Family series pt.2
Rev. Melanie Elms Preached on 9/15/2026
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Summary
In the second part of the Family series, Rev. Melanie Elms explores the 'Shema' as the foundational confession that establishes God as the sole authority in our homes and hearts, urging believers to move beyond religious tradition into a lived, consistent devotion.
Key points
- •The 'Shema' (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) is the bedrock confession of faith, declaring that God is one and deserves our total love and devotion.
- •Family faith is not just about parenting tips or marriage hacks; it is about establishing a singular authority in the home where there are no rival gods or competing philosophies.
- •Faith must be moved from the mountain (public declaration) to the house (daily practice), teaching it diligently through the rhythms of rising, walking, and sleeping.
- •Consistency is the most powerful sermon; a life that models the Lordship of Christ is more convincing to children and observers than mere words.
- •Every person, whether single, married, or a grandparent, is called to be a 'living mezuzah' who affirms God's presence and authority in their specific stage of life.
Scripture
Discipleship
Family
Authority
Purpose
Life application
This week, choose one specific 'threshold' in your day (waking up, entering your front door, or going to bed) to audibly confess: 'The Lord my God is one Lord, and He has ultimate authority in this house.'
Reflection questions
- What 'rival gods' or subtle philosophies (like comfort, convenience, or social media algorithms) are currently competing for authority in your home?
- How can you move from merely 'announcing' your faith to 'possessing' it in a way that your family or friends find convincing?
- In what ways can you make your faith more 'conspicuous' in your home environment this week?
- When you audit your thought life, which voices are the loudest, and how can the Shema serve as your spiritual resistance?
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Full transcript
0:00Praise the Lord. You may be seated.
0:04Praise the Lord.
0:06I feel it's dark. Y'all feel it's a
0:09little dark. Okay. Well, it's not just
0:10me.
0:13It's all the
0:15All that beautiful uh I love this. This
0:18is so genius. Y'all know I like a good
0:21decoration.
0:22Y'all know I like dressing up, whether
0:24it be me dressing up or dressing up a
0:26house or a venue. I love that.
0:30Yes. Sister Blanca told me this past
0:33week she's she helped with the flowers
0:35for Mattiey's wedding. It was gorgeous,
0:37by the way, Melissa and Greg. It was
0:39just stunning. And so I was talking to
0:42her about all the flowers and she was
0:44telling me about some places down in
0:46Miami
0:47that have the fresh ones and then across
0:49the street there's these big places that
0:51have like the silks and the the faux
0:53flowers. And I got so excited I was just
0:55thinking now who's getting married next
0:57so I can do their wedding.
1:02Morgan's going Jesus name. Yes.
1:06I mean it could be anything. I'm just
1:08looking for excuse to decorate. Um, and
1:12I'm excited about baptism Sunday.
1:18Now, I believe in baptism Tuesdays.
1:22I believe in baptism Thursdays.
1:25>> I believe baptism at 3 in the morning,
1:27baptism at three in the afternoon. It
1:29doesn't matter when. It's all in order,
1:31but baptism Sunday on the 27th. And it's
1:35also hope Sunday. So, we're really
1:37wanting to focus on that because there's
1:39something about
1:41when you have a an a designated day for
1:44baptisms. You can say, "Hey, come to
1:46baptism Sunday. Have you thought about
1:48getting baptized? Your next step? Do you
1:50know if you've been baptized before?"
1:52And many times there'll be people
1:54that'll say, "Yeah, I was baptized as a
1:56child."
1:58Okay, that's good, I guess. Do you
2:01remember it? No. More than likely, they
2:04don't remember it. Were you sprinkled.
2:06Were you submerged? That's what baptism
2:08means. By the way, you know what baptism
2:10means?
2:12Be submerged or buried.
2:16So, sprinkling's not where it's at.
2:18Okay? We're not going to change the
2:20Bible. It's getting convenient to get
2:22baptized, isn't it? I mean, if you're
2:25going to go get baptized, you might as
2:26well stay an hour or so and just do some
2:28swimming, do your laps and all that,
2:29right? You're going to get dressed for
2:31that. Put those ugly robes on.
2:35who got baptized in a baptismal rope.
2:39Yes,
2:41they have weights on the bottom so they
2:42don't come flying up. We're smart. We
2:45know what we're doing. You don't have to
2:47get baptized in a baptismal robe in
2:49order to be saved. We're just trying to
2:52make it easier, right? And this is not
2:54aligned. And so, I got to get it
2:56centered. I will be worried about that
2:57all night.
3:00It's one of my ticks. Y'all have to just
3:02live with it. I'm sorry.
3:05So, baptism Sunday, this is on us to
3:08start sparking some conversation.
3:12There are people in your lives right now
3:14that you think is too far from God. They
3:17they're not interested. They're too far
3:20away from God and from this life. So,
3:22you're just not going to really talk to
3:24them about it. You'll be surprised.
3:27There's some people sitting in this room
3:28right now that shocked me
3:33by coming to Christ.
3:36I thought they weren't interested. I
3:38thought, "Oh, they're too they're too
3:40hard to reach." Listen, I'm too hard to
3:42reach. Without the the the Holy Ghost
3:46moving on my heart and the Lord giving
3:48some divine revelation, I can't be
3:50reached. It's a spiritual thing. That's
3:53why we call it faith.
3:56You can't really see it and yet you can.
3:59We're talking some paradoxical kind of
4:01things around here. The Lord used
4:04parables to teach things and make it
4:06easier. So, thank you, brother Austin.
4:11If you keep playing, I'm just going to
4:12keep rambling. So, you may need to go
4:14sit down so I can get to the lesson.
4:18That's not rambling, by the way, but you
4:19know what I mean. It's not the actual
4:21lesson for tonight.
4:23And I'm hoping that I can use this handy
4:25dandy little Yeah, thank you. Oh, raise
4:28and raise. All right, good. So, tonight
4:32we are talking about this is the family
4:34series. This is the second lesson of the
4:37series for this month. And um Pastor
4:40David Elms,
4:44my pastor, taught last week. Who was
4:47here last week? By raise of hands. Okay.
4:51So, I was not here last week. I was
4:53teaching just a series down in Miami.
4:56So, my husband and I, he and I are
4:59toggling back and forth between here in
5:00Miami, teaching two different series.
5:04So,
5:06pray for us. Pray for me mainly because
5:10he's does this all the time, but I'm
5:11trying to keep track
5:14where which lesson are we on and which
5:15series are we on? Okay. So last week,
5:19what did he speak on?
5:25Sister Pam, tell us what he spoke on
5:28last week.
5:34Okay. Psalms 127.
5:37Except the Lord built the house. Um,
5:42thank you. I appreciate her sharing her
5:44notes with me.
5:51the the takeaway from last week. Let God
5:57be the foundation and the guard rails of
6:01your house.
6:03Because without guard rails,
6:06you don't know what's going to come in.
6:09More than keeping people in, it's to
6:13keep
6:14whatever out. So I think the most
6:18important thing is that God be the
6:20foundation and the guard rails.
6:25>> Pam, thank you, Sister Pam. It's not
6:28just what we're going to keep out.
6:30That's important, but also what we're
6:33going to lose if we don't have those
6:34guardrails. We we've got to protect and
6:37preserve some things. So God helps us
6:39with that in the word of God. Okay, Sean
6:41and you and and um Eleanor are gonna
6:44tell us.
6:46Listen, before I do this, y'all may be
6:49next. I'm not going to do it tonight,
6:52but y'all better be listening tonight
6:54and next Tuesday because when I get back
6:56up here, I'm going to just randomly So,
7:00what did you learn? Okay. So there you
7:04>> he talked about the home on the rock and
7:06I remember he said um four things that
7:09we can give our children is um our
7:11story, letting them know where we came
7:13from. A table just a place where they
7:16can be heard and we can listen to them.
7:18A door where they can go in and out. Um
7:21there's going to be seasons of life and
7:23and we all can attest to this where we
7:25walk our own ways and not God's ways.
7:28But um I'm thankful that always left the
7:31door open for me, no matter what mess
7:32ups I made, no matter how far I've gone.
7:35Just like the Lord's grace, he never
7:36leaves us nor forsakes us. So, it's
7:38giving those that door for our our
7:41children to come back in no matter where
7:43they are in life. And then also a a
7:45commission that they are called for a
7:47purpose. They're called to do great
7:49things. We are made to worship him.
7:50We're not here just to get a degree and
7:52go to school and make money, but we're
7:54here to worship him and let people
7:55around us know. Um I know that we can't
7:58be our children's savior, but we can
8:00them to our savior. So, it was an
8:03awesome series. I'm looking forward to
8:04the next few weeks.
8:07>> Well, great. See,
8:10some people took notes and other people
8:11are just so good they just get it all up
8:14there in the brain. They can just recall
8:15it. Which one are you?
8:20Okay. So tonight we're going to continue
8:24um in this vein about this is family
8:26series and I want to make certain that
8:28everybody understands that you may not
8:30you may be a single young person.
8:34You have dreams for having a home with
8:38maybe children or a spouse and you've
8:41not gotten there yet in life or maybe
8:43you've had a broken home. Maybe you have
8:46had a divorce in your life. Maybe you
8:48have a blended family. It's for
8:50everybody in this building tonight what
8:52we're going to talk about. It does not
8:54matter. We are building our home on
8:57Jesus Christ. Okay? And I am again
9:02teaching from my laptop
9:06which I do not like
9:08to do. But our printer still isn't
9:11working. It's demonic.
9:15Little Lemon running around there going,
9:16"I don't want you to teach one." It's
9:19only prints in yellow. Nobody can see
9:22yellow. And you don't don't say you need
9:24to change the ink because that's already
9:26been done several times.
9:28Yes, I know. All right. So, tonight me
9:33go back to
9:36sometimes I think the demon's also in
9:38the laptop.
9:41Okay. Here, O Israel,
9:46one Lord in this house. All right. We're
9:48going to This handy dandy tool works.
9:58There we go. I guess you have to hit it
10:00really hard. That I can do. Okay.
10:04Everybody
10:06who comes into
10:10Christianity actually it's not just
10:12being the oneness of Pentecostal. Okay.
10:15But mainly for sure for us
10:18We are very familiar with the passage of
10:21scripture Deuteronomy 6 chapter 6 verses
10:244 and 5. You need to be very familiar
10:26with it. This is the bedrock of how of
10:31what of uh what we believe. It's where
10:34it all starts. And it says this here. Oh
10:37Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
10:40And thou shalt love the Lord thy God
10:43with what? all thine heart and with all
10:47thy soul and with
10:49>> Is that clear?
10:51With a little bit or with just as much
10:53as you can muster. Know it says with
10:55all.
10:56>> We got to learn what that looks like for
10:57me and for you. What does all your might
11:00and all your soul and all your heart,
11:03you know what the heart is? That's where
11:06your passions lie. That's where your
11:09thinking and reasoning lies.
11:12That's the very core of who you are as a
11:14human being.
11:16With all your heart, with all the
11:18philosophies you've picked up along the
11:20way, you make sure they're aligned with
11:23this here. Here, O Israel, the Lord our
11:26God, is one Lord. The first word the
11:28house must carry.
11:30So, if you will stand with me and Moses,
11:34Moses and I
11:36on the edge of a land for a moment. Now,
11:39we know I don't know if my husband
11:40mentioned it last week, but when Moses
11:43was on Mount Horeb and the the Ten
11:46Commandments were given, there was fire
11:49that came.
11:54My notes just completely changed colors.
11:59Jesus name. Okay.
12:03Um, so he's being given the law and the
12:08first commandment or the first
12:10statement. They're really called
12:11statements. We call them the ten
12:12commandments, but they're statements.
12:14They're no negotiating.
12:16Okay. The first one is what?
12:19What's the first commandment of the ten
12:21commandments?
12:26>> With all your heart, with all your
12:28there's only one God. It's not saying
12:30love the gods with all your heart.
12:33This is non-negotiable.
12:35So, here he is. He's given that that
12:38at the mountain. It's the mountain
12:40itself is already spoken. Okay? So
12:42there's got we got fire. We have a voice
12:44from heaven and it's thundering these
12:47words. And now it's up to the house to
12:49carry these words. How does this look?
12:52Okay. The very first word the house must
12:55carry is not a parenting tip. It's not a
12:59marriage hack. It's not a five-step
13:02formula. It's a confession.
13:12There we go.
13:14Here, O Israel, the Lord our Lord, our
13:17God. It's a confession. Now, we can see
13:20it as a statement or a declaration, but
13:22it's a confession. I want everybody to
13:24realize that and remember that tonight.
13:26It's a confession that we say, "The Lord
13:30my God, he is one Lord." We're
13:34confessing that. That is what we adhere
13:35to. That is who we are. And that's who
13:38we belong to. Amen.
13:41>> How many gods are there?
13:43>> We taught our kids when they were itty
13:45bitty before they can even we put the
13:47little fingers up. One. One. One. One
13:50way to God. How many gods are there?
13:54One. What's his name? Jesus.
13:58Teach your kids, your grandkids, your
13:59nieces, your nephews. Hey, how many gods
14:02are there? One. What's his name? Jesus.
14:06It's easy. It's easy. We're doing that
14:09with Rome and Bowden and whoever else is
14:11at the house.
14:13So I'm
14:22Thank you. He did it. Didn't you do it
14:25for me? Thank you.
14:29He sees me doing that. Thank you,
14:30brother. brother. Um, the confession,
14:33the shama. Okay, so we're going to learn
14:36a little something tonight. And I'm
14:38telling you straight up right now,
14:41my Hebrew is not fluent.
14:44Okay. Who speaks Hebrew in here?
14:48I know brother Garfinkle is Jewish
14:52and he Yeah. So he can speak some
14:55Hebrew.
14:57So we're going to try this tonight.
15:00Y'all can correct me later. It's okay.
15:02We're going to do this together.
15:04Okay? We're going to learn the shama,
15:07not the whole thing, just the first
15:09beginning. Deuteronomy 6:4. Okay,
15:13everybody say
15:14>> Shama.
15:16>> Israel.
15:18>> Say it again.
15:19>> Shama Israel.
15:22>> Adoni.
15:24>> Alu. Alohu.
15:28Adoni.
15:29Here's a good one.
15:33>> What that said
15:36here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the
15:39Lord is one. Say it again.
15:41>> Shama
15:43is
15:46Adonai.
15:48>> Elohu.
15:50>> Adonai.
15:54Now, my friends, Rabbi Cheryl and
15:57Andrew, I'm sorry if we didn't get it
16:00right. And it sounds probably like a
16:02southern accent come out. It's okay. We
16:05can say it in English. It's just as
16:07powerful. Here, O Israel, the Lord our
16:09God, our God is one. It's so important.
16:12And we're going to talk about why the
16:15Lord one Lord. It's not a committee. We
16:17hear it's saying here Israel, O Israel,
16:20listen. It's not in an invention. It's
16:23not negotiable.
16:26We don't decorate with whatever feels
16:28spiritual this week and we change it
16:29next week. This is a covenant. It's a
16:32listening that obeys
16:35one Lord. Not a committee, not a mood,
16:38not a blend of favorites. It is how
16:40many?
16:41We're going to keep saying it till
16:43you're like, "Okay, already Sister Elms.
16:45Okay, already." No, this is going to be
16:48to where it is so ingrained in our
16:51psyche that we we can't deviate from it.
16:55The key line here is that last one,
16:57Yahweh or Adonai Ehad, the Lord is one.
17:02This confession, this confession is what
17:05made Israel so different from every
17:08nation around them. the air of Egypt or
17:11Canaan or all these other empires back
17:13in that day. It was thick thick with
17:17gods. Gods for any little thing you
17:19could name. They would come up with a
17:21new god when they needed it.
17:24Coming up with a new god was not a a
17:26time of crisis for them. This was
17:29practical and pragmatic. Oh, we we we're
17:32having a drought. I don't know. Do we
17:35have a God of that helps us with
17:37drought? Oh, yes, we do. Let's pray to
17:38him.
17:39or to her, oh well we I've hurt my toe
17:43and who do I pray to for that? Oh, I
17:45don't know. Let's make up a god. This is
17:47literally how it worked then.
17:50This is why and I'm going to be very
17:53careful here.
17:55There was so much syncratism. That word
17:58means just blending and merging of
18:00different deities and thoughts and
18:02philosophies. There was so much of that.
18:05And this is what set Israel so so apart
18:09from other nations is that they would
18:11not they they were ve they were warned
18:14many times over by judges and and and
18:17the like saying do not marry
18:20from another nation because you're going
18:23to end up taking on their gods. You're
18:25going to end up leading your children
18:27astray and the next generation will not
18:29even know your god.
18:32So there was all this synretatism that
18:35they were having to be very careful not
18:37to engage in because different gods were
18:39everywhere. It was in the marketplace.
18:42It was in uh their their teachings in
18:45the schools and their neighborhood.
18:49There was they would have they would
18:50erect some wild god made out of wood or
18:53stone and it be up in the community
18:55center
18:56just random ones. So this is where the
18:59an back in the ancient world this is why
19:01Abraham was called out of that you got
19:04to leave that you got to leave it.
19:07So this is another reason why
19:10synretatism in our day is so
19:14it's so uh subtle. It's alluring and we
19:19have to be very mindful of it. We have
19:21to be intentional. That's why we keep
19:23saying the shama. Wait a minute. This is
19:26a god I can see creeping into my life.
19:28This is the philosophy. This is a
19:31spiritual philosophy that's trying to
19:33creep into my life. When we when I hear
19:36there's this new thing that's been going
19:37on the last several years, I'm going to
19:39manifest that. Do not say that. We don't
19:43manifest anything except the presence of
19:45the Holy Lord. And that's up to him. And
19:47you know how you get the manifest
19:49presence of God himself is through
19:51praise and worship and adoration and
19:53repentance.
19:56You don't approach his throne room
19:58boldly without repentance. His He's so
20:01holy. He's so pure. He's so righteous.
20:05There's a gulf between us until we
20:08repent. That is not a one-time thing, by
20:11the way. We do it daily. Paul says, "I
20:14die daily." That sounds painful.
20:17That's not convenient.
20:20It's not fun, but it still feels good,
20:24right? Doesn't repentance feel good? Not
20:27initially. Not initially. It doesn't
20:29feel good because you have to
20:30acknowledge I'm wrong. I've got some
20:33issues. I've got some hang-ups. I'm not
20:35acting correctly. I'm not thinking
20:37correctly. I've got to get myself in
20:39alignment with the word of God. And I
20:42repent of my sins, oh Jesus. That's a
20:45daily thing.
20:47So, we come to him
20:50carefully
20:52and we're making sure that he's the
20:54center. Like Sister Pam was saying,
20:56those guardrails keep us safe. If you go
20:59bowling with me,
21:03You just may have to watch me the first
21:06few times with the little rails up.
21:09Keeps it going down the right way to hit
21:11the target.
21:13As you get better, you can put those
21:15things down. I don't want to get so good
21:17that I think I've got it like that and I
21:19don't need any help. I want to stay
21:22right in the middle, Lord. That's why I
21:24need you.
21:25You keep me accountable. And by the way,
21:28you need me.
21:32Praise him.
21:35I don't know how you need me, but
21:37tonight maybe.
21:41But we have to be careful of
21:43synretatism. And that's one reason why,
21:45this is what I was saying a minute ago,
21:47being very careful. Certain orthodox
21:50religions
21:54have some form of synratism in them.
21:57praying to
21:59the mother Mary to be an intermediary.
22:01Now, I don't want to get too far into
22:03that because I don't want to
22:04misrepresent some of these religions. I
22:06don't know enough and it would it would
22:08grieve me to offend someone some truly
22:15pure in their motives and all that, but
22:17we have to be careful. These things
22:19creep into the church, y'all. They creep
22:22into church, into religion. We have to
22:26be careful. So, syncratism is merging of
22:30all these different philosophies and
22:32gods. Now, the oneness of God is not an
22:37abstract theological proposition. I just
22:39want you to know that tonight.
22:42The word of God says that it needs to be
22:44written on our hearts, on our minds, and
22:48on our bodies, on the doorposts. Did he
22:51talk about my husband? Did he talk about
22:53last week about the doorpost
22:57Passover? Okay,
23:01that's like three lessons in itself. So,
23:03we won't get into that tonight. But
23:05talking about the Passover and then
23:07talking about how they would write the
23:09shama on their doorpost as well. We'll
23:12talk about that a little bit tonight.
23:14it. So this shama, the oneness of God is
23:18the single most foundational confession
23:21in Jewish faith and life and it is in
23:23ours as well. It's not just merely one
23:26doctrine among many. Okay? It is
23:29literally the axis around which nearly
23:32everything else turns.
23:35Okay? theology, ethics, morals,
23:39identity, daily practice, and even
23:42survival under persecution.
23:47The shama,
23:50Deuteronomy 6:4 and5 many times has been
23:55breathed and whispered and quoted.
23:59We found this in um in many stories and
24:02accounts from the Holocaust. People were
24:06there was a story of a group of young
24:08children that were told they were going
24:09to die in the Holocaust. And as they
24:12were led to the chambers, gas chambers,
24:15they sang the Shama.
24:19They were they're taught that at a very
24:22young young age. They speak it. They say
24:24it in the morning and they say it the
24:26last thing they go before they go to bed
24:28at night. And it is a confession. You
24:32know the Catholics, they will have they
24:34go to confession each week or I don't
24:35know if it's every week or every day or
24:37whatever it may be and they go to priest
24:39and do their confession. This is a
24:42confession that they stand on. Their
24:44bedrock they stand on and it's not
24:48confessing any sins. It's saying this is
24:50this is who I am and this is who I
24:52belong to. My allegiance is to this one
24:55God. He's the ultimate authority in my
24:57life. He's the ultimate authority in my
25:00home. He is the last say. He's the first
25:03word and the last say in this home, in
25:06my life, in my marriage, in my family,
25:09in my future, in the plans that I'm
25:12preparing for my life, he's the ultimate
25:15authority. If you have several
25:17authorities, you know, it's just like a
25:19kid that, you know, when my kids used to
25:21come to me, all of them, not just one,
25:24but they would all come to me and ask,
25:26um, can I have candy or can I go over so
25:28and so's house?
25:31No.
25:33So they go to their daddy.
25:37Can I go over so and so's house?
25:40What did mom say?
25:42Because in that particular moment, I'm
25:46the ultimate authority.
25:48But they're trying to find if there's
25:50more than one authority. And if they
25:52don't get the right answer, like I can't
25:53have candy. Let me go ask auntie
25:57because you know auntie will winter
26:01with all the grandkids. But if there's
26:03one authority, it makes things pretty
26:05simple. Well, let's ask the one and the
26:08only. What do they think? What's their
26:11determination? What's the verdict from
26:13that one authority? Makes things easy,
26:15y'all. But when you know you can go and
26:18get outside
26:21uh information or you can say ah I'm
26:23just I don't like what I just read here
26:25in the word of God. Let me go and hear
26:26another voice.
26:28You're saying to God Almighty that's not
26:31enough for me.
26:33That's not for me. Who do we think we
26:36are? The creator of the universe has
26:40established some things not to make it
26:42hard on us because he he does it because
26:45he's wise. The Bible says his ways are
26:49far above our ways. I pray this all the
26:53time. Show me your ways, Lord. In this
26:55situation, I I feel like I'm treading
26:57peanut butter. I I can't see a thing. I
27:00don't know. I'm not going anywhere. Show
27:02me your ways, Lord. Let me catch a
27:04glimpse of what you're doing on my
27:06behalf or the behalf of whoever I'm
27:08praying for so it can build my faith so
27:11that I can say, "Thank you, Lord. You're
27:13so great and you're greatly to be
27:14praised." He's that way whether I feel
27:16that or not.
27:18>> He's good. He's good.
27:21So adding a new deity back in that day
27:24in the ancient world and all of that was
27:26not a big deal. It was often pragmatic.
27:28I mentioned that already. But this this
27:32we're talking about here that the Lord
27:34our God is one. It's not a mild
27:36preference here. Okay, I'm gonna just
27:38keep talking about the same thing here
27:40for a moment. This is establishing this.
27:42It's not a mild pre preference for a
27:44favorite God.
27:46It's a categorical
27:48rejection of any and all rivals.
27:53There are no rivals. What is that song?
27:56You have no rival.
27:58You have no
28:02Now and forever.
28:04God you
28:09>> yours is the
28:12Yours is the name above what
28:16>> all names. What a wonderful name it is.
28:21We know the name of that one God.
28:24Hallelujah. What is his name?
28:27>> What is his name?
28:28>> Yes.
28:30Praise God, y'all. We carry something
28:33great. Do you realize my name is Melanie
28:36K. Hail Elms Jesus?
28:40My middle name's K.
28:43I told my mom, I said, "You couldn't
28:44come up with a name. Just gave me a a
28:46letter because it's spelled K A Y." I
28:50said, "And the A and the Y is completely
28:52unnecessary."
28:58She wanted to named me Michelle.
29:01Thank I like the name Michelle just
29:03fine. But my last name was Hail.
29:05Michelle Hail.
29:09I said, "You didn't you didn't you
29:11didn't hear you didn't get." She goes,
29:13"I I thought it was pretty Michelle."
29:18So, I guess she just gave up and gave me
29:20K. But listen, the greatest name that's
29:23on me is Jesus. the greatest name that
29:26came on me when I went down in his name
29:28and came up out of that watery grave,
29:30Jesus Christ. I carry that name. I'm
29:34going to make sure I represent it well.
29:36When I'm going by the way, when I'm
29:38headed to work, when I'm coming to
29:39church, when I have relationships and
29:42friendships, I'm going to make sure I
29:43carry it well.
29:45>> That's why we have to be care careful
29:47how we talk,
29:49>> who we hang with,
29:51>> what we say, and how we say it.
29:55Some of y'all and you and your texts
29:59be a little more careful. I'm not
30:01talking to you, Sean.
30:03>> I knew. He knew. He knew. He
30:09few weeks ago have a little text thread
30:12with Sean, Noel, me, and Justin.
30:15And every couple weeks, we try to have a
30:17meeting, the executive team, and I asked
30:22It was on me because they had already
30:23sent the information and I couldn't find
30:25it and I was asking something a miss
30:28because it was already been told me and
30:30I forgot it. I don't even remember. It
30:32was something about a with the the
30:35schedule of the calendar. So I put in
30:37that thread when is such and such and
30:39what are we doing blah blah blah.
30:44He came back it didn't even bother me
30:47but it upset Noel so badly she told him
30:50off. He took a screenshot of what he had
30:54originally sent me
30:58and he resent it and that was his
31:01answer. In other words,
31:04per former conversation.
31:10So he sent it to me and I'm like, "Oh
31:13yeah, he sent this to me already. Wow, I
31:15knew that." And so I was properly
31:17chastised.
31:20And then of course Noel comes back in
31:22the Noel fashion. Sister, I'm so sorry I
31:25got on to him. That was just so rude. I
31:27said it was fine. It was fine. So he
31:29comes back. Sister Drums, I'm so sorry.
31:30I don't You know, Noel told me that was
31:32rude. He had to be told.
31:35He had to be told.
31:39No, I know his heart, so it's okay. I'm
31:43not preaching at him.
31:45We have to be careful even in our text
31:47and our other communications with our
31:49email because we want to be mindful that
31:51we carry the name of Jesus Christ on us.
31:54We're people of the name. We know that
31:56one Lord of this house. We know him
31:59intimately. Y'all, we are intimate with
32:02the one and only creator of the
32:05universe, the Lord of all lords, the
32:07king of all kings. And he says we belong
32:10to him.
32:12That is so powerful.
32:15Some of us have to revisit that our
32:17identity in Christ many times are is for
32:20easily forgotten because we consider
32:22many times our failures more than the
32:25greatness of our God.
32:28>> He's the one who called us by name. He's
32:30the one who said, "I have a salvation
32:32plan for you. Follow therein."
32:35He's the one who said, "This is how you
32:37do it. Repent. be baptized in my name
32:40for the remission of what?
32:42Okay. And then you receive the gift of
32:45the Holy Ghost, which is the power unto
32:47salvation. That's what empowers us.
32:51Does that mean we're never going to sin
32:52from then on? Absolutely not. But the
32:55Holy Ghost is called the what? The
32:56comforter. It comes in and it comforts
32:59us and said, "Hey, go back to
33:00repentance. Get back on your knees.
33:03Remember who you are and who you belong
33:05to.
33:06Praise the Lord from whom all blessings
33:10flow. Amen.
33:13Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
33:15Okay,
33:18so back to
33:20the lesson here.
33:24So, this is what makes
33:27Israel so different from the nations.
33:30We're talking about how many gods there
33:32were. You know, if you had you could
33:34keep a household idol on the shelf and
33:36still bow to other what they called
33:39pantheons back then, the civic pantheon.
33:42So there'd be center, it would be
33:44different um deities, groups of deities.
33:48You could bow to that. You could have an
33:49idol on your desk and you could just
33:52pick and choose. And if you didn't like
33:54one and they didn't answer your prayer,
33:56you just picked another one. That sounds
33:59good. Sounds convenient until you
34:01realize none of them are able to
34:04satisfy.
34:06They can't deliver.
34:08They can't deliver. So you take the one
34:11God away and you don't have a slightly
34:13adjusted Israel. You have nations again.
34:18Joshua 24 and2, your fathers dwelt on
34:21the other side of the flood and they
34:24served other gods before Noah. It's
34:26saying all those people, the fathers
34:28back there, they served other gods. And
34:30Abraham is taken out of that crowded
34:32court of deities and he's leaving many
34:35gods. This is how the people of God,
34:38this is how we begin coming back to one
34:41God.
34:45All right,
34:46we're going to get this done. We did it.
34:49Well, thank you. Oh,
34:52sorry.
34:54Yes. So here we are. We have the nations
34:57gods of the hill, river, fert fertility,
35:00war, luck, household idol on the shelf.
35:03One deity for harvest, another for
35:05travel. You had crowded doorposts.
35:09Crowded doorpost. And this is what's so
35:12different about Israel and about us
35:14today. Yahweh or Adonai,
35:18the Lord is one. Abraham left this
35:20crowded court of deities and the oneness
35:23is the spine of our home. Our one Lord
35:27owns this house's doorpost.
35:30>> Amen.
35:32>> That's what we're going to talk about a
35:34little bit more tonight.
35:37Okay.
35:39Yeah. Thank you. Sorry y'all.
35:43This is my husband, so I'm going to
35:45blame him. You know, I'm going to blame
35:46him. This is your your little thing
35:49didn't work tonight. The one down in
35:51Miami works and that's the one that I
35:53use. So
35:55So the confession continues. The New
35:58Testament. This is the thing you're
35:59saying. Okay, Sister Owens, we're in
36:002026. We're not back in Abraham's day.
36:03We're not back in Moses's day. Let me
36:06tell you something about the Jewish
36:07faith that's so remarkable.
36:11their language, the Hebrew language is
36:15has been consistent for millennia.
36:20There may be just some things here, some
36:22of the like the Yiddish and some of the
36:24slang can be a little bit different, but
36:26they have kept the purity of the
36:28language. If Peter and Paul and whomever
36:31just showed up today on our doorstep,
36:33have y'all ever when I was a kid, I used
36:35to think, what if Peter came back and he
36:38was sitting in the car with us? What
36:39would he think about cars? Y'all, did
36:42y'all ever think like that? Okay, just
36:44me. Um, but if they showed up today and
36:48somebody was talking Hebrew, they would
36:51be able to understand.
36:54It's one of the only languages like that
36:57in all the earth.
37:00Why? They were they are very big about
37:04preserving
37:06tradition and preserving
37:09their faith
37:11and that includes their language. So
37:15you're saying okay so so what about
37:17today? What how does this affect us
37:19today? We know there's one Lord, one
37:21God, one faith, one baptism. How does
37:23the it there's a thread that goes all
37:25the way from Genesis to Revelation and
37:28pours out on us today. There's a thread
37:30then it continues in the New Testament.
37:34The confession continues. It doesn't
37:36retire the shama in New Testament. All
37:39right? Jesus recites it first of all the
37:42commandments. Mark 12 and 29. He recites
37:45the actual shama in the book of Mark and
37:48you know it. He's it's the first
37:50commandment. Thou shalt have no other
37:52gods before me.
37:55There's only one.
37:57Paul in Corinth uh Corinthians 1
38:00Corinthians we talked about him back
38:01when uh last month I think when we were
38:04talking about strongholds when he went
38:06Paul was talking to the Corinthians and
38:08here he's saying there to the church in
38:10Corinth they needed some correction he's
38:12reminding them to us there is only but
38:15one God to us he's saying maybe out
38:17there maybe everybody else but to us
38:19there's only but one God and one Lord
38:21and who is that Jesus Christ he's saying
38:25not only do we believe in one God That
38:27one God is the Lord Jesus Christ. We've
38:30come to know who he is. Ephesians 4 and
38:324-6. There's one Lord, one faith, one
38:36baptism, one God and father of all. We
38:41quote that a lot. We quote that a lot.
38:43You should. James 2:19. Even the demons
38:47believe there's one God. And what do
38:49they do? They tremble.
38:52Listen, if you're not so sure if there's
38:54one God, you need to talk to a demon.
39:01If you don't believe in one God, you may
39:02not believe in demons either. But
39:04listen, they're out there. Just have a
39:06chat with them. Is there one God or no
39:10or no?
39:13They tremble. Oneness recited without a
39:16life that hears it is not yet
39:19a house creed.
39:22All right,
39:24we keep the confession scripture and
39:26already speaks one Lord, the whole
39:28Godhead confessed in Christ. Continuity
39:31with the shama. There's no crowded
39:33doorpost here tonight. Amen. No crowded
39:36doorpost. From the mountain to the
39:38house.
39:42Praise God.
39:46So the mountain spoke once and now the
39:48house teaches it every day. By the
39:50house, I mean our homes, our lives, the
39:52rhythm of our lives. Deuteronomy 5 gives
39:55the words from Horeb from Mount Horeb
39:57when it's the the commandments, the ten
40:00commandments. And then Deuteronomy 6
40:02gives the method. Okay?
40:05We bind them on the person. It says
40:08write them, walk, walk them out, put
40:11them on the doorpost. The words are not
40:14left on stone at the summit for
40:15tourists, okay? They're not etched in
40:17stone and we drive walk by and go, "Oh,
40:19yeah. Remember this. This was back in
40:21Abraham's day and Moses's day. No, this
40:24is for us today.
40:27The road teaches. The bed teaches. The
40:30morning teaches. The words aren't left
40:33on stone. The mountain spoke once and
40:35the house teaches every day.
40:38Okay.
40:40So,
40:41how the house carries the name. So,
40:43let's talk about that. First of all,
40:46next. Yeah,
40:49we've got to have possession before
40:51teaching. Hope I'm on here.
40:58Love is the engine, the heart, the soul,
41:00the might. It says to love thy God with
41:02all their heart, with all your soul,
41:05with all your might. It's a total person
41:08under one Lord.
41:10Possession before you can teach. You've
41:13got to get this for yourself before you
41:15can teach it and show others.
41:18>> Let me just say, you know this, you
41:21can't sharpen what you do not hold.
41:24These words shall be in thine heart.
41:26Then you teach them diligently to your
41:28children.
41:31Your heart is your affection and your
41:33will, your passion.
41:36It's how it's what you think about
41:37things. That's where the philosophies
41:39end up in in in your heart. You build
41:42philosophies and thought processes. Your
41:45soul is your whole life, overarching
41:47life. And your might is every resource
41:49that you have.
41:52Every resource that you have.
41:56Okay, I'm sorry y'all. This is just not
41:58like I like it. But so, how does the
42:02house carry the name
42:05convincing? Three reachable ways. And
42:08we're wrapping up here. We're almost
42:11pretty close to being done. Everybody
42:13say amen.
42:15Gotcha. All right. Convincing. You
42:18cannot hand off what you only announce.
42:22You know, when you when you're trying to
42:24teach kids, you can say some things, but
42:27when and and that's fine if you say it
42:29over and over and over. Finally, they're
42:30going to get it. But they may not really
42:32truly understand it until you either
42:34model it, you let it play out, there's
42:37some kind of
42:39an example.
42:41And we're talking about the deepest,
42:43most foundational truth that we build
42:46all of our other truths on from the word
42:48of God. That is we serve one God and
42:52he's the ultimate authority and
42:54everything goes back to him.
42:58And so in order to teach that, you got
43:00to possess that in your own soul.
43:02In order to really show that to others,
43:04you got to possess that in your own
43:05soul. So, it's the same truth. Living
43:08forms, you can't hand off what you only
43:10announce. Kids have a built-in hypocrisy
43:13detector.
43:17You know they do.
43:19You're saying, "Oh, I'm cutting back.
43:21I'm not going to eat a lot." And they're
43:24going as you scarf down three tacos from
43:28Taco Bell and a caramel apple in panava
43:30and a large Pepsi. And they're going,
43:34"You're not cutting back." Many kids
43:35will just come right out and say it.
43:38You're fat,
43:40mommy. You're still fat. But I love you.
43:45I tell you what, they're they their
43:47little detector makes airport security
43:49look lame.
43:52Like they're the ultimate TSA.
43:55Like, okay, we're getting everything
43:57out. We're looking at everything.
43:59So, you have to model it. Being
44:02outweighs announcing every time. You
44:04have to possess it first. You have to be
44:06that in or order order for you to be a
44:09good teacher. All right? So creative and
44:12consistent. We have the same truth, but
44:14we have living forms, different ways.
44:16You there's a question on a walkway.
44:18You're going taking your kids for a walk
44:20and you just bring up some things to
44:22kind of probe and prompt them on getting
44:26to that truth instead of just walking
44:28by. Oh, by the way, we serve one God.
44:31No, get a little creative with it. How
44:35many gods are there? Let's have a fun.
44:37Let's just have fun. This one's going to
44:38be easy for y'all because you understand
44:40the word of God. How many gods are
44:42there? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You
44:44know, just get creative.
44:47A quiet naming of the name, the Jesus
44:49name. At bedtime, what you repeat
44:52becomes the rule.
44:55You know that's true.
44:58By the way, little parenting tip.
45:02If you're constantly counting to your
45:04kids okay one
45:08two,
45:10they're not even looking back at you.
45:11So, you go three, three and a half,
45:153.75,
45:1814.
45:20You're teaching them that that's until
45:23you get to 18, you don't mean it, right?
45:27I did count to my kids some, too. They
45:29knew if they ever got to three,
45:32>> you're getting that many licks. Okay.
45:36So, a quiet name of naming of the name
45:39at bedtime. What you repeat becomes the
45:41rule. What you skip becomes the real
45:43creed.
45:46If you're not teaching your children or
45:48teaching those in your care, if we're
45:50not living this out in such a way that
45:53is consistent and
45:57convincing because we possess it like
46:00it's it's who we are, then that is what
46:04people see as the
46:07is the creed. So talk as you go. Write
46:11it down. Write it somewhere in the house
46:13where you can see it. Bind it on the
46:15hand. You know, back some of y'all, not
46:17me, but some of y'all may be back in the
46:20day when you're taking a test and you're
46:22like, I'm going to forget all of this. I
46:24didn't have time to study or I didn't
46:25take the time to study. So you just
46:29some of y'all wrote it up here because
46:34and then it was so small
46:36and you're like
46:38I couldn't do that right now because I'd
46:40have to have magnifying glass.
46:45You can write it on your hand. Used to,
46:47you know, we didn't have these phones to
46:49put things in. So if somebody gave you a
46:51phone number and you knew you wouldn't
46:52remember it, you'd write it down on your
46:54skin. Y'all remember back that back in
46:56the 1900s?
47:00Yeah.
47:02So
47:03this same truth living forms. It's not
47:06entertainment. It's not a lecture every
47:08night. It's just these other ways.
47:10There's other ways to do it. So if the
47:12name is loud on Sunday, but it's silent
47:14on Wednesday,
47:17Wednesday is doing the teaching.
47:20If
47:22we can learn that that the fruit of our
47:24home
47:25is something you invest in, what is the
47:28fruit of our homes?
47:30What what would if somebody said, "Oh, I
47:32I the fruit of their home is is grace
47:37and it's peace." Like I go there and I
47:40just feel like yeah, things the kids are
47:42going wild and everything, but I still
47:43feel at peace.
47:46I mean, kids are kind of flying off the
47:48walls, but I still things
47:52like swing from everywhere, but you know
47:54what? It's in a good way. I can only say
47:56it for 30 minutes, but still
48:01conversational then conspicuous.
48:03Talk as you go. Speak about it. Then
48:06write it where the house can see it.
48:08Bind it on the hand. Write it on the
48:09post. Talk about it when you're on the
48:11road. Write it on the wood. You're
48:14saying, "Okay, now let's get down to it.
48:16What does that even mean exactly?"
48:18You got to be intentional with it until
48:21it gets so much in your own spirit that
48:25it's just it speaks to everyone around
48:28you.
48:29All right.
48:33I feel this. Did I do that? Did I? Or
48:36did you? Oh, I felt it. Wait. Okay.
48:39Almost like a taser. That's why.
48:42Okay. That's probably my husband going,
48:44"I'm gonna get you back. I'm gonna tase
48:45you remotely.
48:49Okay,
48:51for every stage of life and I want to
48:53talk to each one of you real quick
48:55before we're wrapping up here. There are
48:57single moms and dads in the building
48:58tonight. And so I know this has been
49:00family month and we tend to talk a lot
49:03to the children and to the parents, but
49:07there's not a person in here that we're
49:08not trying to reach and to let you know
49:12it's you. We're talking about the single
49:14moms and dads. Your house may feel small
49:17or stretched thin,
49:21but one Lord, the one Lord still owns
49:24your doorpost.
49:28And you don't know h you don't have to
49:29be a perfect two parent choreography
49:34in order for him to be your Lord and
49:37your God and take care of you. You need
49:39the name in your heart first and you
49:42speak it in the car at the homework
49:44table. Oh dear Lord. And I don't mean oh
49:48Lord Jesus. That kind of name.
49:51Oh my word.
49:54Just saying Jesus name. Isn't God good?
49:56He's going to help us right now. This
49:58this algebra is not easy for a lot of
50:01people, sweetheart. But let's pray right
50:04now and ask the Lord to help us.
50:07He made you fearfully and wonderfully
50:09made and he's the Lord of this house and
50:12he's going to direct your future. And if
50:14algebra is ever needed in your future,
50:16which by the way probably doesn't isn't
50:19needed a lot, but today it's needed
50:22because you got to get a good grade.
50:26This is how you do it. They get
50:28frustrated
50:30playing the piano and you're taking
50:31piano lessons or bass lessons. By the
50:33way, I want everybody, all the kids in
50:35here need to be taking music lessons. I
50:38don't care. And if you're 35 years old,
50:41you're still a kid. Pick up an
50:42instrument, learn it. You can't have
50:45just a few people here knowing how to
50:47play. Amen.
50:50And 60. Pick it up and learn it.
50:54Yes. Amen.
50:56Absolutely. There's a place for all of
50:58us.
51:02So you just speak the name at the edge
51:04of sleep, maybe at night. Your
51:06consistency under pressure is itself a
51:09sermon y'all.
51:11Consistency itself is a sermon.
51:15If the only family worship you manage
51:17some nights is just whispering one Lord.
51:20We serve one God and he's good. While
51:24the kids are finally falling asleep,
51:26that's enough. That's enough.
51:30And let's talk to the singles and
51:31couples without children.
51:34Your house is your life.
51:37Your apartment, your rhythms, the people
51:39God has given you to influence. Are you
51:42hearing me?
51:44Nobody's exempt here.
51:47The shama is not only for parents. You
51:49talk of him when you sit alone with the
51:51quiet at night. You talk of him. I talk
51:54to myself
51:56and a lot. And you know these cameras.
52:00We have some cameras up,
52:03not in our house, but outside. And um
52:06sometimes I'll go walking outside for a
52:08little bit and do some grounding. Y'all
52:10know what grounding is, right? Thank you
52:13very much. Y'all need to know what
52:15grounding is. Look it up. We don't have
52:16time to talk about that tonight.
52:19And so I'll go out there and I'll start
52:21talking to the Lord or to myself.
52:25I know it's weird and I don't even care
52:26anymore. I'm 50ome years old. I can
52:29myself if I want to
52:32and I have a good little chat and then I
52:34remember the ring camera and I'm like
52:41I heard it you're very very smart and
52:43it's it's it's a sign of intelligence if
52:45you talk to yourself. So I'm highly
52:48intelligent. I mean I'm like you. Um so
52:54you just talk of him when you sit alone.
52:56Write the truth somewhere where your
52:58eyes first in the morning. Write it out.
53:02Young people, and I know many of them
53:04are over next door in the youth class,
53:06but they're already you're building a
53:08house you are you're going to live in.
53:11So when you rise before your phone can
53:13speak to you,
53:15many of us have our phones right next to
53:16us, which is a bad habit
53:20that I'm going to break one of these
53:22days soon with the Lord's help. Before
53:25the phone speaks, let the first
53:27confession be his. Amen.
53:33We know that the algorithm and our the
53:35feed for many young people and and not
53:37just young people, but it's pretty loud.
53:38There's a lot of rival voices that are
53:40constant.
53:42So, the shama is our resistance, y'all.
53:46When we rise up and before the phone
53:47gets to talking to us and the to-do
53:49list, we're going to confess, you are
53:52Lord of my life.
53:54He is Lord. He is Lord. Now, we're going
53:56to talk to the grandparents and season
53:58saints real quick. You are the living
54:00muza. This is a muza. It's not fully a
54:03muza because what was in it is gone.
54:08Yeah. Because probably you were the one
54:09who took it out. Okay. As a child, I got
54:13this in Israel. And what's it's it goes
54:16on the doorpost
54:18and like this. And inside is a little
54:21scroll with the shama written on it. And
54:25we are this grandparents.
54:28Okay? We're the living muza. We're
54:31saying with our lives it we're still
54:33affirming God is still Lord of my life.
54:36So the the Jewish people you will see
54:38when they come into a home or a home
54:41they will many times touch it or kiss it
54:43and then when they leave they do the
54:45same. That is their affirmation of
54:47saying in this house the Lord God
54:51Jehovah reigns. There's times the Lord
54:53has laid on my heart to pray you reign
54:56supreme in this room right now. You
54:58reign supreme in this room right now.
55:00And I've done it in spiritual warfare.
55:02Okay? It was a few years back and I was
55:06right here on this this spot right here.
55:09And there was somebody here. Y'all don't
55:11even know who it is. So don't even try
55:13to know. Okay? They had been coming for
55:16a little while and they were acting odd.
55:19They don't go here anymore. God love
55:21them and God bless them in Jesus name.
55:24And I believe he will and he is. So they
55:28were acting odd
55:30but praying kind of. And I walked by
55:33them as I'm praying before service and I
55:37heard some tongues
55:41but it didn't rest well with my spirit.
55:44It gave me chills
55:47and I thought, but it's tongues.
55:52And so I walked back again
55:55and I got over there and I thought,
55:57there wasn't a witness in my spirit and
55:59I said, "Lord, in Jesus name." And
56:01before I knew what I was saying, Lord,
56:03you reign supreme in this room. Lord
56:05God, the only true living God, you reign
56:08supreme in this room. Reign supreme in
56:10this room. You're the king of this room.
56:12You are the God of this room.
56:14All other gods will be driven out in
56:17Jesus name. That individual walked out.
56:23That's all I know about that situation.
56:24I haven't gotten any other read on it
56:26from God, but that's what I felt in the
56:28moment. So, every once in a while, you
56:31need to be that antenna needs to come up
56:33and you say, "Oh Lord, you please reign
56:35supreme in this room. Reign supreme in
56:37this house. drive out any unclean,
56:40impure spirit from this home because you
56:43reign in this home. And I get a little
56:46violent sometimes in my prayer. And it's
56:48okay because trust me. Oh man, every
56:51time I get up here, I talk about getting
56:53violent. Shoot weak.
56:56I tell you what, I would be a warrior if
56:58I could. So I do it in the spirit. I'll
57:02say sometimes, Lord, break the back of
57:03my enemy right now and make him crawl
57:06away. I don't even want him walking
57:09away.
57:11I want him to crawl out of here. And
57:13sometimes the Lord will give me a the
57:16name of that spirit,
57:19the spirit of jealousy
57:21has no place here. You reign supreme.
57:24You're my portion. You're my provision.
57:26You're who I turn to. Amen.
57:32This is legacy, y'all. for the
57:35grandparents and for those that the
57:37seasoned saints, your stories, your
57:39quiet consistency, the way you still
57:42rise up and you name him Lord of your
57:44life. You say his name is Jesus and I
57:46have him over my life. That is legacy.
57:49So tonight, real quick, we're going to
57:50go to the five practical steps here.
57:57Okay quickly.
58:00No perfection is required. We're just
58:02going to begin here. The morning
58:04threshold before the algorithm, before
58:07the feed, before your the news report,
58:10before whatever it is that starts to
58:12invade your world. When you wake up,
58:14before the to-do list, before the
58:16concern and the worry, this is what we
58:18speak here. O Israel, the Lord, my God,
58:22the Lord is one. You do. It's good to do
58:25it out loud if you can, in the heart if
58:27you have to, but out loud is the best.
58:30Thank you, Jesus, for this brand new
58:31day. You're my Lord and my God, and
58:33there's only one of you. And you have
58:35ultimate authority in my life. Everybody
58:36say that. You have ultimate authority in
58:39my life, Jesus.
58:42You reign supreme in my life.
58:46You are my Lord.
58:48You're my master
58:50and I trust you. I trust you.
58:54You are good all the time. And all the
58:58time
59:00>> you are good. His mercy endures forever.
59:06>> I love him. I love him. I love him. The
59:09Lord our God is one. One intentional
59:12conversation a day. I challenge you to
59:14be intentional about this. Some of us
59:16get done with the full day. Some of
59:18y'all are coming home from work. It's
59:205:00 or 7:30 or whatever it is for you
59:22and you get home and you're just
59:24frazzled because you've done all the
59:26things. You've built all the stuff and
59:27you've sent out all the emails and
59:29you've talked to several people and
59:31you've had a million meetings and you're
59:33done. And you realize through all of the
59:36words that you've spoken today, through
59:38all of the intentions that you've given
59:40today, through all the efforts that
59:42you've exerted today, you've not
59:43mentioned him once.
59:48It's easy to do that. And so, you don't
59:51need to stay feeling bad for very long.
59:53You just straighten yourself up and say,
59:56"Wait a minute. I got to talk about my
59:58Lord and my Savior, the one and only, my
60:00heartthrob.
60:02I got to talk about the one who saved my
60:04soul. I've got to talk about the one I'm
60:06going to live with forever in eternity."
60:11He's sitting by. There's a song that's
60:13called um it's an old Lenny Wolf song
60:15saying, "Sending somewhere in the
60:17shadows you'll find Jesus.
60:21He's the only one cares and understands.
60:26Standingwhere in the shadows, you will
60:29find him and you'll know him by the
60:33nails.
60:38Does that convict you or what?
60:42Standing somewhere in the shadows is the
60:45Lord God Almighty. He's just waiting on
60:48me to get home from work. He's just
60:49waiting on me to look up and notice him.
60:54Oh God, I I don't want to be guilty
60:59of crowding him out.
61:02Let there be
61:04a visual reminder. Write it. Look, these
61:08are really handy.
61:10These are super handy. Some of this is
61:12old school to some of y'all. I I don't
61:14know.
61:16How do you do without these little
61:18boogers?
61:19I like things I can touch and feel and
61:22see and smell.
61:25Write some Write it on some of these
61:27postits. Put it on your mirror. Put it
61:30on the
61:33steering wheel.
61:36There it is. There's that word.
61:39But the problem is when you're turning
61:41and going,
61:43put it somewhere safe. Put it on the
61:45refrigerator. Y'all see that every day,
61:48multiple times a day.
61:51This is what you do. These are just
61:53practical things at the table, in the
61:57car. This is the conversations here. I
62:00meant to say that at bedtime. It can be
62:02just a sentence. It could actually be a
62:04question. What about a gratitude report?
62:07Okay, kids. Okay, husband.
62:10What are you happy about today? What was
62:13I know it was a tough day. What do you
62:15have to say? Is there some point that
62:17you're grateful for something?
62:21Well, my tire
62:24deflated today and busted all over the
62:27highway and I was stuck on the side for
62:29the highway for three hours. But I'm
62:31grateful I have a car.
62:34I'm grateful I had a tire to blow out
62:37and I'm not riding a bike to work down
62:39the I 95.
62:45So write it out. Use these postits.
62:47Whatever it takes, whatever one Lord,
62:49let the post speak what the heart holds.
62:52Nightly clothes. When you lie down
62:53before the day replays or the anxiety
62:56rises, return this house to the name.
63:00One Lord in this house and there's
63:01nothing beside him. Declare it, confess
63:05it, remind yourself, remind those around
63:07you. I'm telling you what, entertainment
63:10is one of the gods of this day.
63:14I know that because it's something I
63:15have to be careful with. And I feel so
63:17guilty if I go and sit down for a little
63:19bit and I'm gonna watch something. I
63:22like the this show called Alone.
63:25And I think I've mentioned this before.
63:28I feel like I
63:31like I feel like I could do a survival.
63:34So weird. That's another one of my toxic
63:37traits. that I could literally go out
63:39and survive 30 days without anything.
63:44Like I don't I'm not going to eat a
63:46scorpion.
63:48I'm not going to eat a a mouse,
63:51but I know how to catch them and also
63:53know how to skin them because I've
63:54watched alone. Okay.
63:57Yes.
63:59So,
64:00I will sit down and watch something like
64:03that
64:04and I'll feel guilty.
64:07And so, just today, I was talking to the
64:09Lord about that very thing because of
64:11this lesson tonight. And I felt the Lord
64:14say, and this is something I did many
64:15years ago when we first moved here
64:18before we didn't have I grew up without
64:19a TV. We didn't have a TV and we didn't
64:23have the internet back in the day.
64:27And so when we moved here, I read books
64:31a lot. A lot. A lot. And I know this
64:34sounds like I'm not telling the truth,
64:36but it's the truth. I'd read at least
64:38two books a week minimum.
64:41Not these little teeny ones. Everything
64:43I could get my hands on. Thick fiction,
64:47non-fiction, didn't matter. And I got
64:50convicted a little bit at some point
64:52because I felt like couldn't wait to get
64:54home from work so I could read my book.
64:57And then I would read, you know, be
64:59before I'd go to sleep that would kind
65:00of I'd put the book on the side and just
65:02read until I fell asleep.
65:04And I thought, Lord, I I love that so
65:06much. I want to love your word the same
65:09way. That's life everlasting.
65:13And so I said, okay, I'm gonna before I
65:16will pick up my other book, I'm going to
65:18read the word of God first. So then I
65:20can feel like, okay, I feel like it's
65:23okay. Y'all, entertainment's not bad.
65:27It's not bad. Read the books and watch
65:30some of the shows if they're clean and
65:32all that kind of thing, that's fine.
65:34But when it's first
65:37and and relationship with him is second,
65:40third, and fourth place, that's the
65:42problem. So I the Lord kind of told me
65:44today remember back in 1992 and 93 when
65:48you started saying okay before I read my
65:51books I'm going to read five chapters
65:54minimum of the word of God.
65:57You know what I found by doing that that
65:59when I was done that fifth chapter
66:01sometimes I was like but I don't I want
66:03to know what else comes next. So I'd
66:06read a little bit more and then I would
66:08just sit there in bed and think through
66:10it like okay what did I learn? That was
66:12really cool. what that means
66:14and I'm meditating on his word.
66:17Sometimes I didn't even get to my book.
66:19No, it was fine. So that's what it's
66:21like with entertainment.
66:23Make sure just you're saying, "Oh, wait
66:25a second. What has first in my first
66:27place in my life?" Coming back to that
66:30nightly close when you lie down before
66:33the day replays or the anxiety rises,
66:36you speak it. Return to the name, the
66:38Lord of this house. Nothing beside him.
66:41and the thought life audit as we wrap up
66:43here. When a rival starts talking,
66:45whether it be fear, comparison, comfort,
66:48listen, sometimes the rival,
66:51convenience and comfort is placed first
66:54in your life. Makes things easy. That
66:57makes it says you don't need to go to
66:59church tonight because you've already
67:00heard everything.
67:04you don't need to listen to the lesson
67:06or you don't need to make the effort to
67:08get there because you're tired. You've
67:11had a hard day at work. All of that may
67:14be true, but who's the king sitting on
67:17the heart the throne of your heart?
67:20So the thought life thought life audit
67:22when a rival starts talking answer it
67:25with the shamal not once every time.
67:28every time for pattern is creed.
67:37No rebuttal, no refusal, not a feed, not
67:39a mood, not a blend. We don't blend
67:42things into this shama. It's not a
67:44household idol wearing a Christian name.
67:47The shama is not up for family vote and
67:49the gate does not get a veto. The
67:52mountain spoke originally and now the
67:54house teaches. Who builds this house?
67:57The Lord
67:59whose name is on the door of your house
68:01and the door of your home and the door
68:02of your heart. That same Lord. And what
68:04does the house say when it rises and
68:07when it lies down? Here. O Israel, the
68:11Lord our God is one Lord. One Lord in
68:14this house and nothing beside him. May
68:18this confession y'all
68:22move from the page into the heart
68:25and from the heart into your walk and
68:27from the walk onto the doorpost.
68:30The Lord my God, he is one. The Lord my
68:34God, he is one. There's a song that if
68:36Austin, you'll come to the keys and
68:39winter, if you don't mind helping. I
68:41don't know if you know the song. I'm
68:44going to do to them what my husband does
68:45to me.
68:48Follow me as I follow Christ.
68:53Think I can give you the numbers here.
68:57Jesus be the Lord of all.
69:03Jesus
69:04be the Lord of all.
69:09Jesus
69:11be the Lord of all.
69:16the kingoms
69:18of
69:20my heart.
69:21Let's stand.
69:24Jesus
69:26be
69:27the Lord
69:29of all.
69:32Jesus
69:33be the Lord
69:37of all.
69:39Jesus
69:41be
69:43the Lord
69:45of all the kingoms
69:49of
69:51my heart. Why don't we all come up to
69:53the front real quick?
69:55We're going to pray over our own homes.
69:59We're going to pray over our own lives.
70:01Lord, let the rhythm of my life speak
70:04this over and over in waves that you're
70:07Lord of my life. Oh God, remind me that
70:11you are my Lord and my God. And what you
70:14say, I want to follow. I want to please
70:16you, Jesus. Let the
71:31Heat. Heat.
71:57Heat. Heat.
72:37Heat. Heat.
72:43Heat. Heat.
73:04Heat. Heat.
73:43Heat. Heat.
73:49Heat
74:01up
74:08here.
74:26Heat up
74:28here.
74:39Heat. Heat.
75:28Heat. Heat.
75:52Heat. Heat. N.
76:24Heat. Heat.
76:33Heat. Heat.
76:56Heat. Heat.
77:40Heat. Heat.
77:44Heat. Heat.
78:17Heat up
78:22here.
78:32Heat. Heat.