Nobody plans to
wreck their life. Nobody plans-- like what
are you going to do? I'm probably going
to wreck my life. You wouldn't plan to wreck
your life any more than you plan to wreck your car. You know, unless
you're really dealing with some heavy mental
illness, car accidents aren't planned out. And yet car accidents
happen all the time. No one plans to
wreck their life. No one plans to wreck their car. Yet we wrecked
lives, we wreck cars. So it's not enough to not
plan on wrecking your car. You have to have a plan not to. The plan not to wreck your car-- well, the Department
of Transportation has done a great job
of providing guardrails and rumble strips for us. That's a plan. I would say we see their
bet and raise them another. Say I also plan to
wear a seatbelt. I plan to not be distracted
while I'm driving. I plan to not be
inebriated while I drive. I think we should have a plan
if we're to not wreck our cars. Don't you think
that it would stand to follow that it's not enough
that you're not planning on wrecking your
life but you also need to have a plan not to? What we're doing
in the series is we're coming up with a game
plan not to wreck our lives. The reason I did
this series was so that we could make it
as hard as possible for us to screw up our lives. Anybody with be on that? It's like I know myself. I need to have a plan so I don't
make a mess out of my marriage. I need to have a plan so I don't
make a mess out of my finances. I need to have a plan so I
don't make a mess of my health. I want to have a plan-- a game plan. And that game plan
is rumble strip-- title of my message
this week, the finale. And I'll be honest with you. I'd have preached
this whole series just to get this message. That wouldn't have made
quite the same impact without the ones that
have gone before us. So they were necessary too. But now we're really
going to have some fun. And if you could get to a
place where you are even 13% as excited as I am-- I think most of
you are about four. There's a few 1.2's. There's a couple negative fours. Some negative 13's. If you could get to 13%
as much excited as I am, I'm telling you we're
going to experience revival all up in here. I'm dead serious. And so the title of my
message is Singing Shoulders. OK? Singing Shoulders. What would it be like if
your shoulders could sing? Come on, give me
some saucy shoulders. What would your shoulders look
like while they were singing? That's it right there. That's it right there. I need to see all the
shoulders singing. Jackson, Fresh Life,
Portland, Salt Lake City. Come on, let your
shoulders sing. They can sing however. One can do a little
more if you need it to. That's a solo. That shoulder's singing
a solo right now. But singing shoulders. We began after we laid
the foundation week one with a message
about how to listen to that inner rumble strip. The inner rumble strip on the
inside of us that tells us no-- that you feel. That Jiminy Cricket, right? That pause you feel. That little nudge--
that gentle nudge. It's not a loud one. It's a little
nudge, you hear it. And it's a gentle nudge
that could save your life. How do we respond to
the inner rumble strip? And then week three,
last week, we talked about the outer rumble strip. The rumble strip of the people
who you allow into life. For good or for evil,
the people in your life are a rumble strip. Now, whether they
rumble the right things or the wrong
things depends on whether you've picked
the right people. If you listen to
the wrong voices, you'll end up in
the wrong places. Because things that you have
no business doing, they'll go, you'll owe this to yourself. Follow your heart
into a collision. But if you have
the right people, they're rumbling
the right things. They're encouraging
the right things. And to a large degree,
who you position in your life that has
permission to speak in your life will determine the
outcome of your life. The outer rumble strip
of your companions who help you shape
your worldview, who put you into a brain wave
synchronization with them. And where they're going,
you're going to go there too. This isn't just people acting
enough-- who you follow. What are they called? Friending someone
on social media. You're following them. Guess what? Newsflash. If I follow you, I
end up where you go. So before I follow you, I want
to know where you're going. And if I like where
you're at, I'm going to want to follow you. So we have to choose very
carefully who we allow to be that rumble strip to us. This week, I want to talk to
you about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. But if it's pretty preaching--
how I wrote it down a long time ago when I planned the series. We moved from conscience through
companions to the comforter. Three C's in a
row, which is just like how I did in high school. All right. On a good day. So C C, C-- the comforter. The truth is we find
it difficult to listen to the right rumble strip. We find it difficult to
choose the right people. It's not easy. But good news--
you are not alone. You have help. Jesus said as He left to go
to Heaven, don't be afraid. I'm not going to
leave you alone. I will ask my father and He
will send the helper to you. One of the titles of
the Holy Spirit, who also is called the
comforter-- and that's a great picture too, that
he comforts your heart. Some of us need that
comfort right now. And good news, you got it. But he's also the helper. The Christian life is
not easy, it's hard. Life is a highway. And driving safely on
that highway takes work. Drifting doesn't take work. Drifting is easy. The easiest thing in the
world is to not pay attention for a second. To zone out. To drift off. To look at the radio for a
minute and all of a sudden, you look up. You're like, what's happened? And years go by like that. Don't they? All of a sudden you wake up and
you're like, what am I doing? You're doing something. You're looking at yourself
like, why would I do this? This isn't me. This isn't what I wanted. This isn't what I dreamed. You wake up one day and you're
living a life that's unhealthy. How did I get here? How did this happen to me? The Christian life--
driving on that highway where you're supposed
to go takes work. And so we need the helper. Even discerning the will
of God, that whole subject, that's hard. There's too much
tension, isn't there? Even the thing I just said
about the people in your life, how do I love all
the people in my life and be selective about who
I let speak into my life? That's murky, right? Driving takes work. I mean, you have to scan the
road and it's not you driving, there's all these other
idiots on the road that someone gave a
driver's license to. How do I figure out what
they're going to do? And it's not just
that I'm look-- it's that the girl over here
who's putting lipstick on is about to crash into me. And then there's trains
and there's animals. And somebody is driving a
truck down the road with God only knows what in the back,
but none of it's tied down. You have to be mindful of that. Do you ever drive behind
a truck full of logs? Are you able to do
that without picturing a log coming through your head? Is anybody else with me? Like, that's all
you can think about. Like get me away from
the log or the semi that's got like the periodic
table on the side of it. Like, I don't think I
need to be near you. Driving is challenging. But fortunately, we're
not driving alone. We have a helper. We have a helper who's going
to help us when it even comes to the will of God. Now, one of the parts of this
text that is the most confusing to me as I initially read it--
maybe you have caught it maybe you haven't. We've been based out of
Ephesians this entire series. A stretch of scripture
we'll read in a minute, verse 14 through
21 of chapter 5. But we've encouraged
the whole church and all those joining in
with this digitally to make Ephesians your home throughout
the duration of this series. There's two sections of the Book
of Ephesians seated in Christ, walking with Christ. Seated in Christ,
walking with Christ. It's the blessings
and the behavior. And by the way, we
said week one it's the blessings that
are yours already that determine your behavior. You don't do good things
so you get God's blessings. You do good things because you
already have God's blessings. That tiny tweak
is the difference between a religion
that is soul deadening and one that will fill
your life with blessings and just put the
wind at your back. And honestly, it's
such a great book. So as we are now
in our last week, this being the first day of
the week as we gather one more week in Ephesians. I hope it challenges
you and I hope you haven't been neglecting that. And if you have,
fine, start now. And if you're like, I've
already read that book. Change your version. I've already read
it in every version. All of the versions
that there are. Are you that guy? OK, cool. Read it on your head. Read it on one leg. I don't know what you need
to do to mess yourself up a little bit. Spin in circles nine times
and go read it in the woods. Right? Whatever you need to
do to feel like it's smacking you upside the head. Don't let grace get common. Let it stay amazing. I'm telling you something. Don't get good at this. Stay humble. Stay foolish. Stay childish. Don't slip into
professional mode. Let's always just be
wide eyed with wonder. All right, so Ephesians 5, we're
going to get there in a second. But one of the things Paul says
that's the most interesting is what he says
about God's will. A subject that is
probably for most of us one of the most
contentious issues. What is God's will for my life? Ever felt that? No? Yes? All right, just making sure
we're all on the same page here. I didn't stumble into a
gathering of perfect people who don't have issues. Because I'm going to
bail if that's the case. Here's what it says. It says in verse 17,
don't be foolish. Don't be unwise. But understand what the
will of the Lord is. Can I translate
it for the street? He said don't be an idiot. You know what God's will is. Don't be foolish. Don't be unwise. Don't not know God's will. Know God's will. Usually, that's not
how it works, Paul. I don't understand math. Well, understand math then. OK. I do now. Don't act like you don't
know what God's will is. Understand what God's will is. What is he saying? He's saying, you
know, don't you? What? What is it? What's God's will? You know. You know. You like, no, I don't. What school should I go to? What job should I take? Should I date this girl? Hey, knock it off. You know what God's will is. You know, don't you? No, He hasn't spoken to me. I keep putting the fleece
out but it's not wet. Right? Nerdy Bible joke. Like, what? I don't know God's will. Pray for it with me. I can pray if you want to, if
that'll make you feel better. But let's be real. You know, don't you? He's been speaking
to you about it. You know, don't you? What's God's will? Love. Love God and love people. What about this situation? What about this? No, stop it. God's will is not
where you're going, it's who you're becoming. Come on. [APPLAUSE] It's not where you are. It's who you are. And whose you are. You know God's will, don't you? Quit it. Quit it. Quit being so un what? You know what to do. So the problem and the
reason we have a helper isn't because we can't figure
out what God's will is. It's that knowing what to do, we
so often do the exact opposite. We all know enough. We know plenty. Jesus just let us
go and we were like, He never sells anything else. We know enough knowing
love God and love people. It's like if I know God's
will, why am I so often so unpleasant to be around? I know what God's will is
and I'm a jerk regularly, like chronically. Meanwhile, I'm like please
tell me your will for me today. He's like love. Yes, but I need something else. Right? Colgate or Crest? Just don't be ornery, right? Love is God's will. So don't be unwise. Understand what God's will. So the Spirit's not
going help us figure out what God's will is as much-- I think is give us the
power to do what we already know is his will. How does He do it? He teaches our
shoulders to sing. Life is a highway. What's a road trip
without a playlist? I mean, come on. What is a road trip-- how many of y'all love
the road trip playlist? It's that and the
sunflower seeds. I hate sunflower seeds
unless I'm on a road trip. Then all of a sudden I'm
like, I have a hankering for some sunflower seeds. Because I'm on a
road trip and we need that road trip playlist. And in fact, this
is what we find. Let's once again,
for the final time jump into Ephesians chapter 5. We'll start in verse 14 where
He says, "Awake, you who sleep. Arise from the dead and
Christ will give you light. See then that you
walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. Redeeming the time
because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be
unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be drunk with wine in
which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always
for all things to God the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another
in the fear of God." I lived for a few
years in a place called Tijeras, New Mexico. And Route 66 runs
right through Tijeras. And there's a
section of it where the city was having a real
difficult time keeping people's speed in check. It was pretty remote--
is a pretty remote area. Rural. It's behind the Sandia
Mountains on the other side of Albuquerque. And you know what people
do when it's an open road? Well, they're going
to drive it like hell. You know what I mean? They're go for it. And so the speeding
was really difficult. That by the way, is one of
the biggest contributing factors in deaths on
the roads in our day. It's one of the
top three reasons people's lives end at such an
alarming rate in this country while driving
because of speeding. And so the city in cooperation
with the National Geographic Society and the New Mexico
Department of Transportation came up with an
extremely creative way to lower the rate of speed. They installed a series of
grooves on the side of the road that you would drive on-- that
your tire would rest on as you made your way down the road. If you were to be driving
in the right place where you should
be driving and you were to drive at the
exact posted speed limit, then they would-- they had a
sign that had musical notes. And it talked about how
if you were to drive there you could listen for something. And you would find a song
coming through your car. It would literally come
through your steering wheel into your fingers. You would feel it in
your like this area. In your shoulders, that's
what they call those. It would almost be like there
would be singing shoulders. And this audible--
come on, you're not going to help me at all? You going to sit right there? All right, fine. So I'll go over here. So my wife's here. She'll give me love
if no one else will. So when you're driving,
you'll feel this song coming through your shoulders. Don't you want to get
in the car right now and go to Tijeras, New Mexico? Get you some kicks
on your Route 66? It's not practical. We're a church in 12 locations. But let's instead
just check this out. [MUSIC- "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"] [APPLAUSE] But you only hear
"America the Beautiful" if you're driving
the speed limit. They timed everything of the
lines and how they built it. You'll hear a song if
you're driving where you're supposed to be how
you're supposed to be on the side of the road. What do they call
the side of the road? Shoulder. Oh, that's right. A song comes from
being where you're supposed to be in
relation to the shoulder. All right, so check this out. We have two things now
that are thrust upon us. We have a warning because
that's what a rumble strip is. That's what it does. It's a warning. And what does a
rumble strip tell us? You're moving in
the wrong direction. That's what it tells us. When we hit the rumble strip
we know if we go beyond that, we're heading towards danger. Don't go any further
than this right here. That's what the rumble
strip is telling us, our conscience, our companions. I got to be a rumble
strip this week. I was a rumble strip this week. I saw a guy. I was going to the
bathroom and I finished. I'll spare you the details. But I was washing my
hands as you should. Life skills class didn't
get for a lot of people. I see it all the time. I'm horrified. Like throw up in your
mouth a little bit. Like dude, what are you
going to go touch, right? Washing my hands. But then I had to get a
paper towel to dry my hands. And I took a spare. One for my hands
and one for the-- Handle. --doorknob. And I go and I'm assessing
the situation like Iron Man. Where's the trash can
relative to the door? Can I toss it? Because when they put it by the
door, that's very convenient. Right, bathroom layout people? Right? Right there. Open the door. And if you don't,
you see the pile of-- either put a trash can there
or be prepared to pick them up, right? Bathroom planning 101. Right? So that's just what's
going to happen. This is how it is
in our bathroom. People will do what
they want to do, OK? So I noticed that the trash
can is there but it's far away. I don't trust my shot. I know if I throw it, 9 times
out of 10 I'm going to miss it. Then the Holy Spirit's
not going to let me leave until I go pick it up. Maybe my mom. Maybe the Spirit. I don't know. And I'm going to get it. I'm going to put it away. And then I'm going to
go-- the door is shut now. Then, I'm going to go
get another paper towel. And then I'm-- so
here's what I do. I don't know what you
do in this situation. But I get my paper towel. I open the door. I run to the trash
can and now I really have to-- to get my foot,
not my hands, my foot in to the-- anybody with me? Am I all alone? Have you been there? Have you been there? My foot's in the
door and now I have to rush out to not let the
door hit me as I'm going. So that's what I'm doing. And as I do that final step
to rush through the door, I realize I made a tactical
error because someone's about to come in. A businessman's about to
come into the bathroom of this airport lounge. I could tell he was
businessman, there were pleats in his khakis. His shirt tucked in. His shoes-- they were loafers. The look in his
eye-- determined. The phone on his hip-- squarely there. Right? He was a businessman. This man was on a business trip. He was getting
things done, right? And I realized I'm
going to smack-- we were going to
come face to face. We're going to smack
into each other. Because I'm going out
and he's coming in. I got the door open. Now I'm trusting
myself through it. I'm like, oh, my gosh. And then right at
the last second as we're about to smash into
each other, he peeled off. He turned on his heel as
though he knew I was coming. But peeling off, he went further
than just not hitting me. And he went into the other
bathroom very quickly. And I was like, that's crazy. I've been in the
Sky Club 100 times. I didn't remember there
being two men's bathrooms. And I looked at
the door and there was an icon of a figure
wearing a skirt on the door. And I'm processing this all. But as I'm doing so the
door's coming close. So what did I do? I did the loving thing. I yelled in after him,
"That's the women's room." And then I waited one one
thousand, two one thousand. Didn't hear any shrieking. He rushed out of the door. He used his hands. He didn't care at this point. He goes, with the whites of
his eyes showing, "Thank you." I said, "You're welcome." I was a rumble strip, guys. I told him, you're moving
in the wrong direction. So that's what we have. We have two things-- one's a
warning and what's the other? It's a song. It's music rising
on the highway. And it's a warning. But listen to me. Listen, this is where
we're going this week. Those two are not two,
they're actually one. Why? Because the music on
your road trip is in fact a part of your rumble strip. And it is indeed the
soundtrack that's going to rise up from your
soul that's going to keep you from sleeping at the wheel. One of the nicknames for
rumble strips is wake up calls. Wake up you who sleep. Rise from the dead. The music in your soul
is going to keep you from sleeping at the wheel. Sermon in a sentence. Music in your mouth
will lift your day. But God's melody in your
heart will light up your life. Music in your mouth
can lift up your day. But if you can get to the
place where God's singing-- His spirit's singing
through your shoulders, it will light up
your entire life. Music is powerful. You don't need to
be a Jesus follower. And some of you who are
here, we welcome you. This is a church where you
can belong before you believe. We're glad you're here. But listen to this. Even if you're not Jesus
follower, music is powerful. It is. I was listening to a lecture
by Dr. Tim Keller this week. And he was talking about
how he's read reports from atheists, people who are
just convinced that there's no God. Intellectuals-- very
intelligent and well educated people who have written that
even though they don't believe there's a God, even though
they don't want there to be a God, that
they have admitted at certain points listening
to music that they have found themselves wanting
to believe in God. Something within
them is tugging. Something within
them as telling them that they should reconsider. That they should think again. And to think about the
implications of that. He went on to say that there's
something of music that tells you there's meaning. There's something of music
that steers you towards hope. There's something
in music that's trying to Evangelize you. This is a direct quote
from Dr. Tim Keller. He said, "It's almost impossible
to commit suicide listening to the Hallelujah Chorus." Think about that for a second. He went on to talk about
how both Bono and Anne Lamott, writer, they both
said it wasn't preaching that was the first step towards
them believing, it was music. And you get good music. Even if you're not
a Jesus follower, if you play music
well, something of what people are
going to hear is going to point them towards God. They can try and
say, no, no, west. No, no, east. And it's something saying,
this is where true north is. And if you put some Yo-Yo Ma on
or you put some John Coltrane on. You put music that
is done skillfully and there's something
mournful that you hear. There's something almost
other worldly and eerie that at some points can
just hit you just right. Why is that? Well, here's what
the Bible says. And this is the point where
some of you are going, I don't know about that. This is what the Bible says. The Bible says that when
God was creating the world-- and He did so with
the word of His mouth. So when God was
speaking the world-- so you have to
imagine God's speaking stars into existence
that He knows by name. When God was speaking
this world into existence he did so accompanied by music. You're like, why
would he do that? You like to whistle
while you work. So does He. He was humming. He was singing as
the stars came out. They came out singing. The angels were singing. There was a symphony that
accompanied creation. And as things were
coming to existence, they were imprinted upon them
by the beauty and power of song, of notes, of melody, of harmony. And though it's been marred and
though it's been overwritten and though a new
operating system called sin has been installed,
something deep down is hardwired in that pulls
us back to how things used to be when we hear music. Something pulls us towards God. Something tugs at
us and says, I know this is what's been
installed on you. And I know that
everything that was old was put into the trash
can and they hit Delete. But some of those
files linger on. Something in the code-- come
on, it pulls us towards God. It's the power of music. And maybe just maybe we know
deep down because of how we were built that we
came into being as mankind to the sound of God singing. To the sound of a symphony. That we know one day once
again all things will sing. Romans talks about the
world groaning today. All of creation is in its beauty
that it still has, even marred by the fall-- giving God glory. But the Bible says that
the whole visible universe is groaning. Grumbling because of
what's been taken away-- their ability to audibly sing
God and to audibly sing to Him. And sing and Herald His praises
and declare his great works. We look at national parks. We look at the sunset and we're
like, wow, it's so beaut-- if we could hear it, they're
going, that's not enough. It's not enough. It's not enough. They just want to
break out in to song. Their voice has been
muted because of us. Creationed in sin,
you and I did. And our sin has limited their
ability to sing out to God. But the Bible talks
about a day when the hills and the mountains
and the trees are going to clap and are going to sing. And there's going
to be once again. What will that day be
like when Jesus reconciles all things to Himself? That's true, ultimate heaven. Heaven's not us going somewhere. That's a stopover. We come back here with Jesus. Our bodies rise from the
dead with Jesus, like Jesus. And if the trees can clap
and the mountains can sing and the stars will be shining
and breaking out in song, what will you be able to do? What has been taken from you by
sin and decay and disease that will be restored when we're
living in perfect harmony and once again singing with
all of creation once again? So singing is in our past
in a powerful way that's imprinted upon us. Singing and song and melody and
music is in our future in ways that we can't even really
rightly conceive today without having to resort
to science fiction. To see animals talking
and to think about what-- well, snorkeling in the Great
Barrier Reef is so good. Yeah, well, wait till
the "humahuma ahi papa" fish is actually like
praising God with you. And you could have a
sing with him underwater. I mean it's-- you can't even--
you're like that's not even-- it's going to be Narnia, right? So that's in our future. Here in the middle what is
music meant to do to you today? Music is meant to be
part of what keeps you moving in the right direction. But only if you have
the onboard comforter helping you to do that-- making
that melody in your heart. So the key then is being
filled with the Holy Spirit. That's what we need. We need the helper
to come and do that harmonizing that he will
do to teach our shoulders how to sing. You have to be filled
with the Spirit. You're like well, how do you-- asking for a friend here. How does one go
about doing that? Because that doesn't
describe my experience. I don't sense that a melody
always rising, steering. I just don't feel that
day in and day out. I mean, my friend doesn't. So how would I tell
them how to be? Because I know. I'm man, whoo yeah. That harmony in my shoulders. These are singing
shoulders here, right? They are singing,
singing, singing. Can't stop them. No, I won't stop them. But how would my friend-- and put it in really like
terms that a fourth grader could understand. Because they don't like
big words, my friend. So I tell them about how
to get filled with this-- Paul's with you. And I got you, all right? You tell your friend that
being filled with the Spirit is a lot like getting drunk. Right? How cool is that that
Paul would give us an illustration that our
friend will understand? Because it's something
from their life that they experienced before and-- like a while. A long, long time ago that they
one time went through that that was like part of the-- Paul. I love Paul because
Paul tells us you don't know how to be
filled with the Spirit. Well, think about
a drunk person. In fact, look what he says. He says, don't be
drunk with wine in which is dissipation but
be filled with the Spirit. How can you be postured properly
to understand the implications of God's Holy Spirit,
the helper sent from above,
empowering our efforts and making melody in our heart? You have to channel
your inner Snoop Dogg. He's laid back. It's like sipping
on gin and juice. You're like, with your
mind on your money and your money on your mind? No, that's different. It's a different thing actually. This isn't involving that. So it's the Holy Spirit. There's some sort of connection
and we need to understand it. Think about what happens when
you over indulge in alcohol. When you drink
alcohol to excess, apparently that is similar
and dissimilar to what it's going to look like daily
to have God's Holy Spirit in your life like he wants to. It's similar and dissimilar. What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say being filled
with the Spirit is to get what people get drunk trying to get. Wow. Yeah, yeah. It was that good. It warrants it. Still breaking in
this new stage. It's to get what people
get drunk trying to get. Could you break it down further? Well, what do you get
drunk trying to get? Two things-- courage
and happiness, right? It would be helpful if we had
a way to talk about alcohol that was less booze and involved
more of the supernatural realm. Wouldn't it be great if there
was a word, not just beer and wine, but spirits? Spirits. To be intoxicated well,
the Holy Spirit and spirits both influence you. God wants to influence you. And when you drink to excess
especially, what happens? Well, the technical term is
being under the influence. And why would you say courage
is what people are after? Oh, really? You never heard anybody say
I need a glass of liquid-- Courage. We drink to feel courageous. Why? Our inhibitions lower. How does that work? Alcohol, when you drink
to excess what does it do? It's a depressant. So it depresses your ability
to see and perceive reality. Now, just so we're clear-- it doesn't make anything
you're afraid of go away. It doesn't make anything that
gives you anxiety go away. It doesn't solve any
of your problems. It just temporarily dulls your
ability to care about them. It's just I don't like that. Make that stop. Well, what if we just turn
the lights off for a while? Yeah, do that. That doesn't solve the problem. But when you're drunk you
don't care about the problem. And so you're happy now. I'm happy now. Happiness-- well, dopamine is a
chemical release in your brain. You get the same
thing from gambling. When you pull on the slot
machine hit of dopamine. I feel happy. I feel happy. Buy it now, happy. Instagram notific--
oh, I feel happy. YouTube comment--
oh, not happy, right? Usually, right,
not happy, right? Who's that person, right? I don't know. He a troll who lives under
a bridge somewhere, right? But not happy. But we get that happiness. So when I'm getting drunk,
I'm feeling very happy. And now, I'm courageous. I feel like I could do anything. I feel like I could
do everything. I feel like I could fly. You can't but you feel that
way because you've got drunk. And under its influence
you temporarily have this heightened sense of
invincibility and happiness because you're oblivious
to what was bothering you. So the Holy Spirit's similar
but it's also dissimilar because it doesn't cause you
to see less of the world. The Holy Spirit actually causes
you to see more of the world. The Holy Spirit
doesn't dim your sense of reality, your perception
of what's going on. It actually enhances
everything, right? Alcohol-- under
the influence you have less and less
control of your body. You-- right? You're not controlling
your reaction time, right? This is why drunk driving
is such a bad decision. Because I've got it. No, I'm really great. I can have six beers and drive. This is perfect. I've done it for years, right? But it's a fact that
your response time in hitting the break is going
to go down if a little kid runs out in front of that road. What if it was your child? You should think
about that, right? So your response time-- you're
under the spirit's influence so you can't be under
your own control. And you certainly can't
be, in that moment, under God's control. So God's spirit
heightens your senses. When you're energized by
God, it's like Peter Parker. You're more in
control of yourself. That's why the Bible says
in the book of Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit. What's one of them? Is self control. God's Holy Spirit's can allow
you to control yourself more. Instead of always
shooting your mouth off, you're going to have pause
from the inside and power to do what you know is
the right thing to do. To love the unlovable. To be kind when you
feel like being cranky. God's spirit gives you more
control, not less control. And can then
actually deliver what you would go to get
drunk to try to get-- true courage and true happiness. This is in Acts 2 when
the church began-- Peter preaches his sermon. The day of Pentecost, the
Holy Spirit had just come, this helper Jesus promised. Why all of a sudden are there
all these people getting saved and people fearlessly
preaching the gospel and being willing to go to jail
for preaching and being beaten but not caring and
rejoicing anyway? And what was the reaction
of witnesses that day who saw it all going down? They're like, these people
have had a few too many. And Peter's like, it's just
9 o'clock in the morning. You're like well,
I've met people. That's not a problem, right? I was on an airplane
the other day and this guy in front of me--
the lady was asking for drink orders eight in the morning and
maybe it was earlier than that. And the guy goes, what
do you have to drink? And she goes, I've got a full-- I've got spirits, I've got wine. He goes, you got spirits? He goes, what do you got? And she rattles it off. And he goes, I'll that that. I'll that that. I can literally see him
salivating like that. So she goes, do you
what a mixer with that? Everyone else is like
orange juice and coffee but you're going
for the hard stuff. And he goes no, no, no. I know just what to do with it. OK. And the guy next to him-- I was watching the guy next
him like-- because I've sat next to this guy before. Not this guy but
that guy before. And I was watching the
guy like, well, this is going to be an interesting--
it was a long flight. And this early to
be putting it back was like, this will
be interesting. We'll see this man cut off. I don't know if you've seen
someone cut off on an airplane before. It's always a good time
when they don't like that. But the guy next to him just
kind of raised his eyebrows like good decision. Good one. Good one. And he goes, I'm sorry. He stops. He almost could sense
us all watching. He goes, I'm sorry. It's not usually this
late in the morning when I'm having my first drink. Was like, OK. Well, that's what happened
on the day of Pentecost. You guys are all sloshed. And Peter said, no. You're just seeing
what people get drunk trying to get-- true
courage, true joy. There should never
be more celebration, a more confident,
joyful, enthusiasm than where God's Holy
Spirit is moving in harps. Courage and joy. You know, a lot of
people in our church are really tired right now. You know, we've been
working around the clock. I don't know if you know
but we're in construction. In two of our locations
we have building projects in various states
of happening and all that goes along with that. But to be able to have
church uninterrupted even though the normal
place we broadcast from is no longer available to
us for the final phases of construction. And to think about
that and the fact that we still have
to be able to come up with something for television. And to be able to have an
experience that goes out to our 12 different locations. And you know how that worked? People around the clock doing
what God built them to do. Now, if you're full of
the spirits of this world drunk on alcohol, how do
you feel the next morning? Bleh, right? Well, here's the thing-- I've been talking to these
guys who have literally been burning the midnight oil. You know what there
is in their eyes? There's tiredness for sure and
they deserve some comp days. But there's also this
sense of I'd do it again. I'm fired up. They understand
what they're doing. They're energized
by God's Spirit. You'll never regret the
next morning an act of love. You'll never regret the
next morning something you did to bless somebody else. You'll never regret
that anything you've done in giving
yourself over to Christ. But how many of us can
say we regret things we've done while
intoxicated by alcohol? Check this out. When we go looking for
what's already ours, we do foolish things. That's the second point. We make foolish
decisions when we go looking for what
is already ours. If God's given you
His Holy Spirit, you have what you would
look for in gambling, or what you'd look for
in getting smashed, or you'd look for in the
accumulation of possessions. Because it's not just in liquor
that we can do these things. You can be high in a
lot of different ways but looking for what
ultimately can only come to that
relationship with Jesus. I think there's probably quite
a few of us who would say, I've made decisions-- I made foolish
decisions specifically when I gave control of myself
temporarily over to alcohol. That's why He says, don't
be drunk with wine-- that's dissipation. That'll lead to dissipation. I don't know if you're
like, yeah, dissipation. Don't know what that means. I'm that way. Debauchery. It means to be consumed and
almost burnt up primarily with a sexual type of activity. And how many bad decisions do
we wish we could take back? Things that we've
done or have been done to us that oftentimes
are either violent or sexual. And they come about as
a result of us foolishly looking for what's
already ours in Christ. So to kind of wrap
that little section up, let me give you one
picture from 2 King 6. 2 King 6, there's
this great story where this guy Gehazi is
terrified because soldiers have come to kill him. So this seems reasonable. How many soldiers? Thousands and
thousands of soldiers have come to kill him and
the pastor he works for, the Preacher Elisha. And so there they're
in this little house. I love this story so much. I opened up the book "Through
the Eyes of the Lion" with it. And Gehazi's terrified. He sees all these soldiers. That's all he can see. He thinks he's going to die and
Elisha's not flapped at all. And so he says to Gehazi,
what's the matter? He goes, there's
soldier's out there. They're going to kill us. And Elisha could have given
Gehazi a bottle of liquor and said, drink this. You'll feel better. Why? Because it would have
dimmed the lights down. It would have worked. If he would've gotten drunk
there, what would he care? Because he wouldn't have seen
what he was scared of anymore. And oftentimes that's our
solution-- to numb pain. But that doesn't
make it go away. And that doesn't
actually do anything to move us forward in this
life that we're called to live. Oh, by the way, most
alcoholics in our country began drinking as teenagers. Where their brains
were not knowing how to process the
difficulties of life without this to get
them through it. So young people, listen
to me very carefully. Before you lean
on something that can't deliver what
it's promising, learn to live your life under
the control of God's Spirit instead. Amen? Now, this isn't the
anti-alcohol sermon. What do I believe about alcohol? I believe it's a gift from God. I believe wine is
a gift from God. I believe as we see this, it's
a part of joy and rejoicing. But it's also something that
can become your master really quickly. And some people can
not have one drink because that one drink leads to
the second, leads to the third, leads to the 10th, and
leads to bad decisions. And what do I think about AA? I think it's awesome and
I praise God for meetings. And I thank God
for how people have found victory in their life. You know, what do
I teach my kids? I think I teach them moderation. You might know that
you're not going to. And yet, if you can't drink a
glass, if you can't enjoy it, it's something to
watch carefully. Just like so many
things in our day. Now, I realize within
the church there's plenty of preachers who will
get up and rail against alcohol. And yet what is taught
about the moderation when it comes to food? And how many obesity related
deaths happen every day from people who would
give a hearty amen when the preacher says
don't you dare have a beer. Well, there's this
book we read our kids. And it goes through
different things and it says, ice cream, yummy. They yell, yummy. Eating sand, yucky. Right? But then at the end of
the book after going through yummy things
and yucky things, it circles back and goes,
too much ice cream-- and they yell out, yucky. It's amazing how much
wisdom's in a kid's book. Right? It's like what do I
think about alcohol? Like wine, yummy, right? Too much wine, drunky. So this isn't the
anti-alcohol sermon. But Gehazi, if he would
have gotten drunk, he wouldn't have seen
the soldiers anymore. Right. But instead look
what Elisha did. He prayed. God, I pray that you would
open his eyes and let him see. The Lord open the
young man's eyes and when he looked up he saw-- look at this, the hillside
filled with chariots and horses of fire. Now, they were always there. The horses and angels,
they were always there. He just didn't see them until
the Spirit opened his eyes. So the Spirit gives
you the strength to face what you're facing,
not by turning off your lights so you can't see it but
you see more of reality to see what God sees
that's all around you. And when you can
see the invisible, you can do the impossible. That's amazing. OK. So now, on a day
to day level I want to be filled with the spirit. But I don't want to chase
what I already have. So how do I do that? Know this-- that the Holy Spirit
isn't a force to be conjured. It's a friend to be cultivated. It's a friendship to cultivate. On this issue there's so much
weirdness that has happened. That our stereotypical picture
and probably the reason that so many Christians ignore
this source of power that's meant to energize their
life is because they're afraid of the weirdness
of it becoming like my day to day life with God has
now become Harry Potter. And I got to speak
parseltongue tongue and roll the eyes in
the back of my head. (EERILY) I'm filled
with the Spirit. Rawh! Look what I'm doing
it for you, God. I just see God in heaven. He's like, I didn't do that. That was not me. And the angel's like, did you? And He's like, no,
I didn't do that. That's you. That's all you. The weirdness-- that's all you. We've seen the weird, little
YouTube clips and stuff on TV. Preacher and the church and
all in a frenzy and barking and foaming at the mouth. Like that's not what
we're talking about here. But get this-- the
abuse of the Spirit isn't just what
I just described. The abuse of the Holy Spirit
is also neglect of the Spirit. Neglecting the Holy Spirit--
that's technically abuse too. So what do we want
to do instead? We don't conjure
it up like a force. We cultivate the friendship
with the Holy Spirit. And that's supernatural but it's
very, very, very, very natural. It's effortless like
any other relationship. And here's one of the most
simple things you can do. You want to walk more in the
fullness of God's Holy Spirit? Practice gratitude. Practice gratitude. Look at the text. It says, after talking about
being filled with the Spirit, give thanks for all things. Here's a practical
to-do this week-- go write 20 thank you notes. Send thank you text messages. Get in the rhythm and habit
of saying thank you to people, telling people what
they mean to you. Tell God how grateful
you are for your car. Tell God how grateful
you are for your job. Tell your kids thank you
when they do something right. Tell your spouse thank you
when they cook you a meal. Just say thank you. You watch that that carves
out room in your life for God's Spirit to sing. Second practical
thing-- make sure you keep engaged with scripture. There's a parallel
account to Ephesians 5 and it's Colossians. The book Colossians says some of
the same elements are present. This is Colossians 3. And we read about psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs. All right, so we got
the singing shoulders. But then noticed this-- "Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly." And that is a synonym for
being filled with The Spirit. Which is it? Do I study the word or
do I trust God's Spirit? The answer is yes. Just like well, should I
drive over this rumble strip or that one? Head-on collision or
drive off a cliff? Is there a third option? Is it the word or
is it the Spirit? The answer's yes. And Jesus answers it
for us when he said, the Holy Spirit,
when He comes, is going to bring to
your mind everything you've read in the word. Every word that I've
ever spoken to you. So if you just
trust the spirit-- I just like to go in nature
and listen to the spirit but you're never
reading the word, you don't have anything
for Him to hand you. He's there but he doesn't
have anything to give to you. He wants to hand to you
in the right moment when you need a verse to stand
on, a promise to remember, something to tell somebody,
something to live out, something to declare,
something to believe, something to praise God for. You need the word so the
Holy Spirit can do his work. And isn't that funny how
it's connected to alcohol? Because how many people
get drunk to forget? We read the word so the Holy
Spirit can help us remember. I'm telling you
something-- living under the Spirit's control
is the only way to true life, to true joy, to true and
lasting peace and purpose. But it does include singing. It does include singing. Yes, it's the word and
yes, it's gratitude. But it is connected
inseparably to the song. What do you mean? I mean this-- worship is more
than singing but it's not less. Jot that down. Worship is more than singing. Team, come on up here. Help me jot this down. Seems like an appropriate time
to bring the band up, right? Worship is more than singing. Certainly. Worship's not just singing. What's the definition
of worship? Worship, here's what
I think, is doing everything you do in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you can do something in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's worship. Pretty good little acid test. Before you do
something just think, could I sing a worship
song while I'm doing this? Could I sing a worship
song while I'm doing this? Will that change your schedule? Will it change your life? Will it change what
movies you watch? Could I worship Jesus right now? Could I do this in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this business deal? Could I say this? Could I write this email? Can I do this as
an act of worship? Because all of life's meant
to be this act of worship. Our giving, our serving,
our work-- everything all to worship Jesus Christ. You never stop worshipping, OK? So worship is more than
singing but it's not less. And that means if you
show up late for church because oh, that worship part. I remember the singing part. You know, you're missing out. Worship is more than
singing but not less. Singing is a part of worship. And That's why He
tells us how to live this life of the Spirit. It's in psalms and hymns. Verse 19. And spiritual songs making
melody in your heart to the Lord. This is one of over
100 times in the Bible that you're told to sing to God. It's the second most
commanded Christian discipline in scripture behind prayer. Sing. Sing to Him. Sing to the Lord. Sing, shout, sing,
clap, sing, shout, sing. It's commanded to be rising
from your mouth to the Lord all the time. But not just-- listen,
this is my favorite part of the message. Not just a song you
sing to the Lord, it should be a song
you sing with the Lord. And what will change the
game for you in worship is when you realize
that He is singing too. There's lots of places I could
point you to to prove this. But my favorite is
in Luke's Gospel. That story of the prodigal son. That story of the lost coin. That story of the lost sheep. 100 sheep. One gets lost. The shepherd doesn't
go, I got 99 others. No, no. He finds someone
to watch the 99. He rushes out. No stone unturned. That's you, beloved. That's you, a
daughter of the King. That's you, young man. He won't leave you. He loves you. He cares for you. You are foolish, you
shouldn't have gone. You knew better. He doesn't care at all. He rumbled you and now
he's chasing after you. He can't stop. He won't stop. And when he finds you, if
you're wounded, if you're sick, if you're in the mouth of
a lion, if you're addicted, if you're strung out. If you're even high now
from last night's party, He's going to get you. And what does He do
when he finds you? The Bible says, look at it. He grabs you and he puts
you on His shoulders and goes His way rejoicing. He puts you on His shoulders and
He celebrates all the way home. And He sings the song because
He's got you on his shoulders. He's a good, good shepherd. He's a good, good
father and he loves you. So join now is song. Sing with Him. Come on, let it rise
up in your hearts. What an incredible message. Thank you so much for joining
us in this teaching from Fresh Life Church. Hey, if at any time
during the message you made a decision for
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