Living in Awe - S23E3

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin

Episode: Living in Awe (S23E3)
Release Date: September 29, 2025
Host: Pastor Joby Martin
Guests: Pastor Brit, Vicky, Willie (Worship Leaders and Staff at The Church of Eleven22)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Pastor Joby Martin and special guests dive deep into the connection between worship, awe, creation, and generational faithfulness. Centering on Psalm 145 and the classic hymn How Great Thou Art, the conversation ranges from personal stories about encountering God in nature, to the critical importance of passing on faith to the next generation, to how worship—through music and daily living—roots believers in God’s greatness and goodness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Majesty of God in Creation & Worship

• Psalm 145 and How Great Thou Art are the springboards for reflection on the awe inspired by God’s creation.
• Participants recall how the hymn’s lyrics—particularly those about nature—capture both God’s cosmic grandeur and intimate care.
• Awe and Worship in Nature
  • Pastor Joby shares how hunting trips and being in the woods move him to spontaneous worship, singing the hymn in gratitude and wonder.
  • Noticing specifics like the vibrant red of a cardinal triggers thoughts of Jesus' blood and the goodness of God.
    “When I see the cardinals, I just thank Jesus for his blood. And I can't tell you the amount of times worship has just erupted from me.” (Host, 04:36)

[02:13 - 05:09]

• Theology of Nature: Discussion on how Scripture affirms that creation itself proclaims God’s glory, citing Romans 1 and various Psalms (8, 19, 145).
• Limits of Natural Revelation: Creation points to God, but salvation is uniquely revealed in Christ and His Word.
• Childlike awe is held up as a model, using an anecdote about a child more fascinated by a squirrel than an ape at the zoo as an example of joy in the simple gifts of creation.

2. Feeling Small—A Good Thing

• The crew reflects on the humility gained in nature, feeling "small in a really good way"—not insignificant, but humbled before the Creator.
• Alaska and harsh natural environments are used as metaphors for recognizing human limitations and God’s immense power.

[09:34 - 12:07]

“There is never a second where Alaska's not trying to kill you, so do not walk off by yourself again.” (Host recounting advice to a companion, 11:47)

• Nature isn’t to be worshiped (rejecting the concept of “Mother Earth” as deity), but should instead magnify the Creator, not the creation.

3. Generational Faithfulness & Family Discipleship

• Verse-by-verse look at Psalm 145: David’s designation of God as “my God and King” paints a picture of both intimacy and majesty. The “I will” resolve echoes through the Psalm—an intentional, active commitment to praise.
• Passing faith to future generations forms a central theme, described as both a family and church responsibility.

[17:28 - 23:13]

“This is our family inheritance. Whatever is sacred, like, keep it.” (Pastor Brit, 24:48)

• Discusses the four-generation decline of values:
  1. Generation 1 accepts,
  2. Generation 2 assumes,
  3. Generation 3 confuses,
  4. Generation 4 loses.
• Contemporary urgency is highlighted—commitment to not let the broader culture’s drift toward post-Christian norms rob this generation of faith.
• Authenticity at home: Faith at the dinner table is as critical as faith proclaimed from the pulpit.

4. The Role of Hymns & Intergenerational Worship

• Hymns connect generations through shared language, combining doctrinal depth with emotion.
• Modern worship sometimes lacks the depth or narrative journey hymns provide—How Great Thou Art’s bridge from creation to salvation to ultimate hope is highlighted.

[27:46 - 29:23]

“You can't fully recognize or realize who God is until you begin to see yourself in light of Him.” (Vicky, 29:23)

• Hymns are described as engaging both heart and mind— "doctrine-rich yet soul-stirring".

5. Practical Challenges & Encouragement for Parents

• The tension parents feel—being spiritually present at home after ministering all day—is discussed honestly.
• Grace abounds where the "ideal" isn’t realized; parents are urged to prioritize faith-sharing investments over anxiety about performance.

[35:06 - 37:37]

“There's so many times me and G held up the mirror and be like, have we screwed this whole thing up? ... And last night, my whole family's sitting there worshiping Jesus together, you know?” (Host, 37:07)

• Encourages parents that authentic, imperfect efforts in faith impact their children—and God’s grace fills the gaps.

6. Living With an Eternal Perspective

• Many hymns, like How Great Thou Art, close with hope for Christ's return. This is not escapism, but motivation for present-day faithful work and witness.
• The biblical pattern: those most focused on eternity did the most practical good (e.g., founding hospitals, orphanages).

[47:23 - 49:19]

“The whole point of the Great Commission being fulfilled is that Christ would come back.” (Vicky, 49:19)

7. Rediscovering Awe as a Christian Discipline

• Losing your "awe" is described as one of the greatest dangers in the Christian life.
• Worship is defined as “soul singing”—not merely musical participation, but a holistic, deep response to God’s majesty and goodness.
• Music and storytelling are affirmed as vehicles for moving the heart and soul toward worshipful awe.

[55:39 - 59:36]

“You know when your lips are singing and when your soul's singing.” (Host, 56:06)

• The experience of meaningful worship, whether private in nature or corporate in church, is marked as transformative.

8. Gratitude and Awe Rooted in Scripture

• Reading and singing Psalms, especially Psalm 8 and 145, in the midst of nature is encouraged as a way of rekindling wonder and gratitude.

[61:17 - 62:24]

“Thankfulness we know is the gate to worship, you know?” (Pastor Brit, 60:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "When I see the cardinals, I just thank Jesus for his blood. And I can't tell you the amount of times worship has just erupted from me."
  — Host, 04:36
• "Creation is inviting to all to see the Creator, but there's limitations in it… Only the Word and a relationship with Jesus proclaims his salvation."
  — Pastor Brit, 06:09
• “You can't fully recognize or realize who God is until you begin to see yourself in light of Him.”
  — Vicky, 29:23
• “The whole point of the Great Commission being fulfilled is that Christ would come back.”
  — Vicky, 49:19
• “There's present joy for today, but there's ultimate joy when He comes back."
  — Pastor Brit, 49:30

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Timestamps for Significant Segments

• 00:38 – 02:13: The hymn and Psalm 145—connections between worship and creation
• 04:36 – 05:09: Cardinals, color, and reminders of Christ’s sacrifice
• 09:34 – 10:55: Feeling small in nature, Alaska story
• 14:10 – 17:28: “My God and King”—personal faith and lasting praise
• 20:08 – 23:13: Four Generations: Accept, Assume, Confuse, Lose
• 24:48 – 25:47: Authenticity in parenting and generational inheritance
• 27:46 – 29:23: Depth of hymns—doctrine and emotion
• 35:06 – 37:37: Parenting, guilt, and the need for grace
• 47:23 – 49:19: Eternity-focused living and its effect on mission
• 55:39 – 56:06: What does it mean for the “soul to sing”?
• 60:36 – 61:17: Thanksgiving as the entry point to worship

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Concluding Reflections

• Worship and awe are essential to a vital faith; both are nurtured through creation, Scripture, and the heritage of hymns.
• Generational faith is not accidental—it requires authenticity, intentional routines at home, and passing along living testimonies, not just information.
• Eternal perspective isn’t a call to neglect the present but a catalyst for faithfulness, especially in family and community.
• Rediscovering awe—both childlike and mature—is at the heart of worship, and worship is both an emotional and intellectual engagement.
• The episode closes in prayer, seeking God to make His people a generation that exalts His name “forever and ever.”

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“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.”
Let every generation, in awe, declare the fame of His abundant goodness.

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Transcript

[Pastor Joby Martin]

Welcome to Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin. The Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're praying this message helps you deepen your relationship with him.

[Pastor Brit]

Now let's dive in.

[Vicky]

All right.

[Willie]

Well, welcome Lindsay.

[Pastor Brit]

Hey. It's good to be here.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Long time.

[Willie]

11:22, her first time deepener.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That's right.

[Willie]

Yeah. Welcome one of our worship leaders.

[Pastor Brit]

It's an honor to be here with y'.

[Host / Worship Leader]

All.

[Vicky]

Yeah.

[Willie]

Pastor Brit.

[Vicky]

What's up?

[Willie]

What's up, my guy?

[Vicky]

We're doing it.

[Willie]

You're preaching on Psalm 145 and 144. I'd say that's it's ambitious.

[Vicky]

Well, we're just going to do 145.

[Willie]

Okay.

[Vicky]

But 144 does come before it. Is this when I originally submitted what I was thinking about preaching about? 144 is included, but we ended up just going 145. So I'm only half as ambitious as you would give me credit for. But 145. The reason we're handling Psalm 145, the hymn this week is how great Thou Art, which arguably is the most well known hymn over the last, I don't know, 150 years. It is a soul stirring, affection stirring hymn that gets you thinking about the grand and great reality that is God and on many different levels, how we see him, how we experience him. Maybe most important importantly, how he postures himself toward us and what he's done for us through the gospel. And as I was just praying about that Psalm 145, is that in the psalms? And so they just go hand in hand to me. So.

[Host / Worship Leader]

This.

[Willie]

This song, this song, we were talking earlier that there's a verse that nobody usually sings and it's more about nature. So the first one's like the stars and the thunder. And then there's another one that's talking about walking through the woods and you.

[Vicky]

Hear through the forest glades.

[Willie]

That's exactly right. And so I want to ask about nature. There's a couple of psalms that come to mind. There's Psalm 8 and then Psalm 19, and there are many others. But how does nature inform our understanding of who God is?

[Vicky]

Well, I'm generally only in it when I'm looking for golf balls in the woods. So I'll default to the. I'll default to the the woodsman in there.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Gospel story that Brits like Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

[Willie]

If your name was Titleist, it is?

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah, man. You know, the. The. The puritans would say there are two books that reveal God's nature. The revealed word of God and then the revelation of the natural world that he created. And they did it out of Romans, chapter one. I don't know how you can immerse yourself in the woods or by the ocean or see a sunset or, you know, just something spectacular and then not stir worship in you. In fact, it's. It's cool. We're singing this song so deer season is among us. And I go as much as I possibly can. And when I go to the retreat center and I get it in McCan Am and I'm heading to my stand, don't do this as somebody's with me, but when it's just me, every time I sing how great thou art, I just sing it. I'm so grateful for another day to get to do this. Grateful for the retreat center. And that's just it. When I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. The power throughout the universe display. Then sings my soul. And that's it. And I love it, man. And that second verse about the, you know, the birds singing sweetly and the trees, It's a thing. If you haven't been in the woods and watched the woods wake up, you're really missing it. If you hadn't seen the sun come up, you're really missing it. Did you know when it's quiet, if you just sit there, like if a bird flies over your head, I mean it. Like it's 40ft above you, you can hear its wings flapping. There's so many little noises. It's not quiet in the woods. It's very loud. All kinds of noises that God enjoys. And another little thing just. I just sound like such an old man, but I don't care. Everything is some color of brown and green in the woods. All the trees, all the grass, all the leaves are some versions of brown and green. And then these cardinals show up every morning.

[Pastor Brit]

What is it with cardinals?

[Host / Worship Leader]

And it is the brightest red. And I'm just telling you another just little trick or positive trigger for me is when I'm in the woods and I see the cardinals, I just thank Jesus for his blood. And I can't tell you the. The amount of times worship has just erupted from me. Gratitude has just overwhelmed me. This sense of the. The presence of God, you know, just sitting in the woods, watching his creation wake up. It's a thing, man. It's a real thing.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, I think creation, it acts like a Universal sermon. Right. Like, day and night, it's just declaring of God's glory and of his power and his creativity and his Godness, if you will. But it's like, you know, I think creation is inviting to all to see the Creator, but there's limitations of it. You know, like, there's limitations. There's. I feel like in Romans 1, 1920, Paul says, God's invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, are clearly seen in creation. And so, like, from the smallest cell to the vastness of the galaxies, creation points to God's power and his Godness. And it's so that humanity has no excuse that he's real, you know? But somewhere along the way, we, like, forget and we start worshiping this creation and. Or it just becomes background noise, right? Like, you just kind of miss it.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

And.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, while creation is constantly proclaiming the glory of God, only the Word in a relationship with Jesus proclaims, like, his salvation. And, you know, so it's like it leads all to him, but then, like, the Word and Jesus himself, our relationship with him is what changes everything. And I was thinking about this when I was at the zoo with Aiden. Not the woods, very different, but it's still loud and there's lots of animals. And lately we've been going through this podcast with him. It's called Tiny Theologians. Have y' all heard of it? It's really cute. It goes through the ABCs.

[Host / Worship Leader]

My theologians are big now, so.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, well, so for him, it's just like, it helps his little mind.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That's incredible.

[Vicky]

Yeah.

[Pastor Brit]

You know, and see his creation. And so he was asking questions like, did God create the stars? Yes, God created the stars. Did God create Sadie, our dog? Yes, God created Sadie. And God created grass. And so I was like, I need to take him to the zoo and just show him God's creation. And to see the awe and wonder of, like, the lions and the giraffes. And it was hilarious because we're walking, and all of a sudden a squirrel pops up. And he stops because it's the closest thing to him. And he's like, look at that squirrel right behind him. It's like the ape exhibit, right? And he's like, look at that squirrel. And I'm like, oh, yeah, the squirrel. And it, like, scrug out of his exhibit, right? And it just, like, landed on me. How we, like, lose our all in wonder, like that child. Like, awe and wonder, you know, like, somewhere along the way, we forget to look at the little things that are right in front of us. And give God glory for it. And so I'm just learning something from him every day.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts on nature, too. If you. If you. If you have the right lenses on, simultaneously, you feel so little.

[Vicky]

Mm.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Like nobody stands at a 14 or. And is like, I made a 1200 on the SAT. Like, whatever your thing is. You sound like the I drive a Dodge Stratus skit. You know, like if you're at the Grand Canyon, you feel. You just feel simultaneously so little. Or like, when I go hunting and there's all those woods, like, nobody knows where. Well, people do know. I tell them where I'm going, but, like, I am lost in these woods, you know? And yet the God of the universe knows exactly where I am. Gave his son to die for me in the midst of all this beautiful creation. Knows my name and actually loves me. So it's crazy. Then what we see in this world, especially, like, the granola world, is everything. God creates. The enemy corrupts. And so they worship the created thing instead of the Creator. And you got these idiots being like, well, just anybody that calls Mother Earth that has no idea what they are talking about, they're just like, you just love mother Earth and she'll take care of you. No, she won't. She will eat you up, spit you out, kill you, and not even care. You know, anybody. They do not understand our relationship with nature when they just think it's sweet and peaceful. I'm just telling you, haven't spent a night in the woods. The bear will eat you. The ocean will drown you like it is. The tree will fall on your head and not care. And it's a part of the way the enemy will do it, man. He'll take a good gift, which is God's revealed character in nature in. In his creation, and then twist it and not allow us to not lift our eyes above the tree line and see the one that created it. This song helps us do that.

[Vicky]

Yeah, you said something. It's really. Sometimes you just feel small in a really good way. Yeah, like small and insignificant are the same.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Correct.

[Vicky]

And sometimes you feel small in nature in a really good way. I was on a trip. I was speaking at this men's conference up in Alaska a little while ago.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That'll do it.

[Vicky]

And it was in February. It was in February.

[Host / Worship Leader]

How'd Mother Nature.

[Vicky]

Oh, my God, man.

[Host / Worship Leader]

We.

[Vicky]

I could tell you another story about Siberia when I was there, but that's a whole nother thing. And so me and one of our campus pastors, we Fly up to Alaska, and I'm wearing just, like, joggers and a hoodie. Because I leave Jacksonville, it's like, 80.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

And I fly up there. Getting to Seattle, you're waiting, and then you fly all the way to Alaska. We get off the flight. It's late at night. We're going out to catch a cab to go to our hotel or, like, an Uber or something. We walk out those glass doors. It's like eight below zero. Negative eight is what I'm saying. We walk out, and it was literally like someone was trying to kill me. I mean, I just, like. We drop our bags on the. We drop our bags and we slinging them open, trying to get our heavy jackets out. And we're just trying to get his dresses. I mean, all we had to go was 30ft.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

To the Uber. And I was like. And that's one of those things where you're just like, I have no idea. The power that's actually at work here. And then we actually get up to the camp where I'm preaching at this Bible camp, and we get there, and we get in our room, and my room had a. Like, a pretty good heater in it. And so Sage, our campus pastor that's with us, he's like, man, I'm gonna get dressed, and I'm gonna go, like, walking around. And I was like, yeah, man, go knock yourself out. We're in the middle of nowhere. Okay. And I'm just sitting in there, warm as I can be, with my wool socks on, just chilling. And Sage is out walking around. He comes back. He's gone for an hour, hour and a half. He comes back, and then the guys that are hosting us are all true blue Alaskans. And they come. They're like, what y' all been doing? I'm like, I've been sitting right here under these blankets, just living my best life. And Sage is like, oh, man. I went walking around, and they said, you did what? He's like, yeah, I was just out, like, walking around, checking out the camp. And they go, don't do that, man. Don't ever do that again. There is never a second where Alaska's not trying to kill you, so do not walk off by yourself again. And I was like, yeah, man, don't walk off. You know? But that's what you're talking about. It's like these moments where you're just like.

[Willie]

How do you balance, Pastor or justify?

[Host / Worship Leader]

I don't know.

[Vicky]

This is. This.

[Willie]

This is odd.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah. I don't know the word balance. So I've already.

[Willie]

Okay, let me start over.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Willie]

Explain.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Okay.

[Willie]

How it works, how these two things work together because we know that nobody can seek after God because we're dead in our sin. But then when Paul says that God's wrath's revealed and basically the reason why sinful humanity is held to account is because he says they can see God clearly. So help me understand how that works together.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Why are you trying to harmonize this thing?

[Willie]

I'm not trying to harmonize them, but they seem contradictory.

[Host / Worship Leader]

They're not. There's parallel tracks. So we all. We are all image bearers of God. We all have what Pascal said, that God shaped hole in our heart. And so we're all looking for something that is true. Romans, chapter one. And we all know the truth of that Something is the creator that breathed the breath of life into the first man and his face was imprinted on the first man and then passed down to us. And that's what we're looking for. We know this. Okay.

[Vicky]

So we all.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Everybody knows I'm looking for something.

[Willie]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

You won't know that something is the person work of Christ unless God gives you the gift of faith. Yeah. So those are the two parallel truths.

[Willie]

So it's like a sense. It's like a sense of something a.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Hundred bigger than yourself and a lot of people get lost in it.

[Willie]

Right.

[Host / Worship Leader]

But there's something nobody believes. Life is just up to them.

[Willie]

Right.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Even the most secular humanist thinks culture matters. We matter. Something matters more.

[Pastor Brit]

You know, that's why everyone ends up at the church when there's a funeral. It's just, you know, there has to be something better.

[Willie]

It's an interesting way to think about lost. Like being. Being lost.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Willie]

Like somebody without God is lost.

[Host / Worship Leader]

And.

[Willie]

And if you were somewhere and you're like, I know, I know it's around here somewhere, you know, I mean, I know there's. There's the camp or the road or whatever, and you just don't know where. You just. You lost.

[Vicky]

This is one of it, maybe the only Psalm, Psalm 145, that's called a Praise of David. There may be a few others. They all have different titles. But in the very right at the. Right at the beginning, what he says is to Yalls point, he says, I will extol you, my God and King. I think that's fascinating because he's not just saying that you're a God who is there. He's saying you're a God that is in charge. And it's not that just you're in charge of all these things that are happening in creation. That. That is true, but you are also in charge of me. He says, you are my God and king. And I think that that's like, that is the posture from which God honoring praise comes from.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah. Not just the God and not just the Creator, but it's very. Yeah, that's good, man. It's simultaneously cosmic and very close.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

Then he says, I will bless your name forever and ever. Forever is one of those things you really start thinking about forever. It's like a trippy mind bend Trinitarian, you know, I mean, it'll really mess with you in the best way.

[Host / Worship Leader]

I wonder what. I always wonder why you had to put. And ever and ever. Forever.

[Vicky]

Yeah. Just to make the point, you know, it's like there's forever and some ever.

[Host / Worship Leader]

You know, Isn't it awesome? So again, you've got. It's kind of like your question, Vicky. David has given us a bunch of parallels here. So there's like, my God, I mean, personal possession. My. Like, I know him, he knows me. My God, very personal and king, capital K, King, very cosmic, very big. And then I'm gonna bless you every day. And I'm going to do this forever and ever. It's like a very short amount of time, and then it's all the time. As long as it goes. This. This is what we're to do.

[Vicky]

Yeah. That's deeply personal for him.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

And one of the things, you know, I will do it forever and ever is when he's. It's the. The I will like, I am connecting my action to your eternal reality and is resolved in that way of like, everybody needs to go and regularly read Jonathan Edwards 100 Resolutions. It just says over and over again, I have resolved. I have resolved. I have resolved. And it just fills in the blank of how he's actually going to practice Godliness. Like, I've learned this thing, therefore I am now. And a resolve is more like a decision that makes a decision. It's like when I had my kids. We just decided. We just resolved, we are going to do everything that we can do to be good parents first. And then we went and put some, like, rules or guardrails around it, which was like when my kids were small, especially, and we've had to revisit this season by season, but it was like, I am not going to miss bedtime and bath time while they're small more than two nights a week. We just resolved, I'm going to be good parents. And then we defined what that meant for us.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

And that just has helped us navigate. So we decided, and then that started to make all these other decisions. And so that's kind of what David's doing. He's like, I have resolved that I will bless your name forever and ever. It's just what I'm going to do regardless of how I feel, regardless of what's going on. So I think that's super helpful for me.

[Willie]

Verse 4. It's funny you bring up parenting, because verse 4 says, One generation shall commend your works to another. And so, you know, is that talking about parenting or. Or just intergenerational discipleship? All of it. I mean, all of it.

[Vicky]

All of it. I. I think that people who have been overcome with the gospel, you know, they will talk about it and be committed to raising up one more generation in that gospel. I think that starts in the family.

[Willie]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

And then I think it also is true of the family of God, which is the local church.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

And then I think it's also true nationally to nations who are surrendered, which would certainly be the context David's writing it in. I think David certainly got in mind the end of Judges and moving into Joshua and are coming out of Joshua into Judges. And Pastor Joby shared that with us many times. You know, the. I don't want to steal your words here, but I was saying that as I looked down, I saw you returning to Judges, So I'm going to let you take it from here.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah. The saddest verse to me in the whole Bible, man. You get Joshua, right? Joker marched around Jericho. They blew the trumpet. They saw the walls come tumbling down. Joshua gathers the nation of Israel in Shechem, which we've been to, between the mountain of blessing and the mountain of cursing, and says, choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. And see. They so good what you said. They didn't resolve. They're like, oh, we're in. We. We. We're. We're in. But they did not resolve. They just kind of had this emotional response. And then you turn one page into Judges, it says, and that generation went to be with their fathers. Another generation rose up, and they neither knew the Lord or the work of his mighty hands. Dude, listen, speaking of resolve, I have had a stirring, a nudging of the spirit as we're preparing for the kind of the future of 1122 that we have to double down on what it means to raise up one more generation. We've always been committed to it, but we're about to double down on it, you know, I mean, in the crazy times that we live and the lies that are being spit in our kids and. And then simultaneously what God is doing right now in our student ministry, you know, that on our watch this is not. This judges situation isn't happening on our watch, that we are going to be a generation that extols the Lord and passes that on to another generation. We're going to commend your works to another generation and declare your mighty acts.

[Vicky]

A man named Max Stiles wrote a book called Marks of the messenger many years ago, and it's fantastic. And he was a missionary and a businessman in Dubai for a long time. And in his book he says that it takes four generations for a people to lose a value. And so think of it in the context of, you know, whatever, let's just say divorce. That there was a time in America where staying married was a very, very, very high value to the point of if you didn't stay married, that it just felt totally different then than it would feel now that really you were shunned. Yeah, it was a really. Which I'm not pro that or anything, I'm just using as an example. So it was a very high value. And then you track it four generations later and it's not a value at all. Staying married. So what has happened in culture. And he says it takes four generations. He'll so put it in the context of the Gospel. Generation one accepts the gospel not just as an idea, but they accept it as truth. And it is the resolve or the filter by which all other decisions are made. They accept it as their new way of life. Generation two comes along their kids, and because their parents were so committed, they just assume that it's true of them. So generation one accepts, Generation two assumes, and then they have kids. And because generation two assumed because their parents were good people walking in a worldview, that it was kind of true of them, by the time the third generation comes along, it's now confused. Generation one accepts. Generation two assumes, Generation three confuses. Generation four comes along. And if you track American evangelicalism, my generation was generation Four. Ours Generation X was generation four. And so the boomers confused it. I mean, the, the. Yeah, it was assumed coming the World War II generation accepted it and then it got assumed and then it got confused. In the 60s and 70s, by the 80s and 90s, we. We just were completely losing it. And then it was completely lost. You know, that therefore we live in a. What would most sociologists would call a post Christian America.

[Host / Worship Leader]

However, what's fascinating, there's always a remnant.

[Vicky]

There's always a remnant.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

And what's happening is, I don't want to overstep here, but it feels very much to me like a resurgence or a refreshing or a renewal that's kind of starting over. Like, like, it's like the reset button is being hit in a lot of places with this up and coming generation, which, praise God, if we want people to lead us into 50 years of revival, it's going to start with teenagers, no question about it. So I just think it's a fascinating time to be alive in that sense.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, I agree. I. I read this and the psalmist is almost talking about it like it is meant to be passed on like a family inheritance.

[Host / Worship Leader]

And.

[Pastor Brit]

And I remember sitting with my dad the other day and I was telling him how thankful I was for how authentic he was as a father and a pastor. And there was no difference between who he was at the dining room table and who he was on stage on Sunday. And when I was pregnant with Aiden, I asked him, like, how'd you do it? How'd you get three kids to really love Jesus? And we try to do other things. I try to do industry things. My brother tried to start some yard business. We try to do other things. But it was innate. And it's in us to do ministry, to do the work of the Lord. And we all came back to it, in a sense. And I was like, how did you do it? And he said, just be authentic. That's it. Just be authentic and protect the sacred. Like, come back to the table every night. Like, every single night. Growing up, we sat on that living room floor and we studied the Word together. And I think that we're missing that part of doing church together, like inviting people into the living room floor. Not just your family, but the generation. You invite them to the living room floor and don't put crazy hard boundaries around it. Like, let them be a part of your family. And like, this is the only way we overcome right by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. So, like, let your testimony preach and live it out. And like, I just think about the people who did that in my life, the people who invested in me and times where I was super broken and I felt unfit for use, and the way that they pulled me in and allowed me to do church with their family. And, you know, I look back, those are the cornerstones of why I'm in ministry, is my family and the people who weren't My blood family relatives, but they were my church family and it was generations of worship leaders before me. And so, yeah, I read this and I'm like, man, we gotta get back to the idea of this is our family inheritance. Like, whatever is sacred, like, keep it. Growing up, my family fostered my whole life. We always had. We didn't have much, but we always had a couch where someone could sleep, you know, at least. And, you know, I don't even know who really is my uncle and who's not, who's my brother and who's not. Honestly, I get confused about it all the time, but I think that's what it means to like, speak of the work of God, what he's done in your life, and to not just use it on a platform and say it from a microphone, but to testify in your home.

[Host / Worship Leader]

It's part of why I wanted to do this series because there's something about hymns that transcend people's musical preferences, you know, and so at our church, we're never going to give up these sacred old songs that have been so much to so many generations, through the generations, you know. And honestly, thank God for our friends like the Shanes, that spend the amount of time they do putting out albums like hymns. Thank God for our worship team for this, this album, this hymns album. Because one of the things that you can do is when you intergenerationally, you know, everybody can just kind of sing out of the same hymn book. And it's a really good thing.

[Vicky]

I think one of the things hymns do for us differently than much of what would be considered more modern or contemporary worship, and not all hymns do this, but a lot of them do, is they reflect a lot of what you see in Psalm 145 is that a relationship with the Lord and biblically faithful worship is both intellectual and emotional. So there's some. It's. There are doctrine rich and that. You got to think about some of this stuff sometimes. Like, you gotta. And when I think that God, his son, not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in that on the cross. And here it is my burden gladly bearing. Just think about that. You don't just. You can't just feel that. You can certainly feel it once you think about it, but you could blow right by the. My gladly bearing that this was his absolute joy. You are, as we've talked about many times, the joy set before him is you and me. And because of it, he willfully chose to endure the cross. This was his idea. Like he could have Set it up any way he wanted to, and this is the way that he chose to do it. So it's intellectual and it's emotional.

[Host / Worship Leader]

When I sing this song in the can am and I get to the part I scarce can take it in, I always get off weep. Every time I do this, it gets me. But when I say I can't get over the gospel, I think that's what he's doing. There's like this big pregnant pause. And when I think that God, his son, not sparing, sent him to die. Time out, he's like, hold on one second, man. I can't even. I can't get my head around that right now, you know?

[Willie]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

And. And music does that. Like, if you talk to me this way, I'm like, what? Just say it. Because you say this all the time. I love it. We'll be in a staff meeting. We'll be me and you do a bunch of Q A things, and people say many words, and you'll say, ask that in less words.

[Vicky]

Can you ask me that in one sentence?

[Host / Worship Leader]

But you don't do that here. Like, it's in. I know it was written in a different time, but these words are placed in such a way. And when you put it to music and that rhythm. I don't know, man. It's like. It's. It's like it seeps into places. It brings back memories. It. It just does a lot. And so, like, as I read these words right now, if I close my eyes, I see the pine trees of South Georgia, because that's usually where I am when I'm singing this song. And especially when I go to the stand in the morning and there's no clouds and the stars are just. I mean, you don't. You don't know what country Dark is because you. We live in. In the neighborhoods and stuff. And. Yeah, dude, there's something about it that just gets into deep places in the soul.

[Vicky]

Well, it's like you can't fully recognize or realize who God is until you begin to see yourself in light of him.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yes.

[Vicky]

Like, these two things are interconnected, and that's why David says these phrases. Like, what David is getting at is purpose in regards to the. Your created purpose in light of God's redemptive purposes when he says things like, I will. I'm to declare your greatness. This is a purpose statement. It is what we're here to do.

[Pastor Brit]

Yes, it is.

[Vicky]

What the abundant life is, is the life that declares God's greatness in the small details at the dinner tables in the floor, reading the Bible with your kids. Like, what we're doing over and over again is just saying, God's great.

[Pastor Brit]

Great. Is the Lord greatly to be praised.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yes.

[Vicky]

And then he says, I'm going to pour forth. I love this kind of language. I'm going to pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness. I don't know that you really sit around and think about God as famous, but he is.

[Host / Worship Leader]

It's a pretty big deal.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, he better be. He's the only one who's worthy of it.

[Willie]

That's what I'm saying.

[Vicky]

I mean, who's more famous than Christ, right?

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

You know.

[Willie]

Pastor, it would be hard to overstate that biblically, God's design for this kind of like repeating, pouring forth of fame is the family. Right. Because you taught us for two years from Deuteronomy. And what that passage says is tell it to your kids, like when you're walking around, when you're hanging out. And I think part of the reason why we're doing the series also in this year is because we're asking men to take the lead. And, and. And you also see the opposition as. As the families or the structure of the family from. From an evil perspective tries to deteriorate. And it's getting at that. Right. It's getting at that vehicle by which God wants to replicate the works of his or the fame of his goodness.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah. The cultural mandate and God's creative order matter a lot. And so ultimately it starts with, do you personally know him? Right. God doesn't say last names. He saves first names. That matters a ton. And then. And then the next concentric circle of responsibility is the people that have your last name, and you know that your family. Right, Right. And then it is your church, and then it is your community, and then it is your nation. One of the. One of the tricks of the enemy right now, man. And I've been doing a whole bunch of podcasts about. About stand firm and act like Men. And so here's the trick of the Enemy is that everybody, especially, let's talk to men. Men, dads, husbands. They are so tuned in to what's happening across the world and particularly nationally. And, dude, they've got opinions about what the federal government should do and what we should do in Russia and Ukraine and what should happen at the southern border. And they scream at their cable news at night and feel like righteous because they have right ideas about what should happen in places they have no control over.

[Vicky]

Wow.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Meanwhile, their children are being discipled by demons, by tick tock in their bedrooms on the iPad. And they don't. And they have no idea. And it's a trick of the enemy to actually have all these grand ideas about what the whole world should do about its evil. But you're not even handling your own dang business in your personal life and in your home.

[Willie]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Honestly, this is a lot of Jordan Peterson's. Hey, clean up your room.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Before you save the planet and you try to lower the carbon emissions. Whatever. How about, how about just why don't you take dominion over what God has given you? So like that's your house under the headship of your husband. That's mama to those babies. Then it's here at this church. Then it does spill out into our community for sure. And into our nation. Yes. But you begin to break down the building blocks of that which the enemy just done. A wonderful job. A wonderful job. I'm still stand on the statement that I've made. The number one problem in our country is fatherlessness.

[Pastor Brit]

Absolutely.

[Host / Worship Leader]

100%. You get that thing fixed, everything, virtually everything is fixed.

[Willie]

Well, you think back to Willie's story might want to saturate about his dad, you know, and that the way that his dad's salvation change everything about everything about everything for their whole family. And that's true of every family.

[Host / Worship Leader]

It's so awesome for Willie to have that. To, to have that. I don't know what the right word is perspective. But it's more than that. That he would be mature enough because, you know, he's a big deal. Right. But I mean he talks all the time about God sa. He actually talks about that random pastor that drove all the way to Arkansas to share the gospel with his dad. He. He said he was like I'm a two year old little baby and my whole life and future is hanging in the balance of what this one pastor does. And sharing the gospel with my dad. Then Phil and Kay get saved and. And what I love the way Willie Robertson, the way he talks about it. And now he's got a daughter, Sadie, that's just teaching the Bible to a whole generation.

[Pastor Brit]

Beautiful.

[Host / Worship Leader]

And he, you can tell he realizes he's a link in the chain of the faithfulness of God through the generation of his family.

[Willie]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That's a wonderful, wonderful perspective to have.

[Pastor Brit]

Yes. It's the thing that keeps me up at night like, you know, God, don't let me be so busy about your business that I'm not like stewarding well my home and my children and I'M not intentional, or they get the last of me or, you know, whatever's left. And yeah, I always am praying, like, lord, the energy you give me when I am worshiping in the assembly, like, with believers, like, would your spirit give me that same amount of energy? Would your holy spirit do that for me as a mom? Like, when I come home from work and I'm tired and I've been ministering all day? Like, lord, would you give me that extra sense of your spirit and, like, that joy and, you know, purpose in it and not let them get the scraps of what's left?

[Host / Worship Leader]

You know, Listen, you're a good mom. You got that mom guilt. I'm telling you what, God creates, the enemy, tries to corrupt. So here's what happens. You're a good mom. And all those things that make you all emotional right now and. And make your chin quiver is what's going to make you a really, really good mom. Okay? And the problem is there's no feedback loop in being a mom where you realize if you're doing it good or not. We, like, when you sing good, we go, you did good. You're going to sing more. People will respond. It's so hard, dude. They're never going to. They're not when they're sick. So be like, mom, let me just tell you, here's your. You're crushing it, and we appreciate it. Here's a couple of areas. Tighten up on it. It's never happening, right? And I'm telling you, you're going to. There's nothing will bring out the insecurity in you like trying to raise children for sure. Because you have no idea if you're doing good. You're trying so hard, right? And you also don't want to create little freaking idols. Oh, that's where they think that the whole world revolves around them. Like, it's a really good thing for them to see mom and dad go to work and do things and be about the business of God. Trust me, though, y' all are doing great. Great, great, great, great.

[Pastor Brit]

Thank you.

[Host / Worship Leader]

You're so kind and. And God can be trusted. Trust me on this one. There's so many times me and G held up the mirror and be like, have we screwed this whole thing up?

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

And last night, my whole family's sitting there worshiping Jesus together, you know?

[Pastor Brit]

Right?

[Host / Worship Leader]

You think, holy crap, he does have a plan. He is faithful. But you. Sometimes you get, like Pastor Brit said, you resolve some things, you try to set up some rules and guardrails, and then you have to give yourself some serious grace when it comes to raising those babies, you know? And wherever the ideal is unrealized, grace abounds.

[Pastor Brit]

Praise God.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah, but you're doing good.

[Pastor Brit]

Thanks, dude.

[Host / Worship Leader]

I came out.

[Pastor Brit]

Always says, he's like, you do realize this is going to be a constant giving back to the Lord every single day.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That's a good word, dude. The other day, I can't remember where we were going somewhere. We were leaving. We were riding my hair in 422. Was wrapping up.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Or come back from the Jags game. That's it. So I had just finished preaching via video here while I was actually at the Jags game, and we had to drop somebody off to get a car. It was so funny. Here comes Austin, adamant, you know, he's so cool. He's got so many babies. He's got like this double barrel baby cart thing that he's pushing. I was like, oh, my man.

[Vicky]

And it's all just a season. Everybody says this. Everybody says it. I got a 15 year old. Everybody says it goes by fast. You're like, I know. And everybody believes it. Everybody on the receiving end believes that. But it's not until you start experiencing it that you're just like, my gosh, what has happened? I mean, it just.

[Willie]

Your youngest walked in with your wife the other day, and I was. I got confused as to which one.

[Pastor Brit]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

[Vicky]

Oh, yeah. Man, it's crazy how fast she looks.

[Host / Worship Leader]

I have another podcast, podcast called Built for More where we talk to. Yeah, mostly pro athletes and stuff. And Logan Cook, you know, our punter for the Jags, also a covenant member at 11:22. They've got, I think, three little kids. They got two and one on the way. They're great, man. Their. Their family's great. Everybody's great. And I love this so much. They have kind of made a rule in their house where they. They just. They just stop using the words, I can't wait until they just said, let's just don't ever say that anymore. Yeah, let's just enjoy where we are right now, and when we get there, we'll enjoy that then. But we just aren't going to say, I can't wait until time is such a thing. That great.

[Pastor Brit]

Yes. I love that. Being present.

[Host / Worship Leader]

And Brett, you're so right. I mean, you know, it's the. The days long and the years are short.

[Pastor Brit]

It's like the Lord teaches you about dependency on a whole nother level. Like, my prayer life has never been more challenged. I'm I'm in there and I feel like the Lord has been telling me, like, don't pray suspicious prayers, as if I'm not good. Like, pray to me like I am the good God you've always seen your whole life. You know, like, we sing songs like, goodness of God, all my life you have been faithful. It's so true. Those three kids even being in my home is just like testimony of God's faithfulness despite my condition, you know? And so. Yeah, yes, and amen. I'm learning.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That's another. Like you were saying Brit before, the way he resolves here, like, when you get to the end of it, he says, my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.

[Vicky]

It's going to happen.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Like, that's a good. That's a. Yeah, that's a good conviction. Like, why are you praying suspicious prayers? You know, why don't you speak? Like, my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.

[Vicky]

Something I've been thinking a lot about, mostly from, like, a leadership lens, but I think it applies on a lot of different areas. You know, words matter a lot. And part of what Psalm 145 is why we like how great thou art. If it didn't have words that were, like, meaningful and connect to our minds and draw real mental pictures in our minds, it wouldn't have. It wouldn't have the weight that it's had historically. And what part of what David's saying is that God is worthy of our words and so you better choose wisely.

[Pastor Brit]

Yes.

[Vicky]

And I've been thinking a lot about, like, how worthless I may be going to the too far extreme, but, like, opinions and preferences are pretty much worthless.

[Pastor Brit]

Yep.

[Vicky]

And I think so much so that they are a tool, our opinions and our preferences about this, that and the other are a tool that the enemy uses to keep us from actually carrying real responsibility that we were created for. That'll preach because we just get wrapped around our ideas and our words and our preferences of how things should be or who should be doing this and who should be doing that. And we just spent we. And we get emotional about it.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Vicky]

Like, we get so emotional about our own preferences.

[Pastor Brit]

It's constant bed to us. Like, our whole algorithm changes based on our preferences. So it's like, yeah, that is a good truth.

[Vicky]

And it's like the enemy just uses that fleshly ear that we give to him. We just get wrapped around the axle of all these things that are just ultimately worth nothing. And it keeps us from actually carrying the responsibilities that God's given us well, to your point about having strong opinions about what's going on in the world, and our kids are being raised by TikTok. You know, it's like, that's. That is a great example of what I'm talking about. You have all the opinions of the world. You can be passionate, you can be convicted. You can really believe these things. But to what end? Like, what value do they have if they are not about terminating on coming from for and unto the Lord?

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah. The amount of videos online of people sitting in their car telling me what they think about something. How is that a thing?

[Pastor Brit]

Everyone's an expert now.

[Host / Worship Leader]

No, I like it when they're funny.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Like, okay, that has a point. Like, I'm gonna say.

[Vicky]

I'm gonna encourage you by making you laugh.

[Host / Worship Leader]

But it's so funny, dude. I had this dude sitting in his car, and he's like, what happened to the sundress, man? And he does this whole thing on the sundress, and he's so. And it's like, bro, it is the smartest thing I've ever heard. Yeah. And it's super articulate. You could tell this thing is like. He's practiced this thing. It's so funny. He's like, in the spring gets here and the sun comes out, like God intended. I expect to see a sundress. But now I go to the store and every woman in there looks like they're dressed to go on a SWAT team raid. They've got a vest on, they got tactical pants. I got in. I'm just, okay. That guy, when he sat down, he's being entertaining on purpose. And his point and purpose is not let me show you how smart I am. But I have. I'm witty and put some stuff together for your own entertainment, man. Bravo.

[Pastor Brit]

I love it.

[Host / Worship Leader]

But just everybody sitting in the car telling me what you think about whatever the current events are. Well, I don't care. I really don't care. I have been invited. People have asked me. They wanted me to do those, like, where I look at a video and tell them what I think. No chance. Why? In fact, I'm on a. I can't tell you the amount of podcasts I'm on right now. And I don't try to Jesus. Jesus juke the host, but I get asked this question all the time. What do you think? It starts out that way. And I go, that's a great question, but what does it matter what I think? Let's talk about what the word of God says. I do that all the time. Let's just. Let's just. Here's what these words are, and let's just use these words. A lot of times it comes down to salvation and what I think about God's role in election and salvation and people, what do you think? I say it doesn't matter what I think. Let's just read verses. Here's what the words say. I mean, we need a lot more of that. We need a lot more of Thus saith the Lord and a lot less of Thus thinketh me.

[Willie]

That's right.

[Pastor Brit]

It is the tonality of the psalmist, too. Like everywhere you read when David's speaking to his own soul and he says, why so downcast? Put my hope in God. Like, put your hope in God. I will extol you, my God and king. Like, worship. And it has become the thing. Like, personally, I know it is powerful. Sometimes it's like, I'm gonna sing these words in faith that my heart will catch up.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Amen.

[Pastor Brit]

You know, and if I can say it out loud, maybe my heart will come into alignment. And that's what we get to do, is lead people into their song of faith to the Lord. And just like David say, why are you so downcast? Put your hope in God. Don't forget him. Don't forget what he's done. You know, don't forget that he's faithful. Don't forget all the promises that are available to you. Remember who he is. And it's a powerful tool. Worship is. Whenever you can sing things or music allows you to say things that you wouldn't naturally say despite your condition, you're speaking to the future. You're just believing that if he's the God who gives us a hope and a future, you know, then, like, he's gonna do it. He's gonna be faithful.

[Host / Worship Leader]

So thank you. At some point on one of these.

[Vicky]

My favorite is when people are commenting on the YouTube. Not that I look at this much, but every now and then I do. And they're trying to talk. They're trying to say something to Vinky. It's. It's Binky. It's Vink.

[Host / Worship Leader]

It's the.

[Vicky]

They'd never get your name right. And I'm not gonna tell them how. I'm not gonna tell him how to spell it.

[Willie]

People comment on this podcast.

[Vicky]

Yeah, yeah. On the YouTubes.

[Willie]

I just.

[Vicky]

Every now and then, people will send me stuff.

[Willie]

I was today years old when I knew that was a thing. So, yeah, I found it. Have fun, everybody.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Thanks for the comments.

[Vicky]

Go ahead. Go ahead.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Binky Vink Bank. All right, bank, you mentioned this hymn does it too. That for a long time there was kind of a tradition that these songs are going to end, like, eternally heavenly, when he rules and reigns forever and we're in his presence kind of way. And this one does, too. I feel like. I feel like that'd be a good one. You're a songwriter. That's. That. That'd be a shame for that to be lost in the Christian tradition.

[Pastor Brit]

Absolutely.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Because so many songs are kind of like that, so hard. You know what I mean? Most hymns end with, you know, when Christ shall come. And it's not just when I die and go to heaven. There's a lot of the consummation of all things. It's going to be all good.

[Willie]

That's so biblical. I mean, you read especially the apostle Paul, and you have that great illustration, Pastor Joby, about the hotel room and.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Willie]

Not renovating it because you're not going to be there long. And if you just.

[Host / Worship Leader]

If you.

[Willie]

It's a great challenge to read Paul's writings and to. And to look at it with that lens. How often does he say something to the effect of. Because I got my eyes set on the day when I want to stand before Jesus and be proud of what I've done, you know, and proud of how. How I've worked.

[Host / Worship Leader]

What's interesting, if you look throughout church history, the churches and the movements that had the biggest impact on the earth were the ones that were the most heavenly, focused. The ones that were most. They. They were evangelistically zealous about introducing people to Christ. They were obsessed with the truth of the scripture, which led them to actually do the most here on the earth because they had their eyes set on forever. You would think it'd be the other way. You think, well, we're all going to heaven if you believe in Jesus, so who cares what happens here? It actually doesn't play out that way. The hospitals, the orphanages, those kind of things around the world are most closely aligned, not even with the social gospel. People that thought, hey, best thing you can do is just give out cold water and stuff. But the ones that actually made a difference were rooted in salvation is in Christ alone, forever and ever. Amen.

[Vicky]

This is one of the most. I pray it often, and it's probably my favorite prayer to pray is just some simple, simply a version of Come, Lord Jesus. You know, it's the way the revelation ends. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. You know, and that's the point. Like, it really is the point. Of all the stuff it's like, it's much of what keeps me going week in and week out and month in and month out, and I don't live in it perfectly. But if I really boil down, like, why, as far as choosing is a thing, have I chosen this way of life and to be committed to this gospel and to serve in the bride of Jesus Christ? Well, it's because I want him to come back. That's what I want is I want him to come back. I don't want to just be found obedient to the Great Commission. I actually want to see the Great Commission accomplished in my lifetime. I would love that. But I don't want to just get to the end and us all be chest beating about, look how many people came to Jesus and we got to be. No, the whole point of the Great Commission being fulfilled is that Christ would come back.

[Host / Worship Leader]

That's right.

[Vicky]

And that's what we want, is for him to bring the kingdom in its totality and to be a manifest king in front of us. You know, that's what we want.

[Pastor Brit]

There's present joy for today, but there's ultimate joy when he comes back. And it's like, you know, I've learned even in my story about like, waiting with joyful expectation. Like, when you know that Jesus is your joy, that there is joy in your salvation, you don't have to wait with this, like, groaning. You can wait joyfully knowing that he's faithful and that like, his presence is here. He longs to be in communion with us now. He longs to have a relationship with us now. But there's gonna be nothing like that face to face fellowship. When we look at the One who gave everything, who gave his only Son, we're looking at Jesus, the One who rescued us from whatever our pit is, and we're face to face with Him. And I think some of those tears that are gonna be wiped away are gonna be the ones that we're just overwhelmed because finally, you know, Jesus, the one that we're living our lives where we're singing these songs about, we are living in joyful expectation of when he comes back. Like, we are gonna be face to face with the One who brought us out of darkness and into his marvelous light, you know, and like, that's. I was sitting with this girl after a 7:22 and her husband or her fiance committed suicide. And she was going through some mental health stuff. It was. Yeah, it was the mental health sermon. And we had Rebecca Maxwell here and she taught and you could have heard a pin drop at response. And I wrote a song the next day called Hope of Heaven. Because this girl said to me out loud, I said, do you have hope? You know? Cause she said she was just so struggling and she said, I just want to be with him. I don't want to be here anymore. Like, there's no point of me being here. Like heaven's the goal, right? Like there's no point of me being here anymore. And I looked at her and I just started praying. I was like, I hope you know that, like the hope of heaven is right here and right now. He loves you. His name is Jesus. There is so much life to be lived. There's so much joy to be found. There's unsearchable things to find in his presence. And I just prayed for her. And I don't. I don't know if she left encouraged, like, honestly, but it did lead me to a place of face to face fellowship. There's going to be nothing like it. But there is so much that the Lord wants to do in our lives in the here and now. And great is his faithfulness, you know.

[Vicky]

Well, it's part of why in this text, jumping over to the parable of the hidden treasure, that one to me, you know, it says that the kingdom of heaven, which this is what Jesus brought the land of division of the kingdom of God. It's what he taught. This is what he was about, you know, the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven. So the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Who's that about? That text has been taught to me many, many times and it put it, and it assumes that we're the man, that we should go in and that the. The gospel is this thing that we find and then we should go and sell everything that we have. But I think that's. I don't want to say it's unmerited. I just don't think that's what Jesus is saying. I think Jesus is. I think Jesus is saying the kingdom heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. I think Jesus is the man and that we are the treasure and that he sold everything in order to have the thing that he wanted and saw was most valuable. And I think that that is at the heart of the kingdom of heaven is what David says, that the Lord is near to all who Call on him. That's the coffee mug version of. Actually goes on to say, the Lord is near to all who call on him, comma, all who call on him in truth. And there's something to that. That there is the greatest of all revelations. Even in the midst of great trauma and great pain and the hardships of life, there is the greatest of divine revelations, which is that Jesus sees you as so valuable that he did. He literally sold everything. Sold is not the right word. But gave up everything in order to get this thing that he saw as immensely valuable, which was us unto the glory of God. So there's something to that.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah. That's the brilliance of the teachings of Jesus. If you say, which one is it? You're like, right, right. That's why he taught the way he taught. Like, so the parable of the prodigal son. So which one are you? Right. Depends on the time of day and time of life. You know, at one point, I was totally the rebellious son. At one point, I'm the dad, like, wanting my kid to come home. Sometimes I'm the older son. Like, all of those things are true. Jesus is so. Now, of course, he had a particular intention when he was talking to a particular audience, making a point, but he also put it in this book and then kept it for 2,000 years. And he got passed along so that he continues to teach with his same stories to us. And those stories aren't so linear, you know, that they just continue to teach and reteach. Honestly, like, a bunch of songs do, too. And so I love it. You should think about that from all the different angles, you know? Agreed. You could also think of the fact that, hey, I'm on staff at the church, and I'm like, the stuff that needs to be sold so that the Master can get his treasure. So if you need to cast me aside, if you need you, use me up however you want to use me up to get some more treasure for you. That's a way to think about it, you know, you put yourself in a different spot. I think it's a. It's a really helpful way to come to the parables and try to come at every single angle, like, who am I? And then. And who is Jesus? You know.

[Willie]

I think what I love about this song is how great Thou Art is that it's about awe. And I think I've heard you say, Pastor Joby, that one of the most dangerous things for a Christian would be to lose their awe. And there's also an irony in this refrain, because it says, then sings my soul. Like, what does that mean for a soul to sing? I mean, we're singing with our body.

[Host / Worship Leader]

I know, but man, you know when your lips are singing and when your soul's singing.

[Pastor Brit]

Yes, that's right.

[Host / Worship Leader]

You know, there's something about what we try to do here in worship. Internally we call it. We're not trying to entertain, but we're trying to go for doxological excellence. Doxology means worship God. Glory to God. And a part of the reason we put the people on stage that we put one is they are like the choir directors and we're the choir. There's no doubt. But there are certainly times it makes me think, think it's because you're sitting right here. You do stuff we just can't do. When you. Dude, I love it. We're singing. I'm singing Made for More. And I'm just doing my, like, you know, I wasn't made. Just. That's how I sing. And you back there just freaking screaming just. I mean, you're like angelic trills or whatever. It does, it does it. It makes you like lift your eyes to the heavens. You're like, oh my gosh, this is bigger than Christian karaoke. You know what I mean? And so there is, there is something Psalm 145ish about some of the things we do in the worship environment that is bigger than. We're doing a four part thing and everybody's got their part. And participation is the highest value. Participation is a high value and we definitely want people to participate. But there's also a way to worship God where some people with certain gifts that you don't have do a thing that you can't do unto the glory of God. And you see it and you go, wow. Yeah. Like, bro, you watch an elk climb a mountain in a hurry and you're. You see something, do a thing you can't do. You just trying to walk at that mountain and you're about to have a heart attack. And that joker in like six seconds covers 2, 000ft, just.

[Vicky]

And you go, wow.

[Host / Worship Leader]

God did. There can be an element of that.

[Willie]

Yeah.

[Host / Worship Leader]

In worship, you know, I mean, way back in the day that was kind of a part of like the big old pipe organ thing, you know. And again, there's lights and shadows and everything, but it was like, we're going to do something grand for a great God.

[Pastor Brit]

Yes.

[Willie]

And stained glass and.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah.

[Willie]

And big cathedrals and stuff like that.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah, right.

[Willie]

Yeah, I think it's a good way to think about what worship is. It is a soul singing, right? Because you. I mean, that's why some people, when they walk on the beach or, you know, see the elk or whatever, and like, that thing happens, that's that you can call that worship, you know, and certainly you should sing. My soul sings with your mouth, too.

[Vicky]

But, yeah, I've always argued that humor is the language the heart best understands, and music is the language the soul best understands.

[Pastor Brit]

So true.

[Vicky]

And it just grabs you on a different level. Like, you know, you just. There's certain songs, you hear them and it just takes you back and it takes you into a different place, not just mentally. It's like, you know, the humor has that effect on the heart, too. And that's why I think good storytellers or even good preaching, you know, good preaching has that impact.

[Host / Worship Leader]

If.

[Vicky]

If there's certain preachers that. And it's. Not everybody doesn't have the same flavors, but there's certain preachers that they. When they just start really getting on it in their thing, it just unlocks some things in your heart, in your soul, you know, in your mind. So God's good to us like that, that he's trying to get at us from all these different language, like all these different mechanisms of language in order for us to be more connected to.

[Pastor Brit]

Him, you know, When I think about awe and wonder, I immediately go to Psalm 8, that how majestic is your name to the choirmaster according to the Gitteth, a psalm of David. Hang in there with me, oh Lord our God. How majestic is your name. In all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, and still in the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens and the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place. What is man, that you are mindful of him, and the son of man, that you care for him, yet you have him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and all the beasts of the field, and birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas, O Lord our God, how majestic is your name in all of the earth. Like that. I read that, and I'm just, like, filled with thanksgiving. Like, there's just so much gratitude that rises up in my heart because I read that and it brings me back to that childlike awe and wonder. And like, it really is rooted in thankfulness. Like thankfulness we know is the gate to worship, you know? And so when I think about awe and wonder, it's like, man, our sin has so corrupted the way that we look at God. Like our humanity, our distraction, it's distracted us from these psalms and just being filled with thankfulness, you know, like when you look at the stars, like this song says, like, where is it?

[Willie]

Verse one?

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, verse one. O Lord my God, when I an awesome wonder Consider all the worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe to see. Then sings my soul like it's you in the woods, it's in the mountains where it's like just quiet. And it's the one time that the noise of the world isn't taking over. And it does lead you to a song of praises. It leads you to thanksgiving. Like everything stands still. Sorry, I don't know where I was going with that other than the all in wonder thing.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Yeah, and you should try to read those verses. Read those verses out in the woods, man. It's one. It's one thing to read psalms about the woods in your air condition, but when you read about the birds and the birds go by and you read about the heavens and the clouds form and you read about the skies and you're under him, it's just different. One of the things I do when I take God's hunting, which is often, is there's some of these, like, nature based psalms that I've just got preloaded, and I'll just send them out, you know, and be like, all right, boys, read this from your stand, not your study. It's just different.

[Vicky]

Did y' all grow up singing that song? Oh Lord, our Lord, you know, how.

[Pastor Brit]

Majestic is your name in all the earth. Yes.

[Vicky]

We gotta bring that one back. Little double clap.

[Pastor Brit]

So good.

[Vicky]

Sounds better when she does it.

[Pastor Brit]

That's so good.

[Willie]

I was gonna say that's my favorite hunting psalm. Dominion over all the beasts of the field.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Hallelujah. And. And even that dominion mean you shoot them all.

[Willie]

That's right.

[Host / Worship Leader]

Dominion means that you are responsibility. You are responsible to help create the kind of environments where the young, healthy ones grow and the old ones are taken out. I mean, it's like a thing. It's like a real stewardship, responsibility. There's what a lot of people don't understand.

[Willie]

That's right.

[Host / Worship Leader]

About how in line with the character, nature of God that is have stewardship over something that he's trusted us with. A renewable resource.

[Willie]

Yeah. Worship is a whole self activity. And I was thinking about it, something we were saying earlier, that it's a war of perspectives, you know, it's a war against all these different things that come up. Like you're talking about the different. These different sections of that psalm and. And the resolve, you know, it's a war against my tendency to slide into just passively letting my life happen to me. You know, it's a war against thinking that I'm the center. It's a war of thinking that my desire should rule me and. And what I replace it with is, you know, you. You open your hand and you satisfy the desire of every living thing. You hear the cry of those who call to you and you save them, you know, and so I love it. I think we're out of time, Pastor. Is there anything else you want to say before we pray?

[Host / Worship Leader]

No. Thanks for toting the rock, Pastor Britt.

[Vicky]

Nah, man. Everybody download, stream, follow, pick up the new hymns record that's out.

[Pastor Brit]

Yeah, yeah.

[Vicky]

Great tunes are. We weren't trying to make magic. We were just trying to make our version of what God's doing in our church. And so it's really a blessing. Some of our friends are on there, so check it out.

[Willie]

Put the link in the show notes.

[Vicky]

We'll put the link in the show notes.

[Host / Worship Leader]

You pray for us, Pastor Britt? Yeah.

[Vicky]

Lord, we love you. Thank you for my friends here. Thanks for this conversation, God, mostly we just say thank you for you. Thank you that you've made yourself known to us. You have come near to us, that you have made yourself available to us, that you loved us first. We love you. We adore you. You are forever. And we are going to extol you to lift your name high, declare your greatness, to sing aloud of your righteousness and the fame of your abundant goodness forever and ever. Amen. Thank you for listening to the podcast.

[Pastor Joby Martin]

The reality is everything already belongs to God. And when we give financially, we're acknowledging that we trust him. If you just watch this and feel led. To make a donation, text the word donate to 441-122 or visit coe22.com donate. Your generosity is not only an act of worship, but an investment so all people can discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ.