00:00	Let's talk about the soul.
00:01	Your soul, my soul.
00:03	How's our soul?
00:05	We as an individual have a soul.
00:08	Spirit, soul, body.
00:11	When the Bible talks about the heart of a person, it's often talking about the spirit and the soul of a person.
00:17	It's defined as the heart.
00:19	So it often can be containing the soul.
00:22	But what you've got to remember is we are triune in the sense of Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
00:26	We're made in His image.
00:28	I believe that we are spirit, soul, and body.
00:31	What is the soul?
00:34	Often defined as the mind, the will, and the emotions of a person.
00:38	I think it's more deeper than that, but it genuinely can help us.
00:42	When you're talking about the soul of a person, you're talking about their mind, their will, their thinking, their imagination.
00:47	Your imagination is in the area of the soul.
00:51	We can talk about subconsciousness and we can talk about dreams.
00:54	Where do they come from?
00:55	Where do they go?
00:56	And we can talk about a lot of that stuff, but this is the area of the soul.
01:00	In psychology, they talk about the shadow.
01:03	They talk about the shadow of a person.
01:05	And it's not complicated so much.
01:07	It's just unusual if you're not aware of it.
01:09	But we can see things in other people.
01:12	And what's scary is sometimes what we see in others is actually in us.
01:16	It's like that.
01:17	I think sometimes we forget that.
01:19	Jesus said, hey, don't be worrying about the planks or the speck in someone else's eye.
01:25	What about the planks in your own eye?
01:27	Oh, we don't like that, do we?
01:29	Can I highlight the speck in your eye?
01:31	And you're like, yeah, that's okay, but what about the planks in your eye?
01:35	We don't like people highlighting what we're not good at.
01:39	Can I just tell you three things that you're not doing good?
01:42	And you're like, well, okay, but as long as I can have a go, you as well.
01:46	You go first and then I'll have a go back.
01:50	And if I don't like it, I'll turn it up for you.
01:53	Can I tell you these million things I don't like about you?
01:56	Talk about exasperation or escalation.
02:00	But let me tell you, all of this is going on all the time.
02:03	Why is it so hard to build a church?
02:04	Why?
02:04	Because all of this is in us.
02:07	Fearfully and wonderfully made, yes.
02:09	But we also can sometimes forget that what He's doing in you, He's actually doing in you.
02:17	What He's doing in me, He's actually doing in you.
02:20	So that's why it can be hard coming into the church because God welcomes the broken, the lonely, the lost, the disconnected, the people that somehow have been hit by life.
02:30	And He says, welcome home.
02:31	You're my son, my daughter.
02:32	I want to restore your soul.
02:35	So let's do some soul work.
02:36	And I want to start this from Matthew's Gospel.
02:39	I've got seven points on the soul, but I'm only going to do three.
02:43	So I'll give you a chance to pick which three you want.
02:46	And I hope that that helps.
02:47	Is that OK?
02:48	You can get all the notes.
02:49	You always can.
02:50	And it's good biblical sounds for you to get into it.
02:54	And by the way, our community groups once a month, we just had it last week, Thursday, Friday.
02:59	Some of them are on Saturday mornings.
03:01	But I love that we've had a good kickoff to our community groups.
03:03	And we're going to be doing it once a month.
03:05	But there's a chance for you to get a hold of the notes from one of the messages at least.
03:09	And it's a little bit like a menu.
03:11	You can communion prayer, do the notes.
03:13	You can have dinner together.
03:14	You don't have to.
03:14	But it's beautiful as a smaller group to sit with each other, believe God for each other, build some great friends in Jesus' name.
03:22	And I really love that we've had a good start to that already.
03:25	So here's the first message, first reference point.
03:28	Matthew chapter 11, 27 to 29.
03:32	My father has given me everything, Jesus speaking.
03:35	And he is the only one who knows the son.
03:38	The only one who truly knows the father is the son.
03:41	But the son wants to tell others about the father.
03:44	So that they can know him too.
03:48	If you are tired, weary and burdened, come to me and I will give you rest for your soul.
03:55	Take the yoke I give you, put it on your shoulders and learn from me.
04:01	I am gentle and humble and you will find rest.
04:06	Such a beautiful, beautiful reminder that God is able to bring our souls to a place of rest.
04:16	I think the last few years have caused havoc in people's souls.
04:20	You talk about the mind, the will, the emotions, the imagination.
04:24	There's been a consequence to the last few years.
04:28	You seem to go from problem to problem, craziness to craziness.
04:31	And we want to shut everything out and yet somehow everything finds its way back in.
04:37	We know we shouldn't look at our phone all the time, but it's hard to put it away.
04:42	And what are you solving by just putting it away?
04:44	You can fast your phone like many things.
04:46	But at the end of the day, you aren't really solving the problem.
04:49	And so what I'm saying with this message is here's a reference that Jesus says.
04:54	He says, I can give you rest for your soul.
04:57	And he talks about a yoke.
05:00	And it's an interesting word because obviously it's an old word.
05:05	But yokes are the things they put on animals, horses or oxen.
05:09	And it's got a purpose.
05:12	And the yoke is not supposed to harm.
05:13	It's actually supposed to help.
05:16	But he noticed and the reason I'm saying this to you because in this chapter, Chapter 11 is a whole chapter.
05:21	It's not part, it's whole.
05:22	I'm only giving you part.
05:23	But if you look for earlier in the chapter, you get the story of John the Baptist.
05:30	He's gone from like, behold, the Lamb of God who takes the sins of the world.
05:37	He gets to baptize God.
05:38	I mean, who's done that?
05:40	I baptize God.
05:41	Hello.
05:44	I mean, you might have done a few good things, but I mean, that's hard to beat.
05:47	Baptizing God is a big deal.
05:51	And not only that, he's his cousin.
05:55	Just to get everyone thinking, how does that work?
05:59	But the point I'm making is, is he goes from behold, the Lamb of the world.
06:04	He realized he's the Messiah, that he knows that he's not just Jesus, the man, he's Jesus God.
06:10	And he goes through water baptism.
06:12	He sees the Holy Spirit descend like a dove.
06:14	This is where he's going.
06:15	Oh, my goodness.
06:16	This guy is like he's.
06:18	And then later on in life, this is what happens to John.
06:20	He's in prison.
06:21	Life seems to have taken a turn.
06:23	He doesn't seem to be free like he was in the wilderness.
06:26	He's like now in prison, under pressure.
06:28	And he sends a couple of the guys that were disciples around him at the time.
06:32	John the Baptist had followers too.
06:34	And he sends them to Jesus and he says, ask Jesus, is he the one or should we look for another?
06:42	I mean, talk about what?
06:44	What happened to behold, the Lamb of the world, the Messiah.
06:50	That's called dunking under the water.
06:51	Sorry, he put him under and he pulled him back up.
06:54	I mean, he goes from, wow, God is amazing.
06:58	To now he's at the end of his life going, is there a God?
07:03	Is this real?
07:06	I'm like, what happened to like, wow, God, forgiven, amazing, healed, restored, like, wow, a future.
07:21	And then suddenly found yourself in a place where it's like, is God real?
07:25	And we can all kind of say to ourselves like, really?
07:28	That's like, but it can happen to any one of us.
07:32	It can happen to any one of us.
07:33	How can you go from on fire, strong for God, telling your friends, doing your best, to suddenly you get to a place in life and you're like, I don't know anymore.
07:46	And I think it's good that we see this because it can remind us that any one of us can get into this place.
07:52	But let me tell you how you go from being on fire to you don't even know if God's real.
07:56	It's called the area of your soul.
08:00	Your soul can only take too many hits.
08:03	It can only take so many hits.
08:06	If your soul keeps getting hit, if your soul keeps getting hit, if it keeps, you're going to find yourself in a place where you're like, oh my goodness, like you're just almost like dazed, punch drunk, if you know what I mean.
08:18	You know, if I show you this bottle of water, and if I put holes in this bottle, little knife cut, little cut, little cut, this bottle will not be able to hold the water.
08:29	It will be a leaky bottle.
08:32	So water will be put in.
08:33	And over a period of time, the water will leak out.
08:36	How many of us receive the Word of the Lord on Sunday and we're empty by Wednesday?
08:42	Wednesday would be nice.
08:45	I didn't even survive the tram home.
08:54	It's called a leaky soul.
08:57	What you're supposed to get filled up with is supposed to be, yeah, you can pour out of a full soul, but you're not supposed to have a leaky soul.
09:05	A leaky soul is something went in and you didn't decide to let it out.
09:10	It just leaked out because your soul is not where it should be.
09:15	The Word of the Lord comes in and says, hey, you are loved with an everlasting love.
09:19	You have a healthy soul.
09:21	Your mind is peaceful.
09:22	You've got a, you know, and it's like you get into Tuesday and you're like, you're doubting everything.
09:29	You don't feel loved.
09:30	You feel like, oh my goodness.
09:31	It's like, what happened to the Word of the Lord on Sunday and what happened to you on Tuesday?
09:37	Strong on Sunday, but absolutely.
09:42	And listen, I'm saying it because it can happen to any of us.
09:46	It's not impossible.
09:47	It's possible because life can be like that.
09:50	But this is called the area of the soul.
09:55	And so you've got to realize the soul is crucial for your well-being, for your progress, for your lives to flourish.
10:00	You've got to fix the soul.
10:02	You've got to allow the soul to be restored.
10:04	And this is what Jesus says.
10:05	He says something interesting because he goes on and says, this is what happened to John the Baptist.
10:08	Tell John, the dead are raised.
10:11	The good news is preached to the poor.
10:13	The blind see.
10:14	The deaf hear.
10:15	And good things are happening.
10:17	He said, so just go remind John, I am at work.
10:21	And what you have done has not been forgotten.
10:24	And what you have done is not being wasted.
10:26	And what you have done is not in vain.
10:29	And we've all got to tell ourselves what we've done is not wasted.
10:34	And I think it's good to remind ourselves.
10:36	It keeps it real, sober.
10:39	And so what we find is he says, my yoke is easy.
10:44	My yoke is light.
10:47	And what he does, he looks out and he sees people who are under the weight of religion.
10:54	Impossible laws to keep.
10:57	Sabbath was made for man, not man made for the Sabbath.
11:04	Jesus had to confront all of these religious laws.
11:08	There is truth about the Sabbath that if you take a day off, it's good.
11:12	But that's not really what the Sabbath meant.
11:15	The Sabbath was a person, not a day.
11:17	You can be in a beautiful hotel.
11:23	You can be in a beautiful spa.
11:24	You can be at the beaches
11:27	of Fiji.
11:30	Twinkling your little toes and seeing fishy swim back and forward.
11:34	Coconuts dropping off the trees.
11:37	And your soul can be in turmoil.
11:41	It's not the external.
11:43	And yet there is tranquillity in a serene environment.
11:47	I am absolutely, Joyce and I both, we know now that when we're in a beautiful environment, beautiful water, beautiful environment, I'm telling you, it can be good for your soul.
11:57	So I'm not saying it isn't.
11:59	But what I'm saying is, is that you can be in a nice place and you can enjoy it if your soul is not where it should be.
12:07	And so I've been in a place where I'm looking out and literally this environment is literally good for my soul.
12:15	And I think some of us, we are in hostile environments for too long.
12:18	And we need to get out of that hostility in Jesus name.
12:22	This is true for relationships.
12:23	This is true for anyone in war or famine or conflict.
12:27	We cannot, we were not made to stay in these hostile environments.
12:31	We talk about a lot of toxicity today.
12:33	You know, toxic environments, toxic office, toxic this, toxic boss, toxic friends.
12:38	And true, there's not, we were never created for toxicity, but your soul takes a hit.
12:43	And I really believe the Spirit of God is saying to all of us as we move forward, would you let the soul work begin?
12:50	And I want to tell you this because the truth is on the outside, things might be working, things might be looking good.
12:55	But let me say, it's the soul that will really decide the future.
13:00	So let's have a look at what the soul is.
13:03	And what is it, what does the Word of God say to us about our soul?
13:06	Is that okay?
13:07	So these are the seven.
13:08	Why don't you pick three?
13:11	Have a quick look.
13:12	Your soul helps you to keep receiving from God.
13:15	When your soul prospers, your life will prosper.
13:17	Your soul needs to be transformed.
13:18	Your soul and your thinking go together.
13:20	Your soul needs an anchor.
13:21	Your soul can find a safe place.
13:23	Your soul is like a garden.
13:24	It needs love, care and attention.
13:26	Pick three.
13:27	Number five.
13:29	Number seven.
13:32	Number six.
13:33	All right.
13:34	So number five.
13:37	Look at that.
13:41	Number five is the first one.
13:42	You ready for it?
13:43	All right.
13:44	Let's have a look at number five.
13:46	And I think it's good for us to just really consider this and then allow whatever the Holy Spirit wants to do to really help us to build some strength and healing into our soul.
13:56	I'm not saying that everyone is not in a good place.
13:59	I'm just saying that no doubt the last few years your soul has taken the hits.
14:04	And I really think we've got to acknowledge that.
14:07	Number five.
14:08	Your soul needs an anchor.
14:09	Hebrews chapter six, verse 18 to 20.
14:12	God cannot lie.
14:14	And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed.
14:20	We who have to run to God for safety, find great encouragement from his promises and take hold of the hope that is right in front of us.
14:31	This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for ourselves.
14:38	In fact, this hope reaches far behind the curtain into the most holy place.
14:44	Jesus has gone there ahead of us.
14:47	And he is our high priest forever.
14:49	This is again the letter to the Hebrews.
14:52	And this is a really interesting letter because we don't really know who the author is.
14:57	There's arguments as Paul, there's arguments as others.
14:59	At the end of the day, this group of people were under great, great pressure.
15:05	Persecution, domination of the oppression of the Roman Empire.
15:10	And there's five references to apostasy in this letter alone.
15:14	That's five warnings to not walk away from Jesus.
15:16	People were under so much pressure, they're walking away from God.
15:20	They were literally like, hey, and then going, is it real?
15:23	Is it real?
15:25	Like, how can it, how can there be a God if I'm under this much pressure?
15:30	I mean, seriously, like, is there a God and why am I suffering?
15:33	Why am I going through pain?
15:35	Why is that stolen from me?
15:36	Why would someone steal my bike?
15:37	Doesn't God know I'm his favourite?
15:41	Well, I thought I was, but my bike got stolen last week.
15:47	Pastor appeal for new bike.
15:51	No, money teasing.
15:56	It did get stolen though, yeah.
15:58	But listen to me, listen to me, listen to me, listen to what it says.
16:00	Steady anchor for your souls.
16:02	What's a steady anchor for your soul?
16:05	Well, we know the metaphor of an anchor because we know the metaphor of a boat.
16:08	If you've never been on one, but we also understand that a boat is going to fix if it's got an anchor.
16:14	You remove the anchor, the waves, the life circumstances, the winds.
16:19	Everything's going to blow you off course, blow you here, blow you there.
16:23	You're just going to be all over the place.
16:24	But an anchor means I am unmovable.
16:28	You cannot get me.
16:29	Hit me, do whatever you want.
16:31	But his promises, excuse me, his promises is what's going to keep me anchored in Jesus name.
16:44	Amen.
16:44	In other words, I can build my life on his promises.
16:47	I can build my life on this covenant that we've got in the New Testament.
16:52	Amen.
16:52	And I really need you to understand that again, look at the word and the context in the letter to the Hebrews.
16:59	But what I need you to understand here is if you want rest for your soul, flying to another country doesn't guarantee it.
17:09	Being on a tropical beach or a beautiful beach in Sicily is not guaranteed.
17:14	Sounds nice though, doesn't it?
17:17	And this is what you've got to remember.
17:19	The Sabbath is a person, not a place.
17:22	It's not even a day.
17:25	And though there is understanding and there's common sense in these things, no one's saying that you shouldn't have.
17:30	People say, I'm on a sabbatical.
17:31	I'm like, that's your third sabbatical this year.
17:35	I'm joking, but people say they're having a sabbatical.
17:38	And I'm saying that's fine.
17:40	But at the end of the day, are you refreshed?
17:42	Is your soul refreshed?
17:43	Did you go somewhere where you could actually look at something and glean from the beauty and the majesty of the world?
17:49	So a few years ago, I'd been hearing that people sometimes have time away with God.
17:54	I said to my wife, I said, I'm going to go away.
17:58	She said, where are you going to go?
17:59	I said, well, we've got friends in Sweden, in Gothenburg, and they've told us many times.
18:03	They've got a holiday cabin, a ski cabin, and they've invited us many times.
18:07	And I'm like, I'm going to go.
18:09	And so I decided to go because I wanted to hear God.
18:13	And OK, that sounds like a good holy pursuit.
18:18	And I'm like, OK, let's do it.
18:20	So I did.
18:20	I went January freezing snow, minus 20, whatever it was.
18:24	It was crazy.
18:25	I arrived in Gothenburg, met my friend, and he said, oh, I just want to let you know the apartment that we have has had a water.
18:33	The cabin has been destroyed because there was a water problem.
18:37	And I was like, so there's no cabin.
18:38	And I'm like, oh, OK.
18:39	He said, but I have got another alternative.
18:41	I'm like, OK, what's the alternative?
18:44	And he said, well, on the island, and these are the islands on the just outside of Gothenburg and beautiful, beautiful.
18:51	And he said, well, there's a friend who's got a church.
18:55	I was like, OK.
18:59	And he said, there's a kitchen and there's a little bed in the kitchen connected to the church on this island.
19:06	I'm like, OK.
19:09	I was committed.
19:10	So I was like, oh, well, just have a bit of adventure and go for it.
19:14	You might hear God.
19:16	So I go and I think a perfect church.
19:18	You've got to hear God in a church.
19:19	But anyway, I went there and it was a tiny church, no bigger than this platform thing.
19:25	It's a small church built years ago by Swedish missionaries.
19:30	And there was literally a small kitchen, one cooker, one fridge and a little bed by the window.
19:35	I'm like, oh, I'm going to hear God for sure.
19:40	And so I walked around.
19:42	He left.
19:43	I walked around the church, walked from that side to that side in three seconds.
19:48	And and when it gets quiet, it gets eerie.
19:53	I walked into the hall of the church and the floorboards creaked.
19:56	I'm like, oh, my goodness.
19:59	It wasn't a holy moment.
20:00	It was like, oh.
20:02	And so I walked around the island and you could do it in two hours.
20:07	I was like, well, I've done that.
20:08	What can I do now?
20:09	I walk around the other way.
20:11	So so I kind of went clockwise one day, anti-clockwise the other day and went back to the church.
20:16	And I'm like, God, where are you?
20:18	God, where are you?
20:18	God, are you speaking to me?
20:19	But I was like, wow, look at the amazingness of the world.
20:22	And I want to tell you, I never heard God.
20:25	So I got back on the plane to Gothenburg, flew to Berlin.
20:27	As soon as I arrived at Berlin, heard from God.
20:31	What do you mean you heard from God?
20:32	I don't know.
20:32	I just felt like everything was clear and God was speaking.
20:35	And what I'm trying to say to you in my own random story is this.
20:39	It doesn't matter where you are.
20:41	You can hear God now.
20:42	You can hear God wherever you're going.
20:44	You don't have to go far to hear God.
20:47	He can speak right now in this moment.
20:50	And I think sometimes we want all these moments in life and your soul can be healed now.
20:56	Your soul can be restored today.
20:59	You can hear the Word of the Lord wherever you are.
21:02	Because it's not so much about geography.
21:04	His Spirit is everywhere.
21:07	And I really pray that our openness to Him this year, means He can talk to us wherever we are.
21:14	And my prayer is that that's exactly what's going on.
21:16	But you've got to remember His promises.
21:19	And what He has said, He is able to fulfill them.
21:21	What He has started, He will bring to completion.
21:25	So yes, allow His promises to be an anchor to your soul.
21:31	It's tough right now, but He's going to get you through.
21:33	It's been hard right now, but He's going to pull you through.
21:36	I don't know how I'm going to get through this, but I'm going to hold on to His promises.
21:40	Amen, yes and amen, yes and amen.
21:43	Because God will not leave you out there.
21:47	And I want you to know that it's not that things don't happen.
21:50	They do happen, but He has always shown Himself faithful in Jesus' name.
21:55	Amen.
21:56	So let's go to number six.
21:59	Your soul can find a safe place.
22:02	Psalm 61 verse two.
22:27	Here's a declaration that your soul can get jaded.
22:31	Here's an awareness that the truth is your soul does get hit on the journey of life.
22:37	Your mind, your will and your emotions.
22:40	There's no doubt that the battle is often within.
22:44	You look awesome on the outside, but what are you like on the inside?
22:48	See the challenge with all of us is I can see Luca and Luca can see me.
22:53	Luca looks awesome, Luca thinks I'm awesome.
23:00	But then Luca's got blind spots.
23:02	Luca can I highlight what blind spots you've got?
23:05	And Luca's like yeah that's cool as long as I can highlight your blind spots.
23:09	That's what happens in marriage.
23:14	So Luca's got blind spots and I can see things that maybe he doesn't see.
23:20	But that's exactly the same with me.
23:22	I got blind spots and he can see what I can't see.
23:25	That's why we need each other so often in so many things.
23:29	But there's a third thing that you need to consider that's actually more about the soul.
23:32	And that is I can see you, but I don't know what's going on inside of you.
23:39	So in other words I can see you, but I don't know what's underneath.
23:44	I don't know what's behind this shell of Italian wonderfulness.
23:52	What I'm trying to say to you is I
23:56	can see you, but I don't know what it is that's underneath and what's in the soul.
24:01	And that's what you've got to remember with people is Now this is what's interesting is I can see you, but what's going on on the inside is actually probably draining you.
24:11	See we can have things like I look normal, but you don't know what's going on in my head.
24:15	You don't know what's going on in my heart.
24:17	And you don't know what I'm experiencing.
24:18	You don't know what conflict I face.
24:19	You don't know what double and you could be living a double life.
24:22	You could have done something that there's a lot of guilt, shame, a lot of pain in there.
24:26	You can have a whole lot of going on on the inside.
24:29	And yet you'll turn up to work and you'll do the yes sir and amen and whatever you need to do because your contract says do your job.
24:35	You can do a lot of things on the outside, but what's draining your soul is the inside.
24:43	I know you can see me, but do you really know me?
24:46	I know I look okay on the outside, but if you really knew what was on the inside or if they really knew me, I don't think they'd like me.
24:55	We don't say it, but we think it.
24:58	I can't go to that church because they all look so holy.
25:01	I'd ruin it if I walked into that.
25:03	I've literally had people say, I'm not coming into that building.
25:05	It would collapse if I turned up.
25:08	Oh really, are you that bad?
25:10	Oh, you're bad.
25:11	Well, you're bad.
25:12	You're bad.
25:13	Man, if buildings collapse because of you, you're bad.
25:17	That's another level of badness.
25:18	I'll tell you what.
25:20	Really?
25:21	You're that bad?
25:22	The building's going to collapse?
25:23	I'm like, wow, you're bad.
25:25	But listen to me, why do we get there?
25:27	Because we don't realize what He has done for us.
25:31	But what is it that's going to drain your battery?
25:34	It's this conflict within your soul.
25:37	I know He told me I'm loved, but I really doubt whether I'm loved.
25:41	If He loved me, does He know that I do this?
25:44	Does He know that I struggle with this?
25:45	Does He know that I am having a challenge with this situation right now?
25:50	And this is what's going on.
25:52	It's called a conflict of your soul.
25:54	You want to do the right thing, but you know within you.
25:57	And that's what is at war within many people.
26:00	And that's why you can be praising God and finding yourself eventually on the other side of a conflict soul.
26:07	And you're like, I don't know if this is really more.
26:09	No, you're just beaten up.
26:10	You're just defeated.
26:11	You're just so far away from His promises, so far away from what He's declared.
26:15	You've allowed the enemy to lead you down the wrong path in Jesus' name.
26:19	And we need our soul to come back.
26:23	And the good thing is even when you're overwhelmed, even when you've had conflict, even if your soul has had too many hits,
26:33	the good news is He can lead you back to a safe place called His rock.
26:38	Amen.
26:39	No one is too far away from home that you cannot get back in Jesus' name.
26:44	Amen.
26:45	I don't care how far you've gone.
26:47	God has a way for everyone.
26:49	Amen.
26:50	No one is too far away from God.
26:52	No one is too lost for God in Jesus' name.
26:55	That includes you, me, or anyone else.
26:57	Can anybody say amen?
26:59	Amen.
27:04	So if you realize your soul is jaded, overwhelmed, maybe your soul's been hit, maybe even me telling that very reality is that, yeah, you see me, but you don't know me.
27:15	That's where the energy is consumed the most.
27:18	People can see you, but it's what's going on in the inside of you that's sucking all the energy.
27:25	That's how you can get a leaky cup, my friend.
27:28	You just got filled up on Sunday and you're already empty?
27:32	Like, what are you doing?
27:35	Doing good?
27:36	Yeah.
27:37	You're going to pour yourself out.
27:39	As a pastor, that's exactly what you do on Sunday.
27:41	You pour yourself out, you go home empty, and then you order a pizza.
27:46	That's what I do.
27:49	Good for the soul.
27:52	But what I am trying to say to you is don't take it for granted.
27:55	No one is invincible from this.
27:57	Me, you, any of us, mothers, fathers, amazing people, students, entrepreneurs, professors.
28:05	It doesn't matter what your profession is.
28:07	Your soul is needing attention.
28:10	So this last one, number seven, your soul is like a garden.
28:14	It needs love, care, and attention.
28:17	And that includes the guys.
28:20	Every guy in this room, your soul needs loving.
28:22	You're not invincible.
28:25	You're not untouchable.
28:28	You might have done an Iron Man, but it doesn't mean you're an Iron Man.
28:33	You've got to realize that every one of us, male or female, we've got to remember that we're fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.
28:39	Your soul needs love.
28:42	Your soul needs care.
28:44	And your soul needs attention.
28:47	So what are you doing to really, if you use your soul as the metaphor of a garden, everyone knows if you can.
28:55	You can Google it, Pinterest it, gardens.
28:57	You get ideas.
28:59	Maybe you don't have a garden.
29:00	Maybe you do.
29:00	But at the end of the day, if you do nothing with your garden, it will be full of weeds.
29:06	Berlin often is just one overgrown garden.
29:10	Weeds everywhere.
29:11	I often look at buildings and go, how did that get there?
29:14	Anyone else what I'm talking about?
29:17	You look at tram lines and you're like, how did the weeds get there?
29:20	But that can happen in anything.
29:21	You can look at your friend's life and go, how did the weeds get there?
29:26	Neglect is easy.
29:29	Just neglect your life.
29:30	Your soul will suffer.
29:33	So you can go, hey, I was there.
29:36	My friends were there.
29:37	My mom and dad saw me get water baptized.
29:39	But now I'm over here and going, oh, my goodness, I don't even know.
29:42	This is all nonsense.
29:45	Did I really believe?
29:46	I once believed.
29:47	How did I get there?
29:49	You get there with neglect.
29:50	You've got to walk in the truth daily or else you'll end up in deception.
29:55	Being here and saying there is no God when you declare there was a God is basic deception.
30:00	And you get there by ignoring the truth.
30:03	Your soul needs a beautiful watering of truth.
30:08	My word is truth.
30:11	And it will water your soul.
30:13	It will nourish you in the midnight hour.
30:16	It will nourish you when all hell's against you.
30:18	It will nourish you when Kansas declared your life is over.
30:22	It will nourish you when you're facing your biggest obstacles.
30:26	It will nourish you when you feel defeated.
30:31	And so treat your life and your soul like a garden.
30:34	This is what it says Philippians chapter four.
30:36	Summing it all up, friends, you would do better by filling your minds and meditating on the things that are true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious.
30:49	Think on the best, not the worst.
30:53	The beautiful, not the ugly.
30:57	Choose praise, not cursing.
31:00	Put into practice what you've learned from me, what you heard and saw and realised.
31:07	Do that.
31:08	And God who makes everything work together, working you into his most excellent harmonies.
31:19	God's got you, friend.
31:21	He's got you in Jesus' name.
31:24	But let the soul work begin in Jesus' name.
31:32	Let the soul work begin in you, in me, in all of us.
31:38	You watch God, what he'll do in the next few weeks and months with us all.
31:41	Amen.
31:41	Our soul needs to be refreshed.
31:45	Some of the other notes, the other examples biblically, you can get that for yourself so you can see it.
31:51	But don't walk out of here with a wounded soul.
31:54	Don't let your soul keep taking the hits.
31:56	Protect your soul.
31:58	Honour your soul.
31:59	Your mind, your will and your emotions.
32:02	And listen to me, I know it's not easy.
32:04	A seed comes in or a thought can come in like a seed.
32:08	It seems harmless.
32:09	Who's scared by a little seed?
32:13	You know?
32:13	Little acorn or a mighty oak tree.
32:16	No one's intimidated by a little acorn.
32:19	But a thought is like a seed.
32:22	It comes in, even if it wasn't welcomed.
32:26	Knocks on the door.
32:28	And it comes in and you're like, hello seed, hello thought, hello thought.
32:33	We just said it, hello joy, goodbye fear.
32:36	We've got to learn to say goodbye unpleasant thoughts.
32:41	Amen?
32:42	If you're going to treat your soul like a garden, you can't let everybody into your house.
32:47	You can't let everybody, how many of you are going to open your door up today and say everybody's welcome?
32:54	Cats, dogs, mice, rats, him, her, them, that.
33:00	Who's getting into your house?
33:07	Who's going to get into your house?
33:08	Well, it's exactly the same way with your apartment.
33:11	No one's getting into your apartment without the invite, without permission in Jesus' name.
33:16	And it's the same with your soul.
33:18	Don't let anyone into your soul.
33:20	Let the Word of God in.
33:21	Let the enemy out.
33:24	But it comes like a little seed.
33:28	Hello.
33:30	Hello.
33:32	Who are you?
33:34	Oh, just a thought.
33:36	What kind of thought?
33:38	Oh, you know, lots of thoughts come and go, but I'm just one of those thoughts that wants to stay.
33:45	Okay.
33:46	And because you don't address it, because you don't discern, you don't recognize that some thoughts are not going to be your friend.
33:53	You're like, okay.
33:54	And a week later, the thought is now moved in.
34:00	You open the door to the thought.
34:02	A week later, it's like, are you still here?
34:05	It's like having a friend come over.
34:07	Can I stay at your house tonight?
34:08	Yeah, sure.
34:08	A week later, they're still there.
34:11	A month later, they're eating all the food in your cupboard.
34:15	Two months later, they've stolen the password for the Wi-Fi and you have to go to your friend to get your own password.
34:22	Your own Wi-Fi.
34:23	I'm like, hello, how did that happen?
34:25	But let me tell you what thoughts do.
34:27	They move in and they take over.
34:30	And they come to a place where eventually it's your apartment and now they're treating you like it's their apartment and you should be thanking them for living in this apartment.
34:40	How did that reverse roll?
34:43	Oh, sorry, I'll pay you now for the rent.
34:46	And that's what we do with our thoughts.
34:48	We let them in.
34:49	We play with them.
34:50	We imagine with them.
34:51	We entertain them.
34:52	Why?
34:52	Because no one on the outside can see what I'm doing on the inside.
34:55	And then eventually this thought grows into what the Bible calls a stronghold.
35:00	It's got you.
35:01	You haven't got it.
35:03	It dominates you and you're a slave to this new reality.
35:10	It's not who you are, but it's who you've become.
35:14	And that's how you go from being a child of God to, I don't know if this is real anymore.
35:21	But let me tell you, once you recognize it, do everything to get back in Jesus' name.
35:26	So soul work.
35:28	Let it begin in Jesus' name.
35:29	Let the soul be renewed.
35:32	Let your soul be refreshed.
35:34	Let your soul be reenergized in Jesus' name, Amen.
35:38	Do a new work in me, Lord.
35:40	Do a new thing in Jesus' name.
35:41	Come on, let's stand to our feet.
35:43	And let's just allow the Holy Spirit to refresh our souls in Jesus' name.