1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,600 Well, happy Resurrection Sunday if you're a little more old 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:06,360 school. He is risen. 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,000 Risen indeed. Yes. 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,400 So we'll be in Luke 9 if you want to follow along with the 5 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:14,880 Scripture this morning. But I'm really glad that you're 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,240 here today. I know a day like this brings 7 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:19,440 all kinds of people into the room. 8 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,800 Some of you are here just about every week, and some of you 9 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,600 that's just a normal part of your rhythm. 10 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,200 Some of you, you're in and out. Some of you are just here 11 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,160 because somebody invited you today, and some of you are here 12 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:31,120 because this is the time of year. 13 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,880 This is what you do. And I know that and I recognize 14 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:35,200 it. But I'm really glad that you're 15 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,080 here today because I think it's important that we address what 16 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,240 we're going to today, which is what are God's expectations for 17 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,440 us. Truly, wherever you fall in that 18 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,160 spectrum, I want you to know something upfront. 19 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:52,440 I'm coming for you today. I want you to understand how 20 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,600 deeply Jesus loves you. I want you to understand the 21 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,320 lengths that God went to for you. 22 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:00,960 And I want you to understand exactly what it is that His 23 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,800 expectations are for you. Now, in any myriad of ways, it 24 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,040 may be a little bit different on the individual, but there are 25 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,880 some things that we all have expectations laid upon us from 26 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,000 the Lord, and we're going to talk about what those are and 27 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,480 what they're not this morning. But before we go into anything 28 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,400 heavy, we're going to talk about an important piece of 80s 29 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,320 history. Because I don't know about you. 30 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,400 I don't just watch The Chosen and just read the Bible. 31 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,600 If there's other media in my house, I've been watching a show 32 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,840 with my kids called The Goldbergs. 33 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:32,040 Anybody watch The Goldbergs? It's all right. 34 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:34,800 You know, it's all right. I feel like at this point, all 35 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,560 the characters are kind of scripted the same way. 36 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,920 But it's filled with 80s nostalgia, so I'm all about it. 37 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:42,400 And we had one episode where my kids were like, did that really 38 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,160 happen? And I said, yeah, it did happen. 39 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,480 And it was a tragedy. And it's something that was 40 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:52,200 called New Coke. Anybody remember New Coke? 41 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,680 OK, a few. Here's what happened in 1985. 42 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,440 This was early on in the year, Coke started doing all of these 43 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,720 taste tests, blind taste tests. And what they found is Pepsi was 44 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,960 beating them all the time. Yeah, I know Pepsi country 45 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:07,960 Woohoo. But. 46 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,160 But. So they decided we need to make 47 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,240 Coke a little bit sweeter. So they rolled out New Coke, 48 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,040 which is really not even a, a good brand because at some point 49 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,760 it's not new, right? It's like 7 seasons of New Girl 50 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,760 or whatever. So New Coke comes out and it's a 51 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,480 huge flop. Now this is what's interesting 52 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,440 about New Coke coming out and being a flop. 53 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,840 And there's a reason why I share this with New Coke came out. 54 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,920 It surpassed in the flavor test in every single flavor test for 55 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:40,880 like the the blind taste testing and everything. 56 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,280 Which do you prefer? But what they didn't anticipate 57 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,720 was how people didn't appreciate that it was completely replacing 58 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:49,400 something that they had already known. 59 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,440 So they didn't roll out New Coke as an additional thing. 60 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,640 Coca-Cola went away and New Coke was the only thing. 61 00:02:56,920 --> 00:02:59,680 So when that happened, they started calling, they started 62 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,640 making complaints. Some people started being Coke 63 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:05,200 quarters, trying to get all of it off the shelf. 64 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,480 If you still have some of that from 85, throw it out. 65 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:13,000 It's OK. We survived it, but here's what 66 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,240 ended up happening by July, By July, they went ahead and 67 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,640 reversed it and started making Coca-Cola again and now it still 68 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:24,920 carries the name classic on it. That's why it has the word 69 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:27,880 classic because they said, oh, this is the classic one that you 70 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,760 can rely on. New Coke only came back a little 71 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,080 bit during, I don't know, some sort of tie in with Stranger 72 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,000 Things like 6 years ago. But but at that point, you 73 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,160 couldn't buy it because it was sold out, because everybody 74 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,360 wanted it. And here's the difference. 75 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,400 Nobody was complaining about the taste. 76 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,680 They were complaining because it replaced something that they 77 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,560 loved, something that was the original. 78 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:51,160 And here is kind of the take away. 79 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,440 Sometimes people will change things because they think it's 80 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,720 what others want. They thought people wanted a 81 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,360 sweeter drink. Coca-Cola has not gone out of 82 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,320 business since. It was already around for about 83 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,320 100 years at that point and sadly, the 80s, about 40 to 50 84 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:12,560 years ago. So sometimes in an effort to get 85 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,720 people to accept Jesus or make a prayer or try to connect to God, 86 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,440 I'm afraid that sometimes we've swapped out a sweeter formula 87 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:23,880 and we've said this tastes better, But you need to know the 88 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,400 Direct Line to God so that God can be the one that institute's 89 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,280 change in your life. A lot of times what we do is we 90 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:32,640 try to tell people if you change this, if you change that, if you 91 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,600 stop doing this, if you start doing this now, you'll be closer 92 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,120 to God. That's not the way that it 93 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:38,960 works. And we're going to look at that 94 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,360 today. It is only a relationship with 95 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,160 God that actually does change things for us. 96 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,520 There's no reason for me to return to the New Coke story 97 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,320 other than I forgot to say something that was funny. 98 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,480 So I'm going to y'all are at second service. 99 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,680 You got to sleep in. But I've got an extra hour now. 100 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:58,200 So I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. 101 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,760 It was such big news when Coca-Cola Classic came back. 102 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,160 Peter Jennings, news anchor at the time, interrupted General 103 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,680 Hospital with breaking news. Just to show you how important 104 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,720 this was in the mid 80s. OK, that kind of 105 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,920 misunderstanding is not limited to business decisions. 106 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,320 Many of us have grown up in a church culture or some sort of 107 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,280 faith teaching or something that taught us to do things before it 108 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:25,960 ever taught us how to be. Things that taught us what God 109 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,160 wanted us to do. Situations where we were 110 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,880 learning things that we were supposed to accomplish in order 111 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,400 to show that we loved God without ever learning about who 112 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,320 we're supposed to be. It's sort of like one of my, my 113 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,320 ultimate favorite illustrations is one of my favorite shows 114 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:40,960 growing up, which is called Reading Rainbow. 115 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,520 There's a lot of shows that taught you how to read, but 116 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,040 Reading Rainbow taught you why. And once you had why you wanted 117 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,400 to read down, once you learned the love of reading, but you 118 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:50,920 couldn't get a book out of my hands. 119 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,080 It's the same thing with faith. I'm not here to teach you what 120 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,040 to do. I'm just here to try to connect 121 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,400 you to him. So again, I'm coming for you 122 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:03,000 today, Luke Chapter 9, before we ever get to the cross and we'll 123 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,520 get there today, Jesus is walking around. 124 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,320 He's teaching his disciples and with his disciples, he's 125 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:10,320 teaching others. And you would think if there's 126 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,200 anybody that understands Jesus, it's his disciples, it's the 12 127 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,560 that are closest to him. It's his inner circle. 128 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,400 But here we're going to see maybe they didn't always have 129 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,800 the same wavelength as Jesus. Starting in verse 49, his 130 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:25,440 disciple John said this to Jesus. 131 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,000 Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, 132 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,920 but we told him to stop because he isn't in our group. 133 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,120 Maybe your translation says denomination. 134 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:42,360 I'm just kidding mostly. But Jesus said don't stop him. 135 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,200 Anyone who's not against you is for you. 136 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,880 Can you imagine being in this group and seeing, seeing people 137 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,760 set free from demonic powers, from the tyranny of darkness and 138 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,440 saying he's not one of us? You want us to tell him to stop? 139 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,120 Jesus, let me think about it. No, but listen to this verse 51. 140 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,280 As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus 141 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:08,040 resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 142 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,600 He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for 143 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,960 his arrival. Now you have to know that for 144 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,360 Israel and Samaria, there was this big division. 145 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,920 Some worship in Jerusalem, some worshipped in Samaria. 146 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,640 So they really didn't get along. And that makes sense when you 147 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,040 read this in verse 53. The people of the village did 148 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,080 not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. 149 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,200 Still not in our group, right? So when James and John and 150 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:33,760 John's not doing so hot, here is he. 151 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,040 When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, Lord, should 152 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,240 we call down fire from heaven and burn them up? 153 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:44,360 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 154 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:45,600 So they went on to another village. 155 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,120 Look, if you get anything out of today, don't just get that, OK? 156 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,880 Don't go home and say, Lord, if it's your will, you could call 157 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,360 fire down on them. This is not where we're going 158 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,080 today. Jesus stopped them. 159 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:58,560 But here's what he didn't rebuke. 160 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:03,560 He didn't rebuke their passion. He didn't rebuke their energy or 161 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,480 their focus or their loyalty. He understood where their hearts 162 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,600 were, but he said, no, no, no, we're not against them. 163 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,680 We are here for them. Jesus never allowed these 164 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,680 boundaries to separate things. As a matter of fact, if you're 165 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,000 familiar with the Gospels, the people he frequently got the 166 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,960 most angry with are the religious ones. 167 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,880 And the reason is because a lot of times people assume they know 168 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,000 what Jesus wants or what God wants. 169 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,040 Now, that being said, this is not relegated just to religious 170 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,720 people or to people who have known the Lord for a long time. 171 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,400 A lot of people don't approach God or try to initiate a deeper 172 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,760 relationship with Him because they're afraid of losing who 173 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:39,480 they are. They're afraid of what it'll 174 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,320 cost them. And I'm not here to tell you 175 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:48,760 it'll cost you nothing. It will cost you 599 eventually. 176 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,720 It'll cost you everything, but here's how you handle it. 177 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:55,440 You accept a free offer. It's a free offer. 178 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,320 That's all that it is. It's been said before that 179 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,160 salvation cost you nothing. Discipleship cost you 180 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,680 everything. But even once you get saved, God 181 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:06,840 doesn't make you go down that trail of discipleship. 182 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,960 But you should, because it's down that trail that you start 183 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,160 walking with Jesus. This same God that walked with 184 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,320 Adam and Eve in the Garden longs to walk with you. 185 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,400 And anybody who's ever taught you that the reason you accept 186 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,040 Jesus is so that you go to heaven has taught you wrong. 187 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,160 Heaven is awesome. I'd rather be there than the 188 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,400 other place. But I'm only going to get there 189 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:27,800 because I'm walking with Him today. 190 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,560 And one day when I step off of this planet and walk into 191 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:34,360 eternity, I'm going with Him. So I don't make an agreement and 192 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,960 sign this deal so that I can get to heaven. 193 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,320 I try to get to know the one that created me. 194 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:40,960 He didn't just create me, He invented me. 195 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:47,000 He invented you. Some of us got a little more 196 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,360 creative with than others. He invented you. 197 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,120 He thought up your personality, your sense of humor, the things 198 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,800 that you like, the things you don't, and he never erases that. 199 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,880 But think about this before you say, well, I know there's people 200 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,080 that assume things about God, but it's not me. 201 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,080 These guys walked with him. It's a group of 12 guys. 202 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,720 They looked into his physical eyes. 203 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,520 They heard him teach people. They watched him heal people, He 204 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,800 watched people, they watched people walk again and skin 205 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,600 diseases close up and they still missed it. 206 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,680 That shows how possible it is to be near Jesus and still must 207 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:30,800 understand Him. So we might not be standing in a 208 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:35,280 village asking for fire to come down from heaven, but we're not 209 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:38,240 strangers to forming expectations about God. 210 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,640 We build them over time through our experiences and what we've 211 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,120 been taught. And today we're going to take a 212 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,280 closer look at them. Before we ever get to God's 213 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,600 expectations, I want to try to take a look at the things that 214 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,320 we think God wants from us. We're going to move ahead in the 215 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:56,320 story to Luke 18, Luke 18 here. Jesus is still teaching and what 216 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,080 he does here is he utilizes comparison between two people to 217 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,480 really drive a point home in a beautiful way. 218 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:07,600 Starting in verse 9, He says he told the story to some who had 219 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:09,920 great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned 220 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,480 everyone else. He says in verse 10, two men 221 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,680 went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee. 222 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,080 If you don't know who a Pharisee is, it's a religious leader from 223 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,440 that day, very highly respected in their community. 224 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,400 And the other was a despised tax collector. 225 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,320 If you don't know who a tax collector, you know who tax 226 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,000 collector is. They're still despised today. 227 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,320 The Pharisee, the religious leader, he stood by himself and 228 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,640 he prayed this prayer. I thank you God that I am not 229 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,960 like other people, cheaters, sinners, adulterers. 230 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,400 I'm certainly not like that tax collector, he said. 231 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,520 I fast twice a week and I give you a tenth of my income. 232 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,320 But the tax collector stood at the distance and dared not even 233 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,440 lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. 234 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,800 Instead he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, Oh God, be 235 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,040 merciful to me, for I am a Sinner. 236 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,680 And Jesus says this. I tell you, this Sinner, not the 237 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:13,840 Pharisee, returned home justified before God. 238 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,640 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who 239 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,160 humble themselves will be exalted. 240 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:22,960 What Jesus is doing more than just comparing them, is he's 241 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,720 trying to show something about how people tend to approach God 242 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,680 and the difference between how we assume what he wants and what 243 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:31,440 he's actually looking for. And he's not saying any of these 244 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,400 things are bad. So don't assume that, you know, 245 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,600 the Pharisee should have been cheating or being an adulterer 246 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,320 or any of these things. Don't do it. 247 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:41,800 It's good that he was giving. It's good that he was fasting 248 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,440 along with his prayer. It's bad that that's what he 249 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,800 thought was all that God wanted from him. 250 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,840 And what he wanted was honesty. And so the Sinner was able to go 251 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:53,320 in there and just say, I'm a Sinner. 252 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,520 Have mercy on me. We talked about this here at 253 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,240 Liberty a couple weeks ago. But when Peter was first 254 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,920 encountered by Jesus, he falls to his knees and he said, don't 255 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:04,720 ask me to follow you. I'm a sinful man. 256 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:10,320 As if Jesus was going to say, I didn't realize that I, I thought 257 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,400 I got somebody else. Well, thank you for your telling 258 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,440 me. He's looking for those that are 259 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:15,400 honest. And you know why? 260 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,240 We're all sinful, Every one of us. 261 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,960 So what begins to pop out the more that you read this is that 262 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,080 the confidence of the Pharisee in his prayer is not found in a 263 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,360 relationship with God or love. It's all centered around what 264 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,480 I'll call performance. The things that you do for God 265 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,360 are great unless you do them to become closer to him. 266 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,760 If you don't genuinely love another human, but you do things 267 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,000 for them all the time, you're trying to earn favor and it's 268 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,040 performance. But when you genuinely love them 269 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,280 and what you do for them comes out of a place of love, it's 270 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,040 different, right? This is what Jesus is trying to 271 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,240 get across because this man didn't feel like he had any real 272 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,280 need for forgiveness. He doesn't even ask for it in 273 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,240 the temple. Isn't that crazy that they said 274 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,760 they went to the temple to pray and his prayer was thanks for 275 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,800 not making me like that guy. That's never been my prayer. 276 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,600 See, comparison is rough because it's either going to fill you up 277 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,280 with disillusionment or with pride. 278 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,240 The more that this Pharisee thinks about what he's done, the 279 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,520 more settled he becomes in the belief that this is what God is 280 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,360 looking for. So we can't think about what 281 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,880 we've done as much as we think about who we're doing it for. 282 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,480 We've got to think about Jesus and not just what Jesus does for 283 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,000 us. More on that in just a little 284 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,560 bit. The one man who knew that he was 285 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,800 sinful, who knew that he needed hope from heaven, is the one 286 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,520 that went home justified. And I just want to push back 287 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,960 against some of the assumptions that we often carry because it 288 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,880 can be convincing when we do the religious things, but we can 289 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:46,640 still feel incomplete on the inside. 290 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,040 I heard a story before, maybe you did too, about a man who 291 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,240 would pray every single day to win the lottery. 292 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,800 I'm sure nobody's ever prayed for that before, but he prayed 293 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:58,760 every single day. Lord let me win the lottery. 294 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,680 And day after day went by and he never won the lottery, didn't 295 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,600 even hear anything from God. But he kept praying. 296 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,280 He didn't quit. And so then weeks went by, as he 297 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,120 kept praying, God let me win the lottery. 298 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:16,400 But after weeks, nothing. And so he kept praying, God let 299 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,840 me win the lottery. Years, months, they all go by. 300 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:20,720 Years into it, he's still praying. 301 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:22,640 But what does he hear from God? Nothing. 302 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:27,320 And eventually, as he's praying, God, I show up to church. 303 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,640 I pray every day. I ask you all the time for these 304 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,240 blessings, please let me win the lottery. 305 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,120 And he finally hears a voice from heaven that says, you could 306 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:36,960 at least meet me halfway and buy a ticket. 307 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,240 See, there are expectations that God has from us. 308 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:45,920 A lot of times we're asking God to do things for us, and we're 309 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,800 not putting in the work. We're asking God, hey, would you 310 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:50,960 fix my marriage? And he says, go tell her you're 311 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,160 sorry. You're like, I'd rather you do 312 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,000 it. Fix her, God, fix my finances. 313 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,560 Hey, maybe you don't need Taco Bell 15 times in a week. 314 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,360 I don't like that answer. We have our part to play when 315 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:11,880 we're asking God to answer our prayers, but it's not just about 316 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,920 what we want from God. What does God want in the 1st 317 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,280 place? How many of our prayers start 318 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:19,920 with, what do you want from me today? 319 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,560 God, instead of it just being, here's what I want, tell me what 320 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,120 I need to do to get there. We can't use Jesus. 321 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:29,880 We have to love Him and be in a relationship with him. 322 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:35,040 Now, what are the main ways that we mess up the expectations that 323 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,600 we think God has for us? Well, a lot of people live with 324 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,800 the sense that they have to clean up their life before they 325 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,760 can come close to him. All it really takes is 1 read 326 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,160 through the gospel to see that Jesus was totally fine with you 327 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,640 approaching him regardless of where you were at in life. 328 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,960 But a lot of us assume that we come in even maybe you feel it 329 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,440 today. You walk into a church, you feel 330 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,920 uncomfortable, you feel awkward. I'm up here preaching in a suit, 331 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:58,600 which I'm telling you, just come back in a week. 332 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,800 I won't, but I'm up here preaching in a suit and y'all 333 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,040 are like, I mean man, I just don't know if I fit in here. 334 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:05,680 Everybody here has it all put together. 335 00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:11,880 You picked the wrong church. Welcome to the island of Misfit 336 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,000 Toys. We've all got some issues here 337 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,880 and a lot of people are too scared to put their issues out 338 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:19,160 there or to wear their heart on their sleeve. 339 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,960 But the reality is that God is looking for those that are 340 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,240 honest. How will you ever go through and 341 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,640 change your your issues? How will you ever overcome the 342 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:28,600 anxiety? How will you ever come overcome 343 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,000 the stresses and struggles of life if you're not willing to 344 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,680 say it out loud and say, I have to work on this, I have to 345 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,560 change, I have to grow, so we have to be willing to do that. 346 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,400 That's one of the greatest benefits of being a part of a 347 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,600 church family. A lot of people feel like they 348 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,560 have to clean it up and get it more presentable. 349 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,120 I'll share my struggle once I've overcome it because then I can 350 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:48,560 use it as a testimony and say that I used to be this way, but 351 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,800 now I'm this way. But if you're the only person 352 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,800 that fixed it back, then your testimony is about you. 353 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,520 You've got to put it in the hands of the Lord and let Him 354 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,040 fix it so that when you give your testimony, He's the one 355 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:03,520 that gets the glory for it. A lot of people don't try to 356 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:05,440 draw closer to God because they feel like they haven't been 357 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,200 consistent in prayer or ever really consistent in attending a 358 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,520 church. They don't spend time reading 359 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,560 the Bible, and so they just say, I've lost my place in line and I 360 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:13,960 have to work to earn my way back. 361 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:15,600 Nothing could be further from the truth. 362 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,280 The other thing which we saw a little bit in this parable is 363 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,480 comparison. This is where your relationship 364 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,720 with God gets measured against someone else who seems more 365 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,640 disciplined or more knowledgeable or more put 366 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,520 together. And that's the problem. 367 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,000 If you start comparing your spiritual walk to somebody that 368 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,320 you assume has a closer relationship with the Lord, 369 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,400 you're going to instantly feel like I can never achieve that. 370 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,800 But their call is not your call, and you may not even see the 371 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,120 whole picture. The other side that's just as 372 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,480 dangerous is like that Pharisee when you start to compare 373 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,760 yourself to someone else who's not as close to the Lord. 374 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,640 And we don't walk into the church normally and say, thank 375 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:53,520 you, God, that I'm not like fill in the blank. 376 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,200 But we do sometimes say, well, it could be worse. 377 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:58,840 We rationalize it in our mind so that we don't have to grow. 378 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,760 Comparison doesn't do anything good in the Kingdom of God. 379 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,360 When you lay all of this out, what really becomes clear is 380 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:08,880 that a lot of people don't reject God. 381 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,680 They just reject a version of him that they've constructed in 382 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,280 their own mind. And that's what we're coming 383 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,920 against today. I want you to know that in both 384 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,360 of those cases, something that's really essential is missed 385 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,400 because what you're working for can't be built through 386 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:22,960 performance. It can only be built through a 387 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,680 relationship. Sometimes words get to me, 388 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,400 right? And so I'll hear people say, 389 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,440 sometimes it's not a religion, it's a relationship. 390 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:37,400 It's kind of both. But here's what the scripture 391 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:41,440 says. Religion is to care for widows 392 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,640 and orphans, but again, what happens then? 393 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,840 Many people burn themselves out trying to do things to take care 394 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,520 of widows or orphans or whatever their ministry of choices. 395 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,600 They've been doing this thinking they're going to feel 396 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,960 fulfillment when they need a deeper connection to the Lord. 397 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,080 When you are deeply connected to the Lord, you'll know the things 398 00:19:58,080 --> 00:19:59,960 that are for you and the things that aren't for you, and it will 399 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:02,400 come from a place of love instead of from a place of 400 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:04,840 trying to earn His love. There's nothing you can do to 401 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,080 make Him love you more, but there's also nothing you can do 402 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,360 to make Him love you less. It's kind of win win when you 403 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,240 think about it. All you have to do is walk into 404 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:14,640 it. So what does God actually want? 405 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,320 Well, in Luke 23, we're going to be there in just a moment. 406 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,160 We'll start to see it. Now we finally arrived at the 407 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,480 crucifixion. And as much as the crucifixion 408 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,440 gets all the attention, it really is the resurrection that 409 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:29,800 should get all the attention. I understand Christmas is where 410 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,080 we go and we do all the decorating and all the gifts, 411 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,720 and that seems to be the major Christian holiday of of the 412 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,360 season. But Resurrection Sunday, I'm 413 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:39,120 telling you, couldn't happen if Jesus didn't come and be born as 414 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,080 a man. But it's not him being crucified 415 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,080 that change things. It's him being resurrected that 416 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,560 did. This is the most holy day of the 417 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,720 year for those of us that live to glorify what Jesus did. 418 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:55,200 But I want you to think that you were there. 419 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,280 Think about it. He's on the cross. 420 00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:59,960 He's been nailed there. And so that moment had to look 421 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:03,800 like failure to so many. He's actually in the center of 422 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:05,840 everything that God is doing, but they can't see it. 423 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:07,680 And he's not being crucified alone. 424 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,360 There's two other criminals that are being crucified on the same 425 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,720 day, and they're close enough that they can speak with him. 426 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:16,920 And you need to know this was not like a public flogging. 427 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:18,720 This was not like a public whipping. 428 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,040 There was no bring him down from the cross and walk it off when 429 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:23,560 you were crucified. That was it. 430 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,520 It was going to result in death. And what we're about to read 431 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,480 here happens with these two criminals that are on the 432 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,280 crosses right next to Jesus. One of the criminals hanging 433 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,240 beside him scoffed and said, so you're the Messiah are you? 434 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,280 He said, prove it by saving yourself and us too while you're 435 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,080 at it. There it is, what can you do for 436 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:46,000 me? Prove it to me. 437 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,000 But the other criminal protested and said, don't you fear God 438 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,240 even when you have been sentenced to die? 439 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:56,240 He said we deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't 440 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,800 done anything wrong. And then he said, Jesus, 441 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:01,200 Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom. 442 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,680 And Jesus said, I assure you today you will be with me in 443 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,600 paradise. You're looking at two men who 444 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,560 are in the exact same situation. They're going through the exact 445 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,000 same suffering, the same crucifixion. 446 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,120 They're both going to die. And one of them is still saying, 447 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:20,040 prove it to me, God, what's in it for me? 448 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,120 And the other one is saying, I just want you to know me. 449 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:25,960 I just want you to Remember Me when you step into glory. 450 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:29,400 Do you understand how significant this is? 451 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,160 Many of us, we wait for this God. 452 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,160 I want to make sure that I'm following the right path. 453 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,000 Give me a sign to show me that it is the correct thing. 454 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,240 Of course, if he gives you a sign, it's not really faith, is 455 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,600 it? We want a sign though. 456 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,360 We want certainty. I'm just going to tell you this, 457 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:50,200 somebody diagnosed with mild OCD, certainty is the one thing 458 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,440 you chase that will keep you awake more than anything else. 459 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,200 We don't look for certainty. We don't look for the answers. 460 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,200 We look for the way and Jesus is the way. 461 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,720 There's some crazy statistic we'll be talking about a little 462 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,320 bit more in the weeks to come, but almost every single question 463 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,320 that Jesus was ever asked, he didn't answer directly. 464 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:15,920 I want to say it's about four questions, something like that, 465 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,720 that he answered directly. And the reason was because he 466 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:20,120 wasn't there to give people answers. 467 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,800 He was there to point them to the way. 468 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,680 See, Jesus is not the method. He's the way. 469 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:30,040 Now, first, you've got one guy who says, hey, if you really are 470 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,160 the Messiah, it's like, hey, here's my last shot. 471 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,400 Prove it by pulling yourself off of this cross and do the same 472 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:40,240 thing for me. Jesus wasn't really big on being 473 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,640 told to perform. His mom got him to turn water 474 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,760 into wine that one time. But most of the time, most of 475 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,040 the time he didn't take the bait. 476 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,040 But the other man, he was different. 477 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,240 What'd you think about this? This man is knowing he's in his 478 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,400 last moments. This man that says, Jesus, 479 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,400 Remember Me? He has no chance to prove that 480 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,520 his change in his heart is real. He's not going to get down off 481 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,560 of this cross and start a soup kitchen or go serve the poor or 482 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,800 the hungry. He's going to have no chance to 483 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,240 walk this out or to know what life he would have lived if he 484 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,120 hadn't gone back, if he hadn't done the mistakes that he had 485 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:16,080 done previously. He knows it's over for him. 486 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,560 He's not asking Jesus to take any of the consequences out of 487 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,360 his life other than I just want to be with you. 488 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,960 There's something different when you pursue Jesus, and not just 489 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,280 what He can provide for you. When you pursue Him, He provides 490 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,080 for you. When you try to pursue the 491 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,600 things He provides for you, you're satisfied with things 492 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,320 rather than Him. But you know what's interesting? 493 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,600 That moment of clarity for that one criminal on the cross, that 494 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,640 one humble heart, it resulted in Jesus responding immediately. 495 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,600 Immediately. The fastest I've ever heard Him 496 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,320 in prayers is when I'm broken and I'm crying out to Him for 497 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,480 Him, and not when I'm asking Him to fix a situation or a 498 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,880 relationship breach or some sort of wisdom. 499 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,600 When I just realized that my need is Him, He answers a lot 500 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,080 quicker. What this really shows is not 501 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:10,960 just what happened on that cross, but what's always been 502 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,560 true about the heart of God. And I hope you hear me when I 503 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:15,880 say this today. He's not looking for people that 504 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,160 can perform their way into a relationship with Him, and he's 505 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,720 not waiting for the version of you that finally gets your act 506 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,560 together. So you've been waiting for it. 507 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,040 But good news, you're off the hook. 508 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,120 It's probably never going to happen. 509 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,240 He's looking for you to be honest. 510 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,920 He's looking for you to be genuine, and he's looking for 511 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,840 you to be open to his correction and his loving and gentle 512 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,440 guidance. Not to use him, but to know him. 513 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,280 There's a he's probably still famous, but he's a lot more 514 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:48,360 famous. Many years ago. 515 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,960 Y'all remember Jeff Foxworthy, right? 516 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,880 So might be a redneck if what was it smarter than 1/4 grader? 517 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:56,600 I didn't offend people by saying redneck. 518 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,080 This is the worship team just so you know. 519 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:05,840 So Jeff Foxworthy always grew up knowing God but had never really 520 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,240 embraced God. And there was a reason why for 521 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:11,120 him. He was afraid that by embracing 522 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,160 God it would cost him everything that made him him. 523 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,160 Whatever it is that made Jeff, Jeff was going to get taken 524 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,480 away. And so he said, I don't want to 525 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:20,680 do that. I want to pursue comedy. 526 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,960 I want to do all of this. But what he found is that the 527 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,040 closer he got to Jesus, it didn't change him. 528 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:27,720 It equipped him in a different way. 529 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,640 Listen, this is his quote. He said, I thought I had to get 530 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,920 my life cleaned up before I came to Christ. 531 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,600 What I found out was you come to Christ and he begins to clean 532 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,760 you up. A lot of us, we've got all these 533 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,480 steps we want to take before we really come to him. 534 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,800 That's a trap. Now don't give yourself too much 535 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,880 credit either though. You follow him for a while and 536 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,440 you see no changes in your life. You got to go back to him and 537 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:56,760 find what you've been holding on to. 538 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:02,080 But the expectation can't be to change first. 539 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,560 It has to be to respond to him in a few minutes. 540 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,600 We're going to give you a chance to respond with the worship team 541 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,640 has something special planned. And and after that, we've got 542 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:12,080 several people that'll be up here to pray with you. 543 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,440 Because when we do this, when we respond to Jesus, we don't say 544 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:15,560 just put your hand up in your seat. 545 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,200 We want to pray with you. We want to help walk with you 546 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,000 through this. That's important to us and it's 547 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,560 important for you too. We're Better Together. 548 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,280 But before we get there, I want to revisit the last thing that 549 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,480 we just read. And I really want to focus in on 550 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,600 a word, and that word is today. In most versions of the 551 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,440 Scripture, when you read through this story, Jesus says, truly, I 552 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:39,840 tell you comma, today you will be with me in paradise. 553 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,560 But the problem is that in the ancient languages like that, we 554 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,080 didn't have the quotation marks or the commas or the things that 555 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,320 we have in English today. And so because of that, a lot of 556 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,080 scholars note that that phrase, when it uses today could 557 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,920 actually be placed on a front heavy part of the statement, 558 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,080 which means it could have sounded something like this. 559 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:02,320 Truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise. 560 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,080 And if that's how he meant it, that changes a lot. 561 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,560 And I'll tell you why. This man was on the cross 562 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,520 getting crucified. He knew he was dying. 563 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,280 So it makes sense to say today you'll be with me in paradise. 564 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,680 How many of y'all would love to hear a word from Jesus 565 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,280 personally today? OK, there's only one right 566 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:18,960 answer. You're in church. 567 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,960 But I'd love to hear a word from him. 568 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,480 But could you imagine if his word was truly. 569 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,680 I tell you today you'll be with me in paradise. 570 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,040 You're like, why do I? I mean, I wanted it, but not so 571 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,120 soon, right? OK, I want you to know the 572 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:35,720 promise to that man on the cross is the same promise He makes to 573 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:37,520 you. Truly, He would tell you today 574 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:42,160 that you will be with Him in paradise, but you have to accept 575 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,040 that offer. Jesus is not just describing a 576 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,440 future destination. He's making the present moment 577 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:53,080 that you're in a promise that you can hold onto for life when 578 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,480 you accept Him as your Lord and you start to live by the ways 579 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,160 that He guides you. Not by the way that people guide 580 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,280 you, but the way that the Lord Himself guides you. 581 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,040 He changes you. And when you change, you don't 582 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:05,680 mind it. Do you see the difference? 583 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:07,920 Because when you start to try to change yourself to fit because 584 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,520 you're scared of going to hell, you're never happy. 585 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,760 You're never content because you're not authentically you. 586 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,720 But you will authentically find yourself when you go to the one 587 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,200 who created you. And then when He starts to 588 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,120 reintroduce yourself to who you've been all along, then 589 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,200 you'll start to change in a way that you won't mind. 590 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,120 I promise you. We got a room full of 591 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:28,600 testimonies if you don't believe me. 592 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:34,680 Now that being said, Jesus meets you there, but this is not just 593 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,200 a word for people who don't know the Lord. 594 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,400 This is a word for anybody who's known the Lord for a long time 595 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:43,560 but has had the wrong expectations. 596 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:46,920 I want to read to you a scripture. 597 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:51,920 Acts chapter 4 verse 12 says there is salvation in no one 598 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,880 else. God has given no other name 599 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,480 under heaven by which we must be saved. 600 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:00,520 And at first glance, I understand that that can feel 601 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,680 narrow. But when you sit with it, it's 602 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,120 really kind. And it's kind for a couple of 603 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,440 reasons. First of all, if we had, I don't 604 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,920 know, twenty ways to get to God, we would say, well, what about 605 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,640 25? I don't really like any of these 606 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,160 options. What else do you have for me? 607 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,040 99 options. How about #100 But the other 608 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:27,360 thing is, isn't it great that God made it so specific so that 609 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,240 she wouldn't have any doubt? But again, Jesus is not the 610 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:33,880 method. He is the He's the way. 611 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,200 When you read through His life, He lived it the way we're 612 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,480 supposed to live our lives. He modelled a way to communicate 613 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,040 with the Father. He had rhythms where he didn't 614 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,640 just get along with the Lord. He also intentionally was around 615 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,640 people. So whether or not you isolate 616 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,440 yourself from the Lord or you isolate yourself from people, 617 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,640 you're wrong. But if you're doing it for the 618 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:01,440 wrong motives, it can get fixed. You've got to get with the Lord 619 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,560 in order for Him to walk you through who you were always 620 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:08,160 meant to be. Now listen, God and His kindness 621 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:09,960 did not leave you with uncertainty. 622 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,080 For some people here, the most important part of today is not 623 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,040 what you've heard so far, but it's what you choose to do. 624 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:19,080 Next we're going to have the worship team lead us in another 625 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,560 song, and it's powerful and I love that we're doing it. 626 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:25,720 But I want you to take this time knowing that we're going to pray 627 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:27,560 with you afterwards. And I want you to think about 628 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,040 what you need to commit yourself with to the Lord. 629 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,120 Maybe it's something where you've been close enough for a 630 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,160 long time. Maybe you've never really known 631 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,600 the Lord. Maybe you're not even sure that 632 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,600 you want to accept Jesus today. We'll still pray with you. 633 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,000 If you need to figure some things out, this would be the 634 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:45,800 day to get people to rally around you. 635 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:49,320 We are Better Together. We're going to pursue Him 636 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:50,040 together. Amen. 637 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:51,440 Would y'all stand up this morning? 638 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:58,640 I want you to remember something as we head into worship today. 639 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:01,640 Could be your today as well. Amen.