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Can I Tell You a Secret? (Matthew 6:1-18) | Pastor Rod Gomez
00:00 Exploring the Best Christmas Light Displays
01:29 The Perfect Family Illusion
02:37 The Empty Inside: A Deeper Look
05:20 Living for God's Rewards
07:05 The Importance of Genuine Intentions
09:17 Giving for God's Glory
19:33 Praying with a Pure Heart
21:44 Understanding God's Focus in Prayer
22:08 How to Pray: A Step-by-Step Guide
23:21 The Importance of Daily Dependence on God
24:16 Forgiveness and Temptation in Prayer
25:40 Avoiding Performance in Prayer
28:42 Keys to Effective Prayer
31:54 The Role of Fasting in Spiritual Life
36:25 God's Rewards for Authentic Faith
39:25 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Transcript
One of the coolest things that you'll get to do with your family
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:is to go find some of the best decorated
neighborhoods, or in this case parking
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:lots, where lights are on full display.
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:My family and I, during my time off,
we went to the light park, which is
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:right off of the Dallas North Tollway.
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:They have transformed the
Rough Riders parking lot into
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:a drive through lights display.
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:So you go through you turn your radio
station to a certain frequency and they're
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:playing music and then all the lights
Work in synchronization to the music
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:that you hear on the radio, but beyond
places like this You can go to other
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:places neighborhoods I'm here Highland
Park does some really cool stuff But
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:people really go all out for Christmas
and this is one of the best things ever
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:In fact, there are TV shows dedicated
to Christmas lights displays In fact,
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:people can win money by setting up their
house to do really cool things In fact,
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:I saw this guy this week He, I don't
know where he lives, but he's got a large
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:lot and on his lot, he programs lights
to go off at certain times with fire.
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:So he's got lights, he's got LCD displays.
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:I didn't put the video out here for
you cause I thought it was too good.
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:It'd make my sermon not be as good.
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:So he has lights, LCDs, and then he's
got fire that shoots up in the air.
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:And if that weren't enough, he
actually has fireworks shooting in the
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:air as his lights display goes off.
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:So people take this really seriously.
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:This is all over our neighborhood.
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:In fact, North Texas
has, is known for being.
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:Uh, full of light shows
and displays Salina.
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:If you haven't gone to the Salina
town square yet, they have some
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:pretty cool lights in the, in the town
square, which is super impressive.
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:But think about this with me.
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:Imagine you drive up to a home just like
this and the lights are spectacular.
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:They're playing music and it's
all synchronized and there's happy
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:people in the front and they're,
and they're so nice to you.
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:The whole thing is lovely to behold.
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:The husband and wife come out.
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:Mom and dad, they have pearly white teeth.
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:He's smiling.
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:He's laughing.
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:She's saying, come on over kids.
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:Watch my cool display.
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:The kids come out and they're perfect.
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:They stand with upright posture.
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:None of them are looking at their phones.
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:They're paying attention to you.
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:They are the perfect family.
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:Spotless.
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:You've never seen a better family.
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:And they say, why don't you come
on inside our house, little kid?
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:They're talking to you, of course.
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:This gets weird really quick.
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:But you, lacking better judgment,
you say, Okay, I'll come
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:inside the house with you guys.
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:And you walk inside the house.
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:And you, and you walk in and you
find the house is completely dark.
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:There's no heating.
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:There's no lights.
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:There's no furniture.
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:There's no nothing.
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:You've just walked into a horror film.
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:You're about to die.
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:That's about what you're thinking, right?
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:If you see a light display like this
and you walk inside and there's nothing
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:inside, that would be terrifying because
you know, something is woefully wrong.
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:Well, interestingly enough,
a lot of people do this.
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:They have a lot of lights and a lot of
show and they have the perfect smile
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:and they have everything going on.
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:But if you just go a little bit deeper
into their lives, you find out there's
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:really not a whole lot going on.
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:In fact, there's a lot of darkness.
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:A lot of scariness behind the scenes.
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:They put on a really good show, they look
really good on the outside, but on the
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:inside, things aren't looking so hot.
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:In fact, Jesus talks about this,
he said it's kind of like having a
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:cup, and on the outside of the cup,
you have a really clean exterior.
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:You see sometimes cups in the sink,
you'll see that inside the cup there's
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:like food particles and there's
caked, uh, you know, stuff like this.
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:There's caked things on the inside.
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:Outside though, if you were just to
look at the cup, it looks pretty good.
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:It's kind of like if you've ever
been to Universal Studios, when you
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:go to Universal Studios, Hollywood
in particular, you'll notice that
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:they have what are called facades.
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:Facades are exteriors that are meant to
look really impressive on the outside.
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:They look real.
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:And that's because they're
made for TV or for movies.
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:And so you'll see on the outside, there
are these really impressive displays,
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:whether it's the old west or whether it's
something like this, where it looks like
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:downtown New York or something like that.
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:But once you walk around the facade,
you'll notice that what's behind
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:them is just, you know, steel beams
and there's nothing else going on.
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:It's all for show.
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:A lot of people live
their lives like this.
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:Challenge with this, So what I'm trying
to say is, is that if you present
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:something to people, you present a life
like this, which is a lot on the outside,
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:but not a whole lot going on the inside,
there's really no benefit to this, right?
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:There's no, there's, there's no benefit.
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:It looks great, but if you were gonna
invite someone in your house, you
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:don't have a kitchen to take them to,
you don't have a bedroom to show them,
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:you don't have a, you don't have a
stove to make them some tea or some
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:coffee, if you were to take them in.
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:Right.
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:If you were to give them your, your cup,
the cup that you, you just showed that
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:that cup looks great on the outside,
but you can't serve people with it.
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:Can't put coffee or Mountain View in it.
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:You got no purpose for it.
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:If the lights on the outside of the
house look wonderful, but the house can't
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:keep you warm at night cause there's
no gas or there's no electricity on
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:the inside, then the house is useless.
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:All of the things that I just showed
you right now are examples of what
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:it looks like to have a really great
outside, but a really empty inside.
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:Jesus is concerned about this because
if you live your life this way,
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:what you end up doing is creating
a really interesting outside, but
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:you lack what's most important.
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:You lack a really good inside.
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:Now here's what that means
for you, practically speaking.
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:If you have on the outside, everything
put together, but on the inside, you're
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:missing what God wants you to have.
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:If you're not, then really
you have an empty life.
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:You have a life that's not
purposeful, a life that's not useful
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:in the way that God designs it.
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:In fact, God wants you, I'm
going to, I'm going to make
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:a bold claim for you tonight.
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:God wants you to pursue
good things from him.
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:God wants you to pursue rewards from him.
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:God wants you to want the good
things that he has for you.
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:But to get to the good things that
God offers, he doesn't just want you
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:to pretend to be good on the outside.
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:He doesn't want you to just have
a really nice Christmas lights
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:display while on the inside.
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:It's dark.
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:God wants you to pursue
His rewards in His way.
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:God wants you to get the good
things that He offers you in the way
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:that He wants you to go for them.
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:Paul talked about this, Paul
the Apostle, talked about it
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:like a race.
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:He says, if I race, I don't want
to run and get disqualified.
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:I want to run to win the prize.
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:I don't want to get disqualified.
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:In the same way, as you live your
life, don't live your life in such
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:a way where you don't win the prize,
where you don't get the reward.
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:God wants you to have the reward.
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:It's up to you, though,
to play by the rules.
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:The rules are important.
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:We don't like the word rules because
it has a negative connotation, but
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:the rules are really important.
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:I put it like this.
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:You get God's rewards
by doing it God's way.
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:It's another way to say it, right?
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:I want you to play by the rules.
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:I want you to do what God wants you
to do the way God wants you to do it.
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:I don't want you to set up Christmas
lights and not have an inside the house
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:that's just as warm and as accommodating.
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:I don't want you to have a coffee cup,
you to And only the outside is clean.
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:When I tell my kids to wash
the dishes, I don't expect
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:them only to wash the outside.
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:I want them to wash the inside as well.
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:You're playing by the rules.
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:When someone builds a house, when
your, when your parents contracted a
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:builder to build your house and build
your room, they didn't say, Hey, we
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:just want a really nice exterior.
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:No, they said, Hey, we
want sinks and toilets.
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:We also want bedrooms in a garage.
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:That's playing by the rules.
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:All this to say, tonight we're
going to see through a long
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:text how we get God's rewards.
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:God wants you to have his rewards.
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:It's up to you to play
by the rules to get them.
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:And for that, we're going to look at
Matthew chapter six, Matthew chapter six.
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:We're going to look at
18 verses one through 18.
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:And it's a lot.
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:We're going to go through
it really quickly.
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:And I'm going to promise you that if
you listen closely to this message,
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:one of the things you'll walk away with
is how God wants you to approach him.
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:And consequently, what God will do
when you approach him the right way.
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:Amen.
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:Amen.
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:Take a look with me again,
Matthew chapter six, where are we?
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:We're in the Sermon on the Mount.
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:We're still there.
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:In fact, Matthew chapter five through
seven is still the Sermon on the Mount.
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:We're going to see from Jesus how
we, uh, how we live in his kingdom,
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:how Jesus wants us to relate
to him and relate to his word.
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:Jesus fulfills the law by expanding
upon it, by teaching what it
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:really is supposed to mean.
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:Our job is to obey him
and respond accordingly.
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:And so he starts off with this.
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:Now, when you think about religion,
when you think about getting right
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:with God, one of the first things
you might think of is prayer.
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:But Jesus actually says, you know what, if
you want to know if someone's truly right
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:with me, he goes right to something that
most of us wouldn't think twice about.
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:He talks about your money,
what you do with your money.
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:You're going to, you're about in a
couple of weeks, 17, 16 days, 15 days,
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:you're going to get probably a couple
of presents from grandparents, or maybe
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:from people that know you guys are going
to say, Oh, here's a, here's, here's 50.
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:Or here's a 50 Amazon card, or
here's a hundred bucks for Christmas.
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:They're gonna give you things to
dispose of, money you get to choose
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:what to do with, and here's what
Jesus says when it comes to money.
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:He says, look, Beware of practicing your
righteousness before other people, before
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:people in order to be seen by them.
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:For then you will have no reward
from your Father who is in heaven.
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:This one verse governs everything
else you're about to look at.
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:And this is super important.
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:So track with me for a second.
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:Hang with me and understand this.
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:When you do good things for God,
they must be for God and not for
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:something else, not for someone else.
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:Goes down to your motivations.
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:What are you motivated for?
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:What drives you?
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:And if it's not, I'm doing
this for God, then you're
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:probably going to miss the mark.
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:Jesus says, when you're doing things
for God, Whether it's giving money
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:or praying or fasting, he says if
you're doing it to be seen by people,
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:well, then that's all you get from it.
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:That's your only reward.
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:If you're doing something just to
impress mom or dad, or just to impress
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:your coach, or just to impress the girl
that you like, or the guy that you're
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:into, if you're doing it just to impress
people, that's all you get from it.
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:But if you're doing it for God,
that's when you get rewarded.
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:In fact, a few weeks ago,
we talked about this.
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:Remember when Jesus says, look,
in the same way, let your light
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:shine before others so that
they may see your good works.
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:Jesus is not against
people seeing you do good.
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:What He is against is you doing
good so that people see you.
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:There's a difference.
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:If you're saying, I want to do it so
that people give glory to my Father in
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:Heaven, to give glory to God, great.
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:But if you're doing it so that
people look at you and say,
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:look how awesome that girl is.
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:She's so nice.
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:She's so spiritual.
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:He's so handsome.
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:He's so wonderful.
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:He's marriage material.
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:I love you.
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:He's the kind of guy I want
to have a family with, maybe.
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:If you're doing it to impress
people, you're missing the
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:mark, is what I'm saying.
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:Jesus is okay with people seeing
your righteousness, but He's not
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:okay with that being your motivation.
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:He says, He continues on in Matthew
chapter 6, He says, Thus, or so, when
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:you give to the needy, when you're giving
money away to people who are in a bad
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:position, He says, Sound no trumpet.
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:Um, you've heard the term
tooting your own horn?
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:When you start talking
about how awesome you are?
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:I've got a 4.
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:5 GPA.
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:I speak four languages.
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:Really good at math, too.
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:Tooting your own horn.
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:Jesus says, don't do that.
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:He says, sound no trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
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:and in the streets, that they may be
praised by others, that you go again.
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:There's the motivation.
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:He says, truly, I say to you,
they have received the reward.
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:If you're, if you want the praise
of people versus the praise
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:of God, he says, there you go.
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:You've had your reward.
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:So, verse three, but when you give to
the needy, that is you as a Christian,
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:when you give, don't even tell your
left hand what your right hand is doing.
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:In other words, be so secret about it,
so discreet that you're not telling
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:anybody or even keeping things away
from yourself, which is impossible.
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:But Jesus is saying, go out of your
way not to make a big deal out of it.
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:He says, verse four, so that
your giving may be in secret.
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:And then he gives the
rationale, the motivation.
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:This is the motivation.
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:He says, When you do this, your
father, who sees everything, he
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:sees your waking, he sees your
sleeping, he says, not Santa Claus.
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:This is the real God of heaven.
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:He sees everything about you.
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:And when you do what he wants
for him, he will reward you.
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:You want God's rewards.
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:You got to do it God's way.
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:Here's God's way in a nutshell.
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:Point number one, if you're going to do
it God's way, here's why you do good.
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:Here's why you pray.
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:Here's why you fast.
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:Here's why you give.
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:You ready for it.
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:You're going to be surprised
when I tell you point number one,
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:you're ready for point number one.
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:Here goes.
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:Point number one.
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:Do good for God's glory.
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:Oh, man, I'm shocked.
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:This is brand new.
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:I've never heard this before.
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:I know you have.
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:I know you have.
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:I get that.
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:So please forgive me for the repetition.
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:But there is no formation
without repetition.
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:So I'm doing this on
purpose for your benefit.
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:When you do good, when you
work hard in math class, when
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:you treat your sister nicely.
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:When you make your bed because your
parents have asked you to do that, when
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:you do the dishes because you were told
to do the dishes, when you work hard at
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:your instrument, when you labor strong in
practice, when you read the book that your
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:English teacher told you to read, when
you go to church and you pay attention
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:because your parents asked you to do that,
when you do any good thing, what God cares
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:about is that you're doing it for Him.
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:I want to be rewarded by God
and so ultimately I want to do
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:all of this for God's glory.
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:When I preach for you and you take notes,
great notes, and you're giving me good
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:eye contact and you're nodding when
you're understanding something, or you're
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:saying this, when you don't understand
something, you're giving me feedback.
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:I appreciate that.
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:I really do.
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:That's, that's helpful for me because then
I can kind of adjust along the way, which
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:is why I look at you when I'm preaching.
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:But I hope that you're doing that because
you want to ultimately glorify God and not
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:just swing points with the youth pastors.
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:Does it benefit you anyway?
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:I really have nothing to give you.
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:But when you do things for
God's glory, everything changes.
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:I remember when I, I used
to work at McDonald's.
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:I don't know if I ever talked to this.
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:I used to work at McDonald's.
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:I worked there for I think
two, maybe three years.
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:It was a long time.
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:I hated it.
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:But one occasion, it was a,
I think it was a Saturday.
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:There was a homeless lady kind of
camping out in front of the McDonald's.
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:I was a, I would call myself
a Christian at that time.
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:I don't know that I truly was.
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:But I called myself a Christian.
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:So I felt The need to go out
to this lady during my break.
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:And so that's what I did.
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:I have my 15 minute break.
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:I walked right outside
through the double doors.
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:And I went to this lady and
said, Hey, um, are you hungry?
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:Simple question.
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:And she said, yes, yes, I am.
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:I said, okay, well, can
I buy you some food then?
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:And so she acquiesced.
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:She said, yeah, yeah, that'd be great.
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:I was always told never to give money
to people that are, Because you never
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:know what they're going to use it for.
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:But if you want to be generous to
somebody who doesn't look like they have
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:the same privileges you do, then one
of the things you can do is buy them
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:food because probably going to eat it.
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:So I took her inside and I brought
her in and she smelled, I remember
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:that much she was, she had a very
pungent odor, wasn't wearing nice
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:clothes, obviously, but I brought
her in and Rosa was at the register.
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:She was my manager at that time.
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:And I said, Rosa, I'd
like to buy And a meal.
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:Um, It'd really be really great if
I get my employee discount too, Uh,
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:but I'd like to buy them, and so
I said, okay, whatever you want.
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:And I let her order and she got a ton,
I don't even remember what it was.
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:Um, I remember though, when I,
when I did that, uh, I felt the
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:pain of it cause she, she got a
lot of food more than I expected.
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:Uh and I didn't make a lot of
money, I was making minimum wage.
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:I mean, I'm doing Donald's after all.
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:But she ordered, and I paid whatever
it was, the 15 bucks, which today
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:feels like a normal meal, but
back then it was like 1, 000.
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:So I paid the money.
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:My boss is looking at me a bit
quizzically, but also approvingly.
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:She was confused about what I was
doing, but she was also proud.
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:I noticed that.
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:I clocked that pretty quickly.
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:Anyway, I waited with the lady, tried
to make some small talk with her.
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:She got her meal, and then she
went back outside, and that was it.
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:Um, I felt something.
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:That I've only felt a few times
in my life where I just felt like,
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:man, that was really, really cool.
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:Jesus said it's more blessed to give
than to receive, and that, that day
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:I felt it for one of the, one of the
first times in my life, feeling what
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:it was like to give something away that
actually really hurt, but I loved it.
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:It was awesome.
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:Rosa saw that, my boss at the time, Rosa.
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:She was a, she was a big Hispanic
lady, one of my coolest bosses
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:ever, and she didn't, she didn't
mention it, and I didn't bring it up.
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:I was okay with that, because
I wasn't doing it for Rosa.
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:I wasn't doing it for McDonald's.
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:I wasn't, I was wearing my McDonald's
uniform, but I wasn't trying
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:to make McDonald's look good.
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:I was trying to say this is
what's what's good for God.
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:This is what's good for God's glory.
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:And I cared about the lady, at least
enough to say, I want to feed you.
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:Let me help you.
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:And so many times people will do good
things like that, but not for God's glory.
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:In fact, there's a whole industry
of people that give a lot of
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:money away, but not for God.
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:These people are called philanthropists.
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:These philanthropists have
made millions upon billions,
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:if not trillions of dollars.
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:You might notice some
of those faces up there.
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:Bill Gates is knowing, uh, known for
having given away lots of his money.
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:In fact, I think one of the challenges
for Bill is that he's trying to
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:give away everything before he dies.
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:Him and, and, uh, Berkshire Hathaway guy.
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:What's his name?
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:Bennett.
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:Bennett.
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:Yeah.
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:Warren, Warren, Warren
Buffett rather, not Bennett.
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:Uh, Buffett, uh, Gates, George Soros.
396
:These guys have Bill, these guys
are going to make more money than
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:everybody in this room, probably,
unless you become one of these people.
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:He's going to make more money than
everyone in this room combined
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:in five minutes than we'll
ever see in our whole lifetime.
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:These guys will give away tons of cash.
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:But the question you should
ask yourself is why do these
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:people give away all this money?
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:What's behind that?
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:And here's, here's the thing.
405
:Some of them are giving away money
to organizations that promote
406
:health care, clean drinking water,
which we could say that's great.
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:Some of them, actually a lot of them, give
away money to educational organizations
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:where they're trying to educate people
that don't have the same money that you
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:and I do, where they struggle with that.
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:So they provide money for those things.
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:These guys are giving away to
some really neat organizations.
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:But is this good?
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:Is this a good thing?
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:Is there philanthropy, which by
the way, philanthropy, uh, philo,
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:or philo, that's a form of love.
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:Um, And Anthropos is the word for man.
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:So a love of man, a
philanthropist is someone who
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:loves mankind with their money.
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:So these guys are giving
away tons of money.
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:Is that good?
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:Is that a good thing?
422
:Part of you might say, well,
yeah, of course it's good.
423
:They're helping people, right?
424
:They're giving away, you know, clean
water and, and food and education.
425
:And they would say, yeah, that's good.
426
:But is it really good?
427
:Is it truly good?
428
:And here's my answer for you.
429
:The answer is no, because
it's not done for God's glory.
430
:John MacArthur once said.
431
:The good that people who are not
Christians do is called bad good because
432
:they don't do it for God's glory.
433
:It's bad good.
434
:So they're doing good, but it's bad
good because it's not for God's glory.
435
:There's some other reason
that provokes them to do that.
436
:Whether it's, I want people to
remember me, which by the way, Bill
437
:Gates has the Bill Gates Foundation.
438
:It's actually called the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation.
439
:So when he dies, he has a foundation with
his name on it that dispenses the money.
440
:Some of these other guys also
have organizations that have
441
:their names on it as well.
442
:So there might be even an element
of pride in their giving away.
443
:For you then, I wonder if you
ever even thought of this.
444
:Like when I give stuff away, when I buy
presents for friends, when I give money
445
:to the church offering plate, if you do
that, which if you do, good job for you.
446
:Now, when I do nice things for friends, am
I, am I doing it for the right reason or
447
:is there maybe an element of pride in it?
448
:Am I doing it because of, because of me?
449
:I want people to know my name.
450
:When I celebrate in the end zone, am I
doing it because I want people to know
451
:who I am or am I pointing up and doing
the Jesus thing or the Tim Tebow and
452
:what am I doing and why am I doing it?
453
:And if I'm not doing it for God's
glory, I'm missing the mark.
454
:If you want God's rewards, if you want
to know what it is to be rewarded by
455
:God, you have to do it God's way and
God's way is do all things for my glory.
456
:Be okay with doing it in secret
because it's not about people
457
:giving you the accolades.
458
:It's about God's glory.
459
:Jesus now continues.
460
:We talked about giving what you do with
your money, what you do with your money
461
:reveals so much about your heart, but
he also says how you communicate with
462
:God also reveals a lot about your heart.
463
:There are some churches that
teach people to pray for things
464
:like, Hey, give me the big job.
465
:God give me the red convertible car.
466
:Give me that brand new, whatever it is.
467
:They teach something called
health, wealth, and prosperity.
468
:Jesus actually tells you
how he wants you to pray.
469
:And how you pray, again, revealing
your heart, tells you a lot.
470
:Here's what he says,
take a look with me here.
471
:How Jesus wants us to pray.
472
:In these few verses, Matthew 5 through
8, let's take a look at this first.
473
:Jesus says, when you pray, you
must not be like the hypocrites.
474
:And a hypocrite, by the way,
is someone that wore a mask
475
:and played a part on a stage.
476
:Um, and so they would pretend
to be something they were not.
477
:He says, don't be like those people.
478
:They love, listen to this, they
love to stand and pray in the
479
:synagogues and out the street corners.
480
:Here we go again, that
they may be seen by others.
481
:Truly, I say to you, they
have received their reward.
482
:That is, they don't get anything else.
483
:If you want man's praise,
that's all you get.
484
:You get nothing more than that.
485
:He says, but when you pray, you
as a Christian follower, as a
486
:disciple, he says, go into your room.
487
:, shut the door and pray to
your father who is in secret.
488
:In other words, don't
make a big show of it.
489
:Just do it quietly.
490
:Don't, don't need to go to
the kitchen table and show
491
:your mom that you're praying.
492
:Don't need to have your dad.
493
:Notice what you're doing.
494
:She says, do it quietly.
495
:Do it privately.
496
:He says, and your father who
sees in secret, that's God the
497
:Father, he will reward you.
498
:Your reward's gonna be better than
just having people say, what a,
499
:what a religious person you are.
500
:He says in the next few verses here.
501
:When you pray, don't heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do, for
502
:they think that they're going to
be heard for their many words.
503
:There are some people, Jesus says,
that like to try to manipulate God
504
:by just saying a lot and having big,
flowery sentences that go on and on.
505
:And he says, look, if you think you're
getting God's attention just because
506
:you have a pretty voice, or you have
pretty sentences, or have long paragraphs
507
:of information to communicate, it
doesn't mean that God's listening.
508
:He's listening.
509
:God doesn't care about how
many words there are, per se.
510
:He cares about something else.
511
:He says, verse 8 here, Don't be like them.
512
:Where am I?
513
:Verse 8?
514
:Is that still up here?
515
:Yes.
516
:Verse 6, 7, 8.
517
:Yes.
518
:Don't be like them.
519
:Don't be like them, for your Father
knows what you need before you ask Him.
520
:God already knows.
521
:You come to God in prayer,
He knows what you need.
522
:That ought to change the
way that you pray, He says.
523
:And then he's going to
tell you how to pray.
524
:Now, we're going to go
through this rapid fire.
525
:I want to give you some pointers on
this, but I need you to go in your
526
:Bible and look along with me, because
I don't have it on the screen for you.
527
:So, go to your Bible.
528
:Yeah.
529
:There you go.
530
:So go, go to Matthew chapter
six, and we're going to look at
531
:verses nine to 15 in your Bible.
532
:So open your Bible.
533
:I'm going to read it along with you.
534
:Make a few comments as you, as
you read, here's what he says.
535
:When you pray, Jesus says, pray
like this, that is don't pray
536
:exactly this, but pray like this.
537
:He starts off here in verse nine, our
father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
538
:So first of all, he communicates
who you're talking to.
539
:He's not just God generally.
540
:He's our father in heaven.
541
:And notice the inclusive pronoun.
542
:It's not just my father in heaven.
543
:He's assuming that you're
praying with other Christians.
544
:Our father in heaven.
545
:Hallowed be your name
means make your name holy.
546
:Make people honor your name
is what he's saying there.
547
:Verse 10.
548
:Your kingdom come, your will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven.
549
:Jesus says when you pray, your prayer
should reflect a God centered focus.
550
:A sense of I want God's will to be done.
551
:I don't want my will to be done
if it conflicts with God's will.
552
:You should be asking for
God's will to be done.
553
:Verse 11.
554
:Jesus wants you to reflect your neediness.
555
:Give us this day our daily bread.
556
:Feed me, God.
557
:Here's something interesting.
558
:Think about this for a second.
559
:You've never, probably, you've
never had to ask God to feed you.
560
:And yet, every single day of
your life, God has fed you.
561
:And some of you, he's
fed really well, right?
562
:He doesn't just give you enough to get by.
563
:He's not just giving you bread.
564
:He's giving you Gigantic turkeys and
cheesy potatoes and cinnamon rolls and
565
:all sorts of wonderful gooey deliciousness
that we all ate for Thanksgiving and
566
:we're about to eat again for Christmas.
567
:You've never prayed for God to
give you your daily bread and
568
:yet everyday God does that.
569
:Why do we not pray for that?
570
:Well, because we think we're
going to get it no matter what.
571
:Jesus doesn't want us to think that way.
572
:Jesus doesn't want us to take
for granted his provision.
573
:And so he says, look, ask for that.
574
:Ask God to provide for you daily.
575
:He continues verse 12, forgive
us our debts as we also
576
:have forgiven our debtors.
577
:Jesus is saying you need to ask God
for forgiveness on a regular basis.
578
:You need to approach God recognizing
you've sinned against God.
579
:Probably even right now you're
sinning against God in some way.
580
:He wants you to acknowledge that
and say, Lord, please forgive me.
581
:And what's interesting is that Jesus
wants you to anticipate God's forgiveness.
582
:If you're the kind of person
who's willing to forgive others.
583
:If you're the kind of person who forgives
others, Jesus is saying, You're probably
584
:going to get God's forgiveness then.
585
:You get God's forgiveness.
586
:Someone who's been forgiven by
God is willing to forgive others.
587
:And says, he says here in verse
13, lead us not into temptation,
588
:but deliver us from evil.
589
:Again, dependent upon God
to protect us, to guard us.
590
:Verse 14, for if you forgive others,
their trespasses, your heavenly
591
:father will also forgive you.
592
:But if you do not forgive others,
their trespasses, then neither
593
:will your father forgive yours.
594
:This is the template that God
gives you for how to pray.
595
:Now, I told you, if you want God's
rewards, you gotta do things God's way.
596
:If you want answers to your
prayer, you gotta learn to pray
597
:the way that God wants you to pray.
598
:If you want to know how to approach
God, you need to approach God
599
:in the way that He prescribes.
600
:So many times, people pray in ways
that are just not that helpful.
601
:Have you guys ever seen those
commercials, uh, the Snickers commercials?
602
:You're, you're not, you're not
yourself when you're hungry?
603
:Shows people acting in weird
ways like this, this, this
604
:linebacker or whatever he was.
605
:He was whining and complaining.
606
:This is Betty White, by the way.
607
:She's an old school actress and she eats
it and then he turns back into himself
608
:and he's this big, buff, burly guy.
609
:Really brilliant advertising.
610
:In fact, Snickers has,
has great advertising.
611
:Your, your hunger level, where
you put the tattoo, so you're
612
:not you when you're hungry.
613
:So if you eat a Snickers before you
get to the point of being so ravenously
614
:hungry, you won't make the mistake of
putting a tattoo on the side of your head.
615
:Okay.
616
:Which as a rule of thumb, probably
should not get a tattoo on your face.
617
:Just hear me say that.
618
:Okay.
619
:That's not the point of my
sermon, but don't do that.
620
:Yes.
621
:You'll avoid the, you'll
avoid the problem.
622
:Last one here.
623
:You're not you when you're hungry.
624
:Uh, I guess zebras chase down lions
when they're really hungry and that's
625
:how that, that's a big mistake.
626
:Obviously don't do that.
627
:You're not you when you're hungry.
628
:That's it.
629
:That's their tagline.
630
:You're not you when you're hungry.
631
:Most Christians are not
them when they pray.
632
:I think Jesus might say that to you.
633
:You're not you when you pray.
634
:And the same way that Snickers
is like, hey, when you're hungry,
635
:you're not the same person.
636
:Jesus, I think, probably would
point to a lot of Christians and
637
:say, you're not you when you pray.
638
:You're somebody else.
639
:Which I'm not saying you shouldn't, you
shouldn't respect God and revere God.
640
:Obviously, please do that.
641
:But when you pray, so many times
the reason you struggle in prayer
642
:is because you're approaching
God like he's not a person.
643
:You're approaching God like he's
just this figment of your imagination
644
:that only requires respect.
645
:I hope when you hear mature
people pray, you hear them
646
:interact with God as a person.
647
:Point number two like this.
648
:I would say treat God as a
person, not a performance.
649
:Some people treat prayer
like a performance.
650
:I have to say the right thing.
651
:I don't want to be embarrassed.
652
:I don't want to pray the wrong thing.
653
:When I pray in front of people,
I don't want them to think
654
:I'm, I don't know anything.
655
:I don't want people to think I'm weird
or strange or that I'm a cultist.
656
:And so I, I perform when I pray.
657
:I try to say the right thing.
658
:And to the point where I'm not even
focusing on God anymore, I'm just
659
:focusing on saying the right thing.
660
:treat God as a person, not a performance.
661
:God doesn't want you to pretend.
662
:And then I, I, I feel like this would
be one area where if I could encourage
663
:you to approach God with this, this
could change your relationship with God.
664
:I, I wish I could, maybe I don't,
I I wish you could hear me pray
665
:though, not in this setting.
666
:I, I, I'm honest and I think you
hear me pray all the time and
667
:you can hear the way I, I do it.
668
:Um, but my private prayers are even
more, not casual, but familial.
669
:I talk to God much like
I talk to you guys.
670
:Um, again, not this casual.
671
:I'm still respectful, but I treat
God like a person, and I would
672
:love for you to do the same.
673
:I'd love for you to see God as
someone who's right in front of you.
674
:God is omnipresent, obviously, so
He's not only in one location, but
675
:God is willing to hear your prayers.
676
:He wants you to pray.
677
:One of the rewards that a Christian
looks for is the reward of intimacy
678
:with God, and the way that you get
that is by drawing near to God as
679
:a person and not trying to perform
for Him, not trying to pretend that
680
:you're something that you're not.
681
:Here's a couple things here.
682
:Keys to prayer that God accepts.
683
:Number one, pray to God, not people.
684
:Okay, when you're praying,
don't pray to people.
685
:I know sometimes it's hard to
pray when people are listening.
686
:I get that, but you have to
pretend that they're not there.
687
:If you can do that, pray to
God, not a person, your prayers
688
:are already going to be better.
689
:God will love that prayer, because it'll
be real, and it won't be you trying
690
:to pretend, and trying to perform,
and trying to impress everybody else.
691
:Next, pray with these three ingredients,
and this is all coming from what
692
:Jesus just encouraged us to do.
693
:First of all, ingredient
number one, reverence for God.
694
:I don't want you to call God, Daddy God.
695
:I don't want you to pretend
like God is your best friend.
696
:This is not a Jesus take
the wheel situation.
697
:God must be revered.
698
:Honor Him, esteem Him, but that
doesn't mean I shouldn't pray to
699
:God with a sense of He's my Father.
700
:He wants to hear from me.
701
:Second, knowledge of your neediness.
702
:Jesus said Uh, ask for your daily
bread, ask for forgiveness of sins,
703
:ask for deliverance from evil.
704
:So you got to come to God knowing
you need a whole lot more,
705
:even what you think you need.
706
:You need more than that.
707
:If you can come to God with your
neediness, you'll come with appropriate
708
:reverence and appropriate awareness.
709
:Number three of your
responsibility toward others.
710
:So you're coming to God with reverence.
711
:You're coming with a knowledge of
your neediness and you're coming with
712
:awareness of your responsibility.
713
:Here's what I mean by that.
714
:Jesus said, ask for forgiveness
as you forgive others.
715
:Jesus wants you to always think
of yourself in light of your
716
:relationships with other people.
717
:You can't have a close
relationship with God if your
718
:human relationships are broken.
719
:Now there's exceptions to this rule,
but here's what I mean by that.
720
:Let's say your parents get
you upset for some reason.
721
:They ask you to do something, you're
not having it, you don't like it, you
722
:don't like the way they said it, so
you're really mad at your parents.
723
:Is it easier or harder for you
to pray to God when you're really
724
:upset with your mom and dad?
725
:Easier or harder?
726
:Much harder.
727
:Thank you.
728
:Appreciate you answering.
729
:The only one.
730
:Oh, that was you?
731
:Thank you, Ezekiel.
732
:Should have joined him, Carson.
733
:Much harder.
734
:That's because when you have a
broken human relationship, it's
735
:much harder to relate to God.
736
:Especially when you know it's
a relationship that God wants
737
:you to have in good standing.
738
:When you pray to God, you need
to come with an awareness of who
739
:God is, an awareness of where
you are and an awareness of how
740
:am I doing with other people?
741
:Am I, am I holding
bitterness with my siblings?
742
:Am I angry at my mom and my dad?
743
:Am I, am I mistreated friends at school?
744
:Am I, am I picking on people
that I shouldn't pick on?
745
:Am I treating people
around me the way I should?
746
:Accepting my responsibility before
God comes means I'm coming to God
747
:with an awareness that I'm not where
I need to be and I need to change.
748
:God, please help me.
749
:This is the kind of prayer model
that Jesus wants us to adopt.
750
:It's not just thinking of
ourselves, it's thinking about our
751
:relationship to God and others.
752
:Profoundly relationship centered.
753
:Okay, last, one more thing
that Jesus brings up.
754
:We talk about, if we want God's
rewards, we need to do things God's way.
755
:Remember, God's way is for His glory,
treating Him like a person, with humility.
756
:We're not performing for Him,
we're being authentic with God.
757
:The last thing, though, is something
you probably haven't done before.
758
:So let's take a look at it real quick.
759
:He says here, and when you fast,
this means going without food
760
:in this particular instance,
but you might say going without
761
:something in order to focus on God.
762
:It's meant to convey humility.
763
:It's meant to convey dependence upon God.
764
:It's a way for you to relate to God.
765
:So he says, when you fast, don't
look gloomy like the hypocrites.
766
:There are some people, Jesus
says, who when they fast, they
767
:want you to know, Oh, my stomach.
768
:Oh, oh, this is so hard.
769
:Oh, what's the matter pastor?
770
:Oh, I'm just, I'm just fasting.
771
:Don't worry about me though.
772
:I'm okay.
773
:I'll be all right.
774
:Please don't worry about me.
775
:It's silly, but this is
what Jesus is calling out.
776
:He doesn't want people to pretend
like they're doing some great thing
777
:for God when all they're really
doing is trying to get you to look at
778
:them and say, man, that dude, he's,
Pastor Rod is serious about God.
779
:Wow.
780
:They should get an award or something.
781
:Well the award is human
approval, human approbation.
782
:He says they disfigure their faces.
783
:So they make their face like,
Oh, I have a stomach hurt, you
784
:know, they want you to see.
785
:Disfigure their faces that their
fasting may be seen by others.
786
:Truly I say to you, as Jesus said
before, they have received their reward.
787
:That's all you get.
788
:You get human applause.
789
:Good job.
790
:Good.
791
:Yes.
792
:No.
793
:Good job.
794
:Good job.
795
:He says, but when you fast, Christian.
796
:When you deny yourself something
that is good, in order to focus
797
:on God and show humility, anoint
your head, wash your face.
798
:We might say, take a shower,
young men, shave your face,
799
:put on some clean clothes.
800
:Verse 18, that your fasting may
not be seen by others, but by
801
:your father who is in secret.
802
:And your father who sees in
secret, he will reward you.
803
:God cares deeply.
804
:About you having integrity.
805
:God wants your authenticity.
806
:God wants your motivation to be
on him and not for other people.
807
:You ever see these TikTok videos where
someone does something like this.
808
:They're like, they're crying
in front of the camera.
809
:They're, they're showing that they're
really bothered by something, but they
810
:have the wherewithal to set up their
tripod, turn on their lights, and
811
:then perform in front of the camera as
though they're really experiencing that.
812
:I mean, so.
813
:So cringy, right?
814
:Cringe.
815
:In fact, there's one guy on TikTok that
I love because he takes videos like
816
:this and he points out the absurdity.
817
:I just had to show it to you.
818
:Okay, so just this, just
this one, just one, right?
819
:This is it.
820
:That's all I got is one.
821
:You ready?
822
:Okay,
823
:I don't know the gal.
824
:I'm sure she intended it and
meant well, so I don't know.
825
:I guess I don't know.
826
:But you get how silly that feels, right?
827
:After you're like, oh, yeah.
828
:I'm watching her cry, but
she had to set up the video.
829
:She had to, then she had to do, do
her thing in front of it to make sure
830
:that you saw her being distressed.
831
:And it's, it was naturally
just off putting.
832
:Humans are not meant to act and play.
833
:We're meant to be, to be real.
834
:And that's what, that's
what God wants from you.
835
:You want to do things God's way.
836
:He wants you to do
everything for His glory.
837
:And He wants you to do it
in a way that's genuine.
838
:I put it like this, point
number three, let's pursue
839
:authenticity instead of acting.
840
:If you are far from God, Better
for you to just say that.
841
:If you're struggling with something
that you hear from me, better for
842
:you to say that than to pretend that
you're tracking or that you love
843
:God when in reality you're really
struggling or that you're not with Him.
844
:Better for you to be honest
with where you are than to,
845
:than to pretend like you're not.
846
:Christians respect truthfulness.
847
:And the reason why is
because God respects that.
848
:You want God's rewards?
849
:You gotta do things God's way.
850
:And God's way is authenticity,
being real with where you're
851
:at, being real with who you are.
852
:Now, some people under that same
guise will say, Well, then who I
853
:really am is the opposite gender,
or I'm really a cat, or, you know,
854
:I identify as the Eiffel Tower.
855
:That's not what I'm talking about.
856
:Being real with where you're at
means just being honest, truthful.
857
:That's what God wants.
858
:Authenticity instead of acting.
859
:Gotta be real with yourself and with God.
860
:This is the way that God wants
us to interact with them.
861
:When it comes to fasting, hopefully
at some point we'll do this, but God
862
:wants you to fast in the right way,
which means I'm doing it for His sake.
863
:I don't need you to tell
me I'm doing a good job.
864
:I'm doing it for God and for God alone.
865
:I've been dancing around
this the whole time.
866
:Now let's talk, let's
unpack this just a bit.
867
:God says when you do things
His way, what do you get?
868
:What do you get?
869
:When you do things God's
way, you get God's rewards.
870
:You might be asking, well, What kind
of rewards do I get then Pastor Rod?
871
:What do I do if God's
gonna give me something?
872
:What do I get out of this thing?
873
:It's a good question.
874
:Let me try to answer that briefly as
we close Sometimes you'll see things
875
:like this on on the Facebook post or
something like this the community boards
876
:There's like oh I lost my dog or I lost
my cat If you find my dog or my cat,
877
:this is what they look like And if you
call me and you see you see my cat get
878
:them turned into me I will give you this
guy I think is offering 500 bucks 500
879
:reward or free dog grooming for life.
880
:That's actually a good deal I
might buy a dog just to get that.
881
:Because Lord knows, you don't
need another cat in the world.
882
:Just kidding.
883
:Cat lovers.
884
:People will try to incentivize, like, Hey!
885
:Get me back my cat.
886
:I'll give you 500 to get my cat.
887
:Look out for my cat.
888
:Give me 500.
889
:By the way, this is real.
890
:If you've seen this cat, maybe
you'd get 500 out of this.
891
:that's good Christmas money right there.
892
:But what about the people that are
like you know I don't really care about
893
:500 bucks I got everything I need.
894
:I don't need your 500.
895
:I don't need your dog grooming
because I don't have any dogs.
896
:I don't have any cats.
897
:I don't have any kids.
898
:I don't need them.
899
:For some people, this might be super
interesting and engaging for others.
900
:And they're like, no big deal.
901
:I don't need, I don't need more money.
902
:I don't need more, whatever that is.
903
:When it comes to the way that God rewards
us, it's not like God saying, Hey, if
904
:you find my cat, I'll give you 500.
905
:It's God saying, I know you
better than you know yourself.
906
:I care about you more than
you care about yourself.
907
:I can give you precisely what your soul
needs, which is me first and foremost.
908
:One of the rewards God gives is not
the intangible benefits of money.
909
:He gives you the tangible life
enhancing relationship with him.
910
:That's the first thing.
911
:One of the rewards God gives you is more
of himself, more joy, more gladness, more
912
:connection with the God who made you.
913
:I can't overstate that.
914
:That's one of the best blessings you get.
915
:But on top of that, in addition to
God himself, God depicts himself as
916
:a good father who's very generous.
917
:And I kind of alluded to it already.
918
:Think about this.
919
:Every day of your life, for as
long as you've been alive, you've
920
:never just had bread for food.
921
:You've never just had water.
922
:You've never just had one pair of shoes.
923
:You've always had plenty.
924
:And this is God giving
you this in this life.
925
:And I'm not saying that, I'm
not saying that heaven is
926
:going to be all material gain.
927
:I'm trying to make a point.
928
:God is generous.
929
:And if you can see God's hand of
generosity in this life, just wait
930
:till you see what He gives in the next.
931
:Again, the most important
thing God gives you?
932
:Himself.
933
:But because God is generous, He gives
you not only Himself, but so much more.
934
:And it will be worth it in the long run.
935
:You want God's rewards,
you gotta do it God's way.
936
:Which means you're doing it for His glory.
937
:You're doing it, not as a
performance, but with a person.
938
:God, the person, a real person.
939
:And thirdly, it's
authentic and not acting.
940
:This is Matthew chapter 6 verses
1 through 18 in a nutshell.
941
:So much more here, but
we can't cover that.
942
:So I would encourage you to read this.
943
:Go back after tonight and read this again.
944
:Make sure you understand what's
being, what's being said here.
945
:There's so many good things.
946
:Next week when Matt preaches,
we're going to put a pause in
947
:the book of Matthew, ironically.
948
:Matt's gonna preach, but not for Matthew.
949
:We're gonna put a pause
in the book of Matthew.
950
:We'll pick it up back again in the
new year, but there's so much here.
951
:I would love for you to see
all that Matthew has to offer.
952
:There's much more to come.
953
:Thank you for paying attention.
954
:Let's pray, and then I'll
dismiss you to your small groups.
955
:God, we are grateful for the opportunity
to open your Word, to learn from
956
:it, to study it, and ultimately
to be impacted and changed by it.
957
:Please help us not to quickly
forget what we just heard.
958
:So easy for us to, to hear things
and even to say, oh, that's
959
:interesting or I like that.
960
:And yet to walk away and forget about
it, not to think about it, not to
961
:engage it in our brains to turn it over
and to figure out ways to apply it.
962
:In fact, Lord, that's one of the reasons
that we're going to small groups.
963
:We want to apply what we just heard.
964
:So help us with that.
965
:Give us grace to do it.
966
:Lord, give us the ability to pay
close attention, help us to honor our
967
:leaders and to honor one another as
we try to work through some of the
968
:questions that we're about to encounter.
969
:We ask all of this in Jesus name.
970
:Amen.
