The struggle to have “ears to hear” (Sermon)

Where Did You See God?
Where Did You See God?
The struggle to have "ears to hear" (Sermon)
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In episode 207, we come back from an unplanned hiatus with something different; I’ll be sharing sermons that I was invited to give to East End Fellowship.

Have you struggled to have “ears to hear”?

Here is how you can connect with EEF:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠www.eastendfellowship.org⁠⁠

The “Year of Books”:

⁠⁠www.wheredidyouseeGod.com/year-of-books⁠⁠

~

Paul creates this as part of his full-time volunteer ministry. If you appreciate what God is doing through this podcast, you can help keep it going through financial support. Gifts can be processed at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://worldoutreach.org/707 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Have a story to share? Hard questions to process? A desire for authentic, accessible space? You can leave a brief message at (804) 372-3836, or schedule a conversation (with a twist!) at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.wheredidyouseegod.com/conversation-with-a-twist⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.WhereDidYouSeeGod.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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One of these books will be relevant to your life right now:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amazon.com/author/paulgranger⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Wear an amazing conversation-starter!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.bonfire.com/store/where-did-you-see-god/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

~

The music in this episode is “You’ll walk, you’ll run” by Urban Doxology, from their amazing album “Bread for the Journey.”

~

Learn more about how God’s calling us:

Pray: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tinyurl.com/GrangerPray⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tinyurl.com/GrangerList⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Give: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠worldoutreach.org/707⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

~

#authenticspace #dialogue #Godstillspeaks #WDYSG #conversation #invitation #Riversidefm #PodMatch #faith #stories #smallbusiness #calling #invitation #itiswell #faithfulness #ministry

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As I continue this unintended
hiatus from normal podcast

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00:00:04,680 –> 00:00:07,600
episodes, I wanted to share with
you another sermon that I had

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the opportunity to give to East
End Fellowship early in 2026.

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00:00:12,840 –> 00:00:16,440
Now, in 2026, we started a
sermon series called Ears to

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Hear, where we explored what it
means to not just hear God’s

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word, but to really hear what
God is saying.

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And I felt like God was inviting
me to share something that I’d

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shared years before to a group
at the University of Virginia on

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the struggle to have ears to
hear.

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Why is it hard to hear God
sometimes?

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Can we even hear God now?
I feel like there’s a lot that

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works in audio form, but there
are some visuals.

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If you want to see this sermon,
you can go to our Instagram or

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our YouTube page and find it
there or on my website,

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wheredidyouseegod.com.
But this mostly works well as

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audio and I hope it encourages
you if you have felt like you

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have struggled to have ears to
hear because I believe that God

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is speaking, but I also believe
that God wants you to hear him.

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You’re listening to episode 2 O
seven of the Where Did You See

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God podcast.
I want to read John 10 one

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through 6.
So as you’re able, I invite you

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to stand for the reading God’s
Word very truly.

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I tell you, Pharisees, anyone
who does not enter the sheep pin

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by the gate, but climbs in by
some other way, is a thief and a

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robber.
The one who enters by the gate

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is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens the gate

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for him, and the sheep listen to
his voice.

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He calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out.

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When he has brought out all his
own, he goes on ahead of them,

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and his sheep follow him because
they know his voice.

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But they will never follow a
stranger.

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In fact, they will run away from
him because they do not

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recognize a stranger’s voice.
Jesus used this figure of

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speech, but the Pharisees did
not understand what he was

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telling them.
Thanks be to God, you may be

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seated.
So Jesus is using this figure of

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speech and the Pharisees didn’t
have ears to hear.

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But some of us in the room are
going to try not to get too

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prideful around that because we
feel like we’re struggling too.

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Some of us in this room have had
moments where we’re hearing this

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story and we’re a little worried
because we’re like, I don’t know

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if I know his voice.
I don’t know if I’ve heard it.

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What if I’m that sheep that’s
just sitting off to the back

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eating some grass, looks up and
all the other sheep are gone and

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the shepherd’s gone, and I’m
just stuck in here with the

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thieves and the robbers, right?
This passage can actually evoke

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some fear in us if we feel like
we’re struggling to hear God’s

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voice, to have ears to hear.
So I want to hit 4 reasons why I

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don’t hear from God, why we
might struggle to hear from God.

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And the first reason is maybe
there’s a part of us that

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doesn’t believe that he still
speaks.

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Maybe there is a part of us that
does not believe he still

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speaks.
I’m going to talk to you all

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about baby talk.
All right.

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So years ago, years ago, we, we
used to have this partnership

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with Urban Doxology and there’s
this thing called the Urban

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songwriting internship.
Interns would come and stay with

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homes in the community.
And we had this amazing guy

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named Jonathan living with us.
Jonathan, I mean, anybody he

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encounters, he loves them well.
So we loved having them in our

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home.
We loved how much he loved our

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family and our kids.
We were heartbroken when he

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left.
But then he got a job in

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Richmond.
He needed a place to live.

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And he came back and our first
dinner together, we were just

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talking.
And then Bella, who was around

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2:00 at the time, just turned 2,
came up to me and started

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talking to me.
I didn’t think much of it.

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Jonathan lost his mind.
Oh my gosh.

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Bella can talk.
She can talk.

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This is so amazing.
She can talk now.

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When did this happen?
Becca and I are laughing because

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it hadn’t just happened.
She had been talking for a

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while.
She had been talking in his

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presence.
She had been communicating even

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longer.
So what was happening here?

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Well, for Jonathan at the time,
he didn’t have much experience

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with toddlers 2 years old and
younger.

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And he, like many of us, just
assumed that at that age, it’s

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just baby talk, It’s gibberish.
It’s not real words.

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It’s me, me, me, me, me, me, me,
me, right.

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And at some point, you suddenly
gained the English language, I

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guess.
But.

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And so when Bella was talking,
he did not believe that she

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could speak.
And so he could not hear her

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speaking.
It was just baby talk.

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It was just gibberish.
Meanwhile, Becca and I, we had

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known she’d been communicating
all her life, started off with

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different types of cries meant
different things, different

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facial expressions, different
grunts.

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Eventually she learns
vocalization.

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She starts making sounds.
We learn what those sounds mean.

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Eventually she learns there’s
this thing called the English

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language, but can’t speak it.
So she makes up her own words,

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but we learn what those words
are, and then she starts

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learning our words.
It still sounds different, but

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the difference between US and
Jonathan is he didn’t believe

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that she could speak, that she
was speaking.

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We knew she was, and so we
listened differently.

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We could hear her when others
couldn’t because we were trying

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to hear her.
I want to give an example of

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this.
So in a second, Kevin’s going to

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play 2 videos.
The first one there I’m inviting

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Joshua, who at the time was very
little to say a word and he says

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the word and I want you to try
to figure out what he’s saying.

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So go ahead and queue up that
first video.

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Joshua, can you say say say all
right, on the count of three, I

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just want you to say what you
think Joshua was trying to say.

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All right, 123.
So Joshua was actually saying

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something very intentional,
something very specific.

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Go and play that next video.
Joshua, can you say turtle?

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Say turtle, Say turtle.
Joshua was not saying TURTLE,

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but he was definitely saying
turtle.

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He was saying it in his own way,
in his own style.

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And when we learned that’s what
he was saying, not only could we

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now hear it where others
couldn’t, we didn’t want him to

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learn the proper way to say it
because that’s just too cute.

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What if?
What if we don’t believe that

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God still speaks, but what if He
is?

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And what if He is inviting us to
lean in, as how I was saying

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into this belief?
And what if in leaning in, we

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suddenly begin to hear Him in
ways that we couldn’t before,

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understand Him in ways we didn’t
expect?

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What if when we come to learn
His voice, we stop wanting him

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to talk like we want Him to talk
and start to prefer how He wants

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to communicate?
All right, so maybe, maybe we

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get to the place where like, OK,
God still speaks.

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Fine, that’s fine.
But we assume we haven’t heard

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him.
So maybe God still speaks, but I

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haven’t heard him.
I’m excited about this.

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Raise your hand if you have ever
heard of the Wilhelm scream or

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if you’ve ever heard the Wilhelm
scream.

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Hands up.
Oh, I love it.

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Keep your hands up.
I want you, if your hands are

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down, to look at somebody with
their hands up.

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Look in their eyes and here’s
what you’ll notice.

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They have a knowing look in
their eyes because they know 1,

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you absolutely have heard the
Wilhelm scream.

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Two, you have probably heard it
this week, and three, you have

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probably heard it hundreds of
times, am I right?

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Hands up, people.
Paul, how can you have the

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audacity to claim what I’ve
heard?

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This video will show you.
Does this scream sound familiar?

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That’s because it’s used in over
100 films.

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It’s a movie trope called The
Wilhelm Scream.

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The Wilhelm scream is maybe the
most famous sound effect in

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Hollywood that is used when
characters are shot or fall off

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high places in action films.
The scream made its first

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appearance in a 1951 film called
Distant Drums.

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And there’s a moment in the film
where a character is dragged

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into the swamp and they wanted a
particularly blood curdling

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scream.
Just moments ago, most of this

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room believed they had never
heard the Wilhelm scream.

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Now, there may be some of you in
here that are like, oh, yeah,

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no, I’ve heard that.
I just didn’t have language

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around it.
That’s fine.

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But there are some of you in
this room that are now thinking,

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what in the world?
How have I not realized I have

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heard that over and over because
I’ve seen all of those movies.

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How did I not recognize that I
was hearing that?

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What if?
What if we believe that we

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haven’t heard God, but what if
he actually has been

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communicating?
Maybe it’s an issue of not

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00:09:48,440 –> 00:09:51,520
having language around it, but
maybe it’s because we didn’t

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really understand what it could
sound like.

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And what if as we begin to know
what God sounds like to listen

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for it, we begin to hear it more
and more and more.

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And it’s at this point I need to
apologize to the bulk of this

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room because I just ruined TV’s
and movies for you because you

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will never be able to watch them
again.

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You’ll be watching an action
movie and you’ll be like, buckle

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up, here it comes.
It’s in here somewhere.

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Or it’s just a commercial and
you hear it and it’s loud, and

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did you hear that?
And the person next to you,

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like, I don’t know what you’re
talking about.

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You can’t unhear the Wilhelm
scream when you hear it.

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What if that’s what God’s
inviting us to?

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The more that we begin to hear
him, the more we can’t help but

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to hear him and everything.
All right, So maybe we can see

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that God still speaks.
OK, maybe I’ve heard him, but I

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don’t know that He wants to talk
to me.

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I doubt he will talk to me.
God’s going to talk to the

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spiritual leaders, to the
theologians.

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But I know who I am.
I know what I’ve done or I know

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what I haven’t done.
To take that mindset, we have to

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throw out a whole lot of
Scripture because let’s look at

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who God talks to in Scripture.
Or you got the chief of sinners,

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the apostle Paul.
Guess what he was doing when God

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talked to him?
He was on his way to pull

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Christians out of their home so
that they could be killed.

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He saw himself as the chief of
sinners.

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I do not understand what I do,
what I hate to do.

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I do.
And God spoke to him.

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I spoke to him often.
Or how about the least of the

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least of the least?
When Gideon spoke, when God

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spoke to Gideon, Gideon was
hiding because God wanted to use

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him for something great.
And Gideon’s like, no, no, no,

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no.
I’m the least of my family,

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which is the least of my tribe,
which is the least of all the

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tribes.
You got the wrong guy.

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God’s like, no I don’t.
Or how about those who are young

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and limited?
When God spoke to me, the mother

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of Jesus, she was a teenage girl
who was not yet married, did not

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have children, and so did not
have any authority in her

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culture, any power in her
culture.

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She could have just seen herself
as not worthy of God’s time.

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That’s not how she positioned
herself.

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She positioned herself to listen
and say yes.

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And God’s like, not only am I
going to speak to you, but

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you’re going to carry my son.
The apostle Paul says, Timothy,

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do not look, do not let anyone
look down on you because you

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were young.
How about those who are

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experiencing hardships upon
hardships?

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When Joseph heard from God, he
had he was like a decade into a

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really awful run of hardships,
unjust situations, and he had

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been trying to serve God.
And then after he heard from

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God, God gave him the
interpretation of a dream.

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He ended up being stuck in
prison for another several

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years.
Sometimes hardships make us

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think that God isn’t with us,
doesn’t love us, or maybe we

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believe God loves us.
But God, I don’t have the

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strength to listen anymore.
I’ve gone through so much, I

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don’t have the desire to listen
anymore.

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But sometimes God is still
speaking.

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How about those who are not
really listening?

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Now we might say that the
disciples were listening, but

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they were listening for a very
specific Messiah that they were

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00:13:22,600 –> 00:13:25,040
hoping for.
And for a lot of disciples, as

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we see in John 666, when they
realized Jesus wasn’t who they

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expected him to be or felt like
he should be, that verse says

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many of them turned and walked
away and never followed again.

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Now there was still that core
group, but even they like Peter

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who said I will, I am seeking
this guy.

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I’m following this guy
everywhere ends up denying

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Jesus, right?
Or how about Samuel?

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Nathan told us about Samuel.
Samuel is just this kid who has

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never heard from God and he’s
just trying to sleep.

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He’s not in prayer or anything.
He’s and what God calls to him.

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00:14:01,840 –> 00:14:05,200
So let me put this another way.
Hearing God does not require you

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to be perfect, to be the best,
to be established, to be secure,

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00:14:09,160 –> 00:14:11,000
or to even be seeking in the
right way.

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When God chooses to speak,
choose to respond, here I am.

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That’s it.
Sometimes that’s all we bring to

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the table.
It’s just a willingness to be at

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the table.
All right, So maybe we believe

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00:14:27,480 –> 00:14:30,400
that God still speaks.
Maybe we accept that we have

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00:14:30,400 –> 00:14:32,880
heard Him at some point.
Maybe we can see that He would

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00:14:33,360 –> 00:14:38,280
talk to even me, but we think he
makes it too hard.

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God, I’ve been trying to seek
you.

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00:14:41,080 –> 00:14:42,920
I’ve been praying and I’ve been
praying and I’ve been praying

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00:14:42,920 –> 00:14:45,120
and I’ve been praying and I’ve
been praying and where are you?

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00:14:46,320 –> 00:14:50,160
What’s with all this silence?
God, God, if you really wanted

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00:14:50,160 –> 00:14:51,880
to communicate, wouldn’t you
make it easier?

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00:14:51,880 –> 00:14:56,080
I want to tell you about Timothy
versus the hoverboard.

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00:14:56,960 –> 00:14:59,080
Raise your hand if you’ve ever
used a hoverboard before.

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00:15:00,160 –> 00:15:04,200
All right, you’re going to love
this story.

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00:15:04,400 –> 00:15:08,600
So here’s the deal.
When you haven’t been on a

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hoverboard before and you see
it, you assume it’s going to

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operate in the same way that a
scooter or a skateboard does.

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There’s this thing on the floor,
you step on it, and then you

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move in some way.
That is not the reality of the

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00:15:19,480 –> 00:15:21,160
hoverboard.
That is not the physics of a

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00:15:21,160 –> 00:15:23,920
hoverboard.
The way a hoverboard works is

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it’s all contingent on your
center of gravity being exactly

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00:15:27,920 –> 00:15:30,800
where it needs to be.
If you step on a hoverboard and

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your center of gravity is
perfect, you’ll be still.

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00:15:34,200 –> 00:15:36,560
If you lean your center gravity
here, you’ll go this way.

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00:15:36,880 –> 00:15:39,600
Go forward, right?
Sounds good, right?

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00:15:40,000 –> 00:15:44,840
In theory.
In practice, a lot of people

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have flown off hoverboards.
Later on YouTube search

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00:15:49,320 –> 00:15:52,600
hoverboard accidents.
There’s millions of them.

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And this is what Timothy learned
years ago.

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00:15:55,600 –> 00:15:58,080
He discovered hoverboards.
He wanted one.

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00:15:58,080 –> 00:16:01,560
His grandma got it for him for
Christmas and he was so excited

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00:16:01,560 –> 00:16:05,920
to finally get on it and he
immediately flew off of it and

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00:16:05,920 –> 00:16:07,880
it shook him up a little bit.
It’s a little scary, but you

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00:16:07,880 –> 00:16:09,680
know, he’s like, I’m, I got
this.

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I’m, I’m, this is my Christmas
gift.

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He gets on again, think spins
out of control.

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And it suddenly became very
clear how hard this was going to

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be.
And so I, you know, I’m talking

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with him.
I’m like, all right, we can

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00:16:21,200 –> 00:16:22,840
watch some videos, we can figure
out how to do it.

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And he really wanted to, but
man, the difficulty of it went

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00:16:27,720 –> 00:16:31,240
from just being an inconvenience
to being kind of kind of

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00:16:31,240 –> 00:16:36,720
frightening, kind of dangerous.
And days pass, weeks pass, and

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00:16:36,720 –> 00:16:41,520
suddenly this thing that was
initially just hard and now

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00:16:41,520 –> 00:16:44,040
became a little frightening,
eventually started to feel

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00:16:44,040 –> 00:16:48,080
impossible.
And eight months pass, and this

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00:16:48,080 –> 00:16:50,680
thing’s just been sitting.
And I’m not having that kind of

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00:16:50,680 –> 00:16:54,600
waste in my house.
So as a good father, I decided

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00:16:54,600 –> 00:16:56,440
to go ahead and use some reverse
psychology.

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00:16:59,080 –> 00:17:00,680
I learned how to use the
hoverboard.

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00:17:02,240 –> 00:17:06,480
It was very difficult, but in
the course of a day, while he

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00:17:06,480 –> 00:17:09,599
was at school, I learned the
reality of the hoverboard.

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I learned how to position
myself, how to lean in certain

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00:17:12,599 –> 00:17:16,160
ways, and in time, suddenly I’m
able to move in ways I never

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00:17:16,160 –> 00:17:18,560
could before.
Timothy comes home.

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00:17:18,560 –> 00:17:21,359
He’s sitting in the living room,
and next thing he knows, he

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00:17:21,359 –> 00:17:23,200
looks at the doors.
He hears something.

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00:17:25,960 –> 00:17:28,680
Hey buddy, you like my
hoverboard?

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00:17:29,600 –> 00:17:32,200
My son used to have it, but it’s
mine now because he didn’t want

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00:17:32,200 –> 00:17:33,400
it.
Bye, right?

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00:17:34,600 –> 00:17:38,440
And it worked.
This kid immediately was like,

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00:17:38,440 –> 00:17:40,640
no, no, no, no, it’s not your
hoverboard, it’s my hoverboard.

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And he decided to learn it.
And I want to show you a video

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00:17:44,760 –> 00:17:49,760
that took place not weeks later,
not days later, but hours later.

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00:18:13,160 –> 00:18:15,400
In just a few hours, something
that was hard, something that

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00:18:15,400 –> 00:18:19,440
was impossible, something he was
no longer interested in, he was

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00:18:19,440 –> 00:18:21,600
doing that.
The next day I’m sitting in the

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00:18:21,600 –> 00:18:24,800
living room and he comes by me.
He’s not just riding the

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00:18:24,800 –> 00:18:27,560
hoverboard, he’s pouring orange
juice into a cup.

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It can feel like it is too hard
to hear from God.

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00:18:36,840 –> 00:18:41,640
But what if?
What if something that seems too

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00:18:41,640 –> 00:18:45,840
hard, too frightening, Something
we’ve tried too often, Something

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00:18:45,840 –> 00:18:47,320
that’s starting to feel
impossible?

317
00:18:47,520 –> 00:18:50,000
Something that not just feels
impossible, but like something

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00:18:50,000 –> 00:18:52,240
we don’t even want to deal with
anymore?

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00:18:52,680 –> 00:18:56,400
What if what God has for us is
something like that?

320
00:18:57,240 –> 00:19:01,960
That way, sooner than we could
have imagined, we could discover

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00:19:01,960 –> 00:19:05,480
the reality of ears to hear that
it operates differently than

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00:19:05,480 –> 00:19:08,480
normal listening.
We learn how to position

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00:19:08,480 –> 00:19:12,160
ourselves.
We learn how to lean in certain

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00:19:12,160 –> 00:19:15,880
ways and begin moving and
hearing in ways we never could

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00:19:15,880 –> 00:19:22,360
have before.
There are many reasons why it’s

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00:19:22,360 –> 00:19:26,160
hard to hear from God.
And what if God is aware of that

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00:19:26,280 –> 00:19:29,800
and He is with us?
So that leads us to the question

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00:19:29,800 –> 00:19:32,280
of, well then how can we lean
into having ears to hear?

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This would take an entirely
separate sermon.

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00:19:36,520 –> 00:19:39,160
And look, folks, I understand
it’s Super Bowl Sunday, so I’m

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00:19:39,160 –> 00:19:41,760
not going to get into that
sermon now that’s coming during

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00:19:41,760 –> 00:19:45,000
this sermon series.
But I want to leave you with a

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00:19:45,000 –> 00:19:46,680
few things.
And I already told you at the

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00:19:46,680 –> 00:19:48,760
start, we’re going to practice
listening.

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00:19:50,760 –> 00:19:53,720
So here are a few quick tips if
you want to lean into having

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00:19:53,720 –> 00:19:56,160
years to hear.
First, I want to encourage you

337
00:19:56,280 –> 00:19:59,320
to drop your hold on what you
think you should hear.

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00:19:59,920 –> 00:20:02,040
Sometimes the reason we don’t
hear is because we’ve already

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00:20:02,040 –> 00:20:03,400
decided what it is we want to
hear.

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00:20:03,400 –> 00:20:08,160
All right, but often when we’re
listening for God, there isn’t

341
00:20:08,160 –> 00:20:12,200
an answer we we like question
and answer prayers.

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00:20:12,400 –> 00:20:14,840
God, what job should I have?
What school should I go to?

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00:20:14,840 –> 00:20:16,680
What person should I marry?
What should I?

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00:20:16,840 –> 00:20:19,280
What should I?
Sometimes God’s trying to

345
00:20:19,280 –> 00:20:20,800
communicate something different
than.

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00:20:21,200 –> 00:20:24,840
The answer to our question Often
there is silence.

347
00:20:25,760 –> 00:20:28,160
Well, we don’t like silence.
There’s no value in silence,

348
00:20:28,160 –> 00:20:29,960
right?
The silent treatment is a cruel

349
00:20:29,960 –> 00:20:33,640
thing.
We have all experienced moments

350
00:20:33,640 –> 00:20:38,160
where silence spoke way more
than the most well crafted words

351
00:20:38,160 –> 00:20:41,160
could have.
Sometimes God is trying to

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00:20:41,160 –> 00:20:45,280
important communicate something
incredibly important by not

353
00:20:45,520 –> 00:20:49,720
speaking.
And often God’s patiently

354
00:20:49,720 –> 00:20:54,560
waiting for us to ask or more
seek the better thing to him who

355
00:20:54,560 –> 00:20:56,720
is able to do immeasurably more
than we ask for.

356
00:20:56,720 –> 00:20:59,680
Imagine because of the power at
work within us, whatever we’re

357
00:20:59,680 –> 00:21:03,200
asking for, whatever we’re
imagining is small compared to

358
00:21:03,200 –> 00:21:06,320
what God is doing, to what God
is communicating.

359
00:21:06,680 –> 00:21:10,320
And sometimes he is being very
patient with us as we learn

360
00:21:10,320 –> 00:21:14,480
that.
I want to invite you to develop

361
00:21:14,520 –> 00:21:16,360
reminders or rhythms of
listening.

362
00:21:16,360 –> 00:21:19,400
We think that we’ll remember to
listen, but let’s be honest, we

363
00:21:19,400 –> 00:21:21,480
forget a lot.
We get distracted a lot.

364
00:21:22,240 –> 00:21:24,440
So a reminder could be a post it
note on the wall.

365
00:21:25,240 –> 00:21:28,880
It could be a calendar reminder
on your phone that pops up every

366
00:21:28,880 –> 00:21:31,400
day at 7:00 AM and says listens
for God.

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00:21:31,960 –> 00:21:35,040
Could be a rhythm, right?
It could be, it could be a verse

368
00:21:35,040 –> 00:21:38,640
of the day on your phone or even
something as simple as, OK, God,

369
00:21:38,640 –> 00:21:41,720
here’s what I’m going to do when
I wake up in the morning, before

370
00:21:41,720 –> 00:21:44,160
I look at my phone, before I
move, I’m just going to lay

371
00:21:44,160 –> 00:21:46,120
here.
And I’m going to say, God, if

372
00:21:46,120 –> 00:21:48,800
there’s anything when you say,
if you want to say I’m listening

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00:21:48,800 –> 00:21:50,840
and then just lay there because
let’s be honest, some of you are

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00:21:50,840 –> 00:21:52,320
going to keep on laying in bed
anyways.

375
00:21:52,320 –> 00:21:54,080
Why not use that time to listen
for God?

376
00:21:55,040 –> 00:21:58,520
But if we put these reminders
and rhythms into our life, it

377
00:21:58,520 –> 00:22:00,920
can help us to begin to actually
practice.

378
00:22:01,120 –> 00:22:05,600
And in practicing, we can become
better and better at having ears

379
00:22:05,600 –> 00:22:07,720
to hear.
I want to invite you to keep

380
00:22:07,720 –> 00:22:13,040
listening even when it’s not
working because just because

381
00:22:13,040 –> 00:22:15,200
something seems like it’s not
working doesn’t mean it’s not

382
00:22:15,200 –> 00:22:18,360
working.
So when it feels like it’s been

383
00:22:18,360 –> 00:22:20,320
too long or too hard, keep on
listening.

384
00:22:20,440 –> 00:22:24,400
Keep on listening.
And then finally, I want to give

385
00:22:24,400 –> 00:22:26,800
us a practical way to practice.
We’re going to do this together.

386
00:22:27,320 –> 00:22:30,800
OK, so here’s what’s going to
happen in a moment.

387
00:22:30,800 –> 00:22:33,440
I’m going to pray to invite us
into a time.

388
00:22:34,280 –> 00:22:37,600
And then where you are, you’re
going to position yourself

389
00:22:37,600 –> 00:22:42,360
however you need to, to listen
for God, and you’re going to ask

390
00:22:42,360 –> 00:22:46,160
him one simple question.
God, how do you see me?

391
00:22:46,840 –> 00:22:49,720
That’s it.
And then we’re just going to be

392
00:22:49,720 –> 00:22:53,440
in here listening.
Don’t feel like you have to

393
00:22:53,440 –> 00:22:56,840
force anything.
Don’t try to find a certain

394
00:22:56,840 –> 00:22:59,480
answer.
Just be present.

395
00:23:02,760 –> 00:23:07,200
If you hear something right, and
it’s like seems pretty like, oh,

396
00:23:07,440 –> 00:23:11,640
that was God.
Write it down, tell someone,

397
00:23:11,640 –> 00:23:15,720
share it right If you’re listing
and it seems random, like

398
00:23:16,720 –> 00:23:21,720
platypus, that must have been
the pizza I ate last night,

399
00:23:21,720 –> 00:23:25,080
because that doesn’t make it.
Sometimes God says some weird,

400
00:23:25,080 –> 00:23:27,840
crazy things that actually makes
a lot more sense than we expect.

401
00:23:27,840 –> 00:23:30,000
So just whatever pops in your
head to write it down.

402
00:23:30,360 –> 00:23:34,160
And if you don’t hear anything,
don’t get frustrated.

403
00:23:35,200 –> 00:23:38,080
Don’t beat yourself up because
we’re just practicing.

404
00:23:38,440 –> 00:23:41,040
We’re just practicing, you know
what that means?

405
00:23:41,720 –> 00:23:44,440
You can go home and practice it
again tomorrow.

406
00:23:44,440 –> 00:23:46,760
You can practice it again.
We’re just practicing.

407
00:23:47,200 –> 00:23:49,800
So I’m going to pray.
You’re going to position

408
00:23:49,800 –> 00:23:51,320
yourself, however we’re going to
ask.

409
00:23:51,480 –> 00:23:54,920
The keys will be going, you
know, so it’ll be the atmosphere

410
00:23:56,680 –> 00:23:58,240
and let’s just see what God
does.

411
00:23:58,840 –> 00:24:01,960
But more than that, let’s just
show God who we’re willing to

412
00:24:01,960 –> 00:24:04,360
be.
We’re willing to be his people

413
00:24:04,360 –> 00:24:06,880
saying here we are, we’re
showing him we’re willing to

414
00:24:06,880 –> 00:24:09,400
lean in whether we had the
strength or not to do it.

415
00:24:13,840 –> 00:24:16,480
So Father God, I just thank you
that you are God and you are

416
00:24:16,480 –> 00:24:19,720
good.
And we know that you do see us.

417
00:24:20,920 –> 00:24:24,200
So right now we are going to
practice listening.

418
00:24:24,480 –> 00:24:27,320
We concede that we struggle to
have ears to hear, but

419
00:24:27,320 –> 00:24:31,720
fortunately you are patient.
So, Father God, we are going to

420
00:24:31,720 –> 00:24:33,720
invite you to tell us how you
see us.

421
00:24:34,800 –> 00:24:36,200
We’re going to listen to how you
respond.

422
00:24:37,400 –> 00:24:39,360
Holy Spirit, move.