1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,960 Take your Bibles, turn to the Gospel of Luke Chapter 7, Luke 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,280 Chapter 7. It's page 916. 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,600 If you're using one of the Bibles in the seat around you. 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:13,280 And if you are new and you don't have a Bible, we'd love to give 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,040 you a gift of a Bible. So please feel free to take that 6 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:21,760 one home with you. Well, we are in week 3 walking 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,720 through this next section of the book of Luke, where we're 8 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,400 walking through a series of stories that ultimately answer 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,800 the single most important question any human could ever 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,040 wrestle with. And that is, who exactly is 11 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,280 Jesus? Who is he besides a character in 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:40,960 a book that's a couple thousand years ago? 13 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:45,280 Who is he besides a baby that we celebrate at Christmas time? 14 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,200 Who really is this man named Jesus? 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:54,280 I, I think all of us recognize that in any relationship, there 16 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,640 are always layers to a relationship. 17 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,440 The, the things that you discover over time. 18 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,440 So you get to know someone when you first meet them, but the 19 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,640 longer you're in a relationship with someone, you have an 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,200 opportunity if you step into it to really get to know that 21 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,720 person more and more and more over time. 22 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,240 And so I know for some of you, as we are walking through this 23 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,240 story of who is Jesus, this is all brand new to you and it's 24 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,080 like you're meeting someone for the first time. 25 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,960 And for others of you, you have been a Christian for a very long 26 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:28,640 time. And you may be looking at this 27 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,200 and going, this is information I already know. 28 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,600 But I want to encourage you that this is an opportunity for you 29 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,400 to stretch yourself and to go a little bit deeper and think 30 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,360 about things about Jesus that you maybe haven't thought about 31 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,520 for a long time, or maybe it unpacks some layers of a 32 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:49,080 relationship with Jesus that are new to you in this point in your 33 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,280 Christian journey. Today we're going to talk about 34 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,960 a story of a man named John the Baptist. 35 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,840 And if you've been with us as we've journeyed through the book 36 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,960 of Luke, you'll remember John the Baptist is the cousin of 37 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,040 Jesus. He was the baby that was carried 38 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,960 by Elizabeth in the Christmas story that we looked at back in 39 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,760 December. He's also the one who baptized 40 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:18,280 Jesus back in Luke chapter 3. So John is incredibly well 41 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,800 acquainted with who Jesus is. But John himself was also quite 42 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,520 a preacher. He had built a large following 43 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,080 of his own disciples. But recently, John hit on some 44 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,440 really hard times in his life. Other parts of the Bible tell us 45 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,640 that by the time we get to Luke 7, John was in prison. 46 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:45,240 He was probably in a remote location, in a very dark, damp, 47 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:50,480 cold prison cell, isolated from many people, isolated from the 48 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,920 world. He'd been there because he put 49 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,480 there, But he was put there by Herod Antipus after he told 50 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,840 Herod that, hey, man, you are an immoral man. 51 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,760 And Herod said, I don't want anything to do with you. 52 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,600 Put him in jail. And John had been there perhaps 53 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,200 many months, maybe as much as a year by the time we get to this 54 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,360 passage. And from his prison cell, John 55 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,320 would have been very disconnected from the life of 56 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,360 Jesus. He would not know all the things 57 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,600 that Jesus was up to at that point in time. 58 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,360 All he has to go on is hearsay and what his own followers are 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,280 coming and telling him about Jesus. 60 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:32,920 And that's where we pick up the story in verse 18 of Luke 61 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:37,720 Chapter 7, verse 18. Then John's disciples told him 62 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,840 about all these things. So John summoned 2 of his 63 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,080 disciples and sent them to the Lord, asking, Are you the one 64 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,280 who is to come or should we expect someone else? 65 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,960 When the men reached him, they said, John the Baptist sent us 66 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,920 to ask you, are you the one who's to come or should we 67 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,120 expect someone else? At that time Jesus healed many 68 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,840 people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and he granted 69 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:09,120 sight to many blind people. John has this really important 70 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,600 question for Jesus. Are you really the Messiah that 71 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,480 we've been waiting for all these promises from the Old Testament 72 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,120 about a coming Messiah? Are you really the Messiah? 73 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,040 Or should we expect someone else to be the Messiah now? 74 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,480 I think John already had a knowledge that would have told 75 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,240 him. He knows the answer to this 76 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,680 question already. After all, when John baptized 77 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,440 Jesus, he said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins 78 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,440 of the world. He knew exactly who Jesus was. 79 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,160 But even though he knew the right answer, John still has 80 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:50,680 questions because his life is going through some experiences 81 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,320 that are leading him to go. I know what I think is right, 82 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:58,920 but my life doesn't add up to that right now. 83 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:04,000 And I've got questions. See, like most Jews, John would 84 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,200 have believed that the Messiah was coming to rescue people from 85 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,320 oppression. But John sitting here in this 86 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,800 personal experience where he's in a prison cell for an unjust 87 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,840 reason, and I think there's a rational reason that John would 88 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:27,280 be struggling with the emotion of how on earth are you the 89 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:30,440 Messiah who's supposed to come and rescue us from oppression? 90 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:34,280 And here I am sitting in a prison cell under Roman rule. 91 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,200 John was also a firestorm of a preacher back in Luke 3. 92 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,080 He preached that the Messiah was going to be someone who would 93 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,720 baptize people with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 94 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,560 This idea that the Messiah was going to be this conquering hero 95 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,040 who would come and clean house with all the mess in the world. 96 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:00,680 And now all he's hearing about are these stories of Jesus going 97 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,920 around showing mercy to people and healing them. 98 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:09,760 There's a disconnect for John and it's leading to questions. 99 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:16,400 You ever had those moments where you know a story, you've read it 100 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,640 in the Bible, maybe 100 * a promise of God, and then you're 101 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:25,520 walking through something in life and you go, God, are you 102 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:31,120 really there? Do you really care about that? 103 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,960 Like I know you say that you never leave me or forsake me, 104 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,920 but right now, God, it doesn't feel like you're all that close 105 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,480 to me. I've got questions. 106 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:45,320 God, have you ever felt those kinds of questions where you go? 107 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,320 How in the world is this happening? 108 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,720 Why in the world is this happening? 109 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,000 God are Are you sure that you're all powerful like you say you 110 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,480 are? How did you not know this was 111 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:03,560 coming? Sometimes even if you know all 112 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,680 the right answers, even if you've been a Christian your 113 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,600 entire life and you know all the right answers of the promises of 114 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:17,400 God, you can still have questions and doubts because not 115 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,960 everything in life is going to make sense. 116 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,600 But the life of Jesus teaches us that God's promises are not tied 117 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,520 to our feelings. God's promises are not tied to 118 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,960 our expectations of how we think God should respond in any given 119 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,040 moment. The promises of God are tied 120 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:43,600 directly to his character, that He is a God who always follows 121 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,320 through on what he says He is going to do. 122 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,960 No matter what you or I see in front of us in the moment, the 123 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,440 the challenge that we face as humans is that there's usually 124 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,440 more to the story of Jesus than we're willing to acknowledge. 125 00:08:05,940 --> 00:08:07,980 I'm going to come back to verse 22 for a second. 126 00:08:12,220 --> 00:08:16,260 When life raises questions, Jesus is going to anchor you in 127 00:08:16,260 --> 00:08:18,460 all of God's promises. Look at verse 22. 128 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:21,600 He replied to them. Go and report to John what 129 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,800 you've seen and heard. The blind received their sight, 130 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,240 the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf 131 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:32,039 hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. 132 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,520 I love the response that Jesus has to John's questions. 133 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,720 Jesus doesn't go on some long lecture to say, hey, let me show 134 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,520 you and prove to you that I am who I say I am. 135 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:48,280 Jesus doesn't go on some thesis to say, let me show you all the 136 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,040 ways that I live up to the Old Testament prophecies. 137 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,400 He just goes and does what the Messiah would do. 138 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,680 He he lets his actions do all the talking and through his 139 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:04,080 actions, what Jesus is saying is, yes, I am the Messiah. 140 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,040 So if you're here today and you're struggling with questions 141 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,360 about life and God, I get it. And, and I'm thrilled that 142 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,640 you're here today that you can feel that you can ask those 143 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,920 questions. It's OK to vocalize your 144 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,360 questions, but I want you to know Jesus will always answer 145 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,360 your questions with saying, look to me, He's not always going to 146 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,240 answer your questions by fixing the problem immediately in front 147 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:29,440 of you. What he's going to answer your 148 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,760 questions with his look at me. See me? 149 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:35,680 He doesn't get angry at your questions. 150 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,880 What He's going to do is He's going to simply show you who He 151 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,520 is and why. It means you can trust God to 152 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:45,640 keep all of His promises. Now, I know that for some of you 153 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,480 that can feel like hollow words because right now you're really 154 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,080 going through it. You're wondering if God's ever 155 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:52,720 going to show up and change anything. 156 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,640 In these verses that we're about to read, Jesus is going to start 157 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,080 to describe the importance of John the Baptist. 158 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,880 He's going to describe all the oh man, my computer is acting 159 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:10,280 up. The life of Jesus teaches us 160 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,160 that God's promises are not tied to your feelings. 161 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,080 But the challenge we face as humans is that there's usually 162 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,320 more to the story of Jesus than we're willing to acknowledge. 163 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:28,160 Look at verse 23. Blessed is the one who isn't 164 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,720 offended by me. Jesus will always do what God 165 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:41,000 wants, not always what we want. See Jesus says here, blessed are 166 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,320 you if you don't get offended by me, which means this sometimes 167 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:50,600 Jesus is going to offend you. This is the hard part for us. 168 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,520 Jesus is not going to always operate the way that you want or 169 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,440 you expect him to operate. All, all of us we we've got 170 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,400 preconceived ideas of who Jesus is and what he should be doing 171 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,080 in any moment. We live in this moment, but 172 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,160 Jesus doesn't respond just to the moment. 173 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:13,760 Jesus sees a whole story. So what are you going to do when 174 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,360 Jesus is not what you hoped for or expected? 175 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:21,160 What are you going to do when He doesn't do the things you want 176 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,840 Him to do? What are you going to do when He 177 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,520 doesn't teach the things you think he should be teaching? 178 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,960 What are you going to do when he doesn't fulfill God's promises 179 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,520 when or how you think they should be fulfilled? 180 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:40,400 I don't know how many of you have ever met a hero before, but 181 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,960 you know the old saying, don't ever meet your heroes because 182 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,080 they're just going to let you down, right? 183 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:46,280 You're probably going to be disappointed. 184 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:48,600 I've lived that. I've met people that I've looked 185 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,640 at as being spiritual heroes in life. 186 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,600 And I can't begin to tell you how many times I discovered 187 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:00,080 things about these people that changed the way I saw I thought 188 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,920 of them before I had met them. Things that that surprised me 189 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,840 and not always in a good way. And I got to be honest with you, 190 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:11,560 sometimes when you journey with Jesus, there may be times where 191 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:17,440 you're going to feel this way. Like Jesus, I experienced your 192 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,000 love for me over here. But but when you're saying these 193 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,840 other things to me, it feels a little harsh right now. 194 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:28,800 It doesn't feel like you love me Jesus. 195 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,640 This made sense, but this part confuses me. 196 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,560 And that's the reality John the Baptist is facing. 197 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,280 He's expecting a Messiah who's going to shake things up with 198 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,840 his fiery preaching, and he said he's getting a guy who just 199 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:46,720 wants to love people and show mercy to them. 200 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,480 John's picking up on passages from the Old Testament, like 201 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:57,280 Psalm 2, that said the Messiah would one day break the nation's 202 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:02,960 with an iron scepter. And while that's true, that's 203 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,120 only part of the picture of what the Messiah was going to be like 204 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,760 from the Old Testament. John missed out on passages that 205 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,040 said he would lead the deaf to hear, in the blind to see. 206 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,480 God promises that the Messiah would be both because both are 207 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,160 what we need. We need someone who is going to 208 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,920 look at the problem of sin and suffering in this world, who 209 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,640 would come and be the conquering king who breaks the power of all 210 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,520 sin. But we also need someone who 211 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,680 sees us in our pain and in our suffering, and he shows up with 212 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:40,360 humility and grace to heal because we all need mercy. 213 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:47,200 If Jesus is only who you and I want him to be, then we become 214 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,640 guilty of making Jesus in our own image. 215 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,560 If Jesus is only who you want him to be, then we miss out on 216 00:13:55,560 --> 00:14:00,200 seeing the fullness of God's promises because we are only 217 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,760 looking for certain things. And God's got so much more to 218 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:04,920 the story that he wants to reveal to us. 219 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,480 I'm going to build this out for you a little bit more because I 220 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,280 think we can all have blind spots when it comes to seeing 221 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,640 the fullness of who Jesus is. And there's a couple places in 222 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,560 particular where I see this showing up today that show up 223 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:20,200 here in this passage of Scripture. 224 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,680 Let's continue reading. In verse 24, After John's 225 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,720 messengers left, he began to speak to the crowds about John. 226 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:30,840 What did you go out into the wilderness to see? 227 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,680 A Reed swaying in the wind. What then? 228 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,160 Did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? 229 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,920 See, those who are splendidly dressed and live in luxury are 230 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:43,160 in royal palaces. What then? 231 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,720 Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you. 232 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,920 And more than a prophet, this is the one about whom it is 233 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:52,960 written. See, I am sending my messenger 234 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,520 ahead of you. He will prepare your way before 235 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,880 you. I tell you, among those born of 236 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:02,640 women, no one is greater than John, but the least in the 237 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,320 Kingdom of God is greater than he. 238 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,360 Jesus starts here to describe the importance of John the 239 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,440 Baptist. And he describes this paints 240 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,560 this picture of all these people, this these crowds of 241 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,080 people who would come to hear John the Baptist preach. 242 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,240 And, and the reason why they're coming to hear him preach is 243 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:28,720 because they're looking for a prophet. 244 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,480 They're they're, they're looking for someone who's going to tell 245 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:33,840 them a different story than the one that they're living in, in 246 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,960 the moment. And Jesus says John deserves 247 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,880 incredible praise. He even goes as far as to call 248 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,160 John the greatest human who had ever been born. 249 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,400 That is high praise to give to anyone. 250 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,920 But then he says this, yeah, John is great, but in the 251 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:56,080 Kingdom of God, he's nothing compared to the least of these. 252 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:00,320 His his entire point is John's entire role is to point to 253 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:03,160 Jesus. And the first blind spot that 254 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:07,920 you and I can face to how we view Jesus is our own opinions 255 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,640 or algorithms. Because when you're wrestling 256 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:16,520 with questions of what God is doing, it's very normal for us 257 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,840 to have an opinion of what we think God should be doing. 258 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:23,880 When you're wrestling with questions because you're facing 259 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,760 a difficult situation, you go, God, you really should be doing 260 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,040 it this way. And we have an opinion on that. 261 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,760 And sometimes that opinion is even based on things in the 262 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,640 Bible. God, you said you would do this, 263 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,400 but he doesn't always do it that way. 264 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,240 The people go to hear John preach because they're looking 265 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,280 for a different message than what was coming out of the Roman 266 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,920 government. Jesus says you didn't go into 267 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,120 the wilderness to listen to a political leader do a political 268 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,840 speech. You went to see a prophet. 269 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,320 You had a hunger for a different story. 270 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,200 And because they already had an opinion and a hunger for a 271 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,440 different story, they respond to John's call for repentance 272 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,160 because they knew they wanted a Savior to rescue them. 273 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,880 They already knew what they wanted, and they went to hear 274 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:15,880 someone say what they wanted to hear. 275 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:17,960 But John was never the point of the story. 276 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:20,640 John was meant to point people to Jesus. 277 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:25,440 He is the story. One of the realities in our 278 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:30,440 current culture is that each of us can have our own ideas of 279 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,400 what is wrong or what should be done right. 280 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,520 And it does not take very long for us to get sucked into a 281 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,760 vortex of other people who share the exact same opinions that we 282 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:46,440 do. If you do enough searches on 283 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,400 YouTube, if you like enough posts on social media about 284 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,680 whatever your favorite issue is, if you subscribe to certain 285 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:58,160 types of podcasts, guess what's going to always show up in front 286 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,280 of you? Thousands upon thousands upon 287 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,520 thousands of videos and posts of people who think exactly the way 288 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:10,640 that you think. And here's what happens for a 289 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,040 ton of Christians as well. We have our opinions or desires 290 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:20,360 of the answers that we want. And then we look for how can 291 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:24,400 Jesus fit into the thing that I already want to be true? 292 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,840 How can Jesus fit into my desires of what I think should 293 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,040 be happening in this difficult situation? 294 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:35,480 So let me give you an example. Some of you are looking at the 295 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,440 state of the world right now and you're thinking to yourself, why 296 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,920 hasn't Jesus returned yet? Where is he? 297 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:49,040 Look at the mess that's going on around the world and you're 298 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,600 wrestling with the question of like, I would be really good if 299 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,240 Jesus just came back right now. Maybe just look at the problems 300 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,840 in your own life and you're thinking, I just want Jesus to 301 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,600 come back right now and bail me out of all the problems that I'm 302 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:02,880 facing. Just bring an end to it. 303 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,760 And you know what? Nothing wrong with the desire of 304 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:11,680 wanting Jesus to come back. But so many Christians then 305 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,880 start going down a path of searching up other people and 306 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,720 other things that are talking about the end of the world. 307 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,920 And before long, you know what's going to happen. 308 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,240 You're bombarded by videos and posts about the end of the world 309 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:30,640 and the signs of Jesus return. And then you get upset because 310 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,840 it feels like nobody else around you is talking or thinking about 311 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:39,360 the return of Jesus. And you, you want Jesus to come 312 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:43,360 back and judge the world. And you get angry because 313 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,440 everybody else, nobody else is talking about it. 314 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,360 And then what do you do when you think Jesus is coming back any 315 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:55,280 day and it's 30 years from now and he still hasn't returned. 316 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,760 Then what? You know what, Let me just say 317 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,040 this. First of all, you're right. 318 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,840 Jesus will return one day. Praise God. 319 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:06,720 Jesus is going to return one day. 320 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,760 He is going to come back. But the full story of Jesus is 321 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,440 that he also said he doesn't know the day or the hour when 322 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,600 he's going to come back. And He commands you and I as 323 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,840 Christians to be fully occupied and being His ambassadors until 324 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,840 He comes. That's the full story. 325 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,280 Celebrate the reality he's coming back, wait for it, look 326 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,320 forward to it, but live in the fullness of who he is and what 327 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,680 he's called you and I to be. We can do the same thing with 328 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,840 politics too. We we can get caught in our own 329 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,640 vortex of our own opinions and we go, how does Jesus fit into 330 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:52,120 my political beliefs? When you study Jesus, you are 331 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,880 going to discover that very rarely does Jesus fit your 332 00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:01,880 political ideas. He might fit some of them, but 333 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,400 very rarely does Jesus fit all of your political ideas. 334 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,800 And the reason is he's living for a different Kingdom than you 335 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:15,760 and I live for the reality is Jesus does not exist to fit into 336 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:19,400 your story. Jesus is the story. 337 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:28,080 As a pastor, I am deeply concerned by the number of 338 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:35,880 people who are being discipled by their own opinions and by 339 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,960 algorithms online rather than the fullness of what Scripture 340 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:46,360 reveals Jesus to be. If you are getting more of your 341 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:50,360 information and your beliefs from a bunch of people online, 342 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:52,080 then you are getting it from God's Word. 343 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,960 You are missing the fullness of the story. 344 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:02,560 You're stuck. So many of us pick and choose 345 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:08,480 the parts of the Bible we like, and those are the parts we 346 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,880 decide to read. We pick and choose what 347 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,560 discipleship opportunities we're going to connect with because 348 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,200 those are the things that feel like I want to be a part of 349 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,440 that. So here's what I'm going to 350 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:25,440 challenge you to do because we need to expand our horizons in 351 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:27,240 understanding the fullness of Jesus. 352 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,360 I want to challenge you over the next couple of months. 353 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,080 Connect with something you would never otherwise connect with 354 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,800 because you need to discover a part of Jesus you haven't wanted 355 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:46,880 to pay attention to before. Like for example, pick and equip 356 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,680 class that you would never otherwise attend. 357 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,640 Some of us, I've grown up in Baptist Church my whole life. 358 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,600 I can say this with absolute confidence. 359 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,800 Some of us are in this room and we are locked into this is 360 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,240 exactly how everything's going to unfold in the end days. 361 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,320 And we've got it all mapped out in every timeline under heaven 362 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:09,560 written out. All right, I want to give you a 363 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,120 little secret. There are other faithful 364 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:17,720 believers in Jesus who think differently than you do, and 365 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,560 you're going to spend eternity with them. 366 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,520 So for some of you, you need to sign up for our Quip class 367 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,600 that's going to talk about 3 different views of the end times 368 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:36,000 that are all biblically based so you can learn a fuller picture 369 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,960 of the Scriptures and what the scriptures say about these 370 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,480 things and wrestle with it. Some of you think that the 371 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,720 Christian life, it's great for you just to come to church and 372 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,560 be isolated and be on your own. I can come and sit in the room 373 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,560 on Sunday and then I can just go and enjoy the rest of my week. 374 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,680 And you have no clue what Jesus talks about, about the beautiful 375 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,440 power of the fullness of Christian community. 376 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,440 And you need to step into our equip class on community that's 377 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:09,000 happening, where you can learn all that Jesus has to say about 378 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,240 the fullness of Christian community and what that means 379 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,960 for our lives. It's so much more than just 380 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:17,880 sitting in an auditorium on Sunday morning. 381 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,640 Some of us think, hey, I'm a pretty nice person. 382 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,560 I like to have people over to my house. 383 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,120 I'm good. Nobody ever needs to teach me 384 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:32,160 anything about hospitality. It's good, but I promise you 385 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,440 none of us measure up to the standard of Jesus when it comes 386 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,960 to hospitality. Learn the fullness of the 387 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,120 picture of hospitality. We have a women's class coming 388 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:44,000 up on hospitality. Learn the fullness of the 389 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,360 picture of hospitality that Jesus has. 390 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,240 I don't know very many men who are going, hey, I really want to 391 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:58,720 learn on how to show mercy, but the Bible says the Lord requires 392 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:04,880 that we be men who love mercy. So we have a men's class coming 393 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,480 up on what it means to be men who love mercy and show mercy. 394 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,520 Stop having this partial view of Jesus and get to know and love 395 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:16,520 the fullness of who He is and who He's calling you and I to 396 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,120 be. Second blind spot is your 397 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:22,000 religious background. Look at verse 29. 398 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,280 When all the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, 399 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,800 they acknowledge God's way of righteousness because they had 400 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:30,760 been baptized with John's baptism. 401 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,880 But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been 402 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,040 baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves. 403 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,280 To what then should I compare the people of this generation? 404 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,120 What are they like? They're like children sitting in 405 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:46,160 the marketplace and calling to each other. 406 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,120 We played the flute for you, but you didn't dance. 407 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,520 We sang a lament, but you didn't weep. 408 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,480 For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking 409 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,600 wine, and you say he has a demon. 410 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,080 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking. 411 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,040 And you say, look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax 412 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,840 collectors and sinners. It's fascinating to me that the 413 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,320 people who had the most difficult time accepting the 414 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,200 fullness of who Jesus is, who could not accept that Jesus was 415 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:18,440 the Messiah, we're also the people who spent the most amount 416 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,200 of time studying the Scriptures to try to figure out who exactly 417 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,800 this Messiah is. The people who were the experts 418 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,080 in the Old Testament law, who would know everything that the 419 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,760 Old Testament would have said about the coming Messiah, are 420 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:39,440 the ones who look at Jesus and go, Nah, that's not it right in 421 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:44,800 front of them. I grew up in a world where every 422 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,160 single Sunday all we talked about was hell. 423 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:54,120 We literally scared people into heaven, and we not only scared 424 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,240 people into heaven, but we scared people into obeying God 425 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:04,880 or else God's going to get you. And my life, my discipleship 426 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:09,240 became all about my behaviors. What can I do for God? 427 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,160 Because if I don't do enough for God, God's going to get me. 428 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,800 That's what I grew up thinking, believing, and living out in my 429 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,320 life. So you can imagine the surprise 430 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,880 that I had one day when I read these words from Jesus. 431 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,440 The greatest command is to love God with all of your heart, 432 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:32,960 soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. 433 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:41,960 I was blown away. It blew away all of my previous 434 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:47,040 religious upbringings that the greatest rule of life is love. 435 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,840 The greatest rule of life is to love God and to love each other. 436 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,800 The entire Christian journey is about love. 437 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,880 It's amazing how many times our religious backgrounds get in the 438 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,120 way of us seeing the full story of who Jesus is. 439 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,280 Some of you have come from religions who would teach things 440 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:18,280 like Jesus was a good teacher or a prophet, and he was a good 441 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,720 teacher and he was a prophet. But Jesus claims to be so much 442 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,040 more. He says he is God in flesh. 443 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,480 Some of you grew up in environments where you needed to 444 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:35,160 do more and more and more and more good works so that you knew 445 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:36,440 you could be made right with God. 446 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,480 But Jesus shows up and he undoes all of that teaching because he 447 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,040 says whoever believes in me will never die. 448 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,960 That's it. Whoever believes in me will 449 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:53,280 never die. The being made right with God is 450 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,400 based on our faith in Jesus and what he's done rather than us 451 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:02,680 somehow measuring up. Some of you've been taught 452 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:07,120 things like God will always heal you when you're going through a 453 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,840 difficult situation if you just have enough faith. 454 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,200 And if He hasn't healed you, it means you don't have enough 455 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,880 faith. Jesus will tell you that in this 456 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:23,360 world you will have trouble, but take heart because I've overcome 457 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:28,320 the world. There are Christians who think 458 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,440 the Christian life is just about sitting and enjoying God's love 459 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,120 like some giant kumbaya exercise. 460 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,600 But Jesus says that to be His disciple means you're going to 461 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,640 have to learn to die to yourself and love others. 462 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:49,440 That even the things you do for the least of those in society is 463 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,240 what you're doing to Jesus himself. 464 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,440 See, so many times our religious beliefs or our partial create a 465 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:02,640 partial story of who Jesus is, and we get annoyed or frustrated 466 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,200 or even disappointed when Jesus doesn't do the things we want or 467 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,560 expect him to do. And Jesus says here in these 468 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:13,120 verses that people can be just like a bunch of kids. 469 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:18,480 You can never make them happy. No matter what what they what 470 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,480 Jesus does, we are never satisfied. 471 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:24,560 Jesus says John comes out to you. 472 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,480 He calls for people to repent of their sins because the Kingdom 473 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:28,520 of heaven is coming. You go. 474 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,280 Why would we listen to him? He's just a madman. 475 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:35,000 And then Jesus shows up and the only thing Jesus wants to do is 476 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,880 go to parties, hang out with sinners and heal people who are 477 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,240 sick. And you think, what in the 478 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,120 world? We can't trust that guy to be 479 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:46,600 the Messiah. And some of us still respond to 480 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,400 Jesus the same way today. Some of us cannot stand any call 481 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,720 to repentance because we're like, that's way too judgmental. 482 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,880 You're getting up in my space, now let me live my life and 483 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:02,840 enjoy God's love. Others can't stand how gracious 484 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,600 Jesus is, how much fun Jesus wants to have even when the 485 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,560 world seems to be falling apart. Like, think about the people in 486 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:13,080 that day. They're living under Roman 487 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,480 oppression, and Jesus just keeps going to parties. 488 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,280 The world's falling apart, and he wants to have fun. 489 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,520 Don't let your religious background lead you to miss the 490 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,640 full and glorious picture of who Jesus is, because the bottom 491 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,160 line is this. The more you see the fullness of 492 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:35,280 Jesus, the more you can experience the confident joy 493 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,640 that God always keeps all of His promises. 494 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,120 Verse 35. Jesus says this, yet wisdom is 495 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:48,000 vindicated by all her children. Here's what he's saying. 496 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,000 The soundness of wisdom can be judged by the fruit of that 497 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,160 wisdom. Or let me put it another way. 498 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:03,040 Hey, give it time and you're going to see the whole story 499 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,360 unfold. Give it time and you're going to 500 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,120 see how God keeps all of His promises. 501 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,240 So often when we get in those moments where we are wrestling 502 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:21,560 with our questions, the things and the doubts that are swirling 503 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,880 in our minds, all that we see is that moment, that circumstance, 504 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,480 that issue that we're facing. And Jesus is saying, Hey, trust 505 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,480 me, trust me. I see the whole story. 506 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,320 I see the whole picture. I know exactly how all of this 507 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:40,480 is going to unfold. Sometimes when we struggle with 508 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,800 part of what Jesus says and we wonder, how does this line up 509 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,320 with all the things I've always thought should be done? 510 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:54,400 And Jesus says, trust me, trust me, blessed is the one who is 511 00:32:54,400 --> 00:33:01,920 not offended by Jesus, who trust him even when we don't 512 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:09,120 understand, who trust him, even when we're not sure if we like 513 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:17,120 everything he teaches or says or does what the blessing is. 514 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,080 Second Corinthians chapter one, verse 20 tells us this. 515 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,960 Blessing everyone of God's promises is yes in him, in 516 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:30,240 Jesus. John Piper describes the meaning 517 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,120 of that verse in Second Corinthians this way. 518 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:38,680 He says every single good that God can conceive of just stop 519 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:45,440 there for a second God who is infinite and eternal. 520 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:50,440 So there's all kinds of good you can conceive of, but your idea 521 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:54,640 of good is limited. But God, who is infinite and 522 00:33:54,640 --> 00:34:02,000 eternal, every single good that God can conceive of is yours in 523 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,400 Christ. That's the blessing. 524 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,760 That's the blessing that only comes through Jesus. 525 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,560 Humans have always had questions to try to understand what God's 526 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,320 doing. Even before Jesus came into the 527 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,199 world, people had questions. They're wondering when's the 528 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:25,960 Messiah going to show up. But God, at just the right 529 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:32,520 moment in human history, sent his Son Jesus, the one that he 530 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,280 promised we he would send. He sends him the Messiah, the 531 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:40,719 Savior of the world, the one who came to heal the sick and show 532 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:46,199 mercy to the humble. Another promise kept. 533 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,159 The one who would sacrifice his life so that we could be 534 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:54,840 forgiven of our sins and so we can ultimately be saved and 535 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,440 healed of every consequence of sin. 536 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:04,480 Another promise kept. And one day he's going to return 537 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:08,840 to bring God's final justice and our final and complete healing. 538 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:16,280 See, for every question that you have, every doubt that you're 539 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:23,120 facing, God has a promise. For every question you don't 540 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:27,360 even know to ask, God has a promise. 541 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:36,240 Jesus has come to this earth to graciously, lovingly reveal to 542 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:40,560 us that the God who makes promises always keeps his 543 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:45,160 promises. And all of his promises, all of 544 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:49,320 His promises become realized in our lives because of Jesus. 545 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:55,080 That's why we trust in Jesus. He's everything. 546 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,760 All of God's promises are yes in him. 547 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:05,960 And God's desire is that you would know the joy and have a 548 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:10,120 confident expectation in your heart that all of God's promises 549 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,280 will always be kept because He's always done it. 550 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,480 He's going to keep doing it into the future. 551 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:21,240 We pray for you, Father, thank you so much for your love for 552 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:24,880 us. Thank you that you would send 553 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:31,880 your Son Jesus as the ultimate expression of how you keep your 554 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:36,160 promises. Thank you that all of your 555 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,840 promises are yes, they are found in Christ. 556 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:46,080 And thank you that through Jesus we get to experience the 557 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:55,840 fullness of your promises. God, today I pray for all of us, 558 00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,720 no matter what circumstance we're in, what challenge we're 559 00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:07,240 facing, God, give us the grace to be able to hear your voice, 560 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:14,680 to lift our eyes off of the circumstance and fix our eyes on 561 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:20,920 You. Help us, God, to seek to know 562 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:26,760 the fullness of who Jesus is so we can discover the joy of the 563 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,200 fullness of your promises for our lives. 564 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,440 I pray this in your mighty and powerful name, Amen. 565 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,400 Amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord 566 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:37,840 together.