Luke 3:1-18, Preparing the Way

That's a little more shaky because we're sinners and we're fallen and and we have anxiety and we don't take it to the lord and all these things. But if you rejoice in the lord and the whole the whole of your life rejoices in who god is, what he has done, what he is doing now, what he will do in the future, and your position in him, then you have an unshakable joy that cannot be taken away. [00:06:28] (28 seconds)  #UnshakableJoyInTheLord

``will guard our hearts and our minds. This is the whole of us. He could've just said hearts, but he wanted to add minds in there so we understand it's our thoughts, it's our emotions, it's every aspect of ourselves will be guarded. Think of troops surrounding you. Only we're talking about god here. Right? If god guards your hearts and your minds, you are secure. You cannot be moved. [00:07:58] (22 seconds)  #GuardedHeartsAndMinds

as I was seeking for a passage, I realized when I read this, rejoice in the Lord always that this had been not my constant pattern over maybe ever in the way that it has been for me this week. But definitely in the last little while, I've gotten away from remembering that as a Christian, I'm to constantly rejoice in god. [00:08:24] (22 seconds)  #RememberToRejoice

And so I wanted to start there. I wanted us to see that god desires for us to be joyous people of faith and thankful Christians who bring him all our concerns. [00:08:46] (18 seconds)  #BringItToGod

You see the stadium. All the hands go up. They show all the guys just, yeah. Everyone goes crazy. And then in our little room in Armstrong at my parents' house with a bunch of these guys in the room, all of our hours go up. Couple of friends of mine, no. They didn't. They just went, oh, yeah. Great. And that's and I remember thinking, like, yeah, that they they react the same way in in other context too. That's them excited. So what is what is rejoicing? Well, it can look different, but it is to find your satisfaction. [00:10:01] (28 seconds)  #FindSatisfactionInGod

I haven't been able to hold hold him, and then I get to pick him up and hold him in my arms. And it's like a life changing moment, and there is a joy there that we can relate to God. The way we should view our relationship with god as god holds us in his hands just like that child. [00:10:56] (22 seconds)  #HeldInGodsHands

but this joy is in the lord, and this is so important. If your joy is on the earthly plane, if it is vertical joy, joy in things remember all of the admonitions of Jesus. Your treasure should not be on this earth. Your treasure needs to be with god. [00:11:23] (23 seconds)  #TreasureInHeaven

If your joy is in who god is, god is holy. God is all powerful. God is our father. God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding steadfast love. Steadfast love. God is perfect. He is beautiful. He is awesome in power. God has ordained the end from the beginning. He can not only tell you what is going to happen, he can tell you why it is going to happen. [00:11:46] (35 seconds)  #JoyInGodsCharacter

And we see that. And we are to rejoice in who god is. I was telling someone in mid middle services that I was struggling to try to exegree or expound this point. And he said, you did a good job. I said, no. I'm talking about god. You can't do a good job job explaining who the infinite, all all powerful god is. We fall utterly short. [00:14:54] (27 seconds)  #GodIsBeyondWords

So what if we are super poor? K? Can we rejoice if we're super poor? Well, we know from, I think, second Corinthians, I've gotta look this up, but, the Philippian church is lumped in with a group of churches that are described as being in extreme poverty. So the Philippian church, they're poor. Can we rejoice? Yes. Rejoice. Paul would say it again. Rejoice. What if you have a government that's out of control or an economy that's crashing? The government might come against you or arrest you. Well, Paul is writing this from jail. Right? Can you rejoice? Yes. You can rejoice always. [00:15:46] (39 seconds)  #RejoiceInAllCircumstances

It's like you ministered your whole life, and there's nothing to show for it. There's no legacy. There's nothing. Paul says, I rejoice. Rejoice. I I rejoice. Rejoice. And you should rejoice with me. If I was to die, you should rejoice with me. So, under what circumstances should we not rejoice in the lord? We always should rejoice, always, no matter what. [00:18:34] (22 seconds)  #RejoiceRegardless

way, and I like this one, if if I had to pick one, I'd probably pick this one just because, I think every other time this phrase, the lord is at hand, it means this. And that is, Jesus has defeated the enemy. It is finished. He went to the cross. He was buried. He rose again. He offered that sacrifice, and he has gone to the father who accepted that sacrifice, and he has sat down at the right hand of the father on high. It is finished. And so there is nothing stopping Jesus from coming back. His day is the next day. We are in the last days, and there is a final day when he comes back. So the lord is at hand as in he can return at any moment. [00:23:30] (51 seconds)  #JesusHasWon

the lord is at hand. So put those two pieces together. Let your reasons be known to everyone. Be reasonable. Okay? The lord is at hand. I have this image. Alright? God has commanded you as his child to love everyone, and he is a father to us. Now I have children. And if I if I'm standing here and some enemy comes up and starts poking at one of my kids, what do you think I'm gonna do? So be so gentle and cautious when you bring correction or anything to a brother or sister in Christ, [00:24:52] (40 seconds)  #BeReasonableAndGentle

someone whose name is written in the book of life. I didn't pick this passage for no reason. If you look back at verse two, Paul says, I entreat Euodia and I entreat Stintichy to agree in the lord. Yes. I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. There is conflict. Conflict in your family, conflict in your church, conflict anywhere. Conflict coming from ins outside attacking you. This process that Paul's laying out, these steps start first. Rejoice in the lord. Remember, gentleness, graciousness, graciousness, love. [00:25:32] (47 seconds)  #ReconcileInLove

God upholds the universe by the word of his power. He's lending you. He's giving you the breath that you have. Every good and pleasant thing comes from above. God holds you in the palm of his hand and he knows the sorrow you're going through. He was tempted in every way like us. He is a sympathetic high priest. He is good. And he's working all things together for good. He is working all things together for good. So when he says, do not be anxious about anything, he's telling you how you should correct your mind or your heart if you are anxious about something. [00:26:53] (43 seconds)  #GodWorksAllForGood

You can start by saying, well, that's not accurate. God's got this under control. What is it that you're worried about that you think god can't handle or change or doesn't fit into everything that is being worked out for good? There isn't anything. [00:27:36] (20 seconds)  #NothingTooBigForGod

We're going to have anxiety. We're going to have things that come up that we worry about, but they are not to dominate us. They are not to cause us to not fulfill the duties and the responsibilities that god has given us. They are not to debilitate us or hold us back. [00:28:58] (19 seconds)  #AnxietyDoesNotDefineYou

And I say that I mentioned this in the first service. I say that as someone who has struggled in so many ways with emotions and things that our world classifies as mental health struggles and these things. But I wanna tell you, the word of god trumps all of those expertise because if you ever look at a problem that you have, a thought you have, and you think that someone who doesn't acknowledge the existence of the soul or of sin or of god or the word of god can bring more truth and more healing to that situation [00:29:17] (32 seconds)  #ScriptureGuidesHealing

You have a problem praising start by praising god. Then take that problem and analyze. Am I being anxious? Angry? Am I being bitter? Is there something that is going to take the love that's in my eye and make it, like, 10 times bigger than it normally is, like any sinful emotion that I should hand off to god before I go and address the issue that I'm going to deal with, start there. [00:33:52] (27 seconds)  #PraiseThenProcess

In that illustration, I don't think it's ever intended for us to think we get the log out of our eye, and now we can see clearly, and we're just gonna be, like, shooting. And no. That is not the idea there. The log is always there. A wise person recognizes that. The log is there. Yes. We are supposed to get it out of our eyes. We're supposed to try to get it out so that we can know, but the point is you approach these problems in humility. K? In humility with the wisdom of knowing, oh, man. I'm a sinner. [00:34:19] (29 seconds)  #HumbleSelfCheck