**Well… I just wanna welcome everyone here to Embrace…
My name is Adam… I’m one of the pastors here…
and as always…we are so excited…
and overjoyed… that you are here…
And today… I just wanna start…
by giving a huge shoutout to our St Croix Campus…
today… it is St Croix’s… very first birthday.
And so at all campuses…
can we put it up for them?
I absolutely love this campus...
and I’m still just in awe of God… because of it.
But speaking of St Croix…
I feel like we should take a minute to pray… right now… for the Minnesota Vikings.
And Lord, please help the people of St Croix…
to put their hope in you…
not in their kicker.
No but seriously… we’re so thankful for the St Croix Campus…
But I just gotta say… that in general…
I have never been more excited…
about what God is up to right now….
And there’s so many things I could mention…
I mean… with Ladies Night…
We’ve already sold over 1,400 tickets…
that’s over 1,400 ladies…
that will be gathering… that night.
at all of the campuses…
all hearing about…
and singing about Jesus.
And I’m just saying… it’s gonna be awesome!
And you’ve heard about the Night of Worship coming up…
But also next Sunday… we’ll have a new single… available…
by Embrace Worship… called You Hold It All.
A song that we’ve been singing lately…
A song that was written…
by our own worship director.
Like the Newsboys are singing it right now… but he wrote it…
and next Sunday… you’ll be able to get…
Embrace Worship’s version of it…
And then starting today… we’re starting a new series…
And next month… it’s Christmas…
which is always one of the best times of the year…
to be here.
And so there’s so many things… that are happening…
but more than anything…. last weekend.
I was able to worship at 4 different campuses…
and I was driving around like a mad man all day…
but it was just amazing… to worship…
at each of the places.
and just to see… all of the people...
and what God is doing.
And I just feel like there’s something… happening right now…
Where it’s just like… God, each week… and at all campuses…
would you just come and meet with us.
Because we don’t just wanna come and do church…
We don’t just wanna come… and play church…
and check our God box for the week.
Instead… Jesus, we wanna come… and meet with you…
and we wanna be changed by you.
and made whole by you.
And whether we even believe in you or not…
Jesus we wanna encounter you.
And whether we feel like it or not…
Jesus, we wanna come and worship you.
Again… I just feel like God is up to something right now…
and I’ve never been more excited.
And so… each week… I just wanna encourage us to come…
to show up… expecting God to move…
every single week.
Come… just ready to sing…
praying… Jesus, today…
would you come and meet with us… in this place.
**And now… jumping into things….
I’ve maybe shared this before…
but my wife and I… we have 4 kids.
And I still can’t believe it… but we do…
And I love my kids… and they’re great… and adorable…
And each of them are a gift from God… most of the time.
But I never cease to be amazed…
by how much they think… they know…
about pretty much… everything.
Like… they think they know… what they should eat… each day…
And they think… they know when they should go to sleep at night…
And they think they know… what’s good for them…
And they wanna make all of the decisions…
And they’re always right…
and mom and dad… are always wrong…
And lately… they’ve been saying… “Well… when I become a parent…
I’m gonna do... fill in the blank.
And in this moment… I usually just start praying…
God, give me self-control!
But they truly think… and they believe…
that they know what will make them happy…
when the truth is… they don’t have a clue.
Like… they’re completely clueless.
You see… my kids… if they could… even if it was 40 below outside…
they would wear shorts… every single day.
And they would never go to sleep… ever…
And they would play video games… for hours…
And they would only eat Halloween candy…
Like every meal… they would only eat candy.
I mean… seriously… left to themselves…
if they were lucky… they would survive… for a few hours…
and yet… again… they think that they know everything…
and everything.
and they’re not afraid to voice their opinion…
And the only people…that I’ve met…
who are worse than kids…
are all of us… grown adults… right?
I mean… like kids… we seem to think…
we know everything… about everything…
And we’re the most enlightened we’ve ever been…
And we seem to think... that we know what’s good for us…
And we wanna make all the decisions…
And we’re always right…
and everyone else is always wrong…
Especially on Facebook…
It’s like we’re so smart…
that have to share our wisdom.
Hashtag… thank God the election is over!
No but seriously… we talk… like we know….
exactly… what will make us happy…
when once again…
the truth is… we are so clueless.
Like we don’t have a clue.
I mean… if we truly knew everything… about everything…
why are we still so broken…
And if we knew…. what was truly best for us…
and what’s good for us…
why are we still longing for something more.
And if we knew… exactly what would make us happy…
why is it… that happiness…
is so often absent from our lives…
**Now in the book of psalms… there a 150 different psalms…
and the longest one… is 119.
And psalm 119… is believed to be written by a guy named David…
David… the same David… who killed Goliath.
David… the same man… who was a king…
And he was also the guy…
who made some mistakes in his life as well.
One of those mistakes…was an affair he had…
with a lady named Bathsheba.
And so David is a guy…
who has experienced… the good, bad, and otherwise in life…
and he writes this psalm…
and there are many… who believe… that David used this psalm…
to teach his son Solomon… about life.
He used this psalm… 119…
to teach his son… about how to live…
And I just picture this Dad… sitting with his kid…
and he’s trying to explain to him…
what to avoid… and what to hold on to…
what he should do…
and what he shouldn’t do in life
And I just picture this dad… saying to his son:
son, I love you…
and I care for you…
and if you want to live a good… and happy life…
here is how you do it.
**And so at this time…
I’d just encourage us to open up our Bibles… to Psalm 119…
You can use the Bible on your phone… on your ipad
and don’t worry at all… if you don’t have a Bible.
But again… it’s psalm 119.
And reading the first 2 verses… here is what it says:
It says: Those whose way…
**Again… It says… those whose way is blameless…
those who have integrity in their life…
and those who walk in the Lord’s Instruction....
Basically… those who listen to the Lord… are what?
They are truly happy!
They’re blessed…
Their lives are filled with joy!
And verse 2… those who guard God’s laws…
those who obey His instructions…
and follow through…
with what God says
Again… they are happy…
They seek God will all of their heart.
**And so… once more…
**And so… once more…
just to break this down for us… even further…
here’s this dad… David… and he’s talking with his son about life…
and about how to live…
And what’s the very first thing… he says…
He says… those who listen to God… and do as He says…
They are truly happy.
David’s like: son… listen…
Trust me… I’ve been a king…
And I’ve had power… and wealth… and fame
And unfortunately… I’ve had an affair…
And I’ve tried it all
But son… if you want to be happy…
I mean… if you truly want to have joy in your life…
Not surface level happiness…
or a cheap thrill…
but true joy…
If you want to be happy…
seek… and pursue God… with your whole heart. doing what he tells you to do.
**And so David says to his son….
and here’s the truth…
God approaches us…
and He says the same exact things to us.
I mean… He says… if you truly want to be happy…
if you wanna have joy in your life…
Listen to me… and follow my instructions…
If you want to be happy… in all areas…
When it comes to your dating life… and marriage…
When it comes to your finances…
When it comes to your goals… and desires….
When it comes to your decisions…
and choices…
When it comes to your life as a whole…
Just trust me… and listen to me…
and follow my instructions….
and seek… and pursue me… with your whole heart. and you will be… happy.
**Okay so this is great and everything…
but maybe you’re here today… and you’re just like…
Okay… so just being honest…
this whole instructions… thing.
doesn’t really sound… all that great…
And I’m guy… so I’m not very good with instructions…
and following instructions…
And God’s laws… if I’m being honest…
sounds… kinda terrible actually...
And maybe growing up… all the rules… and instructions…
is actually what turned you away from God…
Because for you…. being a Christian…
just seemed to be about following rules…
And I couldn’t do this…
And I shouldn’t do that…
And I had to do whatever…
otherwise… I’m a terrible person.
It was just about checking a bunch of boxes…
And there wasn’t any joy… or happiness in it at all.
and honestly… being a Christian…
just made you feel bad about yourself.
And there were some people… who seemed to do everything right…
And they checked all the boxes….
And yet they were jerks…
I mean… supposedly they followed God…
but they didn’t seem to be…
much like Jesus.
and they were just arrogant punks…
Or maybe for you… being a Christian… was just a ritual….
Ya know… just get baptized as a kid…
And make it through confirmation….
And go to church every so often…
And don’t drive your mom nuts.
And supposedly you’re good to go…
But it all… just seemed so empty…
and meaningless….
And pointless….
and at some point you just walked away...
from God and church and everything.
And I know I’ve said it a bunch…
But growing up myself… it just always seemed like Christians…
were boring and miserable people
just super serious and uptight…
and all I could think is if... this is what it means to be a Christian…
if you have to be miserable…
I don’t want to be one.
**And so again… following God’s rules and instructions…
might sound horrible…
and maybe… we grew up… seeing terrible examples…
and we honestly…
maybe heard a bunch of crap…
But here is what we so often miss…
Listen to this last phrase from David once more…
He says… you wanna know who’s truly happy…
The person…
who seeks… God… with all of their heart.
You wanna know who’s happy…
Yes, it’s the one who follows God’s laws…
but it’s so much more than that.
You see… God’s not just looking for us to follow a bunch of rules…
It’s actually not about rules… and instructions… at all.
Instead… God is looking for our heart…
He wants us to know Him…
and to love Him… with all our heart….
And here’s the truth…
when we begin to love God… and we begin to pursue Jesus…
with our whole heart…
Just like David… hear this…
we’ll begin to want… to follow His instructions.
Again… when we begin to pursue Jesus…
When we begin to run after Jesus…
When we begin to fall in love with God…
and we realize… that He’s our father…
and that He only wants what’s best for us…
all of sudden… we’ll begin to want…
to follow His instructions…
and we’ll want… to listen to Him…
and we won’t have to…
and you won’t have to convince us…
instead… we’ll want to do…
as exactly He says.
And when we do… guess what?
It’s in this moment…
that we’ll begin… to truly be… happy.
Once more… when we begin… to seek God with our whole heart…
when we begin to love Jesus… will all that that we are…
We’ll begin to want… to follow His ways…
We’ll begin to want…
to listen to His instructions…
And when we do… we will begin to be happy.
**You see… God’s instructions…
are not miserable… and they’re not restricting at all…
Instead they’re good… and they’re freeing…
And they bring joy… and happiness into our lives…
and David knows this…
And that’s why he’s telling his son….
And that’s why God… is telling us.
I mean… starting in verse 44… listen to what David says…
He says: Lord, I will always… (read)
*Basically… Lord… I wanna follow your instructions… always…
and because of this…
I will walk around… in wide open spaces…
which reminds me of the Dixie Chicks.
No but seriously…
Lord, I will walk around in wide open spaces…
because I’ve listened to you.
David’s making it clear… Lord… your ways… and your instructions…
are not a burden…
and they don’t lead… to a boring miserable life…
and they’re not restricting…
and life-less… at all.
Instead… when we love Jesus….
and we follow His ways…
what we find is freedom…
and goodness…
and joy…
and we are… happy.
**And now for today… I feel like…
there’s maybe 1 of 2 things… that we each need to hear.
I mean… for some of us… just like we said….
Maybe we grew up…
and all we ever heard about God… and church…
was only about the rules… and the instructions…
and the rituals.
I mean… all we ever heard…
is that we should and shouldn’t do…
Like don’t party… and no boomshakalaka
And go to church… and never miss mass.
And no swearing… and don’t gossip…
Again… maybe we grew up…
only hearing about the rules… and the ritual…
and if that’s us… today…
I just wanna encourage us to focus on:
seeking God…and loving Jesus.
and so today… and this week…
Maybe it’s just talking with God… throughout our day.
Just saying: Jesus, I wanna know you more…
and Jesus, I wanna love you…
And I wanna know how much… you love me.
And God… help me to understand…
that your love… isn’t based on how good or bad I am…
And you’re not wanting me…
just to do a bunch of things.
Instead you want me to follow you…
You want me to trust you…
and You want me to seek you… with my whole heart.
And Jesus… would you help me to realize…
that true joy… and happiness…
is only found in you… and following you.
And it’s possible… that we’re here today…
And we’ve never even heard… that we could know God…
And we’ve maybe… just never heard about a relationship with Jesus…
which is the most important thing…
And so if that’s us… today… I’d just encourage us… maybe to pray:
Jesus I want you in my life….
And I grew up in the church…
following the rules and going through the motions…
but starting today… Jesus I want a relationship with you.
and starting today... I want to know you Lord.
**And so again… maybe for some of us…
we grew up… only hearing about God’s rules and whatever…
while for others of us… it was the complete opposite.
I mean… maybe we didn’t grow up in the church… at all…
And we’ve just started following Jesus recently…
And we’ve asked Jesus into our lives…
And we’re just like… now what?
And it’s like… Jesus I love you…
but what do I do from here.
And how do you want me to live?
And God, I just wanna know…
what will truly make me happy.
Or maybe we grew up…
and all we ever heard about… was God’s love… and His grace…
which is great…
but we never heard… that like a good parent…
He loves us enough to tell us the hard truth.
Like a good parent… who tells their kid… even though it looks fun….
not to run… in the middle of the street...
Like a parent who tells their kids… that they can’t eat Halloween candy…
for every single meal…
God… He loves us enough… to speak into our lives…
And yet maybe we’re here…
and we just don’t know what He says…
And we just don’t know His ways…
And we just don’t know… His instructions…
but we wanna know…
I mean… we truly want to know His ways…
And more about Him…
And what will truly make us happy.
And if that’s us… my challenge for us today… and this week…
is that we would… just begin to open up the Bible…
and to do so… I’m actually super excited about this…
but to do so...
we have these simple… 30 day reading plans to give you….
at all of our campuses…
they’re available out in the entryways to grab…
They’re free.
And also… if you don’t have a Bible…
We have New Testaments… our there for free as well.
But I’d really encourage us to get one of these reading plans…
It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen…
And just faithfully go through it the next 30 days…
Just to learn more about Jesus…
And the way He wants us to live.
**Now closing things up today…
this week… as I was reading through our verses…
about being happy…
and following God’s instructions…
and because of this…
“I will walk around in wide open spaces.”
The very first thing…
I thought about… was my back yard growing up…
and I’ve shared this recently…
But from 1st grade to 6th grade…
we lived on the edge of Milbank, South Dakota…
and we seriously… had the best backyard ever.
You see… my parents had 10 acres of land…
And we had this creek… that ran behind our house…
with trees along it…
and it was like a young boy’s… heaven…
And my brother Luke and I… we would go back there…
almost daily… with our bb guns…
and it was truly… awesome.
and listen to this… my parents only gave us 2 rules…
Only 2…
They said don’t cross over the river…
and also… we had to stop at both ends of our property…
And I look back now… and I’m like…
what in the world were my parents thinking…
giving 2 boys… bb guns…
and I was probably 6 when I got mine.
And then letting us explore for hours…
With only 2 rules… it’s crazy.
For my kids… I’d have like 100 rules…
But again… we had these 2 rules…
and everything else was fair game…
It was like they told me: go and explore…
Go and enjoy yourself…
Go… and just have fun.
And here’s the truth… we didn’t ever think… about the 2 rules…
I mean… the other side of the river… didn’t look very cool…
And also at times…
the river… would go pretty fast… which was dangerous…
Not to mention…
there was a family of beavers back there… in it…
and I didn’t want to get attacked…
by a family of beavers…
And on one side… of our property… there was the junk yard…
with the buffalo sized dog…
And the other side of our property…
There was a family… that was always kinda strange…
Again… we didn’t think about the rules…. Like ever.
Instead… we just trusted… that mom and dad knew best…
And that they loved us…
and who thinks about the rules…
when there’s so much…
wide open space… to explore…
I mean… how foolish would we have been…
if every day… we would have just stood… looking at junk yard…
wishing we could go into the junk yard…
when my mom and dad…
said we could… go and explore the paradise around us.
And yet this is what we so often… do with God….
Isn’t it?
It’s like… He sets a few boundaries… and He tells us to go and explore…
And all we can say is…
well God… what about the junk yard…
I mean… God… you’re just all about the rules…
And there’s so many instructions…
And you just want us to be miserable…
And He tells us to trust Him… and to go and be happy…
exploring… all of his goodness…
While we’re standing…. looking at the junk yard….
telling God… but God that’s…
what’s good for me.
And God you’re foolish… and you’re wrong…
And you’re stupid…
And you’re outdated…
And your Bible’s garbage…
Because I know what’s best…
And the junk yard…
That… is what will make me happy.
**Again… today… God… He comes to each of us…
like a father to a son….
And he says: if you truly want to be happy…
if you wanna have joy in your life…
Listen to me… and follow my instructions…
Just trust me… and listen to me…
and seek… and pursue me… with your whole heart. and you will be… happy.
Let’s pray.
