It's important to remember that God provides everything we need.

Scott Rodgers: 00:18 Hey Cornerstone, how are you doing? You guys are looking good, you're looking good. Hey, let's keep the applause going as we welcome the San Tan campus, Scottsdale campus Cornerstone. One big part of the cornerstone family. So glad to have you guys join with us here in Chandler. And man, I want to keep the applause going because if this is your first time here, thanks for just taking the chance, and checking out Cornerstone. We're so glad you're here. Come on, let them know, we're glad you're here at Cornerstone for your first time. Here's the money back guarantee for your first time at Cornerstone. Money back guarantee is you won't feel awkward, I might not say, I hope I don't say anything dumb, and I'm going to be done talking in like an hour and a half, two and a half hours. So it's good, man. We're going to be right out of here. No, we'll be done in about 30 minutes, so just FYI on that thing. My name is Scott if we haven't met, and I'm just thrilled to be here with you at Cornerstone. I've been part of the family for quite a while now. My family and I, we live in a small Utopian bedroom community outside of Sacramento called Folsom, California, and someone said, woo, thank you man. Someone from Folsom, or something like that. So I'm just thrilled to be here with you guys.

Scott Rodgers: 01:30 We're in this series called More. Everybody say, more. And what we're doing is we're just really exploring this reality that it seems like our appetite for bigger, better and more, as much as that's always there, is it really bringing us the satisfaction that we're longing for? So we're just exploring all of that. And if you're interested in this, how many of you guys are on Instagram? Anybody use Instagram? Six, I thought it was bigger than that, but I guess maybe not yet. If you're using Instagram, I want to give you a resource that you could go to take this whole conversation with the scriptures and the main ideas and thoughts behind it, and even more than what I'm going to say. You can get a link to that at the account called @dosomethingsimple, and just go there, and you get a link to it. And you can take this further, go deeper with it throughout your week, this is way to try to help bring some value to you throughout your week. So if you have a Bible with you, open it up to the Old Testament, to the Book of Ecclesiastes. Anybody familiar with the Book of Ecclesiastes? A few of us? It's a crazy book.

Scott Rodgers: 02:38 And let me get the conversation going in this way. One of the many, many, many things I love about Cornerstone is how many people come to faith through your church. In San Tan, in Scottsdale, and people beginning a relationship with Christ right here at Cornerstone is tone of the awesome things about what's going on here. And one of my favorite conversations, is to have a discussion with someone who just put their faith in Christ, a brand new believer. And with all the excitement, and they're really wanting to say, okay, now, I mean God's moving on my heart. I just made this decision to follow Jesus, I'm not even sure what that means, and what this looks like. What's next? Like Scott, what's my next step? And I love that conversation because I often, actually always, say the same thing. I'll say, well first, find a really good church, find a church that makes a big deal about Jesus, a church that teaches the Bible, and a church whose flavor of expression fits who you are, and it resonates with you well. Which by the way, I think cornerstone is one of those great churches. Does anybody agree with me, that your church is just rocking and rolling? Cornerstone is a great place. But there's great churches all throughout the valley. And then I encouraged them, I say, add some new friends to the mix. Some friends who are followers of Christ who you can do life with, and learn from their experience, what this whole following Jesus can look like. And then I'll say, start reading the Bible. And for many folks, especially as someone brand new in their faith, they'll be like, man, I've never read the Bible before. I mean, I've seen it, it's on the coffee table at my grandma's house. That really big, intimidating leather bound book, with the gold edges, and all the things hanging out from it. And so they say, well if they really want to take to heart what I'm suggesting, they'll say, where do I start? Page one? Because you know, I'm not familiar with like page one, what's that mean?

Scott Rodgers: 04:38 And I say, you know, there's no place that you have to start when reading the Bible for the first time, but here's what I suggest. I suggest you open up to the book of John in the New Testament, and here's why, because the teachings of Jesus are all throughout the book of John. And not only that, but his life in ministry is this put on display all through this book, but what's unique about it is, in the book of John, the word believe is mentioned nearly one hundred times. And it's great for all of us, but especially for a brand new person in faith, to know what does God want me to believe? What am I choosing to believe in, and what do I do with this? The book of John is fantastic for that.

Scott Rodgers: 05:24 And it gives me a little bit of a chill down my spine to think of a different scenario. Let me paint it for you. Someone's brand new follower of Jesus, maybe they're at Cornerstone, and they put their faith in Christ. And God's moving on their heart and they're like, man, do I really get to know who God is? Does he really want a relationship with me, and that's real and tangible? Am I really going to experience a whole new purpose for my life? And they're all excited and they come to Scott, or they come to one of you, and they say, okay, so I'm going to read the Bible I guess. I'm going to start reading. Where do I go, where do I start? Do I go to page one? And you or I say, oh dude, if you've never read the Bible before, I know exactly where you have to start. Go to the Book of Ecclesiastes, and start there, and those of you who are familiar with it are going that would be a train wreck. Because here's how it starts, and imagine as I read this, through the lens of a brand new personal faith. Here's what it says. Ecclesiastes 1:1, these are the words of the teacher King David's son. That's Solomon. It says who ruled in Jerusalem. Verse 2, here we go, "Everything is meaningless, says the teacher, completely meaningless." Um, man, I was pretty excited at Cornerstone, and they told me to read the Bible, I don't what's going on here. And then maybe they'll scroll down, or flip pages through, they'll end up at chapter 6 verse 12, and they'll read, "In the few days of our meaningless lives." Don't you just picture Eeyore right now? This is the Eeyore translation of the Holy Bible, "In the few days of our meaningless lives. Who knows how our days can best be spent. Our lives are like a shadow, who can tell what will happen on this earth after we're gone." And then they keep going, they're like, I don't get this, this is weird. They go to chapter 7 verse 15, It says, "I've seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people, and the long life of wicked people." Verse 16, "So don't be too good, or too wise. Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don't be too wicked either. Don't be a fool. Why die before your time?" Verse 18 says, "Pay attention to these instructions for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes."

Scott Rodgers: 08:07 What is going on with the Book of Ecclesiastes? Are you inspired yet at Cornerstone? I mean, not quite. What is going on with this crazy thing? Is Solomon, the writer, is he depressed? Is he going through a midlife crisis? Maybe he's just having a bad day. It's unlikely because as we read through this strange, interesting book, we begin to realize that Solomon, the writer, is searching for meaning while grappling with the obvious unresolved issues in life and he's frustrated. He's an incredibly wise man, incredibly wealthy as well. And it says, many times he's really observing life under the Sun in this lifetime, and he's frustrated with the results that he sees. He's basically processing this reality that both the rich and the poor, the wise and the foolish, those with plenty of opportunity and those unfairly living under oppression. Though their life experiences differ, each share the same fate. Life is short, life is hard, and it's often unfair, and he's frustrated.

Scott Rodgers: 09:33 He's basically looking at it, and going, man, when life is good, bad things still happen. Anybody ever have that? Man, Thursday was awesome, and it all broke loose on Friday. Life is good, bad things still happen. Wealth increases, and the stock market still crashes. No matter how long the weekend, even a three day weekend, man, we get a three day weekend. We're going to go to Havasu, we're going to catch a D-backs game on Saturday, and then we're going to go to the Cardinals game on Sunday. This could so awesome. No matter how long the weekend, Monday always comes. That's the mindset of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Monday always comes, what is going on.

Scott Rodgers: 10:19 And so in his search for meaning, Solomon literally experiments with many things. And the couple of things that we're going to focus on in this conversation, is how he's reaching for more and searching for more, through pleasure and possessions. So if you're at Ecclesiastes chapter one, just go right down to the next chapter, in chapter two. And let's read what he says and what he starts the process, and I've got a number of verses I want to read here to you. Is that okay to read the Bible in Church? You're cool with that? Okay. Here's what he writes in chapter two, verse one. Now let me just mention real quick, some of these pursuits are worthy, and others aren't, they're just flat out wrong. So as you go through this, keep that in mind. Verse One, "I said to myself" Do you ever do that? Like, hey Scott, we're going to sit down and talk to our self, and have a conversation. He says, "I said to myself, come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the good things in life, but I found that this too was meaningless." And then verses two and three kind of show that he maybe he tries comedy clubs and nightclubs, because it says he tries laughter and he drinks a whole lot of wine. Still doesn't do it for him. Go down to verse four. "I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself, and planting beautiful vineyards. I Made Gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs." Anybody have more than one reservoir? I mean, he has reservoirs to collect the water, to irrigate my many flourishing groves. Sadly, he writes in verse seven, I bought Slaves, both men and women, and others who were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, many more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me." Verse Eight, "I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers." Any of you guys have like singers on your payroll? You're thinking, man, I'm not feeling too good today, bring in the country singers, no not the country singers, I want to feel happy, bring in the hip hop singers. He's got singers on his payroll, and he says both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. Children, talk to your parents about that one. He says, I had everything a man could desire. That's quite a statement, I had everything a man could desire. And go down to verse 09, "So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me." Sounds like he's a very humble human being. Verse 10, "Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors." Last verse, "But as I looked at everything I'd worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless, like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere." Eeyore mode, nothing worthwhile anywhere. And if you are a little like me, and tempted to be judgmental, When we go through his life and his list, it would be pretty easy for some of us to go, Solomon, Bro, you are a heathen. Dude you are depraved, narcissistic, power hungry, materialistic, greedy, sex addict? Dude you are a heathen. Maybe this heathen is entirely human, because when we go through this list, though I can honestly say that's not exactly my list, there are some things on his list, that would be on my list. Anybody here, you don't have to raise your hand, but you're like, when I'm reading through that you're like, Solomon, Solomon, dude! Maybe this heathen, is just human.

Scott Rodgers: 14:25 Let me take you back for a moment. If you're familiar with the Bible, you're going to know what I'm talking about. If you're not, I'll tell you the story in a very succinct fashion, so you can get the gist of this. If our brand new, follower of Jesus friends said, where do I start reading in the Bible? If we just said page one, what's page one. Well it's Genesis chapter one, verse one, so I'm going to go there, and then keep Solomon in this. So just track with me on this. Genesis 1:1 says, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, all this stuff. Then he created humankind, and it says, God said it was good. Now, some have said the Solomon was the richest man that ever lived, I think Bill Bush said that last week. I agree in part, but I disagree a little. I think Jeff Bezels is catching up with him, but that's not what I want to talk about. I think it's Adam and Eve, they were the richest people that Earth has ever seen, and here's why. Because scripture says, in the book of Genesis, that God said to them, the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve, he said, go and subdue the whole Earth, it's all yours. All 25,000 miles around, paraphrasing, this globe, it's all yours. Go multiply, have children, start a family, begin the human race. And in addition to having everything, God literally would visit with them everyday. His tangible presence, the Bible says, would walk with them in the garden. They had God's presence, and they had everything they could see, except one thing, right? This little tree, this little fruit tree. And for those of you guys who've read the Bible, you know the whole deal with the tree. God says it's all yours except this little tree, don't eat the fruit on the tree because when you do, you're going to start to die. Why? Because they're going to disobey God, and sin's going to rush in, death will begin. So Adam and Eve, they have everything, but still wondered if more was better. because they looked at the tree. They had everything, except for one little thing, and they wondered.

Scott Rodgers: 16:47 Well actually I would wonder, if they wondered And they looked at that tree, and they're like, man, God's given us it all, but is he holding out on us? Is there something better he doesn't want us to have, and he's not letting us go there. They wondered if more was better than everything. So Satan, their spiritual enemy, your and my spiritual enemy as well, comes to them and tempts them in their area of vulnerability. Trying to get them to contemplate the idea of finding meaning apart from God, and they succumb to the temptation, they eat the fruit, the rest is history, sin rushes into humankind, the world is now broken. But I would speculate that at that moment that Adam ate the fruit, he came to the reality and the conclusion, bad idea. Because the scriptures say that when God came back and visited them, before then they were like naked, walked around, they're like, no, that was natural and normal. But once he sinned, God comes to check on him, and the Bible says Adams basically like, okay God okay, and he's all ashamed, and full of self-condemnation. And God says, what happened? Of course, God knows, he's always wanting us to confess it and admit it, and Adam tells him what happened. And would expect in that moment Adam was thinking, man, God wasn't holding out on me. More wasn't better, more was less. Not going there was healthier for me, to say no to what God said no to. And so that's part of the human condition, it was in Adam before he even sinned, the wondering if more was better.

Scott Rodgers: 18:31 Now let's go back to Solomon. I would expect, and think, that Solomon actually came to the same conclusion. Of all his experiment, he arrives at a point where he like, now here's the deal, and here's what he says in chapter 12. Let me just read it to you all the way over in chapter 12 in verse 13, he says, "That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion." After chapters one through 11, "Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty." He just says, you know, God's the best way, just go in that direction. So I can just say, all right, got it, good, and we're good. Let’s just pray, let's do a cute little prayer, let's go home. And you know watch the game.

Scott Rodgers: 19:12 I don't think it's that easy, because what do we do with this human dilemma? This longing for more that every single one of us has, and even this search for meaning apart from God, what do we do with that? Do we just leave it, and let it have its way, or do we do business with it and deal with this? So I want to just for a few minutes, give you just a couple things I want to maybe remind you of, or help you to know for the first time. And then just a couple things to challenge us to do something with what we're talking about. You guys in? Okay, you're good, okay.

Scott Rodgers: 19:54 Here's the thing. First, know this, and it's just a reminder for many of us, lasting peace isn't found through pleasure and possessions. And many of us already know that, Christian, non-Christian, religious, irreligious, we know that, we've experienced that. That true genuine peace within, being at peace with who we are, being at peace with our maker. Having peace on the inside, when chaos may be going around the outside. Having that true piece that so many of us covet, it doesn't last when trying to get it through pleasure and possessions. In fact, I would say this, and this is the politically correct thing to say in church, so it's easy to say. That true and lasting peace, comes only from the prince of peace, Jesus. Do you realize that Jesus said in John Chapter 14, he said, "My peace, I give you." The very peace that embodied, and embodies, who he is, he gives it to us as a gift as we get to know him. Lasting peace comes through Christ, not possessions and pleasure.

Scott Rodgers: 21:10 Here's another one. I would encourage you to make this personal, so say this, when we say my worth, my worth, isn't based on my wealth. Nod if you know that, nod if you believe it. When I was in kindergarten, I can literally remember back to kindergarten. in this scenario, I am sitting in class with kindergarten friends. And actually I don't remember what we were doing at the moment. We probably had our Elmer's glue out, and our macaroni, and we're gluing macaroni to the paper plate in the shape of the state of Michigan where I was born. Which by the way, if you live in Arizona, the macaroni on the plate is way easier because you just go like this, and do a little macaroni thing and you're good. Michigan, we're like, well, how do you. Anyway, so we're in kindergarten, and I bring up a conversation I had with my dad, and I said to my kindergarten friend, I said, "My dad says I'm worth a million dollars."

Scott Rodgers: 22:12 And my kindergarten friend says, "No, you're not."

Scott Rodgers: 22:16 And I'm like, I'm thinking, how dare you question my dad. He's a big people, and I said, "I am too"

Scott Rodgers: 22:28 And my friend says, "You are not and are not."

Scott Rodgers: 22:34 "I am too."

Scott Rodgers: 22:35 "Are not."

Scott Rodgers: 22:37 I was so frustrated. I literally, this how weird I am, years down the road I remembered that conversation, I began to process that conversation. This is weird how I am, and I realized both my kindergarten friend and my dad were both right. In regard to my assets, my kindergarten friend was completely right, I was not worth a million dollars, not even on the same planet. But my dad was also right, because the value of a human soul is worth infinitely more than that. Your worth, my worth, isn't based on our wealth. And Solomon wrestled with this. In fact, I would say this, you are worth the life and the blood of the son of God. That's how valuable you are in the sight of God. You're worth everything to him and knowing that changes how we live. Your worth isn't based on your wealth, it's based on God's value he's placed on every single one of us, so I want you to know those things.

Scott Rodgers: 23:59 But here's what I want to challenge us to do, this is where we kind of go to the thought of do something simple, not always easy but simple. And here's the first thing. Enjoy the pleasures that please God. Some of you are thinking, what, did you just say? Where's Pastor Linn? Get the heretic off the stage at Cornerstone, he just said, enjoy the pleasures of life. Enjoy the pleasures that are pleasing to God. Here's what Solomon wrote. Let me reread it to you, in chapter two and verse 10, he wrote this, "Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I don't recommend that." For those of us who've tried some of that, we realized it leads to an unhealthy place. But for those of us who are followers of Jesus, we do need to apply what God's word says in Galatians 5. Let me read this to you in verse 20, "For those who belong to Christ Jesus..." Anybody here belong to Christ, relationship with God? All right, 10 of us, we're going to pray for the rest of the end. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." There is a place in the life of a follower of Jesus where we say no to certain desires, and we ask God for the power to continue to say no. It's part of the walk, but I would say there's a caveat to this, and be careful because religion will create and continues to create a long, long, long, long, long list of don't do this, don't do that." If you're a godly person, don't get near that, don't touch that, don't watch this, don't watch and don't, and the list just keeps getting longer, longer, longer. But I would suggest that scripture, it's list of don'ts for a follower of Jesus is a lot shorter than religion presents. And in the don'ts that God's word prescribes to us, here's what I encourage you with, let scripture be your guide. Let the Holy Spirit be your lead, and allow your conscience to guide you as you submit it to him, but enjoy the pleasures that are pleasing to God. The yes's in life are a lot longer than the no's, and there's some awesome things in life that God says, man, have at it, enjoy this life I'm giving you. That's one. Is that a little more encouraging than the Eeyore? Anybody? Enjoy the pleasures that are pleasing to God.

Scott Rodgers: 26:36 Okay, here's the next one. Don't allow our possessions to take the place of God. Just don't allow it. Well, thank you. got some clapping going on, thank you. Don't allow our possessions to take the place of God. You know, it was the great theologian David Lee Roth who once said, everybody under 30 is like David Lee who? Anyway, I can't sing, you know that. David Lee Roth once said, money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a boat where you can pull right up next to it. And I thought, oh, awesome, you are so right. Anybody here own a boat by the way, anybody own a boat? They're all at the lake. Anybody here, raise your hand, if you drove to church today in your own car. Raise your hand if you drove to church in your own car. Okay, good, hands back down. Raise your hand if you have electricity and running water in your home, okay hands back up. Electricity and running water, okay. Do you realize that according to many standards in this world, you are rich, you have running water and electricity. I don't know if you're going to clap after I read this to you, but know that when I read this scripture, it's speaking to every single one of us. Every single one of us online who has the computer in our home, and the ability to have WiFi, and in San Tan, and Scottsdale right here, this is speaking to us. And here's what God's word says in First Timothy chapter six, verse 17, "Teach those who are rich in this world, not to be proud, and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable." Even an unbeliever will say Amen. It's unreliable, isn't it? Their trust should be in God, who richly provides, who richly gives us all we need for what?" For our what? Enjoy...God's not an ogre. "For our enjoyment." Verse Eighteen, "Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works, and generous to those in need. Always being ready to share with others. By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future, so that they may experience true life." That sounds like a whole different experience than what Solomon was having in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was incredibly wealthy, and I think it was starting to take the place of God. Don't let our possessions take the place of God.

Scott Rodgers: 29:15 I remember when I was a relatively new in my faith, the pastor of our church was teaching one day. And one of the areas that I've always struggled with in my life, if there's a metaphorical tree with fruit hanging out of it, God's saying don't go there. That tree in my life, one of those fruit hanging off it, was greed. I always wanted more. I wanted more margin, more cushion, more this, more that, you know, all this. You know, and it was an issue that was always driving a lot of my behavior. And so I'm in Church one day, and the pastor says something that really spoke to me in my area of greed. He was teaching on finances, I'm not teaching on finances, it is definitely part of this picture we're talking about. Let me tell you what happened. I'm sitting in church and he says, yeah. He says, there's a man in our church who wanted to have lunch with me, and he wanted to get together because he's really struggling, and so I went and had lunch with him. And we began to talk and he says, pastor, I just want to really surrender my whole life to God, but I'm struggling with this whole thing about being generous, and giving. And then that whole idea of tithing, like what? That whole crazy 10 percent of my income invested into the work of the local church. And he basically said, he said, Pastor, I'm making thirty grand a year, and if I even think about doing that, that's $3,000. That's a lot of cash, I'm struggling with this pastor, what do I do. And my pastor just, in a nonjudgmental, gracious way, he says, well, let me pray for you. So they bow their heads at the lunch table, they prayed. And my pastor just basically said, he just prayed, God, would you help so and so? Would you help him to trust you even more? Would you show your goodness in their life by being his provider, and helping him to just trust you with everything, including his financial life? In Jesus' name, Amen. And he says, my pastor in the story says, few years go by, and the guy starts a business. Now pause, I'm not saying the guy's buying God's favor, you good with that? Okay? But God does bless areas of our life. So the guy starts this business, he becomes more generous. he starts helping others in need, he starts tithing all this stuff. Years go on, his business just shoots to the moon, crazy successful. And he wants to meet with the pastor again. And he says, he called up and said, Pastor I'm struggling. Well, what are you struggling with? Your Business is crushing it. I'm struggling with being generous and giving. He said, let's get together. So they sit down, and kind of unpacks it. He says, dude, a few years ago I was making thirty grand, and I started trusting God, and I was tithing. I gave $3,000, that was huge. But now my business is off the chains, my tithes last year was $300,000, and that's hard. Pastor, I struggle with that, hat's too much. Then my pastor says, man, I totally get it. Can I just pray for you? True Story. The guy's like, yeah, okay. And they're alone, and he just prays and prays. My pastor prays him, he says, dear God, would you just please remove your blessing from in this man's business? And he prays, he says, and bring him back down to thirty grand where does it hurt so bad? And the guy literally said, stop praying, I get it. He started to let his possessions take the place of God. When this scripture says, hey man, for those of us who were rich, we've got running water and electricity. Don't put our trust in what we have, put our trust in the one who richly provides.

Scott Rodgers: 33:00 And I think Solomon would have spared himself some angst, if he would have had that perspective. You know, he's in this Book of Ecclesiastics, he's grappling with the unresolved stuff. I mean the real stuff, right? Life is great, life is horrible, disappointment, frustration, sadly tragedy, all this stuff. And here's what's interesting about Ecclesiastics, I'm going to pray for you. Is he constantly, he a number of times says, life under the sun, and he's analyzing this life like the lid on it. This short life that we live, we all share the same fate. And what's interesting about the book of Ecclesiastes is it never. he mentions eternity a few times in very light fashion, but he never celebrates or looks toward the joy of a resurrection. He's just looking at life under the sun, the lid of this temporary physical life. And as he looks at that, I can totally relate in many ways. Not to his wealth, but his observation, where he's like, if all I see, is all there is, then what's the point? Anybody ever felt like that? I mean, man, what's the point if this is all there is? But many of us know, and we realize, there's much more to this than what we see, there's much more to this than meaningless life. I don't want to sound cliché, but if we look at life and we try to pursue more, and find meaning apart from God, it does look meaningless. But if we try to find our meaning from our maker, meaningless can become meaningful. I believe that our longing for more is a gift from God, it's his invitation for us to seek him. Let that longing for more point you and me to the one who can really bring meaning, and that's Christ. Jesus said this, and then I'm going to pray for you. Same John fourteen, read it sometime, that I referenced earlier. He said, "Trust in God, trust also in me. In my father's house there are many rooms, and I'm going to prepare a place for you. And the place that I'm going to, I will come back to get you to bring you to where I am." He's talking about the resurrection, he's talking about eternity, that gives this short life a lot meaning.

Scott Rodgers: 35:40 Can I pray for you? Let's do this. Father God, we thank you for this gift of longing, God for more. Help us to see it for what it can be, the invitation God to seek you, to run to you for meaning God. God, I pray that we walk out of here, we walk out of San Tan, and Scottsdale, and even folks joining us online, God, that you would speak to our hearts right now, Lord. But this would go beyond attending church, and that it would be a moment with you God. I pray that you would cement in our heart what many of us have already experienced, that lasting peace isn't found through pleasure and possessions God, it only comes from Jesus, the prince of peace. And God, that our worth isn't based on our wealth, and what we own, or what our car looks like, or our House looks like, be it big or small or nonexistent. Our words is based on how you value us, worth the blood and the body of Christ on the cross Lord. Help us to know that God, and give us the ability to walk this out Lord. May we enjoy the pleasures that are pleasing to you, God. We want to be lovers of life, not the Eeyore, that we kind of sense in Ecclesiastics God. But in its wisdom, God. We listened closely, we don't want possessions to take the place of who you are in our life, God. So we hold our hands open loosely, and we think that you're the one who provides meaning, and we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, Amen.



Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.