“Disordered Desire (Physical Health)” by Caleb Cole

Pastor Caleb Cole closes the Rhythms series with “Disordered Desire (Physical Health),” a message about honoring God with our bodies. Teaching from 1 Timothy 4, Philippians 3, Romans 12, and 1 Corinthians 9, he explains how sin distorts desire and how healthy rhythms of movement, rest, and self-control support spiritual growth. This episode calls believers to glorify God with their whole lives.

• (00:00) - Closing the Rhythms series
• (02:00) - Why physical health matters spiritually
• (04:30) - Training for godliness is primary
• (06:05) - When physical health makes faith harder
• (08:05) - Physical health is rhythm, not effort
• (11:00) - The real problem: disordered desire
• (13:55) - We were made to work, not be lazy
• (17:15) - Discipline your body (1 Corinthians 9)
• (19:40) - Fitness as worship vs idolatry
• (22:00) - You were called to rest
• (28:50) - Food, fasting, and self-control
• (33:55) - Honor God with your body & salvation invitation

Creators and Guests

Host

Caleb Cole

Caleb, a Sacramento native, grew up in a pastor’s home and is a third generation minister. At the age of 12, after one of his grandfather’s sermons, he felt a call from God to be a pastor. He consistently pursued that call throughout high school and college. Caleb attended Central Bible College in Springfield, MO where he earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies and went on to the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary where he earned an M.A. in Theological Studies.

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00;00;00;00 - 00;00;22;02
Caleb Cole
so good to see you. My name is Caleb, one of the pastors here, and I'm continuing our rhythm series. But I want to invite you next week. We're kicking off an all new series. I'm closing out rhythms today. All new series next week called Through the Fire A relationship series. So I want you to come with your single dating, married engage no matter what stage of life you find yourself in.

00;00;22;05 - 00;00;37;06
Caleb Cole
We're going to have something for you. I believe this series is going to encourage us to have healthy relationships, even when it's hard. And so come back for week series starting next week. Going to be a lot of fun. God's going to show us a lot of great things. But hey, we've been in this rhythm series.

00;00;37;09 - 00;00;53;02
Caleb Cole
How many have been here and enjoyed it? You got something out of it? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. All right, so here's what we did in the first four weeks. We walked through acts 242. We saw these were healthy rhythms that the early church established 2000 years ago. It worked for them. I believe it still should work for us today.

00;00;53;04 - 00;01;15;12
Caleb Cole
And so we walk through acts 242 with the four things the early church. Did you guys remember? They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers. That's right. Some of you were there with me. Acts 242. So we hit over the last four weeks, we hit one of those every week.

00;01;15;14 - 00;01;38;13
Caleb Cole
So we finished it. But Caleb, this is week five. That's right. Because in preparation for this series, I really felt the Lord asked me to do something that I wouldn't even say I wanted to do because I've never done it in 13 years of leading Project Church, never spoken on this topic for a whole message. I've touched on it, I've never preached it.

00;01;38;16 - 00;01;52;08
Caleb Cole
And so I do not get nervous coming up here to preach to you. To be honest, I've done this for a lot of years. You know, I've been a pastor for 20 years. I've been preaching to this church for 13 years. So Sunday mornings I'm just ready to go. Don't really have nerves. Butterflies. But this morning, I woke up.

00;01;52;08 - 00;02;13;01
Caleb Cole
Man, I was nervous. I have butterflies because I want to talk to you today about physical health. So I'm going to do something I've never done in 13 years. I'm going to preach a whole message today on physical health. So here's the thing. We use it usually do expository preaching here. What does that mean? Well, that's where you walk through one text, verse by verse giving context background.

00;02;13;04 - 00;02;39;09
Caleb Cole
Breaking down what the text really says. That's our normal rhythm here. But for this message I got to do it a little different. Right. So this is going to be a topical message. As I hit this topic of physical health, I'm going to jump around between different scriptures because it's going to help us to have a well-formed theology around what it means to honor God with the temples, the tents, the bodies with which we've been given.

00;02;39;09 - 00;03;01;05
Caleb Cole
So why were you nervous, Caleb? Well, I was nervous. I'm asking myself a lot of rhetorical questions today. I don't know why. That's how nervous I have. No, I was nervous because the last thing I wanted was for anyone to come in here and feel shame. I just didn't want that. But what I did want is I wanted to challenge us.

00;03;01;08 - 00;03;16;19
Caleb Cole
I wanted to call you higher. This isn't a call out. This is a call up. I believe that God wants us to raise the bar. And I do believe biblically that this is something that the scriptures talk about. Paul writes about. We're going to look at some of his scriptures, some of his writings, in his letters to the church.

00;03;16;22 - 00;03;31;09
Caleb Cole
And it's something that I think that we need. And the reason I have avoided is because for a lot of years, we kind of made Project Church because we're a very invitational church. People always bringing their friends. People get saved every week, right? We probably had like 30 salvations this morning. People raise their hand to give their lives to Jesus.

00;03;31;09 - 00;03;52;00
Caleb Cole
And just two services, which is amazing. But what I've realized is as the years have gone on, God has showed me more and more that this on Sunday mornings is actually primarily for the church. That doesn't mean you can't invite friends who don't know God or invite friends who don't know Jesus. It doesn't mean that people don't come in who are searching or looking or asking questions.

00;03;52;03 - 00;04;16;29
Caleb Cole
They're welcome. But the primary job that I have, and that we have to do here on Sundays is prepare the Saints for the work of the ministry. That's my job, right? That's what God has called me to as a shepherd, pastor, teacher, leader. And so that's why I'm starting to do things like this. Because while in the past it was like, oh, we're more evangelistic and it's more outreach on Sundays.

00;04;16;29 - 00;04;41;16
Caleb Cole
No, no, we're still going to have that aspect of us of it. But Sunday mornings is for the church. We gotta train ourselves. And so let me show you, here we go. I'm going to read, first Timothy four seven through eight to start, if you're with me, say, have nothing to do with irreverent silliness. Rather, train yourself for godliness.

00;04;41;18 - 00;05;05;14
Caleb Cole
Watch this. For while bodily training is of some value, everybody say some godliness is a value in every way. Everybody say every as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. So I got to set the baseline here today. I'm preaching a whole message of physical health, but I need you to hear me training for godliness.

00;05;05;16 - 00;05;28;04
Caleb Cole
Spiritual practices are more important than training your physical body. Are you with me? Let me just set the baseline. Me preaching this today does not mean it's more important. Scripture is clear. It is secondary. Why? Because training your body for godliness or your life for godliness is more important. Because it's not just for this life. It's for the age to come.

00;05;28;07 - 00;05;51;20
Caleb Cole
It's for eternity, right? We are preparing ourselves. This is practice for heaven. We're preparing ourselves for the life that second, that is an eternal life. And so that is of more importance. I got to set the baseline. It doesn't mean, though, because he said it's of some value training your physical body that we should avoid this topic. In fact, I think since I've been preaching for 13 years, I've never preached a whole message on physical health.

00;05;51;20 - 00;06;19;20
Caleb Cole
It's probably time you with me. Let's do this. Here's what I will say to you. If you aren't physically healthy, it makes training for godliness harder. I'm going to use my own life as an example of this. Going back, to when I was in my early 30s, I had a bulging disc issue, and I battled it for an entire year.

00;06;19;20 - 00;06;44;22
Caleb Cole
It was incapacitating me. My wife will tell you. I was out, down and out for weeks at a time in constant pain. Let me tell you, training my life for godliness was hard in that season because I was so, focused on my physical health. Now, thankfully, God sent me a chiropractor who loved Jesus. He literally was praying in tongues while working on me popping my neck and back.

00;06;44;22 - 00;07;01;15
Caleb Cole
I said, yes, glory be to God. It ain't even weird because I need it. You know what I'm saying? He's prophesying over me while popping me. It was all good. He got me worked out. I implemented some strength training into my life to help strengthen my neck. And now, at 44, praise God, I know you see the great.

00;07;01;15 - 00;07;23;01
Caleb Cole
Yep, yep. I have had zero issues over the last two years. This has been the best year of my life physically. Actually. I'm able to focus on training for godliness more right now because my physical health. I got super sick over Christmas. I got a flu, on the third day of the flu, 102 degree fever, I told my wife, I think I'm dying.

00;07;23;03 - 00;07;45;03
Caleb Cole
Don't. Hey, we met. Experience colds a little different than you ladies. Okay? It's scientifically been proven. But let me tell you, those three days and now the cough that has ensued. I'm still battling cough three weeks later. Some things are outside of your control. But that struggle in my physical, it has distracted me from training for godliness. So how many would agree, right?

00;07;45;07 - 00;08;08;12
Caleb Cole
When you're not healthy physically, it makes training for godliness harder because you're battling all this other stuff. You can't focus on the things God's calling you to do. But here's what physical health isn't. It's not effort. I think some of you right now are like, I just gotta try hard enough. Physical health is rhythm. I got to implement healthy rhythms.

00;08;08;12 - 00;08;29;24
Caleb Cole
That's what the series was all about, right? Healthy rhythms to be physically healthy. So one thing I've done this last year, man, I've done more cardio, try to do more explosive work. And, because I told my wife that I was going to dunk at 45, and, I used to dunk easy. But then I got older and, so this week at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, I was like, I hadn't tried to Duncan a year.

00;08;29;24 - 00;08;34;18
Caleb Cole
I was like, let me see. Roll the tape.

00;08;34;20 - 00;08;38;08
Unknown
I was so close.

00;08;38;10 - 00;08;53;19
Caleb Cole
I'm gonna have a video for y'all next week, okay? I mean, really getting it. That was at 6 a.m.. Two. I wasn't even warm. Okay, so. But then I tried again. I couldn't get it. I was like, dang it, I really wanted to show a video of me doing. It was a little vain. I ain't going to lie to you, but,

00;08;53;21 - 00;09;20;14
Caleb Cole
Yeah, yeah. All that to say, I'm still working on it, right? Physical health is a process. That was just for fun. Let's read Philippians 317 through 21. Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us, for many of whom have often. I have often told you, and I'll tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

00;09;20;16 - 00;09;43;10
Caleb Cole
Their end is destruction. Their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame. With minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

00;09;43;12 - 00;10;11;29
Caleb Cole
So let me just say this. Another baseline theological perspective is that these bodies are temporary, right? It's why we can't idolize these. And I'm gonna talk about this because we can also turn our physical bodies into idols. But we can use our bodies. And they were meant to be used for worship. But we have to understand that it says it said here Jesus is returning.

00;10;12;02 - 00;10;37;17
Caleb Cole
When he comes back, he's going to renew these bodies that we have. We'll have a new tent, a new temple. They're going to be renewed. But he calls out, the church here, and he's writing to the church in Philippi, and he calls them out. But he says, look, you're concerned with the things of this world. And one of the temptations is that your God would be your belly.

00;10;37;17 - 00;10;39;26
Caleb Cole
Even.

00;10;39;28 - 00;11;08;25
Caleb Cole
We have to understand that the problem is not the body. So I think so often we blame. Oh, it's my body's fault. It's my flesh fault. Right? The body. The problem is not the body. The problem is disordered desire. That's the of our message today. If you're taking notes, disordered desire, we're going to talk about physical health. You see, sin has distorted the desire of our bodies.

00;11;08;28 - 00;11;31;26
Caleb Cole
God actually made us with these bodies. But they were perfect when there was no sin in the world. He created Adam and Eve. There was no death, no sickness. They walked around in a perfect garden. They convened with goddesses. They walked with God in the cool of the evening. And so this was how God originally created us. But then when sin entered the world, death entered the world.

00;11;31;26 - 00;11;55;19
Caleb Cole
Sickness into the world, unhealthy desires entered the world. And so our desires are disordered. So that's what I want to talk to you about today. I want to show you that you were made for certain actions, movements, opportunities. But sin is distorted. It first we were made to work, but sin makes us want to be lazy.

00;11;55;21 - 00;12;31;03
Caleb Cole
Listen, I'm not saying everyone in here, I'm not saying all the time. But I know for me, I come home some days I just don't feel like doing anything. I just want to put on the stream. I just want to chill, right? I just want to indulge myself. And so the problem is, in culture, we're on two sides of the spectrum, on one side of the spectrum or the other, and I'm going to get to a point two we got people who are just grind, grind, grind, and then we got people who are just rest, rest, rest.

00;12;31;06 - 00;12;52;01
Caleb Cole
And we got to remember that God made you to work. Let me show you Genesis chapter two. Before there was sin, there was work. Did you know that you know the first command that God gave David and Eve? Adam and Eve he said, work the garden, keep it, and subdue the earth. This was before sin entered the world.

00;12;52;03 - 00;13;11;24
Caleb Cole
He told them the first command work it. We say, work it. He told him to work it, keep it, subdue it, take care of it. This is your call that you would work. And so I think it's funny when people talk about heaven because people will be talking about heaven, Jeffrey. And, And they'll be like, man, heaven is going to be amazing.

00;13;11;24 - 00;13;16;04
Caleb Cole
We're just going to worship all day long. It's just.

00;13;16;06 - 00;13;36;13
Caleb Cole
We're just walking around. We're singing. Our hands are up. That's 24 over seven, seven days. I don't think theologically you can back that up. There is going to be worship where it's going to be perfect. We're in the presence of God. No more tears, no more suffering, no more death. But I believe, and I think theology can prove this, that we're going to be working like we're going to have jobs, we're gonna have roles, we have responsibilities.

00;13;36;13 - 00;13;54;19
Caleb Cole
We're going to work. It's going to be perfect. It's going to be amazing. The best job you ever have, a job you really love is going to be that times a thousand. And you're going to work and you're going to love it, and you're going to worship because God made us to work. He desired us to accomplish. He desired us to put our hands to the plow.

00;13;54;21 - 00;14;17;14
Caleb Cole
And yet the temptation with sin is that we would become lazy. Here's a Paul says, first Corinthians nine. He's writing to the church in Corinth 924 through 27 he says, do you not know that the race, all the runners run? I love Paul because I'm convinced he was an athlete. My dog. Right. He uses athletic analogies all the time.

00;14;17;16 - 00;14;40;22
Caleb Cole
All the runners run, but only one receives a prize, so run that you may obtain it. Now he's talking about spiritually running your race to obtain the prize, but I think practically this should play out in all parts of our lives. Like I want to just do my best. I want to bring my best. I want to win.

00;14;40;25 - 00;15;01;10
Caleb Cole
Nothing makes me more frustrated than my kids just want to quit without even trying. Nothing makes me more frustrated. As a pastor, when I talk to a husband and wife and they tell us, oh, it's over, it's just not working out. Irreconcilable differences. I said, did you go to counseling? No, but it's just not going to work. You didn't even try.

00;15;01;13 - 00;15;23;12
Caleb Cole
Things got hard. You didn't want to work. I want to win at marriage. I want to win our relationships. Me and my wife. It has not all been roses and rainbows. We've had hard seasons. We went to counseling when we were in a hard season, but we worked at it. Quitting wasn't an option. I'm trying to win. I'm going on a tangent.

00;15;23;12 - 00;15;26;21
Caleb Cole
Get back to k them.

00;15;26;23 - 00;15;52;13
Caleb Cole
So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath. But we an imperishable C we're going after treasures in heaven. We're building a heavenly kingdom, something that lasts for followers of God. So I do not run aimlessly. There's a purpose to my running. I do not box as one beating the air.

00;15;52;13 - 00;16;10;08
Caleb Cole
Now he's throwing in a boxing analogy. Come on guys, see that guy's we last night? That was crazy. Okay, if you didn't see it, go on social media. He was a boxing. And the dude punched him. His head and his wig flew off. It was crazy. One of the best things I've seen all year.

00;16;10;11 - 00;16;15;00
Caleb Cole
This is not Holy Spirit inspired. Bring it back.

00;16;15;02 - 00;16;36;08
Caleb Cole
Paul did it to me. He took to boxing. Verse 27. Come on, this is my third service. All right, give me a break. But I discipline my body and keep it under control. Let's. After preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. So some of you're like, oh, okay, so this is for the pastors. It's for you, Caleb.

00;16;36;10 - 00;16;55;17
Caleb Cole
This for the powers of the world. And and you know, I saw Pastor Crazy over your Pastor Sam up here, PJ he was give it up for PJ. He was on base in the back, hiding himself back there like, come on. That's our worship, pastor. Servanthood. Our calling. But some of you are thinking, oh, that's what pastor no it's not.

00;16;55;19 - 00;17;17;25
Caleb Cole
Paul's writing to the church in Corinth for all the believers. And what he says to them is, I discipline myself. I bring my body into subjection, so that in preaching I will not be disqualified. Hear me? He goes on from here and he starts talking about sexual purity. What Paul is saying is discipline your body in all ways.

00;17;17;28 - 00;17;39;05
Caleb Cole
And this is for all believers, that when you bring the gospel, when you share your faith, when you tell people you're a Christian at work, they look at you and say, that's someone that is exemplifying who Jesus is. That's someone that looks like Christ. That my life reflects the values and the beliefs that I say I hold according to God's Word.

00;17;39;08 - 00;18;14;27
Caleb Cole
I don't want to be disqualified. So I gotta bring my flesh into subjection. I don't want to be disqualified. I gotta have self-discipline because my life preaches as much as my words. Preach. And that means you gotta work to. Christians should be the hardest workers. Colossians 323. Whatever you do, do all work heartily. And as for the Lord and not for men, whatever you do.

00;18;14;27 - 00;18;35;04
Caleb Cole
But, Caleb, I don't like my job. I'm working for the man. No you're not. It's unto the Lord. But, Caleb, I'm stuck in this. I'm stuck in this job that that I haven't enjoyed. And and and the CEO's getting rich. So I'm going to put minimal effort forth. No, no, no, this is unto the Lord. He's put it in your hand.

00;18;35;07 - 00;18;56;24
Caleb Cole
He placed you there for this season. He's giving you that opportunity. You can quit and go find something else or in the meantime, you can make the most of it. Say, I'm going to work as unto him. My challenge to us is that whatever God has put in front of us, whatever role we've been given, whatever job we have, if we're at the bottom or at the top, that we do it all into the Lord, and that means we work hard.

00;18;56;27 - 00;19;10;07
Caleb Cole
That means we bring our best. That means we show up on time. That means we have joy in the morning, the joy of the Lord. We got a smile on our face.

00;19;10;10 - 00;19;13;15
Caleb Cole
I do believe.

00;19;13;18 - 00;19;41;07
Caleb Cole
That in this idea of working and laziness being a temptation for us is I want to talk to you for a moment. It's about physical fitness because Paul wrote and he said, you know, exercise, fitness is of some value. And so I encourage people that you would be active. Here's the challenge, right in our culture that a lot of our jobs are sedentary.

00;19;41;09 - 00;20;03;01
Caleb Cole
So actually, I think it's harder now to honor God with our physical bodies than ever before. Not not to mention the fact that our our foods are full of poison. Everything sugar. Sugar filled. Right. So we're getting addicted. We're being served nothing but ultra processed foods. Right? So it's hard right now to honor God with our physical health.

00;20;03;04 - 00;20;22;03
Caleb Cole
You throw on top of that, my job. I sit behind a computer all day. I don't move for eight hours and so I need to move my body. I meet with people all day long, so it's like, hey, can we meet for coffee? Can we for lunch? Can we meet for dinner? Like, literally I get paid to eat and you feel me constantly.

00;20;22;03 - 00;20;38;21
Caleb Cole
People and eating. I got to be very careful with what I choose when I'm out and what I'm putting on my body. I have to use moderation in how much I eat. I have to sometimes say, I'm going to take this meal up. I'll just hang on. What you eat.

00;20;38;23 - 00;20;41;15
Unknown
But I also.

00;20;41;17 - 00;21;00;23
Caleb Cole
When I leave here, I go, hey, I got to go work my body physically because I've been sitting all day. And so I go to the gym and I throw one plate on because that's all your boy can do. And I get that some of us, we're not built to lift a lot of weights, okay? We were built to jump.

00;21;00;26 - 00;21;03;27
Caleb Cole
Praise God.

00;21;03;29 - 00;21;24;26
Caleb Cole
But I move my body. Maybe it's taking a walk when you're at work. Look, I'm not telling you. You gotta have a six pack or have the veins popping out. But I am saying you need to do something with your body. If your lifestyle and maybe even your job has made you sedentary and, you know, the impact is having is negative.

00;21;24;29 - 00;21;35;17
Caleb Cole
But I also want to caution you because how many you know that fitness, it can be worship or it can be idolatry.

00;21;35;20 - 00;21;51;23
Caleb Cole
Right. So on the other side of this, I want to read number two that sin has distorted, which is we were called to rest, but sin makes us strive to prove.

00;21;51;25 - 00;22;19;13
Caleb Cole
You know, one of the Ten Commandments is to keep the Sabbath, remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy. What does God encourage us towards? Rest. You see, some of us are prone to be lazy, but some of us are prone to just grind nonstop and never rest. I mean, the gym every single day. No days off. Hashtag.

00;22;19;15 - 00;22;42;22
Caleb Cole
Here's the dangers because I believe fitness can be worship. Let me show you. Fitness says worship is stewardship. I'm stewarding what God has given me. This body, this tent, this temple. Fitness is idolatry is vanity. Can you guys throw this up for me? Fitness as worship is discipline. I'm disciplining myself like Paul told me to. It's of some value.

00;22;42;25 - 00;23;05;04
Caleb Cole
Fitness as idolatry is obsession. It's all I talk about. All I think about, all I obsess over fitness as worship is service, right? I'm serving the Lord through the body that is giving me fitness as idolatry is self exaltation. How can I get more praise? How can I get more likes? How can I get more clicks? How can I get more comments?

00;23;05;07 - 00;23;25;22
Caleb Cole
Fitness as worship is gratitude. Lord, thank you that I get to move my body. Man, I can't tell you how often I'm thankful. I'm thankful because I was incapacitated over this neck ten years ago, and now I can run and jump and do a lot of things that I love to do. Thank you God. I'm thanking God every time I get to move my body.

00;23;25;24 - 00;23;49;09
Caleb Cole
Fitness as idolatry is all about control. How can I use this to gain something? How can I use this to manipulate someone? Fitness as worship is about longevity. Fitness as idolatry is about identity is my identity and how healthy I am physically and who I am as a son or daughter of God.

00;23;49;11 - 00;24;18;23
Caleb Cole
You see, you were called to rest, but sin will make you strive to prove, because on the other side of the pendulum are people who are always achieving, always grinding, always building, always hustling. And then they wonder why mentally they're drained, physically they're exhausted, why their stress is at an all time high or they're filled with anxiety and worry.

00;24;18;27 - 00;24;45;12
Caleb Cole
Now, I will tell you that sometimes you need, you need a physical exertion. And we're medicating ourselves with pills to deal with mental health issues, when ultimately, you just did a walk today around Old City in the sun. You come back feeling a whole lot better. So we have to be wise. But I want to challenge us because I think too many of us are grinding, going, hustling, building.

00;24;45;19 - 00;25;09;29
Caleb Cole
But we're not resting, sleeping. We're not Sabbath thing. That's why this is so important. I pray that you leave here just feeling refueled and rejuvenated. Rested, filled up the presence of God in your heart, your soul. There's an amazing story of First Kings. Chapter 18 and 19. You guys have maybe heard the story of Elijah. I just want to summarize it real quick.

00;25;09;29 - 00;25;37;01
Caleb Cole
Best homework for you. Go read 18 and 19, the first Kings. But, Elijah is confronted by, this evil King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, who's really running the kingdom. And Ahab and Jezebel have pushed their kingdom to, idol worship, belle worship, pagan practices. And Elijah is actually the only prophet still alive. They've killed every other prophet of God as every other priest of God.

00;25;37;04 - 00;25;56;09
Caleb Cole
They kill and they're pushing Belle worship, idolatry, worship. And so Elijah, he's calling them out all over the place. He's running for his life. And then one day he's like, let's have a showdown. So he says, me versus the prophets of Baal. We're going to go up on this mountain top. We're going to put an animal on the altar.

00;25;56;12 - 00;26;16;05
Caleb Cole
You're going to call down fire. I'm going to call down fire. The real God is going to show up and burn up this sacrifice. And so the, prophets of Baal, there's 400 of them. They go first and they're chanting and marching around. It says they're cutting themselves and crying out to bail. And Elijah starts to mock him.

00;26;16;07 - 00;26;38;26
Caleb Cole
He starts trash talking the original trash talker, and he's like, no, go read it for real. He's like, maybe your God is in the bathroom. That was old school trash talk. It actually says, perhaps he's relieving himself. I love it, and, they're all mad and the fire doesn't come down. And so then Elijah is like, my turn.

00;26;38;29 - 00;27;06;15
Caleb Cole
He says one prayer. God, the God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Right. Send down fire. Owens burns up the altar, and then he's like, kill these fools! And they chop up all these prophets of Baal. They do. They chop them into a bunch of pieces, kill all 400 of them. And, Jezebel Ahab are mad. So they send an army after Elijah.

00;27;06;18 - 00;27;26;07
Caleb Cole
So Elijah has just had this great victory, and he runs out into the wilderness because he's running for his life. He gets out there and he's all alone, and he sits down and he throws a pity party. He says, God, just kill me. Gods like I just gave you this victory. He's like, I'm tired, they're after me. Kill me.

00;27;26;09 - 00;27;47;10
Caleb Cole
And God says, no, I'm not going to do that. But here's what I'm to do. Look in that, in that that stump right there, and there's like this honey cake that God has made there, and he says, eat it. And then he causes a tree to grow up where Elijah is sitting on the ground and the tree grows up and puts shade over him, and you just take a nap and Elijah takes a nap, has a snack.

00;27;47;16 - 00;28;09;07
Caleb Cole
He wakes up and it says his strength is renewed and he gets up. I say, let's go. It's time. Here's the practical. Some of y'all just need a nap and a snack and you're good to go. Okay, we make it deeper than it really is. You need some rest. You're hangry. You need to eat, renew your strength and get up in the morning.

00;28;09;07 - 00;28;30;26
Caleb Cole
That's why I love Sunday. So let me tell you, I preach three times. I go home and I siesta two hour nap. Every Sunday I wake up. God is good. I'm ready for the week. We need more rest in our lives. Church in this grind culture, can I encourage you that you would rest? You see, we were called to rest.

00;28;30;26 - 00;28;42;02
Caleb Cole
But sin makes us strive. We're striving, we're striving, trying to prove something. Prove the haters wrong. Bad motivator.

00;28;42;04 - 00;28;51;18
Caleb Cole
Trying to prove ourselves right. Maybe you just need a nap and a snack.

00;28;51;20 - 00;29;02;14
Caleb Cole
Sinners distorted desire of our bodies. You see, food is for sustenance, but sin makes it our God. So I just want to talk about it for a moment.

00;29;02;17 - 00;29;27;03
Caleb Cole
Philippians 319 I read it to you earlier. It said, There God is there belly. You know that revelation talks about in the end times. They will eat, drink and be merry. And we think, oh, that sounds good. No, it's not good because they're into overindulging themselves in the things of this world, distracted from what God has called them to do.

00;29;27;05 - 00;29;44;09
Caleb Cole
And I wonder in this culture, just how many of us our belly has become our God? I'm not preaching at you. I'm guilty of this. I had a season of my life. I was addicted to sugar. I couldn't go to bed at night without a pile of candy next to me. My wife will tell you. My kids will tell you.

00;29;44;09 - 00;29;51;23
Caleb Cole
When they were little, they'd wake up. Dad, how many Reese's peanut butter cups did you. How many Sour Patch kids did you eat?

00;29;51;26 - 00;30;13;08
Caleb Cole
And then a couple of years back, I'm like, I gotta change this. I had to cut this out. I had a sugar addiction and so I implemented now before bed. If I if I try to not eat after a certain time, but if I'm like craving something, I'm like, I'm gonna have apples and peanut butter, healthy protein. Come on.

00;30;13;10 - 00;30;19;16
Caleb Cole
It's natural peanut butter to holler at my wife.

00;30;19;18 - 00;30;44;10
Caleb Cole
Proverbs 23 2321 Solomon gives us some wisdom. He says this do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor. Listen, I'm not anti-alcohol my wife, you know. She's Filipino. She likes a good glass of wine with dinner every once in a while. But here's what I always say is moderation.

00;30;44;13 - 00;31;07;24
Caleb Cole
If you are prone to drunkenness, you probably need to avoid the alcohol in general. If you can practice moderation occasionally, then okay. But again, how many of us we start out oh, I can I can use moderation. And before we know it, we need one every night before bed. We can't go a day without alcohol. In our system.

00;31;08;00 - 00;31;34;29
Caleb Cole
We're overindulging in eating. We're eating our feelings. We're. We're eating for comfort. And I just believe that God wants us to do better. And again, I've struggled with this in my life. You see some y'all like. But Caleb, you're skinny. How many know you can hide unhealthy because you got a fast metabolism. And there's been seasons when I was unhealthy, just nobody knew it.

00;31;35;02 - 00;31;37;24
Caleb Cole
I hate it. Well.

00;31;37;26 - 00;31;44;21
Caleb Cole
My metabolism hit it. Thanks, mom and dad. They're here.

00;31;44;24 - 00;31;47;29
Caleb Cole
But that doesn't excuse it.

00;31;48;02 - 00;32;09;02
Caleb Cole
And that doesn't mean it wasn't still there under the surface, behind the scenes. It doesn't mean I didn't still wake up. And I felt inflammation in my body and my my joints ached, and I didn't feel healthy, and I wasn't consuming enough water and all these things, you see, it was meant to sustain us, but we've turned it into our God.

00;32;09;04 - 00;32;35;19
Caleb Cole
Every year I do a three day water only fast. And, I've asked people to do it with me. And every time I do, that's impossible. I've asked people to do one day water only. No way. I couldn't do that. Now, please consult your doctors. Okay, I'll just tell you that much. But biblically, we are called to fast and pray.

00;32;35;22 - 00;32;56;17
Caleb Cole
We talk about prayer a lot in the church, but we ain't talking about fasting. Or whether I'll fast social media. No, no, no, that's consecration. Fasting is always associated with food. We need to get in the practice of abstaining from food in our life, whether it be one day a week, maybe one meal a week, maybe a few days to start the year.

00;32;56;18 - 00;33;21;19
Caleb Cole
Why? Because what it does is it says I'm bringing my body into subjection so I can further focus on God. When I deny my flesh, I am able to then better take up my cross and follow him. And so my challenge to you is that you would implement a fast at some point in your life this year, and it could be as easy.

00;33;21;19 - 00;33;46;24
Caleb Cole
I'm going to see a fast one meal. I'm a fast lunch every Wednesday and come to the prayer room. I've done that for years. And giving that up and focusing on God. I can't tell you what it's done. Denying my flesh, how much I can. I feel closer to God. This is a biblical command. The keys will come back finally, sin is distorted.

00;33;46;24 - 00;33;58;24
Caleb Cole
The desire. You see, our physical bodies were given to honor God, but sin makes us indulge ourselves.

00;33;58;26 - 00;34;30;22
Caleb Cole
What does Romans 12 one say? It says to make your life present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable before God. I want my whole life to be something that honors him. I want what I do with this temple, this tent that he's given me to live in, to be something that honors him. We're about to baptizing.

00;34;30;22 - 00;34;52;21
Caleb Cole
We got one baptism. This service. We had, a couple. The last service for the first service every first Sunday of the of the month, we do baptism. So if you want to jump in March, whatever date that is, I think third or fourth, you can jump in, be baptized in water. But what is this? Well, this is a physical representation of what God has done internally in us.

00;34;52;24 - 00;35;14;01
Caleb Cole
It's something that Jesus himself did. He was baptized and he commanded commanded us to be baptized. So I want to challenge you because somebody like, I don't know where to start with honoring God with my body. You start with baptism. If you surrendered your heart to Jesus and you have not been baptized in water, you're living in disobedience to the word and to what?

00;35;14;01 - 00;35;18;07
Caleb Cole
Jesus command. I'm just telling you what Jesus said.

00;35;18;10 - 00;35;39;19
Caleb Cole
So my challenge you. I've given God my heart. I put my faith in him. Take the next step. But Caleb, I'm not ready. Like I need to get more righteous and holy. No, no, that's the point. You're unrighteous, separated by sin. But Jesus took your place. And now, in obedience, I do what he asks of me. Not because I'm ready.

00;35;39;22 - 00;36;11;19
Caleb Cole
Because I'm holy enough, pure enough. No, we are in the process of sanctification. That's the process of being made holy. I do it just as I am, knowing that even this act of obedience sanctifies me further and enables me to follow him greater. Every step of obedience strengthens your connection to the Holy Spirit in God and move you forward in your body, being something that honors the Lord.

00;36;11;21 - 00;36;49;21
Caleb Cole
In a culture that says, indulge yourself. Indulge yourself in sex. Indulge yourself in porn. Indulge yourself in food. Indulge yourself in alcohol. Indulge yourself in Vegas for the weekend. Indulge yourself in gambling. Indulge yourself. Young men, online sports betting. Stop it. Can I say that? Young man being tens of thousands of dollars in debt over something that was rigged for you to lose, the Bible clearly condemns.

00;36;49;23 - 00;37;01;22
Caleb Cole
You were meant to honor the Lord, not indulge your body. Honor the Lord with your body.

00;37;01;25 - 00;37;28;17
Caleb Cole
Why is it so important? Caleb, can I tell you why this is so important? Number one, longevity. Could you imagine the impact you could have on this earth? If you're here till you're 80, what about 90? I think about it all the time. My grandfather, he would not retire. He retired like, what, four times that he, like, retire.

00;37;28;17 - 00;37;47;15
Caleb Cole
And retire. He was a pastor his whole life. He retired from pastoring his church that he been in for 20 years. At 65. A couple of years later, he's out of retirement leading another church. I'm like, dude, you're 75 years old. Just go play golf. And he tell me, tell. I got more to give to the kingdom of God.

00;37;47;18 - 00;38;09;09
Caleb Cole
I got more to pour out. I'm not done yet. That's the example I had. That's what I want. I want to pour into my children, not just from when they're in junior high high school, but as young adults as they start their own families. I want to pour into my grandchildren. I want to be pouring into the kingdom of God, building the kingdom as long as I possibly can.

00;38;09;15 - 00;38;36;27
Caleb Cole
And when I'm healthy, I could be here for longer. Now, some things are outside of your control, but as far as it depends on me, as much as I can do, I'm to be here for as long as I can. Not only that, I want stamina. You see, longevity is different than stamina because I seen pastors pastor for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years.

00;38;37;01 - 00;38;58;20
Caleb Cole
But the last 20, they're a shell of their selves, the last 20, they're bitter and cynical and negative and angry and frustrated. And those last 20 years are fruitless. Why? Because the stamina is gone. Because too much has taken the life out of them. I want stamina, I want to be here a long time, but I want to do it well.

00;38;58;20 - 00;39;08;26
Caleb Cole
I want to do with joy. I want to do it with love. I want to do with service. The other reason is emotional resilience.

00;39;08;28 - 00;39;12;15
Unknown
Oh wait, how many you know right now.

00;39;12;19 - 00;39;39;00
Caleb Cole
You need some emotional resilience in your life, at your jobs, in this culture, politics. My goodness, you need some emotional resilience. Here's the problem. Most people in this culture are emotionally dysregulated, and it's why they act the way they act to respond, the way they respond. And they can't have any healthy discourse. They can't have a conversation with anyone who differs from them.

00;39;39;03 - 00;40;03;21
Caleb Cole
God's people are different. I'm healthy physically, which makes me healthy emotionally. I'm regulated emotionally, so when someone comes at me, I can still love them. I can disagree with them in kindness. I can still tell them that Jesus loves them. Listen, we turn people into our enemies when it's the spirits at work that are our enemies we were called to love.

00;40;03;21 - 00;40;16;27
Caleb Cole
I don't care if your left or right middle, I don't care. I'm called to love you. And if you don't know Jesus, I'm called to lead you and point you to him. Then I will shine bright.

00;40;16;29 - 00;40;28;17
Caleb Cole
But we're emotionally dysregulated, so we lash out. Our kids. We raise our voices over spilled milk.

00;40;28;19 - 00;40;34;00
Caleb Cole
I can't tell you how many times I had to repent for that.

00;40;34;03 - 00;40;54;28
Caleb Cole
We lash out our the spouse because we're not healthy emotionally and our identity isn't rooted in the right place. We lash out at our coworkers because there's something inside of us that's broken. And I'm telling you that the physical side plays a big part in this.

00;40;55;00 - 00;40;57;16
Caleb Cole
I.

00;40;57;18 - 00;41;11;22
Caleb Cole
Can't tell you how often I needed some vitamin D, a nap and a snack. Come on. And then I could love so much better.

00;41;11;25 - 00;41;16;12
Caleb Cole
I want us to glorify God with our bodies.

00;41;16;14 - 00;41;22;05
Caleb Cole
Not glorify the body as our God.

00;41;22;08 - 00;41;44;13
Caleb Cole
You see, this body is sacred. Your body is sacred. What do you mean, Caleb? It is the temple with which the Spirit of God chose to make his dwelling. Think about this. The God of the universe said, I'm going to go. When Jesus died, I'm going to ascend to heaven. It's better that I'm going because there's one that's come.

00;41;44;13 - 00;42;14;23
Caleb Cole
He's going to dwell within you. Your body is sacred. It houses the Spirit of God Himself. It houses the Holy Spirit. And when this is right, I can I can be a funnel of his glory in a greater way. This is why this is so important. This is why I care. And it's why I was nervous this morning because I didn't want this to come out wrong.

00;42;14;25 - 00;42;25;27
Caleb Cole
But I love you enough, and I have to be obedient to the Lord to say what he wants me to say and what I think we needed to hear today.

00;42;25;29 - 00;42;48;12
Caleb Cole
So my last question what rhythms do you have that help you to honor God with your body? What I want you to do is leave here and just do one thing. It doesn't have to be anything huge. Maybe it's, hey, I'm going to take a walk every day because honestly, I don't move my body. Maybe it's, hey, I'm on a fast one meal a week, one day a week.

00;42;48;15 - 00;43;00;04
Caleb Cole
Hey, I'm going to start making healthier choices. And what I eat, hey, I'm going to cut out the Sour Patch Kids. Caleb, I'm with you. I still have them every once in a while, by the way. You know?

00;43;00;06 - 00;43;04;04
Caleb Cole
Moderation.

00;43;04;07 - 00;43;38;27
Caleb Cole
But here's what I would say to you. The God of the universe sent his son Jesus, and he used his body. In a greater way than anyone ever had. Because his body became the sacrifice, the once and for all sacrifice, he allowed his body to be beaten and bruised and whipped, and a nail of nails of thorns. A crown of thorns was pressed into his head, and then his wrists and his feet were nailed to a cross.

00;43;38;29 - 00;44;07;02
Caleb Cole
His side was pierced by a by a spear. Blood ran out, and on this cross he cried out, father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And then he said, it is finished and died as a sacrifice for you, so that you could be saved. You could be right in your in health, brokenness, sin, mess, junk. You could be right and made right before God.

00;44;07;04 - 00;44;23;04
Caleb Cole
So with heads bowed and eyes closed, I just know there's someone here today that maybe you've been running from God. You've turned your back on God. You've never given your life to Jesus. Maybe you you knew him at one time, but you've been dabbling in all the wrong things, all the things of this world. But today, you're ready to come back into right relationship with Jesus.

00;44;23;04 - 00;44;46;11
Caleb Cole
You're ready to give your life to Jesus for the first time. If that's you, would you raise your hand? Say, ask me, Caleb, and you rededicate my life? I need to give my life. Yes. 123456789 ten. 11. 12. 13. Come on. Amazing. You can put your hands down. Pray this with me. Church. Say Jesus, today I confess my sin, my need for a Savior.

00;44;46;13 - 00;45;18;09
Caleb Cole
I admit my brokenness and I thank you that you died for me. You took my place, but you didn't stay dead today I acknowledge that you're alive and you sit at the right hand of the father. And I love you, Jesus. I pray all this in your name. Amen. Amen. Come on. Let's give God some praise for these that raise their hands.

00;45;18;12 - 00;45;32;04
Caleb Cole
Would you stand your feet? Can you can nobody move for just a minute? Let me stand. But move by standing. Don't move by going. My bad. Stand. Freeze! Don't move!

00;45;32;06 - 00;45;51;05
Caleb Cole
I want to pray over you that God will give you the one thing that you need to do to establish healthy rhythm. Lord, I just pray over your church right now before we go, Lord, that you would establish in us healthy rhythms that we would honor you with our bodies. You've given it to us this tent, this temple, and we want it to bring you glory.

00;45;51;07 - 00;46;10;00
Caleb Cole
So Lord, help us to implement some changes this week. Maybe it's small, maybe it's big. Maybe it's one thing. Maybe it's a few things. But Lord, we want to honor you. So, God, speak to our hearts and may we walk out of this place saying, thank you, God, for the body you've given me. I'm going to bring you greater glory with it moving forward.

00;46;10;05 - 00;46;28;26
Caleb Cole
Lord, bless your church. Encourage them, and may they leave here in faith like never before. In your name, Jesus, Amen and amen. Hey love you church. Would you meet us out on the porch and let's do a baptism and celebrate with this individual. It's giving their life to Jesus and taking this next step. Hey, have a great Sunday.

00;46;29;01 - 00;46;36;01
Caleb Cole
We'll see you out there.

00;46;36;04 - 00;46;39;13
Chrissy Cole
Thank you for being a part of our online community here at Project Church.

00;46;39;14 - 00;46;42;25
Chrissy Cole
We hope that this message and the whole service bless your life.

00;46;42;28 - 00;46;59;03
Caleb Cole
Yeah. And if it did, we want to ask that you would do something for us. First of all, if you're not already subscribed to our YouTube channel, be sure to subscribe. Like this video. But also, we would ask that you would consider financially supporting what God is doing through Project Church. You can give in a variety of ways.

00;46;59;06 - 00;47;14;14
Caleb Cole
You can text project to 97,000. Right now. You can give to our Church Center app, or you can give on our website project church.com/give. Thanks so much for being a part of our online community. And once again God bless you guys. We'll see you soon.