1 00:00:22,510 --> 00:00:25,470 Good morning. My name is Daniel. 2 00:00:25,550 --> 00:00:27,830 I'm going to lead pastors here at Resurrection Church. 3 00:00:27,830 --> 00:00:29,390 How about the youth band today, huh? 4 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,600 You got you bring your kids on on Wednesday nights and that is 5 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,240 junior high and high school band, worship band that played 6 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:41,920 and sang for you today, LED you in worship. 7 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,840 That's pretty awesome. Hey, I, I was staring at my 8 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,640 youngest kid just the other day and I was thinking kind of 9 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,320 through this concept. I think that raising kids in 10 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:56,920 2025 might actually be harder than at any other time in 11 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,640 history. Just so I want you to think 12 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,240 about this. Up until about 150 years ago, 13 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:08,320 you could have like 10 kids throw them outside and like, as 14 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:10,520 long as they got like, I mean, you could like they're, they're 15 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,120 working on the farm and all that. 16 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,480 You, if you, if you gave them hugs, food and discipline, they 17 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:21,880 probably turned out OK. But man, it is not that way 18 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,520 anymore. Did you know studies actually 19 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,440 say that we are spending more time paying attention to our 20 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,920 kids than at any other time that we've tracked in history and 21 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,840 we're getting worse results? That's wild. 22 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,920 Well, in fact, why is that? If we're spending more time, 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:41,600 why, why are we getting well here? 24 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,000 Here's what I would submit to you. 25 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,000 I, I would, I would tell you that the, the, the forces at 26 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,560 work shaping our kids are more present, more powerful, more 27 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:53,040 all-encompassing than they've ever been. 28 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,520 Like social media and Internet and, and streaming content is 29 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,120 kind of just everywhere. And all of a sudden all of this 30 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:05,280 stuff has this ability to develop our kids, whether we 31 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:10,479 like it or not. Our, our culture has taken over 32 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:13,160 as one of the primary developers of our kids. 33 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,080 And I'll just tell you that is not good news. 34 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:21,080 So, so, so we're seeing in kids in preteen and teens the highest 35 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,320 levels of preteen depression, the highest levels of anxiety 36 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:32,000 and self harm rates in history as as a parent. 37 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,720 Like some days it feels like the entire world is stacked against 38 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,920 me as a parent. Not enough time, not enough 39 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:46,680 training, not enough money, and certainly not enough energy. 40 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:56,440 It feels almost hopeless. Some wise person once said we 41 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,720 can live about 40 days without food, about 3 days without 42 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,760 water, about 8 minutes without air, but not a single second 43 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,520 without hope. And we have some good reasons to 44 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,920 be discouraged. Discouragement is a universal 45 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:17,040 disease, and we all get discouraged. 46 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:18,880 Has anyone in here felt discouraged in the last two 47 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,640 months? You either are raising your hand 48 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:29,400 or you're lying in church. I mean, all the introverts are 49 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,480 like, I don't want to do either. Howard Hendricks said that 50 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,880 discouragement is the anaesthetic that the devil uses 51 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,960 on a person right before he reaches in and carves out their 52 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:45,080 heart. When you get discouraged, a lot 53 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,760 of bad things tend to follow in your life. 54 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,480 Parents, we are raising the next generation of the world in our 55 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,560 homes right now. What we're shaping the future of 56 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,000 of the city of Bakersfield, the, the, the, the future of this 57 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,040 country in our living rooms and in our kitchens. 58 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,440 I, I want my kids to grow up to have a better chance than I did, 59 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,200 to make better choices than I did. 60 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,960 And so as a parent, if you're a parent in this room or if you're 61 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:15,960 raising kids in this room, I want you to know the what you do 62 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:21,360 matters. I know that it matters to you. 63 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,200 I know that your kids matter to you. 64 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,960 But I want you to know that your kids matter to us too, at this 65 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,480 church. They matter to us. 66 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,400 And therefore your encouragement matters. 67 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:39,360 There is real genuine hope for your home, and I want to share 68 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,120 it with you today. But to talk about real hope, I 69 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,880 think it would be important to name the problem. 70 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,160 So let's start here. Do you ever feel like like 71 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,800 everything is uphill? I don't mean the story your 72 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,440 parent told you about how they had to walk uphill to school 73 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,880 both ways. I don't in the snow in 74 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:03,640 Bakersfield, you know, I mean, do you ever feel like life is 75 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:04,840 just uphill? Like everything's uphill. 76 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:09,720 Like parenting, relationships, marriage, life, work, fitness. 77 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,720 It's uphill. Like it's just, it's all hard. 78 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,200 It's all a trudge. The Bible says that's true. 79 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,000 But the Bible also says that it didn't start that way, that in 80 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,320 the very beginning when Guy created this world and he put us 81 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,600 in it, that it wasn't that way, that that humanity did not 82 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,080 experience death or pain in that way. 83 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:36,080 In fact, we, we walked and talked in a garden with God, in 84 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,040 close relationship with God. But it was humanity, it was Adam 85 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,160 and Eve who chose to rebel against God when they bought a 86 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,480 lie from Satan that they didn't need God. 87 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,720 And as a result, death for humanity entered into the world 88 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,280 in the form of a curse. That's that's what Genesis 3 89 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,480 tells us. Here's just a couple lines from 90 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,400 that curse. To the woman, he said, I will 91 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,080 surely multiply your pain in childbearing. 92 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,720 Can I get a name in Almost. You almost know what it's like 93 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:18,840 for a man to have a cold. And to Adam, he said he's just 94 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:20,160 going to keep trucking on that one. 95 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,760 And Adam, he said cursed is the ground because of you in pain. 96 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:27,920 You shall eat of it all of the days of your life. 97 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,760 This is when work became hard and not fulfilling. 98 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,000 Thorns and thistles that she'll bring forth for you. 99 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,400 And you shall eat the plants of the field. 100 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:42,720 Death, pain, toil, work that is frustrating separation from God. 101 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:48,720 That event in history is called the Fall, and you and I now live 102 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:53,800 in a fallen world under the curse of sin, born into sin and 103 00:06:53,800 --> 00:07:00,280 death, struggling uphill because things all went wrong. 104 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,720 And so that feeling that you have, that frustration that you 105 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:08,000 have, you are not alone. Look around you. 106 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:10,800 Everybody was raising their hand. 107 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:19,640 We all feel that when, when, when I was a younger parent and 108 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:21,560 we only had two kids at that point. 109 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,080 And, and I was, you know, I'm working a job and I'm trying to 110 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,680 raise kids and, and trying to figure out this marriage thing. 111 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,040 And no matter how hard I worked, it felt like I didn't ever get 112 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,040 ahead. And no matter how much I, I 113 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:33,960 thought I was trying to be a good dad, I always felt like a 114 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,240 bad dad. And no matter how hard I tried 115 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,960 to work in marriage, it always felt like I was failing. 116 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,720 And so, so no matter what I was doing, I just remember one night 117 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,640 so frustrated and everything revolved around my life. 118 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:47,080 Like everything in my life I was frustrated with. 119 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,880 I was so angry. And I remember yelling at my 120 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:52,960 wife like, like, as if somehow it was her fault. 121 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,560 But oftentimes we take out frustration on people that are 122 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,600 closest to us. And I remember just screaming, I 123 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,600 don't know what you want. I don't know how to do this. 124 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:10,680 Maybe you can relate to that. And so if you'll give me the 125 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,560 next 20 minutes or so, I'm going to tell you that the Bible has 126 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,920 phenomenal hope for you today. Great hope for you today. 127 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,840 If you don't remember anything else from this sermon today, 128 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,600 remember this line, this, this one point that we're going to, 129 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,880 we're going to see in this text. Hope isn't real unless it really 130 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,120 fixes me. Hope isn't real unless it really 131 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,280 fixes me. We're going to turn to a letter 132 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:40,320 in the Bible called Colossians. It was written by a follower of 133 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,960 Jesus name Paul to encourage an entire church in the city of 134 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,160 Kalasai that was going through some suffering. 135 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:46,600 They're going through some conflict. 136 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,920 And he wants them to know that there is real hope, like genuine 137 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,080 hope. Not, not, not some of the not 138 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:54,280 there. In fact, in that time there was 139 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,080 some scams from some religious groups trying to sell people on 140 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:58,400 some stuff. And so he's going to 141 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,400 simultaneously say, no, that ain't right. 142 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,160 And let me tell you what real hope is. 143 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,840 And so in probably the most famous line in that whole 144 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,680 letter, Colossians 127, he says this to them. 145 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:16,000 God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the 146 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:24,360 riches of his glory, of this mystery, which is Christ in you, 147 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:33,440 the hope of glory, Christ in you, the hope of glory. 148 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,080 You see, in Paul's day, there were these false teachers in, in 149 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,000 a lot of these cities in the 1st century, but particularly in 150 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,040 this one that were, were selling the people on this idea that 151 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,480 there would be real hope if, if they would do all of these 152 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,320 religious things and they'd be part of these special clubs, 153 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,640 that there would be this, this mysterious hidden knowledge that 154 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,040 they had that no one else had. And all they had to do was earn 155 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:00,720 it through a whole series of religious exercises. 156 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,360 And so Paul is going to, he's going to come into the he's 157 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,160 going to write this letter to this church and go, no, no, that 158 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,840 is not true. There's no secret religious 159 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,600 knowledge, and you certainly can't earn it. 160 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:12,080 However, there is a mystery, or there was. 161 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,160 And the mystery was how God would fix our broken world. 162 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:18,040 That was a mystery. You know why? 163 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,160 Because it wasn't the way anyone expected it to be. 164 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:28,280 It was a surprise. My my youngest child is my son 165 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:30,600 Quentin. And when he was about 7 years, 166 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:32,040 he's always been a really expressive kid. 167 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,480 If you know him like you know, he's, he's a pretty expressive 168 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,680 kid, but but he was about 7 years old. 169 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,480 We were watching this show and there was like this big plot 170 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,200 twist, like this crazy ending right at the end where it was 171 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,440 not what we were expecting. We were watching it as a 7 year 172 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:45,480 old. I remember his eyes get really 173 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:50,280 big and he goes, whoa, and he looks at me and goes plot twist. 174 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,520 And he goes, I did not see that coming. 175 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:59,760 I was like, well, you're 7. So I mean, Paul says that the, 176 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:04,680 the way that God would fix the problem, the, the hope for the 177 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:06,560 world was a plot to us. It was a shocker. 178 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,800 And so we're going to look at three, what I think are shocking 179 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,280 things about how God chose to fix the problem and give us 180 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,080 hope. And I want to, I want to drill 181 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:20,240 in on the details because I think, man, God will encourage 182 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,960 you today. Like, like as you begin to see 183 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:25,960 who he is, he will encourage you. 184 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,160 I need encouragement. If you need encouragement today, 185 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:34,520 say me, OK, we're in the right place #1 The first way that the 186 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,400 first shocking thing about how God would fix this world and 187 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,880 give us hope is this. God's hope is humble. 188 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:42,320 God's hope is humble. That was shocking. 189 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:45,600 The first thing that would shock everybody about how God would 190 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,720 take care of this problem was the humility. 191 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:52,400 Jesus was born into poverty. He's the son of a Carpenter. 192 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:57,000 He he multiple times refused an earthly crown. 193 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,720 Jesus would voluntarily die for us. 194 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,800 That does not sound very regal or mighty. 195 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:10,120 Sounds very humble. God's hope is humble, and that 196 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,320 means that God is not some distant faraway God who some 197 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,920 elitist God that doesn't doesn't really care about us like like 198 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,920 some God from Greek mythology that's just looking down on all 199 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,960 of us like ants in an Ant farm. No, no, God came down and was 200 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,360 with us. That means that God is near. 201 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,360 That means that God became human, means that he can relate 202 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,920 to our suffering. And that's good news, because 203 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,920 that means he understands our pain. 204 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,680 So God's new. God's hope is humble, but God's 205 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,560 hope is also different, because God's hope is himself. 206 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,480 It was God himself who came. He didn't create a fix or a 207 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,480 solution and send it. He came. 208 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,520 Of all the ways to fix the problem, God coming himself was 209 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,680 a shocker. Jesus lived a perfect life 210 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,720 without sin. That's the life that you and I 211 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,560 should have lived, but we couldn't do it. 212 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,040 And then he went and voluntarily died on a cross to pay a penalty 213 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:10,720 for sin. That's the death we should have 214 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:18,550 died but didn't. You know, God couldn't have put 215 00:13:18,550 --> 00:13:23,070 his hope in me or you because we couldn't have done it. 216 00:13:24,830 --> 00:13:28,990 We, we, we can't save humanity. I can't figure out how to save 217 00:13:28,990 --> 00:13:32,390 coupons from being real. Certainly wasn't going to save 218 00:13:32,390 --> 00:13:39,360 humanity, but God can and did. It was Jesus that had the power 219 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,320 not only to live that way, but but to be raised from the dead 220 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,080 three days later. And that wasn't an accident. 221 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,040 He literally called his shot ahead of time. 222 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:49,080 He's like, I'm going to lay my life down and I'm going to pick 223 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:50,960 it up three days later. Like that's power. 224 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,920 And that, let me tell you why that's such good news, because 225 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:01,400 that means that a hope in him is not a hope in some new diet, 226 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:09,120 some new politician, some new TikTok dance like that's going 227 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:14,960 to fix it. Hope is in a God who came, who 228 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,080 had the power to fix the problem and has the power to fix the 229 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,760 problem. Now, the third surprise. 230 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,080 So God's hope was humble and God's hope was himself. 231 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,320 But the third surprise is this. God's hope disregards human 232 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,280 power, disregards human power in order to be saved. 233 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:37,200 You can't earn it and you'll never deserve it. 234 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,680 All you get to do is accept it and see that's the exact 235 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,680 opposite of of what's happening in this the response that Paul 236 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,240 has in this letter, he's saying, listen, these these are 237 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,840 religious groups that are selling you on this concept that 238 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,000 somehow you're going to earn this secret knowledge is the 239 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,720 exact opposite of actually what God did because you could never 240 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:05,440 earn what he did. The truth of unearned salvation 241 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,000 strips all earthly power from a person. 242 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,840 Because when nothing that I can do, no, no talent, no gift, no 243 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,560 wealth, no ability can earn it, then it makes all of those a bit 244 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:18,560 meaningless in the moment. And here's what that means. 245 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:23,560 That means that Elon Musk or, or or Jeff Bezos, they don't have 246 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,520 any more right to the hope than you or I do. 247 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,280 So they could be a billionaire and it doesn't matter. 248 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,920 That's good news because I checked my bank account this 249 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,360 morning that I am not a billionaire yet. 250 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:44,520 Maybe. See, I think it's actually 251 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,960 sometimes the opposite in the Bible talks about this a little 252 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,760 bit as it sometimes those that are powerful in this world, 253 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,160 those that are wealthy in this world, those that are talented, 254 00:15:53,160 --> 00:16:00,320 sometimes they have the hardest time seeing Christ because 255 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,760 they're so used to relying on themselves. 256 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,480 Sometimes it's those of us without resources that come to 257 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:15,760 Christ the fastest and easiest. You know, a lot of us struggle 258 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,560 with the idea that the greatest and most precious gift available 259 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,640 would be free because valuable things always have a cost. 260 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,880 And that's true. It's just that in this case, 261 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,160 someone else paid the bill. Amen. 262 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,800 The prevailing thought at this point in history in the 1st 263 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:44,160 century, was that when God came to fix the problem, he was only 264 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,240 going to fix the problem for this little subset group, this 265 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,440 small group of people, this minority group of people called 266 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,880 the Israelites. And so they had spent centuries 267 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,760 waiting for God to come and save only them. 268 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,000 But the actual plan as we read the Bible from the very 269 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,240 beginning was that God would save all people. 270 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,160 And so this term we see in this verse, Gentile, it just means a 271 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,480 non Jewish person like you or me. 272 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:12,839 It was a people group that was not expecting salvation, was it? 273 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,680 They didn't have hope that God would come and fix a problem and 274 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:19,520 they certainly had done nothing to deserve it. 275 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,960 It was truly hopeless. That's why it's such good news 276 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:31,320 that that that that you and I get to partake that that me a 277 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:36,440 Gentile, a non Jewish person, that me a Sinner can receive 278 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:41,440 what God is freely giving. So so when Paul points to this 279 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,760 mystery, he's simply saying, listen, the truth of how God 280 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,560 would come and restore hope in this world is shocking. 281 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,360 And while it was a mystery, now it's not. 282 00:17:53,760 --> 00:18:03,400 Now it's known and then he explains what that hope is, that 283 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:08,000 God saves us and we get to understand what he calls the 284 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,120 riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, 285 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:18,840 the hope of glory. Now why would Christ in me be 286 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,080 such a blessing? Why would that be such a big 287 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,840 deal? Like, why would I look at that 288 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:29,040 and even care? OK, listen, this is probably the 289 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,280 most important thing that you will ever hear from the Bible. 290 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,240 You ready, everybody? You ready? 291 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:40,400 OK. This is why it's so important 292 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,880 because at the end of the day, despite us acknowledging that we 293 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:50,280 live in a Dark World, there are lots of problems like the 294 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,440 economy, the suffering, the evil, right? 295 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:59,240 But here's the problem guys. Even if God fixed every one of 296 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:04,880 those problems, I still have to deal with the biggest problem in 297 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,000 my life. Me. 298 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,280 I'm the problem now. I have plenty of things in this 299 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,000 world I can look at and point at and I can try to blame, but the 300 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:21,040 reality is I'm still broken. I'm still selfish, I'm still 301 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,160 prideful. I'm still dysfunctional. 302 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:28,040 No matter how many external things change, I'm still my own 303 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:33,960 worst enemy. That's that's why people can 304 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,320 become rich and famous and live in luxury and then have the 305 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,760 highest suicide rate in the country. 306 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,880 But, but, but you are wealthy and you got famous and you got a 307 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:48,560 house. You have all these possessions 308 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,240 and you have all these things. Why doesn't it actually satisfy 309 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,040 you? Because we haven't actually 310 00:19:53,040 --> 00:20:00,080 fixed the problem. Over half of all lottery winners 311 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,000 go bankrupt in five years. That should just be a little, 312 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,200 little bit of a yellow flag. Maybe that money ain't going to 313 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,640 fix all the problems. Even if we fix all of the 314 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,640 world's problems, this is my question. 315 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:20,840 Who's going to fix me? And if you don't think that's a 316 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,880 problem, I'll just consider this. 317 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,440 You don't even have to believe in Jesus, You don't even have to 318 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,640 believe in God to realize that you already have an idea of 319 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:32,880 right and wrong. You do. 320 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,800 It may be a subjective thing that you've come up with, but 321 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,760 you still have an idea of right and wrong, and you can't live up 322 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:44,960 to that standard, your own that you created, You can't live up 323 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,880 to that. Philosophers across history have 324 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,560 talked about this phenomenon. CS Lewis said it this way. 325 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,360 He said human beings all over the earth have this curious idea 326 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,800 that they ought to behave in a certain way and cannot really 327 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,000 get rid of it. Secondly, they do not in fact 328 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:07,280 behave in that way. So I've created a moral standard 329 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,880 and I can't live up to that. How's that for being a loser? 330 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,360 CS Lewis says this. He says these two facts are the 331 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:25,240 foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe 332 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:30,440 that we live in, that we know there's a moral law and we fail 333 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,240 to keep it. How can I expect to have hope in 334 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:37,440 this broken world when I'm broken, When I'm a hypocrite and 335 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,800 I can't even live up to my own standard of right and wrong? 336 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,520 Where's the hope in that? Someone needs to fix me. 337 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:53,240 And if someone can fix me, then even if they don't fix the 338 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,720 world's problems right now, maybe I have a real chance at 339 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:02,480 satisfaction and contentment. If nothing else changes but they 340 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:09,880 fix me, maybe there's hope. And that's what Christ did. 341 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:17,680 He came to change us from the inside out, to save us, to 342 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,080 change us, And he does that from within. 343 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:25,360 Christ in me is the hope of glory. 344 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:34,120 I'll give you an example of how unnatural this is at times, how 345 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:37,040 almost supernatural this is. You know, earlier this week I 346 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,880 was really frustrated. I was, in fact, I don't even 347 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,240 know if I said anything, but I was super, super frustrated with 348 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,920 my wife. And now here's what normal me 349 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,600 would do and the sequence of thoughts that I'll go through. 350 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:49,240 You may not be able to relate to any of these. 351 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,600 We'll see. But for most of my life, here's 352 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,200 where I would have started when I was really frustrated. 353 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:56,280 I would have been like, you know what, this needs to really fix 354 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:57,560 this problem. Some passive aggressive 355 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:02,440 comments. You know, she needs to know that 356 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,720 I'm frustrated. So, you know, I'm somebody 357 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,320 language, some facial expressions, some a little 358 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:12,520 little passive aggressive, you know, like she I got to, I got 359 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,760 to get this off my chest. You know, you ever felt like you 360 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:16,920 need to get something off your chest? 361 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,640 OK, so there's a couple honest people in here. 362 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:27,160 Appreciate you guys. And so, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm 363 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,280 in the middle of having kind of the little, maybe again, you've 364 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,080 never done. I'm having a little pity party 365 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,480 about how I don't really deserve to be treated this way. 366 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:35,880 Anybody. Yeah. 367 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:36,760 OK. A couple of you. 368 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:41,640 A couple of you. And it's not fair, you know, and 369 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:46,120 I need to say something except in this moment, in the midst of 370 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:48,320 all these feelings, which are very natural for me. 371 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:53,720 And I've had them my whole life. There's this second voice, and 372 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:55,240 it does not sound like me at all. 373 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,520 And you know what it's saying. You do not need to get that off 374 00:23:58,520 --> 00:23:59,840 your chest. You should keep that on your 375 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:04,560 chest. What you need to do is go serve 376 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,520 your wife. I do not like that. 377 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:12,800 No, you need to go serve your wife. 378 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,720 You need to go serve your wife well. 379 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:18,120 But I don't think she deserves it. 380 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:25,360 Well, neither do you. Oh, I know who's talking right 381 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:29,080 now. Hey. 382 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,120 Hey. Do you remember how I came for 383 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:35,200 you? Do you remember how I found you 384 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,560 when you were my enemy? Do you remember what you thought 385 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,400 about me when I saved you? I do. 386 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:43,880 I do. Go serve your wife. 387 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:54,400 Go serve your wife. So, so in, in the moments which 388 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,920 are very normal of, of selfishness and pride and pity 389 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:05,680 party, I am now compelled to act in a way that is not natural for 390 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:11,080 me to get up and go make some coffee and pull the car out and 391 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,840 help people get rid of like, like why I can in those moments. 392 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,000 Now, even though there's a, a fleshly side that's super 393 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,840 frustrated, there's also a knowledge that I live under the 394 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:28,880 unearned grace of God. Now, an intellectual 395 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,960 understanding of God's grace is not enough to compel me. 396 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,840 I can know some facts, but it's not enough. 397 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,400 So I have to. Here's why. 398 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,000 OK, let's be real, because I'm far too selfish for that. 399 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:49,520 No, no, something's got to compel me. 400 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,520 It's got to change me. It's got to actually begin to to 401 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,040 push and change my desire, the desires of my heart. 402 00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:02,520 So I have to ask this, what power would it take to compel 403 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,160 someone like me to act like that? 404 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:15,600 Because that's not normal. Christ in me means a 405 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:20,000 supernatural power that can change the very desires of my 406 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,640 heart, the very emotions that are coming out. 407 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,440 That that's what I mean when I say hope isn't real unless it 408 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:35,640 really changes me. Does that make sense to you? 409 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,280 Like like like, OK, so then then how does this happen? 410 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:47,280 Like how do we, how do we go about a change, a real change? 411 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:53,320 We're actually want the change. You must surrender to Jesus to 412 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,880 be changed. There's a whole message of, of 413 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,400 the gospel. You must surrender. 414 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:04,440 Like here's the thing, you don't fix yourself and then come to 415 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:09,240 Jesus. You don't clean yourself up and 416 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,040 then come to G, but that would be like cleaning yourself up and 417 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:18,040 then getting in the shower. I don't you're doing it wrong, 418 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,160 right? But but also it's not enough to 419 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,000 intellectually know what the shower does. 420 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,240 If you're standing on the outside of the shower looking at 421 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,680 it and you know lots of facts about it, it hasn't done 422 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:37,040 anything. You got to get in and look in. 423 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:40,720 In America because of cultural Christianity, there's tons of 424 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,560 people showing up once a week staring at the shower. 425 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,200 I heard a quote this week. It says man if if you teach 426 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,200 people morals but but they don't know Christ, you're just getting 427 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:03,120 tidy unbelievers. You got to know him because only 428 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:08,440 he has the power to change you. You got to get in the shower. 429 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,280 If you're in the youth group, maybe twice. 430 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:19,760 You got to get in the shower and you got to let it wash over you 431 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,040 again and again and again and again. 432 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:28,480 If you want real hope. If you want real hope for your 433 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,920 home. If you want real hope for your 434 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,360 life, if you want hope that's going to actually solve the 435 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,640 problem, the problem is me from the inside. 436 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:42,560 You have to surrender to God and let Him begin to do work on your 437 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:49,240 life. So will you do that? 438 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:54,400 No one can push you in the shower. 439 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,480 That's the way it works. You have to step into the grace 440 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,560 and the mercy and the hope that God offers. 441 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,640 If you have never done that before, if you've never 442 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,760 surrendered your life to God, will you do that today? 443 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,640 The Bible says you have to place faith in Him in order to be 444 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:15,520 saved. Romans 10/9 to 10 would say this 445 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,560 way. Because if you'll confess with 446 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,120 your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that 447 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,400 God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 448 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,960 For with the heart 1 believes and is justified, and with the 449 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:33,400 mouth 1 declares and is saved. Jesus died and was raised from 450 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,960 death three days later. To offer you this hope, to fix 451 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:44,160 the real problem, to offer you a new life as the Lord of your 452 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:45,840 life. Listen, I don't know how old you 453 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:47,200 are. You've had that many years 454 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:53,240 trying to do it on your own. So if you would like to 455 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,040 surrender to your your life to God today, I want to give you 456 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:57,640 that chance. Will you all please bow your 457 00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,680 heads and close your eyes for for just a moment. 458 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,040 We're going to wrap service up in just a just a second. 459 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,720 If you're willing to ask God for forgiveness and salvation. 460 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:12,320 If you're if you're ready to get in the shower for the first time 461 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,040 with every eye closed and every head bowed, I just want you to 462 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:26,200 quietly say something like this. Jesus, I know I'm a Sinner and I 463 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:34,040 can't save myself. I want you to save me and adopt 464 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:39,520 me into your family. I surrender everything to you 465 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:48,680 when I receive your promise of forgiveness and eternal life. 466 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:56,200 Be my Lord, please Jesus. Have you prayed that prayer for 467 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,720 the very first time? Would you be brave and raise 468 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:08,720 your hand for me to see? Thank you, thank you, thank you. 469 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:13,280 You put your hands down in Jesus name, Amen. 470 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:19,360 All right, real quick, if you just committed your life to 471 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:31,400 Jesus for the very first time, welcome to the family in a few 472 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:35,040 moments when when we respond to this sermon, we have our prayer 473 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:36,480 team up here. We have some tables in the back 474 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:40,360 say I raised my hand. We would love to to chat with 475 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,080 you about what it looks like to have surrendered your life to 476 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:44,960 the Lord. I want to celebrate with you. 477 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,920 We have a gift for you. We're excited for you, for those 478 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,680 of you in this room that know Christ personally, maybe maybe 479 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:54,120 it's because you just surrendered your life to him, 480 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,960 but maybe, maybe not. Maybe maybe you did it decades 481 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:03,080 ago. Ed, you're still overwhelmed. 482 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:08,600 And so I want to talk to you for, for the last couple moments 483 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:14,640 of the sermon about how the, the hope in Christ, Christ in you, 484 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,280 the hope of glory, how that works every single day. 485 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,400 And So what happens is that after you've submitted your life 486 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:26,600 to to Christ, after you've said, OK, Christ Jesus, you take over. 487 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,560 Three things start to happen. And they happen a lot. 488 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,240 And you need to recognize them so you can lean into them. 489 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:38,240 And here's the three things that are going to happen over and 490 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:39,760 over and over and over and over and over again. 491 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,080 Number one, he's going to convict you #2 he's going to 492 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,200 equip you. And #3 he's going to surround 493 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:46,760 you. He's going to equip you. 494 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:48,720 I mean, he's going to convict you, equip you, surround you. 495 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,760 He's going to convict me, equip me and surround me. 496 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:53,920 He's going to convict me. He's going to equip me. 497 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:55,600 He's going to surround me. Say it with me. 498 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:59,640 He's going to convict me, equip me, surround me. 499 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:07,240 Now let me explain what I mean. God has placed His Holy Spirit 500 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,200 inside of you. That is part of the salvation 501 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,840 process. That's what Christ in me means. 502 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,920 And one of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is to be a smoke 503 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,000 alarm. Everyone knows what a smoke 504 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:23,680 alarm is at an incredibly convenient time. 3:00 AM this 505 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:28,840 morning, the smoke alarm in my bedroom decided it had a low 506 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:34,600 battery. But but what's the whole point 507 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,280 of a smoke alarm? A smoke alarm is there because, 508 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,960 hey, there's a potential, there's a fire and that matters 509 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:43,840 a lot. And so when the smoke alarm goes 510 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,920 off, you, you, you're like, hey, we better pay attention that or 511 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:47,920 because your dogs are freaking out. 512 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,560 But either way, we better pay attention. 513 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:52,920 We better the whole point of the alarm right is to get your 514 00:33:52,920 --> 00:34:00,080 attention to go Hey there's danger the Holy Spirit responds 515 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:04,000 to sin anything that is contrary to God like a smoke alarm and 516 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:09,360 goes hey, there's a problem. Sin is dangerous sin is poison. 517 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:16,600 Sin will kill you and as a Christian, it's our job when 518 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:22,880 when we hear the Holy Spirit to listen and respond to the Holy 519 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:24,600 Spirit. The problem is that in modern 520 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,320 Christianity, like we, we've we've become this, this group of 521 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,760 people that are rarely actually responds to the work of the 522 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,080 Spirit instead of like we actually are really, really good 523 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:38,159 at tuning him out. Like really good at going. 524 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:44,199 I don't hear anything at all. So much so that like if I ask 525 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:46,920 most people right now who, who say I'm a Christian, if I go, 526 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,480 hey, tell me how you discern the will of God in your life and 527 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:51,639 what God's doing in your life right now. 528 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:53,000 Like where is he leading? What is he saying? 529 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:54,800 What is he doing? Like right now, today on a, on a 530 00:34:54,800 --> 00:35:04,320 Sunday, most people would go and the fact that we don't have an 531 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:09,160 answer is dangerous. The the fact that a lot of us 532 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:13,240 would go, I'm not even sure how I would know that's dangerous if 533 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:17,120 the Holy Spirit's job is to be a guide so that we stay on a path 534 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,040 and so that we, we, we're working toward pleasing God and 535 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,520 staying off the edges where we're going to fall into a pit 536 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:27,040 and we can't figure out how to actually respond like that's 537 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:30,800 dangerous. Yes, we, we should be the 538 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:36,680 experts and hearing and responding to the Holy Spirit 539 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:47,000 and, and often times I, I don't think we as a people are doing a 540 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:54,360 very good job listening. But how do I, how do I know what 541 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,920 I should be doing in my life if I don't know where God is 542 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,440 leading? And how do I know where God is 543 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:00,960 leading if I'm not even listening? 544 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,360 And how do I listen if I filled my life up with so much stuff 545 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:05,840 that I have no time to talk to God? 546 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:12,400 So, so, so we got to start by asking and having some space to 547 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:17,200 listen. Secondly, he equips me. 548 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:19,720 So he convicts me, but he also equips me. 549 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,760 He takes, he takes your gifts and your talents and, and, and 550 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:27,040 your experiences and your past and, and often times even your 551 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,720 pain. And he begins to point it and 552 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:32,880 fashion it all towards this calling that he has for you. 553 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:37,920 When he saved you, it was not for the JV team. 554 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,280 It was not to be a spectator in the stands. 555 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:47,040 When he saved you, he also simultaneously put his spirit in 556 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,880 you and he called you into works of ministry. 557 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:53,560 There's no such thing as a Christian who's not called to 558 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,600 works of ministry. It's impossible. 559 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:02,520 And so you've got this equipping, you've got these 560 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:05,680 talents, you've got these gifts. And listen, God has literally 561 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:10,000 looked at you and said, I would like to do a great work in the 562 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:15,200 world and I and to accomplish that, I want to use you. 563 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,760 And so I want to ask you, where is that for you? 564 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:25,120 What does that look like? Do you know during WrestleMania, 565 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,440 one of those super encouraging things, if you got to kind of 566 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:31,160 watch what was going on, is we had a, a bunch of older Saints, 567 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,640 some of them that live in the Manor apartments, just just 568 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:37,520 people in their 70s, eighties, 90s serving all week long. 569 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:43,600 Come on, right. That's worthy of honor. 570 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:51,720 Because let me tell you what you're always going to have, 571 00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:54,080 You're always going to have excuses why not to serve. 572 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,480 But you're missing out on one of the most encouraging parts of 573 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,640 the Christian life when you when you have all of these gifts and 574 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,280 things that God's given you and you let them sit idle. 575 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:10,320 It is tough to find contentment when you won't get in the game. 576 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,360 Christ in you is the hope of glory. 577 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,960 God gave you a superpower. Go use it. 578 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:19,760 And thirdly, God is going to surround you. 579 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:22,480 He's going to convict you. He's going to equip you and he's 580 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:24,760 going to surround you because we're going to struggle. 581 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:26,720 Amen. We're going to struggle. 582 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:29,480 I mean, even as Christians, even as people who love Jesus, we're 583 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:30,360 going to, we're going to struggle. 584 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:32,120 We're going to struggle with conviction of the Spirit. 585 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,080 We're going to struggle with the calling. 586 00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:36,640 We're going to struggle because the world is still broken and 587 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,800 still evil. So, so, So what do you do when 588 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:42,520 you've been, when you've given your life to Jesus and you're, 589 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:44,520 and you're, you're trying, you're working on it, but you 590 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,840 just still overwhelmed by life. Guess what? 591 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:52,560 It already happened, and they already wrote about it in 592 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,520 Hebrews 10/23 through 25. Here's what the author says 593 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:57,880 about this struggle. He says this. 594 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:02,680 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. 595 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,120 Let us hold fast to this confession of hope. 596 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,080 For some of you, you just made that confession. 597 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:10,920 For some of you made that confession a long time ago. 598 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:13,560 For he who promised this faithful. 599 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:18,480 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good 600 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:23,280 works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of 601 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,400 some, but encouraging one another. 602 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,320 And all the more as you see the day drawing near. 603 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,960 We don't gather here on Sunday mornings because this is the one 604 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:33,720 special day a week that God needs worship. 605 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,800 We, we, we don't gather on Sunday mornings because you only 606 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,920 read the Bible on Sundays. I hope we gather on Sunday 607 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:46,960 mornings so that we can do that worship and and and and speak 608 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:50,720 that truth with one another in order to encourage one another 609 00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:54,400 and stir each other up. Because it's a Dark World and 610 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,560 you need encouragement. We need to be reminded of hope. 611 00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:02,960 We need people to speak truth into our lives and we need each 612 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:07,680 other. Nobody does well alone for long 613 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,440 without support, and all of us need someone cheering for us. 614 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:16,000 So there's probably a couple of you here who have neglected 615 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,520 this. You've been casual about your 616 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:21,440 pursuit of Christ, acting like 90 minutes on Sunday morning is 617 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,440 enough. Let me just tell you, it is not. 618 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:29,040 We live in a crooked culture. We need a whole lot more hope 619 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,560 than this. So what I did is I wrote out 620 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,280 four things in your handout today, either a separate hand on 621 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:38,240 your bulletin, 4 things, four different ways to take a next 622 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,280 step. Here's the first one. 623 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,400 I want to be baptized now. Here's the good news baptism, 624 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:47,960 which is the very next step you take after making a confession 625 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,160 of faith in Jesus Christ. It is the public declaration. 626 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:53,600 If, if that is the next step for you and you've not done that and 627 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:57,360 you're checking that box right now, the good news is you can do 628 00:40:57,360 --> 00:40:59,520 it today because we're about to do baptisms. 629 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:07,000 And so if that's you, all you have to do is walk over to that 630 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,320 door and we have T-shirts and extra clothes and towels and 631 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,360 everything else. Secondly, I want to join a 632 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,400 community group. Man, I need some people in my 633 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:22,960 life who know what's going on in my life. 3rd, I want to join a 634 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:25,240 team and use my gifts to serve in some way. 635 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,360 And 4th, I want to become a member. 636 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,240 We're going to start a membership class on Wednesday, 637 00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:34,720 Wednesday night when kids come back for youth and for level up. 638 00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:35,880 We're going to be doing membership. 639 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,200 And so if you're not a member yet of this church and you want 640 00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:40,120 to do that, you can, you can check that box as well. 641 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:42,400 You can check any of those boxes you'd like and respond. 642 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,640 Here's what I want you to, I want you to perfectly consider 643 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,280 in this next moment as we pray and respond, what is it that the 644 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:48,840 Lord, the Lord is leading you to today? 645 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:50,520 To be sensitive to his Spirit as he leads. 646 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:52,840 So we're going to, we're going to get our baptism team ready 647 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:54,920 and do some baptisms in just a second as we respond. 648 00:41:55,040 --> 00:42:02,480 But listen, Christ in you is not only the hope of glory, he's the 649 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:05,400 reason that we actually can have real hope for our homes. 650 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,800 I have AI have a daughter that has run far away from God and 651 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:18,000 and her family. And so even as in prayer I plead 652 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:22,040 with God for her heart, I also still have tremendous hope for 653 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:26,360 what he's going to do because Christ in her will change 654 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:30,000 everything. That's my hope. 655 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:34,440 And Christ in you will change everything for you too. 656 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:38,560 You just have to let him. Our prayer team's going to come 657 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:40,840 up right now. And elders, we would love for an 658 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:44,080 opportunity to pray with you. And so if you want prayer for 659 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:47,520 any reason, if you want prayer as help to respond to any of 660 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:49,640 these, the, the parts of this message, we'd love to pray with 661 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:50,960 you. If you want to go back to one of 662 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,240 those tables because you just made a profession of faith, we 663 00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:55,400 would love to talk to you. If you believe that God is 664 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:57,160 calling you to be baptized, this is the next step. 665 00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,000 We would love for you to come up and we'll help you with that 666 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,120 too. If you just want prayer, that's 667 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,880 an awesome reason to come on up, stand with us. 668 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,040 We're going to close in this song and some baptisms. 669 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:09,560 And you respond as the Lord leads you. 670 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:09,960 We love you.