1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,680 What up crossing family, It is so good to be with you. 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,000 I want to welcome all of our different locations, those of 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,680 you watching online and those of you who are a part of our inside 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,800 family. We are so excited about enjoying 5 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,160 this Christmas season with you and as we get ready for 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,440 Christmas, there are four things that I would love for you to 7 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:26,040 deeply consider. The first one is who are you 8 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,040 going to bring to our Christmas services? 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,240 Our Christmas Eve experiences are our second largest attended 10 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,160 services for the entire year. Now, statistics or survey show 11 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:42,560 that nearly half of Americans don't attend church at 12 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,520 Christmas. And if we're going to try to 13 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,560 make this the hardest place on planet earth to get the hell 14 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:48,680 from, we got to do something about it. 15 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:55,840 The good news is surveys also show that 80% of non churchgoers 16 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,000 would go if they were invited by a friend. 17 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,879 So this is just simple math. If 80% of the people that you 18 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:06,760 invite will say yes. To make sure that you're going 19 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,680 to bring someone to Christmas Eve services this year, you need 20 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,600 to invite at least two people and there's a chance that they 21 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,040 will come, they will hear the gospel message and they could 22 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,880 start a spiritual journey. We're going to have 42 physical 23 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,360 services at our different locations and I guarantee that 24 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,240 there is one time slot that will work for you. 25 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,920 Now to get more about our service times, you can leverage 26 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,280 the QR code on the seat in front of you or if you want, you can 27 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:38,080 go to thecrossing.net/christmas and it'll give you some insight 28 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,200 into what which campus, which service is going to be the best 29 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,440 one for you and your family and your squad and the people you're 30 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,280 inviting to attend. The second question that I'd 31 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,720 love for you to deeply consider is how are you going to serve 32 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,240 during this Christmas season? I know that it is a crazy busy 33 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,160 time and you're trying to pull off not just all the services 34 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,520 but things with your family. But hear me, as a church, we 35 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,040 simply cannot do it without you. I would love it if you would 36 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:06,960 raise your hand at your campus to the team that works there and 37 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,600 say, put me in coach. I'm here to help and you can 38 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,800 help in 1000 ways. You can help by where you park. 39 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,880 You can help by which service you attend. 40 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,240 Like you might be looking at some of those service times and 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,680 go on that no one's going to come to that service time, and 42 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,200 that might be your sign from God that that's the one that you're 43 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,440 supposed to go to so that there's room for other people 44 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,760 with the other ones. How you greet people, being a 45 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,480 smiling Christian is a big deal. Everything that you do to reach 46 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,400 people is going to be important over this Christmas season 47 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,520 because we want to take as much ground for the Kingdom as we 48 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,240 possibly can. Third thing I would love for you 49 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:45,120 to deeply consider, how will you focus your family on the real 50 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,880 reason for the season? In the middle of all the 51 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,560 presents and all the shopping and in the middle of all the 52 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,000 Christmas parties, there will be a temptation for this season to 53 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,040 get away from us. So here's what I'm doing. 54 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,160 And a lot of the other high leaders at our church, we are 55 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,920 going to be dedicating 30 to 45 minutes a week to spend time 56 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:10,400 with our families focusing on Jesus and the true power of 57 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,080 Christmas. And we built out a great way for 58 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,400 you to go on the spiritual journey this Christmas season 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,520 through a Christmas Discovery Bible study. 60 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,960 And no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you can 61 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,760 lead a Discovery Bible study. I want to talk specifically to 62 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:34,400 the men, fellas. I would love it if your big step 63 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,160 of faith is to make the commitment to say, you know 64 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,800 what, once a week for the next four or five weeks, I'm going to 65 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,800 spend time with my family opening the word of God and 66 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,320 letting him do what only he can do. 67 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,360 And you're going to want a little bit of help with that. 68 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,320 We've got all the help set aside for you. 69 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,600 All you have to do, click on the QR code in front of you and sign 70 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,720 up and we will send you more information. 71 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:02,840 I'm hoping that 250 men or 250 families in our church will go 72 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:07,080 on this journey with us. Last thing #4 how will you 73 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,880 participate in our In Your Corner Year End Giving? 74 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,200 Every year here at our church, we give people who are committed 75 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,440 to the vision and the mission of the crossing to partner 76 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,000 financially through Year end giving. 77 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,360 And this year we have two big goals with our year end giving. 78 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,240 The first one is we want to complete the funding for the new 79 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,160 multi site project that we're undertaking. 80 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,360 This undertaking will benefit all of our locations and it is 81 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,280 going to position us to digitally reach kids and our 82 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:34,800 grandkids through the production house that will be in the 83 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,720 basement. Additionally, over time it is 84 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,760 going to save us money and create greater efficiency and 85 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,400 effectiveness for both our multi site staff and our 48th St. 86 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,760 staff here in Quincy. We have already raised and set 87 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,480 aside over 80% necessary to complete the project and this 88 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,880 project's going to be going on for the next 18 months. 89 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:56,800 So over the next 18 months, we would love to have you jump in 90 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,440 and help us jump start the completion of the project with a 91 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,720 year end gift. But in addition to that, we 92 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,560 decided that we want to bless all of our mission partners. 93 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,400 So we sent an e-mail out the kind of e-mail that every 94 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:09,960 mission partner likes to receive. 95 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,120 This is what the e-mail said. We would love to fund all of 96 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,120 your capital projects. And so would you list all the 97 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,680 capital projects that you have that would Fast forward your 98 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:21,920 ministry effectiveness in your part of the world. 99 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,840 And our goal is to say yes to every single one of their major 100 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:28,880 initiatives over the next 18 months. 101 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,840 And we're going to be able to do that through your generosity. 102 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,160 Now there might be some of you. Well, this will be your first 103 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,680 time giving awesome others of you. 104 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,480 This might be the first time you give in addition to your regular 105 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,040 giving fantastic others of you might join Jennifer and I and 106 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,560 try to make this upcoming year the greatest year in the area of 107 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,560 generosity for you. No matter what you do, I believe 108 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,800 that if we all do something, we could be a part of something 109 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,760 very, very special. With that being said, I am 110 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,400 excited to introduce you to our brand new sermon series. 111 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,360 We've been in First Corinthians for 17 weeks and can I just say 112 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,400 something to all the people on our team who helped to make the 113 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,800 First Corinthian Series A reality from putting stuff 114 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,320 together from the book, from all the content, the DeVos, would 115 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,240 you guys just give them a huge round of applause? 116 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,120 I, I loved it. I if you hated it, I'm sorry 117 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,000 because I absolutely loved it. I, I told there's a guy named 118 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,600 Walt who used to work at multiple of different of our 119 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,960 locations. He's now semi retired and lives 120 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,920 in southern Missouri. Walt wrote every single one of 121 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,520 those DeVos. He wrote all of the content 122 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,360 inside of that book. And when I when he was done, 123 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,240 when I was done with it, I was like, there is not a book of the 124 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,920 Bible that I know better now than first Corinthians. 125 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,520 And so I'm goes going on the journey with you and I was just 126 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,520 so thankful for that. But today we're launching 127 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,680 through a series that's going to take us all the way past 128 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,520 Christmas. And this series is called 129 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,480 Behold. What happens when you claim the 130 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,840 promises of God? The word behold means look, turn 131 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,680 to your neighbor and say, behold, turn to your other 132 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,440 neighbor and say, I meant look. All right, ladies, just ladies, 133 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,800 come here, Come here ready. I want you to say look or behold 134 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:22,800 in just a second, but I want you to say behold. 135 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,840 Like you're in the car with your husband and you see a deer and 136 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,760 you're convinced he doesn't. OK, ladies, 123. 137 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,400 Yeah, OK. That's what the Bible's doing. 138 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,720 The Bible's going. Hey now, sometimes when you are 139 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,280 listening to Christmas carols or Christmas songs as you're 140 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,080 shopping, you'll hear A Christmas Carol with the word 141 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,000 low in it. LO, guess what that word means 142 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,960 means Behold. It means look. 143 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,240 We say look when we see a shooting star in the night sky. 144 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,000 We say look when a baby begins to take their first steps. 145 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:59,840 We say look when we know that there is something meaningful 146 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,120 and we would hate for you to miss it. 147 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,960 That is why I am so excited about the sermon series, because 148 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,760 here at the Crossing we believe that there are tremendous 149 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,840 promises in the Word of God for you that we would hate for you 150 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,760 to miss. But in order for you to get it, 151 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:25,840 we got to go back in time. Like way, way, way back in time, 152 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:32,159 all the way to the beginning of time to the book of Genesis. 153 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:36,039 In Genesis, God speaks the world into existence. 154 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:40,120 He creates Adam and Eve, and a couple generations later he 155 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,520 comes across and he's, when he's talking to Adam and Eve, he 156 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,600 makes a promise to them. Here's the promise that he makes 157 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:52,200 that one of their descendants would crush the head of Satan. 158 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:57,880 Later on, God makes a a promise to an old man named Abram and 159 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:02,480 his wife named Sarai, who were barren people, they had no 160 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:08,280 children, that their descendants would become a great nation. 161 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,720 God changed Abraham's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to 162 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,560 Sarah. And God also promised that 163 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:21,840 through their offspring all nations would be blessed. 164 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,760 They had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. 165 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,080 God told Jacob that all the people of the earth would be 166 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:37,600 blessed through his offspring. God changed his name from Jacob 167 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:43,840 to Israel, as in that Israel. After this Jacob's son Joseph is 168 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:49,000 sold into slavery in Egypt. Eventually the the Israelites, 169 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,000 the descendants of Jacob Israel, eventually end up in slavery in 170 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,920 Egypt and Moses shows up and leads the people out of slavery 171 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,560 and then Joshua shows up and leads them into the promised 172 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:04,520 Land. Where's this promised land, 173 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:06,480 Israel. Israel. 174 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:10,960 That Israel once in the promised land, you have made your way 175 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,520 through the 1st 5 books of the Bible, actually 6. 176 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,800 You've been through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 177 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,960 Deuteronomy, and the book of Joshua. 178 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:24,000 And then you come to the book of Judges and the key line in the 179 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:29,200 book of Judges is found in the 21st chapter, the 25th verse. 180 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:35,560 It reads like this. In those days Israel had no 181 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,040 king. Because Israel had no king, 182 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:45,280 everyone did as they saw fit. So what did God do? 183 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,680 God would raise up judges, leaders who would serve the 184 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:53,840 people of Israel and deliver them from their enemies, and he 185 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:58,400 would guide them back to God. But eventually the people began 186 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:05,280 to cry out for a ruler, a king. So then you find yourself, if 187 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,120 you're reading your Bible in First and Second Samuel, 1st and 188 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,160 2nd Kings, and 1st and Second Chronicles. 189 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,600 Here we are introduced to the very first king of Israel. 190 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:19,960 His name is Saul. Saul is eventually replaced 191 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,840 because he is unwilling to do what God has called him to do. 192 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,320 And a new king ascends to the throne. 193 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,520 This new king who ascends to the throne, His name is David. 194 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,160 You know, the one who killed Goliath. 195 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,080 David has a son named Solomon. Eventually, David dies. 196 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,480 Solomon steps in to rule. Solomon's the one who wrote most 197 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,240 of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. 198 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,720 If you're in your Old Testament, after King Solomon, the Kingdom 199 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,920 of Israel divides. There's a northern Kingdom and a 200 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,800 southern Kingdom. This is technically like what 201 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,280 would have happened in during the civil war if the South had 202 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,440 won. We would have become a divided 203 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,360 nation. And in both the northern Kingdom 204 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,040 and the southern Kingdom, there were good kings and there were 205 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,280 bad kings. And when there was a good king, 206 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:18,160 the people would prosper. And when there was a bad king, 207 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:23,400 the people would turn from God and suffer because of it. 208 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:30,040 It is during this time that God starts to use prophets to come 209 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:35,600 and would call out to the people and call out to the kings for 210 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:40,120 them to return to God. And sometimes the people would 211 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,000 listen and sometimes they would not. 212 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,080 If you were reading your Old Testament and you were to look 213 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,440 to the table of contents at all the different books, all the 214 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,840 names that you can't pronounce, those are the prophets of the 215 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:53,600 northern and southern Kingdom. And they were the ones who were 216 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,760 showing up and trying with everything in their power to get 217 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,440 people to return to God. And by the time the Old 218 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,840 Testament ends, the people have lost their homelands. 219 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:11,040 They've been taken captive. Some of them have been allowed 220 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,600 to return, but they are no longer in control. 221 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,320 They're living in their neighborhood, but their 222 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,160 neighborhood is under foreign occupation. 223 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:26,680 So the cry at the end of the Old Testament is for the promised 224 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:35,520 king to come to sit on the throne of David and to rule a 225 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:41,000 king who would set things right. And from the time you read the 226 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,880 last word in the Old Testament in Malachi until you read the 227 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:53,440 first word in the New Testament, there is 400 years of silence. 228 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,920 To put that in perspective, next year on July 4th, as a country, 229 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:04,800 we will celebrate 250 years of independence from tea drinkers. 230 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:13,200 That's 250. For 400 years there was silence. 231 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:20,920 The problem at the end of the Old Testament were five fold. 232 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:27,640 When will we be delivered from our oppression we need saved? 233 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:33,760 When will the promises to Abraham and Jacob finally be 234 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:39,400 fulfilled and the offspring show up who will bless every nation? 235 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:46,120 When will we finally have a word from God again? 236 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:53,200 When will we finally get a good king who will sit on the throne 237 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:59,520 and rule? And how long will his Kingdom 238 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,640 last? Because when you had a good 239 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:08,320 king, the Kingdom was fine, but when he died or lost his place, 240 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,640 the people fell away. They needed a king who would 241 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:18,400 last forever. Then in Luke chapter one verse 242 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:24,480 11, an Angel of God breaks into the 400 years of silence. 243 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:29,120 He appears to a priest named Zechariah and he tells him that 244 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,720 he and his wife, although they are old and childless, that they 245 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,680 will give birth to a son. They are to give him the name 246 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:42,080 John. We will come to know him as John 247 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,600 the Baptist and the call on John the Baptist's life, this would 248 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,480 be a great life. First for some of you is to make 249 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:55,480 ready a people prepared for the Lord, to get people's hearts 250 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,320 ready for an encounter with the Lord. 251 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:06,960 Then 11 verses and six months later an Angel shows up and this 252 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,680 time it speaks to a virgin girl named Mary engaged to a 253 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,920 Carpenter named Joseph. And the Angel has this to say. 254 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:21,520 Luke chapter 131 through 33. You will conceive and give birth 255 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:26,600 to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 256 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:31,920 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 257 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:38,800 The Lord God will give him the throne of David, and he will 258 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,040 reign over Jacob's descendants forever. 259 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:49,040 His Kingdom will never end. Remember the five problems at 260 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,160 the end of the Old Testament. We need a Savior. 261 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:57,440 You will call him Jesus, which means God is salvation or the 262 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,600 Lord saves. What kind of king is he going to 263 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:02,960 be? He's going to be Son of the Most 264 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,280 High, possessing the nature of God. 265 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,200 Hebrews chapter one verse 3 says Jesus is the radiance of God's 266 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,000 glory, the exact representation of his being. 267 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,079 And what's he coming to do? He is coming to sit on the 268 00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:20,960 throne of David. The one you've been waiting for 269 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:25,119 has arrived. He will be the promised blessing 270 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:30,320 of the offspring of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all nations 271 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:35,080 will be blessed through him. And how long will his Kingdom 272 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,360 last? His Kingdom will not end. 273 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:48,720 And all of this seems great, except for one gigantic, messy 274 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:55,600 problem. The throne that this king was 275 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,240 going to sit on was not the throne that they were willing to 276 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:04,600 give. They wanted a king to overthrow 277 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,720 their Roman oppressors and reestablish the nation of 278 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,800 Israel. They wanted an earthly king to 279 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:18,000 sit on an earthly throne and reign over an earthly Kingdom, 280 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:25,880 but that throne was too small because Jesus came to sit on the 281 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,840 throne of hearts for a heavenly Kingdom. 282 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,400 You see, His Kingdom is beyond governments and beyond countries 283 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,680 and beyond borders. For it is through the human 284 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,240 heart that he transforms every government, every country, and 285 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:48,080 crosses every border. And it's so easy when you're 286 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,560 watching this unfold in the text and through human history to 287 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,000 look at them and go, how dumb can you be? 288 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:01,800 But we got to be careful because we make the exact same mistake. 289 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:05,880 Be careful because this might hurt for a bit. 290 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:08,920 We do the same thing that they do. 291 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,560 We have no problem with Jesus sitting on a throne as long as 292 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,160 it's the throne of our choosing. For instance, we will let Jesus 293 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,240 be the king of our problems. Everybody does that. 294 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,360 That's why half of us pray. We got a problem, Jesus. 295 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:28,560 You're in charge of it now. But we don't want him to sit on 296 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,680 the throne of our successes. We'll let Jesus be the king of 297 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:34,840 our trials, just not our victories. 298 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:37,800 We'll let Jesus be the king of our poverty, just not our 299 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,200 riches. We'll let Jesus be the King of 300 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,560 our Sunday, but just leave me alone on Monday, Tuesday, 301 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,840 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 302 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,200 You can sit on the throne of my prayer life, Jesus. 303 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,160 You just can't have the throne of my real life, Jesus. 304 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:56,560 You can have the throne of my sickness, you just can't have 305 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,600 the throne of my health. You can sit on the throne of my 306 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,600 joblessness, but you can't sit on the throne of my finances. 307 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,920 You can sit on the throne of my marriage problems, but you can't 308 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,960 sit on the throne on how I act in my marriage. 309 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,880 In short, if you and I are not very very careful. 310 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,400 We can make Jesus the king of the situations that we got 311 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:23,600 ourselves into, but not make him the Lord and ruler of our lives. 312 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,080 We want him to be the savior of our sins, just not the Lord of 313 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,960 our lives. We want him to save us, we just 314 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:35,720 don't want him to rule over us. But that's the problem with 315 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:41,400 kings. Kings come to rule. 316 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,320 We see this in other ways. This one is a little bit more 317 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,080 innocent, but it's equally as dangerous. 318 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,880 People will choose to not necessarily see Jesus as the 319 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,520 savior of their sins. I don't need saved. 320 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,120 And they'll say he's not the Lord of their lives because they 321 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,960 don't want a ruler. But they will at least 322 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,880 acknowledge that he's a really good teacher. 323 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,520 There's something about his teachings that are at least good 324 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,360 and profound that are worth pondering. 325 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,760 Skeptics all across the spectrum will have to acknowledge that 326 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,320 Jesus was, at the very, very least, a great teacher. 327 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,680 Some would say one of the greatest teachers of all. 328 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:31,160 I would say, of course he's the greatest teacher of all. 329 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:34,840 He's the Son of God. However, I need to remind you, 330 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,640 Jesus did not come just to teach. 331 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,720 He came to save and he came to rule. 332 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,760 And if you reduce Jesus to just a teacher, if you're saying no 333 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,800 to making him the Savior of your life and no to him being the 334 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,440 Lord over your life, you are reduced to at best, making him a 335 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,680 teacher. But the problem with teachers is 336 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,720 teachers can be changed out. Teachers can be disagreed with, 337 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,880 teachers can be ignored. But not kings. 338 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,520 Kings are to be obeyed, Lords are to be followed. 339 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,280 What happens if you make Jesus your teacher is we implement the 340 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:19,440 teachings of Jesus that we agree with and we pass over the 341 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,080 teachings of Jesus that are too hard for us. 342 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:30,920 That's why Jesus makes obedience one of the marks of his 343 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,080 followers. We are to be more than just 344 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,360 hearers of the great teaching. We are to be followers of the 345 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:43,280 teaching because the teaching comes from our King and King's 346 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,920 rule. Which means that you and I are 347 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,880 under obligation through the power of the Holy Spirit to obey 348 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,360 the teachings of God that are hard and uncomfortable. 349 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,920 And to the people, maybe some of you are here at one of our 350 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:05,320 locations who have accidentally or intentionally limited to 351 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:09,600 Jesus to merely a teacher. Can I tell you a cautionary 352 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,960 tale? In Matthew chapter 26, verses 20 353 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:18,600 through 22, Jesus is having his final meal with his disciples. 354 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,280 And in verse 20 the story picks up. 355 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,200 When the evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the 356 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:31,200 12 and while they were eating he said, Truly I tell you, one of 357 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:39,400 you will betray me. And they were very sad and began 358 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:46,680 to say to him, one after the other, Surely you don't mean me, 359 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:55,240 Lord. One by one each person went, 360 00:23:55,240 --> 00:24:01,840 Surely you don't mean me, Lord? Surely you don't mean me Lord. 361 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:09,440 Surely you don't mean me, Lord. 11 times they went, Surely you 362 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,240 don't mean me Lord. They're acknowledging that he's 363 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,800 the king and the ruler over their lives. 364 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:22,720 And the 11 people who called him Lord went on to spend the rest 365 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,560 of their lives advancing the Kingdom of King Jesus. 366 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,960 And the fact that you are in this room or wherever you are 367 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,440 gathered at hearing about the name of Jesus can be traced all 368 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:40,200 the way back to those 11 dudes who said, surely you don't mean 369 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:46,040 me, Lord. But if you keep reading and 370 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:54,280 verse 25, look what it has to say, then Judas, the one who 371 00:24:54,280 --> 00:25:01,200 would betray him, said, surely you don't mean me, Rabbi. 372 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,320 Do you know what the word for rabbi is? 373 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:12,120 It's teacher. If you're picking A-Team to be 374 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:16,920 on, the people who called him Lord went on to change the 375 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:21,440 world, and the people who call Jesus simply a good teacher went 376 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,800 on to betray him. Pick your team carefully. 377 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,320 The good news is that today you can make Jesus the Lord of your 378 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,960 life. You can acknowledge Him as King. 379 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,680 And that means that when he is your King, you are in His 380 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:41,280 Kingdom, which means that you are under his protection. 381 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:46,560 And hear me, I can testify to this truth, that He will supply 382 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,400 every single one of your needs. He will hear every single one of 383 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,360 your prayers. He is so close that He knows the 384 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:57,720 number of hairs on your head. And He is so close enough that 385 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,600 all you have to do is whisper His name and He is on His way. 386 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,840 When you are in the Kingdom of King Jesus and King Jesus is 387 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,480 your King, when you mention His name, demons flee. 388 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,000 And in the darkest of valleys, the Word promises that He will 389 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,760 be right by your side. You see, King Jesus is already 390 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,080 ruling. He is already victorious. 391 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,200 The question is whether or not you will be under his rule and 392 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,960 experience his victory. The question is whether or not 393 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:30,000 you will make him a your king. Today we're moving to a time of 394 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:37,720 decision. To those of you here or online 395 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,160 who have not yet started an intimate personal relationship 396 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,960 with Jesus Christ, I mean this. I have really good news for you. 397 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:50,560 You can actually experience something that happened in the 398 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,000 Old Testament and you can experience it today. 399 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,320 You see, when God showed up to Abraham and Sarai, when He was 400 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,400 done with them, He had changed their name to Abraham and Sarah. 401 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,520 When God showed up to Jacob, when he was done with Jacob, he 402 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,120 had changed His name from Jacob to Israel. 403 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,680 And guess what? You can get a new name today. 404 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:18,600 It can happen. Colossians chapter one verse 21 405 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:23,440 states that we were once alienated from God and were 406 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,640 enemies. However, through the saving 407 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:32,520 power of Jesus when we enter into His Kingdom and by making 408 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,120 Him the Lord and Savior of our lives, the Bible says that we 409 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:43,520 are given a new name. John chapter 15 says you are my 410 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,120 friends if you do what I command. 411 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:53,040 I have called you friends. In first John chapter 3 verse 412 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,160 one, it says see what great love the Father has lavished on us, 413 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:03,680 that we should be called children of God and that is what 414 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,680 we are. God made it possible for us to 415 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:13,000 have a change in status and with that change in status comes a 416 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,880 new name. We move from being alienated and 417 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,080 enemies to being called friends and children. 418 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,440 And that's a trade I'd make every single day. 419 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,320 That's a lottery ticket you don't have to scratch. 420 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,760 And you might be asking yourself, how good is King Jesus 421 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:31,960 if I'm going to surrender to his rule? 422 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,120 How good is this king? Let me show you how good this 423 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:39,800 king is. Romans chapter 5, verse 10 says 424 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:47,400 while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through 425 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:52,360 the death of His Son. God did not send His Son for His 426 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:59,880 friends, He sent His Son for His enemies so His enemies could 427 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:04,080 become His friends. And that is the offer that is 428 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,200 available for every single one of you today. 429 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,160 Hear me, God moved while you were still an enemy. 430 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,120 If you are thinking that you have to get your entire life 431 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,560 turned around before you can get right with God, you completely 432 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,120 misunderstand the necessity and the power of God. 433 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,520 When you were the enemy, He already moved and already made 434 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,400 the way. You can't fix you because if you 435 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,960 could fix you, He wouldn't have had to send Jesus in the 1st 436 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,760 place. We come to Him all messed up, 437 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:38,240 all busted up with all kinds of challenges, and He's the one who 438 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,480 makes us new. He moved on our behalf when we 439 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:46,280 hear His enemies. This good, good King is waiting 440 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:53,360 for you today and don't leave here until he is your king. 441 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:55,840 In just a few moments, the people around you are going to 442 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:57,240 stand and sing. Some of them are going to come 443 00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,440 to the steps and pray. And if you don't want to walk 444 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,400 over there next to that, underneath that screen, next to 445 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,120 the baptistery and talk to somebody, make sure you talk to 446 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:08,440 somebody before you leave today. To the rest of you in the room, 447 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:11,120 I got a couple of DeVos for you. To those of you who already have 448 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,760 a relationship with Jesus Christ, first one is what area 449 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,040 of your life is not under His control? 450 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,760 What area of your life have you said, listen, you can sit on all 451 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,160 of these Thrones, but you can't sit on this one? 452 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,600 I'll just give you my testimony. All the areas where God is 453 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,360 sitting are going well. All the areas where I have not 454 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,760 allowed Him to sit are where all of my problems are. 455 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,520 His rule is good and righteous and trustworthy and it's 456 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:42,480 verified. And so if there's an area of 457 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,160 your life where you've said no to King Jesus, I would tell you 458 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,120 God has given you a gift. You should open it. 459 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:52,360 The gift is repentance. Own what you have done, lay it 460 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,600 down, turn it over to Him, and walk away from it. 461 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,000 And there are others of you right now that you are just in 462 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:07,280 an incredibly dark season. It's painful, it's frustrating, 463 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,720 and to be honest with you, you're frustrated with God 464 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,880 because it feels like he is not coming through for you the way 465 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,000 that you thought he would come through for you. 466 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,960 And you would make a very good Jew in that. 467 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,400 Because you're going to 400 years of silence. 468 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:28,920 You're just, you're just leaving me here. 469 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,080 Leave me out to dry. You feel all alone. 470 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,880 You feel all isolated. You're going, God, I'm trying to 471 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:36,800 do stuff right. I know I haven't got it right 472 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,520 every time, but it feels like you are not coming through. 473 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,120 But the bottom line is, if you were to look at your life, you 474 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,800 would realize that you have been unfaithful over and over and 475 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,120 over and over and over and over again. 476 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,800 But God's faithfulness is not determined by our faithfulness. 477 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,040 So hear me, even though you and I have not been faithful in our 478 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:05,520 waiting on Jesus, He has been faithful in His coming. 479 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,600 While we've been unfaithful in the waiting, He was faithful in 480 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,640 the coming. First Peter chapter 3 verse 9 481 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:16,240 says the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some 482 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,880 understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, 483 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:25,560 not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to 484 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:30,320 repentance, crossing family. If you're in a season, don't you 485 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,800 dare lose hope, don't you dare walk away. 486 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:39,440 He is faithful. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 487 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,440 13 says even if we are faithless, He will remains 488 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,480 faithful. The problem in the equation is 489 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,280 never Him. It is always us, but He doesn't 490 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,920 let the problem of us keep Him from being who He is on our 491 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,160 behalf. And if that doesn't stir your 492 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:57,880 heart to joy, I don't know what will. 493 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,760 Would you stand with me? Heavenly Father, I'm so thankful 494 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,880 for this moment right here. And I'm believing that You're 495 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,640 going to do a mighty work in every heart that's willing to 496 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,880 surrender to your rule and to your kingship. 497 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,200 So God help us to break down the areas that we've walled off from 498 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,240 you. Help us to turn over the things 499 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,520 that we are afraid of turning over to you. 500 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,960 Be with us in this moment, God. I'm asking that you'd give us 501 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,600 each clarity on what it is that we're supposed to do, and give 502 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,400 us the willingness to do it. Your name I pray. 503 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:32,240 Amen.