Ready To Receive The Word

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Things.

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I'm ready to preach God's word. Are you ready to receive it today?

The 1984 Drive That Changed Me

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The year was 1984. We were hanging out. My dad and my grandfather actually purchased land together way back in the day in northern Michigan. 75 acres. And so we would spend a lot of our summers up there and a lot of the falls, to be honest, up in at the cabin. Never on a Sunday. Can I get an amen? It was always during the week. We had to come home on Sunday for church. And so we were there. I was 14. As a teenager, I knew everything. And I mean, like most teenagers, right? We I later learned I really didn't. But at 14, I thought I knew everything. And we were we were uh leaving our property and up there in the country. Um there they call they call the roads that aren't paved uh two-track or a two-rut road. It's basically just the traffic of the vehicle has run the area down enough that it's a dirt kind of a road. Uh grass grows up all around it, but it's it's it's not paved or curated, it's it's a bumpy ride. And in our 1978 Monte Carlo two-door, where the doors were as big as this stage, I was sitting in the back seat. My dad and my mom in the front seat were leaving to go to the country store. And it's so bumpy, my dad seems to be not avoiding the bumps on this trip and or turning so hard to avoid them, it was, I don't know, it upset my mom a little bit, and she finally made a comment like, I mean, could you hit every bump? Like, is it possible for you to just like, hey, why don't you just drive straight down every single of these bumps? And and uh as I was listening, and my dad kind of commented back, like dads do, and I was like, Well, I could do better than that. To which my dad slammed on the brake, put the car in park, opened that giant door, moved the seat. You know, the it was just a it was a two-door, so he had to move the seat forward a little bit so I could climb out. He said, Well, why don't you do it then? 14 years old, no formal training, no such thing as a permit. And uh, and so he's like, You got it, go ahead. And I I think my mom turned another color. She probably suffers a little bit and arthritis in her hands for holding on for dear life. And I was like, All right, I'll do it. Because I thought I could. And then we started driving, and I realized I'm gonna need some help. I need to ask some questions. I'm gonna have to figure out is this am I am I doing okay? Am I is this the right way? Should I turn here? And my dad was trying to be real quiet in the back, but finally he softened up a little bit and started answering so he could help me. And we did make it to that country store. We made it in one piece, unscathed, but it's the year I learned, even when you think you know everything, you still need to be around people that you can ask how to get there, why it's so important, all the questions in

Why We Still Need Wisdom

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life. You need some wisdom, even if you think you know it all. So why don't you turn to your neighbor and just say, hey, let's grow together. And then to the one you've been ignoring, just say, I can't wait for the patio. Brother Bert's out there right now cooking that, grilling up some brats. So as near as I can tell, I'm the one standing between you and a good snack in a few minutes.

Summer Growth And Hidden Weeds

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So summer is the season to grow. We know kids grow in the summer. They leave school in the spring and they grow all summer. The Bible says Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and that's what happens to kids. They at least grow in stature. We we gotta help them in the wisdom side. Kids grow in the summer, crops grow. We've been watching the corn grow if you drive outside of the city limits. The corn is getting a little higher, and eventually it's gonna be ready to harvest. And the thing is, in the summer, healthy things grow. But there is also weeds grow in the summer, too. And so the question is not, am I growing this summer? The question is, what area am I growing in? Healthy things grow, but I need to be aware of the weeds that want to grow in my life, and so in this season, I can't just coast. I need to lean in and with some expectation ask the right questions. Because it's never really about information, it's always about the question.

Series Recap Grace And Generations

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So we've been learning in these areas in this series. Remember the first week we talked about growing in generational blessing. That we're intentional about the generations in this house. Listen, we're just one generation away, church, from all of this disappearing. If we don't, as parents, as this generation, instill into the next generation a passion, a love for God's house. David said, I'd rather be a gatekeeper in the house of God than a prince in the courts anywhere else. And the reality is we have to teach that. We have to instill that. That is something we have to pass on to the next generation. So we must grow in generational blessing. And then last week we talked about growing in grace, God's saving grace. We all need it. God's justifying grace. Remember, we said it's justified, never sinned. That's the kind of grace he bestows on my life. And then we talked about teaching grace to help me say no in those situations. And then we leaned in and celebrated, talking about enabling grace. That even in our weakness, when it doesn't seem like we're capable of doing the impossible, his grace is sufficient. And today we're gonna talk about growing in wisdom.

Growing In Wisdom Plus Dad Jokes

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Growing in wisdom. We all grow older, but we don't all grow wiser. And um, thankfully, we have dads in our life to help us with some wisdom. And I I've got some guests that are gonna come up and just share a little dad wisdom with you.

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Good morning, Free Church.

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All right, ready? All right, hope you guys are ready for some good jokes here. So my dad always asks me, Julian, why are Saturday and Sunday the strongest days of the week? Because the rest are all weekdays.

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Amen. We need a little dad wisdom. The thing is, just age doesn't necessarily guarantee wisdom. That's why you hear people say, why don't he's 45 going on twelve. They say that time doesn't guarantee wisdom. I know people that study in school all their life, and they still need to go back to school. And experience, it doesn't lead to wisdom unless you learn the lesson from the experience. The Bible says wisdom is to be pursued. 1 Kings 3 says this.

Solomon Chooses Wisdom Over Stuff

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At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and said, and God said, Ask, what shall I give you? And Solomon said, You've shown great mercy to your servant David, my father, because he walked before you in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you. And I've continued, you've continued this great kindness for him, and you have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day. Now, O Lord, O my God, you have made your servant king instead of my father David, but I am still a little child. I do not know how to go out or to come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people, whom you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be counted or numbered. Therefore, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to judge this great people of yours? Solomon is asked, What do you want, Solomon? You're the king. What do you want? And Solomon asks for wisdom. Now I think as a dad in the house, like, I don't know, it would have been a tough thing for me to not ask for this. Or this or this. Come on, somebody, ask for anything. You have not, because you ask not. And God says, What do you want? And I'm like, man, Solomon, I don't know where you stirred up that answer, but you were paying attention somewhere. And Solomon asked for wisdom because wisdom is the path to get to everything else that everyone chases. So Solomon gives us the example of what should be asked for. Proverbs 4:7, wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and in all of your getting get understanding. So he shows us what to ask for us to grow in wisdom. But then if we read the story in the life of Daniel, we find out what happens when you live a life of wisdom. In fact, in Daniel chapter 5, the king says this, King Belthazzar says, I've heard about you that you're full of the Holy Spirit, that you've got a brilliant mind, and you are incredibly wise. What a reputation for a young adult to have in the presence of great men, kings, leaders of nations. And yet the king knew this guy, this young adult, he's very full of the Holy Spirit, and he's incredibly wise. What a reputation. Why is it? Because David lived his life out growing in wisdom. And if you want to grow in wisdom, I'm just gonna give you four simple things.

Never Stop Learning From Scripture

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Number one, never stop learning. Never stop learning. My dad is my hero, and he passed from us a few years ago, but my dad was he was always reading. If he wasn't reading the word of God, he was reading books about the word of God. He was always reading. I would wake up in the middle of the night, and if I were to go down and get some water, my dad was there in the middle of the night, 3 a.m. reading. I say, Dad, shouldn't you be sleeping? He said, I couldn't sleep, so I came down and just started to read, and now I don't want to stop reading. Never stop learning. Always, always open a book, ask a question. Look at what it says in Job 8, verse 8 and 9. Ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a sh a shadow. Meaning we can ask the former generation, give us some wisdom. How did you do this? How did you operate in this arena? How did you make this decision? How did you live a life just with so much uh balance and just with such resolve to not give up? You want to keep growing in wisdom, you decide to never stop learning. Number one, you pursue reading and then you pursue the people in your life that are elders around you and ask them. Ask them the good questions, the deep questions about life. Keep asking them. A fool insists to make every mistake personally, but a wise person learns from someone else's mistakes. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 6 says, These things happened. What are these things? This is everything that you read in the scripture. The history of God's people and of God's design and of God's kingdom. These things happened to us as a warning to us so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the scriptures say, the people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan rot revelry. And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. In the Old Testament, as the children are traveling through the desert, there were these vast days of judgment when God's people erred on the side of living like the culture they were trying to get out of. Nor should we put Christ to the test as some of them did, and then died from snake bites. And don't grumble as some of them did, then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happen to them as examples for us. And they were written down to warn us to live at this end of the age. So when you're reading God's word, you're reading the history of God's people. And I'm so thankful because we're growing in grace, we understand we're not going to be perfect. But we can grow in wisdom if we would pay attention to God's word and not do what some of God's people did back in the day. Oh, you say, well, it doesn't track PC. That was the Old Testament. I'm telling you, people are the same. The names and the faces may change, but until God's word gets in them, they're the same.

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Come on.

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Like just because you read about history, it is not enough. You gotta not repeat the history. I always think about this when I read God's word and I read about the past, and when I think about history, and and and I'm a lover of the local church. My my grandfather pastored in Grand Rapids for 35 years, and then my dad pastored that same church for the next 35 years. And here we are, 14 years into church life here in Oak Park. And what I would tell you is I love the local church. And so I want to take the good things from the history of the church and apply it to my life. No, they're not perfect. Those churches weren't perfect. God's people aren't always perfect. Well, neither am I, and neither are you. I've always said if you're looking for a perfect church, you're gonna look forever. And if you find it, don't join it because you'll ruin it. So we we have to decide. If we're grow growing in wisdom, we've got to decide we'll never stop learning. Everything that happens around us is an opportunity to learn. The good, we can learn from it. The bad, we definitely can learn from it. The ugly, we better pay attention and learn from it. So, this challenge to you this summer as we grow in wisdom. Number one, I I would start, I think you could start your day by asking God, God, what do you want me to know today? What do you want to teach me today? What do you want to show me today? Not just God, show me how good it can get, God show me what I should learn today. And then I would find somebody around you that's older than you, and I would take them to coffee or breakfast. They're up early, there's a lesson, and and ask them not because they're perfect, but because they have experience and you can learn from their experience. I said it a few weeks ago in Generational Blessing. Their experience may be your best Bible. Alright, let's

Stay Humble And Ask God

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keep going. Number two, if you want to grow in wisdom, stay humble. Proverbs 1:7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Other passages say the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. But watch this, fools despise wisdom and instruction. So if you want to grow, you gotta stay humble. Um, you could say it like stay humble or stumble. Because what? Pride goes before a fall. And I I would tell you this the number one enemy of wisdom is not ignorance, it's pride. Pride says, Oh, I know, I know it, but humility says, show me. Pride will say, Oh, I got this, I can do this. But wisdom or humility says, uh, lead me. Help me to understand it. It's like that day, oh, I could do better than you, well, then do it. Well, I I really, that was really, I wouldn't recommend that to all of you parents. Just let your 14-year-old drive on North Avenue. If you've ever had a child with a permit, and the first time you got in the vehicle with them, when Ethan was 15 and in high school and he was signed up for driver's education, we went and got his permit. And then we came home with his permit. I was like, well, hey, take, let's go, let's drive around the block, let's see how you do. And um, we had a 2003 uh GMC suburban, uh, Yukon XL. It's the biggest vehicle you can buy on the planet. I might as well have given him a city bus to drive. Like, why don't you go ahead and take these people from here to there? We we were just driving around the the block in Oak Park, and I I I my life passed before my eyes several times. The next night we went to the parent information meeting, and the first thing the instructor said is, If you've been, if you're going to get your permit for your child, do not let them drive until we've had them for about a week or two. I was like, why wouldn't that be on the communication beforehand? Ethan was the first. We learned a lot. We grew in wisdom, raising Ethan. Thank you, Ethan, for having the grace to live it. But the reality is, James 1.5, he says, listen, if you lack wisdom, guess what? Just ask God. There is no finger pointing if you lack the wisdom, but you just gotta be willing enough to drop the prideful act and ask for wisdom. God, what should I do in this situation? Sleep on it. Pray about it. Ask somebody else. But go to God and say, God, I need wisdom for this right in this in this hour. I need your wisdom to make a better decision. Is it a decision that I'll sit back in a rocking chair someday and appreciate the decision I made? Stay humble.

Guard Your Mind What You Feed

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Number three, guard your mind. You want to grow in wisdom, guard your mind. Philippians 4.8, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. I've determined there's a lot of things you can think about. You can think what I would say would be poisonous thoughts, those negative thoughts that really attack you and break you down. It might be words or accusations from people around you, and you can just kind of marinate those thoughts over and over again. Well, I guess they said it, so I guess it's true. It's poison and it's gonna it's gonna kill you. Or you can think, you know, junk food thoughts. I mean, just mindless scrolling, no, no real like depth of content, just over and over, Netflix, whatever it is, whatever causes you to just like, oh, I just need to escape. And think junk food thoughts. Everybody knows, like, if you're having a Twinkie, there's absolutely no nutritional value in that. And by the way, the first Twinkie's not so bad, but 12 later, you're in trouble. In fact, it's like that for just about everything. Paul says everything is permissible, not everything is profitable. So, yeah, you can think the thoughts that are that are junk-filled thoughts, but the reality is it's not gonna be profitable for you. So you want to guard your mind. Oh, so then you can think, oh, I'm gonna just I'm gonna feast on brain food. And and that's good intellect, you'll learn things. But then you can feed on spiritual food. The bread of life. Honey, sweet to the lips. Water that washes, quenches our thirst. The word of God, like that, that if you really want to grow in wisdom, like, yeah, read all the self-help books. Read every business book you can. Be a consumer of good content, but get in God's word. Get in God's word. Today I was reading in my own, my own study, my own just private time. And even though it's a Sunday, I still take time to do my own time. By the way, that's why you can get up early, and so you can get stuff done before everybody else gets up. And I was reading, and I and I'm reading through the story of Solomon, and he's the detail to which he built the tabernacle, the temple of God, a place he he would say, God, you dwelt in a tent, a tent all these years, and and I'm gonna build you a house where you can dwell in forever. And it pleased God, and he built man. If you read about how beautiful, how majestic. And then then today I read about how much worship and sacrifice went in when they opened the temple. And you know, like we're we're here worshiping, we're we're clapping and raising hands. That's all biblical. Clap your hands, all ye peoples. Shout to God with a voice of triumph, lifting holy hands in the sanctuary of God's people. Listen, we don't have to sacrifice blood and goats anymore. We we're gonna we're gonna give a sacrifice of praise. So that's what that's why we invest a little emotion and energy in our worship. Not because we're better than anybody, but because he deserves it. It's a sacrifice, it cost me something. And I'm reading it, it actually said in that day they they did sacrifice with blood and ghosts, but the blood of ghosts, but they also shouted and sang songs. But it said they they sacrificed so many animals they couldn't be counted. What I'm telling you is that this is off the notes, but what I'm telling you is that when you get in this atmosphere and you've been feeding on God's word all your all week long, something changes in the atmosphere, and you're like, I gotta make a sacrifice. This is this is the Father's house. I've I'll dwell in your courts all the days of my life. The thing is about guarding your mind is whatever you feed, your mind determines how you think. But how you think determines how you live. And then the last one, we grow in wisdom by never stopping. Never stop learning, always being humble guarding our mind.

Practice What You Learn Like Daniel

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And then the last one is practice what you learn. Probably the most important step, by the way. Back to Daniel. Daniel's invited in because King Belteshazzar, who's the son of Belshazzar, who's the son of King Nebuchadnezzar, is having a feast in his palace. And they decided in the middle of the feast to take the holy things from the temple area and bring it into the palace. And so now they're party, having a party with all of the utensils that were set aside for God's house. And now they brought them into the king's house and having a pull-on party. And and you know, when you use God's stuff for your own personal gain, it's not pleasing to God. And so God writes a message on the wall, and no one can interpret it. All the wisest men of the entire Babylonian kingdom can't interpret what's been written on the walls, P.M. I mean, these guys are the smartest people in the room, and they can't figure it out. And the king's wife says, you know what, there is a young man. Young adults, this is why it's important for you to love God's house and to love God's presence and to feed on God's word. And even when nobody's paying attention, you're praying three times a day. No, it's not really, you don't have to pray three times a day because Daniel did it, but you're investing your entire life, no matter what people say, no matter what people think, no matter what anybody else around you does, you're like, I've got to get in God's presence. And furthermore, you don't have to be young to have that desire. In fact, we don't have to let the young people and the young adults carry this house in passionate pursuit for God's presence. Listen, they might be able to jump higher and jump longer, but I ain't gonna let them outdo me. David said, I've been young, I've been old, I've never seen the righteous forsaken. David gets called out for dancing, and he says, Guess what? I'll be more undignified than this. It doesn't mean you're everything and got it all together and don't need to grow in wisdom. But I'm just telling you. Like this gotta there the the people are complaining because the kids are shouting, Hosanna. And Jesus says, listen, if they don't, the rocks will cry out. Church ain't no rock. Gonna take my place. I am gonna shout. And and listen, my shout can be different than your shout. Yeah, you can say listen, you can say, like, I can shout. Now listen, I've been watching the World Cup. It seemed like it seemed like they're pretty into it. I didn't even know America likes soccer. Like honestly, like I saw I saw a deal in Seattle, they're they're shouting like USA chants. I'm like in Seattle. That's funny, I don't care who you are, but I might have watched the news one time, but that's funny. I'm just telling you, like it if my expression is to shout and to jump, it doesn't mean you have to, but is there a sacrifice? So, like the king is using all of God's stuff, but not to make a sacrifice to God, he's using it to puff himself up and celebrate how great he is, and that's the mistake. Your worship isn't to show how holy you are, your worship is to say, God, you're worthy, and you alone are holy. Nobody else but you. So I said all that because that this is so let's go back into Daniel 5. And they I started with the verse where the king says, Oh, I've heard you're full of the Holy Spirit and you have incredible wisdom. And maybe you can interpret what the Lord wrote on the wall. And Daniel says, he reads what is the writing, but he says, This is what it means, oh King, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory, and honor. And because of the majesty that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed, whomever he wished he kept alive, whomever he wished he set up, whomever he wished he put down. Watch. So King Nebuchadnezzar, oh great King Nebuchadnezzar, you read about him, but look at this. He says, But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was dis he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. Then he was driven out from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. Like he went from the palace to the wilderness because he got prideful. And they fed him with grass like the oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till he knew. Watch, till he knew that the most high God rules in the kingdom of men and appoints over whomever he chooses. And David goes on to say, King, you knew all this, but still you ignored it. You knew it all, what happened to your dad, how he was great, and he rose to even greater greatness, but then because of pride in his life, he fell. You knew it all, and still you chose to disregard the God of Israel, and for that reason, you're gonna get sick and you're gonna die. You'll lose your kingdom. You knew it. You had the example in front of you to learn that pleasing God is the greatest priority in our life. Look, you even had the example of even when you fall, a righteous man will get back up again. But you ignored it and you refused to follow after it. And you want to know why? Because all the teaching in the world, you can listen to it, study from it, learn from it, but I haven't learned it until I do it. The ultimate test of wisdom is not written on the pages that is handed out in the classroom space. The ultimate test of wisdom is are you doing what you've learned? James 1:22, James writes, do not merely listen to the word of God and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. You want to grow in wisdom this summer? You got to start to put into practice what you're learning. Church, when we say read the Bible, you don't become mature until you start reading the Bible. When we say you should pray, it's your first response, not your last resort. Listen, we'll pray for you, and God will answer the prayer, but something changes when you pray for you. And in fact, greater things happen when you pray for others. It's just it's just the fact of like David, Solomon, they wrote some incredibly amazing things. Remember, Solomon writes most of the Proverbs, and he says, he says, like, basically, I'm gonna paraphrase. He's like, the fool loves to hear himself talk. So it's not even how many words you can say. But the wise man knows the power of every word. So listen, it's just simple. Commit to learning, never quit learning. Stay humble. Always ask for more wisdom. Guard your mind. And then practice what you learn.

Final Charge And Blessing

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You do that, you're on your way to a testimony like was written about Daniel, full of the Holy Spirit, incredibly wise. Can you receive that word today?