1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:05,320 To the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, Luke chapter 6, That's page 914. 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,039 If you're using one of the Bibles in the seat around you, 3 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:10,320 take that. That's our gift to you. 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,600 Luke chapter 6. While you're opening there, I 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,960 want to welcome some new members to our church family. 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,480 So would you join me in welcoming Abel Madani, Kelly 7 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,440 Wilson, Mary Leonard and Nadine Hopkins to the Forward family? 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:32,439 I was thinking this week about how every generation has words, 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,680 slang words that are unique to their generation. 10 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,960 And I, I need some group participation here for the next 11 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,240 couple of minutes. So if you are a baby boomer, 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,080 what are some of the words that were unique to your generation? 13 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:53,600 Some slang words you used? Cool, right on. 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,520 Wow, Anthony, you just sold yourself out, man. 15 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:06,120 I, I, I've heard Chachi, BT says groovy, far out and square were 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,960 all words that boomers use. Gen. 17 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:10,480 X, Gen. X. 18 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:11,960 OK, if you don't know if you're Gen. 19 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:15,520 X born from 65 to 80, you are Gen. 20 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,800 X. What words were our generation? 21 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,560 What what did we say, dude? Radical. 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,040 What else? Nobody wants to own up to being 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:27,960 Gen. X. 24 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:35,080 Take a chill pill, gnarly. Those are all words, all right? 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,240 Millennials. Millennials between 81 and 96. 26 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:48,400 SUS sick. All right, I chat. 27 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:56,040 GPD said Cray Cray and basic. OK, Gen. 28 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:57,760 Z, Gen. Z, whatever you want to call 29 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,880 you. There are at least 6 or 7 words 30 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,040 where I have no idea what you're talking about. 31 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,160 And if you don't know what I meant when I said that, ask your 32 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,720 kids or your grandkids, because I also don't know what I meant 33 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:17,680 when I said that. Words take on different meaning 34 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,720 through the years. For example, the word nice first 35 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,720 showed up in the English language in the 14th century, 36 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,000 and in the 14th century it did not mean what it means today. 37 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,000 The word nice meant foolish or stupid. 38 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,840 So when a doctor wrote a note and said that was such a nice 39 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:42,480 patient, If you ever see your doctor's note say that you're a 40 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,880 nice patient, stop and ask yourself what kind of nice is 41 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,280 the doctor talking about? Another word was the word bully. 42 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,320 For 500 years, the word bully has had all kinds of different 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:59,240 meanings, but originally the word bully meant sweetheart or 44 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,720 darling. So today if you were to say to 45 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:09,000 that special person in your life, hello, my bully, just 46 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:10,720 don't say it in front of other people. 47 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,200 You might get them in trouble. I I think one of the great 48 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:20,480 challenges that we face in our culture is that we get really 49 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,560 worked up about certain things and we say things, but we quite 50 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,440 often have different definitions of words. 51 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,640 And so we end up talking over top of each other because we are 52 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,720 using words in different ways. If you ever find yourself in a 53 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,120 conflict with someone, getting into a debate with someone, and 54 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,280 you find like, why am I not getting anywhere? 55 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:44,600 Why do we seem to be talking over top of each other? 56 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,720 Take a step back and ask yourself and ask them, hey, are 57 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,880 we defining words in the exact same way? 58 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,960 Do we mean the same thing when we use this word? 59 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,920 And I think one of the words that has a very different 60 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:01,320 meaning for different people is the word power. 61 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,200 For for some people, power is what you aspire to in life. 62 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,880 You want more influence, you want more power in your job. 63 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,400 You want more control in your life. 64 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,519 You want more impact, greater impact in the world. 65 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,800 For for other people, power is the way that I'm going to use my 66 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,520 words. You, you desire language that's 67 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,040 going to be more direct and more challenging, and you find that 68 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,280 to be something that is powerful. 69 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,680 For others, power. Anything that sounds like power, 70 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:43,680 smells like power, makes you a little bit like afraid because 71 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,280 you've experienced incredible hurt from power. 72 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:50,560 And anytime you see something that looks like power, you, you, 73 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,600 you back off. For others, power is what we 74 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,840 would see, we wish we would see more of, especially in the 75 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:00,640 Christian community. But even amongst us as 76 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,720 Christians, we don't always agree on what power is and what 77 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,640 power looks like. What is a powerful word for some 78 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,160 people is a boring Sunday for other people. 79 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,800 What is a powerful experience for some people is something 80 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,600 that we just get used to for other people. 81 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,240 Even this morning, the baptisms that happened for those who were 82 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,280 baptized say this is a very powerful moment in their life. 83 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,400 But for many of us, we probably disconnected from the baptisms 84 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,480 and went, oh man, just more baptisms. 85 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,640 See, power is something that means something very different 86 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:41,800 for individuals. And as we come to Luke chapter 87 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:46,920 6, we're going to see a brief story involving Jesus and his 88 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,800 power. And how you define power is 89 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,800 going to shape how you're going to approach Scripture passages 90 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,280 like the one that we're going to look at. 91 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,720 So here's my challenge to you before we even open up the 92 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,240 Scripture. My challenge to you is this. 93 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,000 Will you even maybe right now in your own heart of hearts, pause 94 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:12,000 long enough and ask the Holy Spirit to show you and teach you 95 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:13,920 whatever He wants to say to you today? 96 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:21,560 Can you put your own definition of power to the back burner and 97 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,240 allow yourself to learn what Jesus wants to teach us about 98 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,400 power this morning? Because I think when you and I 99 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,880 do that, what we're going to see as we come to this passage is 100 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:38,400 that the power of Jesus looks very different from what power 101 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:43,520 often looks like in our culture. Let me read 3 verses from Luke 102 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,960 chapter 6, beginning of verse 17. 103 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,120 After coming down with them, He stood on a level place with a 104 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,880 large crowd of his disciples and a great number of people from 105 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,200 all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. 106 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,240 They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and 107 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,120 those tormented by unclean spirits were made well. 108 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,600 The whole crowd was trying to touch Him because power was 109 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,280 coming out from Him and healing them all. 110 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,280 If you are new to forward over the last number of months, I 111 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,920 want to just explain to you why we are in this particular 112 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,480 passage in Luke chapter 6. Late in 2024, we started a 113 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:29,040 sermon series working our way through the book of Luke, and we 114 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,200 took a break over the summer months. 115 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,880 But today we're going to pick up where we left off before the 116 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,280 summer started. As a reminder for all of us, the 117 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:40,560 book of Luke is written by a guy named Luke. 118 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,240 He was a physician who's writing to another guy by the name of 119 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,640 Theophilus. And the whole goal that Luke has 120 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:52,280 with writing this book of the Bible is he wants to unpack to 121 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:56,760 Theophilus why you can trust that Jesus is who he says he is. 122 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,400 Luke says that, hey, I have done a careful study of all the 123 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,120 stories of all the accounts of Jesus, and I have come to a 124 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,600 point of being able to believe in Jesus. 125 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,720 And now I want to help you understand why all the evidence 126 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,480 points to Jesus being who he claims to be. 127 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,840 And as we reconnect with this story of Luke that that Luke is 128 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:23,240 sharing in these verses, we see the power of Jesus once again 129 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,320 showing up and healing people. But I think there's a lot more 130 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,040 we can learn from these verses about the topic of power. 131 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,600 The first thing we can see is this, that Jesus comes down to 132 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,120 be among people instead of standing above them. 133 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,120 In the first five chapters of Luke he put a lot of energy and 134 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:48,240 work into showing that Jesus is the Messiah that was promised in 135 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,520 the Old Testament that that the king of the Jews who was going 136 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,080 to come to rescue people, the all powerful one who would be 137 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:57,960 sent by God to rescue his people. 138 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,480 Jesus is that all powerful Messiah. 139 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,560 The Apostle Paul would later describe Jesus in this way. 140 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:13,120 Everything was created by him in heaven and in earth, the visible 141 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,480 and the invisible. All things have been created 142 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:23,200 through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by 143 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:28,120 Him all things hold together. Now that is a picture of power, 144 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:34,760 that that Jesus, the Son of God, created all things, but not only 145 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:39,600 did He create all things, but He holds all things together in the 146 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,080 palm of His hand. There is nobody who has ever 147 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,040 lived in human history who can possibly claim to have that kind 148 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,840 of power. Jesus is the all powerful one. 149 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,600 That is real power. But Jesus does not use his power 150 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:59,800 to put himself on a platform. He doesn't use his power to 151 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,560 further solidify any level of control. 152 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:07,360 Instead, what we see in this passage is that Jesus comes down 153 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:12,920 to be among the people. It it happens at the very 154 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,120 beginning of his life when he's born in Bethlehem, the Son of 155 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,680 God, who who lived before he was even born as a human. 156 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,960 He, he was in heaven. He comes to be born in a Manger 157 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,200 in a small village in the Middle East. 158 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,320 And it happens here again in this passage. 159 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,880 After a night of being up on a mountain and praying with some 160 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:40,080 of his followers, Jesus comes down and the Bible says he 161 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,720 stands on a level place with a large group, large group of 162 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,120 people. This is the beginning of what is 163 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,960 often called the Sermon on the Plane. 164 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,880 If you spent any time reading the book of Matthew, you're 165 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,080 probably familiar with the Sermon on the Mount that shows 166 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,120 up there. And Bible scholars will debate, 167 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,320 is the Sermon on the Plane the same thing as the Sermon on the 168 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,680 Mount? And you can debate that if you 169 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,440 want to debate that because there are some similarities in 170 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,200 the teaching. But I don't want you to miss how 171 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,640 incredible it is that Jesus, the all powerful one, would come 172 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:17,440 down to stand on a place with the people. 173 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,600 Putting things on platforms is really normal in our culture. 174 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,760 We we put celebrities on platforms, we put musicians on 175 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:32,880 platforms, we put pastors on platforms in jewellery stores, 176 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:38,040 we put jewellery on platforms and we put ourselves on 177 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:42,360 platforms all the time. Every time that you have ever 178 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,240 tried to get ahead in your career, you are trying to sell 179 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,040 yourself to somebody else who can give you a certain type of 180 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,880 job. You are lifting yourself up and 181 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,360 basically you're competing with other people and saying, hey, I 182 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,400 have more, you have more reason to put me in this role than you 183 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,800 do another person. You're putting yourself on a 184 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,960 platform. We put ourselves on platforms 185 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:06,720 all the time. Whenever we post anything on 186 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,480 social media, we're saying to everybody, hey, pay attention to 187 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,760 me. Notice me. 188 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,680 If you're a reader, I want to encourage you to read a book 189 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:21,040 called Platforms to Pillars by Mark Sayers. 190 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,800 And I like how Sayers defines a platform, he says. 191 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,200 It's a mentality. It's a way of approaching life 192 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,880 that promises to reinforce our uniqueness, to deliver on our 193 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,960 desires and to offer validation and visibility. 194 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,680 And in the book, he, he tells a story to illustrate his point. 195 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:45,680 He was on an airplane ride and the flight, as many times 196 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,280 happens, was having problems with its Wi-Fi, with its 197 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,760 entertainment system. It was down for everyone on the 198 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,640 flight. Nobody had access to Wi-Fi or 199 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:54,160 any movies or anything like that. 200 00:12:54,800 --> 00:13:00,320 And on this flight, there was, I'll just call her a Karen, no 201 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,160 offense to all the Karens in the room, but there was a Karen who 202 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:08,040 was on the flight who was quite agitated that her Wi-Fi and 203 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:10,720 entertainment system was not working properly. 204 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,080 And she called over one of the flight attendants and Karen 205 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:19,720 said, you know, it is your duty to ensure that all of us have 206 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,120 positive emotions and mental peace. 207 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,720 Well, they couldn't fix the Wi-Fi and they couldn't fix the 208 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,040 entertainment system. And so Karen got a little bit 209 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,160 more and more agitated and eventually called the cabin 210 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,840 manager over to be able to speak to to the cabin manager. 211 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:41,680 And the cabin manager offered a full refund to Karen, but that 212 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:46,080 was not enough for Karen. Karen says that the cabin crew 213 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:50,760 is targeting her and she demands immediate action to fix the 214 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,760 problem and she was not even paying any attention to the fact 215 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:57,760 that everybody else on the flight was in the same boat as 216 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,320 her. We laugh at that and go, I would 217 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:07,880 never do anything like that. But any environment where you 218 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,480 and I go looking for personal visibility and to pursue our own 219 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,840 desires as the primary goal is US putting ourselves on a 220 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,920 platform as being more important than others. 221 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,160 People do this all the time. We do this in relationships, we 222 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,520 do this in church. We live with an idea of as long 223 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,440 as you do what I want, when I want, how I want, then I'll 224 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,000 stick around. We put ourselves on a platform. 225 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,120 But Jesus treats power very differently. 226 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,960 He comes, he puts himself in an environment where he is in a 227 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,600 level place with the people. He he's showing us that there's 228 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,960 a different power that marks the Kingdom of God. 229 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,240 See, the power of Jesus draws people in rather than seeking to 230 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:03,200 to push people out. Luke paints this incredible 231 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:07,840 picture of this huge crowd of people, and they're all trying 232 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:12,440 to touch Jesus. There is just something about 233 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:17,400 Jesus that makes people want to be drawn to him, want to to even 234 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,760 just have a little glimpse of him. 235 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,040 And maybe, just maybe I can I can touch him because there's 236 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:28,320 power coming out of him. But I love the little details in 237 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,520 this story because Jesus comes and he stands on this level 238 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:37,040 place with this incredible diversity of people who are 239 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,200 gathered there. There's the people you would 240 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,600 expect. There's his disciples, the 241 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,880 people who already are fully convinced and committed to 242 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:50,080 Jesus, who see Jesus as their teacher, who see Jesus as the 243 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,960 one that they trust and want to follow with their life. 244 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,600 But then there's another group of people that Luke describes. 245 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,000 He says there's a great number of people from Judea and 246 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,640 Jerusalem. He he often whenever you see the 247 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,080 word, people show up in Luke. Quite often he's using that to 248 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,880 describe people who are not yet sold on Jesus. 249 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,240 They're there to check him out. They're they're exploring, they 250 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,360 want to understand more about who is this guy? 251 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,000 What's he all about? But there's something about 252 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,720 Jesus that is making them drawn to him. 253 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,560 But then there's another group of people that are described in 254 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,440 this passage. Luke says that they are from 255 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:33,080 Tyre and Sidon, and this one is if you lived in that day would 256 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:38,080 be very, very shocking to you. You would understand why you 257 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:39,920 would be surrounded. If you were there in the crowd 258 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,000 that day, you would go. It makes sense that all the 259 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,920 people who are already following Jesus would be where Jesus is. 260 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,280 It makes sense that some people who are asking questions about 261 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,800 Jesus might want to come and hear what Jesus has to say. 262 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,320 But there's another group of people, this group of people 263 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,680 from Tyre and Sidon. In the Old Testament, people 264 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,760 from these communities were described as wealthy and yet 265 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:06,920 godless oppressors. The historian Josephus described 266 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,520 people from these two communities in particular as 267 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:18,480 being our bitterest enemies. And yet here they are, something 268 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:25,079 drawing them to hear and encounter Jesus. 269 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:33,120 Jesus does not discriminate on who he stands ready to serve. 270 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,360 I want every person to hear this, even those of you who are 271 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:41,840 watching online. The presence and the power of 272 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:47,680 Jesus is available for you. It's for people who have money 273 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,080 as much as it is for people who have no money. 274 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:57,080 It's for people who come from Canada just as much as it is for 275 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,080 people who live in any other country on the planet. 276 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,600 The presence and power of Jesus is available for people from 277 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,840 Ukraine as much as it is for people from Russia. 278 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,200 The presence and power of Jesus is available for people from 279 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,120 Palestine every bit as much as it is for people from Israel. 280 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,520 The presence and power of Jesus is available for people who have 281 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,280 the highest degree of education and people who have none. 282 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:29,440 It does not matter what your gender or your sexuality is, the 283 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,920 presence and power of Jesus is available to you. 284 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:40,560 Jesus is ready to serve Muslims, Hindus, Jews, atheists, those 285 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,000 who are already Christians. He's ready to serve people who 286 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,000 have their life all together and people whose lives seem to be 287 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,880 falling apart. There is nothing about Jesus 288 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,520 that says you need to let me check your passport and check a 289 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,000 whole bunch of boxes before you can come to me. 290 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,960 I only welcome a certain type of person who agrees with me on 291 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,880 everything already. He is ready to serve both those 292 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,520 who believe and those who are skeptics, and he's also ready to 293 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,040 serve those who have not shown any history of wanting to 294 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:12,480 experience God in their own life. 295 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:18,640 Stop and think about how remarkably different Jesus is 296 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,400 than the environment we often find ourselves in today. 297 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:28,240 You know, world in a culture where we surround ourselves with 298 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,520 the people who think like us, act like us and anybody else 299 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:37,040 who's different than us, we push to the side, we cancel them out 300 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,840 immediately. And Jesus creates an environment 301 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,280 where all can come and experience him. 302 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,040 You know what it takes for someone to be able to do that? 303 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,080 You have to be really secure in who you are. 304 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,160 You you have to be secure in who you are and not threatened in 305 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,480 any way by someone else who's different than you. 306 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:06,360 And because Jesus is already all powerful, he's not threatened by 307 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:09,960 any other worldview. He's not threatened by any other 308 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,800 belief system. Because he's all powerful, he's 309 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,920 not worried about someone who might want to harm him. 310 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,640 And even though he is all powerful, Jesus does not see 311 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,760 this power as something to be used to control people or 312 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,240 manipulate people. Instead, the power of Jesus is 313 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:38,160 marked by compassion. I I don't know what each of you 314 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,040 are going through in your life right now, but I do know this. 315 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:48,480 No matter who you are or where you are, Jesus, the all powerful 316 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:53,160 King, sees you. He knows exactly your story. 317 00:20:54,400 --> 00:21:02,800 He knows exactly your needs and he is moved with compassion for 318 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:07,440 people whose lives are broken. He's moved with compassion 319 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,600 towards people who are in the depths of pain in their life. 320 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,160 And every day, I know we see it on the news about how broken our 321 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,880 world is. But beyond the big picture of 322 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,080 how broken our world is, I know that in this room right now, 323 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,760 there are dozens, if not hundreds of stories of people 324 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:28,880 who are just going through it right now. 325 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,400 And I want you to know that Jesus sees you and he's moved 326 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:39,920 with compassion for you. And I'm also confident of this. 327 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,840 Jesus is still in the business of healing broken lives. 328 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,760 And I know that because also throughout this room there are 329 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,120 countless stories of people who've experienced the 330 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:55,680 compassionate, healing touch of God in their life. 331 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,400 The power of God that flowed through Jesus to heal these 332 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,120 lives. And this story 2000 years ago is 333 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:06,440 the same power that can heal broken lives today. 334 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,760 When we pray, we are doing the same thing that the people in 335 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,080 this story did. They're reaching out to Jesus, 336 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,160 hoping to encounter his power in their life. 337 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,120 And when we pray, when we go to him in prayer, that's exactly 338 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:22,600 what we are doing. We are asking Jesus to send his 339 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,680 power into our life, to show us his compassion and to bring his 340 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:33,440 power to be reality for us. But I think too many times we 341 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:40,760 miss out on this as people. We miss out on the power of 342 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,120 going to Jesus. You know, every time when we 343 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,440 invite you to go to our prayer wall out in the foyer after the 344 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:53,320 service, if you have a need to pray for it is beautiful how 345 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,800 many of you go and leave prayer requests and pray for our 346 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,640 elders? But I also know that there are 347 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,920 dozens and dozens of you who never take up the opportunity 348 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,160 and you're missing out on an opportunity to invite the power 349 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,640 of Jesus to come and bring bring his power to real. 350 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:12,840 Be real in your life and in your story. 351 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,680 This posture of compassion that Jesus has is so different for 352 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,960 someone who has power. Like think about the culture he 353 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:29,080 lived in. The Roman Empire was was often 354 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,120 known for using fear tactics to control people. 355 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,880 If you were to do anything in the Roman Empire that did not 356 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,400 show solidarity with Rome, you were considered quite often to 357 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,520 be dangerous. Even the religious leaders of 358 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,960 the day saw themselves as being above the people, using the 359 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,600 religious law to control people. But the compassion of Jesus 360 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,400 stands in stark contrast to the power structure that he finds 361 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:01,440 himself living in. But I recognize that even today, 362 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,880 in a lot of different environments, fear is still how 363 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:10,480 we use power. From parents to politicians to 364 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:18,160 postures, in marriages and in workplaces, instilling fear is 365 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,920 something that we lean into whenever we feel like we're out 366 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,920 of control or when things aren't going our way. 367 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,880 And a lot of us have bought into the idea that, well, if you're 368 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,680 feared, people won't take advantage of you. 369 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,880 But they will if it's all about love and compassion. 370 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,960 And, and that might be true if your goal in life is your own 371 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:50,640 survival, but the goal of Jesus is far more than his own 372 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,680 survival. See, Jesus leads with compassion 373 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:58,360 because His desire is for your complete healing. 374 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,120 In this story, there are three different reasons why the people 375 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:06,680 come to see Jesus. Some wanted to hear him teach. 376 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,920 Some wanted to be healed of their diseases. 377 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,280 Some were tormented by unclean spirits. 378 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,520 They're experiencing demonic oppression in their life. 379 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,960 And all of us as humans, we have our own idea of what it is that 380 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,480 we want Jesus to heal. But Jesus sees a bigger story 381 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,920 than what you see. See, Jesus came to heal the 382 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,480 whole person. Jesus came to heal people, body, 383 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:37,000 mind, and soul. Have you ever tried to build 384 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,960 something and then realized it wasn't going according to plan? 385 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,000 Like you're doing a DIY project at home and you're trying to 386 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,000 build something like this is not going well. 387 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,520 What's your normal reaction when a building project doesn't go 388 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,800 well? You get frustrated, throw a 389 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,840 hammer, maybe. Do you get angry? 390 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,640 Do you just like, tear it all apart and say, forget this whole 391 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:04,400 thing or, or do you just give up and walk away and say, somebody 392 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:11,960 else can figure this out? In the eyes of your Creator, you 393 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:17,840 and I, we are far more broken than what you and I realize. 394 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:25,520 But because Jesus is love, he moves with compassion to heal 395 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,240 instead of leading with anger to tear it all apart. 396 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:35,960 See, compassion wasn't weakness. Compassion was the most powerful 397 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,800 act of Jesus. It's the compassion of Jesus 398 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,040 that ultimately leads him to the cross. 399 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,920 At the cross, as one writer said, Jesus declares war on sin 400 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,760 on the cross. One of the most powerful things 401 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:56,960 that Jesus does is allow himself to be abused and killed instead 402 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:58,800 of using his power to fight back. 403 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,960 To every person who was there that day, it made Jesus look 404 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,640 like a complete failure. But there was nothing more 405 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,960 powerful that Jesus ever did than give his life for you. 406 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,680 And if you're here today and you're exploring the message of 407 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:19,160 Jesus, I want to welcome you. We are thrilled that you are 408 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,120 here exploring Jesus. And I want you to know two 409 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,760 things. Jesus is all powerful and he 410 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,160 loves you. But he also loves you enough to 411 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,200 say that what you think you need from Jesus is barely scratching 412 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,240 the surface of what needs to be healed in your life. 413 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:41,800 That he sees the full brokenness of your life, that you are not 414 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,120 the way that God designed and made you to be. 415 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,360 And Jesus has come so that you could experience his full 416 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:52,720 healing in your life. Jesus sees that for all of us as 417 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,560 humans, that we've all sinned. We all live in a world of sin, 418 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,360 and that sin leads to our death, physically, emotionally, 419 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,800 spiritually. The Bible tells us that the 420 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:10,560 wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. 421 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,160 And if you want to receive and know the power and the presence 422 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:21,480 of God in your life, you have to change directions from the path 423 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,160 you're going and put your faith in Jesus. 424 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:27,760 And the Bible says when you put your faith in Jesus, you are 425 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,560 saved. The promise of eternal life is 426 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:31,120 yours. It's a completed act. 427 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:35,680 But then the Bible also says this, that we are still being 428 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,840 saved. That even though you have the 429 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,320 promise of eternal life, that the Christian life is an ongoing 430 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,880 journey of being saved from the impact of sin on your life. 431 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:53,240 That God's power is at work constantly to heal every part of 432 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,000 your life and lead you and I to become the people that we were 433 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:58,840 always created and designed to be. 434 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:04,760 It's a healing that's guaranteed because the Bible says the God 435 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,920 who started a good work in you is faithful to complete that 436 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:12,320 good work. And for those of us who are 437 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,640 already followers of Jesus, what that means is that our lives 438 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,320 should look more and more like his. 439 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,520 And that means disciples of Jesus should use their power the 440 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:28,440 way Jesus did in this room. There are some of us who are in 441 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:33,400 positions of power. Whether you are a boss at work, 442 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,840 whether you are a parent, there are places that you give your 443 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,560 time to help others. You are in some type of a 444 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,240 position of power. And if this is you, to follow 445 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,720 Jesus means you also need to allow Jesus to shape how you 446 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:52,600 lead in the everyday moments of life. 447 00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:03,480 There is no place in the life of a follower of Jesus for someone 448 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:05,960 to be a bully in the modern use of the word. 449 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:12,840 There's no place for a Christian to ever use fear or manipulation 450 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:18,640 in the life of another person. One of the most heartbreaking 451 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:25,400 things to watch happening in 2025 is how many times Christian 452 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:30,320 leaders miss being compassionate, miss seeking the 453 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:36,080 well-being of others as their goal, and live as bullies. 454 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,000 Now, most of us, we don't see ourselves as having any type of 455 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,880 position of power, but it doesn't mean you don't have 456 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:53,280 power because for most of us power is more about possession 457 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:58,040 than it is position. In our culture, we talk about 458 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,480 power as only from perspective of position. 459 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:05,080 But if you are a Christian, you possess power. 460 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,280 Every single person in this room, you all have influence on 461 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,880 the life of someone else. That's power. 462 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,680 But beyond that, if you're a Christian, you have the Holy 463 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,400 Spirit living inside of you. Second Peter chapter 1 says 464 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,160 this. His divine power has given you 465 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:31,000 everything required for life and godliness. 466 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,000 Every interaction that you have with another person, you are 467 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,720 operating from a position of power because you possess the 468 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:42,400 power of the Holy Spirit living in you. 469 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,000 You might not have a title that gives you power, but you have 470 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,040 something even better than a title you've got. 471 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:57,000 So be honest with yourself. Do you use the power in your 472 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:04,800 life to manipulate and use other people instead of move towards 473 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,600 them with compassion? Do you try to just get people, 474 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:12,200 other people, to do whatever it is you want them to do, or do 475 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:16,320 you use it to serve them? Do you do you create spaces 476 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:20,720 where people feel welcome? And ultimately, do you point 477 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,320 people to the full healing of Jesus in their life? 478 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:37,560 There are there are people in our community and in our church 479 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,200 who name the name of Jesus as being a Christian. 480 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,960 But when you go home through the week, you are being simply 481 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,680 abusive to your spouse or your kids. 482 00:33:00,470 --> 00:33:03,150 Please stop naming the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior of your 483 00:33:03,150 --> 00:33:04,950 life if you're going to live like that. 484 00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:11,430 That's not how. That's not how my King shows his 485 00:33:11,430 --> 00:33:18,430 power. The King of all kings uses his 486 00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:22,600 power to come to the people and serve. 487 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:34,640 Jesus has used his power to show so much compassion and so much 488 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,760 kindness and so much patience towards you. 489 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,200 Allow that to shape the way that you relate to the people around 490 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:51,160 you. Jesus is different, and as his 491 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,440 disciples we should be different too. 492 00:33:55,480 --> 00:34:12,020 Let me pray. Father, thank you for sending 493 00:34:12,020 --> 00:34:21,219 your Son, the King of all kings, the Messiah that was promised, 494 00:34:22,260 --> 00:34:33,320 the Savior of the world, who comes in power to serve and to 495 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:41,239 die, so I can have life, so people in this room can have 496 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:45,600 life, and so people in our community, in our city could 497 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:55,320 have life. God forgive us for the number of 498 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:59,720 times we lose sight of that power and the ways that Jesus 499 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:07,160 lived out the power that was His Lord. 500 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,480 I pray that for those who need some type of healing in their 501 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:14,280 life today, they would encounter the power of Jesus to bring 502 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:22,160 healing to them. And Lord, for those of us who 503 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:26,640 have used power in any way to manipulate or control or bring 504 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:32,640 about fear in the lives of other people, help us to see, to 505 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:37,600 really see the ways that Jesus has used his power to show love 506 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:46,280 for us, change our hearts God, help us to be different because 507 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:51,520 our King is different. In Jesus name I pray. 508 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:54,040 Amen. Amen. 509 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,120 Let's stand and sing this last song together.