[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our
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[00:00:23] Speaker B: Good morning, med church. How we doing this morning?
Yes. Are you hungry? After watching that intro?
I remember Pastor Scott taught a couple weeks ago in this series, and he's talking about how he loves fruit so much and he eats all this different fruit. And I'm sitting back there like, oh, gosh, how am I going to teach on fruit when I don't even really like it that much? But I did eat a banana this morning just to get in the mindset. So we're going to be good to go. So we're finishing up our summer series today, which, students, means summer is coming to an end and school is about to begin.
Parents means summer is coming to an end and school is about to begin.
Really? That's all? You're only that's excited?
Thought it would be a little more this morning, but summer has been really, really good. A lot of ministry has happened here at the church. A lot of really cool things have gone on.
We had all of our camps. We had kids camp. We had youth camp. We had wow week. How many of you participated in wow week? Or your kid came to wow week or. It was a great week for little ones to learn more about Jesus and the love that he has for us. We had mission trips, so we got to go back to Uganda, Africa, in the beginning of the summer, and we got to spend time with our friends at God care schools. And this year, we took care packages to all 300 of the students sponsored by people from the Met. And we got to meet them individually, give them their gifts. They got to pick out a new towel, which that doesn't sound like a big thing here, but it is a huge thing there. They got some new socks. They got snacks. They got chips. We saw some kids and some teachers eat Cheetos for the first time.
Life changing. It's Jesus, then Cheetos.
I mean, it was very life changing. It was amazing.
And I'm walking around, I'm like, did you love the Cheetos?
It was really cool. We got to spend time with the teachers and pray with the teachers, which we don't always get to do because they're so busy. But we wanted to be intentional this year and spend time with them. We also got to take some of our team members who do grief share ministry here at our church. And so we were going to try it for the first time there. And so you need to know that at the primary, which is the younger kids, there's about 900. Some live on campus, some go home. And then the high school, which is in a different location, there's about 900 students, and they all live on campus. And so we were thinking, awesome. We were preparing. We were talking to them, like, we want to try this. We want to do grief ministry there, meet with them as a whole, break up into groups, you know, 50 to 100. It's going to be amazing.
All 1800 decided to come to the grief ministry, which was really cool. Even though we didn't have quite the team to do as much as we wanted to, we still got to do some pretty cool things and give them some tools that are going to help them through stuff that they've been through in life and how to deal with those things and find people to talk about those things. Then we get back and we got to take a team to Manila, Philippines, and this is our first time we've ever been there. And I just want to tell you, if you ever need to lose a few pounds, you can go there because you will sweat the whole time because it is so humid there. But we got to meet some really sweet people, be a part of some really awesome ministry, including a girls home, an orphanage, and many, many nutrition centers that feed children all throughout Manila. And we got to experience that and be a part. So if you would, please remember our friends in Manila. I don't know if you've been watching the news at all, but they had a typhoon go through, and a lot of the city was flooded, and it's an island, and there's nowhere to go. And so the water, it floods, when it floods, it's really bad. And so a lot of people lost homes, lost all the stuff they owned, all the people that we know we've connected with, and they're doing great, but they're really having to help a lot of people who lost it all. So please remember them in your prayers. But also, CRC was going and blowing this summer and fed thousands and thousands of people throughout the summer with our outdoor market and also our indoor market. And it was amazing. Even this Saturday alone, 979 families yesterday got fed when they came through. Isn't that amazing?
And I have to brag on our team and our volunteers we usually have no problem with volunteers. We usually have plenty of volunteers, but every once in a while on a weekend, we get it. People go out of town, they're just not around. So it takes about 100 to 110 volunteers for us to be fully loaded on a Saturday morning, to have every lane open. And it works like it's clockwork. But yesterday, this is amazing. So we fed 979 families and we did it with 61 volunteers. And on three lanes, which means it goes a little slower. Yeah, you can clap for them. That's awesome.
But they were still finished at 10:00 and they had everything cleaned up and loaded back in this place by 1045, which is usually what it takes us on a normal Saturday. So, so proud of our CRC peeps. And thank you for being a part of that. And when you give to the Met and when you give faithfully, some of that goes to helping the CRC do what we do every week. Cause it is a large ministry of our church. Thank you to those who gave to our sock donation. Hopefully they were clean socks, new socks, not your old socks. They don't fit anymore. But we're doing a back to school, and I know you're like, well, why are we just doing socks? That seems odd, but we're doing socks because we got a donation from vans for shoes. So we're gonna give away brand new shoes. We want to get brand new socks. And we're also continue to do our school supplies to help those in need start school off right, right. So it's gonna be awesome. But we're finishing today fruitful, our series, where we're looking at the fruit of the spirit. So let's go ahead and let's look at Galatians 522. This is our main verse throughout the series.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. And say it with me, self control.
A lot of people over the past few weeks, when they found out I would be preaching at the end of this series, they said, oh, awesome. What are you preaching on the. And it never failed. I would say self control. And almost every one of them had the same response.
And I gotta be honest, when I started studying for this message to prepare it, I kind of felt this way a little bit too, because I think it's because when you think about self control, you think about the things in your life that lacks self control.
For instance, you begin to really, really think hard on how you just hit the last hole in your belt, you know what I mean?
Or you look down and you're like, I used to be two holes that way, and now I'm at the end, and there's no more room to go, or literally no more room to grow.
Maybe for you. You started to think about not too long ago when a car cut you off.
Not only did they cut you off, they started to go really slow in front of you, and so you couldn't help yourself, and so you laid on your horn in anger. And yes, there is a different length and a different tone to your horn when you lay on it in anger. You know what I'm talking about? It sounds different. Not only did you do that, you were ready to pull up beside them because you wanted to give them the look.
You know what I'm talking about, husbands. You know what I'm talking about? You're going to get the look. And so you drove up, ready to give the look. And as you look over in anger, you realize it's a sweet little grandmother coming home from the grocery store, and your look goes from anger to, hey, good day, ma'am.
And then you think about how horrible of a human being you are.
My point is, we all have things in our life where we need more self control. And Paul, in this letter in Galatians five, he writes it to encourage the readers of those who belong to Christ that they are no longer slaves to their sin nature.
When a person accepts Christ as savior, they receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and they're able to overcome that sin nature. Not only that, but they begin to develop the character of Christ. And the character of Christ is marked by the fruit of the spirit.
Pastor Scott referred to this a couple weeks ago, but I thought it was funny because a lot of us say it this way, and I've said it this way myself. It's fruit of the spirit of. But how many of us have called it fruits of the spirit? Just me. Okay, there's a few of you. Awesome.
But if you think about it, I mean, it's true that each attribute is distinct in its own right, but the scripture refers to it as united, singular fruit, because these attributes come together in a Christian's life to reflect the completeness, to reflect the complete picture of who Christ is. So when it comes to self control, we need to ask the question, how important is it? And so I've learned over the years that when you are reading scripture and you see the same thing come up over and over in a short period of time, you need to pay attention. So if you look in Titus two, this is Paul writing a letter to Titus telling him how he should teach. What he should teach Christ's followers to look like. What should they have in their lives? So, Titus. Two. Two. It says this. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, and what? Self controlled. Then it goes on. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine. Sorry, ladies.
Girls weekend is canceled. Okay.
But to teach what is good, then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children. To be what? Self controlled and pure. And then he goes on. Similarly, encourage the young men to be what? Self controlled. Such a key in the lives of believers then. And such a key in our lives today. So what can we do to not only build, but to maintain our self control? And a husband. I was asking his wife the same thing. He said, when I get mad, you remain calm and don't react. How do you maintain your self control? She said, it's easy. I just go clean the toilet.
He's surprised. He's like, what? How does that help? She looks him right in the eye and she smiles. And she says, I use your toothbrush.
I'm not encouraging that this morning. So don't go home and say, Pastor Corey said I could do this, but if you want to scare them, just answer that way. Okay, so what we're going to deal with this morning, and I realize this, it could be things that could be very sensitive topics. But I want you to know we're not talking about it. I'm not gonna have you come up and share what you struggle with or anything like that. But I want us to realize we're all in the same boat.
We're all broken and need fixing. If we didn't need fixing, we wouldn't need a savior. So this morning, I wanna look at some things in our lives that can help us become more and more like Jesus. Amen.
So I titled this message, nothing changes if nothing changes.
And I want us to. How many of you are note takers like you always love to take notes?
Y'all seem to sit closer to the front. You guys in the back. Come on. I'm just kidding. Okay, so here's what I want to do. I want to encourage you to take out your notes, take out your pen, and however much you write down. Awesome. But I think you're going to want to write some stuff down. This morning. I'm going to give you a lot of practical things. Not only that, I want you to think about why we're in here. But it's going to be things that I want you to have written down. So when you go home later, you can actually apply it. And sometimes the application takes some thinking through of how you're actually going to do it. Does that make sense? So if you would take out your notes and write down some things with me, and you can start with this. The first thing we need to do when it comes to self control is we need to self check. We need to self check. There was an engineer who worked for a company for over 40 years, and he finally retired. One day he gets a phone call, and the manager of the factory called him and said, hey, we need you. We have this new machine. It actually runs our whole factory, and it's down, and nobody knows how to fix it. Can you come in and help us? We really need your help. Please come give us your bill. We'll pay it. We just need to get this back running. He was like, sure. So he goes to the. To the manufacturer, and he goes and he sees and they show him, okay, here's the machine. And he, okay, he's walking around and he's hitting it with a wrench, trying to listen to the sound, okay, yeah. Takes some parts out, and he looks inside, puts them back together, puts them up, and finally he's like, okay, I got it. So he took a piece of chalk, and he goes, and he marks an x on this pipe, and he says, here's your problem. If you fix that, you should be good. So they come out, the other engineers come out, and they take it apart, and they fix it. Everything runs great. They're like, awesome. We're so thankful. He's like, sure. He hands them the bill, and the manager looks at the bill, and it is a bill for $50,000.
And they're surprised. They're like, whoa, wait. Okay. We need you to itemize this for us so we can have some understanding of why you charge us this much. He took the bill, he took his pen, he said, chalk mark, x, $1. Knowing where to put the x. $49,999 this morning. We need to know where to put the x. We need to know where to put the mark in our lives so we can start focusing in that area where we struggle with self control and figure out how we can do better, how we can do, how God wants us to do, and that's what we're going to do this morning. Not only do we need to know where the x is, we need to know and be willing to change the things that God reveals to us. And how we're going to do that is we're going to look at our lives in three different parts, because we are a trichotomy. We are made up of three different parts. Okay? So we are body. You can take notes on this. Soul, soul, and spirit.
Body, soul, and spirit. That's how we break down. So let's start with the body. And I'm going to be honest and open.
I felt convicted, not only because I'm working on this message about being healthier in all aspects of my life and taking on the fruit of the spirit and having more self control in some areas, but I just turned 45.
How many of you, every time your birthday comes, you're just, like, depressed. Like, oh, gosh, what's going to break this year on my body? Right? You start. Well, every year I feel like I walk a little different. Something hurts a little more. And so, as I talk about this stuff, know that this is very real in my life and that I felt maybe some of the same conviction that some of you may feel this morning when it comes to doing better, these three areas. So we have the body.
I know I'm not alone when it comes to this, because the weight loss market in 2023 was worth over $90 billion. Isn't that amazing? $90 billion. So this is something we all kind of struggle with. But as followers of Christ, why is it so important to take care of your body, of your physical health? And we're gonna look at this. Verse one corinthians, chapter six, verse 19. It says this. Do you not know. Don't you love it when it starts that way? Like, do you not know this already? Do you not know that your bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.
Your body. My body is a gift from God, and we are supposed to be good stewards of what God gives to us. Not only that, your body. It also dwells the holy spirit. The spirit of God lives within you, which means you are a carrier of Christ. You are a home for the holiest. What kind of house do you wanna give God?
When I grew up, I lived in different houses. We moved about every four to five years, and I never knew. I mean, our houses were awesome. And then I went to college, and when I was in college, it was me and three other guys, and we lived in a dump.
And I remember what we used to do for entertainment is we would sit on our couch, and we had these little dart guns, you know, the ones that suction, that stick to the wall. And we'd sit there on the couch, watch tv, and we would see who could shoot the roaches off the wall.
Don't act like you've never had roaches all high and mighty.
But all of us have probably lived in situations that weren't ideal, right? It was a little dirty. Maybe it's a hotel room you went to or something, and you're like, gosh, I don't know that I could stay in here. Isn't it a good thing God doesn't say that?
Let me ask you, when it comes to your health and your body, and I'm preaching to myself here, could we do better?
Could we give God a better home? Because he has given us everything, I think we can. So when you look at the body, four pillars of health that really help with you physically, okay, that affect your body physically. First thing is your diet, what you eat, what you put in your gullet. Second, exercise your activity. Third thing is sleep, where you get your rest. And then the fourth thing is relaxation, where you get your recovery, okay? That's the body. The second thing is your soul. Your soul is your mind, your emotions, your free will, your decision making, right? This is your decision making department, which means it's probably very self focused, probably very self focused instead of outwardly focused. And then you have your spirit. This is your connecting. You're interacting, you're communing with God. This is your faith, your spiritual health.
And as I mentioned, these three areas and these things. In these areas, you don't have to raise your hand, but how many of you kind of get a gut check? A little bit of you feel like, oh, gosh, who? This hurts a little bit. Remember, we're all in this together.
Maybe God wants to reveal something to you this morning that can help you be all that God wants you to be in your body, in your mind, and in your spirit. If you were to rate these three areas in your life, not out loud, one to ten, what would you give yourself as far as health goes with your body?
One out of ten. Your soul and your spirit.
Is it everything God deserves?
I know we may not be able to reach a ten all the time in every aspect, but what does God deserve? God deserves so much more than what we give him on a daily basis. And the truth is, everything that we have is not our own.
If you are a follower of Christ, everything that you have in your life is God's, and he's just letting you use it for a little while.
So where do you stand when it comes to these three areas?
How do you get better? How can we work on these things together? And the second thing you can write down is this, set boundaries.
Set boundaries. I saw this quote that said, just because you can resist the devil doesn't mean you should hang out with him.
I thought that was good. Set up boundaries that are going to help you stay away from temptations. And a lot of times, we know the things that tempt us. We know the things that take us away from God, but yet we set ourselves up in a place where those temptations are right there. You need to set boundaries in your life that are gonna separate you from the temptations that you know get you every time.
Self control helps you maintain this plan of setting boundaries. Proverbs 25 28 says this. A man without self control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Think about that for a second. In the Bible, when there was a city whose walls were torn down or the walls weren't there, what happened? The enemy attacked. The enemy attacked. When you don't set up walls and boundaries in your life, you allow the enemy to attack with ease. So build your walls, build your boundaries, and as you build them, get ready, because the enemy is coming. When you try to set things up in your life that are going to separate you from the sinful nature, separate you from the temptations, and bring you closer to God, the enemy is coming. So be ready as you build to fight. And I love this picture in Nehemiah four, in Nehemiah four, he has led God's people back to rebuild the city. And the first thing they start doing is rebuilding the walls, the boundaries. And this is what it says. It says those who carried materials did their work with one hand. Picture it. A hammer. I'm working. I'm building boundaries. But what did they know? They knew he was coming. They did work with one hand, and they held a weapon in the other.
As you work, be prepared to continue to fight off the enemy, but continue to build your boundaries. A way to help the boundaries and to help you take steps in areas where you need more self control is to do this. This is gonna be the fun part. I know you've been waiting.
Set goals.
Set some goals in your life. So if you're still taking notes, I'm gonna give you some things in these three areas, just some ideas, and you need to know, I'm not a doctor, but I play one on tv. Okay? So I'm gonna give you some, just some things, you know, what's best for you. So you need to apply what you need to for your life. But you need to know this. When you make a plan, you are 50% more likely to do it.
When you actually sit down and make a plan, you're 50% more likely to actually do it. So what are some ideas for all of us when it comes to these areas of life? And the first one is your body, what are some things you can do well? Nutrition. Right?
A diet plan, changing up what you eat, those kind of things are going to be healthy. Maybe for you, a goal is to drink only water.
Okay? I'm not saying drink a gallon a day or I'm not telling you to do all that. That's a lot of water, y'all. Have you ever drink a gallon a day? You go to the restroom, come sit down, don't drink anything, and have to go to the restroom again, I don't know how it works, but drink water. Maybe for you it's go to the gym three times a week, and you're like, dude, I've never been to the gym in my life. Okay? If that's the case, I want you to try something. Okay. I read this and I'm like, maybe weird, but why not sign up for a gym the first day if you're like, I don't know if I can do this. Go to the gym, check in, take a step in, look around, and be like, yep, turn around and walk and go home.
Next time you go check in, take a step in. Yep, go to the treadmill, walk as long as you can, turn around and go home, take a step in the right direction. Maybe for you it's to walk extra every day, more than you walk on a normal. Maybe for you it's to do 10,000 steps a day, not like a month or a year. Don't do it that way. 10,000 steps a day. Maybe that's what you need. Maybe for some of you, when I say this, it's going to hit hard on some of you. You need to get 8 hours of sleep a night. Ooh.
Maybe that's what you need physically to be the best that God wants you to be. And maybe for some of you, it's make sure you get the right vitamins, supplements, whatever it is, okay? That's your body. Second thing is your soul. Remember, it's your mind, your emotions, your mental health, and it's very self focused, self centered. So I'm gonna give you some goals that you can do that are gonna be outward, okay? They're gonna be outward for other people. First thing, maybe once a day, once a week, once a month. Show some love to someone in your life for no reason.
For no reason. Do something special.
Do something special. Maybe for you. You need to put in your, in your calendar every week. I need to find some time to laugh.
Maybe you have a funny friend. Have you ever had a funny friend, like, it doesn't matter what they say, you think it's hilarious. I had a friend like that in college, and when I would feel alone or homesick, I'd call him up, like, dude, let me buy you lunch. And I would just go. I wouldn't even eat because I was laughing the whole time. I probably did eat. I probably was laughing with my mouth open. It was, yeah, but maybe that's what you need. You need to laugh. Okay, this next one, I don't know how you set it as a goal. I just want to give you permission just to do it, okay? And as I say it, I usually do it. So I'm going to try not to yawn.
Yawn. And I know you're like, what are you talking about? I'm talking about you need to yawn on a daily basis. Okay. I'm not talking about yawn. You covered up and you're all bashful. I'm talking open it up for the world to see. Make it real awkward for whatever room you're in. Make the noise, whatever you need to do, yawn. And here's why. Yawn. Studies suggest that yawning helps cool the brain and improves alertness and mental efficiency. Let's do it together. One, two, three.
All right, that was weird, but I feel better. I feel better. Okay, this next one, I think, is very special. If you ever received it, you're going to know what I'm talking about. But I think you need to put this in your monthly goal. And this is to send a thank you note, a handwritten thank you note. Okay. Not for a gift that was given, but for someone who's a gift in your life. Okay, that's such a good one. Let's do that one. And then the last two are kind of together.
And it's more outwardly, it's volunteer and be generous.
Now, if you volunteer, awesome. If you are generous, awesome. I want to push you. If you're not, start to be. If you are, be even more. If you volunteer. And you have to watch your gauges. But if you were able, volunteer even more. And if you're generous and you're able be even more generous because it's outward. Remember again, your body, your time, your money, it's not yours, it's not mine. And when you believe that, and when you start to think that this is what God has given me to be a good steward of, it's a little easier to release, it's a little easier to let go of and to give it out to other people. Okay, so that's your body, your soul, and then we have your spirit with all of these. This is so important, but I really want you to hear this this morning. When it comes to your spirit, be very intentional. Be very intentional. So maybe for you it's have a time where you read God's word every day and stick to it. Now, I know the Bible is a big book. And if you're here this morning, you're like, I've never once opened my Bible. I've never start today.
Maybe you start with one verse.
Start somewhere. The Bible app is awesome and it gives you plans and you would be amazed at how much is on there and how much it could help you in your daily walk. So make sure you have a time where you read God's word, you stick to it. Have a time where you pray and you stick to it. Make church a priority and stick to it.
Maybe for you, a goal this next month is you want to do a Bible study, which we have a lot at our church that you can be a part of or you can go find one to do. Maybe you need to read a book that challenges your faith.
And if you're like, I don't know where to start with that, email me. Email Pastor Scott, Pastor Bill, Pastor Mary, email us and tell us what you're thinking about and we can recommend a book for you to read, but challenge yourself in your faith. And then lastly, maybe something that you need to do in your life is you need to join a rooted group or a small group, a group of people who can encourage you, who you can encourage, who are in the same life stage as you, and you can walk through life together.
Our church, we have a big church. You want to know how to make our big church seem like a small church. Get connected with a small group.
It changes everything. When you know a lot of the people and you're connected well with people, you can volunteer, you can serve and be a part of different ministries, but you can live life with a group of people who love, who care for you and who will cheer you on. And it's so important.
But I get it. I have just thrown up so much stuff, so much information on you and things that we can do in our life, and it can seem like, gosh, this is a lot, but I want you to hear this. Start with one thing.
Start with one thing in one area of your body, your soul, your spirit, and start making change, changes today. Just one thing. Martin Luther King Junior said it this way. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.
And as this seems overwhelming, I want you to know that there's people that love you and that want to do this with you. So the last thing I want you to write down, because this is important, this is very crucial. You need this because you need to seek help.
Seek help.
The hardest person to lead is yourself.
We all need people to go on this journey of life with us. So where should we seek help from? Three different areas. First one is this people, your people, who are your close friends, who are the ones that you trust, who have wisdom that pour into your life, the ones you're closest to, who have your best interest at heart, the ones who will speak truth into your life. And please hear this part with kindness.
When somebody shares something with me that's hard to hear, it always comes better with kindness. Truth and kindness. Somebody that you can call when you're feeling those temptations, when you're feeling the struggles, when you're having a hard time, you can call them. They will drop everything to talk to you on the phone, to listen, to encourage, and most importantly, to pray for you, because we all need that. Maybe for you. When it comes to people on this journey, you need to find somebody that will keep you accountable.
You ever had a workout partner?
How do you feel when they're at the gym at 06:00 a.m. and you don't show up? You feel horrible.
Did you know that if you have specific accountability appointments set up with someone, you are 95% more likely to show up, have accountability? Maybe that's a small group. Maybe that's a workout partner. Maybe that's somebody who just checks on what you're eating or how you're doing spiritually. Every week they just call and say, hey, how's your bible study going? Or whatever it may be. Have that person, your people, professionals. Second one is professionals. Doctors, trainers, nutritionists, counselors, mental health experts, pastors.
Someone who can give you advice and encouragement in something that they are professional in. For instance, you can go to Pastor Bill and you can meet with him and you can sit down and you can say, Pastor Bill, I'm having some heart palpitations. I don't know what's going on. And he's going to look at you and be like, well, let me pray for you. I mean, gosh. And then you're going to say, no, I need to know what medication I need to take. And he's going to look and say, you need to see a doctor, even though he is a doctor, he's not a doctor in that. Right. But you need to see people that have the expertise and the professionalism and that are trained to be able to help you in what every area that you need help in. So you need to get advice, encouragement from them people, professionals, the most important provider.
You need to seek help from goddess.
If you want the most power from the source, you need to be connected to that source.
John 15 five says it this way, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, catch this, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from me, you can do nothing.
Your relationship with Christ and what he did on the cross gives you the power of the Holy Spirit within you, the ability to say no to the things that God doesn't want you to have in your life and say yes to all that God wants for you.
The spirit of God lives with us and wants to help us with every aspect of our life. And when it comes to self control, Paul says it this way. Later on in Titus, he says, for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright, and godly lives. In this present age, the thief comes to still kill and destroy. But I didn't finish that verse earlier. Finishes by saying, but I have come, that you may have life and have it to the fullest.
So what does the fullness of God look like in our lives that looks like this?
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. And last, but definitely not least, self control.
Self control is a gift and a promise to each of God's children. God does more than command us to obey. He equips us to obey.
He does more than point us in the direction that we have to walk. He carries us there.
And God does more than give us his word to guide us.
He fills us with his spirit, and he leads us to the fullness of Jesus. Let's pray.
God, I thank you for your word this morning. And God, I pray that wherever we stand in these three areas of our life, and wherever we are when it comes to the health of our body and our soul and our spirit. God, I pray that this morning that you have spoken straight to us.
And God, you know that these can be sensitive things in our lives. And when we're lacking God, it's really hard. But, God, we know you love us unconditionally, that all you want for us is the best in our life, and the best is what you have to offer.
So, God, may our hearts, our eyes and our minds be open this morning to where we are not taking advantage of your best.
God, I pray as we leave this place that we start to make a plan, that we start to build these walls, these boundaries that protect us from evil. Protect us from the things that you don't want in our lives. God and I pray that we stay far away from those. And God, we run to you and what you have to offer us. God. God, that we realize that we have the power within us to be all that you have wanted us to be.
God, thank you for offering the fullness of who you are to all that we are.
God, may we. May we tap into you. May we start to have more of this in our life. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
And may we start living a life that honors you in every aspect. We love you so much. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for his sacrifice so that we can have a relationship with you, that we can have access to the Holy Spirit within us. And God, I pray as we leave this place, we do better to serve you. We love you and we thank you. It's in your name that we pray. Amen.
[00:40:47] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.
