How To Crush It In Your Marriage & In Life with Levi & Jennie Lusko

hey good morning everybody how we doing hey you guys are so fun that was that was really impressive all that dancing the fact that you guys also the couples all knows different dances is very impressive very impressive and it's been a hot minute since I've seen the Gangnam style dance that was great flashback although I am really sick of flossing and not the teeth that's good the dance too much it was just everyone actually never tried don't do it don't do it Jenni's actually a really good dancer and we're not when I'm I'm with Jenny that's just dancing like she's dancing and I'm I'm just with her and you know it's something that's funny though is that Levi is not comfortable like dancing and but he has actually made the effort to like at least be on the dance floor with me and it's been really fun to to grow in that together and for me to do what I love but also for you to kind of tolerate not just go find coffee which is like my default which there's dancing involved all right oh thank you hey so two things Before we jump into this session and I'm really excited about it we're having so much fun being with you guys here it really is we were just driving to the hotel last night like how fun is this how great is this but the two things are we have a breakout later today I know there's a bunch of different options you're going through just wanted to let you know what we were thinking we had like three different plans for the breakout but then we remembered not too long ago we had taken a little survey on all our social media platforms and asked people like what are your biggest relationship questions and issues and within an hour so we had compiled thousands of questions that people had asked and we took those questions and a team in our office basically put them in containers of similarity and so what we were able to do was compiled the biggest out of all of them that were asked the most different times and then we looked at that based on you know our 13 years pastoring a church and we said what are the biggest things that we get asked and one of the biggest things we want people to know and so we brought that list with us we had our team send it so in our breakout today we're just going to basically we had a lot of fun with the Q&A last night because the great thing about that kind of structure is instead of hearing a prepared message which you're gonna get now you're able to just talk like we would if we were sitting down with coffee be like hey but bro like what do you think about that you know what I mean and just a little more off so in our breakout today we're gonna just have some fun go through that talk about dating relationship sex marriage maybe parenting and we'll just see where it goes but do you invite you to come to that the second thing we want to say is last night we had a swing and a Miss on Jenny's book cover but we talked to her publisher we haven't even technically announced her book exists so we have until our church about it we haven't announced it on social media this has been ma mr. word and I was like why not announce it at Sacramento that's what we should do and Jenny was like I don't know but we asked the publisher and not only are they cool with it but they're they've allowed us to give you the first chapter for free if you want it today so here's the book cover without further ado the global announced of the fight to flourish it's never been announced anywhere but you heard it here first folks and I wasn't joking I really do want that leopard tattoo right between my shoulder blade I think if you send a text message to 97,000 and then in your text you include one word the fight to flourish has one word you will be sent back a link to download the PDF with the first chapter of this book and if you hate it you didn't buy it what quit complaining if you love it then you can today go on Amazon and pre-order it its hardcover it comes out on Mother's Day and let me tell you having read it this is going to really help you she opens up from her heart as a mom on her side of the story like I wrote I wrote a book called through the eyes of a lion about our daughter going to heaven and this now is Jenny side of it so the moms take on it but it's much more than just a book about grieving it's a book about finding beauty and daily moments and little things and she keeps going like oh this again I really wrote this book to help women I'm like quit being so selfish men need it too we we struggle also and so I was really encouraged reading this book and I think it'll bless you as well so I'm I'm proud of you good job thank you did you write the book well we began with a fun story last night we thought we would do the same today ready ready class okay I want to honor the two couples sitting in the comfiest seats you guys are so sweet it was a prize right was it a prize to sit here empty nesters you know what you're in the splash zone though so you got to watch out indie world you get spit on never know what you get here we go so there's this couple so women comes home with this beautiful dress and she kind of brings it in and and the husband looks at it and it's like honey where did you get that dress and she tells him and he's like we cannot afford that dress don't you know that we can't we're not just like buying all these things Oh Dave Ramsey hello we're trying to live like no one else so that we can live like no one else and she's like I know but the devil made me do it and he was like well don't you know that you have to tell the devil to get behind me Satan and she was like well I did and I was looking at myself from the front and but when he went behind me he told me I looked good from the back too and so I had to get it and now another storyteller and now one from our life you know just to bring down the walls a little bit very just full of unpredictable situations and not too long ago we had an event coming up really quickly and we both realized at the same exact time we needed the shower it was one of those days where you like oh my gosh and you in your head you see it like almost like Iron Man Jarvis like you have this many moments until you have to be in the car under the thing and at that for whatever reason only one of our kids was home and she was very young like two or something and her name's Daisy and so we did what every good parent does when you need to quickly do anything you turn netflix on in the other room and so I don't know if mom's would ever get showers if it wasn't for Dora and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but but we said look we got shower and you know we believe in water conservation and so we just let's just jump in the shower at the same time really quickly for water conservation purposes which thank God it was just showering on this occasion but Daisy's in the other room she's watching Dora I think and we're quickly shampooing and somewhere between conditioner and you know and brushing the teeth you guys were trying to rapidly get through this we heard a child's voice interrupting the shower and and it said say cheese [Laughter] now the glass was all fogged up and so I quickly looked and and there was my two-year-old daughter holding Jenny's iPhone like this saying say cheese my entire life flash before my eyes we had a great run ministry was awesome we'll have to take up something else now sweetheart but it gets much worse because when we managed to open the door and pull a towel off the bar and and and get the phone she wasn't in the camera app it was in the camera app embedded within Instagram horeb so just feel really good about however your life's going right now is the moral of the story first Peter chapter 4 Wow the title of this message is like your life depends on it which is how I move towards pulling the phone for my daughter's hand like your life depends on it right why don't you read Jenny for us verses 7 through 13 Oh in verse 7 the end of all things is near therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray above all love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins offer hospitality offer hospitality to one another without grumbling each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms if anyone speaks he should do it as one speaking the very words of God if anyone serves he should do it with the strength that God provides so that in all things god may be praised through Jesus Christ to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever amen dear friends do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed father we pray you would just speak something to our hearts that we need to hear we love you and we pray for every single person here this morning yes our eyes would be open our ears would would not be clogged with just the deceitfulness of sin but we would be ready to hear what you have to say to us we see today as a brand new opportunity as a new beginning we see this conference as a line in the sand we can truly say before and after what was no longer has to be what is because as your spirit hovered over the waters in creation ready to command to do what you commanded and when you said let there be light there was when you said the water should be divided from the dry land it did and so now as your spirit hovers over these waters over this moment we are ready to hear you give us a command yes we we're really here saying to you God the answer is yes what's the question how high do you want us to jump what do you want us to do what does God require of us we want to do justly and love mercy and walk humbly before our God most of all God we want to want to go forth from this mountain different yes ready to live out what you've said so that we're not just hearers of the word but doers we ask this in the mighty matchless name of Jesus the name that is power yes amen amen [Music] you know life really doesn't often go as we planned as we as we think it will as we think it should we this year Jenny just turned well she had a birthday and 38 I don't mind 38 and feeling great half the year Jenny's older than me then I catch up it's all turn 38 in May but at the moment she's my older lady and thanks yeah and I had planned for her birthday so she on January 11th had her birthday and we were super excited because I had planned a getaway to Hawaii for four days and booked it and I was so excited to get to celebrate her and get a little bit of Sun yesterday we were so thankful to see this and we haven't seen the Sun in months I mean I'm not joking Montana is right now under a layer of snow and it's wonderful and beautiful but you know you you definitely right now we're looking to put the tan back in Montana and and so I was excited we were gonna get away to Hawaii well after I finished preaching the the Sunday the first Sunday of the new year I woke up the next day with the flu and was in bed for five days and Jenny took great care of me fever and body aches and all the rest and then the day I got better if after five days badly sick with the flu Jenny came down with it and and and then one after the other like dominoes falling over are our children all bang bang bang bang bang got the flu our house was literally like an infirmary fortunately I was better so now I'm like keeping an Excel spreadsheet of Thailand distribution and antivirals did you have your Tamiflu yet clover hates the taste of it Lenox has to be shown pictures of spider-man on Google search to get his down and Jenny at one point he's like doing all this if he's like man I'd make a great personal assist like I missed my calling I just call me Florence but basically she woke up on her birthday and never got out of bed one time on her birthday and we had to call Delta and cancel the trip to Hawaii and you know we weren't able to go because of course it would be messed up like crazy to get on an airplane with the flu listen carefully don't get on a freaking airplane if you are infectious for the rest of mankind and so but thank God they were the Delta refunded everything even though we bought non-refundable tickets because we told them where the flew in there what's your doctor's name and with the doctor's certificate we anyhow it just didn't go that way it didn't go like we thought it would and that's that's the reason I bring that all that up is because Peters telling the church hey like life's not I was gonna go like you think it will right for one thing he tells them you're facing trials now in that day we're talking about like getting thrown to the Coliseum and being eaten by animals that was the fiery trial come to try them but for all of us there are trials that are gonna face us and as we make this this journey towards heaven which is really the point like like looking at and longing for the city whose builder and maker is God redemption being with Jesus forever along the way there are gonna be hurdles and setbacks and and hardships and difficulties and what Peter gives us in this passage is some things we can do on the way some things we can do as we await the end of the world he says presently the end of all things is near that's true on a lot of levels it's true on the level that our life is gonna end every one of us is going to leave this world the Bible says that we are a vapor here for a moment and then gone like the flower of the field that pops up and is vibrant and colorful but then is cut down all flesh is as grass and a hundred years from now every one of us in this room are gonna be in glory every one of us in this room is gonna be in in eternity and it could happen sooner than we think so presently the end of all things is at hand because life is gonna end but there's additionally this Jesus our Savior promised he's going to return Hey he said I'm gonna come back I know that that's a subject that brings derision and confusion almost of the sky is falling variety but the reality is one fifth of all the things Jesus had to say had to do with his second coming so if we're not gonna believe him when it comes to that we're taking away 20% of everything he had to say and that doesn't really make sense to believe him conveniently when we like what he has to say versus when we don't like if you said leave I come in but let's go stay out I'll be like wait I'm saying so we want Jesus as Savior what about Jesus the Lord said I'm gonna come again so we should three things about the second coming we should know number one Jesus said he is going to come back number two no one can know when he's going to come back and number three we're supposed to always live ready for him to come back so every day we should wake up with the spirit and the attitude that says made today be that day and if it is may I be pleasing to you and I wouldn't when you return right we don't want Jesus to return and go oh crap could you give me 15 minutes I mean I'm saying like this is really awkward right and and we want to we want to be pleasing when he returns right and from from now right now until he returns there's two words for the word life in in the Greek and Jesus wants us to live and to live this life is BIOS and that's basically he wants you to live he wants you to be alive physically but also he wants you to live great and this word is Zoe and that's that abundant full fresh life that God's called each and every one of us to live like Levi was talking about life last night there's the physical BIOS but then there's this everybody check your pulse you got BIOS everybody anybody not have it that's raise your hand if you don't the devil wants you to have neither wants to steal kill and destroy he's a murderer and has been from the beginning so you have bios but Jenny's saying God wants you to have Zoey and the devil wants to keep you from both of them that's right and there's there's the potential and possibly I know so many of us might feel like mana I am Alive but I don't feel like I'm living but God's heart for you is that you would have that abundant life that in in the book of John it says Jesus came so that you may have life but not just life life to the full a life that's overflowing a life that's abundant and and hitting everyone and a good way around you unfortunately for us God gives us a road map and so what we want to show you is from this passage applying to your soul applying to your marriage applying to everyone you interact with there are some things you can do to add life to your life there are some things you can do to add Zoey to your BIOS there's some things you can do to add abundance to your existence here on this planet and if you do these things like your life depends on them like your Zoey depends on them you will tap into everything Jesus died for you to have so jot these four things down the first is pray fervently pray fervently we can through prayer truly bring heavens blessings onto our lives even though we don't always see our circumstances change when we pray you can always count on this every time you pray you change your circumstances don't always change when you pray but you always do so you should access that abundant life through prayer and that is something that will change your marriage that's right it's been said and I don't you probably remember who said it but um we only worry about what we're not praying about and when we heard this it just hit us because I was like yeah the things that I'm worrying about right now I'm actually not bringing to God in prayer and I'm not giving it to him and I'm not saying God I don't know what to do but I'm giving it to you and I think it's so often that we're just we spend time I know for me personally we spend time worrying about certain things and it's like we were in this cycle worried and worried and I this is stressing me out this is making me anxious but it's like but are we giving that to God and are we letting him handle it because he's big enough to handle the impossible things that we're facing and so so to think about prayer as the opposite of worry bubble says don't worry about anything pray about everything so when you're praying it shifts from the motive I need to focus this to God you're gonna help me work this out because your God in heaven it's also phenomenal marriage advice to up the ante on your prayer game because it's hard to be mad at someone you're praying for true and I found that when I'm frustrated with my staff or with someone in my life and my brother if I asked stopped ask a question am i praying for them usually the answer is no because once I'm mad at you I'm not praying for you but that's when you should pray even more so when your husband's bugging you and you actually stop and God please please bless him and help him help me to serve him help me to love it all of a sudden you shift over to compassion when you have compassion someone you you you no longer make them into the object of your frustration and now you actually move into a mode of wanting to help them why because God always always always wants us to be a part of answering our own prayers right I really believe this you know when you say God I want my neighbor to come to know you he goes I do too now get to work right go go and bring him a plate of cookies and tell him about the next series that's starting up go go over to your you know whatever whatever whatever the point is God always says yes and then wants us to to pay for what we pray for to be a part of fulfilling the desire of our heart so in marriage as you begin to pray for your spouse you shift into a mode of serving them and then you're going to begin to see the opportunities you have to bless them and on that note to God's big enough to handle the realness of what we're feeling and I think so many times we see like Nana I don't feel like praying god bless them I feel like praying like David prayed in the Psalms God break their teeth in their mouths like a really mad baby you don't pray that one well I'm not saying to pray that I but I'm saying because I have this irrational fear of metal straws that I'm gonna laugh really hard and break the teeth I can't handle it cut I'm saying next time and you guys are gonna I'll be drinking out of sippy cups I just swear to God but God can handle our the rawness and the realness and our emotion and the the struggle we don't have to like refine our prayers to come to him it's like we just come to him and we let God change our heart for our spouse and we let God change our heart toward the people in our life that are hard to love but we need to be praying for and this is the point where I explained what I meant last night when I said today we're gonna talk about the best sex advice get your souls together when you pray for your spouse and with your spouse it actually taps you into levels of intimacy that would be otherwise impossible the Bible says there's more to sex than skin on skin for sex is as much a spiritual mystery as it is a physical fact and that's why the Old Testament and the new echo that to become one where there's sexual intimacy this is by the way why it's such a mistake when you're not married yet to be casual with sex and give yourself out walking away from the encounter because you swiped on tinder or whatever met this person and we hooked up we shacked up for a little bit then we went our way as though it never happened because the reality is your soul was involved in the process sex is meant to be the icing on the cake of a commitment to live as one socially economically financially emotionally through good and bad were covenant when you enjoy the physical of sexuality without the other aspects of it it turns the promise of sex into a lie and eventually tell that lie enough and your your body will start to believe it and your soul can become numb and it can become very difficult not impossible but difficult to enjoy what sex was meant to be because you just utilizing one aspect of it so when I pray with my bride and when were I'm praying for her this summer we went through one of the most challenging moments I I had a lot of a spiritual attack and I began to have moments of almost debilitating anxiety and some really challenging things I talked I talked about my history with that in my book I declare war four keys to winning the battle with yourself but it flashed back up this summer like it had in a long time and I did exactly what I said in the fourth card of I declare war I grabbed Jenny she was like oh hey and I said no I need to talk to you I need to talk to you right now and I pulled her aside and I said I'm feeling like I'm being spiritually attacked I feel a great darkness in my mind I feel great fear I feel very cold and I really need you to pray for me right now and she called the seriousness in my eyes and grabbed my hands and she prayed for me and that was a breakthrough moment for us but I'm telling you that was intimacy intimacy me saying I'm scared I'm a man because afraid and I feel this fear and I need your help I need you to stand by me and I'm telling you something that is more powerful and that's where great sex is born from that's what great sex comes from two souls that are naked before each other and unashamed and when you go to God for your wife and you go to God for your husband you're praying together that's where great sex comes from in Jesus name so good amen just awkward clap that's cool break the tension somehow so good um in that so but in that praying fervently fervently there's an intensity there's a ardent fervor whatever that is but um but when you think about it I mean he talks about the end of think all the end of all things is at hand um when you're in a game best basketball whatever when you're close to the buzzer you're not you're not like letting go of the gas and you're not like stepping back you're actually leaning Tannehill right come and gotta get that well they're just there's an intensity ramped up in your heart when you know the end is there there's your gonna go even harder you're gonna play harder you're gonna do even more and so that's kind of idea it's like that the end is coming Jesus is at hand lean in and pray with that much more intensity yeah knowing that we we need it I caught this video our to our son is two years old his name's Lennox we took this video of him because he first birthday got a little bicycle a little Strider bike where you can learn european-style to ride without pedals and check out him riding his bike how's that working bud is that going good it's going here's the thing that's us in a marriage where we're not praying we're trying to carry what's supposed to carry us come on give God your burdens give God your your fears and let him pick you up and walk with you and ride you through this life so good pray fervently second point is love deeply and we see that in verse eight above all love deeply love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins so offer hospitality to one another and do so without grumbling he's saying like open up your home's let the church in let the church into your living room don't you show up one day we can fill a chair at a campus but let this be in your homes let this be in your lives the Sunday doesn't count if it doesn't change the Monday in the most powerful way to luck God's work bleed into your Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday is to let the church into your homes and be in not just Rose but to be in circles in living rooms having coffee doing life together encouraging each other and the real powerful thing is is that when we say like your life depends on it the community act aspect of discipleship literally will save your life did you know that experiencing two or more incidents of stress moving that's of someone you love loss of a job demotion two or more incidents of stress triples the death rate of socially isolated men but has absolutely no impact on those who have a pack of others at their back to hold them up and keep them strong we are living in chronic epic eras of loneliness in our day the New York Times ran a study on the negative impacts of loneliness on health and they found this is unbelievable that it is as bad for your physical health to be lonely as smoking fifteen cigarette today Yale found though that on the college campus 60% of the students there admit they're they're feeling lonely almost all the time what a thing to be on Instagram and LinkedIn and be connected on Facebook but to be lonely to not truly have people because we're all showing our best and hide in the rest and yes we think it's funny that you look this way on LinkedIn and this way on tumblr in this way on Twitter and this way on tinder it's hilarious please stop we get it it's all we all want the excuse to show a shirtless shot and shower ads I get it but um but but the reality is that we need to have a connection that goes beyond just the iPhone we need to have people and the church has always since Christ rose from the dead given themselves over to large gatherings like this but also small gatherings with one another's with people who know your garage code know your name and and can be there in a crisis and a trial yeah so love deeply amen and I just I believe for every single person in this room that God's calling you to a next level of intentionality with with community and I believe I'm sure so many of you are leading groups having people in your home leading teams a part of a team but I just believe that there's a next level for every one of us whether we're leading a group and we're leading the charge there's a next step for you of vulnerability and next level and community for you but so many of us in this room maybe aren't even a part of a small group and I just want to encourage you to get plugged into these the amazing groups that are part of this church all across this church because you need it like Levi was saying to have someone in your corner to have someone who knows what you're going through who can be praying for you who can beat you to the hospital when you say hey something's going on and they're there for you they're bringing a meal we need each other and I just believe that for each and every one of us there's a next step for you next level now wait till crisis hits to try and build those relationships yeah do it now do it raise your kids in the house I mean this is a great church base is a phenomenal Church on it excuse me excuse me what God is doing here is is dizzying it's so beautiful and we love and respect ray and an Andrew and Kirk and Lincoln and the whole team here and it's we've learned so much from this work of God a fresh life what we're doing and so put sink your roots deep down into us all 92 says those who are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of our God right and if you want to read more about flourishing there's a book coming out on Mother's Day a third point so we pray fervently we love deeply why do we love deeply because our life depends on it right notice verse 8 in another translation most of all love each other look at it verse a as if your life depended on it yeah I thought I was gonna go up on the screen it was gonna be a really cool point where you were gonna see that my title actually came from the text there it is oh my come on that's great alright third point my rib you selflessly contribute selflessly the Bible says that the Holy Spirit has given every single believer at least one spiritual guest now you should go through growth track where they're gonna help you understand your personality make up your spiritual gifts and and all the rest of that the reason this church is always plugging that is because you have greatness in you you have greatness in you that needs to be unleashed the Bible has four different passages and I think we have them on the screen here that have to do with spiritual gifts these are the passages that Paul tells us what some of the different gifts are but none of them purport to be conclusive so as you read the different lists there's there's differences here and that's because he's just telling us what these different sorts of things are but there are so many different kinds of spiritual gifts and you have some you have at least one and that means you're meant to make a difference and to make an impact they primarily boil down to speaking and serving some gifts have to do with words you speak exhortation prophecy teaching some have to do with serving what would be the more practical and what Jenny and I would say to you and what Peter says here is we're to use our gifts if we speak speaker so God speaking three verse 11 if you're serving do it with the strength God's gonna provide and in all things God will be praise to him be glory and power forever and ever let me encourage you that you should be serving on a team here at Bayside and using your spiritual gifts to make a difference do not treat this like a cruise ship where it's all just what Bayside can do for me and what base I be on a floating hospital ship see yourself as a part of the team making a difference to storm the gates of Hell man amen okay here I want to give you a phrase I never want your kids to ask you for the rest of your life okay are we going to church this weekend let it be a non-negotiable let it be a given as for me and my house we will serve the Lord there are so many commitments with soccer and club volleyball and the chess team and Johnny's on debate now and but let me just tell you something prioritize being planted in the house of God prioritize serving prioritize the student ministry prioritize the camps prioritize these things you will never come in second by putting God first and you will give your kids and your marriage a rock solid foundation to build on right what's so often we're so worried about how we're gonna do all the things and taking care of it all but when we put serving and building God's kingdom first he's gonna take care of the rest it's like tithing and giving generously when when you give God the first and the best he's gonna bless the rest I would so much rather have 90 percent with God's blessing on it than a hundred percent and not and it's the same with serving and it's the same with giving as we prioritize Jesus front and center building the church loving the church serving the church being the church God's gonna take care of the stuff that's happening in your life single people we talked last night about how you don't just want to marry someone who's beautiful outside but ugly on the inside and one of the great ways to sort that out is serving alongside one another Jenny and I met in church we pursued each other in church we broke up in church got back together all of all that played out within the context of serving we literally met while setting up chairs for the youth ministry you're right how straight were the rows they got to be straight and and that's where we met so if you pursue someone and you get a serving kids together what are you gonna get to see how they are with kids if you if you meet in and you're serving on the greeting team together I guess we're gonna find out how he responds to Authority when the person who's over the team says this does he bristle you do not want to meet someone with authority issues because those will all wait you don't date someone who's got these authority issues because we can't ever be over what God wants to put under us until we come under who God's put over us there's always gonna be authority bosses and government officials and police officers and teachers and spiritual authorities all of these things so the cool thing about using your gifts and contributing selflessly is along the way you're gonna learn more about this person and grow together and what's funner than building the church together what's funnier than seeing the kingdom of God expand together what's more joyful than looking around this room and getting a little taste of heaven while we're here on earth together so Peter says use your gifts contribute selflessly well and there's power as you just keep showing up and the there's power and just being present where God has you planted and really like Levi said earlier putting your roots down deep where you're planted and kind of just stay in a while I think we are living in a day where it's like it gets hard move somewhere else gets hard go to another church you don't like this but just kind of put your roots I would encourage you to and challenge yourself in and commit to putting your roots down deep and just keep showing up because you have no idea I mean even as you start serving on a team maybe your heart isn't super into what they're doing but as you just keep coming God's gonna surround you with people to minister to and to bless and to encourage but also he's gonna surround people to you who can speak that life over you um but there's just power and just keep showing up just keep showing up and you'll never know what God could do with a heart that just wants to be and and grow those roots down deep and then fourthly we suffer expectantly in marriage and in life when fiery trials show up he says don't be surprised at this trial but believe God's up to something don't be surprised at trial here's the nature of trials they always surprise us and we always think like something's gone drastically wrong we always assume in the double whispers in our ear no one's ever suffered like you have and you're never gonna get through this but those are both lies because the truth is so many people have suffered and even reading Peter talked to the church just after Christ arose knowing they're going through hardship everybody who follows Jesus it's gonna face difficult days but in your suffering believe that God has a plan believe that he's up to something I like how the message translation puts it when it says in verse 12 friends when life gets really difficult don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job instead be glad that you're in the very thick of what Christ experienced this is a spiritual refining process and glory is just around the corner yeah it's well it's like in James where he talks about and these current trials and issues are actually producing in you patience they're producing a new character they're producing in you the kind of person that that God is building you to be and we need that we need like Levi said last night the ironing that sharpens iron the iron that sharpens iron we need the hard stuff that's gonna smooth away the rough edges and build us into the kind of person that God's called us to be and that he created us to be a strong confident bold resilient someone with grit and tenacity and able to to handle suffering and heartache head-on if you lean into it and expectantly suffer and don't say why did God allow this but instead you learn this as a Radice alt response what does God want to do in the midst of this yeah what does God have a complet what does God have up his sleeve that he wants to accomplish through this Joseph could have looked at it being sold as a slave and gone God where were you then well I guess there is no God instead he said no God God has a plan he took the promise in my heart and it may not be easy and it may not be quick but I'm gonna see God work in the situation so I'm gonna still honor him when Potiphar came his way and began to try and tempt him he could have said I deserved this where was God when I got sold so forget God now but instead he said I can't do this in God's sight Joseph lived believing that God had a plan and when you live that way here's three things you're gonna see happen through your pain you can expect these three things pain purifies clarifies and verifies pain purifies your heart it clarifies your focus and it verifies that Jesus has indeed done a strong work in you and at the end of the day when Don does show up when Don finally comes you're gonna see that your faith is much more precious than gold and hasn't been destroyed by the fire but as instead made more precious because it's been purified by the fire and we want to kind of end with a story and wind down why these four things are so important and things like them things like scripture things like you know focusing on God and serving and all the rest and to do so I have to tell you about young Albert Einstein they say that Albert was not much of a student which is hard to believe that the man who literally has gone down in the history books as a synonym for genius was not very good at school in fact some of his earliest teachers were really concerned about it concern he wasn't going to do so good the problem though wasn't that he wasn't smart enough the problem was their approach in teaching him with a one-size-fits-all here's how we learn Albert once later on in life quipped that the primary thing that got in the way of his learning was his education he wasn't dumb he was just bored who but when Albert later on in life was asked what really catapulted you on to the great success in life he pointed to an interesting moment where his dad came back from a business trip and gave Albert a gift Albert had had to stay home from school because he was sick and his father gave him the gift of a compass he had never seen a compass before his father didn't explain what it was he just gave it to him and left him to figure it out and ask questions about it Albert's out there and he said on his bed famously that he spun it around with and was spellbound by it what made this needle move no matter which way he turned it he couldn't confuse it it always found its way north what caused Albert to later on developed his theory of relativity and asked the question what does it like to sit on a beam of light and all the rest an inch-long equation to explain the government rules that govern the universe the e equals mc-squared he said all of it really had its genesis that day sitting on the bed because he realized there were forces pulling on the needle that must have always been there he just never could see them until today he said if there were these rules what other rules might there be if there were these forces what other forces might there be everything changed in his life when he had a compass in his hand the reason it's so important to seek God as a man and a wife and order your life prioritized around the church and prioritized around your soul is because it allows you as you navigate this world to have a compass in your hand and as long as you have a compass in your hand you will always have a direction for your life amen father thank you for providing us the compass when your word says seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these other things to be added to you and I just right now want to just pause and acknowledge the fact that some may be here in this moment who don't have that compass for all of us we can want to double down as Jesus followers and grow and repent and all that but I'm talking about those who have never allowed you to place that compass in their hand we thank you that your Holy Spirit promises to knock on the door of our hearts to convict us of sin and righteousness and judgment so that we can face true north and anybody here who has never said yes to Jesus may be for you it's about being a religious person or a good person or you always try to do your best or work hard or be honest and that's all fantastic but the question we want to ask you is how do you invited Jesus to come into your heart to save you from your sins to give you the hope of heaven because if you haven't personally encountered him today's your day it's not good people that go to heaven it's forgiven people and as Jesus hung on that cross he paid for this price of your sins so you could be forgiven and maybe the reason the Holy Spirit drew you here to this conference to talk about relationships is because you need the most important relationship to be settled between you and God the truth is you'll never be right with your mate until you become right with your maker and that's what God wants for you so if perhaps there's even one person here or in Sonoma watching on the live link and you would say I'm not right with my maker I need to get right with God to begin to grow with my wife for my husband I'm gonna give you just a quick moment to pray a prayer to ask Jesus to come into your heart I believe God will hear you and I believe there's many people even right now just sensing that that knocking on your heart open that door God will come in he'll forgive you and make you new pray this with me in church family would you pray it with us as well just to say that we have the back of the person committing to Christ today say this in meeting in your heart dear God dear God I know I'm a sinner you know I'm a sinner I can't fix myself you can't fix myself but I believe you can and I believe you can thank you for sending Jesus to die for me thank you for sending Jesus to die for me turn from my sins and I turn to you I turn from my sins and I turn to you thank you for new life thank you for new life I give you mine I gave you mine in Jesus name in Jesus name now with heads still bowed and I still closed I want to give space in time for you to nail that decision down it's too important to let this moment pass so while we're still praying with nice clothes I'm gonna count to three and when I get to three if you just prayed that prayer either dedicating or rededicating your life to Jesus I'm gonna ask you just to shoot your hand up in the air just take a quick moment raise it up as a way of saying this is real and I'm nailing this decision down I'll never be the same when I get to three shoot your hand up all across the church one two three shoot your hands up shoot your hands come on church praise God for all those making a decision for Jesus you can put your hands down god bless you all thank you let's give it up for Jenny and Levi let's go come on [Applause]

Channel: Bayside Church

Views: 5,154

Rating: 4.9191918 out of 5

Keywords: Bayside Church, Ray Johnston, Love, Marriage, Relationship, Levi Lusko

Id: Q_TCCO-nU_o

Length: 47min 52sec (2872 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 05 2020