Overcoming Offense || The Blueprint with Dr. Dharius Daniels

of God's best and we are incredibly excited. I am at least each time I get to unpack this book that has literally changed my life. My appreciation for the word of God has never been higher and my conviction about it being true has never been stronger. I have lived long enough and experienced enough to be able to say at least with me unequivocally that this is the blueprint, the Bible is the blueprint to God's best. Like it's not just the right way to live, it's the wise way to live. It's the best way to live and we are super grateful about the opportunity to connect with you if you're here for the very first time you stumbled on this teaching. I'm super grateful to have the opportunity to have you here with us as well. Here's my prayer that this channel in and of itself becomes a trusted place of spiritual nourishment for you. But we know like every chef in for everybody naturally, every chef is for everybody spiritually. And so if this turns out not to be the kind of meal you prefer a need in this season, we understand that as well. We want you to experience God's best. But here's our calling and our unwavering commitment here. Biblical truth explained it away that that applies to everyday life. We believe actually that disciple making isn't the dissemination of information, disciple making isn't just the acquisition of spiritual disciplines, prayer, fasting, etc. Like all of that is not an end into itself. It's a means into an end. It's like after you get up from praying, after you're done fasting, after you don't your time of solitude, after you're done with your time of studying scripture, after you've done warring in the spirit, can you demonstrate the fruit of the spirit in everyday life? Are you patient? Are you gentle? Are you kind? Do you have temperance? Are you managing stress the way the Bible says manage stress, right? Are you allowing God to give you the garment of praise for the spirit of heaven is are you managing worry the way Jesus says manage worry? Are you managing you're we're going to talk about this in a second? Are you managing offense in the way the Bible says you should manage offense? Are you approaching parenting the way the Bible says we should approach parenting? Are we embracing our role as a spouse in a way that is informal with the Bible says a spouse should actually should actually be? And here's what I found. I found in many cases people get their inspiration from church and the discipleship from culture because the stuff culture is talking about that the gospel is actually providing the answers for churches and talking about that is not the case here at the blueprint we on that we about that we tend toes down on this

you not deep unless you can do it that's our conviction. So if a person wants something they want to hear something that is irrelevant to their life tomorrow this isn't going to be the channel where they find it but many of you know we on that it's only three ways you're going to live your life cultures way churches way in the king's way we call it the third way and that's what we're about here the blueprint's a third way Bible study and speaking of biblical truth that applies to everyday life we're going to have a continual conversation we started at our church I lead a church called change church but those that glean from this blueprint Bible study are not all a part of change church and so they are people who are blessed by and are gleaming from the teaching ministry God's given me and so there is a primary calling that I have to serve as a lead pastor change church and then there's a secondary calling that I have in terms of a teaching ministry that God's giving me to impact the body of Christ including those that are not a part of change church there are people that tap into the blueprint every week and they're like we don't we have a church we don't need change church but God uses the teaching ministry of Dearest Daniel's ministries as a supplemental spiritual source for me that I need in this season and so but anyway we do preaching and teaching on Sundays and then we have some take a deeper dive here on Wednesdays and we're in this series called toxic traits and it's I want everybody to hear my heart here okay what we are really doing in this series is we're getting some spiritual education that we need to receive as an invitation for God to do some deep transformation so we're talking about toxic traits we're not just exposing like what's wrong with us we are bringing to the surface some things that God actually is inviting us to give him an opportunity to fix I want you to catch that what God wants to do in a greater way is reintroduce himself to us is Jehovah Macadish the Lord who's sanctified It is also the process through which ultimately he makes us more like Christ, but in order to do that he has to do more than address our immorality. He also has to address the areas of our life that are unhealed. He knows you can't get holy until you're whole. And many people reduce the work of sanctification strictly to the immoral area of our life. And God wants to do more than make us right, He wants to make us well. And so there are some traits that we carry that might not be sinful, but they're sabotaging.

And Jehovah McAdish wants to sanctify those two. So we're exploring the life of Jonah in this particular lesson. He demonstrates a specific toxic trait that we want to talk about. And I want to reread Jonah chapter 4 verses 1 through 4. It says, "But Jonah, but to Jonah, this seemed very wrong and he became angry. And he prayed to the Lord, 'Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?' That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshis. I knew that you are gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abound in love, a God who relents from sin and calamity. Now Lord, take my life, for it's better than me to die than to live. But the Lord replied, 'Is it right for you to be angry?' I know you're angry, but is it right? I know the feeling is real, but is it right? So I want to talk from this subject at a time of teaching, overcoming offense, overcoming offense. Now, I want you to catch this. Every person will ultimately and eventually and inevitably experience offense. It is an unavoidable reality, not just of human life, but it is an unavoidable reality in the context of human relationships. As long as we, as an imperfect person, are interacting with imperfect people, we're going to inevitably encounter some disappointments and disagreements, some disrespect, some betrayal and some mistreatment, and the fruit of that will be offense. I want somebody that already knows teaching truth to just put in the chat, you're right. You're right. You're right. As an imperfect person who's in the context of relationships with imperfect people. I am and you are ultimately and inevitably going to encounter some disappointments and disagreements and disrespects and betrayal and some mistreatment. The question is not whether or not offense will arrive. The question is, what will it become?

Mmm, we don't always get to control if it comes, but we do get to control what it becomes. Because how we handle offense will determine whether or not it becomes an incident, listen to me, or offense. Offense when not handled biblically can become a fence that ensnares and entraps us emotionally and practically. I'm going to say it again, say it again, when offense isn't handled in a way that is informed by the truth of scripture, what ends up happening is the offense can mutate, can become a fence that ensnares us emotionally and practically. See, an offense is something that happens to you, but offense is something that is built around you. It begins in a moment. Watch this, but it turns into a mindset and it eventually becomes offense, a mental prison. Here's how Proverbs 18, 19 kind of surmises and captures this progression, I just attempted to proclaim. I want you to hear this from the ESV, English standard version, a brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city and quarreling is like the bars of a castle. King James says a brother offended is harder to be one persuaded convinced than a guarded city. I want you to catch this because offense, oh offense, now John Bevier writes a profound book on this. He literally calls offense the bait of Satan, it's bait, it's bait. I am arguing that it is one of Satan's most underestimated instruments of destruction. is a weapon of mass destruction, but it's a little fox that's on us. See the greek word for offense scandal on it literally conveys the idea of the trigger of a trap. So the enemy uses offense as a trigger to get us trapped. Are you hearing what I'm saying? This is the connection between toxic traits because toxic traits is anchored in this axiom. The idea of toxic traits is anchored in this axiom.

There are things about me that I can't see that are hurting me that only come out of me when something happens to me. But even though I am a singular person, I can display, watch this, contradictory and multiple traits, mean and nice, selfish and generous, kind and inconsiderate, temperance where there's control and licentiousness where there's a lack of control that we all can display contradictory traits. We got twin, a twin that only shows up when we're triggered. That's honest, put yes in the chat. And if you're operating as if you do not have one, if you assume that you have outgrown the propensity and the tendency to display contradictory traits that you don't have a twin, you don't have a toxic trait, may I suggest you look into pride, self-deception and self-righteousness, because that might be the trait. There are some things about me that I can't see that are hurting me that only come out of me when something happens to me and an example of an individual who is triggered and trapped by a toxic trait of bitterness, that that's the result of offense, is Jonah. Jonah 4, I won't rehash what we attempted to articulate on Sunday, but I want you to see the part of Jonah's narrative in Jonah chapter 4 that is often overlooked and I think underestimated because very often when Jonah's story is told, his story is told as if they're only three chapters. So in chapter 1, we see his instruction to go to the Nineveh, we see his unwillingness to obey that instruction. In chapter 2, we see the consequences of him not obeying that instruction. He ends up in the chapter 1 in a storm being swallowed by a fish in chapter 2. He's in the belly of that fish for three years. It's a anti-type of Christ being in the belly of the earth for three days. I mean, he's in a three days, not three years, guys. I'm sorry. But it's an anti-type of Christ being in the belly of the earth for three days. In the Bible, it's clear, Jonah comes out of that well after three days. He speaks to Nineveh and chapter 4, begins by articulating us what happened.

And when Jonah's story is often told, it's often told, highlighting what God said, what Jonah did, and what Jonah did in terms of disobeying the word, and then what Jonah did in terms of going and sharing the word of God with Nineveh after that experience he had in the well, yet at the same time, what I want us to see is what Jonah's response was when his work actually worked. I want you to see his attitude after the actions. Nineveh has repented, the text says Jonah literally is upset that his ministry had impact. He sees Nineveh repents and God relents, and the text says that when God did not display his wrath toward Nineveh, to Jonah, this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. Here's something that we need to talk about because I don't want to dive too deep into this, but I think it's irresponsible to ignore it. This with people, if it is not managed biblically, can mutate into grudges you have with God. So not only is Jonah upset with Nineveh, Jonah's upset with God. The text says this seemed very wrong, what seemed very wrong, God relenting, God not releasing wrath on Nineveh. [BLANK_AUDIO] We talked about this Sunday. I don't want to dig too deep into this, but he's, but what is a trigger for Jonah for, for the demonstration of his toxic trait can also be a trigger for us. Maybe not for all of us, but for some of us and, and so, but all of us need to do some self-examination. And I saw sales, the question, how do I handle when those that hurt me don't get hurt? How can you wound me, repent, and then God relent? Now, some people would argue like the Assyrians had done nothing specifically to Jonah. First of all, number one, we don't know that because Jonah's not a novice prophet. In the message on Sunday, I shared that this isn't even scripture's first presentation of Jonah. Jonah, Jonah's prophetic ministry is captured in second kings during the reign of a king named Jaboam, Jaboam. And so this isn't an unproven prophet.

God's not picking a novice to carry this message. He's picking a proven prophet. So he's not new to this. He's true to this. So we don't know what experiences Jonah had had with the Assyrians. We don't know if he had some experiences directly or indirectly. We do know that they had a very hostile relationship toward Israel and there had been, and it actually after Jonah's story, you'll begin to see that the even Ninevas, because Ninevas, the capital city of Assyria, they were going to see that their repentance was almost basically temporary. You almost see their tension with Israel escalates. So these people have a history of hostility toward Israel and they have hurt Israelites. So metaphorically for Jonah, this can, metaphorically in this narrative, this can represent a history of hurt, a history of pain. And Jonah's like, they've been hurting my people, which is indirectly hurting me. They need to hurt. And when God doesn't hurt those that hurt Jonah, the text says to Jonah, this seemed very wrong. His trigger was God's mercy toward people he believed deserved wrath. Uh oh, uh oh, now let's be honest. Because if you're honest about you, you'll be less judgmental about Jonah. I watched this. Now I want us to be free enough. I want us to be free enough to actually identify with people in the text without excusing their activity. We're not, not in this community. We're not so shallow in our thinking that we confuse and conflate identifying with what someone did with excusing it. We're not excusing Jonah's behavior. But I want to know, where's my honest crowd now? Are you honest enough to admit, I understand?

If you're honest enough to admit, you understand just but I get it. But I get it. I get it. I'm not excusing it, but I get it. Because if people had hurt you or hurt your people, the way the Assyrians had hurt the Israelites, there might be a part of you that want them to hurt too. And for those of you who may say, that's not the case with me, you need to get to a place in your spiritual maturity. Well, just because that isn't your trigger doesn't mean you have a trigger. And just because you don't struggle with that doesn't mean you have achieved a higher status of spiritual superiority or that you're further in your spiritual formation journey than other people. Because you might be strong in that area, but you could be weak in another area. So just because this isn't your thing doesn't mean you don't have anything. And some of us, some of us watch this, are judging Jonah's actions without investigating his history. We don't know what happened. It had to be something that was at least triggering to make a trusted, faithful prophet. Now, it would be different if this is the first time we introduced a Jonah in Scripture, but we're not. This is not the first time we're introduced to Jonah in Scripture. So he faithfully fulfilled his prophetic ministry in another season. And not all of a sudden he's not going. Not all of a sudden he's disobedient. This man is triggered in some way. We'll see you in one more time. He's got a fence. He's got a fence toward Nineveh and it's unmanaged. And so it becomes a grudge toward God. Watch this now, I want you to see this.

This is the second layer of offense because some offense doesn't come from what people do to us. Sometimes it comes when God doesn't do something toward those people. And just so you know, Jonah isn't the only one that wrestled with this tension. If you read some of the Psalms, specifically some of the Psalms of David, honestly and intellectually, I mean, with intellectual honesty and objectivity, man, what you'll see is David was on that too. How long would a wicked prosper? How can they wound me and be winning? See, this is why in this community, we are deeply committed to unapologetically biblical truth that builds a bridge to everyday life, biblically faithful, but highly practical. Because here's what I know. After people get out of a seven day fast, you got to face this. And after you get through binding and loosing, you got to face this. And after you come down from your high, you've been on Mount Sinai and you've been in consecration. And after you come down and you level out spiritually, you got to deal with stuff like this because Jonah is free enough to carry out the assignment in chapter two and three. But then there's a resurgence of, you're here when I'm saying, you would think that the whale reformed him, it did not, which is why I'm not even, yes, I am going to deal with this, which is why I blatantly and unequivocally reject a suffering theology. I embrace a theology of suffering that in this life, you will suffer and that God uses suffering as one of his sanctifying agents. But there is a difference in having a biblical theology that includes a healthy theology of a comprehensive biblical theology that includes a healthy theology of suffering versus your whole theology being a suffering theology. Because the whale didn't reform Jonah. Suffering in and of itself is not formative. It is, it is the work of the spirit in suffering that allows God to repurpose suffering in you. It's people that suffer and don't get better, they get worse.

So it is not the suffering itself. It is what you allow the scriptures, the spirit and the saints. You allow God to use the scriptures, the spirit and the saints as redemptive and reformative agents for you in the suffering that makes suffering redemptive. And individuals, I want to tell you this, individuals who may for whatever reason, don't do an exorbitant or unique amount of suffering very often develop theology around their experience. So they lower their theology to the level of their experience, they didn't raise their experience to the level of biblical theology. Because the question you got to ask is, like, there are some people that really have dealt with uncontrollable suffering, then there are other people that are dealing with suffering as a result of the self-engineering of your circumstances by your own choices, all suffering for Christ. He didn't make you spend that- I can't pay my rent, I can't pay my mortgage, he didn't make you get a go, y'all back, he didn't make you talk to your spouse that way. So some of the consequences we experience are a result of choices that we've made, and can God redeem that suffering, yes, but that doesn't mean he caused it. So what can happen is there can be an attitude of superiority and self-righteousness attached to the amount of suffering you can experience. And what I'm telling you is life is going to throw you enough suffering. You don't have to go searching for it. You don't have to go searching for it. Some people are like, "Oh, Lord, I can't say what I want to say. I'm just going to stop right there. I'm just going to stop right there." Yeah. Yup, some suffering is a result of God's death. That this not the Lord that was you He used that he repurposed it he redeemed it that was you So I know people running around here screaming about suffering The Word says many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord

Reth are the part of the text hallelujah deliver them out of them all So it means that even if I have it by God's grace and intervention it doesn't have to have me Deliver them out of them all Quote that part too. I feel the Holy Ghost on this you In this world Jesus said John 16 you will have tribulation but be of good cheer why I have overcome the world This is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith I'm just trying to get us to see whales aren't reformative It is the work of the Spirit in suffering it is the work of the scriptures in suffering It is God using the saints in suffering that actually makes suffering redemptive and reformative informative So this is after the whale So his changed his change lasted as long as his memory of the consequence This is why consequences don't don't have the it's the work of the Spirit stuff I never do that again. Lord you get me out and then you you forget what the whale feel like and you go back to the same behavior So in verse one we see the offense entering And then a moment of disappointment turns into anger then in verse two We see the offense getting entrenched and then jona starts building his case. Look what he says in verse two He prayed. This is his prayer. Now. Here's what I respect our respect is honesty Lord in this what I said when I was still at home. This is what I tried to forestall by fleeing the tarshes I knew you were a gracious god compassionate god slow to anger abounding in love a god who relents from sending calamity Now watch this listen to this man. Now take away my life. It's better for me to die than to live And the law reply is it right for you to be angry now. There's something we learned in seminary um Dr. Nichols was my professor preaching professor at Princeton seminary now Dr. Cleo for sloroo for those of you who might be familiar with that name was there when I was there And I wanted to get in this class. I couldn't get in this class So I just picked his brain whenever I could but dr. Nichols did a great job And one of the things he taught us was vocal exegesis. So Sometimes the way you read

Excuse me sometimes the way you read the text calls you interpret it one way But then sometimes speaking the text out loud gives you different angles in which to interpret a text also So look at verse four the lord replied is it right for you to be angry? Now i'm going to show you an example of vocal exegesis here But the lord replied is now this right here would literally be something if you're not a part of this community I would encourage you to be a part of it. I got a community called real life seminary And uh, they're gonna flash that on the screen right now It's to me. It's one of my it's one of our fastest growing communities And if you're you're not a part of that. I really I just encourage you to To consider it, but these are kinds of things we talk about in there. So watch this the lord replied is it right? For you to be angry So the emphasis there could be on right or is it right for you to be angry? The emphasis can be on angry But for the purpose of this presentation tonight, here's what I want us to think through. Is it right jonah for you to be angry? So here's what you here's what here's what you said jonah. You said I'm compassionate. I'm slow to anger. This verse two I'm abounding in love. I relent from sending calamity. These are the four traits you just described to me jonah And you're upset That none of us was the recipient of these character traits But you just got out of the way The only reason you're able to complain About me being compassionate slow to anger and abounding in love and a god who relents from sending calamity Is because I was compassionate gracious slow to anger abounding in love and I relented from sending calamity You only want grace to flow in your direction you only want mercy to flow in your direction God of mine when you're the perpetrator you want grace, but when you're the victim you want me to show you want me to display wrath Gosh, is it right? This doesn't make sense Is it right for you to be angry? Now I was what's interesting is The Bible says even after God says this in verse 5 Jonah goes down goes out sits on the east side of the city makes himself a shelter offense

You We see something it's like man you stuck So this shelter he kind of bills Physically can be a metaphor for the stuckness that existed with him emotionally it's like man you you stuck like you really you still on this You just got out of a well You still on this now Here's why We are unapologetically deeply committed to to spiritual formation and we're committed to the concept of progressive Sanctification because some of the stuff that's in you is going to take time for it to for it to be revealed to you And then time for God to get it out of you Because this man has just been used by God as a prophetic voice to spare a whole city and his heart not right you God using people isn't an indication of whether not isn't always an indication of God being pleased God doing something through a person is an indication of his love for his people not always his pleasure with that person When Noah hit the rock and Moses hit the rock instead of speaking to the rock want to steal flow God when please will he? Is it but I'm not gonna let my people starve because of what you did Jonas offense became a fence I Could understand what he felt I'm not judging him. I get it, but Johnny you stay stuck there That offense settled and became the foundation for offense And here's here's here's what I think is important where many of us are is we're not asking how to stay out of the fence We already in one So the question for many of us that needs to be answered is not how to avoid it, but how to get out See Jonah never found the exit But you and I have an opportunity to find the exit And I think this story shows us three steps. I'm gonna give it to you really quickly number one step one is to recognize offense Nobody can get out of a prison. They refuse to acknowledge their end and All of us have some areas I will venture to say well, we're emotionally stuck Where's like, you know, I got over that I got over that I got over that I got over that but this right here the way They did me I

Have a chapter two in the chapter three moment where I think I'm free and then I something happened and I see they got blessed So they got spared then I then I'm like Jonah in chapter four See When God acts Jonah is it right for you to be angry it's more than a question It's an invitation to introspection God know the answer to the question God's not asking Jonah Is it right for you to be angry because God doesn't know the answer to that question? He's inviting Jonah into self-reflection like fam. Wait a minute. I need you to see I'm trying to bring you try Help you see you trying to hold up a mirror Because this is where freedom begins freedom begins with sight Freedom begins with the acknowledgment of bondage And we got to be willing to recognize the attitudes the assumptions the behaviors That have fenced us in Some people we become chronically defensive It's showing up at work. It's showing up at church is showing up with your spouse It's showing up with your friends Some of us have become unnecessarily suspicious. It's showing up with your friends. It's showing up with your spouse It's showing up in your data. If you're dating Some of us have become emotionally withdrawn This not just the way you are this is who you became You've just been this way for so long you've attached it to your identity you This is why David prays a prayer in Psalm 139, 23, "Search me, O God. Know my heart, test me, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me." I got to recognize the fence. Number two, I got to revisit the story. Every fence is supported by narrative, a story we're telling ourselves. People aren't good, so I need this offense. They didn't respect me, so I need this fence.

Every fence is supported by narrative, and sometimes the narrative we constructed around an offense is contributing to our continued imprisonment. See, it's one thing to just remember what happened, but that's not what happens. If we remember what happened, then we interpret what happens a certain way. Then we assign meaning to what happened. We develop conclusions about what happened, and sometimes those conclusions are right. Other times, those conclusions are incomplete, inaccurate, or influenced by our unresolved pain. So John, and John is my aunt. Nineveh is evil. Nineveh deserved judgment. God is wrong for extending it. But notice how God responds to John. He doesn't deny Nineveh's wickedness. But he challenges Jonah to consider something his resentment has caused him to overlook. That you are very similar to the people you won't destroy. Ah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you may not have done exactly what they've done, but generally speaking, you disobeyed. You just disobeyed me. So God's trying to get Jonah to see this situation through a different lens, because revisiting the story doesn't mean changing the facts. It means examining whether the facts are the only thing that's informing our interpretation. We talked about this on Sunday. We call it reframing. And the greatest example of reframing is in Genesis 50-20 when Joseph tells his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God meant it for my good." Because reframing doesn't change what you look at. It changes the way you look at it. Same picture. You just put a different frame around it. And last but not least, you got to release the debt.

You got to recognize the fence. You got to recognize it. You got to revisit the story. You got to release the debt. Because one of the reasons offense becomes offense is we begin relating to the people who hurt us like they owe us something. You owe me an explanation. You owe me an apology. You owe me recompense. You owe me acknowledgement. You owe me appreciation. You owe me restitution. And maybe they do. But here's what I found. The people that broke you very rarely come back to fix you. Here's what I found. The people that didn't care enough to not do it. The people that didn't care enough to stop themselves from doing you wrong. Are the people who don't care enough to make it right. The people that broke you, not coming back to fix you. And if they didn't love you well enough to not do wrong, they're not going to love you well enough to come make it right. So you can't hold your healing hostage waiting on their apology. You got to release the debt. This is what Paul encourages believers in Colossae to do in Colossians 3 verse 13 for give as the Lord forgave you. This doesn't mean excuse the behavior. It doesn't even mean restore the relationship. But it means that you realize and recognize. That what you owe me, you can never pay me.

Even if you gave me an apology, you can't give me the time back. You can't give me the pain back. And I had bad days. I lost money. I lost opportunities. Almost lost my mind. You can give me what you owe me. Only God can give me what you owe me. So I write this off as bad debt. I release you. It doesn't mean they didn't owe you. It just means that you made a decision that I won't make recollecting what you owe me a condition of my freedom. That's the equivalent of waiting for the person to hurt you. That hurt you to open the door to a prison when they don't have the keys. You got the keys. It's time to get free. My preference is that our offense will not be a fence. And that God uses this narrative in Jonah uses the Scriptures to open us up for a conversation that only the Spirit can have with us. Because only God knows whether or not your offense has created a fence. and if it has. And I hope you receive this. I hope you are blessed by this. I hope you are encouraged by this. And I simply want to pray over you regarding this. Each week we make some space for those of you who understand the biblical principle of sewing and reaping. And it's a principle. It's just a principle given.

It will be given to you. Right, he who so sparingly will resperently he who sells bountifully. Will we be bountifully? For those of you who believe in valuing, what's adding value to you. We're going to create space for you to give ways to give on the screen. Thank you each week. There's so many of you that that's so into this teaching ministry so that it can expand, you're not giving to me. You're giving to this teaching ministry that God's given me that is attempting to release biblical wisdom for everyday life. Literally, we're trying to do it to as many people as possible. And we're able to do that with your help. And I think God will honor the generosity of those who bless the thing that he uses to bless other people. So I'm encouraging you. I am encouraging you. I'm exhorting you as you are able. And as you are persuaded, convinced, convicted to share in the soul into the teaching ministry that God, that the Lord has given us. So thank you for that. And a man shout out again to our real life seminary community and all our communities. Dan was then real life seminary changed church. So grateful for you. I want to pray over your family. I want to pray over you. It's just believing God also want to and want to encourage all of you in different areas to vote. No matter where you are in the country, vote. Listen to me voting.

The Bible tells us to seek for the good of the land where in God has put us in exile. Voting is one of the ways we do that. Let's be honest. In addition to that, voting is one of the ways you love your neighbor. Well, let's be honest. Some of you, your life is not really going to be that much impacted by who gets in with office, but that doesn't mean there aren't other lives that are impacted. So you love your neighbor well by doing that. And the Bible is clear, the church's responsibility is to is evangelism and discipleship and generosity, government's responsibility and character in government matters. Now, some people say, it's about the platform, not the person. No, the character of the person determines how they're going to stew in power. A to the man. So as a Christian, you have never heard me tell you, I know, I know I'm voted, but you've never you'd never hear me steer you in one direction or another, even though I have very strong opinions about this. But I do want to encourage you to take into consideration those who are demonstrating character you can trust and those who have are putting forth platforms and policies that contribute to human flourishing, because that's government's job. Government's job is not to give people say that's church's job. It's not the disciple people that's church's job. So my encouragement to you is to take that into consideration. We also don't want governmental officials. Anyway, I'll leave that we need to vote. And so my encouragement to you is to do just that. I'm from Mississippi, Mississippi, you need to vote. You got an important senator's election coming up there. And so we want to contribute to human flourishing by doing our part, but God's on the throne. And he's going to work all things together for good. Father, thank you for this time together in your word.

Would you bless and keep and admonish and encourage your people? I pray for each and every person under the sound of my voice. Under the sound of my voice. That you would help them if they're in a fence because of offense, get free. This is my prayer in Jesus name. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]