When God’s People Demand a Human King: A Review of ‘Sunday Sermon’

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The joy of the Lord
[00:02:37] I'll keep praising in the midnight joy So the world can't give it and the world can't take it away I've got joy on the inside Come on y'all I'll keep praising in the midnight joy of the Lord is my strength Hold on, hold on, hold on He's got a song, it's like this I'm training my sorrow
[00:03:06] I'm trading my shame I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord I'm trading my pain I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord
[00:03:49] God bless you.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Thank you.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Remember those walls that we called sin and shame They were like prisons that we couldn't escape
[00:07:34] Reconciliation, Reconciliation, Reconciliation, Reconciliation,

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us We boil the cross, feed the grain, let heaven and earth proclaim This is our God, King Jesus
[00:08:54] Those altars in the wilderness Tell the story of His faithfulness Never once did He fail And He never will This is our God This is who He is He loves us This is our God

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
He did, He did Who paid for all of our sin?
[00:09:47] Nobody but Jesus Who pulled me out of that pit?
[00:09:54] He did, He did Who paid for all of our sin?

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Nobody but Jesus
[00:10:12] Jesus, who rescued me from that grave.
[00:10:33] Yahweh, Yahweh, who gets the glory and praise.
[00:10:34] Nobody but Him.
[00:10:35] This is our God.
[00:10:35] This is who He is.
[00:10:35] He loves us.
[00:10:36] This is our God.
[00:10:36] This is what He does.
[00:10:37] He saves us.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Good morning, church.
[00:11:14] We get to continue our worship this morning by sharing in communion together.
[00:11:21] As you walked in, if you did not receive a cup, just go ahead and raise your hand up high, and we have a team that is gonna be walking around and can pass those out for you.
[00:11:31] And if you're here with us today and you are not yet a believer in Jesus, I encourage that you can pass on taking the elements rather than just going through the motions.
[00:11:42] So today as we open the bread, we think about the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us on that cross.
[00:11:55] His physical body broken for us.
[00:12:00] As he demonstrated at the Last Supper, he took the bread, he broke it, he gave it to his disciples and he said, this is my body.
[00:12:12] which will be given up for you.
[00:12:15] We take and eat.
[00:12:28] And when Jesus took the cup and he said, drink all of you.
[00:12:36] for this is the blood of my covenant the blood which will be shed for you for me for all of us for the forgiveness of our sins in the garden Jesus cried out to God he said God if there is any other way take this cup from me yet not my will but yours be done take and drink
[00:13:05] And on that day when Jesus was crucified, when darkness and desperation covered the earth and Jesus lay in a tomb,
[00:13:24] He knew that day what we all know now, and that is that victory was on the horizon, that death would be no more, that resurrection was coming.
[00:13:37] So today, all of us here, we get to stand, we get to sing, we get to rejoice and celebrate our Savior in Jesus Christ.
[00:13:47] So right now, church, let's remain standing and let's join in worship together.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Come on church, let's sing a song about how He is our living hope and He is our only hope.
[00:14:15] It's all left to me I hate the chasm that will leave between us
[00:14:24] In desperation I turned to heaven And spoke Your name into the night Then through the darkness Your lovingkindness Tore through the shadows of my soul
[00:14:52] The work is finished.
[00:15:16] The end is written.
[00:15:17] Jesus Christ, my everything.
[00:15:17] Yes, You are, You are.
[00:15:18] You know we live to death.
[00:15:18] Who could imagine?
[00:15:25] Such boundless grace the God of ages Stood down for glory to wear my sin and mend my shame The cross has spoken I am forgiven
[00:15:50] The King of Kings calls me His own Beautiful Savior, I'm Yours forever Jesus Christ, my living hope Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
[00:16:22] Jesus Christ has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in Your name Jesus Christ my very own Hallelujah Praise the one who stands
[00:16:49] The only hope, the only one worthy of our praise
[00:17:26] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:18:11] Jesus, yours is the victory.
[00:18:27] Hallelujah.
[00:18:27] Hallelujah.
[00:18:27] Praise the one who set me free.
[00:18:39] Jesus Christ my living hope Hallelujah Praise the Lord who set me free Hallelujah
[00:19:07] Jesus Christ my living hope Jesus Christ my living hope

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We acknowledge in this place that we have more than enough reasons to offer you our worship today.
[00:19:36] More than enough reasons to celebrate who you are.
[00:19:40] More than enough reasons to offer you our lives today, our worship today.
[00:19:47] Our praise today belongs to you, King of kings and Lord of lords.
[00:19:52] We hold nothing back today.
[00:19:54] You're worthy of it all.
[00:19:57] You are worthy of it all.
[00:20:04] Let this be the anthem of the church today.
[00:20:07] You are worthy of it all.
[00:20:12] It's all for You, Lord.
[00:20:14] For from You are all things.
[00:20:18] And to You, You deserve the glory.
[00:20:25] We sing that with every part of our heart.
[00:20:28] You are worthy of it all.
[00:20:33] We sing to you, Lord.
[00:20:35] You are worthy of it all.
[00:20:42] For from you are all things, and to you are all things.
[00:20:50] You deserve the glory.
[00:20:52] We surrender everything before you

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Alleluia!

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Church, let's pray together.
[00:21:41] Heavenly Father, God, we thank you.
[00:21:44] We have a hope.
[00:21:46] We have a future.
[00:21:47] We have salvation in you and you alone.
[00:21:52] Let us never forget.
[00:21:54] Let us never take for granted the sacrifice that you made for us, for our sins, for our mistakes, for our transgressions, so that one day we may have eternal life in heaven with you.
[00:22:09] God, may we live a life full of grace, full of mercy, and full of gratitude, just in awe of you and who you are.
[00:22:20] God, we love you, we praise you, and in Jesus' name we say amen.
[00:22:26] Amen.
[00:22:27] Well, church, at this moment, why don't you turn around and say hey to somebody new and grab your seats.
[00:22:38] Well, good morning, church.
[00:22:39] My name is Josh, and welcome to The Cove.
[00:22:42] If you're joining us for the very first time, we are so glad that you're here.
[00:22:46] We would love to meet you.
[00:22:48] We'd love to hear your story and tell you all about who we are here at The Cove.
[00:22:52] You can come meet us at our first-time guest counter right by the front doors, our Next Steps area, right through those double doors.
[00:22:59] In the back, we've got a gift for you.
[00:23:01] Or you can scan that QR code on the seat in front of you and click New Here.
[00:23:06] You can also see
[00:23:07] The events and everything that we have coming up here at The Cove.
[00:23:10] Last week was our baptism weekend in which we saw 43 people go public with their faith in Jesus through baptism.
[00:23:20] One of those was a teenage girl and she said that from the moment she walked through these doors, she got to experience the love of God.
[00:23:29] Not from the message, not from the worship, but from the people.
[00:23:34] She said they showed her what it looks like to be loved by God and loved by Jesus.
[00:23:41] And that is the Jesus that she wanted to follow.
[00:23:44] So church, thank you for being those people that when they walk in the door, they feel the love of God and they feel like this is a place that they belong and that is home.
[00:23:55] Thank you for your generosity, your tithes, your offerings.
[00:23:58] They enable all of this to be possible.
[00:24:00] And if you'd like to give, you can do so on our website at cofechurch.org slash give or in the silver boxes in the back of the room.
[00:24:08] Now we have a lot of exciting things coming up this fall, but today,
[00:24:11] We want to highlight all the women in the room.
[00:24:13] Can we give it up for the amazing, godly women that we have in our lives and in this church?
[00:24:20] This event is going to be all for you guys.
[00:24:22] It is our overnight women's retreat, October 16th, 17th, and 18th.
[00:24:27] It's going to be down in Greenville, South Carolina.
[00:24:30] And this is a chance for you to just to be able to recharge, to be able to unplug and just be surrounded by women across all of our campuses.
[00:24:40] In fellowship, in worship, we're going to be able to do some hiking and some s'mores and some fires.
[00:24:47] It's going to be an awesome experience, and I hope that you get to be a part of that.
[00:24:51] So the QR code is on the screen right now where you can sign up.
[00:24:55] We're going to be handing these cards out as you leave, and I hope that we will see you there.
[00:25:00] But for now, let's welcome our lead pastor, Will Kranz, to the stage as we continue our series Eden to Eternity.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning, bud.
[00:25:11] All right.
[00:25:14] Good morning, Cove Church.
[00:25:15] How are you guys doing this morning?
[00:25:17] Smell that in the air?
[00:25:18] Football is back!
[00:25:20] I know you're excited.
[00:25:21] Yeah, I knew you'd be excited about that.
[00:25:24] Hey, let's make some noise.
[00:25:25] Let's welcome our other campuses.
[00:25:26] We've got Statesville, Denver, Salisbury joining us.
[00:25:30] Make some noise at your campus.
[00:25:31] It's good to be together as one church.
[00:25:35] Today we're talking about the grass is always greener on the other side.
[00:25:39] You've heard that saying before.
[00:25:40] Come on, somebody.
[00:25:41] Have you heard that saying before?
[00:25:43] that's actually true in my household I live next door to a guy who is retired and used to own a lawn care business yeah you already know how terrible that is right there every summer he he is mowing every third day every third day he is out there mowing his lawn every third day my dogs are digging holes in my backyard
[00:26:10] I have a trampoline in my backyard.
[00:26:12] It does not measure up.
[00:26:14] His grass is greener than mine.
[00:26:15] I have people come to my house and compliment my neighbor's yard.
[00:26:18] They come over and they're like, your neighbor's yard is unbelievable.
[00:26:21] I'm like, thank you, I'm aware.
[00:26:24] and so you know like he's almost always out there so when I when I pull into my driveway oftentimes I like see him out there working on his lawn which is already shorter than my lawn before he's even cutting it and I have to like hang my head down I like kind of apologize as I walk by him I'm like sorry I exist you know like I
[00:26:46] But this saying is all about, you know, that we always think something would be better.
[00:26:51] Something else would be better.
[00:26:53] And this is especially true in leadership.
[00:26:55] The grass is always greener on the other side.
[00:26:57] It's easy for us to feel like a different leader would be better.
[00:27:00] And I'm not saying this because I'm your pastor, okay?
[00:27:02] Let me just tell you.
[00:27:04] No one had to teach us this.
[00:27:06] Remember when you were a kid, how cool your friend's parents were.
[00:27:11] You know what I'm talking about?
[00:27:12] I mean, maybe not all of them, but you always had those parents who were your friend's parents and you were like, they are so much cooler than my parents.
[00:27:22] No one had to teach you that.
[00:27:23] I remember going to my friend's parents and they would let us sit there and play video games all day inside.
[00:27:28] We could spend eight hours at their house just playing video games.
[00:27:31] I was like, my parents are always making us do stuff like go outside, you know?
[00:27:34] I mean, these parents are so cool, you know?
[00:27:38] And that's just the circle of life.
[00:27:40] You grow up, and I'm still in that phase with my kids.
[00:27:42] They still look up to me as their hero, but then one day they're gonna wake up, I know, and they're gonna look and go, Dad's a problem, you know?
[00:27:48] I mean, that's just...
[00:27:49] That's just how it works.
[00:27:50] That's the circle of life.
[00:27:51] Hopefully it swings back around the other way.
[00:27:54] But we wish, you know, my parents were more like someone else.
[00:27:58] And this doesn't just end there.
[00:28:00] It's all throughout life.
[00:28:02] Let's look at politics.
[00:28:03] We're in a state in our world where we are constantly looking and there's always a good chunk of the population looking and going, I wish our country ran more like another country.
[00:28:14] Or when it comes to the president, oh, don't even get me started here.
[00:28:18] Every four years, half the country believes it's the worst president we've ever had in the history of presidents, you know?
[00:28:26] And then it switches every four years.
[00:28:29] Who feels that way?
[00:28:30] I mean, it's crazy.
[00:28:32] Or your boss, can I get an amen?
[00:28:35] If you've worked with the same boss, oh, someone was real ready for that.
[00:28:39] Is that a Cove staff member back there who called that?
[00:28:47] If you've worked for the same boss for any period of time, you will eventually find yourself saying things or thinking things like, well, if I were in charge, we'd do things differently.
[00:28:59] Or I wish that we ran our company more like Apple runs their company.
[00:29:02] You know, we say things like that.
[00:29:05] And it's this never-ending comparison.
[00:29:10] One of my favorite shows when I was in college was The Office.
[00:29:13] Any Office fans in the house?
[00:29:15] There's this really funny scene where they are switching bosses and the young guy who's kind of like the idealist of the way things should run has this quote to say about who's going to be the new boss.
[00:29:28] He said, I got away with everything under the last boss and it wasn't good for me at all.
[00:29:35] So I want guidance.
[00:29:36] I want leadership.
[00:29:38] But don't just like boss me around, you know.
[00:29:42] Lead me.
[00:29:43] Lead me when I'm in the mood to be led.
[00:29:47] This joke always stuck with me because it's so us, isn't it?
[00:29:54] We love the idea of a strong leader as long as they lead the way I think they should lead and as long as they do it on the timing I think they should do it on.
[00:30:04] You know, we want a strong leader who's not really a leader at all.
[00:30:07] That's what we're really looking for.
[00:30:09] And you know, we talk about this because this, we're always searching for this idea of a perfect leader.
[00:30:18] And it doesn't work, does it?
[00:30:21] It only frustrates us, right?
[00:30:23] It leads to us comparing, comparing our parents
[00:30:27] In the workforce it can it can lead us to seasons where we just end up job hopping we go somewhere and we discover you know what I don't like this boss or I don't like this culture I don't like some of the people and I look over there and I go everyone's perfect over there and you quit your job and you go over there only to discover
[00:30:54] They're as jacked up as your last place was.
[00:30:57] It's almost like you're the problem.
[00:31:01] you know it can lead us just to be totally miserable and today in the scripture what we're going to look at is leadership and the role of leadership and how we should view leadership we're in this series eaten to eternity and we're talking about uh we've been talking about the nation of israel we've been mostly well we've been all in the old testament going through the nation of israel god's chosen people that he led out of slavery created a nation out of they've gone and
[00:31:31] and Defeated Evil and have carved out a space of land for themselves, a nation for themselves.
[00:31:40] They are spoken to through prophets is what we talked about last week.
[00:31:45] These people that draw very close to God and then relay the information to the people.
[00:31:50] And today what we're going to focus on is the idea of kings and what role kings would ultimately play in the nation of Israel.
[00:31:58] So if you've got your Bibles, you can open them to 1 Samuel.
[00:32:01] That's where we're going to be today.
[00:32:02] But I want you to see where you can find information about the kings in Scripture.
[00:32:07] I'm not going to spend too much time talking about this.
[00:32:10] I'm highlighting for you here the places where they really outline the kings now the kings have a role in many of these other books like David who was a king wrote most of Psalms uh you know Solomon authored multiple of these books there's there's there's lots of other places you could say involve the kings but as far as just the history and the role the kings played in the nation of Israel you'll find it mostly in these seven books in the bible now
[00:32:39] To get started, I want us to walk through how kings came about in the nation of Israel.
[00:32:45] Because up to this point, they have conquered land, they now are a nation, and they are without a king.
[00:32:52] And Samuel, who is the prophet at the time, we talked about him a little bit last week,
[00:32:56] He's getting older and he's put his sons up as judges but they are incredibly corrupt and so the nation of Israel comes to Samuel with two compliments and those two compliments are Samuel you're getting old we're afraid you're gonna die soon and also your sons are a mess they're not compliments at all
[00:33:18] And they say to him, Samuel, we want a king.
[00:33:21] We think a king is the answer to our problems right now because we don't know who the next prophet's gonna be.
[00:33:27] We don't know what the future holds.
[00:33:29] So give us a king.
[00:33:30] Now Samuel immediately hates the idea of a king because up to this point, in every sense, God has been the king of Israel.
[00:33:37] The prophets have spoken on behalf of God.
[00:33:40] They have drawn close to God.
[00:33:42] They have this arrangement with God that if they speak out of their own wisdom and words and claim it to be God,
[00:33:47] God will strike them down right then and there, right?
[00:33:50] So that'll keep you pretty honest.
[00:33:52] You know, after that happens a couple times, you're like, yeah, we should really listen to God on that.
[00:33:57] That's the arrangement that they have, that they draw close to God and speak only on the Lord's behalf.
[00:34:05] And he knows if we put a king in charge, it's not guaranteed that that king will actually listen to God.
[00:34:10] Maybe he will, maybe he won't, but eventually he'll lead them astray and the nation will change and God will no longer be the king.
[00:34:19] So Samuel comes before the Lord,
[00:34:22] And he asked the Lord what to do.
[00:34:23] He seeks the Lord, like we talked about last week.
[00:34:26] And the Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they've rejected me from being king over them.
[00:34:38] according to all the deeds that they have done from the day I brought them out of Egypt even to this day forsaking me and serving other gods so they are also doing to you this is essentially God saying that dad line I'm not mad I'm just disappointed you can see the heartbreak for God in this that he's like no matter what I do
[00:35:05] They always just want a person.
[00:35:07] They always just want a person to lead them.
[00:35:09] It goes all the way back to Moses in the desert.
[00:35:11] It was the same thing.
[00:35:13] No matter how faithful I am, no matter how many times I show that it is I who provide for them, they just want a person to tell them what to do.
[00:35:22] The grass is always greener.
[00:35:25] So he sends Samuel back and he says, you can tell them they can have a king, but I'm gonna tell them what it will look like.
[00:35:32] Not because God forces it, but because of human nature.
[00:35:36] Look at this.
[00:35:38] He said, these will be the ways of the king.
[00:35:40] This is Samuel speaking to the nation of Israel.
[00:35:42] This is their final plea.
[00:35:43] Are you sure you want this?
[00:35:45] Here's what a king will look like.
[00:35:46] He'll reign over you.
[00:35:48] He'll take your sons and appoint them to his chariots.
[00:35:51] And I'm just gonna paraphrase, because there's a lot going on here.
[00:35:54] He'll appoint for Himself commanders in different numbers, and some are gonna plow His ground, and some are gonna reap His harvest, and some will make equipment for war.
[00:36:05] He'll take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, bakers.
[00:36:10] He'll take the best of your fields, your vineyards, your olive orchards, and He'll give them to His servants.
[00:36:16] He'll take what you do and then use it to pay off His debts.
[00:36:22] For his purposes he will take a tenth of your crop and give it to his officers and to his servants.
[00:36:30] He'll take your servants and the best of your young men and your animals, your donkeys, and put them to his work.
[00:36:38] He will take a tenth of your flocks and you shall be his slaves.
[00:36:43] And in that day you'll cry out because of your king whom you've chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
[00:36:52] But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.
[00:36:56] And they said, No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.
[00:37:12] So God gives them this prophecy.
[00:37:14] He says, Look, I already know how this plays out.
[00:37:17] Here's what it looks like.
[00:37:18] No matter who you put as king, they will ultimately...
[00:37:22] Maybe they won't start here, but they will ultimately use their authority and their power for their own good.
[00:37:29] They will be a king that is not immune to evil.
[00:37:31] They will be a king that isn't guaranteed to do good as I have done for you.
[00:37:35] They will ultimately take advantage of you and you'll be slaves just like you were back in Egypt that I delivered you out of to your own kings.
[00:37:46] But the response of the people is, we want a king just like all the other nations have a king.
[00:37:54] Now this statement is a ridiculous response for multiple reasons, but not the least of which is the irony that their response is we want a king like all these other nations have when the fact is Israel is beating up all the other nations.
[00:38:12] Israel is winning battle after battle.
[00:38:15] These other nations are actually cowering in fear of Israel because even though they have better chariots, they have more men, they have bigger walls, everything Israel seems to do, Israel wins.
[00:38:27] Why?
[00:38:27] Because they have their God.
[00:38:29] And so all these other nations are actually terrified.
[00:38:33] They're building alliances.
[00:38:33] They're doing everything they can to strike back at Israel.
[00:38:37] And Israel's response is, we wish we had a king because that's what everyone else is doing.
[00:38:44] And God's like, I know that.
[00:38:46] That's why they're losing.
[00:38:49] This would be the equivalent of the Kansas City Chiefs.
[00:38:52] Anyone ready for football season?
[00:38:54] Like Kansas City Chiefs, congratulations to Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift.
[00:38:58] Just in case you're watching right now, congratulations.
[00:39:04] This would be the equivalent.
[00:39:06] of the Kansas City Chiefs who have been to the last three Super Bowls and won two Super Bowls.
[00:39:13] This would be the equivalent of them looking at the last three years and going, well, we didn't win three Super Bowls, so we should scrap the way we're doing things and look at what the Cleveland Browns are doing and try to copy them a little bit.
[00:39:25] Let's do it the Cleveland Brown way a little bit.
[00:39:28] I'm sorry for any Cleveland Brown fans in the house, but this is for your own good.
[00:39:32] You need to rip that Band-Aid off from your life.
[00:39:37] Say this as a Bears fan.
[00:39:39] You know, the original punchline of that joke was the Panthers, but I didn't have the heart to make that the joke because we're going to win eight games this year.
[00:39:46] Let's go, somebody.
[00:39:48] Yeah, we're celebrating eight games.
[00:39:49] That would be awesome.
[00:39:50] That would be a great year.
[00:39:53] But it's like how ridiculous that would be.
[00:39:57] The nation of Israel is winning.
[00:40:00] They're conquering.
[00:40:02] They're excelling.
[00:40:03] They're at the best they've been in 500 years or maybe ever.
[00:40:09] They finally have a land of their own.
[00:40:10] They say, yeah, yeah, we got all that, but we don't know what's next.
[00:40:14] So let's just do things the way everyone else is doing things.
[00:40:18] This is the ultimate picture of the grass is always greener on the other side.
[00:40:23] No matter how brown the grass actually is on the other side.
[00:40:27] You know, this is us.
[00:40:29] It's so easy for us to look at what somebody else has.
[00:40:34] To look at somebody else's blessings and get so caught up, especially in the social media era where we just, all we see is pictures and quick posts and little things of their travels and their homes and their upgrades and their shopping trip and what restaurant they're eating at.
[00:40:50] It's so easy to just look at a snapshot of somebody else's life and go, look at how great their life is and forget
[00:40:57] to count our own blessings.
[00:41:01] Church, can I just tell you, you're blessed.
[00:41:02] Can I get an amen?
[00:41:05] You're blessed.
[00:41:07] And it's so easy to look at your life and look at other people's lives and see all the things that they have that you don't.
[00:41:14] And they always will.
[00:41:16] Can I just tell you, someone will always have something you don't have.
[00:41:19] Can I get an amen if you've realized that?
[00:41:24] Someone will always have a different marriage than you have, different stuff than you have, a different job, a different career, a different calling.
[00:41:30] Someone's grass will literally be greener than yours always.
[00:41:36] And if all you want to focus on is the things that you don't have that somebody else has while you're not taking into account any of their struggles, while in the meantime you're looking at all the things you don't have while totally discounting all your blessings, you're going to be miserable no matter how much you have.
[00:41:54] Can I just encourage you today to count your blessings?
[00:41:57] I know it's easy to look and go, look at Susan!
[00:41:59] She's not even following the Lord and she's got a pool in her backyard!
[00:42:04] Count your own blessings.
[00:42:08] And so, the nation of Israel, despite all their victories, all their blessings, they don't see any of that.
[00:42:14] They're just going, we don't have a king.
[00:42:17] All the other nations have a king to lead them in the war.
[00:42:20] We need a king.
[00:42:20] This is also ridiculous for a second reason.
[00:42:24] The second reason it's a ridiculous statement to say, God, give us a king like all the other nations is the entire purpose for Israel.
[00:42:31] I hope you've caught this through the series.
[00:42:34] The entire purpose for Israel is that they would be a nation set apart that doesn't do things
[00:42:40] Like the entire rest of the world.
[00:42:42] That's their entire purpose that God would have this nation set apart that would obey Him and walk with Him and be faithful and He will bless them and provide fruit and provide food and water and He will be fruitful in this nation and the rest of the world would look and go, how is that possible?
[00:42:59] None of that makes sense and yet that nation is thriving.
[00:43:04] So that the world would see that the God of Israel is the living God.
[00:43:09] He is not a dead God.
[00:43:11] He is not a fictitious God.
[00:43:13] He is alive and active God.
[00:43:15] And so they come and they say, we want to be like the other nations.
[00:43:19] This is how all the other nations do it.
[00:43:21] And God says, I know!
[00:43:22] And they're losers!
[00:43:28] He wants to be a light through Israel.
[00:43:33] Now, before we go critiquing Israel, don't look too closely at Israel, because it's easy to go, oh man, I mean, how do these guys not get it?
[00:43:42] But don't look too closely at Israel or you'll hit your head on a mirror.
[00:43:45] Can I get an amen?
[00:43:48] How often do we do the same thing with statements like, well, that's just the way the world does it.
[00:43:56] I know it doesn't totally line up with what God says, but that's just the way the world works.
[00:44:03] You have to date a certain way.
[00:44:06] That's just the way the world works.
[00:44:08] If I don't date the world's way, I'm going to end up alone with 40 cats.
[00:44:12] Nobody wants that.
[00:44:15] You know?
[00:44:15] That's just how you have to act at the parties.
[00:44:18] That's just the way it works.
[00:44:20] I'll be completely isolated.
[00:44:22] I'll be the weirdo if I don't act that way at the parties.
[00:44:26] Or the whole world is living on their phone and obsessed with it.
[00:44:30] That's just the way that it is in 2025, you know?
[00:44:34] Or the TV shows we watch, or the movies we put on, or the music we put on.
[00:44:41] That's just the way of the world now.
[00:44:43] If I don't know what's going on in Love is Blind season 27, who am I?
[00:44:53] That's just the way it works in this industry, you know?
[00:44:56] I know it doesn't totally line up with some of my principles outside this industry, but that's just the way the world works.
[00:45:06] Can I just tell you, your God's response to that would be, I know.
[00:45:11] I want you to be a light.
[00:45:16] I want you to do it a different way than the rest of the world.
[00:45:20] You know, the funny thing is, the world would tell you that the way we're doing things isn't healthy.
[00:45:26] Can I get an amen?
[00:45:27] The world is constantly telling us how everything we do is unhealthy, right?
[00:45:31] The world would acknowledge the way our relationship with sex as a culture is an unhealthy one.
[00:45:38] The world would acknowledge that spending 12 hours a day on our phones is not actually a healthy thing.
[00:45:45] There's almost no one that takes it seriously that says social media and the effects it has on the brain is actually a great thing for us.
[00:45:54] The world would tell you that 25 years of Jerry Springer didn't actually serve us that well as a culture.
[00:46:02] The world will openly tell you this isn't actually working.
[00:46:06] And yet we still say, yeah, but that's just the way the world works.
[00:46:11] You gotta do it that way.
[00:46:14] And I want to challenge you today, church.
[00:46:16] I want to encourage you today.
[00:46:18] What God would have for you is more than just you blend in with the rest of culture and be a nice guy or a nice girl while you do it.
[00:46:26] But that you would stand out.
[00:46:28] That you would do things unapologetically God's way.
[00:46:32] That you trust that doing it God's way will be a blessing and a good thing.
[00:46:37] Even if it's hard right now.
[00:46:39] Even if it's against the culture.
[00:46:41] Even if it doesn't totally line up.
[00:46:42] But let me just ask you, I just want to press in a little bit.
[00:46:45] Where in your life have you just accepted the answer, that's just the way the world works?
[00:46:51] Because what God, I believe, is calling many people in this church to be is a light in their workplace.
[00:46:59] Is to be a light in their homes.
[00:47:02] Is to be a light in their schools.
[00:47:05] Is to be a light in their neighborhoods.
[00:47:09] God would say, yes, I agree, that is the way the rest of the world is doing it.
[00:47:16] But I am your God.
[00:47:18] And you can trust me.
[00:47:20] And my way is better.
[00:47:24] And so for Israel, they can't get past this.
[00:47:27] They get caught up on it, and they say, no, we just, we want a king.
[00:47:36] And so God grants them a king.
[00:47:39] I'm going to show you a chart of those kings right here and we just have here in the scripture it tells us plainly who did evil and who was a just king and the just kings are there in green the evil kings are in red and there's a couple observations I want us to to quickly make as we we're going to leave this chart up there for a second
[00:48:03] The first observation is it starts with a few greens.
[00:48:06] There's never many greens, but it gets real red real quick as we go.
[00:48:12] Can I get an amen?
[00:48:14] With time, people become more and more comfortable just doing what they think is right, which ultimately ends up being evil.
[00:48:23] What we also see
[00:48:25] is that these first three kings all the way over here on the left.
[00:48:28] Now, Ish-bosheth is kind of a transitionary king.
[00:48:33] We actually don't get a lot of information about him, so I'm not really talking about him.
[00:48:37] I'm talking about Saul, David, and Solomon.
[00:48:39] This is the first three major kings
[00:48:42] That we have and and it only takes three generations of kings a hundred years before the kingdom is split in two and that's what you have in the middle column and the right column is the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel that actually this kingship thing goes horribly wrong
[00:49:00] They actually end up divided within a hundred years.
[00:49:04] It's not even one nation because people are fighting over power.
[00:49:07] The whole kingship experiment only lasts 500 years before both the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel are individually sacked.
[00:49:19] They're individually overtaken by their enemies and taken away as slaves.
[00:49:24] It is what we call an unmitigated disaster.
[00:49:29] And for me, I get frustrated.
[00:49:31] We've only been preaching on this like six weeks and I'm like, I feel like we've been on quite a journey.
[00:49:35] Why did you guys screw this up?
[00:49:37] But for them, I mean, this is years, years of making this all come together.
[00:49:44] This is years of the plan being worked and being faithful and ebbs and flows only to throw it all away.
[00:49:53] Because they say we have to have a king.
[00:49:56] And within 500 years,
[00:49:59] The whole thing is destroyed.
[00:50:00] And there's a pattern.
[00:50:02] Now, like I said, we don't get all the details of every king, but there's a pattern among the kings that we do get.
[00:50:08] I want to just talk about the first three kings briefly.
[00:50:11] King Saul is the very first king we get.
[00:50:14] And it said, did evil, but just so you know, when King Saul started, he was humble.
[00:50:19] He was honored that God would choose him.
[00:50:21] He was a little nervous, it even seems like, to step up into that spot of leadership, and he relied heavily on God.
[00:50:28] But as he started experiencing victories, and things started going well, and everyone started praising King Saul, he started drinking his own Kool-Aid.
[00:50:35] He started going, man, I really do have it all together.
[00:50:37] Man, I really am the man.
[00:50:38] And he began to lead in a way that no longer sought after the Lord, but the way he thought things should be done.
[00:50:45] And ultimately, God said, King Saul, your bloodline will not be trusted.
[00:50:49] As the king.
[00:50:50] The next king will be David.
[00:50:52] And Saul spends the rest of his life actually hunting David and trying to kill the next king.
[00:50:58] Now David is the second king.
[00:51:00] And David is widely regarded as the greatest king Israel ever had.
[00:51:05] It's not even close in Scripture.
[00:51:07] He's number two.
[00:51:10] David, he started as a shepherd boy.
[00:51:12] His famous story is going and defeating Goliath as a young man.
[00:51:17] This is what put him on the map.
[00:51:19] He would then be hunted by Saul because God made it clear David's gonna be the next king.
[00:51:25] Saul hunts him.
[00:51:26] David is able to escape from Saul, even spares Saul's life when he has opportunities to kill Saul.
[00:51:34] David is on the right track
[00:51:35] He is widely regarded as a man after God's own heart and the greatest king that Israel ever had.
[00:51:42] But he does have one story I want to tell you about.
[00:51:47] When David was the king and he got his eyes fixed on his kingdom instead of his God, he actually had an affair with one of his general's wives and got her pregnant.
[00:51:59] And when he realized she was pregnant, he tried to cover up the affair.
[00:52:03] He realized this is going to come out because my general is away at war and suddenly his wife's pregnant.
[00:52:08] They're going to know something happened there.
[00:52:10] And so he puts a plan together to send the general's army to the front of the battlefield and then pull back the rest of his troops and have his own general massacred by his enemy troops.
[00:52:23] And David is considered the best king.
[00:52:27] Think about that.
[00:52:29] And then you get his son Solomon.
[00:52:32] Now David does repent.
[00:52:33] He comes back to the Lord.
[00:52:35] His deeds are put out on open.
[00:52:40] And then Solomon comes, and Solomon follows the same pattern.
[00:52:43] I want us to look into his story a little bit.
[00:52:46] Solomon loved the Lord when he first became king, walking in the statutes of David his father.
[00:52:52] His dad was an example to him.
[00:52:53] Only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high place.
[00:52:57] Solomon actually built the temple, right?
[00:52:59] Up to this point, it's been a tabernacle, the mobile thing they had all through the desert.
[00:53:03] They've still been doing that.
[00:53:05] And Solomon's the one who built what we call Solomon's Temple, built a permanent structure, a house of worship to his God.
[00:53:12] When Solomon was asked in a dream by God, what would you desire more than anything else as the king?
[00:53:19] Solomon's answer was, wisdom so I can lead your people in the ways of righteousness.
[00:53:25] He didn't ask for anything else.
[00:53:27] And this pleased the Lord.
[00:53:28] Look at this.
[00:53:29] This pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
[00:53:31] And God said to him, because you've asked for this, wisdom, you haven't asked yourself for a long life or riches or your enemies, but wisdom.
[00:53:41] Behold, I now do according to your word.
[00:53:44] Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind so that none like you have been before you and none like you shall arise after you.
[00:53:53] I give you also what you didn't ask for.
[00:53:55] I'm going to give you riches and honor so that no other king will compare with you.
[00:54:00] Man, God's just wanting to pour out his blessings.
[00:54:03] You know, because you've been faithful to me, because you haven't been selfish, because you haven't thought about your kingdom, but you've thought about my people, he just pours out blessings on it.
[00:54:15] And he says, if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statues and my commandments as your father David walked,
[00:54:23] Then I will lengthen your days.
[00:54:26] It starts in a great place.
[00:54:28] Like I said, Solomon built the temple.
[00:54:30] Solomon's considered the wisest king ever.
[00:54:33] He's doing great.
[00:54:35] But the Lord said, if you continue to walk in my statues.
[00:54:41] Solomon eventually gets comfortable and even gets distracted.
[00:54:44] Here's what he gets distracted with.
[00:54:46] Then King Solomon loved many foreign women.
[00:54:49] Now, I've heard many messages about this, and I want to be clear about this, right?
[00:54:55] Because some pastors I've heard kind of take the stance like, women are a distraction, which can be true.
[00:55:01] I'm not saying that's not true.
[00:55:03] But that's not the woman's fault, amen?
[00:55:06] This is Solomon's doing.
[00:55:10] This is Solomon's choice, all right?
[00:55:12] Let's just be clear about that.
[00:55:14] The existence of women is not offensive to the king, okay?
[00:55:20] He chooses instead of being a man of one wife, which the Bible points out multiple times, okay?
[00:55:27] I know there's examples of multiple wives in Old Testament Scripture.
[00:55:31] This was never what God instructed them to do.
[00:55:35] We never get any sense that God's sitting there saying, hey, what I'd really like you to do is go ahead and marry a few wives, okay?
[00:55:42] And so for Solomon, he begins pursuing all the women he can.
[00:55:48] Here we go.
[00:55:49] All the nations.
[00:55:51] You see them there.
[00:55:51] There's a lot of nations there.
[00:55:54] And these are nations that the Lord had said specifically.
[00:55:57] These were the enemies.
[00:55:58] These were the people they were fighting against that they had conquered.
[00:56:02] And God specifically said, Don't enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn your heart away after their gods.
[00:56:13] Solomon, though, clung to these in love.
[00:56:16] He had 700 wives.
[00:56:19] I don't even begin to know the logistics of that.
[00:56:22] 300 concubines.
[00:56:27] I have a hard time keeping the honey-do list updated in my house with one wife.
[00:56:34] I don't even know how he did this.
[00:56:39] His wives turned away his heart.
[00:56:41] For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.
[00:56:46] And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
[00:56:52] And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
[00:57:00] It says specifically, like, I appeared to you twice.
[00:57:03] It was so clear.
[00:57:04] And yet, you chose to do things your way.
[00:57:12] And it leads you away from me.
[00:57:14] And it led the nation away from me.
[00:57:17] And it's after Solomon's reign, towards the end of Solomon's reign, that the kingdom is divided.
[00:57:22] That they end up with two separate kings, two separate areas, and the kingdom is never as strong as it once was.
[00:57:30] And it's the same pattern over and over again.
[00:57:34] So what do we do with this, right?
[00:57:35] I mean, because it's this same pattern that a king starts with a good heart and good intentions, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.
[00:57:46] Can I get an amen?
[00:57:48] It's not in the Bible, okay?
[00:57:50] But it is a good saying.
[00:57:52] Here's the reality.
[00:57:54] When you give anyone absolute power, absolute authority, human nature is we're going to be a little corrupted.
[00:58:02] We're going to use it a little bit for our own good.
[00:58:04] Even David, a man after God's own heart,
[00:58:07] had moments where he didn't obey, where he used his power for himself.
[00:58:13] And this is human nature.
[00:58:15] So what do we do with this message?
[00:58:17] Because the point of the message isn't to say, hey, you should avoid power or influence at all costs.
[00:58:23] I'm a pastor.
[00:58:24] I'm aware I'm standing on a stage right now.
[00:58:26] I get it.
[00:58:28] So what's the point of it?
[00:58:30] Let me talk first to those that maybe you do have some authority.
[00:58:35] Maybe you have some influence.
[00:58:38] I wanna talk to you for just a moment.
[00:58:40] And this isn't just a boss.
[00:58:42] This is also parents.
[00:58:44] You have influence.
[00:58:45] You have a level of authority.
[00:58:47] This is a life group leader.
[00:58:48] This is someone who maybe has people look up to him.
[00:58:52] This is someone with a lot of followers on social media, right?
[00:58:55] You have influence.
[00:58:56] You have a level of authority.
[00:58:59] I want to encourage you on this.
[00:59:01] You know, it's so easy to look at the falls of other people, and we actually celebrate them.
[00:59:09] I mean, I'm a junkie for it too myself.
[00:59:11] I mean, I gotta be honest, the rise and fall stuff on Netflix, I'm all about it, you know?
[00:59:17] And it's so easy to look at the failings of somebody else and go, look, they weren't the real deal.
[00:59:24] For me, with pastors, it's so easy to look at another pastor and go, look, they weren't the real deal.
[00:59:29] They weren't practicing what they were preaching.
[00:59:31] That's what happened there.
[00:59:34] And that's honestly the worst attitude you can have.
[00:59:38] The real attitude we need to have is, it could be me.
[00:59:42] I am not above it.
[00:59:45] Here's the real truth about having power and authority, about having a level of influence.
[00:59:51] The Bible doesn't say that you should run from that at every whim.
[00:59:55] That's not actually what Scripture says.
[00:59:57] But that we have to learn to be humble with our authority.
[01:00:02] That we have to learn to lead like Jesus did, or David did on his good days.
[01:00:08] Jesus was never above the
[01:00:12] The little things.
[01:00:13] He was always willing to take time for the one.
[01:00:16] Jesus both taught to the masses and also had time for a one-on-one interaction.
[01:00:22] Jesus wasn't above washing feet.
[01:00:25] Jesus said plainly, I have come not to be served, but to serve, church.
[01:00:31] And so let me talk to the person who's here today.
[01:00:33] You have a level of authority.
[01:00:34] You have a level of power.
[01:00:35] And you know what?
[01:00:37] What would it look like for you to adopt the mindset of, I'm not above failing.
[01:00:42] I'm not above corruption.
[01:00:44] I'm not above an affair.
[01:00:45] I'm not...
[01:00:46] God said plainly, this is why I should be your king, not any individual, because no individual is above failing.
[01:01:07] But instead focus on doing the little things.
[01:01:10] On being a servant.
[01:01:12] On being humble.
[01:01:13] On being able to listen.
[01:01:15] On doing things the way Jesus did things.
[01:01:19] I want to encourage you today to adopt the heart of Jesus in the way that you lead.
[01:01:26] Now if you're here today and maybe you don't have much authority or you don't feel like, which is really all of us, there are places that all of us don't have authority.
[01:01:36] It's so easy for us to get caught up looking for the perfect leader.
[01:01:40] And can I just tell you, here's the truth, you're never gonna find the perfect leader.
[01:01:44] Can I get an amen?
[01:01:46] They don't exist here on earth.
[01:01:48] You're never gonna find them.
[01:01:49] The grass will always be greener.
[01:01:51] There will always be another place that you can go and maybe they'll be better.
[01:01:57] We can put all of our hope in these leaders
[01:02:02] Whether that's boss, politician, or spouse even.
[01:02:07] We can make all these things the kings of our heart.
[01:02:11] But here's what I want you to understand.
[01:02:12] You already have a king of your heart.
[01:02:14] Can I get an amen?
[01:02:16] That was his whole message to Israel, was you don't need another king of your heart.
[01:02:21] You already have a king.
[01:02:23] Look, none of these things are bad.
[01:02:25] I'm not saying you can't have a favorite politician or a favorite, you know,
[01:02:30] Influencer or whatever I mean or that you you should love your spouse right these people are maybe near to your heart but they are not the king of your heart your heart is already spoken for you have a king of your hearts and his name is Jesus amen he says look who are you trying to please
[01:02:53] Who are you spending your life trying to impress?
[01:02:56] Maybe it's not even a person.
[01:02:58] Maybe it's a goal.
[01:02:59] To be successful.
[01:03:01] To have a certain number in the bank account.
[01:03:03] That can become the king of our heart.
[01:03:06] To please our boss.
[01:03:08] To please our spouse.
[01:03:09] That can become the king of our heart.
[01:03:12] Again, none of these things are necessarily bad, but they're not number one.
[01:03:18] They're not the king of your hearts.
[01:03:21] Even your kids, who I love so much, do anything for my kids.
[01:03:26] They're not the king of my heart.
[01:03:31] Revelations, Revelation, excuse me, tells us who the king of our heart is.
[01:03:36] He's clothed in a robe and dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God.
[01:03:44] The armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, follow him on a white horse.
[01:03:51] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the other nations.
[01:03:56] He'll rule them with a rod of iron.
[01:03:58] And on his robe, on his thigh, he has a name written.
[01:04:02] Here's what it is.
[01:04:03] He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
[01:04:07] Church, can I tell you today, your heart is already spoken for.
[01:04:13] And when Jesus said, pick up your cross and follow me.
[01:04:19] He wasn't saying, I want you to be miserable your whole life, but would you trust to follow me?
[01:04:26] No matter what that means.
[01:04:28] Even if that's counter-cultural.
[01:04:31] Even if it doesn't line up with what seems easiest.
[01:04:36] Even if it doesn't seem like that can't work in 2025.
[01:04:41] Your heart is already spoken for.
[01:04:44] You don't have to live in frustration.
[01:04:46] You're never gonna have the perfect boss.
[01:04:48] You're never gonna have the perfect spouse.
[01:04:51] I'm not gonna ask for an amen on that.
[01:04:53] I'm afraid of what I'll get back.
[01:04:58] We're all flawed.
[01:05:00] We're all imperfect.
[01:05:02] But your heart is already spoken for.
[01:05:04] You already have a king who will be good, who will be faithful, who will work all things for good.
[01:05:12] You don't need another king.
[01:05:14] And so what do you do?
[01:05:15] Yeah, you honor your leaders.
[01:05:16] Scripture says that.
[01:05:17] We should honor our leaders.
[01:05:19] We should honor those that go before us.
[01:05:22] But we have a king first and foremost.
[01:05:27] Let me pray for us today.
[01:05:29] Father God, today I'm asking that you'd open our hearts and open our eyes to the places where we've taken you off the throne
[01:05:40] Thank you God that you are my King.
[01:05:44] That you are faithful.
[01:05:46] That you are a good King.
[01:05:47] That you are a just King.
[01:05:49] That you work all things for good.
[01:05:52] That you come and serve your people.
[01:05:55] Not demand that they serve you.
[01:05:58] God you are such a good King to us.
[01:06:01] Thank you.
[01:06:04] Thank you God for that.
[01:06:06] And we're sorry for the times that we've fallen into the exact same trap as Israel.
[01:06:11] We've wanted to make someone else or something else our king.
[01:06:17] We've wanted to put all our faith in other things.
[01:06:20] We've lived our lives trying to pursue other things than the simplicity of follow my commands and walk with
[01:06:31] So God, would you reveal to us today?
[01:06:33] Church, would you open your hearts right now and just ask God?
[01:06:36] This is a bold prayer.
[01:06:37] God, I want you to be the king of my heart.
[01:06:42] Reveal to me any of the places that you're not sitting on the throne.
[01:06:47] Reveal to me any of the things that block you from being the king of my heart.
[01:06:54] Reveal to me the things that are already implanted there.
[01:06:57] Maybe it's my work.
[01:07:02] Addiction, a future, a relationship.
[01:07:10] God, reveal to me the things that I've put as most important.
[01:07:14] Maybe it's fitting in with the culture.
[01:07:18] It's popularity.
[01:07:20] I need influence.
[01:07:21] I need power.
[01:07:23] God, reveal to us the places, the things, the people that are
[01:07:30] Take in that top spot in our hearts.
[01:07:33] And God, today we declare you are the King of my heart.
[01:07:37] I don't want to say things in my life anymore like, well, that's just the way the world works.
[01:07:42] I pray that our first and foremost desire would be to honor you and to be a light for you in everything we do, in everywhere we go.
[01:07:50] But that's not good enough just to say, well, that's just the way the world works.
[01:07:54] You are our King.
[01:07:55] We serve you out of love.
[01:07:57] Thank you for loving us first.
[01:07:59] You're here today and you've never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
[01:08:03] I want you to understand this.
[01:08:05] When Jesus died on the cross to take away your sins, maybe you've heard that before.
[01:08:10] Jesus died on the cross and He takes away the weight and the shame of sin.
[01:08:13] That's a great thing.
[01:08:15] But what His desire for you isn't just to say, yeah, I believe that that maybe happened.
[01:08:23] His ultimate desire is that you would know your Father.
[01:08:27] Walk with your Father all the days of your life.
[01:08:31] You'd know Him both in this life and for all eternity.
[01:08:35] And so to call Jesus Lord is not just believing He died on the cross, but acknowledging He is my Savior, He is a good God, and I can trust Him with my life.
[01:08:47] I want to follow You with my life.
[01:08:49] So would you make this your prayer today?
[01:08:50] Maybe you've never really believed in the idea of Jesus.
[01:08:53] That's great.
[01:08:55] But today would you make Him the King of your heart?
[01:08:58] Would you make this your prayer today?
[01:08:59] Father God, I believe Jesus Christ has died on the cross for my sins and you have saved me.
[01:09:06] God, I'm asking you today to be the king of my heart.
[01:09:10] Every area of my life, would you be the king of my heart?
[01:09:15] Today, if you're making that your prayer, I'm gonna give you a moment to raise your hand here in just a second.
[01:09:21] Just acknowledge, yeah, you're the king of my heart.
[01:09:27] Maybe today's the day that you're making that your prayer.
[01:09:29] You haven't done that, but you just prayed that.
[01:09:31] You just said, God, be the King of my heart.
[01:09:34] You haven't been.
[01:09:35] I surrender to you fully as my Lord and Savior.
[01:09:40] And if that's you, would you just boldly, I'm gonna count to three, would you just boldly raise your hand and say, yeah, that's me.
[01:09:46] I'm surrendering my life to Jesus Christ as the King of my heart today.
[01:09:50] One, two, three.
[01:09:52] Would you just raise your hand up and acknowledge He's your King of your heart?
[01:09:56] there's areas of life that you've held back from him and today maybe for the first time maybe this is this is coming back to him you're surrendering to him as the king of your heart across all of our campuses as you make this decision amen father god we thank you that you're a good king that you're a just king that you love us
[01:10:24] And today we worship you as our King.
[01:10:26] We love you.
[01:10:28] We thank you for the cross and we thank you for Jesus.
[01:10:31] We come to you in His name.
[01:10:33] Amen.
[01:10:36] Amen.
[01:10:36] Hey, let's celebrate with those making a decision.
[01:10:38] Before you go, we got an important announcement.
[01:10:40] I want you to stick around.
[01:10:41] I know sometimes we rush out, but if you made that decision, let us know.
[01:10:46] We're really excited to celebrate with you.
[01:10:48] You can do that at the Next Steps area.
[01:10:50] We'd love to pray with you, get a Bible in your hand and celebrate with you.
[01:10:53] Next week we got something special going on.
[01:10:55] I want you to check out this video.

[01:10:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
That was one of the most fun I think I've had in a while.
[01:11:00] Hey, what are you doing here?

[01:11:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Mike, I know you're here right now.
[01:11:33] We love you, man.
[01:11:35] We're excited.
[01:11:35] Mike's our founding pastor.
[01:11:37] He's been an amazing mentor to me for many years.
[01:11:39] He'll be preaching for the first time in almost two years back here at the Cove as our founding pastor.
[01:11:45] He's been traveling.
[01:11:46] He's been on missions.
[01:11:47] He's going to do a great job, and I'm really excited to hear what he has to say.
[01:11:51] So thanks for doing those comedic sketches, because I know you hate those, Mike, but you keep doing them for us.
[01:11:56] So I love you, man.
[01:11:57] Hey, let's celebrate that.
[01:11:59] He's right there in the back.
[01:12:00] So we're excited for you to bring it next week, brother.
[01:12:02] We love you, man.
[01:12:06] You guys have a great weekend.
[01:12:07] Thanks so much.
[01:12:08] Go get your kids.
[01:12:09] Love you guys.
[01:12:10] Hope you have a great rest of your week.

[01:12:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
God bless you.

[01:14:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
What happened yesterday?
[01:14:26] Cause today there's a new thing happening Leave behind what happened yesterday Cause today there's a good thing happening
[01:15:07] This is the time of my life
[01:16:22] The gospel of Jesus is the hope of the ages Burning brighter and brighter and standing forever The church He is building, nothing can stop it It's a city that's shining
[01:16:47] The light in the darkness Oh, nothing can stop it Though Christ was dead Now surely He's risen
[01:17:04] Yeah, He's coming back again And Christ will reign in triumph forever Yeah, all praise belongs to Him Yeah, all praise belongs to Him
[01:17:47] His Word is the answer For all generations It will never be tainted It will never be broken This is our confession This is our conviction We believe what is written We believe what you've spoken
[01:18:24] God's glory, He's risen
[01:18:59] All praise belongs to Jesus Sing Hallelujah Christ is our Redeemer
[01:19:27] Hallelujah, Jesus holds our future Oh we sing Hallelujah, Christ is our Savior
[01:20:00] Jesus holds our fearless love Yes, Jesus holds our fearless love

[01:22:06] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
The possibilities are limitless The possibilities are limitless Can I get an amen?
[01:22:32] Amen Can I get an amen?

[01:22:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Amen Oh, will you say a promise?
[01:22:33] We'll say yes and amen Can I get an amen?
[01:22:34] Amen Can I get an amen?
[01:22:34] Amen Oh, will you say a promise?
[01:22:35] We'll say yes
[01:23:00] Let's pray.
[01:23:29] We're standing on the Word of God We know the best is yet to come Miracles break out when we
[01:24:09] Addictions being broken, Shameless and no question how to go There's marriages restoring, Prodigals returning, The Father's
[01:24:59] and Yosef
[01:26:17] I will see your goodness and mercy following me All of my days you've been faithful, faithful I believe that you go before me You take the lead, I'll follow you closely My destiny is even your hands you are faithful
[01:26:50] Thanks for watching!