Sept. 5, 2024

Have You Found Significance?

Have You Found Significance?

A look at the phrase, finding significance

Spreaker Apple Podcasts Spotify PocketCasts Amazon Music Overcast Audible Castro iHeartRadio Castbox Podchaser TuneIn Deezer Pandora RadioPublic Podcast Addict RSS Feed YouTube Fountain PlayerFM Goodpods Podverse Podyssey Breaker Podurama Audacy JioSaavn
Spreaker podcast player icon Spreaker Spreaker Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify PocketCasts podcast player icon PocketCasts PocketCasts Amazon Music podcast player icon Amazon Music Amazon Music Overcast podcast player icon Overcast Overcast Audible podcast player icon Audible Audible Castro podcast player icon Castro Castro iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio Castbox podcast player icon Castbox Castbox Podchaser podcast player icon Podchaser Podchaser TuneIn podcast player icon TuneIn TuneIn Deezer podcast player icon Deezer Deezer Pandora podcast player icon Pandora Pandora RadioPublic podcast player icon RadioPublic RadioPublic Podcast Addict podcast player icon Podcast Addict Podcast Addict RSS Feed podcast player icon RSS Feed RSS Feed YouTube podcast player icon YouTube YouTube Fountain podcast player icon Fountain Fountain PlayerFM podcast player icon PlayerFM PlayerFM Goodpods podcast player icon Goodpods Goodpods Podverse podcast player icon Podverse Podverse Podyssey podcast player icon Podyssey Podyssey Breaker podcast player icon Breaker Breaker Podurama podcast player icon Podurama Podurama Audacy podcast player icon Audacy Audacy JioSaavn podcast player icon JioSaavn JioSaavn

A look at the phrase, finding significance

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:05.080
Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

2
00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:09.880
This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central.

3
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.000
Good afternoon everyone. It is Wednesday, September fourth, twenty twenty four.

4
00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:21.679
It is currently five h five pm Central Time, and

5
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.640
I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

6
00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:32.439
studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. The year was

7
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:40.520
nineteen eighty seven. Nineteen eighty seven, it was New Music Day.

8
00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:45.159
I walked into a record store and there it was

9
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:53.799
the brand new album by the band YouTube, The brand

10
00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:58.079
new album by the band YouTube. And I was like, oh,

11
00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:00.439
I cannot wait to take this home and let's I

12
00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:02.600
had been a YouTube fan all the way from their

13
00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:08.359
first album I had anytime. I had friends who hated

14
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:11.000
them at the time and their early albums. In fact,

15
00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:13.480
I had one time I had put it. I know

16
00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:15.640
this is dating myself, but I had put the cassette

17
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.400
and the cassette player in the car and someone ejected

18
00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:21.640
the cassette and threw it out the window. Was like, YouTube,

19
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:25.079
it's trash. They're garbage. I'm like, yeah, you say that.

20
00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:27.560
Now when they become the biggest band in the world,

21
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.079
you can apologize to me and by my okay, all right. Yeah,

22
00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.000
I did get a little frustrated by it, but yes,

23
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:38.920
they then became the band everyone knew YouTube, right, remember YouTube?

24
00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:42.359
Yeah you do? Okay, right, all right. Well in nineteen

25
00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.519
eighty seven, when I was listening to that new album,

26
00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:53.840
well I remember these lyrics. I have climbed the highest mountain.

27
00:01:54.879 --> 00:02:00.000
I've run through the fields only to be with you.

28
00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:04.840
I have run, I have crawled, I've scaled these city walls,

29
00:02:05.159 --> 00:02:10.639
these city walls, only to be with you. But I

30
00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:17.280
still haven't found what I'm looking for. But I still

31
00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:23.120
haven't found what I'm looking for. I have kissed honey lips,

32
00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:27.400
felt the healing in her fingertips. It burned like fire,

33
00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:31.800
this burning desire. I've spoke with the tongue of angels.

34
00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.000
I've held the hand of a devil. It was warm

35
00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.039
in the night, I was cold as a stone. But

36
00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:44.639
I still haven't found what I'm looking for. But I

37
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.319
still haven't found what I'm looking for. I believe in

38
00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:53.240
the kingdom. Come then all the colors will bleed into one,

39
00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:57.000
bleed into one. But yes, I'm still running. You broke

40
00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:01.000
the bonds, and you loose the chains buried the cross

41
00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:05.599
of my shame. You know I believe it, but I

42
00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:13.080
still haven't found what I'm looking for. Do you remember

43
00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:15.199
that song by You Two from the album Joshua Tree?

44
00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:15.560
Do you.

45
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.879
That song had a profound impact on me? The whole

46
00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:24.080
album did? The album was just powerful? The album was beautiful.

47
00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:26.919
I probably have. I know at some point I had

48
00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.039
numerous notebooks where I was just listening to the album

49
00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.879
just you know, stream of consciousness, just writing down whatever,

50
00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:38.520
because that song really captured even though at that time

51
00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:40.680
I think I'd already made a profession of faith, so

52
00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:43.520
I believe I was a Christian at the time, and

53
00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.360
but yet I felt like, in some ways I still

54
00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:48.840
haven't found what I'm looking for. Yeah, yeah, I believe

55
00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.080
you carried my cross. I believe you carried my shame.

56
00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:53.840
But have I have I found what I'm looking for?

57
00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:58.080
What am I looking for? Look? How do you define it?

58
00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:01.080
What should it be? What should it feel like? Should

59
00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.759
this be everything? I was still trying to process that,

60
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.159
and of course I was a teenager at the times,

61
00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.080
you know, teenage angst and trying to figure out life.

62
00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:11.960
And of course, you know, we won't get into everything

63
00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:13.800
going on in my life at the time, but to

64
00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.879
say it was a dumpster fire, train wreck, you know,

65
00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:24.480
a nuclear explosion, you know, the apocalypse, what, however, armageddon?

66
00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:26.399
I mean, I don't know if there's any words strong

67
00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:28.720
enough to describe how bad things were going. But I

68
00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:32.800
still haven't found what I'm looking for. But what are

69
00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:37.519
we looking for? What should we be looking for? What

70
00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:42.759
should we hope to find? What do we want to find?

71
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:44.879
Now?

72
00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:50.560
The reason I'm kind of putting forth this idea is

73
00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:52.879
a little while ago. Well, I was kind of sitting here.

74
00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.199
I've kind of been I haven't really accomplished a lot today,

75
00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.519
but there's been a little bit like Okay, so I

76
00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.120
did the earlier broadcast. I still haven't found what I'm

77
00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:03.360
looking for because that didn't really go very well and

78
00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:05.079
I didn't really like it, and it was up to me.

79
00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:06.839
I was going to delete it, but I'm like, I

80
00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.439
went like, I don't know, fifty minutes. I'm like, do

81
00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:12.120
I delete fifty minutes of work simply because I don't

82
00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.480
like it? I'm like, well, you know, yeah, Well I've

83
00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.639
got other things I want to do, and I've got

84
00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:19.800
the Indiana Fever game. I definitely want to watch that. Okay,

85
00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:23.439
So but I need what am I looking for I

86
00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.040
need to accomplish, I need to do something today, Right.

87
00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:30.040
You just sometimes you know, you just don't feel I

88
00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:32.160
don't know what you're supposed to feel, right, So I

89
00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:33.800
just kind of said here and I kind of opened

90
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:37.360
my Bible and I'm like, well, you know, well I

91
00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.319
don't really know. I know what I'll do. You know,

92
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.759
it's the sermons two point oh app sermon challenge. Let

93
00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:44.920
me grab the sermon's two point oh app because that's

94
00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:47.120
something I need to do today. Let's click tap on

95
00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:52.839
my feed tab. And then I saw finding and I'm

96
00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.920
like finding what Okay, well, I mean the word is there,

97
00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.079
but I was like, hm, have I ever found that?

98
00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.040
What does it sound like to find that? So then

99
00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:06.040
I was looking. I'm like, well, maybe I should listen

100
00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:07.639
to a little bit of this. And then I'm like, well,

101
00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:11.000
I don't know. Well, oh wait, this is from Pensacola

102
00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:14.600
Christian College. Remember I told everyone school's back in session,

103
00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:19.079
So go listen and find every Christian college, Christian university,

104
00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.160
and seminary and the sermon's two point oh app and

105
00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:24.040
follow them so your feed is filled with all of

106
00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:26.759
the college and university messages. And then I know this

107
00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:31.439
was the Pensacola Christian College opening convocation, and I'm like, oh, okay,

108
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.079
so this, so this is right there, all right? What what?

109
00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:36.240
What?

110
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:36.439
So?

111
00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.160
What do they want the students to know? Well, obviously

112
00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.399
it sounds like they want the students to find something,

113
00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.519
to find that to find what they're looking for, and

114
00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:51.000
maybe what they're actually looking for is well real is it?

115
00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:54.000
Do you want to hear how how it went down? Okay?

116
00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:55.920
Or I'm not going to try to review all of this,

117
00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:57.920
but we're gonna review some of the The next thing

118
00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.279
that kind of caught my attention was the text. The

119
00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.000
text was Ruth, chapter one, verse sixteen. I'm like, wait

120
00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:07.800
a minute, Ruth one sixteen. Okay. I've definitely taught through

121
00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:11.399
the Book of Ruth multiple times. In fact, I think

122
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.519
I think some people have said that that's one of

123
00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:16.680
the favorite studies I've ever done, is on the Book

124
00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:20.240
of Ruth. So maybe we'll have to dig back into that. Maybe, maybe,

125
00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.240
I mean I think that could be. Maybe that's something

126
00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:26.240
we'll put on the table. We still have a lot

127
00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:28.079
things to do in the Book of Romans with the

128
00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:31.040
there fours, we still need to finish eschatology, So but

129
00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:34.000
maybe we can do something with that. So I'm like, Okay, well,

130
00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:36.439
I know the book pretty good? Is the book about

131
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:41.439
finding that? Hmmm, I don't know. Let's see how it sounded.

132
00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:43.800
So let's go to Pensacola Christian College for the for

133
00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:48.839
the opening convocation of Fall twenty twenty four. This was

134
00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.519
posted today. Here we go.

135
00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:03.800
Of the Doxology by the PCC student body begins Pensacola

136
00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:07.480
Christian College Chapel. At each chapel service, students have an

137
00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:11.639
opportunity to receive spiritual exhortation and enrichment during a time

138
00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.839
of music and meditation on God's work. This podcast shares

139
00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:20.360
selected recent chapel messages from guest speakers, faculty, and staff.

140
00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.240
Welcome to the PCC Chapel Podcast.

141
00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.439
Now we talked about chapel services and what should they

142
00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:33.879
be there for. Are they a spiritual pep rally? Are

143
00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:39.759
they to exhort? Are they to teach? Should they be mandatory?

144
00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:41.720
Remember we had a lot of those conversations. But we're

145
00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.120
not going to talk about that now because well, we're

146
00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.000
trying to find out what we're looking for and have

147
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:49.000
we founded and is this what we should find well?

148
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.759
And what is okay let's just see what happened.

149
00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:55.039
I want you to open your bible to the Book

150
00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:59.279
of Ruth this morning, the Book of Ruth, and we're

151
00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.240
just going to read one verse and then talk a

152
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.240
bit about this great story, you know, the story. I

153
00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.919
don't want you to tune out what an exciting story

154
00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:12.120
it is. But I want to read what I think

155
00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:14.200
is the most important verse in.

156
00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:17.200
The entire book a Ruth, chapter number one.

157
00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:24.679
Now, this is interesting that he believes Ruth one, verse

158
00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:30.720
sixteen is the most important verse of the book. Hmm,

159
00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:36.799
that's interesting. Now is it the most important verse in

160
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.000
the book because it's the verse you're going to use

161
00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:42.639
for your sermon or from a just from a like

162
00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:45.759
you you you take the book apart, would would this

163
00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.639
verse be the most important verse? I found that somewhat interesting.

164
00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:50.480
But let's let's see. He's going to read it and

165
00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:52.759
then he's gonna he's gonna talk here.

166
00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.240
A little bit, and I want you to look at

167
00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:02.159
verse number sixteen Ruth chapter one and verse number sixteen.

168
00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.440
Ruth is responding to.

169
00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.759
Naomi's plea for her to return back to Moab and

170
00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:15.639
not to go with Naomi to Bethlehem. And watch what

171
00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:21.240
Ruth says in verse number sixteen. And Ruth said, entreat

172
00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.720
me not to leave thee. Quit telling me to go.

173
00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.720
Entreat me not to leave THEE or to return from

174
00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:32.879
following after THEE. And watch what Ruth says. Now, For

175
00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:38.399
whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest

176
00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:40.159
I will lodge.

177
00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:42.559
I'm going to go where you go. I'm going to

178
00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:43.480
live where you live.

179
00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.679
Look at verse number sixteen again, thy people shall be

180
00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:51.159
my people. And then here it is the most important

181
00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.960
decision that Ruth ever made in her life is the

182
00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.480
last part of verse sixteen where she says, and thy

183
00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:00.559
God my God.

184
00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.399
So here's where Ruth, who's part.

185
00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:09.840
Of a country and a religion that's polytheistic, now makes

186
00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:13.519
a decision that Jehovah, God, the God of Israel, the

187
00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:16.799
God of Naomi, is my God. And I would just

188
00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.879
say that that's the most important decision you'll ever make

189
00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.840
in your life. When you make a decision personally to

190
00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:28.679
embrace God God the Son Jesus Christ as your personal savior,

191
00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.279
that's your most important decision.

192
00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:31.559
Look at verse number seventeen.

193
00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.480
Now, before we move on to verse seventeen, I would

194
00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:42.279
point out that many people are many pastors, or maybe

195
00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:44.960
it's the couple itself. But this verse is used a

196
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:50.240
lot for weddings. Right and Ruth said, and treat me

197
00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:54.399
not to leave thee or to return from following after thee.

198
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:59.440
For whether thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest,

199
00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.200
I will lie, and thy people shall be my people,

200
00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:06.240
and thy God my God. Many people believe that's a

201
00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.840
perfect text for a wedding, for a marriage, it really

202
00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:14.360
describes the way it's supposed to be. You could, I mean,

203
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.720
maybe it could. It would be a worthy discussion should

204
00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:19.960
that verse be used. Is it to be used to

205
00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:23.159
describe a marriage? Is that what it's really about? Is

206
00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:27.320
that an appropriate application? We could have that conversation. But okay,

207
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:30.519
we want to know and still still haven't found what

208
00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:33.360
I'm looking for? And he is using this about us

209
00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.799
finding something. What are we trying to find? Let's see?

210
00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.720
Is it finding God? Is it finding salvation?

211
00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:46.600
Where thou diest? Will I die? And there will I

212
00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:50.000
be buried? The Lord? Do so to me? And more?

213
00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.799
Also if aught but death part THEE and me?

214
00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.720
You know, we read these Old Testament stories and I

215
00:12:57.759 --> 00:12:58.600
love the Old Testament.

216
00:12:58.639 --> 00:12:59.639
By the way, I really do.

217
00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.200
I think the reason I like the Old Testament is

218
00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:05.279
because it's full of stories. I love stories. I've never

219
00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:09.039
gotten over stories. I just I love stories. And the

220
00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:12.159
Bible actually tells us in the New Testament that we're

221
00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:15.960
supposed to look back at the stories of the Old

222
00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.799
Testament and learn lessons. We're supposed to do that. Whatsoever

223
00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:23.120
things we're written before time, we're written for our learning.

224
00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.759
Paul told us in Romans chapter fifteen, and then James

225
00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:29.519
told us and James chapter five that were to take

226
00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:32.960
my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name

227
00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:36.240
of the Lord as an example. So when we look

228
00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.960
at the Old Testament, I do.

229
00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:43.879
I love stories. I love storytelling. I love to see

230
00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:47.519
how a story is structured. I like who's the protagonist,

231
00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.399
the antagonist. I like to see how it's structured, the story, art,

232
00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.039
character development. I love it all. That's why I love

233
00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:59.120
to analyze movies, analyze a television program. Hey that I

234
00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:01.279
mean some people people hate it. But that's why I

235
00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.440
love professional wrestling, because it is storytelling and real time

236
00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:08.480
in front of a live audience, with no CGI, no stuntmen.

237
00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.440
They have to do it all right there, But they're

238
00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.000
telling a story. There's a story. There's a story outside

239
00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:16.320
of the ring that explains why they're getting in the ring,

240
00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:18.919
and then then in the ring, the entire match is

241
00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:23.200
a story. There's a story being told. Some people catch

242
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.480
on to the storytelling, some people don't, but it's a story.

243
00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:28.600
I love the stories in the Bible.

244
00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:28.840
Now.

245
00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.879
The only thing I get sometimes bothered by with preachers

246
00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:36.000
or Christianity with the stories of the Bible is one

247
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.559
I believe in many cases they take the story, then

248
00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:43.080
they almost embellish add to you know, like you know

249
00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:47.080
the chosen television show. Okay, okay, but they and I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

250
00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.159
where are you going with that? And because the preacher

251
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.600
gets going because he kind of reads the story, then

252
00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:54.600
he kind of retells the story. But when he retells,

253
00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:59.519
he adds maybe humor or drama or emotion, and sometimes

254
00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.480
the story almost turns into something that I don't think

255
00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.440
is necessarily true to the text. I am guilty of that.

256
00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:08.240
I think every preacher is guilty of that. You go

257
00:15:08.279 --> 00:15:10.440
to one of these Old Testament stories and now you're

258
00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.960
gonna you're gonna read it, but then you're gonna start

259
00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.080
talking about it, You're gonna basically retell it, and you're

260
00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.960
going to add, you know, because you're trying to pull

261
00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.440
the people in. The only problem is how much do

262
00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:24.240
you add before you actually do damage to it. You're

263
00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:27.200
and it's hard to find that balance because at the

264
00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:29.320
same time you just read it, you don't want to

265
00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:31.720
just sit there in a monotone way going, well, we

266
00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.679
just read about what happened, and this is what happened

267
00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.679
bullet point number one, just like you want to. You

268
00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:43.519
wanna then try to capture the emotion of it. But

269
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:46.200
it's it's hard to find that ballance. So that's one

270
00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:49.120
thing that sometimes bothers me about how Christianity handles the

271
00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:52.120
story and the stories. But the other thing is sometimes

272
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:56.120
they take these stories that is just being descriptive. It's

273
00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:59.559
just simply describing what happens, and then the next thing,

274
00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:02.320
you know, so we rip it out of its context

275
00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:06.399
and it's somehow about us, right, marching around Jericho is

276
00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:09.679
not about Israel marching around a city with real walls.

277
00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.320
It's about you and me marching around our problem seven

278
00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:16.440
times and blowing the trumpet so out our problems crashed

279
00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:19.399
to the ground and you're like, what are you talking about?

280
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.679
And so many times now it's you and I. We're David,

281
00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:27.279
and we're fighting the goliath in your life and you

282
00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:30.000
just got to get those smooth stones and have faith

283
00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.440
and swing your slingshot and boom, you can take down

284
00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.759
the chat. Well where did I end up in the story?

285
00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.639
And how did Goliath become my problem? Or the walls

286
00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:42.559
of Jericho? That kind of stuff drives me absolutely totally insane.

287
00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.559
The scriptures, the stories there are not for me just

288
00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.399
to hijack them and make me the star of the

289
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.159
story and now recast the story into basically my own

290
00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.759
image in my own life. Preachers love doing that nonsense.

291
00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:59.960
I don't know why the people in the pew I'll

292
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.600
allow it or celebrate it or applaud it, or think

293
00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:06.480
it's saying amen to it, because somebody should be like,

294
00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:11.759
wait a minute, I'm not David. My problem isn't Goliath. Okay, stop,

295
00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:14.640
all right. So there's things I do hate about the stories.

296
00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:17.960
Not let me rephrase it. I don't hate the stories.

297
00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.160
I hate what people do to the stories, and I

298
00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.799
hate the things I have done to the stories in

299
00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.480
my past as well. But what we want to know

300
00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.720
is okay in Ruth, What do we find? What are

301
00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:32.319
we supposed to find?

302
00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:37.240
It is wise for us to look at the entire

303
00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:38.759
life story of.

304
00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:41.079
The particular person. For instance, we can look.

305
00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:44.839
At Jacob's story, or look at Isaiah's story, or look

306
00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:48.160
at Daniel's story. Now, I know that when we read

307
00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:51.720
the Bible, we tend to take four or five or

308
00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:52.440
maybe ten.

309
00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.400
Or fifteen verse sections and preach through them.

310
00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:59.200
And that's typically what I do. We call that expository preaching.

311
00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:01.039
A big fan of that.

312
00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:04.519
But sometimes what we need to do when we read

313
00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:08.599
the Bible is just read large sections so that we

314
00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.079
can see how it all connects. And that's what I

315
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:11.880
want to do today.

316
00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:16.400
Now, Now, that's that's I do agree with that. Sometimes

317
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:19.319
we do need to read large sections so we don't

318
00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:22.920
so miss you know, we're looking at one tree and

319
00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:25.240
we're missing the forest. Right, Sometimes we miss the forest

320
00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:26.960
because of the tree, and we just look at the

321
00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:28.799
Sometimes you're going to look at the big picture and

322
00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.000
see how it connects. I completely agree with that. I

323
00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:33.680
think that's great advice. I think that's awesome all right,

324
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:37.599
But what what what are we finding? What are we

325
00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.279
finding now? Listen carefully. This is I think this is

326
00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.559
exactly where it shows up in this because I listened

327
00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:45.599
to just a few minutes of this and when he

328
00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:48.599
said this part, this is the when I was like, Okay,

329
00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.359
I know what I'm going to do now. And immediately

330
00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:54.680
when he said it, I was like, you two, I

331
00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:57.400
still haven't found what I'm looking for. Immediately it all

332
00:18:57.400 --> 00:18:58.960
connected in my brain. Or right here we go.

333
00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.319
Now we're not going to read a large section, but

334
00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.960
I want to tell you the story. I want to

335
00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.319
tell you the story. I want to tell you the

336
00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:12.839
story of Ruth. Four chapters law, And in each chapter

337
00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:17.359
there is a significant principle that we can learn, am I.

338
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:26.519
And so in each chapter there's a significant principle we

339
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:31.960
can learn, all right? Is that what he means about

340
00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:35.519
finding something? He's getting ready to tell us about finding something?

341
00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:40.559
Is it about finding a significant point in each chapter?

342
00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.240
And Ruth, let's just he's he's going to use a

343
00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:46.000
different phrase. And this is when my brain started kind

344
00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:50.119
of going in a different direction. Right, let's listen, opinion.

345
00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:52.240
And so I want I want us to talk this

346
00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:57.519
morning about finding significance, because really that's what Ruth did.

347
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.480
Ruth went from a nobody to a somebody.

348
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:05.480
So what he wants to talk to the students about

349
00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:10.319
is about finding significance. And he says, that's what Ruth did.

350
00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.319
She went from a nobody to a somebody. So is

351
00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:18.160
finding significance where you go from being a nobody to

352
00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:22.799
a somebody like that? Is that what finding significance is? Hey,

353
00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:26.519
I found significance. I was a nobody, then I started

354
00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:29.680
a podcast and I became a somebody. Is that is

355
00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:34.200
that what finding significance is? Let's see if he offers

356
00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.319
any kind of clarification here.

357
00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.839
She went from this more bodis girl who would have

358
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:44.279
been unknown and unthought of, to somebody that was part

359
00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:49.160
of the lineage of Jesus Christ himself finding significance. That

360
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.920
would be my prayer for you, And I prayed for

361
00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:54.519
you this morning. By the way, My prayer for you

362
00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.640
is that in your life you would find significance.

363
00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:03.039
Not so he prayed for the students, and he prayed

364
00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:09.519
that in their life they would find significance. So let

365
00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:12.599
me ask you the question, have you found what you're

366
00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:16.279
looking for? Have you found or you have? Have you

367
00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:18.599
not found what you're looking for? Have you still not

368
00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.839
found what you're looking for? Are you looking for significance?

369
00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.559
What is it like? Hey Lord, I prayed that the

370
00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:28.920
people listening to this podcast will find significance. I mean,

371
00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.200
I don't know how old you are. Have you found it?

372
00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.039
Have you found significance? So now I don't know if

373
00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:37.000
I exactly know what significance is here, because he basically

374
00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:40.319
said the two examples was Ruth from a nobody to somebody,

375
00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:42.839
and then she basically was a moa Bidas who became

376
00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.160
a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. So is

377
00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:49.160
finding significance that I that I find myself in some

378
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.119
important family family lineage. Is that is my finding significance?

379
00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.599
I go from a nobody to a somebody? Is that

380
00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:00.640
what it means to find significance? That's sounds like a

381
00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:04.599
very I'm not saying that's what. I'm not saying that

382
00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:08.480
he is doing this, but it sounds to me sounds

383
00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.599
like a very worldly idea of significance or am I

384
00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:12.400
missing something?

385
00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:16.960
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
00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.400
but significance in the eyes of God, significance.

388
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:26.720
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

392
00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.960
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
00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:56.960
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
00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:15.359
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