You guys can put those gifts in throughout the next couple of weeks as well for that, so you'll be able to do that as well. On December 13th, our River Oaks kids, Stacey has reserved a viewing of the best Christmas pageant ever. I said that right. The best Christmas pageant ever for our families and for anybody else that wants to come. And this is not only something we want for our River Oaks families, we want you guys to be able to invite friends and neighbors that might not have a church home, might have things that have taken them out of being part of a community about Jesus. And so we want you guys to invite people. Stacey says she has Tons and tons of things you can take to give to your friends and families for them to hear the Christmas story as it should be told, as well as at that place, we're going to be able to tell them what's going on Christmas-wise, out through, throughout Christmas with our longest service and our Christmas Eve services and everything like that as well that you can invite them to. So we're excited about that. That's a way to invite people and it'd be really easy. Just hand them that and say, come watch a movie with me. And that is it. I think that is all I have for announcements, thankfully. Let me pray for us, and then we will get into what the Lord has for us this morning. Father God, we would ask for a work of your spirit to be done in our hearts this morning. Would you increase our faith and renew our minds? Would you speak to us through your word? We hear the God in which we could rejoice in and the fact that you're always at work. That you never leave your children, you give us daily nourishment out of your kindness and steadfast love. In the midst of hardships, you speak and you work and you are surrounding us. We are not forgotten, we are not abandoned. We do not have to doubt that you are here. We ask that you might heal and encourage our hearts this morning through what you would have to say, and we thank you that you are present here this morning. We pray all of this in the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen. I remember the first time I saw my wife. I was at a friend's engagement party, and she walked through the door. And I would say I was captivated when she walked in. I was hoping the feeling would turn into mutual captivation. But I remember going to that party and being ready to just celebrate with my friends and encourage them and just be excited for them, right? I don't think I spoke a word to them the entire night. All of my actions based on my initial captivation went straight to her. I wanted to make sure she knew I was real, that I was alive, that I was interested. And so everything I did that night was all about her and making sure that that's what happened. And I remember us going through the dating process, right? And me being just fed, that captivation being fed. I got to know her, I got to know more about her. I enjoyed getting to know her, getting to know more about her. And again, praying it continued to be mutual. And that captivation, feeding that captivation, you could say it became and is still, I think, hopefully, she would agree, that it became a rhythm of being able to be a part of that on a daily basis. This captivation that grew was out of her captivating my heart. Mark talked about in our confession, right? The idea of captivation. We can be captivated by a lot of things. Sometimes we can be captivated by things that are harmful, that are hurtful, that are destructive. But we can also be captivated. This is what we see today. We can also be captivated by something that sets us free, something that gives us hope, something that moves us forward. As we've been going through the different truths the last couple weeks in the life of our church, been going through those and thinking through those of grace, transparency, thankfulness, jubilee, And my prayer has been for myself that those would be more evident in my own life, but I've been praying for you guys as well. That you would understand that grace and transparency and thankfulness are things that He gives and are good for you. And I've been asking myself, okay, why did those things make us distinctive? Like the people of God, not just River Oaks, but the people of God, why did that make us distinctive? How do those help us rest and be thankful? How can we be a people of joy and celebration? And the answer came so clearly that it's based on what captivates us. It's based on what holds our hearts. It's based on who holds our hearts. We're all captivated by something, like when my wife walked into that room. And those things become our rhythm, right? They feed our souls and they become our rhythm. And if placed in the wrong person, the item or aspiration, it can be destructive and life-taking. But today our text tells us what and who we should be captivated by, and that protects us from forgetting, abandoning, and doubting His work. If you guys are able, would you guys stand and hear this word from Deuteronomy chapter 6, And to give you guys a quick synopsis of where we find ourselves, this is Moses telling some sermons. I mean, before the people are entering the promised land, he's giving them words. And he said, hey, remember what he's done for you, taking you out of Egypt and through the wilderness. And then also, here's how you live later on when you hit the land. But here, he says, this is where he starts to say, this is the hope that moves you forward into the land. Deuteronomy chapter six. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit down in the house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you sleep and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. This is the word of God and it will never fail you. You guys can be seated. What captivates you affects your actions. What you hold of high or highest value determines what you do. You might say your value system and the actions that follow show what you love with all your heart, soul, and mind. You guys get this. Hopefully this will help. Think about where you live for a second. Take a quick mental picture, a walkthrough of what's outside, what's inside. What's in your house? Maybe you are picturing a complete mess because just getting here and making sure the dishes were done was impossible, so you chose to get here. That's fine. Or maybe like me, you're like, why haven't you picked up your rooms, kids? Maybe you're wondering, did I put the dog away? And what's my couch going to look like when I get home? But for a second, go a little bit deeper. Picture your house, but picture the design. Picture the colors. Picture the way you've set up your living room and how you've done your things. What does that look like? Well, most likely, it's gonna look like something that captivates you. It's going to look like something that makes you feel at home. If you were to walk into my house, you would see bohemian design with tons of colors everywhere and an eclectic feel. I am not boring because of my wife. But some of you, that makes your head hurt and gives you a migraine, so you like a minimalistic feel, probably, and stripped down, and that gives you peace and calm. When people walk into your house, they get a glimpse of who you are. They get a glimpse of what holds your heart or what matters to you most. So much so that Pinterest can read your mind before you even open it. Those decorations, those colors, those style of house, the part of town you live in, all are part of the identity of who you are and maybe even what stage of life you find yourself in. And there's a beauty, I truly believe there's a beauty into walking into multiple homes and seeing God's image being brought out in the creativity design of different people. But when someone walks in your house, they get a glimpse of who you are by the actions you chose based on what you value. The way we choose to live is all based on what holds our heart, right? When people meet us, they get a glimpse of what holds our heart. They can meet somebody who is crass and complains and is always upset about this happening and that happening. They can also meet a person who's kind, loving, caring, and you get a sense each time that you talk to them that they actually care about you. Those actions that we do towards others and others do towards us are based on what holds our hearts. This captivation piece, this idea of our actions displaying, we could see it in a few ways. One of the ways that, it's kind of a new way to describe, you guys have heard of helicopter parenting. There's a new term called bulldozer parenting. I don't know if you guys have heard of this one. But it's this idea that they don't want their kids to struggle. Which is ultimately a good idea, but they'll bulldoze anybody and anything in their way. People, teachers, whatever it may be. And it's this idea that they're so concerned that their kid is going to have some hardships, and the problem is we can't protect them from everything, right? We want to, we want to care for them and make sure, but we can't do everything. This is what captivates or hardens. So people need a parent who's always pushing people out of the way so their kid has a clear path. This is also true, we have anxieties about our jobs and wanting to take that next step and take the next position. And so when things go wrong at work or when things kind of seem like they might come back to bite you, you start being angry at people and putting your lack of recognition on their shoulders. And we're quick to deal constantly with the outside, right? We rarely look inside and what is captivating our hearts? Jesus dealt with this when he said in Matthew 15, he says, where your heart is, he said, what defiles a person is what's in the heart. Yeah, there's lots on the outside, but it's in here that defiles you. And whatever we're captivated by, it's probably what's feeding our souls. Moses says in chapter, in verse six, he says, hero Israel, the Lord our God is one. This is something that would be repeated morning and evening by the Jews, by the Israelites. At minimum, they would repeat this twice. It's called a Shema. It's this call to hear this truth. This idea that this would flow over them and move them forward into the promised land. Again, this is a spot where they're getting hope for the future. He says, this is what you put your hope in, hear this. And they're entering this land because there's meant to be, meant to be, a beacon on a hill calling people, all nations, to their God. And their action in repeating this over and over again was because, like me, at least, they're easy to forget, quick to abandon, and constantly doubt. This week alone, I can remember one night where I woke up at 12.30 in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. I was concerned, I was doubting, I was wondering what was going on and I just could not rest. So quick to forget and doubt. But this was a call to repeat his faithfulness, to repeat his promises and let that wash over you. There's a guy who did this to his children. His name was Laszlo Polgar. He's a Hungarian or was a Hungarian chess player and educational psychologist. He had this idea that geniuses were made, not born. And he courted this lady with this idea, saying, I would like to marry you so that we can play this out with our children and see how this goes. And she agreed, which is nuts. And in 1965, they were married and they had three different daughters and they had three kids. And what they did was they made their life about chess. They said, everything we do is gonna be about chess from when they were born. So much so that they lived in a very small, modest apartment in Budapest. And in that narrow living room, it was cluttered with chess books. There was a wall lined with sketches of chess scenes from centuries ago. One account described it as this, a shrine of unremitting chess practice. Thousands of chess books stuffed the shelves. There were trophies and boards cluttered in the living room. They even had a file card system of all the competitors they might run into in their tournament history. It worked. Their three daughters became fantastic at chess. Their youngest, the best of them all, she was women's world champion a couple times. She was ranked in the top 10 of all chess players in the world. She even said, the middle daughter said this in an interview. She said, my father believes innate talent is nothing. That success is 99% hard work. I'm not advocating we do this with our children, okay? But what I want us to understand, what I want us to see is that this father created an atmosphere where he fed them chess. That's what overwhelmed them, that's what captivated them. It was everywhere. The girls even, to my surprise, reported that they loved it. He said he caught one of his daughters one night, you know, kids stay up later than you tell them, and he caught one of his daughters one night playing chess, and he said, you gotta go to sleep. And she said, they won't, the pieces won't leave me alone. And we know that success isn't 99% hard work, but still, he surrounded them with something, and they fell in love with it. What do we surround ourselves with? What do we surround ourselves to feed our hearts, our souls, and our minds? Because what we feed ourselves is important, right? It plays itself out in the actions that we have and it can be destructive or it can be healing. Why then would we of all people say that making the rhythm of the Lord is one what we should captivate ourselves with? It's because it's through this rhythm we can only find true hope and true peace and a God who loves us. Moses delivers ways for them to stay engaged, ways for them to remember, right? He says, the Lord their God is one, but in verse seven through nine, he says, you shall teach them diligently to your children. Talk about them when you sit in the house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down. When you rise, she'll bind them as a sign on your hand, front lids between your eyes, write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. One person did a version of this. It says, make it your mission to teach and share this with your kids. Talk about them whenever you're chilling at home, out for a walk, tucking them in or getting up. Treat it like a smartwatch on your wrist. Wear them like cool shades that are always reminding you. Tag your house and gates with them like the ultimate home decor. Let it overwhelm you. And this is an everyday, lifelong endeavor, right? This rhythm is important because life around you is changing and full of hardships. But it reminds us of one who is constant. I had a teacher who, in ninth grade, taught me a great lesson about change. It was my ninth grade English teacher, and I walked in the first day of the semester just like normal. Desks were normal. Everything was normal. The next day, the desks were different. The day after that, the deaths were arranged different. The day after that, they're arranged different. I mean, it could be a trapezoid or a triangle or circles or like facing each other. It could be all kinds of things. It was so infuriating. And to give you a little glimpse into my own heart, I decided to stage a coup and show her what's up. And so I love organizing. I've always loved organizing. And you can tell because I got us all together, the classmates, and I said, OK, here's the plan. And I started giving out assignments. I was like, you two go ask her questions about apostrophes, because we really need to know that. And we cared. And you two, that way she's busy. And you two, you watch out. You make sure she's not coming back. The rest of us are going to be in this room. And we're going to show her what's up. And so I got everybody together and we changed the desk the way she had changed them, from the way she changed them. But not only that, because I was really mad about it, I was like, we're gonna change her desk. So we grabbed her desk and we turned it backwards, right, and we put her chair backwards, that way when she sat down, her back would be facing us. I was like, yes, we're gonna show her. One of the best teachers I ever had. She walks in, doesn't blink an eye, doesn't say a word, sits down at her desk and teaches us like this the rest of the week. The whole class, she teaches us with her back to us. I was so mad. And she would never tell us why she did that until the last day of the semester. And she goes, you guys are wondering why I've been doing this all semester? And I was like, yeah, you think so? And she said, I want to teach you two lessons. She said, I want to teach you that life is always changing, and that's inevitable. You're going to have to figure out how to deal with it. She said, second, in English writing, she wanted to switch things up, right? She didn't want us to say the same thing over and over again. We all know those papers where we've wrote the horse was very, very, very, very, very, very beautiful, right? Or to make sure that we didn't get in trouble for using very, we say the horse was galloping in a majestic type of way that only rivaled by the two-horned antelope. What? She wanted change, she wanted variety, and she wanted substance to her writing. Why is that important? Well, because Moses is writing a word from God to the Israelites, and he's writing something for them to put their hope in that doesn't change, because they're about to go into a place that have gods that constantly change. Those people's gods are constantly changing their terms with them. Those places that they're going to are constantly changing, the political structure's changing, all these things are changing, and he says, here's something to put your hope in. This is good for us too, because we live in a world that's inevitable for change. Truce, squash old truce. These things squash these things. We have to constantly wonder what is true. I know there's helpful change, and we see God's mercy, and thank the Lord we see his mercy helping us realize things that need to be different. We see his people made in his image being treated better. We see his creation being treated better. And those are good things. But they're all based on the one truth, the one that is constant. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. This is important because Hebrew mothers and fathers did not teach their children like my English teacher taught me. They didn't teach them to constantly change the vocabulary. They said, it's key that you repeat it over and over and over again. The statement here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one, was meant to sink in deep and be a constant when everything else in life was changing or falling apart. Its design was to captivate the heart of God's people, knowing that when their hearts were captivated by that knowledge, certain actions would follow, because that is what was feeding their soul about a self-existent and never-ending and always loving and always caring and always present God. This is important because they were prone to forget. They were prone to abandon. They were prone to doubt just like we are. Our actions show what captivates us because of what we're feeding our souls with. Loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and might means feeding upon him constantly. We find ourselves angry at others. We aren't feeding our souls grace from God because we're not remembering the grace that he's shown us. If we find ourselves worn out and beaten down, we aren't feeding ourselves rest and restoration. On the flip side, oh, on the flip side, when we feed ourselves through being transparent, we find ourselves free of shame and guilt because He was transparent and did the work for us. When we feed ourselves our souls of being thankful, we find ourselves seeing blessings flowing from Him. I have a friend who always meets me, and every time I see him, he says, what was your God moment today? And all he's asking me is, remember that God's at work. When we feed our souls his words, we find ourselves thinking and talking of it often. I don't know if you guys have ever, I'm sure you have, but if you've ever watched those little videos about animal kingdoms, right? And the lion chasing the antelope and different things like that. I was talking to my father-in-law the other day and he said, I was watching one and they said that 80% of those antelope get away. It's not bad, 80 out of 20. 80% get away. But what happens when they're getting chased, right? The lion is waiting and then it just comes out. And they start galloping like crazy. Blood's rushing, adrenaline's flowing, their hearts, who knows how many beats per minute. And they're in fight mode, like they're running, fight and fight. They're running for their life. Everything's, danger is around them. They're about to get eaten. And those ones that get away, What do you think they do 10 to 15 minutes later? They go back to grazing. They go back to grazing on grass that they didn't do anything for. They go back to grazing, not concerned about any of those dangers that were just there. When our soul is captivated, When our soul is captivated by the truth of who God is in the midst of danger, in the midst of hardships, in the midst of all these things, when we make this our rhythm to remind ourselves of his promises over and over and over again, we are able to make it a rhythm of just going back to grazing. going back to grazing on His goodness, His grace, all the things that we did nothing for and yet He gives us because He loves us. That is something to be captivated by. Would you guys pray with me? Father, we are thankful that you are faithful. We are thankful that you are steadfast. We're thankful that in the midst of dangers and hardships that you love and you care and you have not lost sight of us. We remind ourselves of that daily. Will we remind ourselves of your faithfulness? Freeing us from bondage, would the captivation with you not be one that holds us down, but we're reminded that it is one that sets us free from the bondage of sin. And that we can live now and forever in your peace knowing that. Praise you in your name. Amen. As the band has come, we move into our rhythm. of thanking Him and giving Him back, giving back what He has given us. Would you guys stand as we have our hymn of response and the ushers come down. In the darkness we were waiting, without hope and without light. Till from heaven you came running, there was mercy in your eyes. To fulfill the law and prophets, to a virgin came the word from a throne.