How to Stay Connected to God in Everyday Life

0:00 So, uh the title of my message is um it sounds kind of negative. You go ahead and start it. It's going to start It's going to be electrifying message, very powerful, but Yep, see that? All right, go back to the title. It's Disillusioned, Detached, and Disconnected for good. And I stole that for good from from Wicked, you know, it's uh it's a play on words, right? For good means it in a positive way, but also means for good, like we're This is settle this and this is the way it's going to be, right? And so those those all sound negative, but they're actually not. This is a step towards a better way. So, let's let's pray for me. God, I pray for myself. Help me, God.

0:46 Jesus, I need help. I need help. I want your truth to come through really clearly. I set a high standard that every person in this room will never be the same after this message. And I believe that. All right, amen. See, I didn't pray a long time cuz the God doesn't care about a whole bunch of words. It's about the heart. It's part of the message. All right, so uh I got to get my glasses on cuz I can't see. All right, so I believe we're in the Sermon on the Mount, right, for however for a year. And uh there's been a lot of the Sermon on the Mount talked about. Sometimes it's like two words, sometimes a verse, sometimes a few verses.

1:31 I am going to attempt to use all of chapter 6. I don't think that's been done before, but it's to me, this message I'm going to share with you is the essence. I picture Jesus getting up that morning. Like, well, this is going to be a big one. They're going to probably record this, you know, uh for centuries people are going to read this. Lord, help me. But he's excited because he's got the secret. And that that song, there's a God who weeps, a God who believes he's He did that so he could not only demonstrate, but be there for you. And that's where you need to be connected. So, if you go to the next slide, I wanted to find disillusions. Sounds like something like "Well, I just

2:18 don't believe anything anymore. I'm really disillusioned with my company or my church, blah blah blah. My marriage, my my family. I'm disillusioned." And that sounds terrible. But I'm a word guy. And if you look at the word itself, dis- illusioned, it means not operating in illusion. And I certainly want to be authentic in my life. I don't want to play a game or pretend, right? I want to be real. So, listen to this. It's freeing yourself from illusion, shattering false expectations to reveal actual truth, allowing you to build a more authentic life. You can stop wasting energy on something that is not real. It's breaking free from what should be or what you wish were true.

3:04 It sets you free to operate in the truth. And honestly, I think the church is struggles with this. We we live a lot in illusion. We try to draw energy and value and affirmation from things that aren't real. And then we get sad and depressed and anxious because it doesn't work out the way we think it should. It's a simple solution is to get out of the illusion and connect to the truth. I'm saying it's simple, and I'm going to show you how simple it is. All right? So, my scriptural backing here, cuz my my pastor says that's important, is um Psalm 1 uh 19:37. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, right? I'm just going to focus on one verse. Says, "Turn my eyes." In the ESV, "Turn

3:50 my eyes." He's asking God, turn my eyes from looking at worthless things. We sang about he's worthy. So, we turn our our face and our eyes from looking at worthless things and look at who is worthy. We look at a lot of worthless things all day long and the internet has made that really easy for us to do. How much time we waste looking at worth less things. And in the passion translation helps my my message cuz it uses the word, right? It says, help me turn my eyes away from what? Illusions. So, that I pursue only that which is true. I want to read that again. Open your

4:37 heart. Let that sink in. This is good. Help me turn my eyes away from illusions so that I may pursue only that which is true. Drench my soul with life as I walk in your paths. So, let's go to the Sermon on the Mount. Chapter 6 begins with don't do this kind of stuff. And it's all about illusions. It's what Jesus is trying to pull these people away from is operating in false realities. So, we got to define the word hypocrite. Hypocrite is a Greek word, hypocrites. It uh it translates stage actor. It was actually a drama term or pretender. Back in the Greek drama days, they had three actors and they just put on different masks as they played

5:23 different roles. Only three guys, but whatever mask they wore, that's who they pretended to be. Historically, referred to performers who wear masks to portray characters different from who they truly are. Does that sound familiar? Later evolved into the modern moral definition of someone playing a false role in real life. All right, so we We want to be hypocrites and Jesus warned people. He said this, Matthew chapter 6 verse 1, "Beware of practicing your righteousness." It's kind of funny when you read it, but then you think about how much you do this, right? And it's not so funny. It says, "You practice your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." See, one is an illusion. I need my affirmation from these people.

6:10 The truth is, I want my affirmation only from God, and that is a huge struggle in our human lives. Thus, when you give to needy, I guess they used to blow trumpets. The hypocrites are like, "Attention, please. I am about to be generous. Uh could have this group over here is not paying I'm focus here. I am being generous. Doo doo doo." And so, they're "Everybody see this. I'm being generous." And uh he said, "Well, if people like that, you just got your reward." Says, "Um when you give to the needy, right? Sock puppets, don't let your right hand know what your left hand's doing." So, that's ridiculous. How can my right hand not know what my left hand's doing? I want this to be something that God sees. I don't care who else sees it. And it it says repeated several times,

6:56 "And your Father who sees in It says secret, but I think when he he sees in reality. Not the illusion. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. And I was thinking, "Man, how many of you would just get up here and pray in public?" And some are like, "I couldn't do that." "I don't know what to say." And I'm like, "Do you pray in real life?" That's all we're asking. But you think you got to have this prayer speech lined up. "Oh Lord, we thank thee for thy many blessings. I hope I remember enough King James to sound righteous and holy. Please help me, oh Lordeth Godeth." And and and you just you do this weird like speech. Almost like you're performing for the people instead of talking to God.

7:42 I I sometimes I count how many justs are in prayers. Like just Would you Lord, we just thank you for just coming today just and and the just and I'm like, 17 justs. I heard 17 justs. So, I I consciously try not to say the word just cuz I feel like it's just like a performance. It's a filler word, so it sounds I don't even It doesn't sound that good. Now, you're all going to be paying attention all the justs going on, right? All right. So, don't pray like the hypocrites. They love to stand where everybody can hear their speech, right? They can be seen by others. But, go to your room, shut the door, pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in real will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles do. And these are people that don't believe in God. I

8:29 think they're they're hoping if they say it enough times, their God will be manipulated into acting. Kind of like kids do with their parents, right? They They keep saying the same thing and it's finally Okay. I don't want to do that to God. I want my ans my my my my prayers to be simple. It doesn't have to be complicated and and my faith is in him, not in the words I'm saying. I don't have to work up a speech, right? I just want to talk to God and it's simple to do. And guess what happens? The father that sees in secret in real will reward you. Um it's got the Lord's prayer. It says, "Here's a way to pray." You know how short it is? It wouldn't work in many churches, right? I mean, we need more. It doesn't sound like there's enough here, but Jesus said, "This is all you got to do." We'll skip through that. Let's go to uh

9:14 chap- or verse 16. When you fast, another religious activity, don't look all gloomy like the hypocrites do. They're pretending to be pious and religious. That's not what God wants, right? You should do your hair, your your makeup or whatever you got to do to look good, and you're fasting not for people to think, "Wow, what a religious person they are." But who's going to see you? The Father who sees in real and he'll reward you. The whole chapter, isn't you see the illusion? Don't operate in illusion, operate in real. Don't store up yourselves treasures on earth. That's an illusion. But store up treasures in what's real, right? So, it's it's a connection to what's real,

10:00 but first a disconnection from the illusion. He goes on. Uh talks about you can't serve two masters. One is real, the other is not. You can't serve money, that's false. Serve God, he's real. Um and then he says, "Don't be worried about your life, the things that you eat, the things you drink, the things you wear. Those are all illusions. They're worthless things. But what do we seek? The kingdom of God and his righteousness. All right, so let's let's move on to the idea of detached and uh disconnect. So, the idea of detached means I'm I'm not attached to this thing anymore, right? And I'm disconnected, that's simple, right? The definitions are the same separated unconnected.

10:47 And again, those have negative connotations. Oh, it just he seems so detached, right? He's really disconnected. But I think Jesus was detached and disconnected, and I can prove it to you from scripture. Now, he wasn't detached from the source. He just was detached living on this earth from the illusion. So, uh 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, "For this reason, come out from among them and be separate," says the Lord. So, there's a separation. And Romans 12:2, Passion Translation says, "Stop imitating That's playing a part, right? The ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit." So, there's a power that comes

11:32 from the outside inside, not from the outside. But, I think the church tries to draw so much power from the the illusions, the things that seem to be real. It comes from the inside. This will empower you to discern God's will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying, right, and perfect in his eyes. So, here's the English teacher. I mean, there was a poet named William Blake. He was a strange dude. I mean, people thought he was crazy. But, he I believe he understood Jesus better than most people. He didn't like church a lot because there's a lot of illusion, a lot of pretense and falsehood. But, he had some insight that they're profound. It was so cool as a teacher in

12:17 a public school I could share this like a stealth attack to get to these kids, right? William Blake said, "Well, really William Blake tapped into this truth I'm sharing today about disconnection disillusionment and disconnection." So, he he had a a a collection of poems called Songs of Innocence. And they're all about children and lambs, ones that have been untainted by the world, and operate in a naivete that it's refreshing and childlike, but it just doesn't last in this world. He defined innocence as a state of genuine love and naive trust toward all humankind. And we're born that way. We just simply trust. We know our parents are going to be there for us. We

13:03 know they're going to help us when we need it. Until they don't. Until they do something that hurts us, and then we we become experienced. But, this state of innocence the the innocence of children is only for a time. Otherwise, you're just clueless, right? You're just so unaware. So, I have a little story I I like a lot. It demonstrates how this this old lady was just completely unaware of what was going on. So, grandma's 80 years old, she still drives her own car. And she wrote to her friend said, "The other day, I went to our local Christian bookstore and saw a honk if you love Jesus bumper sticker. I was feeling particularly sassy that day cuz I'd just come from a thrilling choir performance followed by a thunderous prayer meeting. So, I bought the sticker and put it on

13:49 my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did. What an uplifting experience that followed. I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection just lost in thought about the Lord, how good he is. I didn't notice the light had changed. It's a good thing someone else loves Jesus. Because if he hadn't honked, I'd never noticed. But I found a lot of people love Jesus. [snorts] While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy. And he leaned out of his window and screamed, "For the love of God, go, go, go." What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus. Everyone started honking. I just leaned out of my window, started waving and smiling at all those loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love. There must have been a man from Florida back there cuz I heard him yelling

14:35 something about a sunny beach. I saw another guy. Another guy was waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my young teenage grandson in the backseat what that meant. He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out of the window and gave him the good luck sign back. My grandson burst out laughing while even he was enjoying this religious experience. A couple of people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended. This is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that

15:21 got through the intersection before the light changed again. Felt kind of sad. So, I had cuz I had to leave them after all the love we had shared. So, I slowed the car down, leaned out of the window, and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks, right? So, this woman totally oblivious. I don't know. I uh I don't want to operate in that level of unawareness, right? Sometimes I do, and then people tell me, but like my my family. And so, I want to operate in a level of awareness. And I I don't think I have to be um cynical. I can still have that innocence, but it's an aware innocence, right? So, he defines experience as a profound

16:08 disillusionment with human nature and society, and that's not good. Jesus did not have that. He saw people as valuable. He just knew they didn't have the capacity to to meet his needs, right? He never expected it from them. Once he sees cruelty and hypocrisy only too clearly, but is unable to imagine a way out. And so, I I can see I think love is not blind. I think love has 20/20 vision. It sees very clearly, yet chooses to love anyway right? Otherwise, it's again naivety or or unawareness. So, thankfully, William Blake came up with a third state of consciousness. He called it organized innocence. I think this is Bible.

16:54 Says, one sense of the divinity of humanity. That's what we say to each other. Like, that's so unlike you. Or, that's not who you really are. I see what God says about you. So, we are aware of the sense of the divinity of humanity. It coexists with oppression and injustice. I'm fully aware. I recognize those. And I actively oppose them. That when I encounter injustice or hypocrisy, that I don't draw my source of life from those, I can respond with, "That's not who you are." Right? If I'm loving expecting a return, that's not That's not loving. That's really loving yourself. But loving is setting the person free.

17:39 They can make their mistakes. They can They can be flawed. Just like God loves us despite our flaws. We have to love that way. So, I got a practical illustration here. It's the um electrical stuff here. So [sighs] So, this is This is us. We're just designed to be that way. Watch. We're kind of like this. I'm like an old Okay good. >> Over here. >> You have If you look long enough, looks like two faces. Right? Like And like the that one there on the left side, the the eye's a little bigger like the way Joshua Raymond raises that eyebrow like that. Yes, that's looks like that.

18:25 So, we try to do We want to be connected to a source. Right? And that looks like the source. But it's not. So, watch. So, if I want to power a light, I can go over here. There's a power strip. That's not the source, but I plug into that. Follow that wire back here. It goes to this one here. This one goes up behind here and it goes all the way to there and then ends up over there. Then it goes out of the building, connects to bigger wires, which connect to bigger wires that go all the way to the power plant. So, when I plug it into there, that's not the source. I want to be connected to the source. So, here's what we do.

19:11 This is your friend. This is your husband or your wife, your kids. And you're like, I need affirmation. I need to be respected. And so you plug your appliance into this, and what happens? Nothing. You're expecting this to supply something that it's unable to give you. That is good. I know. I know it's It's so good. This will work in your life because you can consciously feel it when it's happening. You're plugging into the wrong source. And you're not getting what you need. And what happens? How stupid would it be for me to get angry at this outlet? You stupid outlet. Can't you respond the way

19:57 I It's ridiculous. But I venture to say we do this every day of our lives. We're demanding something from people or even circumstances that they have no ability to give us. And until we disconnect from this worthless thing and connect to the source of power, we're going to be frustrated. All right. So Jesus thank Well, thank Jesus he came, right? Thank you Jesus. He lived this out. This is the essence of the sermon of disconnection from what's around him and connection to the Father constantly. So, it says uh John 2:24 is my best verse. I read this when I was a young kid and I I got it. Like this this is the secret.

20:42 It says, "But Jesus did not entrust himself to them." This is right after the water turned to wine. And they What did they do? They believed in him, but it was very superficial. They believed in him because he did something pretty cool. But he says, "But Jesus didn't entrust himself to them because he knew how fickle human hearts can be." That sounds terrible. No, it's not. It's operating in reality, right? It's true. He needed no one to tell him about human nature for he fully understood what man was capable of. That's the Passion Translation. And again, to honor my pastor, I I got a Greek word here. It's pronounced episteuen. episteuen And I looked in Strong's, I did it all,

21:28 Caleb. And uh this word turns out it's the only time in the New Testament it's used. I checked this out. That's unusual. Think Brian Simmons calls it a hapax legomenon. It's a It's the only time this word is used, which makes me pay more attention to it. But it's saying Jesus it is the root word for faith. He didn't put his faith in them because they could not supply what he needed. So, he put his faith in God. Now, he continued to operate on this earth. Fact, he operated so well, people thought he was a drunkard. They called it a winebibber. Kind of a fun word. They called him a glutton cuz he he was on at the parties and stuff like this.

22:13 So, he wasn't like this ascetic out in the desert on a mountain. He was living life with the people. I think they liked him. I think if he preached a sermon on the mount as a podcast, it would it would have billions of views, right? The words were powerful. It's amazing to think about. But he did not entrust himself to them. So, this is something I want you to to take to heart here. It's okay. Jesus showed us the way to connect to real life. Do not expect this to be your source. Stop connecting to your circumstance. Stop connecting to people. Stay connected to him as your source and the people and circumstances, they're going to be a lot better than you realize.

22:58 Um Matthew 4:31, there's another chance Jesus has to show he's connected to a deeper source. This is the woman at the well thing. In a hostile environment, he's tired, sits at a well. Woman comes to get water and he can't help it. He's the water. He's the the source for living water, so he just starts telling her. Well, his disciples, where were they? Public's, they were getting like some sub sandwiches, right? And uh bringing them back that I bet they ordered a nice one for Jesus. Like he I know he likes chicken and bacon and all that. Maybe not bacon. But so they get him a real Sorry. Well, New Testament. So, so they bring back this food and they say Rabbi, eat. That just sounds so authoritative. Rabbi, eat.

23:45 And Jesus, the king of the universe, right? Says um I have food that you don't know about. I'm sure they were like Did Uber Eats Did the DoorDash show up or something? Where Where did he get this food, right? Eat He didn't have any food. He says he ate. Where did this food come from? So, he says this. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you see the connection? Said on the Sermon on the Mount, why do you worry about what you're going to eat or what you're going to drink or what you're going to put on, all of that? Heavenly Father knows you need all these things, but could you imagine you're really hungry and then you give life to somebody, speak them out of their illusion into

24:32 reality, and all of a sudden you're like I'm not I'm not that hungry anymore. I got something better than food, right? It's power It's real. It's real, people. I think the best example of Jesus on this earth staying connected to I almost can't even say this, so amazing. But the very people that he created, that he loved, that he cared for are slapping him in the face. they're pulling his beard out, they're making fun of him. That's unjust. That is wrong. But what does he say to them? Father, forgive them. They just don't know what they're doing. That's not who they are. They're operating under an illusion, and

25:18 I'm not going to draw my life from them. I'm going to give my life to them. And that that's powerful. I use this a lot, right? Cuz we're constantly encountering people that don't seem to understand, or maybe they make mistakes. And it's easier just to say, "You know what, Father, forgive them. They they don't know what they're doing." Believe the best. Believe maybe it wasn't even intentional. It was a um something that hurt you that they aren't even aware of. But it's better for you to stay connected to the source of life than try to get them to see what you're saying. All right. Now, the disciples had a good example and a bad example. Let's get the bad example out of the way. This one makes me laugh cuz what did we sing today? No matter what it looks like, you have my yes. Right? It's really powerful.

26:03 All right. You remember the boat? They all get in the boat and they're sailing. And the storm comes, but Jesus fell asleep earlier, so he's sleeping. And the disciples, I picture them like they're they're rowing and they're singing, "No matter what it looks like, you have my yes." And all of a sudden, the boat starts getting crazy and the waves start crashing over, and they change the lines to "We're all going to die!" Right? They're they're screaming. They're so afraid because are they connected to Jesus sleeping in the boat? They're connected to that bad storm. Think of your life. What kind of passenger are you? What kind of passenger are you when the storm comes? Do you I I imagine the disciples could

26:50 have done this. Well, the storm looks bad, but Jesus is sleeping, so why don't we just go lay down next to him and sleep this one out with him. Seems like he knows what he's doing. And Jesus would have woken up. They're all knocked out around him and he's like, "Thanks, guys. You believed in me." But instead, they woke him up. What did he say to them? Oh, you little faith. You put more faith in the storm than you did in me. And I bet you they were like this. Dang it. We did it again. We're going to learn first. I'm sure the the writers of the Gospels, they're like, "Anything else happen?" And they're like, "Well, there was the the boat incident,

27:35 you know. It's kind of embarrassing the way that we reacted, but I guess people need to know this, so we'll tell you what happened there." Now, the source is not just a source so we can feel electric power, right? But the source powers our light. We are the light of the world. So, this light here, what's it powered by? Electricity. It's plugged into the circuit. But I can put lights in my yard that are powered by what? Solar powered. You get this where this is going? It's still connected to the source. The sun is the source of electromagnetic energy. We see it as visible light. That power is going through our universe all the time. We tap into it, but it comes

28:21 from God. And we can consciously disconnect from the illusion and connect to the real. And then our light shines. The light needs to shine, so we can either have the Holy Spirit, we tap into what's inside of us, that power, or if you're looking at something that's kind of scary, why don't you turn to the light? And all of a sudden your your light begins to shine as well. A practical example is Moses. Oh, I want uh Remember Remember this? Electrical outlet, right? Had a a youth kid one time. He's like, "You know why I raise my hands when we worship? Cuz cuz I feel like I'm connecting."

29:07 I thought that's that's pretty cool. It's also like when you do this. You You sur- You surrender, right? It's a sign of like I I give it all, right? I'm not going to try to to make it work. So, I want you to picture that. Now, Moses had an example where Remember that weird battle? He's holding his arms up. And as long as his arms are up, everybody is they're winning. But then his arms got tired. You ever try to hold your arms up for a long time? Like when I was a little kid, we used to have contests. And after a while, your arms start shaking. It's just hard to hold your arm up. So, what happens? His arms start going down, the battle starts going south. What happens? Aaron and and Hur, someone named woman,

29:55 Hur, ends up being there. No, that's I guess the guy's name was Hur. It's just an awkward thing. But anyway, so Aaron and Hur come beside him. Dad joke. And uh they hold his arms up. I suggest that's what we're here for for each other. And sometimes, we're we're trying to connect, right? But our arms are getting tired. That's where we need to come alongside each other and lift lift their arms back up. Have them get connected, and the battle is won. Um I'll give you a practical example. This is a confession from our marriage. So, I know you all think we have the perfect marriage. Don't you kid? I don't I hope not, but we uh we struggle sometimes with communication and connection. And so, uh I was going

30:40 going it up like it was some random couple, but it was me and Vicki. We're We're We're driving in Montana. Now, we're We're driving in the car. We'd gone up to North Carolina, and so So, here Here might be an intentional. I'm thinking she wants to connect more. >> [snorts] >> So, we're driving. I was like, "This is a new road we've never been on. Let's Let's look and see all the beautiful things." And so, she's like, "Huh." And then she starts texting. And I was like, "Wow, that barn is so pretty." And she's like, "Yeah." And then she goes on Facebook. I'm like, "This is unjust. Like, I am trying to respond to her need for more connection." So, I tried about three more times, and I just started pouting and got quiet. So, we're riding for longer, and then she gets done with the stuff on the phone. So, then she asked the question,

31:26 "What are you thinking?" And you know, that's that moment of decision where it's a long ride. Do I want to do this? But she also asked, "I want you to just be honest, right? Just be honest with your feelings." I'm like, "Okay, here it goes." I said, "Well, you actually You hurt my feelings because I was wanting you to respond. I I was trying to connect with you, but it seemed that your Facebook stuff was more important." And I just feel sorry for myself. And then she goes, "Oh, brother." She goes, "We can be hours in the car, and as soon as I pull my phone out, you're like, 'Look at that tree. Look at that barn.' Feel like you just wait for me to get on my phone, and then you have all this conversation you want to be in." I'm

32:12 like, "That's even more unjust. That was not my heart at all." So, I didn't I didn't say anything, but I was like, And then, you know what I thought? I'm preaching on a on this disconnection thing, but I'm connecting to her, and I want her to respond the way I think she should. I was like, "Okay, let's see if this works." So, I I kind of settled down, and then I consciously turned my heart toward what Jesus says about Vicki. I I consciously expanded my horizon from inside the car emotions to the whole life we've had. And I started smiling a little bit. Now, she's she's still kind of miffed, you know. So, here's what I did. So, I wait for her to pull her phone out.

32:59 And I go, "Look at that tree." Now, I thought it was really funny. And I believe laughter laughter really solves a lot of my problems. Like if if Vicki's mad at me a lot of times I'll say, "Look at me. This is serious." And she just starts laughing cuz I got a goofy look on my face. Like Sarah, my daughter, if she's mad at me I'm like, "Sarah, look at me." She's like, "I'm not looking at you. I don't want to I don't want to stay mad at you." And so So, I said that, "Look at that tree." And I'm laughing on the inside. I'm like, "That's pretty funny." Not a reaction. So, I'm like, "Well, maybe it wasn't funny, you know?" But uh the rest of the ride was it wasn't the greatest of of experiences, but

33:44 later on I wanted to see if anything happened. So, I said, "You know, when uh when I said, 'Look at that tree.' I said I was I was trying to connect back with you." Again, she goes, "You know, it was pretty funny." She goes, "I just wasn't ready." But I She said this, and this is the message. She said, "But I could consciously feel a shift in you." And I feel like that's what we all can do. The Bible's full of verses like uh take every thought captive, right? Uh whatever things are good and lovely, right? Think on these things. So, we can connect to what's good and true and not be concerned with the the present situation. So, the last thing is a verse from Romans 8:35.

34:31 It says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" I was reading that today and I thought or the other day and I thought, "I guess we can." But then I thought, "Not really. We just are in the illusion that we are disconnected, right?" He's still connecting. All we have to do is turn. Right? He's always He wants to connect. He paid a high price so we could connect. So it's just really Here's how practical it is. And you're driving and somebody makes you angry. You could connect to the circumstance and offer them the Hawaiian good luck sign if you want to, but I don't know if that's going to change the world, but you could consciously say this. Man, they might have had something going on. I don't even know. You've all had situations where you're

35:16 driving crazy cuz something's going wrong, right? You got to get to the hospital. So, I'm going to think the best of them, stay connected to him, and then I'm actually going to send a blessing to them. I don't know if the letter acknowledge or know that I did that, but I believe God's presence will fill their car and change their life. That's powerful. You can be in in public so wherever you are, you don't have to be like, "Amy, can you get the band going again? We got to worship." No. You can have a connection to the Lord right there in line. Somebody in front of you has 13 items in the 10-item lane. Let it go, right? It's just connect not to that injustice. How silly is that, right? But connect to him and and bless them.

36:02 So I I prepared one last thing. It's more expressive to give to you before we go. It's a it's an expressive dance. So Carlos, if you hit the the music. I'm just kidding. I just I thought it'd be fun. You would have liked that though, wouldn't you? All right. So I wrote a poem that is that is powerful. I wrote a poem. So, I said I said this, I take my life and plug it in to worthless things and wonder why there is no lasting power or joy. I draw in vain from wells so dry. I take my life and try to draw the power I need from those I love and anger fills my empty heart when they don't supply

36:49 what they don't have. I take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee. I stole that. I give to you what I can't keep and find my deep calls into deep. Authentic life, the way that's true, comes when I connect to you. Connected to the one true vine, the power that makes my light to shine. Disconnected, disillusioned, seems to point to this conclusion. I take my life and plug it in to the one who is and has always been. So, I'd like you to stand up and we're going to do something. It's not as good as the dance, I know, but someday. All right, so I want you to

37:34 lift both hands just straight up and they're like like an outlet. Kind of cool looking. A lot of outlets here. And you can do this physically. You can also do this in your heart if you don't in public it's probably would look awkward if you lift both your hands straight in the air. Might scare people, [music] but you can do this in your heart, but right now I want you to consciously connect to the source of [music] life. The one that came down. He's still [music] here. He's in us. The Holy Spirit is the source of power and the sun [music] is shining. So, turn your face fully to his light. If you have >> [music] >> something wrong in your body,

38:20 why don't you just believe that the source of [music] power, the one that created you, that power can flow through your body right now and restore and reconnect everything [music] that's wrong and make it right. Father, we want [music] to do what you want. We want to connect to you and only you like we sang. So, Lord, we consciously [music] disconnect from expectations, from illusion, from this world. [music] And even though we're still here, we're connected to a different source of life, the true. Thank you, Lord. Make [music] this real

39:06 in our hearts for today, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, for [music] the rest of our lives, that we consciously stay connected and that power [music] changes this world. In Jesus' name. Amen. >> Come on, let's say thank you to Allen. So good. Powerful. You can remain standing for just a moment. We're going to have our prayer team come forward. >> [music] >> And if you're here and you have never actually connected with God, maybe you've never actually begun a real >> [music] >> relationship with Jesus. He is God. He is God. He came to the earth, was born of a virgin, is a miraculous thing.

39:52 He lived a perfect life, never doing anything wrong to anyone. [music] And then he died a horrendous death in your place and in mine. And he paid for all of your sin and all of mine. And believe me, yours plus mine is quite a bit. But not only ours, but the entire world for all time. So that we could enter the holy place. >> [music] >> So that we could connect with God again as humanity. Isn't that powerful? And many of us in here have already reconnected to the source in the spirit. [music] Amen. A few of you have done this already. Yes? Yes. But if you're here and you have not, today's your day, bro. Today is your day. And that's the primary reason this team is here. [music] They want to receive anyone who would like to say, "You know what? I

40:38 want to know God for myself. >> [music] >> I want to know him on a first name basis. I want to give my life to Jesus." If you haven't done that, I beg you, please, don't leave disconnected [music] from the one thing that will give you life. It's the Father. Amen. So, please come down and receive prayer. [music] Just say, "I want to know God for myself. I want to know Jesus. I want to give my life to him." Something like that. They'll take it from there. If you have any pain in your body, you need prayer for anything, they'd love to pray for you as well, okay? >> [music] >> But we're just going to pray and and say yes to this word. And I want to encourage you to go and actually find practical ways to apply the message. And [music] when you go to like look to your neighbor or look to your spouse, your friend as the source, just just do it. I mean, I don't know. Maybe

41:24 maybe it's good to be a little weird. You know, be supernatural. Maybe you just be in public and put your hands up. I don't know. Just you know, you're in line there's the 13 with 10. That was a word for me. That's the Lord speaking to me. That That drives me nuts. Like, I got in this line because I knew you wouldn't be here and there you are. Anyway, just just let them ask you. Let them ask you, "Why are you doing that?" Like, "I'm so glad you asked." Just a minute ago you were my enemy, but today now now I want to let you know there's someone in heaven who loves you. He died for you. You can use it. Anyway. I dare you. Anyway. No, but on a practical level, who do we need to disconnect [music] from because we're looking for them to be our source? And how do we need to say, "You know what, Father, you're the real source." >> [music]

42:09 >> You should walk away today with that question. Answer it this week. Amen? Amen. Every single Sunday as as the leader of The Rescue Place, I it's a burden in my heart that you would actually not just go from this place, you would be sent. You need to be sent. Because we exist as a people for the lost to be found, found to be free, and peace to reign in our what? City. That means you're about to go as seeds of life. [music] You're about to go as those who are connected to the source, and you're supposed to give it away. Freely you receive, you're supposed to freely give. [music] So, do not leave here, be sent from here. Amen? And so, when we pray right now, I want you to take this to heart. I want you to even use your own language to >> [music] >> agree that you're being sent. Amen? The church gathered on Sunday should be scattered on Monday. Amen? And then

42:55 we'll come back again and we'll celebrate all that God did. Hallelujah. Come on. So, let's pray. Father God, right now we say, "Send us." Come on. Send us as those who are connected. Send me, Lord, as one who is connected to the source of life. Would you send me to my family? Come on. Pray this. Send me to my family. Send me as a servant to my neighborhood [music] a servant to my workplace. Send me, Lord, as an ambassador of life. One who's connected to the true source of life. Lord, show me what you love and what you hate. Show me how to care for those who are broken and hurting around me, Lord. Come on. [music] I know you're going to find them. You're going to walk into atmospheres this week that people need your the light [music] that you carry. Come on. Say, "Lord, show me the hurting and the broken. Let me see them, Lord.

43:41 Let me see them and help me, Lord, to care for my brothers and sisters along the way. And as always, lead us in the light of your truth, your word, your holy scriptures are truth. Lead us in it. In Jesus' [music] name we pray. And everybody said, "Amen." All right, church. Go get them. Give them heaven. If you need prayer for anything, please come down. If you have kids in TRP Kids, please go grab them first, all right? And we'll see you at Thursday for 24-hour prayer on Zoom. [music] Check our socials if you don't know about it. This Thursday, 24-hour prayer. If not, next Sunday.