DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Ryan: Hello and welcome to the live worship service of First Colony Church of Christ. We gather together to give praise to the God that is with us and for us no matter what you have going on. Let's stand and worship and sing. >> Richard: Amen. God is worthy of our praise. \M Fires \M >> Richard: Our God is faithful! \M Great Are You Lord \M >> Joel: Well, good morning. You can be seated. My name is Joel Smith, I am the children's minister at First Colony Church. Today was our last day for the year of Bible class. Our safety protocols were 100% effective. We're going to provide children's programming during the service only for kindergarten and below. So we're going to try that and see if we can social distance as well. We're going to continue on our series on vices. We want to avoid sins, but some are more of a trap and once you've done them it's difficult to get out of it. Today's is lust. The desire to consume is lust. Greed is the desire to have, lust is the desire to consume. When I think about something being consumed, I picture fire. Fire, once it gets going, it's hard to stop and it consumes everything in its path. Interestingly, God also utilizes fire to test our works. So you have a choice to either have works that last eternally or to consume your resources and your flesh and things for negative purposes. My first today is 1 Corinthians. It will be revealed by fire and fire will test each one's work, whether wood, hay, stubble, or a precious metal that lasts for ever for endures. If you were here last week, you know that my illustration did not work. Today I'm putting on safety glasses because this one is fun. This is an organic material and it was used in Victorian theater when they wanted to do a ball of fire. It's going to smell like something is burning, but that's okay. The message I want you to walk away with is this, you have the opportunity to go down two paths, one where you're investing in eternity, the word of God, people's souls, or the one where you're consuming in your flesh and the refreshes around you. The choice is yours. I'll do it one more time. Isn't that cool? I think that's cool. >> Ryan: Awesome. Thank you, Joel. As Mark and Sherry Pruitt make your way up to lead us in communion, you will want to get your supplies ready. If you didn't get a chance to pick up a packet on your way in, we do have them available on the back tables. When you're finished with those, you can place them in the little baggy. After the service, there are also baskets at the end of the aisle and there are trash cans on your way out. Mark and Sherry. >> Mark: Good morning, church. My name is Mark Pruitt and this is my wife Sherry Pruitt. We have the opportunity to pray over communion for you. Our daughter, we have a grandson, and she is always talking about him having a happy heart. Sometimes he has a happy heart. Sometimes he says, I don't want to have a happy heart. What really resonated with me is we do need to have a happy heart. Find the joy of what God does for us each and every day. We're in a lost world where there are people in need and they care, someone care about me. This is what we need to do as a church, brothers and sisters, families, never forget that God is with us 24 hours a day, every second of every minute. Will you pray with me. Dear heavenly Father, we are so blessed to be here today. You give us joy just knowing that we have the opportunity to have communion with you today. Your love is amazing and shows so much how much you care about us even when we struggle and we hurt, you're there with us all the time. Lord, as we take this bread and we take this from the vine, may we remember what you suffered on the cross for us. You gave your life for us so that we might have eternal life with you. Lord, thank you for all that you do for us and help us to never forget, to have a happy heart, to be thankful that you're in your lives. In Christ we pray, amen. >> Sherry: Good morning. I'll be reading from 1 Peter 1:13-15 The scripture will be up on the screen for you to follow along. Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. \M This I Believe \M >> Ryan: Amen. At this time, we will gather our offering and Gordon Ware is coming up to lead us in our offering prayer. >> Gordon: I want to encourage you to be generous. This is an unprecedented time that we're living in. It's difficult. Some of us are worshiping from home and I think that's a great thing. Giving is part of worship and I want to encourage you to do so, whether you're at home, whether you're here. We have lots of opportunities to give. We have our online service. So that way if you're at home, your way, it's going to give whether you're there or not. It's important. We don't want our church to suffer in unprecedented times, even though some of us may be suffering. Also, we have a text messaging process which you can see up there on the screen, where you can get details how to do that and I would encourage you to do that. Let's pray. Lord God, thank you so much for this church, its desire to serve both our community here and the community across the world. Lord, help us to open our eyes and open our gifts to you, both financially and spiritually. We ask for your gifts and blessings on us, as we also give and bless others. We pray all of this through Jesus Christ, amen. \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M In the presence of my enemies \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M Now and then for the unbelieved \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M My weapon is a melody \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M Heaven comes to fight for me \M \M I'm going to sing in the middle of the storm \M \M Louder and louder \M \M You're going to hear my praises roar \M \M Up from the ashes, hope will arise \M \M Death is defeated \M \M The King is alive \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M With everything inside of me \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M I will watch the darkness flee \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M In the middle of the mystery \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M \M Fear does not have a hold on me \M \M I'm going to sing in the middle of the storm \M \M Louder and louder \M \M You're going to hear my praises roar \M \M Up from the ashes hope will arise \M \M Death is defeated \M \M The King is alive \M \M I'm going to sing \M \M In the middle of the storm \M \M Louder and louder you're going to hear my praises roar \M \M Up from the ashes \M \M Hope will arise \M \M Death is defeated \M \M The king is alive \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M In the presence of my enemies \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Now and all who believe \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M My weapon is a melody \M \M Sing a little louder \M \M Heaven comes to fight for me \M \M I'm going to sing in the middle of the storm \M \M Louder and louder \M \M You're going to hear my praises roar \M \M Up from the ashes \M \M Hope will arise \M \M Death is defeated \M \M The king is alive \M \M I'm going to sing \M \M In the middle of the storm \M \M Louder and louder you're going to hear my praises roar \M \M Up from the ashes \M \M Hope will arise \M \M Death is defeated \M \M The King is alive \M \M I raise a hallelujah \M\M [applause] >> Ryan: Let's clap for that. Up from the ashes, hope will arise. It's time for the greetings. Let's stand and say Thanksgiving to everyone with a wave or a fist bump. If you're watching at home, this is a great time to log into the chat box and to say hello. [Indistinct chatter] \M Lay Me Down \M >> Richard: You may be seated. >> Shane: Nice! We are rocking today. All right. Great song. Thank you, guys. Well, hey, everyone. I'm Shane. Yes, Ronnie is out again this week. Ronnie and Martha both are COVID positive and they're at home. They're doing okay. They're at home. We can add our prayers, just like we're praying for so many people at this time and for so many moneys. Ronnie wanted me to say they are praying for you and they are with us in spirit. If you are watching online, we would love to connect with you so you can fill out a connection card online, we would also like you to fill out a prayer request. There are elders who can connect with you if you want to reach out in the chat box. We are glad you're watching with us and with us. I have a bit of church news that I get to share. I'm happy that I get to share this. Our three new elder couples were ordained on Wednesday night with the rest of the elders. These three couples are Jonny and Laura Spiegal, Tommy and Wendy and Andrew and Stephanie. [Applause]. >> Shane: Now, would you pray with me as we begin our message time today. Father God, I simply ask that you send your Holy Spirit to speak to us. Enable me in the spirit to speak Your truth and your grace as we engage in a tough topic today. God, I pray this specific thing, help us to receive the full impact of your truth and your grace today as we hear from your word. Not one or the other, but a full measure of Your truth and grace along with that, God. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, as we continue our study of the seven deadly vices, I begin today with a tale of two godly men in the old testament. Both used by God in mighty ways. They both played an integral part in God's story and plan. They were both sinners and far from perfect just like you and me. First we have King David, the king of Israel, the most powerful guy around. He is literally God's anointed. He will become known as a man after God's own heart, but he was not perfect and there was a time he fell hard for the sin of lust and sexual sin. The consequences for his family and his kingdom, those consequences are severe. You may know the story. King David sent his armies out to war, but he stayed. His army won a great battle, but David would lose a battle with lust. You see, one day David is walking on the flat roof of his palace and he sees a beautiful woman Bathsheba, she was bathing. He called for her and she came to him and a little while later she was pregnant. Unfortunately David did what so many of us doing when we're caught in sin, he covered it up. Instead of changing our hearts and habits and coming clean, we hide and cover it up. In David's case, he even had Bathsheba's husband killed as part of the cover up. He's thinking, problem solved. Right? No. The plan worked. Everything was just great. The guy died after a period of mourning. Bathsheba moved into the palace and becomes one of David's wives and she bore him a son. Problem solved, sin covered up, except for one problem. God knew and sent a prophet to confront David about his sin. Let me tell you something, David may not have realized it at first, but he was never more invited into God's mercy. When we're confronted by our sin, God's grace and mercy are with us. God is gracious and he's coming to us especially when he's confronting us. That story about Nathan confronting David, it's a master class on how to speak truth to power. It's a great story for another day. Let me pause here and say if we persist in habitual sin, we will get found out and caught. It's just a matter of time. Back to David now. After being confronted after the prophet Nathan told him, you are the man, David confessed, to his credit, he repented, and he was restored. God restored him. There were devastating consequences for his family and kingdom. Actually in this we get to see a story of repentance. One of the most beautiful psalms written was after Nathan came to him. It's Psalm 51. Let me read it now. Have mercy on me, O god, according to your mercy. Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Do you hear the beautiful heart of David revealed in that of repentance? He was a man after God's own heart, but he was not perfect. Even in his failings as a man, leader, child of God, he kept his heart on God and it enabled him to repent and to confess. He had to be confronted, yes. Let's look at the first five verses of Psalm 32, it has a beautiful picture. [Text on screen] What a wonderful example of repentance and we see David's heart. His heart is breaking in agreement with God that he had rebelled against God and that's what we need to do when we sin. He is right there ready to give mercy. That's why I said, you are experiencing the mercy of God when you're caught. You are experiencing the mercy of God when he catches you and says we need to make this right. David could have stopped that descent into sin. David allowed the horses to run wild in his mind. He could have stopped at any point. I think the consequences would have been less severe and damaging. Why didn't David tear his eyes away the first time? Why didn't he repent and confess after the second glance or the third? Let me ask humbly, why don't you? Why don't I? Where is our heart? God did forgive David. He did restore him and make him whole and clean again. God can do the same for you. Please hear this, this morning, especially if you've been struggling with sin. Wherever you've been or whatever you've done, God is ready to restore you. Whether you're caught in the grip of sin, my sincere hope is you don't let it run as long as it did. Even if you allowed sin to rule over you up to today, I pray that even now you will feel God's hand heavy upon you, even to the point of sapping your strength and your bones wasting away so that your heart will become broken and your spirit will become contrite so the bones he crushed will rejoice and you will experience his mercy and the joy of your salvation will be restored. Wherever you've been, whatever you've done, he's ready to restore you today. So I pray that you take God's open invitation today because he loves you. He's gracious. He's ready to restore you. He wants to restore your soul and the joy of your salvation. I've experienced that and it's a beautiful thing. The second guy I want us to learn from is Joseph. He continued to do the right thing and follow in God's path even when he was in the face of extreme adversity. In his story in Genesis 37 to 50, go and read it, it will blow you away. We have in his story one little part, one of the most instructive and helpful instances of how to deal with temptation. How to deal with temptation from Joseph. In a word, run. Just run. Run from temptation. You see, Joseph was auto captain for a guard and one of the high officials Potiphar. He put him in charge of his whole household. Potiphar's wife took a liking to Joseph. She kept saying, come to bed with me and he said no. One day she asked and grabbed on to his cloak and Joseph ran leaving the cloak in her hand and he wasn't quite clothed. In the end, she accused him and Joseph was put into prison unjustly. That's not the end of the story. The next part is amazing because God did something with that that is incredible. You're going to have to read from Genesis 37 to 50. Here is the deal for today. This is the point. Both of these were godly men. David and Joseph were both used in mighty ways. They both enjoyed God's blessing and favor. They did. They had their issues. They were far from perfect. They struggled with sin just like you and me. What I want to look at is the contrast between these stories, one of David and one of Joseph. I admit, we're looking at David's probably worst moments and comparing it to one of Joseph's best moments which is not fair. We learn something in the contrasts of these stories. It's this. It matters how we react to temptation. It matters big time. It matters if we ready our hearts and our feet to run from temptation ahead of time. It matters whether or not we're guarding our hearts against sin. It matters how we respond, it absolutely matters how you respond. You see that? There are some things I want us to consider in regard to our topic, which is lust. Lust is when we make sex simply about our own pleasure and we use others as an object for our selfish desires. Last week when we talked about gluttony, lust is gratification, not fulfillment. It means misdirected sexual desire, fantasy, or intent. That can be manifested physically and also in our thought life. We can win the war against lust. There is a real struggle I have in sharing this message because I want to so clearly make the dangers clear for us all of us, but we want to make sure that there is hope and you can do practical things to win the war against lust. The first is draw your battle lines. What I mean is you know your battle lines in the war against lust, you declare your battle lines strong and clear, leave no room, you declare them loudly. You know your lines, I should not go there or do that, and you stay away from it. You be certain honest with yourself. There are certain movies and TV shows that I'm sure I would enjoy, but I just can't watch them because I don't want them to take hold. I won't have lunch with someone who is not my wife or daughter because it's not safe for me. We flirt with lunch thinking we can inch ever closer to sin without sinning. That gamble is not going to pay off. There is a story of a wealthy couple and they had a chauffeur and a huge estate and they stood on the balcony and they had these four candidates come to be their chauffeur. They said, see that wall there, how close can you drive to that without getting a scratch? The first guy said he can get in a foot, the second six inches, and the third said three inches. The fourth guy said I don't know how close I can get to that wall without scratching it, but what I would do is try to stay as far away from that wall as I could and they hired that guy. Smart. With lust and so many things, stay away from the wall and don't try to inch up to it. While lust makes great promises, it can only deliver a lie and it delivers a lot of damage in your life. We must win the battle of boundaries and we must declare the battle lines strong and clear. Like Joseph, we need to know what lines to never cross and have a heart like his saying why would I think about sinning like that against God. That's the way to approach it. The second strategy is to decontaminate your mind. Some of us need to clear things out. Lust is a battle that is fought and won in the mind. It is a fixation of our mind then to our eyes and the rest of our body and our feet and take us where we should not go and worse. Habits form and then you experience the law of diminishing returns. We know what it's like. The more you look, the more you desire. The first time it was exciting, the second it was okay, the third time it was boring. Then you want more. Lust has an insatiable appetite. If you feed it, it only craves more. Until you know it, like King David, you're acting out in real life what was a fantasy and let me tell you, that thing is going to become a nightmare for you. James 1:14-15 says. [Text on screen] When we begin to dwell on the possibility of sin and we flirt with it, we're well on our way to sinning. We need to detox and disinfect and cast out the bad and take in the good ask beautiful things of God. Be careful what you consume what you fill your mind with, read, watch. Fill it with the good thingses of God and His word. Colossians 3, Paul writes this. [Text on screen] He goes on to say we need to put to death our old self so we allow the message of Christ to dwell in us. We take in God's truth, but he mentions praise and worship and filling our hearts up with good things. Don't just cut out the bad, fill it with good. That's how you win the battle. Romans 12:1-2 says this. [Text on screen] So much is won or lost right here and we know that. So many things. Thirdly today, okay, this is a tough one, please hang with me, okay. You're going to not like me here, but we're going to get through. You may need to destroy your devices. What do I mean? Remember that time when Jesus said to his followers, if your eye causes you to sin, you should cut it out. Was he kidding? I'm not sure he said it's better to lose one part of your body than the whole body thrown into hell. That spirit, I'm going to give tough love, some of you need to take more drastic and radical action what you're seeing on your screens on a regular basis. I'm not the judge of you, I'm not your parent. But you need to talk with God about this and see do I need to take more radical action what I'm seeing on my screens on a regular business address. Is that polluting my mind? When it comes to your digital devices, I think Jesus would be serious, take your eye out or trash that phone, maybe get a flip phone. They're almost indestructible. You can make it cool. I think we need to consider if lust is a struggle for us, we need to take drastic steps. I want to share some more practical suggestions for fighting the battle with lust if this is something you're vulnerable to on the tech front. Maybe you need to put that TV or computer in the living room out in the open. That would be a good thing to do. Maybe you need to get the net nanny software on your phones or tablets. That would be a good thing for you to do. You might need an extra layer of security. I know it's not going to work perfectly. We all know that things in the computer don't always work perfectly. It's an inconvenient pain, but me and all the other guys who have blocking software or reporting software, we will attest that it's a pain, it's frustrating sometimes, but it is worth it, it is so worth it. I deal with it myself and it's worth it. Okay. You need it. It's worth it. Also, if you've got kids, you need to get protective monitoring software on their devices too. It would be a very worthwhile conversation as a family conversation to explain probably at a younger age that there is stuff on the internet that mom and dad don't want to see. There is things to click and there is junk out there that we don't want to put in our minds. Dads and moms, a whole generation is counting on us not to be consumed by this stuff. We are living in a sex culture and we must be willing to take drastic steps. If you want to win the war on lust these days, you have no choice, you have to engage in the battle over technology, you do. Finally today I have some good news to share. It's that we can declare victory in Jesus, we absolutely can. The great news is that in the war on lust like all the other sins, we have a champion who has won the victory on our behalf. Jesus has already won and that battle includes the shame and hidden sin. Somehow Satan has tricked us like Adam and eve in the garden and we think we have to hide. You can declare and have your friend declare that victory for you and fight the battle with you. Here is another vital weapon against the war on sin and especially lust, confession. Sin, especially when covered up and hidden, it has a way of growing into more and more sin and becoming deeper and stronger. When we bring it into the light and call it out and what it is, it begins to lose its power over us when we confess, not just confess to God, but find a safe person. Listen to 1 John 1:8-9. [Text on screen] How much unrighteousness will he purify us from? All of it. You see, lust thrives in privacy and isolation and we often feel shame and that motivates us to keep the struggles hidden and the power grows. The way to get out of that cycle is to confess it. That's the nuclear weapon against lust is confession. When we feed the fires of lust, we keep that a secret. We can engrain those habits. Our brains can be rewired for it. It burns. We are inflamed. Whether we're burning with sexual desire or pride or ambition or vanity or the love of power or greed or the need to think well of me or like me, that can become a burning fire and we become consumed of it. Let me ask you a question. I wonder if they still teach this. What happens if you actually literally catch on fire? I thought about Joel bring his thing up and catch me on fire and have a catch on fire moment. What happens if you catch on fire? Let's say it together, stop, drop, and roll. Okay. Well, since lust will burn you up, I suggest the sooner you put out the fire, the better. In that spirit, I have this for us to tell us how to put out the fires of lust, we can call it, confess it, and clean it. Call it, confess it, and clean it. First, call it what it is. Say it out loud. Don't excuse it or rationalize it or minimize it, call it what it is and face it. Second, confess it to God and to someone else like I've been talking about. Maybe a trusted friend, maybe someone else in our shepherding group. We have a whole mastery called celebrate recovery, not only for these sins, but all struggles and hurts and hangups. We're there to help you get mastery over this thing ruling your life. Come with us and say, I need help. You can be with us who are also on the journey of getting better and victory over that sin. Finally, clean it up. Whatever the temptation is and the threat, visually, virtually, clean out that garbage and take out the trash. Call it, confess it, and clean it. That's what we need to do. Today your homework is to go out and read Romans 8. If I could, I would read the whole chapter. If you're discouraged in your battle today, I hope you will read that verse today and meditate on it this week. It drives home the point. Let me read a few verses. [Text on screen] Then it goes on to say nothing can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus. Amen, church? We can do better. There is nothing that can keep you from God's love, when he wants to confront you with a sin that you need freedom and forgiveness for. Personally, I've been David, I've been Joseph. I've had my struggles with sin, I've rationalized sin, I walked right up to the wall. When I knew I should have run away, I crossed the line and felt consequences. I learned the hard way how important it is to run from sin, how you don't mess around with it in your mind, in your heart, in your habits, just don't give it a foot hold. I've experienced the beauty of confession. I've experienced the grace of forgiveness after I confessed and experienced the joy of being set free from the snare of sin. Let me tell you something, brothers and sisters, it feels great to be set free today. How about you? Do you need to arrest some progression into sin's captivity today and stop that awful progression that David was in? Do you need to confess and stop going towards the wall? Do you need help and to draw some battle lines clearer? Here's the good news. God loves you. Jesus paid the price for you and he rose to defeat the penalty of sin and the power of sin over your life if you turn back to him and let him take control. You can be set free. You can experience new life -- if you reach out and say, I need help, we're right here. We want to help because we've been there and all in the same struggle trying to give our hearts completely to Jesus. Let's keep fighting the battle, even though Jesus has won the war. Okay? Gordon is going to come up and lead us in prayer. I want to say, thanks for letting me share. This is a sensitive topic, but it's so important that we talk about this. Jesus is our hope, salvation, joy, strength. Jesus is more than enough. Let's put our trust in Jesus today. Amen. Thanks, Gordon. >> Gordon: Pray with me, please. Before I do that, I just have to say something. I really enjoyed watching this family do interpretation over here. Thank you. We don't always get to say thank you to you guys. Young lady, I don't have your name, but in the words of a very wise philosopher, you go, girl. Good job. [Applause]. >> Gordon: Let's pray. Lord God, thank you so much for the opportunity to be in service to You and to be here today. Lord God, we ask your blessings on this church and those of us that are here and watching, watch over our lives and thank you for sharing this message in intentionality in battling lust. Lord, we all can learn and we can all use these lessons. Lord God, we ask your blessings. Let us be salt and light to the world that is so desperate and so desperately needs us and the word of Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you in all of our struggles and the things we are dealing with, Jesus said in this world we will have tribulation, we will have trouble and challenges, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world. In that, we're so grateful. In that we play. In Jesus' name amen. >> Ryan: Amen. What an awesome promise that you have victory in Jesus and you are more than a conquerer. Thank you for that encouraging message. I'm going to highlight a few things for you as we close today. First for students and parents, a reminder that there is no student ministry Wednesday night program. We hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving break and the student ministry will start up again after the Thanksgiving holiday. Ladies' night out is coming up on December 4 and it's a virtual ladies' night out and you can go to our website to register. As part of our missions emphasis month of November, we have stories from the field. The last one is today. It's going to start around 12:15 on our main online platform. You will see it streaming there. Today we will hear wonderful stories from Uganda where our church has served. Today was the last week for our 1:45 Bible class hour, all ages for Sunday school will be taking a break over the holidays, but we will continue our 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. weekly services on Sundays. We'll see you for that. All right. It's time to close in a scripture together. Let's all stand to read this. We can do this before our closing song. The words are on the screen for you to follow along. I encourage everyone that's here to read out loud. If you're home, stand and read this together. This is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. [Text on screen]. Thank you for joining us. My prayer is that you would practice gratitude and God would give you a heart to be compassionate, kind, and gracious to yourself and to those that you're with this week. Let's sing one more song together before we go. \M Lay Me Down \M >> Richard: Thanks for worshiping with us today. You are dismissed! >> thank you for joining us online today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. We have a unique page dedicated to resources for you during this season. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our new podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. Every link is there. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. "Anchor Point" is our new podcast. We are posting a new episode every weekday. In addition to finding our podcast on our website and on the church app, you can find it across all podcasting platforms. Our children's ministry is posting a weekly kids online Bible lesson. Be sure to check that out. And our student ministry is creating lots of daily content on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Be sure to follow them. Thank you for joining us online today. We are glad you're here.