Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is naive. And you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community, and I'd love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you to get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content if this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast if you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward.
[00:00:39] Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you and enjoy.
[00:00:59] I'm liking the energy. I'm liking it. It's awesome. Glad you're here. Really quick, before we start this brand new series, I want to let you hear a song. Okay? We're going to play a game. Are you guys good for a game? Anybody this morning? All right, so I'm going to let you play. I'll let you hear a song, not the words. Just a few seconds and you guys are going to guess what song it is. Now, I think. I think it's a classic. Some of you might be thinking it's just old, bro, but whatever, I think it's a classic. So let's just play just a little bit. Dj, would you please help me out?
[00:01:33] Turn it up.
[00:01:35] Okay, okay, okay, okay. And stop. What do we got? What have we got? Who we have? What is this?
[00:01:43] Huh? Who? What?
[00:01:45] What?
[00:01:46] Every breath you take. Yes. By.
[00:01:50] I was thinking Sting.
[00:01:52] Sting? Who's for Sting?
[00:01:55] Okay, whatever. Okay, let's not divide the church.
[00:01:58] Let's not divide the church on this. There's bigger things to divide our church. Okay, this section needs help. Here. Here.
[00:02:06] Okay? So now. Now I'm gonna let you listen to the words of the song and tell me if it's not a little stalkerish.
[00:02:16] Let's help me out.
[00:02:24] Every breath you take, every move you make, every bound you break.
[00:02:37] Okay, kill it.
[00:02:39] Tell me if that's not stalkerish.
[00:02:41] You. I got you under surveillance.
[00:02:45] Yeah. I got cameras on you. I got eyes on you.
[00:02:48] Now, what's interesting about love songs, which I think is they're all a little stalkerish. They're all a little too much, man. Come on. It's still too much. You're gonna really die for me? Really? Are you really gonna die for me? You know, I mean, there's all kinds of things that we promise. And now, what I appreciate about the song, which I love this song, by the way, but what I appreciate love songs and songs like this is because they convey something and they hit the human heart in a way that most of us or most of our dialogue does not. And what the song is basically saying is this. I care about you, I worry about you. I think about you. Which is really beautiful, because we all want someone to think about us. I mean, we struggle with sometimes feeling all alone, feeling this sense of, like, I'm not quite sure if anybody else is thinking about.
[00:03:33] Is anybody else thinking about my problems? Is anybody really concerned? Does anybody really see what I'm going through? And so the song does a great job of saying, hey, hey, hey. Regardless, every breath you take, I'm with you. Well, this morning, as we kick off our series for the next several weeks, in fact, we're gonna have some fun with this with groups and things like that. The big idea for chapter one, because we're gonna go chapter by chapter, is this is it that you, my friend, you are not alone. And you don't have to do this all alone.
[00:04:12] You are not alone.
[00:04:13] See, some of us, we find ourselves not just alone because we don't have anybody around us. No, it's that the sickness, the diagnosis is yours. It's not your spouse's, it's yours. The condition is yours. The grief is. Is yours. And for sometimes when it's just so personal, we find ourselves in a place where. Going. I'm not quite sure if anybody understands, anybody sees. So I'm all alone in this. I'm all alone, regardless of how many people I have in my life. I've got all the people. I have plenty of pets, too many dogs, but yet I find myself all alone.
[00:04:54] And then there's some of us who find ourselves feeling that we have to do it all alone, like it's on us.
[00:05:00] And if you distract the stress of your life, the area where you are really stressed out, maybe you're anxious about that is the one thing that you have somehow believed that you've got to do this. And if you don't do it, if it doesn't happen, if you don't make this happen, it's not going to happen.
[00:05:18] So we find ourselves living out that. Not maybe feeling it, but living out of that realm.
[00:05:24] Hey, I just think I gotta do this all alone. Well, that's why Ephesians? The first chapter really speaks into that. And so what I would like to do is jump into it. And here's what we're gonna do. We're not gonna. I'm not gonna read the entire chapter because I could. And you could be like, that's great. But I'm gonna take sections of it and speak into it a little bit. And what I want you to kind of do is maybe follow along with your app or if you have scriptures, or.
[00:05:52] Or ask yourself, God, what are you saying to me about this idea of me feeling like I've gotta do it all by myself or I'm all alone in this? So let's jump in. We find the book of Ephesians in the New Testament. And the book of Ephesians is written by. Anybody know. Anybody know for extra credit by Paul. Yeah. Paul is a guy who did some missionary trips and he left his Jewish people and went to Gentile land. And so the.
[00:06:23] The church of Ephesus is a place where right now, actually it's considered modern day Turkey. But back in the day, it was a Roman, Greek kind of province.
[00:06:33] It was a port city. It was multicultural, important, in fact, in the ancient world. It had one of the seven wonders of its time there. It was a big temple. People would visit it. And it was very critical because a lot of really key people or influential people lived there. But also there was a mix of people because it was multicultural. It was, in fact, a place where Paul wanted to go in particular, because he wanted to have a conversation about Jesus. Not to just Jewish people, but also to people who were Gentiles. And so when you read the letter, when you read this book, you'll find he's talking to two groups of people and he goes in and out of, like, ideas of, like, what. What Jewish people understand and then the Greeks would begin to understand. So he's inviting them in. And the book of Ephesians is interesting because it has six chapters. And so the best way to understand it is actually with, like, the first three chapters and the next three chapters. There are two sections. Well, the first chapter really talks about this idea of what God has done. What God has done and how he wants us to live. So the first three is what God has done in our lives, what that means. And the next three chapters are gonna be like, what he's inviting us into, or more than that, how does he want us to live? And so chapter one, though, as we talk about it, he introduces the idea of what God has done. So let's Jump into it. You guys ready? Let's jump into it. All right, so it reads. It says here, Ephesians 1. If you follow along, it says, all praise to God the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. Wow. Okay, okay. Wow. Okay. Because he has. He has.
[00:08:22] Because we are Sorry, we are what? What's that word? We are what?
[00:08:25] United with Christ.
[00:08:28] United with Christ. Now, here, for the Jewish people, they're like, we kind of understand this because, number one, we are the chosen people. Hello. And Jesus was a Jew, so we're good with that, too.
[00:08:40] But when he says we're all united with Christ, he's also talking to the Greeks, which is interesting because he's basically saying that now we are all connected to one. So there isn't like, this Abrahamic lineage that is so important.
[00:08:55] It's not the famous people where, you know, you've got, like, Isaac, Abraham, Jacob, all these guys, you know. No, it's a little bit deeper than that. It's. It's now Christ. It's not Moses. It's not the prophets of the old. No, it's Jesus. And so he says, okay, so we're united. And then he says, even before. Even before he made the. Help me out. He made the what?
[00:09:22] World. Even before he made the world just stop and let it sink. Even before, like, if you know the Genesis story, you're like, oh, I know. Day one, this happened. Day two, this happened. Paul is saying, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us.
[00:09:41] He chose us. He loved us. He chose us. Even before in Christ, to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Which does not translate. Like, even before you were born, God wanted you to stop sinning.
[00:09:55] That's not what he's saying here. What it's saying here is something more precious.
[00:10:00] He's saying, before you were born, he was thinking about you. So if you ever felt like you're all alone in this. I know how you feel, but I just want you to know someone has been thinking about you. You have dreams for your life. Someone has been dreaming about you before you were born. And as parents. Any parents in the house? Make some noise.
[00:10:18] You're tired. Make some noise.
[00:10:20] Yeah, we're tired. Okay. The thing about having kids, if you've dealt with kids, if you know kids.
[00:10:25] Okay, if you were ever a kid with parents. Here's the deal. Once you have them. Actually, no, not even true. Before you have them, you worry about them.
[00:10:34] What will they be like?
[00:10:36] What's gonna Happen. And then they're born, and you're like, oh, my God. And then you keep on, and you don't stop worrying about them. My kids are adults now. And guess what? I'm still thinking about them. I'm like, are they okay? Are they getting enough protein?
[00:10:51] I don't know what's happening here. What's happening? They come to visit. I'm like, are you good? Are you good? Are you good? Like, we're good. Are you really good? Like, what? What's happening? And I'm thinking, when am I going to stop thinking about them?
[00:11:05] Anybody give me some help?
[00:11:07] No, really? Never. Never. Every. When people say, have kids, think twice.
[00:11:15] It's forever.
[00:11:17] So imagine if God was your father.
[00:11:21] For some of you, you know that to be true. For others of you, if he was, because I believe he is man. He's been thinking about you since you were born, and he hasn't stopped.
[00:11:34] And what he wants to do since the day he was. Since you were born. That he wanted to become close to you.
[00:11:43] He loved you, chose you, united you. This whole time, he just wants to get closer and closer and closer.
[00:11:51] It says here that God decided in advance, before he made the what world.
[00:11:59] God decided in advance to do what? To adopt us again. To the Jews, they're like, we're already in. But the Gentiles, which are all of us, were like, really? Yeah, he's adopted us. He's putting his name on us.
[00:12:12] It's not like, oh, I'll just take care of you. Come on in, come on in, come on in. Come on in. I'll babysit you. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm giving you my name.
[00:12:20] You're adopted into his own family. By bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, this is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great. What's that word? Great? What?
[00:12:34] Pleasure. This is what he wanted to do before. What? Before he created the what, before he made the world.
[00:12:42] His whole plan was, I'm gonna get them as close as possible.
[00:12:47] They're gonna be my kids from the beginning.
[00:12:50] And what most of the Bible tells us is humanity struggle with this conversation. Humanity struggles with this idea of like, no, no, no God. We just want a God to be religious.
[00:13:02] We just want a God to worship and hear God through Jesus. He reveals himself to be a God. No, no, no.
[00:13:10] I don't want just worship. I want relationship.
[00:13:14] I don't want you to adore me. I want you to know me.
[00:13:18] I want you to know me.
[00:13:20] You're chosen. You're not alone. I don't want you to feel that ever.
[00:13:24] Which is very different. Because if you grew up in a different faith, the gods are up there, and I grew up in the Muslim faith and the gods are up there, or the God is up there and there's no connection.
[00:13:34] It's like, just do good.
[00:13:36] But here, even to the Greeks, they're like, so this God wants to invite us to be a part.
[00:13:42] Because what they knew is Greek mythology. They knew other gods who are like, you would never adopt a human. That's not how it works.
[00:13:50] But he keeps on going. He says, here's what happened. It gave him so much pleasure.
[00:13:56] So he says, so we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear son.
[00:14:05] He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our, what, freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins. Now, what's interesting about this is that there is so much more to this idea of God paying the price for our sins.
[00:14:27] Depending on where you grew up or how you heard about the gospel, the message of Jesus, some of you heard that the idea is that our sins put him on the cross.
[00:14:36] He paid the penalty for our sins. And there are scriptures that definitely talk about that, but in context, let me just tell you, it's so much more. There seems to be, especially when you look at the words of Jesus in light of everything that he said, there seems to be a cosmic thing that's going on that God sent a part of himself to redeem his sacrifice, his willing sacrifice. To die as a human would do something far more than just get us into heaven. It would do something that's so profound, in fact, I think it does a couple of things. One, what it does is it. It forever. His sacrifice redeems the whole universe as we know it. All the cosmic things, everything in this world and the unseen world.
[00:15:28] The scriptures allude to something happened that day, not just on earth, but everywhere.
[00:15:35] God redeemed the universe as we know it. And then he reconciled the world and all creation. But. But then he also rescued humanity.
[00:15:48] There was a bondage. We were enslaved to the law. We were enslaved to our own devices. We were enslaved to being all alone and trying to figure out this religious stuff. All alone. And it's going to be our will to make it right with God. No. And he says he rescued us from that. He's done so much more.
[00:16:08] And then what he does is this. He says, so there's no more barriers.
[00:16:14] There's no more barriers to Keep you from Him.
[00:16:18] Do you see? There's no more as far as God is concerned. God is Emmanuel to you.
[00:16:26] God with us forever. You are not. What?
[00:16:31] You're not alone in this. I know you feel that, but you're not alone in this. Now, is it because. Is it because you're so special? It's true. It's true. You're special, but not that special. As in. As in, it's not just this. Truth is not just for you.
[00:16:50] It's for you, but it's also for us. Yeah, it's for us.
[00:16:55] It's for us. Why is it all for us? Because what he is saying here in this letter is that. Let me just tell you why you're so important. Let me just tell you what God's been thinking. Because God is doing something so important right now. Naeem, what is he doing? Here's what he's fundamentally doing.
[00:17:10] God is putting back a broken humanity.
[00:17:15] That's what God's doing. And he's inviting you and me to be a part of that.
[00:17:21] That's what God's mission is. He's trying to adopt everyone, to collect all the broken pieces of humanity and bring them. Bring them together. That's why we call this church Mosaic.
[00:17:37] Because we fundamentally believe that we are the broken becoming beautiful. We are the broken pieces that God is putting us together. We're different pieces coming together. Ephesians, verse 10.
[00:17:50] He says this. He says, and this is the plan.
[00:17:53] And this is the plan that at the right time, he will bring everything. What? Everything what?
[00:17:59] Together under the authority of Christ.
[00:18:03] Everything in heaven and on earth. He's saying he's bringing everything together. All the heavens, the earth. He's doing all of that he is doing. And so what does that mean? What does that look like? How does it change our lives? Will it change our lives in so many ways? He continues. He writes this. He says God's purpose was that we Jews. And the Jews were like, yeah, us.
[00:18:29] We Jews, who were the first. Yeah, we were the first. Okay. Got it, buddy. Okay. To trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.
[00:18:40] And then as you. As I told you, he's talking to two troops of people, two groups of people. He says, and now you. You what? You Gentiles. And all the Gentiles went, oh, okay. Have also heard the truth, that good news, that God, what, saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you something, or should I say someone.
[00:19:12] He gave you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. The Spirit Is God's what guarantee that he will give us the inheritance we promised that we. That he has purchased us to be his own people.
[00:19:32] He did this so we would praise and glorify Him. He's saying, I need you to understand the reason why we are so grateful. The reason why we sang that song. I'm so grateful for you. Okay. The reason why we say that we sing those songs. We do this. Here's why. Here's why we do this because we have. We've realized special if you're a gentile. Especially if you're a gentile, you realize that God has given us something that we could never ever kind of get on our own. He's given us this privilege to now possess the Holy Spirit as a sign for adoption. So when he adopted us Gentiles, he didn't give you certificates? He was like, oh, that's cute. No, he gave us a person. He gave us access to his very presence. And his presence was the Holy Spirit. And for so many of us, we find ourselves in a place where like, I'm so alone in this.
[00:20:29] It's all by myself. And I do this. I should know this. I'm a professional, I should know this. And I find myself just going, I just gotta. If this is gonna happen, it's gonna be me. It's gonna be. I gotta convince these people. I gotta do this, I gotta do that. And then I stop and go, well, hold on, hold on. I possess the power of the Holy Spirit. Not because I have superpowers, I can shoot lasers.
[00:20:51] No, it's because God's presence has chosen to live in me. And that is proof that I belong to Christ, who is Emmanuel. That's proof of that. And there comes with certain privileges because I'm that.
[00:21:05] Did you know that?
[00:21:07] Did you know that? This past week I was at a conference, so multi faith conference. And so there are people there from different walks of life, but also different faiths. And it was really great to see different faiths coming together and honoring one another. And I was like, this is great. No one's trying to convert someone else. It was just this beautiful thing. And so I was talking to this lady and she was Pakistani, and if you don't know, I'm Pakistani as well. And. And she was like, oh, I'm Pakistani. I was like, really?
[00:21:33] Okay. And she was like, where are you from? And come to find out she's from the. She was born in the same city my parents were born in. And I was like, oh, do you speak Urdu? And we just Switched to Urdu. You know, like, we're talking and. That's not how it sounds, by the way. That's not how it sounds.
[00:21:48] And it's not racist because I am Pakistani. Okay? Anyways, so my friend's over there, and, you know. And so we're talking, and then we switch back to English, because we can do that. And she was like, oh, yeah, have you gone. Have you been to Pakistan recently? I was like, no, I haven't. She's like, oh, you should go to Pakistan. And the guy, this rabbi friend of mine, he was like, oh, oh, he's a Muslim.
[00:22:10] He was a Muslim, but now he's a Christian. And I was like, dude, I'm about to tell her that. I'm about to tell her that. Just calm me down. I gotta ease into this. She was like, oh, my gosh, she's so happy. I don't wanna crush her dreams right now.
[00:22:24] And she was like, oh, you're not a Muslim anymore? I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not a Muslim. And then he goes, oh, and he's a pastor. I'm like, dude, just stop. Like, just stop. Like, just never take a rabbi on a trip with you, by the way. I'm like, just go do your thing, man. Don't you have, like, something to read or something? So. And I'm like, yeah, I'm a pastor. And she's like, oh. Oh. So, yeah. I said, I haven't been in Pakistan because of that, you know? And she was like, oh. And then she said this. She's like, oh, so what's your passport, though? What passport do you have? And I was like, well, I've got a. I got an American passport. And she's like, oh, you're fine.
[00:22:59] So she's like, I got a Pakistani passport. So, you know. But you're an American passport. You're American. I'm like, yeah, but, you know.
[00:23:06] Yeah, you know. And she was like, what? And I was like, yeah. I mean, and my name is Naim Fazel. It's not like Nikki Fazoli. You know what I'm saying? I don't know, maybe we could call it that, might be a name. And she was like, no, no, no, no. And then she said. She's like, you have an American passport. They're gonna treat you so differently.
[00:23:26] And it's true. Have you ever traveled without an American passport? Anybody?
[00:23:32] Oh, my goodness. Hello. Okay. All the immigrants in the house. Yeah.
[00:23:37] Yes, yes.
[00:23:39] Like, the customs line is a thing.
[00:23:42] If I didn't have an American passport, I would still be in it, you know what I'm saying? From 10 years ago, I'm like, this is serious. As soon as I got an American passport, okay, I'm walking around going, hey, I'm American.
[00:23:55] I don't know if you know this. I don't know if you know this, but there is a difference in being a follower of Jesus. There's a difference, and you might not feel it, but there is something fundamentally different in the supernatural world.
[00:24:13] When you are filled with God's presence, when you're a temple of the Holy Spirit, when you're a follower of Jesus, it's different.
[00:24:21] And you might go, well, I just kind of said a prayer, okay? I don't know if you said a prayer or didn't. What I'm saying is that if you have a relationship with Jesus, as in you've invited him into your heart and you're asking him to change you, and you invite the Holy Spirit, you are a different person.
[00:24:36] You're a different citizen of the universe.
[00:24:40] You're different.
[00:24:41] You are no longer citizens of this world. Paul says it, hey, you know, this is not our home right now. He didn't say all of a sudden, well, why, why, why? He says, no, no, we just entered into. We just got a different passport.
[00:24:56] We're different.
[00:24:58] We're different. And in the spiritual world, in the supernatural world, all of a sudden, you have a different identity and you don't know it. You don't understand how powerful it is. I just want you to know it's different.
[00:25:16] It's extremely different.
[00:25:19] And the deal, though, is that because you have the Holy Spirit, you are now identified as one with inheritance. You are identified as one of God.
[00:25:36] And so it changes everything about you.
[00:25:42] There are privileges that come with having and carrying his presence.
[00:25:48] And so Paul knows that some of these.
[00:25:52] His audience is trying to figure this out. In Ephesians 18, he says, I pray that your hearts will be flooded with. Flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he has called his holy people, who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray, I pray, pray, pray that you will understand. You guys will just get it. The what? What's the word he used? The what? The incredible.
[00:26:26] Incredible. I mean, it's beyond that. You could.
[00:26:31] It's beyond you proving it's credible.
[00:26:34] It's incredible.
[00:26:36] Like, you're not gonna believe it.
[00:26:40] It's unbelievable.
[00:26:42] It's unbelievable greatness of God's power for us. Who. What?
[00:26:48] Believe him? And this is, by the way, he says this is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. He's like, I just want you to know that. I just. I just want you to know that you've been given this new identity. And for some of us, you're like, I know, Naeem, you've heard this. I got a new life in Jesus. But the truth is, bro, I heard that about five years ago. And Monday was the same. You know what I'm saying? Monday was the same. The new life, New life with Jesus. I'm not quite sure if that works. And let me just tell you, God, that's not the whole truth. Let me tell you the exact truth. The truth is, God doesn't give you just a whole new life. He gives you a new way to live this life.
[00:27:35] He gives you a new way to live this life. He gives you a new power to live the life you're living right now. He doesn't all of a sudden make you taller and skinnier and more popular and successful. No, he doesn't do that.
[00:27:48] No, he doesn't give you. That's not the promise. New life. He's talking about. He's talking about, I give you new power. He says, I'm giving you the power within you to reorder your life if you choose.
[00:28:00] If you choose to step into it.
[00:28:03] You know what that means?
[00:28:04] What's the good news about that? What that means is you.
[00:28:10] You and I, we don't have to be what we used to be.
[00:28:18] You don't.
[00:28:19] You have the power to change.
[00:28:21] You don't have to.
[00:28:23] You don't have to continue to struggle with so much anxiety sometimes it's deafening because everything inside of your brain is screaming at you.
[00:28:35] You don't have to keep on just trying to have a better attitude.
[00:28:42] Just trying to have a better attitude.
[00:28:44] You don't have to keep on.
[00:28:47] You don't have to keep on. At some point, you have to realize you don't have to struggle with, I don't know, a sense of just meaningless, just a sense of purpose in your life. You don't have to.
[00:29:06] But it starts with you going, I can't do this on my own.
[00:29:10] I'm not all alone. But I can't do this on my own. Like, I don't have to do this all alone.
[00:29:17] I don't have to do this. I have God's presence inside of me.
[00:29:21] And it gives me the power, supernatural power, incredible power that I can't really Understand? And all we have to do, friends, to access, that is to say, holy Spirit, would you.
[00:29:34] Would you come in? Would you give me the words? I'm going into this meeting. Oh, my gosh. I want to just.
[00:29:42] I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this. I want to fire everybody, or I want to. I want to get fired today. Like, I really do. I want to have a good excuse to not work here anymore.
[00:29:57] And you can just walk in before and go, holy Spirit, that's in me. It's in me, Holy Spirit, in me.
[00:30:05] Do you think, do your thing and you're like, oh, name. That's not. That's not. That's weird. Yeah. It's called supernatural.
[00:30:13] Yeah. It's extraordinary.
[00:30:16] Yes. And you're like, it's goofy. Well, don't say it out loud.
[00:30:21] Say it inside.
[00:30:22] And see God move.
[00:30:26] See God move in your life. You don't have to do this all by yourself. And what's great about this, as we continue on, we will realize that God leaves us with, like, with his Holy Spirit, but also on purpose, creates for us a family, a community called the church. And we'll get into that next week. But today, though, today, I want you to think about this.
[00:30:59] Where do you feel all alone?
[00:31:03] Like, where do you feel like, I'm just gonna have to do this?
[00:31:08] I just gotta have to do this. And you're thinking, I just. I gotta pray about this more. Because if I don't pray enough, and I don't. I don't.
[00:31:16] You're just so. There's so much, so many words. Everything inside of you is fighting against you, and it feels like everybody around you is fighting against you as well. Where have you felt all alone? Or is there a part of you that spends a lot of time distracting yourself from a darkness that wants to creep in and get closer?
[00:31:44] To quote another song, hello, darkness, my old friend.
[00:31:49] I think for some of us, we know he's there and we're just partying. We're just having things to do. We're just getting busy, scrolling, doing whatever to do to not allow ourselves to just sit in this. And here's the thing. This darkness, this sense of loneliness, is not just for adults.
[00:32:12] It's for kids.
[00:32:14] It's for teenagers. So if you're a teenager here, you struggle with it and you feel it.
[00:32:22] The loneliness I felt the most is when I was a teenager. I was like, no one gets me.
[00:32:29] No one understands.
[00:32:31] And you know what? They might not. But I do know one person that Every breath you take, every move you make, he's watching over you.
[00:32:44] He's got you.
[00:32:45] He's given you the Holy Spirit to remind you you're one of his.
[00:32:49] So let's access it. Amen. Well, let's pray together.
[00:32:53] Let's stand.
[00:32:58] Let's close our eyes for a minute and just take a deep breath.
[00:33:07] Yeah, let's take another deep breath.
[00:33:15] God, before.
[00:33:18] Before we could breathe, you thought of us.
[00:33:25] You thought of me.
[00:33:28] Before you begin to create the world, you thought of what and who we would be and what we would look like.
[00:33:43] You dreamt so much about us.
[00:33:46] Then when it came to really make us, you said, let's just. I'm gonna make. I'm gonna make them in my image.
[00:33:53] I'm gonna make them just like me.
[00:33:57] And it's strange, God, because we're not just like you.
[00:34:04] Yet you are God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And yet we find ourselves, humanity. Being spirit, soul and body, we're similar.
[00:34:18] We have your DNA.
[00:34:21] God, thank you.
[00:34:25] Thank you for wanting to be close to us, God. For some of us and for all of us. God, there are times where we don't want you to get close. We don't want you to see because we're so ashamed of who we are and who we've become.
[00:34:47] And yet, God, I know that as a heavenly father, you are looking down and you don't see the shame, and you don't see the wrong. You just see the person.
[00:35:00] Your daughter, your son.
[00:35:04] And you want them close.
[00:35:08] So, God, thank you.
[00:35:09] Thank you for that.
[00:35:11] Remind us once again this morning.
[00:35:16] Once again this morning that you're with us.
[00:35:20] You're with us, God. For the area of our lives, we find ourselves thinking we're all alone, believing that we have to all do it by ourselves. God, do the incredible, do the impossible.
[00:35:39] Do the things that we cannot have the will to do.
[00:35:44] And when you do, we'll be grateful.
[00:35:48] So grateful.
[00:35:50] God, have your way with us.
[00:35:53] Help us to respond.
[00:35:56] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
[00:36:01] For more audio and video content, Visit us at MosaicChurch TV.
