Weapons of Mass Distraction - Herbert Cooper

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hello, and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 8.30 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11.30 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Hello, and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 8.30 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11.30 a.m. Central Standard Time. Go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. Back to the Movies RUNESCAPE Hello and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright

we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. Hello, and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So, if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message

on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. Jesus came so lost people could be saved. This church is not a cruise ship where we lay by the pool. This is a battleship, and for 23 years, we've been on mission for Jesus. For 23 years, we've been worshiping Jesus, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching lost people, baptizing people, helping people know God and grow in God, discover purpose and make a difference. We've been on the mission of Jesus. For one reason, to see more changed lives. Welcome to People's Church, everyone, and welcome to all of you joining us online. Come on, let's worship the Lord. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. There's a praise that we release. There's an anthem of the free. When you know what you've been rescued from, worship fills your lungs. It's the sound of the redeemed. Lift your hands if you've been forgiven, brought into the land of the living. There is freedom in this house. Lift your voice if he's been faithful, shout it out, tell him you're grateful. There is freedom in this house. There's a grace where we used to be. Before grace changed everything. If you know that you've been born again, come on, say amen. It's the sound of the redeemed. Lift your hands if you've been forgiven, brought into the land of the living. There is freedom in this house. Lift your voice if he's been faithful, shout it out, tell him you're grateful. There is freedom in this house. See the chains on the floor, prison doors open wide.

All our hope is restored. What was dead brought back to life. See the chains on the floor, prison doors open wide. All our hope is restored. What was dead brought back to life. Lift your hands if you've been forgiven, brought into the land of the living. There is freedom in this house. Lift your voice if he's been faithful, shout it out, tell him you're grateful. Shout it out, tell Him you're grateful There is freedom in this house Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah There is freedom in this house Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah There is freedom in this house Yeah We are celebrating freedom as people go public for Jesus and water baptism You can turn your attention to my left, your right Come on, let's celebrate more and change lives There was no way until you made one Grace upon grace Hallelujah Even though I don't deserve it You did it Even though I couldn't earn it You give it

Who am I that You keep me on Your mind God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You All my life You've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You Holy, holy There's only one I give You glory For all that You've done Even though I don't deserve it You did it Even though I couldn't earn it You give it Who am I that You keep me on Your mind God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You All my life You've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You Who am I that You keep me on Your mind God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You All my life You've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You Yes Oh God, we are so thankful So grateful for all that You've done Oh, we give You all the glory

We give You all the praise And I I'm lifting both of my hands Cause You give me chance after chance After chance And I I'm giving all that I have Cause You gave me chance after chance After chance And I I'm lifting both of my hands Cause You gave me chance after chance After chance And I I'm giving all that I have Cause You gave me chance after chance After chance Who am I that You keep me on Your mind God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You All my life You've been right here by my side God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You Who am I that You keep me on Your mind God, I'm just grateful for You God, I'm just grateful for You All my life You've been right here by my side I'm God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you And I survived And I'm here to testify God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you

And I'm alright If they say I'm out of my mind God, I'm just grateful for you God, I'm just grateful for you Oh, we're so grateful Hallelujah, hallelujah Oh, we bless your name We're so grateful for who you are, God And what you've done We only want you And your plan for our lives, God Give us clean hands Give us pure hearts Show us that's where the miracle starts Beyond what I want, beyond what I see Change for my world, begin it in me I'm wholly surrendered Lord, do what you will in me Just make me your vessel This life has an offering You can have it all, God You can have it all Humbly we come, boldly we seek All that we ask, we lay at your feet Spirit of God, move on our praise Heaven and earth collide in your name I'm wholly surrendered Lord, do what you will in me Just make me your vessel This life has an offering I'm wholly surrendered Lord, do what you will in me Just make me your vessel This life has an offering You can have it all, God You can have it all You can have it all Pour out your spirit on our praise Come, let revival fill this place Stir up our faith for the greater things Lord, we ask, we seek, we pray All this to lift up and proclaim Jesus Christ, the highest name Send us your power like the flame

Lord, we ask, we seek, we pray Pour out your spirit on our praise Come, let revival fill this place Stir up our faith for the greater things Lord, we ask, we seek, we pray All this to lift up and proclaim Jesus Christ, the highest name Send us your power like the flame Lord, we ask, we seek, we pray Lord we ask, we seek, we pray Lord we surrender to everything that you have for us Do what only you can do in our lives God Here is where I lay it down Every burden, every crown This is my surrender This is my surrender Here is where I lay it down Every lie and every doubt This is my surrender And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to Here is where I lay it down Every burden, every crown This is my surrender This is my surrender Here is where I lay it down

Every lie and every doubt This is my surrender And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to Come on, will you just lift your hands Let's just show Him that we are surrendering to Him Completely and ask Him to shake up our lives Come on, let's lift this up and say Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion Your way is better Your way is better Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion Your way is better Your way is better Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion Your way is better Your way is better

Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion Your way is better Your way is better I will make room for you To do whatever you want To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want I will make room I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? You say my life is not my own To you I belong I give myself, I give myself to you Come on sing You say my life is not my own To you I belong I give myself, I give myself Come on church sing it out My life is not my own To you I belong I give myself, I give myself to you You say my life is not my own To you I belong I give myself, I give myself to you My life is not my own To you I belong I give myself, I give myself to you

My life, my life is not my own To you I belong I give myself, I give myself to you You say I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? I give myself away I give myself away So you, come on sing it again I give myself, I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? I give myself away I give myself away So you, can you lose me? And I will make room for you Come on church To do whatever you want to Come on will you make room for us To do whatever you want to I will make room I will make room for you Yes God To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to Lord will you make room for you today We will make room for you in our hearts In our lives today so lord speak to us we thank you for your presence here today we thank you that you desire to meet with us you desire to move in our lives we just surrender to you today in jesus name amen amen come on give him praise one more time

so we are in week two of speed kills and i encourage you to go back and watch last week's message it's so so so foundational it's going to help your life out immensely you know it was in may of 2021 that i got in my car that morning to take my kids to school as i do most mornings and got out the driveway got on the street on the neighborhood road and as i was on the neighborhood road as i do every morning i have my chapstick and that morning i dropped my chapstick on the floor but i'm an athlete so good got this so i'm driving down the neighborhood road pretty slow i think i reached down to grab my chapstick off the floor boom i hit the mailbox the neighbor's mailbox a brick one i totaled my car because i got distracted by some 99 cent chapstick and last week we learned from martha that one of the root causes of busyness is we're easily distracted from what really matters let's revisit this story today i want you to see this in luke chapter 10 verse 40 says but martha was distracted come on every location everybody's shot distracted yeah martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made she came to him and asked lord don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself tell her to help me martha martha the lord answered you are worried and upset about many things but few things are needed or indeed only one mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her and so many of us are a lot like martha we're worried and upset about many things and only a few things are needed and if the enemy can't destroy you he will distract you he knows that distractions will delay you distractions will deny you distractions will derail you distractions will defeat you distractions will if you're not careful destroy you distractions are dangerous i look at eve and eve got distracted by the fruit she knew what god said god said don't you eat from the tree in the middle of the garden but she got distracted by the serpent she got distracted by the tree she looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasing to the eye and was good for food and she got distracted and derailed her life i i think about david he was on the rooftop one day and he looked out and he saw a lady named bathsheba bathing and david got distracted and made a huge mistake and david derailed his life distractions are dangerous i think about samson he got distracted by compromise and samson just compromised and continued to compromise time and time again he got distracted and in judges chapter 16 and verse 20 it says that samson thought he would get up and go out again and defeat the philistines as he always had but verse 20 says but he did not

know that the lord had left him he was Distracted. You see, the interesting thing about being distracted is it's hard to detect when you're distracted until you crash. And he couldn't detect that he was distracted until his life crashed. You know what? When I was driving and I went down to grab the chapstick, I did not know that I was distracted by the chapstick. I thought I had it. I mean, I've drank coffee and driven before. I've talked on the phone and driven before. I've eaten food and driven before. I can pick up chapstick and drive. And I didn't know I was distracted until, boom, I had a crash. Distractions are dangerous. I think about Lot and his wife. I'll call her Lottie because the Bible doesn't give her a name. And Lottie got distracted by her past. God told Lottie, told Lottie, leave the city. Leave Sodom and Gomorrah. He said, don't you look back. Don't you look back. And listen, Lottie got distracted by her past. She was distracted by her old friends. She was distracted by her old lifestyle. She was distracted by her old home and her old conveniences. And God said, don't you look back.

Don't you look back. But she got distracted and looked back, and her life was defeated and destroyed. Levi Lusko said, the destruction of distraction is difficult to detect when it's happening because it doesn't involve bad things, but good things that take the place of the most important things. And Lottie got distracted by good things, and it wrecked her life. Her husband needed her, but she got distracted. Her kids needed her, but she got distracted by things that really did not matter. Distractions are dangerous. I've titled today's message Weapons of Mass Distraction. Weapons of Mass Distraction. One of the reasons we're so busy is because we're so distracted. And I love studying Jesus and his teachings, and Jesus brilliantly unpacks the weapons of mass distractions in Mark chapter 4. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Mark chapter 4, and we're going to see that Jesus talks about seed that was sown into four different places. And as Jesus describes these four different places, he points out the biggest weapons of mass distraction for all of humanity, including you and including me. And let's look at these weapons of mass distraction. Number one is this, the path heart distraction.

Write that down, the path heart distraction. I'm going to unpack that for you. It's in Mark chapter 4. Picking up in verse 13, it says, Then Jesus said to them, Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path. There it goes, the path heart distraction. Along the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. So first of all, understand there's a real devil who wants to steal God's word from your heart. John chapter 10 in verse 10 says that the thief, the enemy, the devil, the evil one, the only reason he has come is to steal, kill, and destroy. And the number one thing the devil wants to steal from your life is the word of God. You see, when somebody comes to church and they give their life to Jesus and immediately when they leave the service, the devil tries to distract them with their old friends, distract them with their old sin, distract them with their old places so that he can steal the word of God from their heart. The devil does not care if you come to church

as long as you don't believe the word of God. You see, if the devil can't destroy you, he will distract you from God's word. He will steal the word of God from your heart. And church, understand there's a real devil doing everything that he can do to distract you so that he can steal God's word from your heart. You are in a spiritual battle against a real spiritual enemy. And Jesus says, hey, the first distraction is the enemy wants you to get distracted so he can steal the word of God from your life. There's a second weapon of mass distraction. Here it is, it's the rocky heart distraction. The rocky heart distraction. In the next verse, Mark chapter four, verse 16, it says, others, like seeds sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Let's unpack this rocky heart distraction. The first thing that we see is that they're distracted because they have no root. You see, one of the keys to having strong faith is you have to get your roots deep into Christ. You can't be satisfied with just being a Christian. You gotta have your roots grow deep into the Lord if you're going to overcome

the weapons of mass distractions. I want you to see this in Ephesians chapter three. It says in verse 16 and 17, I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your heart as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And at People's Church, we want your roots to grow deep into the Lord. As your pastor, it's important to me that you're not just a Christian, but that your roots grow down deep into Christ so you can overcome the weapons of mass distractions. Colossians chapter two, verse seven says the same thing. Let your roots grow down into him, into Christ, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. So notice this. When your roots grow down into Christ, it says then your lives are built on him. And when your lives are built on him, when your roots are growing down into Christ, it says you will be strong in the truth. And that's why we have 21 days of prayer and fasting. That's why we have 21 days of prayer. Why? To your roots can grow down into the Lord.

That's why we encourage you to read your Bible and to pray every day so that your roots can grow deep into the Lord. That's why we have deeper nights once a month. Why? So your roots can grow deep in the Lord. That's why we have water baptismal services. And today I encourage you to get water baptized, why? So that your roots can grow deep into the Lord. That's why we have the four week challenge. And we're challenging you to attend four weeks in a row so that you can get the habit of coming to church. Why? So your roots can grow deep into the Lord. That's why we encourage you to be in a small group, get in a small group, get in a small group. Why? So your roots can grow deep. That's why we say church, listen, you have to get in to get the growth track. Get on the dream team. Why? Because every step that you take allows your roots to grow deep in the Lord. And if your roots don't grow deep, the scripture says you last only a short time. You'll be distracted by the weapons of mass distractions. He goes on to say in that talking about this rocky place that you'll be distracted by trouble and persecution.

And some of you today, you're distracted by trouble. You are facing immense amount of trouble, this crazy amount of trouble, and it's distracted you. And for some people, you know what you thought? You thought that serving God was easy. You thought, man, when I give my life to Jesus, all my problems, they're gonna be gone. I give my life to Jesus, it's gonna be easy street. It's gonna be a piece of cake. I mean, everything's just gonna fall right into place and my life is going to be better. But the opposite has been true for your life. Since you've given your life to Jesus, all hell has broke loose on every side. Trouble at home, trouble at work, trouble with your money, trouble in relationships, trouble at church. I mean, somebody even at church said something or did something you didn't like, and now you're done. You're distracted. Trouble will distract you, he says, and persecution. And some of you are distracted by some form of persecution. Your friends and your family, they're making fun of your faith. They don't believe what you believe. You feel like an outsider. You feel like they're always talking about you. And here you are trying to stand up for Jesus, people making fun of you and trying to stand up in your school and people making fun of you. And you're thinking, maybe I should compromise

because you're getting a little persecution. You put a Bible verse on social media and people blast you because listen, it's not easy in our culture to be a follower of Christ. And persecution causes some people to get distracted. You have to have your roots grow deep into Christ so that trouble and persecution. and will not be weapons of mass distraction. Jesus gives a third distraction. It's the thorny heart distraction. Notice this in Mark 4, verse 18. Still others, like seeds sown among thorns, hear the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come, and they choke the word, making it unfruitful. So notice what Jesus says. He says, 3A, you're distracted by the worries of life. And that's where a lot of you are today. You see, for most of you today, you're not struggling with heresy. You're not going to have this total disregard for God. That's not your problem. It's not you're a heretic, or you just don't even believe in God at all. No, for most of us, we're distracted by the worries of life. How many got a few worries that you're thinking about today? Come on, come on. You got a car repair you got to make. Come on, the water heater went out again.

The kids need to see the doctor. Your taxes, you still hadn't got them done. Come on, you going to file another extension. It's middle of September. Come on, I still got to get my taxes done. Worries, huh? You promised your mom you'd come over and fix the leaky faucet. Worries, got a wedding to plan. Kids, their practices and their games. Kids need new shoes again. Come on, how many pray your kid's feet stop growing? You know what I'm saying? Just, I mean, new shoes again. You got a flat tire. I had a tire problem this week, had to get fixed. You got applications to fill out, bills to pay. Come on, and looked in the refrigerator. You're like, the refrigerator is empty again. Who drank all the milk? Got to go grocery shopping again. Homework to do, a dissertation to write, lawn to mow, clothes to wash. Then you wash your clothes and the washing machine starts rattling. Worries of life. Worries of life. If you're not careful, there'll be distractions and they'll choke the word of God and make your life unfruitful.

Jesus said that you'll be distracted if you're not careful about the deceitfulness of wealth. Deceitfulness of wealth. And the Bible says there's nothing wrong with you having money. There's nothing wrong with you having a lot of money. But the Bible is very clear that money and possessions can distract you from what really matters. Can I tell you that the most stressed out people on the planet live in the most affluent countries? Because our money, our possessions, they can just distract us because we're just trying to get money. We're trying to get possessions. We got to get the home. We got to get the car. We got to get the boat. We got to get the lake house. We got to get the campers and the timeshare. We can just get distracted. We got to get the investments and the real estate and the motorcycles and the new computers and the newest iGadget and the newest video game. We got to get the newest makeup and we got to get the newest Nikes that just came out. Got to get a new pair of shoes. We got to get the newest seven different streaming services. I got to get them all. Got to get them all. Got to get them all.

Come on, we're just distracted. We just get distracted. Newest downloads. I got to get the raise. I got to get the raise. I got to get the promotion. I need a new job. I got to make some more money. And we can get easily distracted by wealth and possessions and don't even realize it. But you no longer have money and possessions. Money and possessions have you. And it's a weapon, a mass distraction. And your pursuit of money and possessions is choking God's word. And it's making your relationships. It's making your life. It's making your walk with God unfruitful. Jesus said, it will choke you and make you unfruitful. And then Jesus says a third thing in that portion of scripture. He says, distracted by the desires for other things. I'm telling you, Jesus is brilliant. He says, let me give you the weapons of mass destruction. He says, there'll be some that get distracted by the worries of life. He said, there'll be some that'll get distracted by wealth and possessions. And he says, and then there'll be just other things. And one of the greatest other things,

weapon of mass distractions in our generation, we have it with us every day. We carry it with us everywhere. I got mine with me right now. We live in what's called the digital age. And on our phone, we have our calendars, our email, our health info, our passwords, our credit cards, our bank accounts. We have our most prized family pictures on here. And there's nothing wrong with cell phones. I'm just trying to help you with your iPhone, your smartphone. I'm trying to help you understand what Jesus said, that it's these other things that can distract us. And research says on average, Americans check their phones 344 times per day. That's once every four minutes. 74% of Americans feel uneasy leaving their phone at home. 71% of Americans say they check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up. 54% of people check their smartphone within one minute of waking up. 71% of Americans sleep with their cell phone next to them within arm's reach. And some of you probably hold it. If not, ah, ah, ah, my phone, ah, ah. 53% of Americans say that they have never gone longer than 24 hours without their phone. 70% of Americans check their phones within five minutes of receiving a notification,

no matter what they're doing. You've been tempted to check your phone eight times since I began this sermon. And the Bible says to resist temptation. And that's why the devil's stealing the word from your life. 48% of people say they feel a sense of panic or anxiety when their cell phone battery goes below 20%. Who knows what I'm talking about? You see that red on that phone? Ah, it's red, ah, red, red. 45% say that their phone is their most valuable possession. 43% use or look at their phone while on a date. And that's why some of you can't get a second date. I'm your pastor. I'm here to help your life out today. Three in four Americans admit to using their cell phone while on the toilet. Just lift your hands if you're guilty. No, don't do it. We don't want to know. We don't want to know. Studies show the average cell phone is 10 times dirtier than toilet seats. And only one in seven Americans clean theirs. Pastor, why'd you slide that in there? Don't be borrowing people's cell phones. Wee child, I will just look in here, call for me. Distracted by other things. There's YouTube.

YouTube is the second most visited app or website. I'm not against YouTube. We upload our sermons and content on YouTube. What I want you to understand are the other things. Distractions. Users spend almost 24 hours each month on the YouTube mobile app. Every minute, more than 500 hours of new content is uploaded onto YouTube. On average, a visitor spends 14 minutes and 21 seconds on YouTube every day. That's almost 86.5 hours a year. That's over 3.5 days of your year spent on YouTube. Distractions. Streaming. I'm not against streaming. My wife and I will watch a movie streaming. But I want you to understand just the other distractions. 37% of Netflix subscribers binge-watched series at work. That's two to six hours of work not happening while being paid to work. But I know you're not doing that while you're wearing your People's Church T-shirt. God help us. Help our church! 70% of Americans between the ages of 30 and 44 often binge-watch TV shows or films. 90% of millennials and members of Generation Z binge-watch. Social media. I'm not against social media. We have social media accounts at the church.

I have a social media account. I just want you to understand the other things. Distractions. The average person spends two hours and 27 minutes a day on social media. In the average lifetime, that is six years and eight months of their life on social media. 210 million people suffer from social media addiction. 10% of teens check their phone and social media feeds all throughout the night. All night long. Every time they get a notification, they grab their phone in the middle of the night to see what it says. Teens that are spending at least five hours a day on their cell phone and social media are 50% more likely to suffer from depression. Multiple, multiple studies have shown that the more addicted you are to your phone and to social media, the more prone you are to depression and anxiety and the less productive you are in school or on your job, which feeds the cycle of depression and anxiety. All I'm wanting you to understand is that there are a lot of weapons of mass distractions that are choking God's Word. and making so many people's lives, their relationships unfruitful, distracted, distracted.

Distracted. You know, when I'm driving my car, I don't like to admit this, but I have found myself now more frequently needing Tiffany's help, because I find myself getting distracted and missing turns. She's like, hey Herbert, Herbert, this is your exit. I got this girl, I got this, I got this. Oh God, and I miss it again. And I just, you know, Herbert, this is your exit. You gotta exit right here. Herbert, you're down, you're driving down, I just get distracted and I miss my turn. Sometimes I make us late, I make, I'm pushing it too close because I get distracted and miss my turn. But can I tell you, when you get distracted in life, the ramifications are much bigger than just missing your turn. You see, in life, when you get distracted, you don't just miss your turn, you miss your kids growing up. You don't just miss your turn, you miss meeting your spouse's greatest needs. You don't just miss your turn, you miss loving God with all of your heart. You don't just miss your turn, you miss the signs that your health, it's eroding. You don't just miss your turn and wreck your car, you end up wrecking your life.

Weapons of mass distraction. Jesus points out a fourth, and in the fourth one, we get some solutions I want us to look at today. And the fourth is the good heart. And notice what Jesus says in Mark 4 in verse 20, others like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop, some 30, some 60, some 100 times what was sown. So check this out, church, if you're going to defeat the path, the rocky and the thorny distractions, you have to cultivate a good soil in your heart. I want you to have good soil today so that you can overcome the weapons of mass distractions. I want you to go from distracted to dedicated, from unfruitful to being fruitful. I really believe this. I believe that you can get more dedicated, get away from being so distracted and get more dedicated and see more fruit in your relationships, see more fruit in your marriage, see more fruit in your dating, see more fruit in your school and your education, see more fruit in your workplace, see more fruit with your children. You can see more fruit. So what I want to do, I want to teach us very quickly how to cultivate good soil to defeat the weapons of mass distraction.

Application, application, here we go. I'm going to give you A, B, C, and D, letter A, B, C, and D to overcome the weapons of mass distraction. A is this, admit you're distracted. You will never defeat distractions if you deny or justify them. And some of you, this entire message I've been preaching, and you've been nudging your spouse, looking at your kids, and the Lord's trying to talk to you. Listen, you got to admit that you're distracted. The Bible says over and over and over again, confess your sins, confess your faults, confess your shortcomings, why? Admit it so you can quit it. But it begins with, you have to admit it. And so many of us have become professional excuse makers. Today, would you admit that you're distracted? Letter B is this, be ready to change. Be ready to change. You need to be prepared to make some changes. You ever had somebody in your life, a friend, they're always apologizing about the same thing. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you said the same thing last time. I'm sorry, I did it again, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You got somebody like that, come on, you're laughing because you got about three people in your mind, you know what I mean?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I did it again, I'm sorry. And like, I forgive you, I just don't want you to be sorry, I want you to stop doing it. I want you to change, because feeling bad, I'm sorry, admitting you're distracted isn't the end goal. It's change, because if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you always got. So you got to make some changes, you got to make some changes. Letter A, you got to admit you're distracted. Letter B, be ready to make changes. Letter C is come up with a plan, come up with a plan. Now I am not your Holy Spirit, so I'm not going to tell you what your plan is. I'm going to just give you some ideas of things that you may want to consider putting in your life. plan. But would you let the Holy Spirit speak to you so that you can go from distracted to dedicated, from unfruitful to fruitful. Here are some ideas or some things you may want to put in your plan. Regularly serve someone less fortunate than you, so you can defeat the deceitfulness of wealth. Give stuff away. Have a garage sale, a free one. Clean out the closet, clean out your garage, clean out your attic, clean out your storage shed, and give it away to charity or to someone in need. Tithe and give offerings. Listen, the discipline of gratitude will destroy the distraction and the desire for other things. So learn to be thankful. Every day before you go into the workplace, before you go to school, just say, God, I thank you that I get to do this. Start a gratitude journal and just jot down two or three things that you're grateful for at the end of each day so that you don't get distracted by the other things. I mean, even in your small group, start a gratitude thread that every day just one

of you in the small group, just each of you just put something down in the thread that you're thankful for. Some of you, would you start having family dinner two times, three times, maybe four times a week and destroy some of the things that are distracting you from your family? And when you have family dinner, don't take your cell phone. Leave your phone at another place so that you can engage in conversation. And in our family, we don't want to just eat, we want to talk, we want to conversate. So ever since our kids were little, we always have a conversation starter. So we begin our family dinners, we always say, give us one good thing and one negative. Give us a positive, give us a negative about your day. What's your highlight and what's your down moment, your low moment of the day? And it's just conversation starters so that we can engage and get into each other's world. I encourage you, here's something else you can include in your plan. Take one day a week and don't check social media and email. Some of you are about to pass out. Oh, Jesus, Lord. Woo! I'm just trying to help you get from distracted to dedicated. Take an hour each night to disconnect from your phone. Determine to go at least 75% to 75% of your kids' games, their activities. Set a limit on how much social media you will consume a day. Say, I'm going to do an hour a day. I'm going to go no more than two hours. Just set a limit so you just don't spend all of your time on social media or on your phone or on YouTube. Go on date nights without your phone. Now, I'm more spiritual than Tiffany. She takes hers on date nights. I'm just messing with you. She takes hers for the kids, but I leave my phone at home on date nights so I can be fully present with Tiffany. Listen, go on vacation and don't check your social media or email. Delete it off your phone. That's actually what I do. I just delete it off my phone. Two or three times a year, take a week break from email, from social media, and even from your phone. I do that two or three times a year. I just take a break from the phone. Listen, learn to pray more so you worry

less about troubles and persecutions of this world. Pray more, pray more, pray more. Get your roots deep into Christ. How? Get water baptized. Get in a small group. Go to church weekly. Students, go to Epic every single Wednesday night for our youth service. Reach our students. Come on Wednesday, on Thursday nights. Read your Bible every day. I'm saying get your roots deep so that you're not overcome by the weapons of mass distractions. And then here's the last one. Sincerely give your life to Jesus. Don't let the devil keep stealing the word out of your heart. Listen, just because you believe in God doesn't mean you're a Christian. The devil believes in God. So you got to sincerely give your life to Jesus. Make him Lord of your life today. And here's the last one, D. So admit you're distracted, B. Be ready to change, C. Come up with a plan, D. Do the plan. Do the plan. Notice what Jesus said in Mark chapter 4, verse 20. I read it to you. He said, like seed sown on good soil, they hear the word, accept it. They hear it and they accept it. They do it. James 1, verse 22 says, do not be hearers of the word, but doers of the word. Here's the problem. Look this way. Look this way. Look this way. Look this way. Here's your pastor's heart. The problem with being distracted is when you leave this service, you're going to be distracted from doing what you heard. You see, Eve knew God said don't eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, but she got distracted. Lottie, Lot's wife, knew God said, don't look back. Don't look back. Your family needs you. Don't look back.

Don't look back. She knew, she knew, she knew, but she got distracted. And today I'm saying to you, would you do what you've heard today? Would you do something about it? Because all distractions will do is continue to delay you, deny you, derail you, defeat you. And if you're not careful, distractions will destroy you. By the power of the Holy Spirit, let's overcome the weapons of mass distraction. Heavenly Father, thanks for your word today. Thank you for helping us today, Lord. We live in such a society where we're so easily distracted. God, I pray today that you would work in our hearts and work in our lives. Help us to overcome these distractions by the power of your spirit, that we could be fruitful, Lord, that our lives could produce more fruit. In Jesus' name I pray. His eyes are closed and heads are bowed, and I just thank you for no moving around in this just holy moment. And there are some of you here today that you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You're not serving God, you're not living for God. But you would say this, you say, Pastor, I believe in God, I believe in Jesus. But you're not a Christian. There's no evidence, there's no fruit in your life that the Holy Spirit lives in you. And today I don't want you to be kind of like the devil who believes in God but doesn't live for God, doesn't know God personally. I really want you to sincerely give your life to Jesus. And when you do that, the Holy Spirit's going to come live inside of you. He's going to begin to change you from the inside out. And then there are some of you that there was a time in your life you were on fire for God, you were living for God, you were serving God. But you know what happened? You got distracted by the troubles of this world. You got distracted by persecution. You got distracted by the worries of life. You got distracted by the deceitfulness of wealth.

You got distracted by the other things, and it's pulled you away from Jesus, and you're no longer dedicated to Jesus. You're no longer following Jesus with all of your heart. And today is your day to rededicate your life back to Jesus. If that's you, as I count to three, you want to give your life to Jesus or you want to dedicate your life to the Lord. I know today a lot of hands are going up. I sense in my heart a lot of people are off track. And today you need to dedicate your life back to Jesus. If that's you, as I count to three, would you raise your hand at every location? And I want to lead you in a prayer. One, two, three. Just lift your hand high. I say, Pastor, that's me. Thank you so much. See your hand. Thank you. Thank you so much. See your hand. So awesome. Thank you so much. See your hands. Come on, Midwest City. That's it. See your hand. Come on. Come on, Northwest. Just lift it high. Mabel Bassett, just lift it high. Online, just click the raise your hand button or just type that's me in the chat line. Come on. If somebody else needs to commit your life to the Lord, just lift your hand high.

I want to pray this prayer for you right now. I want you to pray this prayer with me right now. Come on, every hand that's lifted, pray with me right now. Heavenly Father, I turn from sin. I turn from distractions, and I turn my life to Jesus. I place my faith and my trust in Jesus Christ and confess that he's the Lord of my life. I will live for Jesus from this day forward. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. We're family around here. If you're a guest with us, you're new, welcome home. You're amongst some of the finest, most loving, most kind people in all of Oklahoma, Indianapolis. We have some of the finest people. Welcome home. We're family. We're family. Right in the chat line, we're family because of Jesus. We're family. Come on. Who are we, People's Church? We're family! God bless you. We're family. Amen. Amen. We're family. We're family. God bless you. We're family. Amen.

We're family. We're family. Amen.