world.

But my but my wife, look it up.

But my husband, look it up.

But our marriage, look it up.

My favorite book in the Bible is in the back.

It's called Concordance.

And I'll literally say, God, I need help, and I'll look until I find a word.

I'm like, okay, frustration.

That's not in there.

What's another word for frustration?

And a word will come to my mind, and I'll look that up and I start reading, and I start reading, and then I'll read marriage, and I'll read about marriage, and then I'll read, and I literally I let God speak to me in the multidimensional, the real Jesus starts speaking through his word.

He starts speaking to my situation intimately about where I am and what next step I need to take.

And it's not always easy, but then I take that step.

And I'm like, Jesus, what next?

And he shows me.

I said last week I was going to share with you that one word, and it is submission.

But then there's also a question.

And before we get to the question, I want us to get to the concept of this in scripture in Galatians chapter 6, verse 2, it gives us a beautiful, it says, bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

Bear one another's burdens.

Well, burden is what is more than is normal.

And if we'll stop and we'll start looking at one another and go, what is your burden?

Now there's another verse two, three later in 6.5, where he says this, he's like, hey, for each one will bear his own load.

That's the normal, that's what we normally carry.

But if we'll start looking and we'll submit our world to their world and start looking and going, what is your burden?

What is your burden?

And I'll give you a real life example I've done with my kids.

And as I've read the Ephesians passage about submission, and it talks about wives, submit to your husband's men, submit to your wives and that.

And it says to children, it says, uh, husbands or dads, don't exasperate your children.

And the first time I read that when I had kids, I'm like, are you serious?

I don't exasperate my kids, they exasperate me.

Where's the verse for them not exaggerating me and exasperating and and and they do, but I love them.

And I literally thought, God, how do I how do I submit to my kids?

And I have a very simple rule in our house to learn priorities.

It's make your bed, put up your clothes.

You don't have to do that before homework, you don't have to do that before practice, you don't even have to do it in the beginning of the day, but you have to do it before TV and before Xbox.

You have to do that.

It's that important, it's more important than that.

And they're like, oh, okay, whatever.

And it drives me crazy to go downstairs, and my my boys are sitting there playing Xbox, and I'm like, dude, how's it going?

Great.

How's school?

Oh man, a tough test and practice, but man, I just want to chill.

I'm like, have you made your bed today?

Have you put up your clothes?

Uh no, my bad.

And I'm just like, it's the simple rule.

And it frustrated me.

But when I talked to them and I submitted to that situation, to that relationship, I asked them, like, dude, how was your day?

And and they started telling me in all the classes in chemistry, and I didn't, uh man, they'd taken classes I never took, and I wasn't smart enough to get in.

And and literally I thought, how do I submit to this?

And so on those days in the morning when I'm like, what do you got today?

Oh man, I got this test and I got this practice and that.

And I went up to their room and I took the three to four minutes and I made their bed and I put their clothes up.

And when they got home, I'm like, hey, dude, how's it going?

Good.

I said, how's that test?

Good.

How's practice?

Good, is tired.

I said, you know what?

You got to be exhausted.

And you know what?

I want you to be able to just chill out.

So just so you know, I made your bed, I put up your clothes, so you don't have to worry about it.

Man, go play Xbox.

And after they fainted and came back to, uh, and went by mom and going, Well, is dad on drugs?

What is this?

And it's it's a way of saying, in the burden, serve one another.

And and here's the question that will radically change any relationship.

And it's very simple and it's very direct.

And the the more we will ask it, the more radical change will happen.

If we will ask this simple question of our spouse, of our kids, of our boss, no matter what it is.

Start looking for those burdens is one way, but here's the easy way.

Simple question.

Hey, how can I help you?

Right now?

What can I help with?

That's it.

And let me tell you this: within a marriage, it's gonna be real easy to just go, oh, and and your spouse is thinking, oh, you heard that at church.

You're just asking that because he said that's that.

Okay, I'm good.

I'm good.

Don't say that.

I want you to stop in that moment.

It's not about a question and answer, it's not about a gift and help, it's about connecting.

It's about connecting because submission is the key to unlock radical intimacy.

It really is.

And if I'll stop and just stop and think, you know what?

What is something for three to five minutes that I can give them to do that I'm gonna have to do anyway that would just be a help?

And that simple act, man, it becomes an open door to communication.

It becomes a validation and to begin to connect in simple ways.

I try to do this and I've I don't do it every day.

But if every time I do it, I'm like to my boys, hey, what's going on?

Hey, is there anything I can help you with right now?

And and I do this, and it's usually delayed.

My son just texts me right before this.

Hey, dad, can you go help me with this today?

I just I text, absolutely.

Sure.

I want them to get in the habit.

Can you help me with this?

Can you do this?

Can you do this?

And and what I'm finding is when I'm exhausted, I'm like, dude, is there any way you can just put the dogs up tonight?

Oh man, yeah, I got it.

Thanks.

And it's not the act, it's the connection that is just so critical.

I want to end with a verse and with a with a flashback.

It's Galatians 5, 13, and it says simply this: For you were called to freedom, brethren.

Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

It's not about me.

It's submitting to one another.

Submission is impossible.

And I want to just throw a quick call back to last week.

If you were not here last week, go listen to it on a podcast or get the CD because I'm about to use a term that's just not going to make any sense.

Because it's not about us answering the way we think they need it.

It's about us saying, you know, guy, you you seem frustrated.

What can I help with?

And guys, when we ask that and they start just venting, and we're thinking, hey, I just I just wanted something to do.

You know, I just, whoa.

And then we think back to last week and we start realizing, oh, it's my little hippo.

She's in the mud.

And I remember this.

Wait a minute, what am I saying?

Oh, yeah, I'm not supposed to, I'm supposed to get in the mud.

And her venting is helping.

Okay.

Okay, I'm gonna put the rope up.

I'm gonna, I'm just gonna get in the mud with her for a minute.

And that is helping.

And ladies, when when you're like, hey, you seem really frustrated, and he's like, no, I'm good, I'm good, and you realize he's the little porcupine and those quills are up, and he's just he's trying to work through it, and you just gently come alongside and go, hey, is there anything I can do to help?

And you come alongside him and you see the quills start to fall, and you just give him a quick hug and just go, man, you're awesome.

Thank you for working.

I don't know what all you're going through, but you're awesome.

If there's anything I can do to help, you let me know.

And then by the end of the evening, you'll see the quills fall and you get to rub his little velvet tummy, and just like, wow.

And we connect.

If you forget everything else today, remember that submission is impossible without Christ.

But submission, submission is the key that unlocks radical intimacy, radical intimacy.

If we'll trust God to do it through us, we can't do it on our own.

Well, I want to pray, and then I want to just kind of plant a seed for what's ahead.

And uh pray with me for a minute.

Father, thank you for today.

Thank you for your truth.

Lord, that makes no sense to the world and it makes no sense apart from you.

But thank you for the real Jesus that's right here with us right now.

And Lord, if there's anybody here right now that has only known the religious Jesus and doesn't know you personally, I pray that they would realize it's as simple as saying, I'm all in.

Lord, I I do believe.

I believe that I can't do it without you, but I can do beyond what I can think or dream with you.

So, Lord, please come into my life.

Please forgive me and please be with me always.

And Lord, I just thank you for this, and I pray that we would.

Dude, through your Holy Spirit, remind us to ask that question today.

How can I help you?

And just let us see you move and work.

And it's only through Christ we can pray.

Amen.

Next week is going to be amazing.

Easter.

I would encourage you, if you can, not only get here at the earlier service, if you can't, I want to encourage you.

Here's a very little simple piece that God's going to use.

Sit in the middle of your rows because those people are going to walk in.

Oh, there's a spot.

You can't see the middle open seats when they're walking in, but you can see the ones on the ends.

Do that.

And whoever sits on your row, make it a point to say hey to them.

I'm going to be back in May for a couple Sundays.

I'm excited about that.

But I want you to put one date on your calendar as well, June 7, which is 6-7.

June 7.

Several have asked me, hey, we need to do another comedy thing.

And I'm the head of an organization that's national where I know all these other professional comedians who are believers.

And uh I we're having our conference in Atlanta on June 7th.

I'm going to bring like nine of them here to perform that night.

It's a Sunday night, and it is going to be ridiculous.

If you listen to satellite radio, you're going to recognize over probably half or more of them.

It is going to be worth it.

But uh, I'll be back in May.

I'm excited about that.

And do me a favor um just kind of take that submission word right now and that question and let that play through and ask God a simple question.

God, remind me this week who do I need to ask that to?

And go ahead and stand up and let's sing this last song.

And God bless you.

Thanks for being here this morning.