Sept. 5, 2024

Have You Found Significance?

Have You Found Significance?

A look at the phrase, finding significance

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A look at the phrase, finding significance

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

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This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central.

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Good afternoon everyone. It is Wednesday, September fourth, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently five h five pm Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. The year was

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nineteen eighty seven. Nineteen eighty seven, it was New Music Day.

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I walked into a record store and there it was

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the brand new album by the band YouTube, The brand

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new album by the band YouTube. And I was like, oh,

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I cannot wait to take this home and let's I

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had been a YouTube fan all the way from their

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first album I had anytime. I had friends who hated

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them at the time and their early albums. In fact,

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I had one time I had put it. I know

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this is dating myself, but I had put the cassette

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and the cassette player in the car and someone ejected

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the cassette and threw it out the window. Was like, YouTube,

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it's trash. They're garbage. I'm like, yeah, you say that.

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Now when they become the biggest band in the world,

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you can apologize to me and by my okay, all right. Yeah,

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I did get a little frustrated by it, but yes,

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they then became the band everyone knew YouTube, right, remember YouTube?

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Yeah you do? Okay, right, all right. Well in nineteen

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eighty seven, when I was listening to that new album,

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well I remember these lyrics. I have climbed the highest mountain.

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I've run through the fields only to be with you.

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I have run, I have crawled, I've scaled these city walls,

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these city walls, only to be with you. But I

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still haven't found what I'm looking for. But I still

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haven't found what I'm looking for. I have kissed honey lips,

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felt the healing in her fingertips. It burned like fire,

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this burning desire. I've spoke with the tongue of angels.

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I've held the hand of a devil. It was warm

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in the night, I was cold as a stone. But

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I still haven't found what I'm looking for. But I

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still haven't found what I'm looking for. I believe in

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the kingdom. Come then all the colors will bleed into one,

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bleed into one. But yes, I'm still running. You broke

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the bonds, and you loose the chains buried the cross

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of my shame. You know I believe it, but I

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still haven't found what I'm looking for. Do you remember

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that song by You Two from the album Joshua Tree?

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Do you.

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That song had a profound impact on me? The whole

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album did? The album was just powerful? The album was beautiful.

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I probably have. I know at some point I had

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numerous notebooks where I was just listening to the album

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just you know, stream of consciousness, just writing down whatever,

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because that song really captured even though at that time

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I think I'd already made a profession of faith, so

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I believe I was a Christian at the time, and

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but yet I felt like, in some ways I still

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haven't found what I'm looking for. Yeah, yeah, I believe

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you carried my cross. I believe you carried my shame.

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But have I have I found what I'm looking for?

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What am I looking for? Look? How do you define it?

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What should it be? What should it feel like? Should

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this be everything? I was still trying to process that,

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and of course I was a teenager at the times,

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you know, teenage angst and trying to figure out life.

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And of course, you know, we won't get into everything

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going on in my life at the time, but to

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say it was a dumpster fire, train wreck, you know,

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a nuclear explosion, you know, the apocalypse, what, however, armageddon?

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I mean, I don't know if there's any words strong

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enough to describe how bad things were going. But I

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still haven't found what I'm looking for. But what are

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we looking for? What should we be looking for? What

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should we hope to find? What do we want to find?

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Now?

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The reason I'm kind of putting forth this idea is

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a little while ago. Well, I was kind of sitting here.

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I've kind of been I haven't really accomplished a lot today,

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but there's been a little bit like Okay, so I

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did the earlier broadcast. I still haven't found what I'm

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looking for because that didn't really go very well and

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I didn't really like it, and it was up to me.

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I was going to delete it, but I'm like, I

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went like, I don't know, fifty minutes. I'm like, do

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I delete fifty minutes of work simply because I don't

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like it? I'm like, well, you know, yeah, Well I've

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got other things I want to do, and I've got

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the Indiana Fever game. I definitely want to watch that. Okay,

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So but I need what am I looking for I

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need to accomplish, I need to do something today, Right.

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You just sometimes you know, you just don't feel I

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don't know what you're supposed to feel, right, So I

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just kind of said here and I kind of opened

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my Bible and I'm like, well, you know, well I

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don't really know. I know what I'll do. You know,

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it's the sermons two point oh app sermon challenge. Let

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me grab the sermon's two point oh app because that's

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something I need to do today. Let's click tap on

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my feed tab. And then I saw finding and I'm

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like finding what Okay, well, I mean the word is there,

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but I was like, hm, have I ever found that?

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What does it sound like to find that? So then

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I was looking. I'm like, well, maybe I should listen

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to a little bit of this. And then I'm like, well,

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I don't know. Well, oh wait, this is from Pensacola

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Christian College. Remember I told everyone school's back in session,

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So go listen and find every Christian college, Christian university,

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and seminary and the sermon's two point oh app and

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follow them so your feed is filled with all of

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the college and university messages. And then I know this

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was the Pensacola Christian College opening convocation, and I'm like, oh, okay,

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so this, so this is right there, all right? What what?

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What?

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So?

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What do they want the students to know? Well, obviously

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it sounds like they want the students to find something,

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to find that to find what they're looking for, and

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maybe what they're actually looking for is well real is it?

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Do you want to hear how how it went down? Okay?

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Or I'm not going to try to review all of this,

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but we're gonna review some of the The next thing

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that kind of caught my attention was the text. The

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text was Ruth, chapter one, verse sixteen. I'm like, wait

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a minute, Ruth one sixteen. Okay. I've definitely taught through

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the Book of Ruth multiple times. In fact, I think

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I think some people have said that that's one of

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the favorite studies I've ever done, is on the Book

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of Ruth. So maybe we'll have to dig back into that. Maybe, maybe,

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I mean I think that could be. Maybe that's something

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we'll put on the table. We still have a lot

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things to do in the Book of Romans with the

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there fours, we still need to finish eschatology, So but

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maybe we can do something with that. So I'm like, Okay, well,

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I know the book pretty good? Is the book about

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finding that? Hmmm, I don't know. Let's see how it sounded.

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So let's go to Pensacola Christian College for the for

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the opening convocation of Fall twenty twenty four. This was

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posted today. Here we go.

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Of the Doxology by the PCC student body begins Pensacola

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Christian College Chapel. At each chapel service, students have an

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opportunity to receive spiritual exhortation and enrichment during a time

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of music and meditation on God's work. This podcast shares

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selected recent chapel messages from guest speakers, faculty, and staff.

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Welcome to the PCC Chapel Podcast.

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Now we talked about chapel services and what should they

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be there for. Are they a spiritual pep rally? Are

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they to exhort? Are they to teach? Should they be mandatory?

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Remember we had a lot of those conversations. But we're

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not going to talk about that now because well, we're

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trying to find out what we're looking for and have

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we founded and is this what we should find well?

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And what is okay let's just see what happened.

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I want you to open your bible to the Book

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of Ruth this morning, the Book of Ruth, and we're

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just going to read one verse and then talk a

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bit about this great story, you know, the story. I

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don't want you to tune out what an exciting story

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it is. But I want to read what I think

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is the most important verse in.

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The entire book a Ruth, chapter number one.

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Now, this is interesting that he believes Ruth one, verse

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sixteen is the most important verse of the book. Hmm,

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that's interesting. Now is it the most important verse in

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the book because it's the verse you're going to use

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for your sermon or from a just from a like

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you you you take the book apart, would would this

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verse be the most important verse? I found that somewhat interesting.

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But let's let's see. He's going to read it and

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then he's gonna he's gonna talk here.

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A little bit, and I want you to look at

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verse number sixteen Ruth chapter one and verse number sixteen.

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Ruth is responding to.

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Naomi's plea for her to return back to Moab and

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not to go with Naomi to Bethlehem. And watch what

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Ruth says in verse number sixteen. And Ruth said, entreat

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me not to leave thee. Quit telling me to go.

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Entreat me not to leave THEE or to return from

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following after THEE. And watch what Ruth says. Now, For

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whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest

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I will lodge.

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I'm going to go where you go. I'm going to

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live where you live.

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Look at verse number sixteen again, thy people shall be

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my people. And then here it is the most important

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decision that Ruth ever made in her life is the

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last part of verse sixteen where she says, and thy

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God my God.

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So here's where Ruth, who's part.

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Of a country and a religion that's polytheistic, now makes

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a decision that Jehovah, God, the God of Israel, the

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God of Naomi, is my God. And I would just

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say that that's the most important decision you'll ever make

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in your life. When you make a decision personally to

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embrace God God the Son Jesus Christ as your personal savior,

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that's your most important decision.

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Look at verse number seventeen.

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Now, before we move on to verse seventeen, I would

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point out that many people are many pastors, or maybe

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it's the couple itself. But this verse is used a

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lot for weddings. Right and Ruth said, and treat me

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not to leave thee or to return from following after thee.

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For whether thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest,

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I will lie, and thy people shall be my people,

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and thy God my God. Many people believe that's a

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perfect text for a wedding, for a marriage, it really

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describes the way it's supposed to be. You could, I mean,

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maybe it could. It would be a worthy discussion should

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that verse be used. Is it to be used to

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describe a marriage? Is that what it's really about? Is

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that an appropriate application? We could have that conversation. But okay,

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we want to know and still still haven't found what

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I'm looking for? And he is using this about us

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finding something. What are we trying to find? Let's see?

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Is it finding God? Is it finding salvation?

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Where thou diest? Will I die? And there will I

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be buried? The Lord? Do so to me? And more?

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Also if aught but death part THEE and me?

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You know, we read these Old Testament stories and I

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love the Old Testament.

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By the way, I really do.

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I think the reason I like the Old Testament is

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because it's full of stories. I love stories. I've never

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gotten over stories. I just I love stories. And the

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Bible actually tells us in the New Testament that we're

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supposed to look back at the stories of the Old

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Testament and learn lessons. We're supposed to do that. Whatsoever

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things we're written before time, we're written for our learning.

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Paul told us in Romans chapter fifteen, and then James

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told us and James chapter five that were to take

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my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name

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of the Lord as an example. So when we look

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at the Old Testament, I do.

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I love stories. I love storytelling. I love to see

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how a story is structured. I like who's the protagonist,

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the antagonist. I like to see how it's structured, the story, art,

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character development. I love it all. That's why I love

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to analyze movies, analyze a television program. Hey that I

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mean some people people hate it. But that's why I

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love professional wrestling, because it is storytelling and real time

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in front of a live audience, with no CGI, no stuntmen.

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They have to do it all right there, But they're

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telling a story. There's a story. There's a story outside

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of the ring that explains why they're getting in the ring,

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and then then in the ring, the entire match is

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a story. There's a story being told. Some people catch

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on to the storytelling, some people don't, but it's a story.

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I love the stories in the Bible.

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Now.

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The only thing I get sometimes bothered by with preachers

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or Christianity with the stories of the Bible is one

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I believe in many cases they take the story, then

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they almost embellish add to you know, like you know

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the chosen television show. Okay, okay, but they and I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

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where are you going with that? And because the preacher

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gets going because he kind of reads the story, then

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he kind of retells the story. But when he retells,

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he adds maybe humor or drama or emotion, and sometimes

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the story almost turns into something that I don't think

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is necessarily true to the text. I am guilty of that.

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I think every preacher is guilty of that. You go

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to one of these Old Testament stories and now you're

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gonna you're gonna read it, but then you're gonna start

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talking about it, You're gonna basically retell it, and you're

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going to add, you know, because you're trying to pull

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the people in. The only problem is how much do

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you add before you actually do damage to it. You're

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and it's hard to find that balance because at the

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same time you just read it, you don't want to

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just sit there in a monotone way going, well, we

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just read about what happened, and this is what happened

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bullet point number one, just like you want to. You

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wanna then try to capture the emotion of it. But

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it's it's hard to find that ballance. So that's one

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thing that sometimes bothers me about how Christianity handles the

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story and the stories. But the other thing is sometimes

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they take these stories that is just being descriptive. It's

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just simply describing what happens, and then the next thing,

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you know, so we rip it out of its context

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and it's somehow about us, right, marching around Jericho is

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not about Israel marching around a city with real walls.

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It's about you and me marching around our problem seven

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times and blowing the trumpet so out our problems crashed

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to the ground and you're like, what are you talking about?

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And so many times now it's you and I. We're David,

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and we're fighting the goliath in your life and you

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just got to get those smooth stones and have faith

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and swing your slingshot and boom, you can take down

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the chat. Well where did I end up in the story?

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And how did Goliath become my problem? Or the walls

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of Jericho? That kind of stuff drives me absolutely totally insane.

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The scriptures, the stories there are not for me just

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to hijack them and make me the star of the

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story and now recast the story into basically my own

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image in my own life. Preachers love doing that nonsense.

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I don't know why the people in the pew I'll

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allow it or celebrate it or applaud it, or think

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it's saying amen to it, because somebody should be like,

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wait a minute, I'm not David. My problem isn't Goliath. Okay, stop,

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all right. So there's things I do hate about the stories.

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Not let me rephrase it. I don't hate the stories.

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I hate what people do to the stories, and I

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hate the things I have done to the stories in

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my past as well. But what we want to know

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is okay in Ruth, What do we find? What are

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we supposed to find?

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It is wise for us to look at the entire

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life story of.

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The particular person. For instance, we can look.

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At Jacob's story, or look at Isaiah's story, or look

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at Daniel's story. Now, I know that when we read

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the Bible, we tend to take four or five or

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maybe ten.

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Or fifteen verse sections and preach through them.

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And that's typically what I do. We call that expository preaching.

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A big fan of that.

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But sometimes what we need to do when we read

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the Bible is just read large sections so that we

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can see how it all connects. And that's what I

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want to do today.

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Now, Now, that's that's I do agree with that. Sometimes

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we do need to read large sections so we don't

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so miss you know, we're looking at one tree and

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we're missing the forest. Right, Sometimes we miss the forest

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because of the tree, and we just look at the

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Sometimes you're going to look at the big picture and

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see how it connects. I completely agree with that. I

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think that's great advice. I think that's awesome all right,

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But what what what are we finding? What are we

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finding now? Listen carefully. This is I think this is

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exactly where it shows up in this because I listened

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to just a few minutes of this and when he

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said this part, this is the when I was like, Okay,

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I know what I'm going to do now. And immediately

330
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when he said it, I was like, you two, I

331
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still haven't found what I'm looking for. Immediately it all

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connected in my brain. Or right here we go.

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Now we're not going to read a large section, but

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I want to tell you the story. I want to

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tell you the story. I want to tell you the

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story of Ruth. Four chapters law, And in each chapter

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there is a significant principle that we can learn, am I.

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And so in each chapter there's a significant principle we

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can learn, all right? Is that what he means about

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finding something? He's getting ready to tell us about finding something?

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Is it about finding a significant point in each chapter?

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And Ruth, let's just he's he's going to use a

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different phrase. And this is when my brain started kind

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of going in a different direction. Right, let's listen, opinion.

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And so I want I want us to talk this

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morning about finding significance, because really that's what Ruth did.

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Ruth went from a nobody to a somebody.

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So what he wants to talk to the students about

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is about finding significance. And he says, that's what Ruth did.

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She went from a nobody to a somebody. So is

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finding significance where you go from being a nobody to

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a somebody like that? Is that what finding significance is? Hey,

353
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I found significance. I was a nobody, then I started

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a podcast and I became a somebody. Is that is

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that what finding significance is? Let's see if he offers

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any kind of clarification here.

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She went from this more bodis girl who would have

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been unknown and unthought of, to somebody that was part

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of the lineage of Jesus Christ himself finding significance. That

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would be my prayer for you, And I prayed for

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you this morning. By the way, My prayer for you

362
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is that in your life you would find significance.

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Not so he prayed for the students, and he prayed

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that in their life they would find significance. So let

365
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me ask you the question, have you found what you're

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looking for? Have you found or you have? Have you

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not found what you're looking for? Have you still not

368
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found what you're looking for? Are you looking for significance?

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What is it like? Hey Lord, I prayed that the

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people listening to this podcast will find significance. I mean,

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I don't know how old you are. Have you found it?

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Have you found significance? So now I don't know if

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I exactly know what significance is here, because he basically

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said the two examples was Ruth from a nobody to somebody,

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and then she basically was a moa Bidas who became

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a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. So is

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finding significance that I that I find myself in some

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important family family lineage. Is that is my finding significance?

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I go from a nobody to a somebody? Is that

380
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what it means to find significance? That's sounds like a

381
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very I'm not saying that's what. I'm not saying that

382
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he is doing this, but it sounds to me sounds

383
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like a very worldly idea of significance or am I

384
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missing something?

385
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Not not significance the way that maybe the world looks

386
00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:21.000
at significance like being famous or being rich or being powerful,

387
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but significance in the eyes of God, significance.

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That will last for eternity.

389
00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:31.720
Okay, so he offered a little clarification. What's good because

390
00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.920
he's like, not becoming famous or something. But his first

391
00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:36.920
example was she went from a nobody to somebody but

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becoming significant in the eyes of God? How do you

393
00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:42.799
become significant in the eyes of God? Now that's really

394
00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:45.920
a little bit troubling here, right, So do I have

395
00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:50.400
to do something to become significant in the eyes of God?

396
00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:53.519
Is God sitting there, just sitting right now, He's sitting

397
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on the throne. He's like, Man, I know, okay, I

398
00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:59.839
know that person who does that Theology Central podcast. I

399
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.319
know that person who's listening to him in Georgia. I

400
00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.880
think someone else is listening in Tennessee or North Carolina.

401
00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:08.640
I don't remember all the states, but I know those

402
00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:11.640
people are listening. I need them to do something so

403
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that they will become significant in my eyes. Do we

404
00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.400
do something to become significant in God's eyes? Or does

405
00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:21.599
God make us significant in his eyes? Or are we

406
00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:27.359
just significant because of God's sovereignty and his eternal choice?

407
00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:32.200
What makes me significant in the eyes of God? Do

408
00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:35.680
I have to do something to become significant in the

409
00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:40.000
eyes of God? All right? So, oh, all right? Let's see.

410
00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:41.799
Let's see how he if he says any more to

411
00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:44.440
clarify this this part, I haven't heard any of this part.

412
00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:48.920
Significance that will matter when we look back at your

413
00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.160
life one hundred years from now or two hundred years

414
00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:54.279
from now and say that life mattered. So how is

415
00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.319
it that we find significance?

416
00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:01.480
Okay, so you need to find significance. So if you

417
00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:03.119
look back in your life in one hundred years and

418
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:07.960
two hundred years, that life meant something. Well, how do

419
00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:13.119
you define a life that meant something? Do I have

420
00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:15.079
to have a Do I have to write a book?

421
00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:21.000
Do I have to have a monument a statue? What

422
00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:23.839
do I have to do that my life meant something?

423
00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:28.440
Do I need to have created a great business? Do

424
00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:32.599
I have to have leave generational wealth behind? What do

425
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:37.680
I have to do that my life meant something? Now?

426
00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:39.039
Are you still looking for?

427
00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:39.240
This?

428
00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:41.400
Is this the thing we're still I still haven't found

429
00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:44.240
what I'm looking for. I need to find significance. Well,

430
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:47.000
you know, the lead singer of YouTube of Bono, I'm

431
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:50.039
assuming he found it, since you know YouTube is now

432
00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:52.440
you know viewed one of the you know, very significant

433
00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:54.759
band in the history of music. So did he find

434
00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:58.920
what he was looking for? I don't know. Is that significance?

435
00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:01.160
So got to be I gotta find a way to

436
00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:04.400
be significant in the eyes of God and basically be

437
00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.079
able to have a life when I look back one

438
00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:09.119
hundred years from now that life meant something. But who

439
00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:13.039
gets to define if the life meant something? Is it God?

440
00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:19.039
Or wherever you are this morning, whoever you are this morning?

441
00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:23.880
How can I find significance? And Father, that's our question,

442
00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:27.359
that's the question burning in our hearts. That's the question

443
00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:30.519
we're seeking an answer for. And so I pray that

444
00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:34.559
in these moments that we have allocated for this chapel service,

445
00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:38.359
that you would help us to discover that answer. Lord,

446
00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:41.759
may we see in a poignant way the story of Ruth,

447
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:46.920
and Lord may her story. May her story superimposed upon ours,

448
00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:52.000
so that we can learn lessons about true biblical significance.

449
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:57.839
And I asked this in Jesus' name. Amen? All right?

450
00:25:57.880 --> 00:25:59.960
So I want you to write down, if you take notes,

451
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:05.039
right down, the phrase true biblical significance. What is a

452
00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:12.160
life that meets the definition of true biblical significance? If

453
00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:16.119
you were to find to compile of Versus, right, that

454
00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:19.720
you could then use to define what is true biblical significance.

455
00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:23.359
What versues would you pull from? Like this concept of

456
00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.880
true biblical significance? This is kind of now. See now

457
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:35.160
I'm curious, like, Lord, help us find significance, true biblical significance. Well,

458
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.599
what do I have to do to find it? What

459
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:39.559
do I have to do to get it? What do

460
00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:41.720
I have to do to obtain it? What do I

461
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:43.039
have to do to keep it?

462
00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:45.559
It sounds like I'm going to have to do something,

463
00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:50.880
all right, So where does the story begin? It begins

464
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.240
this way ready, once upon a time, because that's the

465
00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:57.240
way all good stories begin. Once upon a time, there

466
00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:00.480
was a man by the name of a Limelech. Matter

467
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.000
of fact, that name means God is my King. And

468
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:05.440
so no doubt his parents wanted him to be somebody

469
00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:08.799
that followed God, somebody that honored God, somebody that made

470
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.079
good choices for God. But Elimelech lived at a time

471
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.519
called the time of the Judges. And unfortunately, during the

472
00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:17.960
time of the Judges, the Bible says that every man

473
00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.559
did that which is right in his own eyes. That's

474
00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:23.400
a bad thing, because there is a way which seems right.

475
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.559
Unto a man but the end thereof are the ways

476
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:27.880
of death. And so Olimelech was faced with a choice.

477
00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:30.839
You see, what was happening is the economy was really bad.

478
00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:34.680
I mean grocery store prices were skyrocket. I mean things

479
00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:37.119
were bad and there was no heavy cream available. I

480
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:40.519
mean things were really really bad in Bethlehem. And so

481
00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:45.200
Elimelech instead of trusting God Elimok, instead of realizing that

482
00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:48.759
this was part of God's teaching and training of the

483
00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:52.599
nation who had turned away from him. Instead, Elimelech decided

484
00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.880
to run. And that's always a bad thing when troubles come,

485
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:58.920
it's always bad to run. Turn to God, but don't run,

486
00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.519
and took his wife, Naomi, took us two boys, Maylon

487
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:07.480
and Killion, and they left town. Ironically, the town they

488
00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.440
left was Bethlehem, which means house of bread, and of

489
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:13.599
course we know Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus.

490
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:19.880
Now the question is is was it wrong for Alimelech

491
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:25.839
to leave Bethlehem. Did he have some specific scriptural, biblical,

492
00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:34.599
philological God revealed revelation do not leave? Now the fact

493
00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:37.319
that he went to Moab, would there have been a

494
00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:41.119
biblical prohibition to go to Moab. Now remember we're in

495
00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:47.839
the Book of Ruth. All right, so we've read numbers, Deuteronomy, Okay, Exodus,

496
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.119
is are there laws there that would prohibit them from

497
00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:56.200
going to Moab? Those are questions I would have. But

498
00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:59.920
how do I find significance in this? Let's see, Well,

499
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:02.000
we're gonna we're not gonna listen to all of this.

500
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:06.440
It's called finding significance Pensacola Christian College. You can find

501
00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:08.160
it on the sermon's two point Oh app so at

502
00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:10.160
some point you may we may come back to this.

503
00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:12.920
I'm trying to just get us to define what is significance,

504
00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:17.799
What is biblical significance? What is biblical significance? And how

505
00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:19.799
do I find it? How do I get it?

506
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:22.960
So what does a littuck do?

507
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:26.799
He makes a really, really bad choice, and the choice

508
00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:30.400
is compoundedly bad because he goes to Moab, a place

509
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:34.119
where God said don't go there. That's a troubled place,

510
00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.880
don't go there. And so aliminck I mean expressly goes

511
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.200
to the place that God says don't.

512
00:29:39.880 --> 00:29:41.559
Go there, like many of us do.

513
00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:44.519
Like many of us make choices in our life and

514
00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:46.640
we know it's the wrong choice and we know it's

515
00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:48.599
the wrong place, and we do it anyway.

516
00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:49.799
That's what a Liminit did.

517
00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:53.079
So he shows up in Moab, and no doubt Elimink

518
00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:55.240
is thinking, I'm just gonna be here for a while.

519
00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:56.519
I'm just so journing.

520
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.440
This is not permanent, and I'm gonna insulate my children.

521
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.400
I'm not going to allow them to get involved in

522
00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:03.400
bullbikee culture.

523
00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.079
Let's just assume they had. He had the very best

524
00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:06.640
of motives.

525
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:12.559
Again, when you tell the story God told, did God

526
00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:15.680
tell Alimilk or is alimit like supposed to know? Was

527
00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:19.400
this common revelation? Where was the revelation given? Like there's

528
00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:24.640
lots of questions here, But sometimes when you're constructing the story, well, hey, Olimolek,

529
00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:27.480
maybe the bad choice. He went where God told him

530
00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:29.200
not to go? Did God tell him not to go?

531
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:33.039
Like I mean, sometimes when you step back into this,

532
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:35.920
just remember people weren't walking around carrying a phone where

533
00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:37.880
they could look up scripture. Okay, hey, guys, we have

534
00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.519
a famine or we have we have a famine in

535
00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:43.119
the land, we could possibly starve. All right, where do

536
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:46.200
we go? Hey, guys, pull out your blue letter Bible

537
00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:48.920
app and let's look at the name of all the

538
00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.720
locations around us, and see if God has said anything

539
00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:55.240
specifically about these places. That's how the way we always

540
00:30:55.319 --> 00:31:00.000
treat the Old Testament characters. Hey, why didn't the Bible says?

541
00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:02.440
How come they didn't know? Did they even have a

542
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:05.799
copy of it? Okay, right now, you maybe for if

543
00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:08.200
you want to paint a spiritual picture, I understand. I

544
00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:10.519
think we just sometimes have to at least be fair

545
00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:14.640
with the story. But okay, but.

546
00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:18.039
The fact is, Elimelek died. He died.

547
00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:22.720
See, the predecision became the decision. He got to Moab

548
00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:26.039
and he died. Now he can't superintend his children. Now

549
00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:28.640
we can't guard them. And what do they do? They

550
00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:32.680
make really bad choices. And here's what happens. Maylon and Killion,

551
00:31:32.759 --> 00:31:36.039
the two sons of ALMANI like they marry Moabite girls.

552
00:31:36.599 --> 00:31:41.119
That is the absolute wrong thing to do. Never should

553
00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:44.279
a Christian young person marry somebody outside the faith.

554
00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:48.319
Never should a Christian young person marry outside of the faith.

555
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:51.799
You should not engage in evangelistic dating. I'm gonna date

556
00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:54.160
somebody in hopes that he'll be saved. You should not

557
00:31:54.279 --> 00:31:57.880
engage in discipleship dating. I'm gonna I'm gonna date somebody

558
00:31:57.920 --> 00:31:59.480
in hopes that she'll get right with God.

559
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:00.720
No, no, no, no, no.

560
00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:03.599
Make sure that the person that you date, the person

561
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:06.759
that you marry one day, is already a full time

562
00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:10.400
committed follower of God. But Maylan and a Chilleon did

563
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:14.160
not do that. They married, respectively, bull bye girls. One

564
00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:17.079
married a girl by the name of Orpah and another

565
00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:18.960
married a girl by the name of Ruth.

566
00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.920
And here's what happened. Both boys died.

567
00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:27.559
This was obviously part of the judgment of God. Maybe

568
00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.640
some kind of a genetic problem in the male line

569
00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:32.920
of the family. But whatever it was, now you have illiminlac.

570
00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:36.759
He's dead now, all right.

571
00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:43.839
So this is judgment from God. So if someone dies,

572
00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:48.119
judgment from God. So did my mother die when I

573
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:50.559
was a teenager because it was a judgment from God?

574
00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:56.599
Did my father die because it was judgment from God?

575
00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:00.319
Did the four people killed today in Georgia? Was it

576
00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:06.160
a judgment from God that they were shot and killed? Hey? Hey,

577
00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:09.480
they these these these these No wait a minute, these

578
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:12.359
were the sons, right, okay? So in the name and

579
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:14.079
they know the man was a limelech and the name

580
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:17.200
of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons,

581
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:20.440
Maelon and Chilean or Killian. I guess I get. I

582
00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:23.480
think it gets the case down. Now, wait a minute,

583
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:26.079
there were the sons. Did they not have to go

584
00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:29.000
where their father took them? But now they're being judged

585
00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:32.839
and killed by God? Hey, you should have never went.

586
00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:40.000
I mean, that's a radical if does the text say.

587
00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:47.920
That they were being judged by God? Now you have Maelon,

588
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:52.559
he's dead. Now you have Killian, he's dead, and now

589
00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:57.119
you have three widows. Think about that, three widows. You

590
00:33:57.160 --> 00:34:01.119
have Naomi, you have Ruth, and you or book. They'd

591
00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:04.000
been there ten years. Can you imagine how depressing that

592
00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:06.920
must have been. Ten years they had been there, and

593
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:10.920
to add insult to injury. One day, Naomi's reading them

594
00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:14.119
all by times. She's looking at the lead article and

595
00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:18.559
it says the economy is booming in Bethlehem, And no

596
00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:22.039
doubt she's thinking, if I had just stayed, if we

597
00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:23.239
had just trusted.

598
00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:26.239
God, then none of this would have befallen me and I.

599
00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:32.280
So if they would have just stayed, none of these

600
00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:38.119
people would have died. That's a massive assumption. Hey, if

601
00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.440
they would have just stayed. No one would, because no

602
00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:43.280
one ever died in Bethlehem, no one.

603
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.920
Honestly, Naomi became really, really bitter. I preached a whole

604
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:56.440
message on the Naomi syndrome about the bitterness in Naomi's life.

605
00:34:56.599 --> 00:34:58.639
And so Naomi said, I've got to go back home.

606
00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:01.800
There's nothing for me in Moab. I'm going back home.

607
00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:03.239
Well guess what happens.

608
00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:08.480
She and Orpah and Ruth they packed, They packed their bags.

609
00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:09.599
They load the camel.

610
00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:12.199
It's a double humped camel because women have a lot

611
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:15.840
of stuff. And I mean, guys, when you packed for college,

612
00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:18.480
I mean you kind of threw things into a suitcase.

613
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:22.119
You figured there's Walmarts in Pensacola and you just win. Girls,

614
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:25.320
you've been packing for like nine years. Okay, So just

615
00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:26.760
I'm not I'm just saying.

616
00:35:27.079 --> 00:35:30.880
So here's Naomi. Here, here's Ruth, here's Orfa. They packed

617
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:32.000
their bags, they're.

618
00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:35.639
On their way, and as they travel toward Bethlehem, Naomi

619
00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:39.280
stops and Naomi looks back at at Orpah and looks

620
00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:42.320
back at Ruth and says, girls, there's nothing in Bethlehem

621
00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:45.039
for you. You don't know the language, it's not your religion,

622
00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:47.719
it's not your home. Just go home, Just go home,

623
00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:50.119
just go back. And both of them said, no, no,

624
00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:52.760
we want to stay with you. We want to we

625
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:55.960
want to live with you. And finally Naomi says, but

626
00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:59.719
there's nothing in Bethlehem. You'll never meet a husband there.

627
00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:01.599
What do you want me to do? Get married and

628
00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:03.119
raise a sun? You'll marry him?

629
00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:04.519
That is just absurd.

630
00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:07.920
Go home? So what happens?

631
00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:09.159
Orpa goes home?

632
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:13.039
Oh, they hug, no doubt, they cry, And can I

633
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:16.440
just say this, girls, when you hug and cry like

634
00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:18.800
we guys, we don't know what to do, we just

635
00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:21.239
turn on ESPN because we really just don't know what

636
00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:22.239
to do in those moments.

637
00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:24.960
So are there hugging, crying? Orpa goes home?

638
00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:28.079
And now she turns to Ruth and says, Ruth, you're

639
00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:32.719
gonna go. Ruth said, I'm not going anywhere where you go.

640
00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:36.760
I'll go where you live. I'll live your people, my people,

641
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:37.960
You're God, my God.

642
00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:39.159
Where you die, I die?

643
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:43.280
Now, Ruth said, I am staying.

644
00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:45.960
What do we see about Ruth?

645
00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:48.480
I think, first of all, I think, first of all,

646
00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:52.480
this morning, we see that Ruth was selfless in her

647
00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:54.599
life goals she.

648
00:36:54.679 --> 00:36:59.639
Was self, I'm not necessarily figuring out how we're going

649
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:02.920
to find significance in this. I'm not I'm not really

650
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:07.639
getting where where is how do we find significance? Do

651
00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:10.639
we find? Is he getting ready to say we find

652
00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:15.760
significance by being like Ruth, I want to leave this,

653
00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:20.239
but we'll Well, I got a whole bunch of notes

654
00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:23.519
on significance, right because when I saw the word significance,

655
00:37:23.559 --> 00:37:26.920
I just started looking up things about significance, the concept

656
00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:31.599
of significance. So let's let's go a little bit further

657
00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:33.199
and see if he if he ties it back to

658
00:37:33.559 --> 00:37:37.840
his his thesis is he wants us to find significance.

659
00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:44.760
Helfless all the circumstances, said Ruth. Just it's better for

660
00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:48.400
you here, Ruth. There's more of a future for you here.

661
00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:52.119
Ruth said, that's more comfortable for you here. You know

662
00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:54.280
the language, you know the religion.

663
00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:56.599
You know the people. I mean, there's nothing for you

664
00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:57.159
over there.

665
00:37:57.280 --> 00:37:59.920
And your mother in law just told you there's no

666
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:02.960
future for you over here. There's no future to be married,

667
00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:05.679
there's no future to be loved. You'll just be an

668
00:38:05.800 --> 00:38:07.440
immigrant status your whole life.

669
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:10.480
I mean, Ruth, but you know what Ruth said.

670
00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:14.239
Ruth said, my life is not about my pleasure. My

671
00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:17.559
life is not about me. My life is about God

672
00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:20.079
and what He has for me. And I'm gonna trust

673
00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:23.320
him and I'm gonna go that way selfless in our

674
00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:24.000
life goals.

675
00:38:24.199 --> 00:38:25.320
I think that's where it starts.

676
00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:28.760
I think that's where significance starts. I think that's where

677
00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:30.679
finding significant starts.

678
00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:34.760
It starts with a not I but Christ. It starts

679
00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:37.079
with a not I not what's for me?

680
00:38:37.559 --> 00:38:42.159
But how can my life best be used for God?

681
00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:47.159
All right? So then logically, if we put this together,

682
00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:51.920
you find significance in the eyes of God. In other words,

683
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:56.559
you become significant in the eyes of God when you

684
00:38:56.599 --> 00:39:00.480
say not I but Christ. When you become self less

685
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:02.840
in your life, you don't live life for self, you

686
00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:06.519
live life for Christ. Then you become significant. See that's

687
00:39:06.599 --> 00:39:09.519
like I don't like the way this philologically is working.

688
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:12.840
I find significant. I become significant in the eyes of

689
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:16.000
God based off what I do. Like, if I don't

690
00:39:16.039 --> 00:39:18.280
do the right things, Guy's like, well, that person's not

691
00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:22.760
significant to me. That person has no significance because they

692
00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:26.519
didn't live a life of self lessness. Well, you know

693
00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:29.760
how many of us live a life of selfishness all

694
00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:32.039
of us, so there are none of us significant in

695
00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:33.800
the eyes of God? And what does it mean not

696
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:37.199
to be significant in the eyes of God? This guy's like, well,

697
00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:40.960
that person's Oh, look at that one. That's a significant one?

698
00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:48.800
Like that, that's a weird plological perspective. Isn't my significance

699
00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:52.199
in the eyes of God based off the redemption provided

700
00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:55.320
to me in Christ Jesus? And by putting my faith

701
00:39:55.360 --> 00:40:00.159
in Christ? I am in Christ. I'm i positionally, I'm

702
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:02.519
a new creature, the oldest gone, all is new. I'm

703
00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:05.280
now an adopted son of God. I am now declared

704
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:08.320
to be perfect, righteous and holy because I'm significant because

705
00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:12.719
I'm in Christ. Isn't my significance found in my positional standing?

706
00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:16.239
My significance is not found in my practical doing?

707
00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:16.679
Right?

708
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:20.119
Would that not be the correct way to understand this? Hey,

709
00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:25.880
guys like, great, Sorry, you don't live selfless? Selfless enough?

710
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:30.000
You live selfishly, Therefore you're not significant? And what does

711
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:31.920
it mean not to be significant in the eyes of God?

712
00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:37.480
And I've got to be willing to say no to

713
00:40:37.559 --> 00:40:42.199
myself first? Is that the first requisite of discipleship? Is

714
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:44.960
that not what Jesus said to his own disciples in

715
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:47.800
Matthew sixteen and verse twenty four, if any man will

716
00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:51.559
come after me, let him, let him deny himself. See,

717
00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:54.599
we live in a society that says, oh, no, feat yourself,

718
00:40:55.280 --> 00:41:01.400
appraise yourself, self adrandizement, self fulfillment, self esteem. And yet

719
00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:03.199
the Bible is the exact opposite.

720
00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:06.239
He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

721
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:11.000
And Ruth gives us a great example. Be selfless in

722
00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:15.079
your life goals. It's not about you, it's about him.

723
00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:18.280
But watch this number two and chapter number two.

724
00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:22.519
So they arrive in Bethlehem, Naomi's.

725
00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:27.480
So it sounds like it's going to be about It's

726
00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:30.559
gonna be a lot about doing things. What you do

727
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:32.960
determines if you have significance in the eyes of God.

728
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:36.639
Let's just do a little quick just a quick read

729
00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:40.119
about the concept of significance. All right, Does that make sense?

730
00:41:40.280 --> 00:41:44.159
All right? Finding significance generally refers to the process of

731
00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:49.159
identifying or discovering, discovering meaning, importance, or value in something.

732
00:41:49.719 --> 00:41:52.320
This could apply to a variety of context, such as

733
00:41:52.320 --> 00:41:56.840
interpreting events, understanding data, or recognizing the importance of certain

734
00:41:56.920 --> 00:42:03.000
experience or actions subjective experience. The idea of finding significance

735
00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:07.000
is often personal and subjective. Different people may find different

736
00:42:07.039 --> 00:42:10.679
meaning and the same event depending different meanings than the

737
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:14.480
same event, depending on their perspectives, beliefs, and experience. So

738
00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:18.519
finding significance, well, then that I don't think we would

739
00:42:18.599 --> 00:42:20.800
from a thiological perspective, we wouldn't look at it as

740
00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:24.360
something subjective, right, I may find significance in.

741
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:26.519
I see.

742
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:33.320
Is there a subjective part to it? Even theologically? I think, well,

743
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:36.119
I mean I may find significance in a certain line

744
00:42:36.159 --> 00:42:40.480
of work or in a certain vocation. That would be subjective,

745
00:42:41.360 --> 00:42:45.239
because that goes with your talents, your likes, your dislikes,

746
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:49.880
your personality. You may find significance in climbing a mountain

747
00:42:49.960 --> 00:42:52.760
and sitting on top for five minutes, going look at

748
00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:54.880
the view, and then climbing all the way back down

749
00:42:54.920 --> 00:42:57.960
and going back home. I think that's kind of ridiculous, Okay,

750
00:42:57.960 --> 00:43:00.679
but all right, So but you may so we may

751
00:43:00.679 --> 00:43:03.519
find I guess there is a level of finding significance

752
00:43:03.559 --> 00:43:07.920
that is subjective. But he's talking about finding a biblical significance.

753
00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:11.199
I don't think that that's a I think that's maybe different, right,

754
00:43:11.360 --> 00:43:16.400
maybe there's an objective context. In some cases, significance can

755
00:43:16.440 --> 00:43:20.599
also be determined more objectively. For example, statistical analysis might

756
00:43:20.679 --> 00:43:25.079
find significance and a data set meaning that a result

757
00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:29.679
is unlikely to occurred by chance, which implies its importance

758
00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:33.039
for the studies conclusions. Okay, that's kind of a little

759
00:43:33.039 --> 00:43:36.719
different than what maybe that would be. If I look

760
00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:39.639
at Ruth chapter one, I'll just show you from a

761
00:43:39.639 --> 00:43:43.440
hermeneutical the idea of hermeneutical significance. If I look at

762
00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:46.800
Ruth chapter one, you can do this. And when I

763
00:43:46.840 --> 00:43:48.880
did my study on Ruth, this is what a lot

764
00:43:48.920 --> 00:43:51.559
of people found my study of chapter one to be

765
00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:55.199
the most I think enlightening is if you go through

766
00:43:55.280 --> 00:43:59.000
chapter one, look up every name. Now he alluded to

767
00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:02.639
it a limit like is my king Bethlehem, house of bread?

768
00:44:02.800 --> 00:44:05.519
Look at the name of everyone. All the names have

769
00:44:05.559 --> 00:44:10.239
a significance that seems to indicate that there's a significant

770
00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:14.880
word picture being developed in the text. It's too there's

771
00:44:14.920 --> 00:44:17.719
too much there to be a coincidence, right, All the

772
00:44:17.800 --> 00:44:20.440
names mean something, and you put them all together and

773
00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:23.119
you're kind of like, ah, I think there's a word

774
00:44:23.159 --> 00:44:23.960
play going on here.

775
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:24.159
There.

776
00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:26.639
I think there's a word picture here that I think

777
00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:30.239
is significant. So hermoneutically is when you look to the

778
00:44:30.280 --> 00:44:33.320
text and you're like, oh, that is significant, because wait,

779
00:44:33.719 --> 00:44:35.559
come on, why is it doing that? Why is it

780
00:44:35.679 --> 00:44:37.920
using that? Like we're trying to figure out in the

781
00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:40.559
Book of Romans, isn't it significant that in the Book

782
00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:42.679
of Romans the word therefore is used between twenty seven

783
00:44:42.719 --> 00:44:45.719
and thirty three times depending on your translation. But five

784
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:49.000
different Greek words are used for major ones? Why are

785
00:44:49.039 --> 00:44:52.159
they using different Greek words to be translated therefore? Because

786
00:44:52.199 --> 00:44:54.480
each and each of the Greek words have a kind

787
00:44:54.519 --> 00:45:00.719
of a slightly different emphasis, that seems to be hermonutically significant.

788
00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:04.280
All right, So we can understand that when now philosophical

789
00:45:04.320 --> 00:45:09.400
and existential implications. Philosophically, finding significance can also be tied

790
00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:13.320
to existential questions of purpose and meaning in life. This

791
00:45:13.480 --> 00:45:17.599
concept is often discussed and feels like different forms of

792
00:45:17.639 --> 00:45:23.320
psychology or even theology, where individuals or scholars explore what

793
00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:27.719
makes life meaningful or what matters most in the human experience.

794
00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:31.800
So this is the idea of finding significance, is what

795
00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:37.360
makes life meaningful? Now from a thilological perspective, we would

796
00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:42.880
argue what should make life meaningful? Where should we find significance?

797
00:45:42.880 --> 00:45:45.480
I think we find significance and a host of things, right.

798
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:49.239
I think we find significance in relationships, We find significance

799
00:45:49.280 --> 00:45:53.840
in and certain emotions that make us feel significant.

800
00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:54.480
Right.

801
00:45:55.880 --> 00:45:56.039
Right.

802
00:45:56.280 --> 00:45:58.920
I've often this is not a perfect example, but just

803
00:45:58.920 --> 00:46:00.239
to kind of show you how it can and just

804
00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:02.320
kind of show up in different areas of life. This

805
00:46:02.360 --> 00:46:06.320
is now, this is fleshly, but I'll you know, I

806
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:09.119
will explain it. So my life in high school, I've

807
00:46:09.159 --> 00:46:11.199
told about how horrible and messed up it was, and

808
00:46:11.679 --> 00:46:14.920
I didn't find any significance or no meaning in it

809
00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:17.239
in any way, shape or form. And I definitely felt

810
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:22.280
less than I felt insignificant. I felt just all kinds

811
00:46:22.280 --> 00:46:24.000
of bad feelings, a little bit of that you know,

812
00:46:24.079 --> 00:46:27.559
teenage angst. But it was, you know, multiplied a million

813
00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:31.920
times until someone put me in a car and took

814
00:46:31.960 --> 00:46:36.320
me to a dance club. And I've told the story

815
00:46:36.360 --> 00:46:40.239
how I just stood there the first night and just watched, watched,

816
00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:44.960
and I went back the next night by myself, and

817
00:46:45.039 --> 00:46:48.679
I walked in. I ignored everyone else. I didn't care

818
00:46:48.719 --> 00:46:50.920
who was on the dance floor. Wasn't on the dance floor.

819
00:46:51.159 --> 00:46:54.280
I went to that dance floor because when I dance,

820
00:46:54.719 --> 00:46:57.519
that's where, like life, all of a sudden, has significance.

821
00:46:57.559 --> 00:46:59.719
And so I just wanted to be lost in the

822
00:46:59.760 --> 00:47:02.920
met And then the next thing, you know, I look

823
00:47:02.960 --> 00:47:08.960
around and everyone's watching me. Everyone's looking at me. Then

824
00:47:09.000 --> 00:47:11.599
everyone's walking up, going, oh man, you're so great, You're

825
00:47:11.960 --> 00:47:15.119
you're you're awesome. And then one night at the club

826
00:47:15.199 --> 00:47:16.760
became two nights at the club, and then I was

827
00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:19.000
at the club basically every time the door was open,

828
00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:22.079
and at some point then everyone got to know me,

829
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:26.800
and it's like I became like I'm I'm synonymous with

830
00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:29.159
the club. Now I'm that guy at the club and

831
00:47:29.239 --> 00:47:31.760
everyone talks about how great I dance. And now and

832
00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:34.559
all of a sudden, now I'm finding significance because now

833
00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:37.679
I'm good at something and I'm getting praise and I'm

834
00:47:37.679 --> 00:47:40.440
getting recognition, and all of a sudden, I feel like

835
00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:46.480
I'm on the top of the world significance. All right,

836
00:47:46.519 --> 00:47:50.559
So that's okay. Now that's not the logical significance. That's

837
00:47:50.599 --> 00:47:52.280
a worldly, fleshly significance.

838
00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:52.519
Right.

839
00:47:52.639 --> 00:47:55.480
I wasn't finding my significance in God. I was finding

840
00:47:55.480 --> 00:47:58.920
significance and well, something that I was good at, being

841
00:47:58.960 --> 00:48:03.840
able to demonstrate, and being praised for it. No, I

842
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:07.400
loved that part. Not going to deny it. I would

843
00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:10.960
be a liar if I said otherwise. Okay, all right,

844
00:48:11.480 --> 00:48:19.239
So the phrase finding significance is significant. That's funny. Finding

845
00:48:19.280 --> 00:48:23.360
significance is significant because it touches on a fundamental human need,

846
00:48:23.599 --> 00:48:29.280
the desire to understand and find meaning in our experiences, surroundings,

847
00:48:29.320 --> 00:48:33.559
and lives. The quest for significance drives much of human behavior,

848
00:48:33.719 --> 00:48:36.639
from the pursuit of knowledge and truth to the creation

849
00:48:36.760 --> 00:48:41.760
of art, religion, and culture. Now, I will argue one

850
00:48:41.840 --> 00:48:45.079
of the things that definitely drew me to, or one

851
00:48:45.119 --> 00:48:47.440
of the things that had been profoundly impacted me about

852
00:48:47.559 --> 00:48:52.039
the Bible and God and Jesus and Heaven and Hell

853
00:48:52.519 --> 00:48:54.280
is finding I felt significance.

854
00:48:54.360 --> 00:48:54.519
Right.

855
00:48:54.639 --> 00:48:59.199
I've said before that I could many and I'll tie

856
00:48:59.239 --> 00:49:01.400
it back to the club. There were many nights I

857
00:49:01.519 --> 00:49:05.119
was being the club and then the floor would get

858
00:49:05.159 --> 00:49:07.760
crowded and it would just be a lot of people there,

859
00:49:07.800 --> 00:49:09.440
and I didn't have enough room to really be able

860
00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:11.280
to dance the way I wanted to dance, and so

861
00:49:11.360 --> 00:49:13.719
I typically a lot of times would leave, just get

862
00:49:13.719 --> 00:49:16.880
in the car by myself. And many times I would

863
00:49:16.920 --> 00:49:20.920
go and stop at a Catholic church because the sanctuary

864
00:49:21.079 --> 00:49:23.840
was open, and I would just go in and sit there.

865
00:49:24.440 --> 00:49:27.119
I would just go there and sit there. And as

866
00:49:27.159 --> 00:49:29.960
I was sitting there, I would just sit there and go,

867
00:49:30.599 --> 00:49:35.239
you know, I would see, you know, all the images

868
00:49:35.280 --> 00:49:38.320
and everything in the church, and the large crucifix, their

869
00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:40.960
Christ hanging on the cross, and I would just sit

870
00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:46.519
there and just think, all that stuff outside of here

871
00:49:47.159 --> 00:49:50.239
is kind of fleeting. I know it's not going to last.

872
00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:52.400
I know it's not going to last. Right, the club

873
00:49:52.480 --> 00:49:54.760
is going to end. My time in there is going

874
00:49:54.840 --> 00:49:58.639
to I'm gonna get older, my physical appearance will change dancing.

875
00:49:58.679 --> 00:50:02.679
When you look when you're dancing at the age of nineteen,

876
00:50:02.760 --> 00:50:06.039
eighteen twenty, it looks one way. It looks different when

877
00:50:06.079 --> 00:50:10.039
you're now fifty, right, I mean, it's go I knew

878
00:50:10.079 --> 00:50:12.039
that it was fleeting in some way, shape or form,

879
00:50:12.039 --> 00:50:15.599
and I knew it was somewhat vain and somewhat frivolous.

880
00:50:15.719 --> 00:50:18.239
But when I would be there and it's kind of

881
00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:20.920
like the duality inside of me like I could feel

882
00:50:21.400 --> 00:50:23.239
just as home on the dance floor as I could

883
00:50:23.239 --> 00:50:26.800
inside a church. Like it's very that the duality in

884
00:50:26.840 --> 00:50:29.719
me is very pre present in this story. But I

885
00:50:29.760 --> 00:50:35.320
could just sit there and think, hmm, I wonder if

886
00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:37.679
I could find true significance if I give everything up

887
00:50:37.719 --> 00:50:41.119
and become a Catholic priest. I mean, I wasn't Catholic

888
00:50:41.159 --> 00:50:43.599
at the time, but I thought, maybe Catholicism. You know,

889
00:50:43.920 --> 00:50:47.719
you give up everything, and you're not pursuing a relationship

890
00:50:47.800 --> 00:50:51.519
of valleus celibacy. You're married to the church. This is

891
00:50:51.559 --> 00:50:56.119
your life. Your life will be right here, serve, preaching

892
00:50:56.159 --> 00:51:01.360
a homily, teaching catechises, you know, hearing cons you know,

893
00:51:02.320 --> 00:51:06.039
maybe this is where I would find significance. But so

894
00:51:06.119 --> 00:51:08.880
I always kind of strus so in some ways Christianity

895
00:51:09.000 --> 00:51:11.480
I thought gave me some level of significance, But then

896
00:51:11.480 --> 00:51:13.800
there was times I felt like I still haven't found

897
00:51:13.800 --> 00:51:22.239
what I'm looking for. Finding significance is crucial of both

898
00:51:22.320 --> 00:51:26.960
personal and collective development. So what is significance from a

899
00:51:26.960 --> 00:51:29.119
biblical standpoint? I've got more here, I got more here,

900
00:51:29.159 --> 00:51:31.119
I got more here, I got more here. But I

901
00:51:31.119 --> 00:51:32.480
think what I want to do, I want to go

902
00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:33.920
through and more, but I kind of want to leave

903
00:51:33.960 --> 00:51:36.719
it there. I want to leave it there. Have you

904
00:51:36.840 --> 00:51:37.920
found significance?

905
00:51:38.519 --> 00:51:38.800
Have you?

906
00:51:39.320 --> 00:51:42.519
Where did you find it? And did you find significance

907
00:51:43.280 --> 00:51:44.000
by doing?

908
00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:44.519
Like?

909
00:51:44.599 --> 00:51:48.360
Did you find significance? I found significance in God because

910
00:51:48.480 --> 00:51:52.000
I stopped being selfish and I started living a life

911
00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:56.199
of selflessness. Then I found my significance. That's I don't

912
00:51:56.239 --> 00:51:58.840
think theologically that's the way to go. Don't we find

913
00:51:58.880 --> 00:52:02.920
significance in God? God? Because when we find God, we

914
00:52:03.039 --> 00:52:07.679
find our creator, we find our maker, we find the

915
00:52:07.719 --> 00:52:10.280
one who created that. I mean, do I not have

916
00:52:10.400 --> 00:52:13.840
significance simply because I'm a creation of God? Created in

917
00:52:13.880 --> 00:52:16.079
his image? Do I have to do anything to find

918
00:52:16.119 --> 00:52:19.000
that significance? And when I come to Him in faith?

919
00:52:19.239 --> 00:52:21.960
Or am I not returning to the one who created me?

920
00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:26.239
Therefore my significance is found in Him and that I'm

921
00:52:26.280 --> 00:52:28.880
significant in his eyes because he created me and he

922
00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:32.000
redeemed me. Is it found in what I do? Or

923
00:52:32.079 --> 00:52:34.800
is it found in who I am and who my

924
00:52:34.880 --> 00:52:40.559
creator is? Now? The question is when you find that

925
00:52:40.679 --> 00:52:47.079
significance in God? Come on, do we really find significance

926
00:52:47.079 --> 00:52:49.119
in God? Because I think we find it, and a

927
00:52:49.159 --> 00:52:52.000
one one we're like, I have found significance. I have

928
00:52:52.079 --> 00:52:55.880
found my purpose, I have found everything. Oh praise God,

929
00:52:56.159 --> 00:52:58.559
I finally found it. And then the next manute, like

930
00:52:59.199 --> 00:53:00.840
all of a sudden, you start hearing the music of

931
00:53:00.880 --> 00:53:01.599
you two.

932
00:53:01.719 --> 00:53:05.840
You still haven't found what you're looking for. And then

933
00:53:05.840 --> 00:53:09.039
you're like, well, now I need to find a husband

934
00:53:09.159 --> 00:53:12.119
or a wife. Okay, now I need to find a career.

935
00:53:12.760 --> 00:53:14.599
Now I need to find a house, and now I

936
00:53:14.639 --> 00:53:17.159
need to find this, and now I need friends, and

937
00:53:17.199 --> 00:53:20.480
now I need companionship, and now I need physical fulfillment,

938
00:53:20.559 --> 00:53:22.480
and now I need this, and now I need that.

939
00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:27.960
Do we ever truly find significance as being truly significant?

940
00:53:28.159 --> 00:53:30.960
Or is it only partially significant?

941
00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:33.360
Have you found it? What is it? How did you

942
00:53:33.440 --> 00:53:37.320
get it? How do you keep it? How should we

943
00:53:37.440 --> 00:53:41.960
understand it? I'll leave it there, and I'm leaving it there.

944
00:53:42.119 --> 00:53:44.800
I'm not going to act like I'm being spiritual, because

945
00:53:44.840 --> 00:53:50.679
significantly I want to go watch your basketball game. I'm

946
00:53:50.679 --> 00:53:53.559
not going to even pretend to be spiritual here. Now

947
00:53:53.599 --> 00:53:55.239
I do find it. It's a good place to end

948
00:53:55.239 --> 00:53:57.760
it because it's at fifty three minutes, So I do

949
00:53:57.800 --> 00:53:59.639
find It's a good place to end it because it

950
00:53:59.719 --> 00:54:01.960
kind of places it in your hands, where now you

951
00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:05.039
can say, you can go talk to whomever, your friend,

952
00:54:05.800 --> 00:54:09.800
your husband, wife, and say, hey, have you ever thought

953
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:13.880
about finding significance? Do you think we found it? Do

954
00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:19.960
we ask your kids? Hey, kids, what do you think

955
00:54:20.039 --> 00:54:27.559
is significant in my life? I don't know? All right,

956
00:54:27.559 --> 00:54:29.880
thanks for listening everyone, have a great night.

957
00:54:32.920 --> 00:54:34.880
God bless