1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,880 Let me tell you, I woke up in a panic. 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,680 The light was up. The sun was up. 3 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:07,960 It was light outside. I was like, oh, no, did I miss 4 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:09,760 church? I was really panicking. 5 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,760 And then I looked and it was, it was actually early. 6 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:14,120 And I was like, OK, I don't know. 7 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:15,840 For some reason, I woke up in a panic. 8 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,600 But the next three weeks, we're gonna be spending our time in 9 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:25,000 the series called Why Are Things So Bad? 10 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,560 Why Are Things so Bad? I don't think it's an accident 11 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,040 that you're here today and a world full of distractions. 12 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,960 You could be doing anything other than sitting in a room. 13 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,080 But you're here. We're talking about the one 14 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:45,240 thing that can actually fix what's broken. 15 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:51,480 Every morning I wake up and I deliberately try not to look at 16 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:55,000 the news. I really don't want to know and 17 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,160 yet somehow throughout the course of the day, I come to the 18 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,240 full conclusion that everything is falling apart. 19 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:09,480 You guys feel that there are wars? 20 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,200 Every war point to a spot on the map. 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,560 There's a war happening. Ukraine, Israel. 22 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,440 Our streets are filled with homelessness and addiction. 23 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,000 A political activist shop for sharing ideas. 24 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,720 My children, my teenage daughters coming home from 25 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,520 school being nonchalantly show the shooting video of Charlie 26 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,800 Kirk. Have you guys experienced this 27 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,240 kind of bad? And maybe you're asking the 28 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:51,400 question if God is real? If God is good, why does 29 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,520 everything feel so broken? Have you asked that before? 30 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:04,840 Today I want to show you that the brokenness is not the end of 31 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,479 the story. It's actually pointing us 32 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:16,040 towards finding the fixer. Find the fixer. 33 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,600 That's our big idea for today. Find the fixer. 34 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:26,680 The states of everything being bad guarantees that I have, I 35 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,720 will, you have, and you will experience suffering. 36 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,640 But the Bible tells us this was not the way. 37 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:42,200 There was a time where we had heaven here on earth, a place 38 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:43,960 that was called the Garden of Eden. 39 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,600 It was beautiful, it was glorious, it was blush and 40 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:52,680 peaceful and serene. It was filled with God's glory. 41 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:58,360 A place where we had a complete relationship with God, where we 42 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:03,520 could hear him coming. And no, I'm about to have a walk 43 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:11,040 and a talk with God the Father. A place that was stress free, 44 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:21,920 anxiety free, clothes free, but shame free, disease free. 45 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,560 A place where God loved you so much that he gave us a choice. 46 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,560 A choice to obey him, to listen to him, listen to his 47 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:38,280 instructions or not to and that disobedience is called sin. 48 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,560 Listen to this choice that would determine the history of the 49 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,240 world will be in Genesis chapter 2. 50 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,000 Join me there as we read verse 16. 51 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,720 It says you are free to eat from any tree in the garden. 52 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,800 All the trees I can just imagine going through and picking and 53 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,800 just enjoying, you know, I wonder if yams grow on trees. 54 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:11,120 Asking for Pastor Vance, but it says you must not eat from the 55 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:18,160 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from 56 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:23,120 it you will certainly die. They were free to enjoy the 57 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,040 Lord, enjoy everything good that He had given them. 58 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:35,920 Or they could live on their own understanding instead of God's 59 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:41,520 instructions. We are experiencing their 60 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:46,600 choices. Adam and Eve was convinced by 61 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:51,480 Satan himself that outside of God's control, outside of God's 62 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,920 will, doing what they want to do is good. 63 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,760 You should experience that. You should do it on your own. 64 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:03,040 It won't really affect your life. 65 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,960 There are no consequences to sin. 66 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:12,400 A lie that he tells me and he tells you every day. 67 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,920 Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell into sin. 68 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:26,560 Not unlike the same thing that we do all the time as we fall 69 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,640 into our sins. Second Corinthians tells us that 70 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:35,320 righteousness and wickedness can have no relationship. 71 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:41,560 Nothing the light can do with the dark can't. 72 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,920 You can't put those two together, and that's why God has 73 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:51,120 a holy hatred for sin. Because of sin, we can no longer 74 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,720 be in God's presence. We can no longer experience God 75 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,000 how we were supposed to. Now we have to have it filtered. 76 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,880 Instantly. We became separated from our 77 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,080 Creator. All right, I know this is big, 78 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:08,400 so everybody take a big breath in. 79 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,040 Let it out. Let me show you what God is 80 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,240 doing. Our first point of the day. 81 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,600 He brings beauty from brokenness. 82 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,880 Amen. He brings beauty from 83 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,280 brokenness. Genesis chapter 3, flip over to 84 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,160 chapter 3. Let's read this together. 85 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:36,040 The Lord said, the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have 86 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:41,400 done this cursed. Are you above all livestock and 87 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:47,680 above all beasts of the field? On your belly you shall go. 88 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:54,200 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between you, 89 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,160 your offspring and her offspring. 90 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:03,040 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel to the 91 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,960 woman, he says. I will surely multiply your pain 92 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:13,920 in childbearing, in pain you shall bring forth children you 93 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:20,680 desire shall be for your husband, but he shall rule over 94 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,560 you. Then he says cursed is the 95 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:31,360 ground because of you in pain. You shall eat of it all the days 96 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:37,120 of your life. Some people may see God cursing 97 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:42,880 all of humanity, but really this is merely the state of things 98 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:49,440 when God is absent. Adam and Eve wanted a choice. 99 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,960 A choice to live life without God, to do it their way. 100 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,080 This was God simply giving them their wish. 101 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,200 We do the same thing. We want it our way. 102 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,680 But what I see right here after the curse is a merciful 103 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:15,840 intervention filled with grace and compassion. 104 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,160 Isaiah puts it this way. God gives us a crown of beauty 105 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:25,360 instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning. 106 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,560 Even in the curse, he says he's planning beauty. 107 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,320 Imagine your child touching the stove. 108 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,120 Some of our children love to learn the hard way. 109 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,960 Yeah, you could just let him do it. 110 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:41,799 Go ahead, Let's see what happens. 111 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:43,200 Again. I wonder if you're going to get 112 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:48,800 burned. Or you could create consequences 113 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,520 that protect them from greater harm. 114 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:58,600 God allowed pain. He allowed struggle and death 115 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:05,600 not as a cruel punishment, but as a built in alarm system where 116 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,680 he's waving his arm screaming. This is not how life is supposed 117 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:13,280 to be. Come on. 118 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:19,080 Every struggle, every struggle you face, every injustice you 119 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:24,280 see, every moment of pain, it's all pointing towards the same 120 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,920 direction, the same truth. We are broken. 121 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:36,000 You guys feel that we are broken and we need a fixer. 122 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,960 We need a fixer. This brokenness is extending 123 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,520 over hundreds and hundreds of years. 124 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:47,680 Throughout history, God has sent prophets to show us something 125 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:51,840 profound that life. Without God trying to navigate 126 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,880 through the laws and the rules and the guidelines alone, this 127 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,600 will never work. But here's the beautiful thing. 128 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,360 Each time someone chooses not to follow God, that is not the end 129 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,400 of the story, Amen? And if it was, this would be a 130 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:14,160 horrible story. This is where God's beauty is 131 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,840 revealed like no other place. He doesn't strand us in our bad 132 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:19,920 decisions. Amen. 133 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:26,280 As a parent, I can't tell you how many times I've told my 134 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,720 children to listen. It's amazing how many times you 135 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,400 can tell a three-year old and a five year old to do something 136 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,160 and it never even gets close to being done. 137 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:43,000 I can't tell you how frustrating it is to walk, to watch them 138 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:51,880 make choices over and over and over again, knowing that those 139 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:56,560 aren't good for them. Even when they stop listening, 140 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,400 even when they don't want anything to do with my wife and 141 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:08,800 I, we continue to love them, many times to the point of 142 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,960 exhaustion. Parents, you exhausted. 143 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:20,040 But here's God's beauty. He never gets exhausted. 144 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,800 He continues even in our bad decisions. 145 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,800 When a person turns from Him, he doesn't abandoned them. 146 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:30,520 He doesn't walk away from their mistakes. 147 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,360 He doesn't leave them in their sin. 148 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:40,200 His love becomes a gentle pursuit, constant, not a 149 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:47,120 forceful demand, but a patient and enduring presence. 150 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:54,880 He continues to offer us chance after chance to accept Him, to 151 00:11:54,880 --> 00:12:00,400 accept His grace. This, this is the profound 152 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,400 beauty of God. This is the profound beauty of 153 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:09,800 his character. He meets us not at our best, but 154 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:16,120 He meets us at our lowest, reminding us that we are not too 155 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:20,920 far gone, that His love will still reach us. 156 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:26,200 Even when it's horrible out there, God is still there. 157 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:31,960 He's still bringing us up. Our second point for today is he 158 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:39,200 creates comfort from chaos. He creates comfort from chaos. 159 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,880 When first, when sin first entered the world, humanity, we 160 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,480 fell so hard it looked like game over. 161 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,160 We now have death. We now have disease, we now have 162 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,080 hatred. Everything was disconnected. 163 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,760 Our direct relationship with God had been severed. 164 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:04,600 Death entered because SIM separated us from the source, 165 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:09,280 the source of life, and that was God himself. 166 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:15,400 With this connection severed, spiritual death was immediately 167 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,680 immediate. It just happened, Done. 168 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:25,480 And then physical death was inevitable hatred emerge. 169 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:30,240 It cultivated, It came from our brokenness and a relationship 170 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,960 with God. And every relationship after 171 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:41,000 that was fractured. The love that should be 172 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,200 naturally flowing from us, knowing that we are loved by 173 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:55,280 God, was replaced by fear, jealousy, desperation, all 174 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,520 breeding, suffering. But God. 175 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,600 But God. God knew this was going to 176 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,240 happen. You can't surprise God, He knows 177 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,280 everything. He knew you before you were 178 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,360 born. God's redemption plan for 179 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,760 humanity pre existed, sin entering into the world. 180 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:25,800 He knew this was going to happen, so his comfort that even 181 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:30,480 in the middle of explaining that life without him is going to be 182 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,360 bad, he's already explaining that down the road there's a 183 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,840 plan to fix this. After all the lessons learned in 184 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:42,760 life, that the world and life without God is bad, it's evil, 185 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:47,400 it's impossible. He's still there, right here in 186 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,640 Genesis 315. He announces there will be a 187 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:59,560 fixer, A Savior, his son, Jesus. Genesis chapter 3 in the NFV 188 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,080 says this. And I will put enmity between 189 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,720 you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. 190 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:16,480 He will crush your head, Satan. Your head will be crushed, you 191 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:22,640 will be destroyed and goes on, and you will strike his heel, he 192 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,760 says. Satan, you will get your blows 193 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,680 in. In fact, you will put my son in 194 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:31,520 the grave, but he will not stay there forever. 195 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,840 You may inflict pain, you may inflict suffering, but you will 196 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:43,840 not win this war. This is the first gospel. 197 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:45,840 Amen. This is the good news in the 198 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,880 world that just been eternally separated from God. 199 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,240 Now, I know some of you might be thinking this is just wishful 200 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:58,560 thinking, but how do we know this is real? 201 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:03,440 That's a great question. Look at all the alternatives 202 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,680 we've already tried. We've tried education. 203 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:15,800 We are more educated than ever. Yeah, we are more divided than 204 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,640 ever. Yes, we've tried technology. 205 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,280 We can instantly connect to anybody with anyone in the 206 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,160 world. And yet our loneliness, our 207 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:36,840 depression at our all time high. We've tried politics, we've 208 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,320 tried political solutions, but every cycle promises that we're 209 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,320 going to fix what happened last time. 210 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:52,920 We've tried therapy, self help, medication, meditation, and all 211 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:58,560 these things are good. They can't help, but they can't 212 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:05,000 heal the fundamental brokenness. Every human system, every 213 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,760 political solution, every technological advance, they will 214 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:14,319 eventually real reveal the same thing that we can't fix 215 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:19,760 ourselves. We tried, it doesn't work. 216 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,000 But there's something different about Jesus. 217 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:29,080 People don't usually lie when they know that something is 218 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,200 false. The disciples went from hiding 219 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,160 in fear to dying for Jesus message. 220 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,440 Something changed everything. Think about that for a moment. 221 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,280 Humanity disobeyed God. He did they we did exactly what 222 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,160 we were not supposed to do. God, the one who laid out 223 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:51,560 everything, gave us everything. This beautiful place, We messed 224 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:56,280 it up. And that here is God immediately 225 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:03,280 speaking into our redemption. While Adam and Eve are still 226 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:08,640 covered in their shame and their failures, God already had a plan 227 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:14,880 for their restoration. That plan, that plan is for you. 228 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,320 That plan is for me. It hasn't changed. 229 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,120 It's still the same plan. And that rescue plan? 230 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:27,960 His name is Jesus. All right, take a second flip 231 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,880 all the way over to Romans chapter 8. 232 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:32,880 I'll let you take a second. Get there. 233 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,640 We're going to be with Paul, Paul who's gone through a lot of 234 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,080 things. He's going to help us get 235 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,720 through this. Our Third Point for today is he 236 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:53,200 ransoms rebels to righteousness. Let me say that again. 237 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,000 God, he ransoms, rebels to righteousness. 238 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,080 The gospel tells us that the summit of man did not come to be 239 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,960 served. Jesus, He did not come here to 240 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:13,760 be served, but he came to serve and to give his life as a ransom 241 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,160 for many. This word ransom he used to mean 242 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:22,240 paying for someone else's debt. Jesus paid our debt with his 243 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,520 blood. It was the price required to 244 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:30,600 free rebellious humanity from the bondage of sin and the 245 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:35,160 penalty of eternal death. He ransoms rebels from 246 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,520 righteousness. Life can absolutely be a wreck 247 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,040 at times. Whether it's losing a loved one, 248 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:48,520 whether it's your dreams falling apart, you have chronic pain, 249 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,760 you're battling depression, financial ruin, or just living 250 00:19:52,760 --> 00:20:00,040 in a broken world. Suffering is real and it hurts 251 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:05,160 like hell. Jesus himself told us in this 252 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:13,520 world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the 253 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,600 world. That's not denial of your pain, 254 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,240 that's not denial of your suffering. 255 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,280 That's not denial that it is really bad out there. 256 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:31,160 That is promise of victory. Romans 8, verse 18. 257 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,600 Paul starts with the bold statement. 258 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,760 He says For I consider that the suffering of this present time 259 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:43,360 are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to 260 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,440 us. He tells us that our current 261 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,200 pain has an expiration date. This will not last forever. 262 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,520 Amen. What's coming next is so 263 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,400 incredible that it makes everything that you're looking 264 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,960 at small in comparison. Now this isn't a guy that's in 265 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,120 the ivory tower. This is Paul who's been beaten 3 266 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:08,240 times, who's been shipwrecked 3 times. 267 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,440 He's been imprisoned, he's been in stoned, and eventually he's 268 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,920 beheaded, martyred for his faith. 269 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,880 He knew suffering. He knew it intimately. 270 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,080 He needed us to realize that knowing God, have a real 271 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:31,960 relationship with God, pulling our full trust in God, allows us 272 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:38,400 to endure pain and suffering, Paul discovered. 273 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,600 When you put your current suffering on one side and then 274 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,120 God's glory on the other side, there is no comparison. 275 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,960 For those of you have been walking with Jesus for a long 276 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,080 time, you know this isn't theology. 277 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:56,160 This is life experience. You've seen that. 278 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,600 You've seen God taking the worst moments, the biggest problems, 279 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,960 the things you just don't know how we're going to get resolved. 280 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,760 And you see God weaving his way and making them into something 281 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:13,640 beautiful. Yes, this is not a coincidence. 282 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:20,680 That's the fixer at work. Even when you can't see him, 283 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,880 even when you don't know what's going on, he is there. 284 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,480 He is involved. He is working in our lives. 285 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,920 It's like comparing a paper cut to winning the lottery. 286 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,480 A bad day versus a lifetime of paradise, a temporary haddock 287 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,640 for eternal joy. The ratio is so overwhelming. 288 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:46,160 It's so one sided that changes have you see every current 289 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,640 situation and you and I, we're not the only ones waiting for 290 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,560 things to get better. Verse 19 says this for the 291 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:58,080 creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the 292 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,840 sons of God. Verse 22, it says, for we know 293 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:06,760 that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains 294 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:12,760 of childbirth until now Paul says this creation is waiting 295 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,960 and eager longing and the groaning together in the pains 296 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,600 of childbirth. The whole universe is like is 297 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:26,040 like a woman in labor experiencing intense pain but 298 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,120 knowing something beautiful is about to come. 299 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:35,200 Think about that image. Childbirth is so excruciating, 300 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,280 but women labor. Don't think this pain is 301 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,440 pointless. She knows that it's producing 302 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,800 something credible, producing new life. 303 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:51,000 All the suffering, everything that's happening, all the 304 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,920 brokenness, the injustice, it's all labor pains. 305 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,520 Something magnificent is coming. It's going to change the world. 306 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,120 The mountains, the oceans, the animals, even the stars, they're 307 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,880 all waiting for the same thing. Verse 23. 308 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:15,600 And not only through creation, but we ourselves, we have the 309 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,680 first fruits of the spirit grown. 310 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,960 And really, as we wait eagerly for the adoption of the sons, 311 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:28,800 the redemption of our bodies as believers, as people have put 312 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:33,840 our full faith in Christ, we're not just waiting. 313 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,920 We're already a part of the victory, Paul says. 314 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,080 We have the first fruits. It's like getting a taste of the 315 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,840 feast before the banquets. Every moment of peace you feel, 316 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:52,440 every experience of God's love, every answered prayer, every 317 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,800 glimpse of joy. It's just a tiny preview of 318 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:58,040 what's coming. Amen. 319 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:05,600 Just like in the very beginning when we experienced heaven on 320 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:12,480 earth, while we had a perfect relationship with God, amazingly 321 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:18,440 He brings beauty from brokenness. 322 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,720 His beauty is there. When sin entered the world, God 323 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,760 didn't abandoned us. The pain, the difficulty, the 324 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,560 brokenness, what we are experiencing serves as that 325 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,920 warning sign. It points us away from sin's lie 326 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:43,000 and towards God towards we need to find the fixer. 327 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,840 He creates comfort from cast. God wasn't surprised about this. 328 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,120 He wasn't surprised about humanity's fall. 329 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:58,280 His redemption plan existed before sin entered the world and 330 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,120 he's announcing that there will be a fixer. 331 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:09,520 He says My son Jesus, he ransomed rebels righteousness. 332 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:19,720 Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, give his life on the 333 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:29,640 cross as ransom for so many. The entire creation is groaning 334 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:34,000 like a woman in labor, knowing that significant change is going 335 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:41,760 to take over the world. So how, how do we live this out? 336 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:50,000 What do we do with this? I'll tell you #1 is to hate sin. 337 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:56,560 Hate sin. This week I identify one area in 338 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:01,360 your life where you've been tolerating something God calls 339 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,200 destructive. Maybe it's the content you're 340 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,160 consuming, maybe it's the conversations you're having. 341 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:14,800 Maybe it's the thoughts that you're entertaining or playing 342 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:19,360 with. Ask God to give you His heart 343 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,200 because our hearts are not the same. 344 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:28,720 His heart hates it with the Holy Hatred. 345 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:34,880 Before our society stops accepting sin, the church has to 346 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,960 stop first. Amen. 347 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,000 Before it gets any better in our neighborhoods, in our schools, 348 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,240 in our homes, we have to stop accepting sin. 349 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,120 I'm not telling you to hate people. 350 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,880 Actually, I'm asking you to love people but hate the sin. 351 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,680 Don't be OK with it. Don't go along with it. 352 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:09,560 Call it out for what it is, but please, please be gentle and be 353 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,720 gracious. And if I'm being 100% honest, 354 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:18,600 this is so easy for me to say and it's not easy for me to live 355 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,120 out. The first words that come to my 356 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:27,040 mind are often not gentle. I don't think of people in the 357 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,320 best way the first time. My sinfulness of being harsh and 358 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,280 cynical. Often it just flows out of me. 359 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,600 I'll tell you that I would enjoy it. 360 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:41,600 I enjoy being sharp and I enjoy being to the point and fast with 361 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,760 my words. I would make excuses. 362 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,960 Oh it's OK, this is how friends talk to each other. 363 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:55,840 Even if that was 100% true, what a horrible example it is to 364 00:28:55,840 --> 00:29:02,680 speak harshly, not to be gentle, not always thinking of the best 365 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,360 of someone. This week alone, I have messed 366 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:12,600 up this so many times. I'm repeatingly apologizing for 367 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:18,040 my sarcasm, for my cynicism, for hurting people with my words. 368 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,520 And that was just on Wednesday. But that's just me, right? 369 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:32,440 No one else falls for that sin. We don't start to hate sin by 370 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,960 focusing on hating sin. This is super important. 371 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,000 We don't start to hate sin by focusing on hating sin. 372 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,480 We start hating sin when we fall more in love with Jesus. 373 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,800 When you truly fall in love with someone, you don't force 374 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,520 yourself to stop doing things that would hurt them. 375 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,080 You don't. You naturally, you want to 376 00:29:58,080 --> 00:29:59,720 protect them. You want to protect what you 377 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,520 love. You find yourself thinking, how 378 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,200 do I not damage this relationship? 379 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,840 It's not about gritting your teeth and white knuckling 380 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:14,240 through your temptations. It's about your heart. 381 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:20,960 It's your heart being so captivated, so captured by God 382 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,360 that the thing that is controlling your life, the thing 383 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,120 that's taking over you, the thing that's really messing you 384 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,400 up, you start to lose your grip on it. 385 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:38,280 This is the same truth with Jesus. 386 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:44,120 The more we understand His heart, the more we see His 387 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:50,560 kindness, the more we see His patience, his relentless pursuit 388 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:58,120 of us even in our mess. That's how our hearts change. 389 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:04,040 We stop asking, how can I avoid this sin? 390 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,480 What barriers can I put up? So I stopped doing whatever it 391 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,120 is. And we start asking, how can I 392 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:17,120 honor the one who loves me so much, the one who gave me life, 393 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,640 the one who gave me everything I have? 394 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:29,400 Application #2 Live like the fixer is real. 395 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:35,880 When you're in a time of joy, a time of peace, when you're just 396 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,160 living a great life and you're excited about it, write down 397 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:44,000 those experiences. Write them down how you felt, 398 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:49,600 the way you felt, why you felt that way, who you felt it with. 399 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,120 Put them in a journal, put them in some sort of notebook and a 400 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:58,560 Google doc. Build a bank account of God's 401 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,960 love, of the experiences that you have had with God because 402 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,360 there will be a time where you're going to need to reach 403 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:14,200 into that bank account and remember when everything gets so 404 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:18,120 hard, when everything is bad, when you realize we still live 405 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:24,400 in Bakersfield. Remember how you once felt loved 406 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:28,480 by God, how He was there for you. 407 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,440 Why? Why you felt loved, who you felt 408 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:37,520 loved with. That person, that person that 409 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,440 you felt loved with may be able to come alongside with you. 410 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:48,000 If not our community groups, our ministries, they are all filled 411 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,240 with people who are going through similar things, have 412 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,200 experienced or are experiencing what you're experiencing. 413 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,880 Don't do this alone. God gives us the body of 414 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:02,400 believers. Look around, you guys are 415 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,440 amazing. He gives us so we can come 416 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:11,560 together. Do that Come Together 417 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:18,800 application #3 help others find the fixer. 418 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,360 I don't know about you, but I can't keep this to ourselves. 419 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:32,760 I can't keep this to myself. We can't keep this to ourselves. 420 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,600 If you look out there, people are drowning in the chaos, 421 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:43,480 desperately trying to fix their situation, their circumstances, 422 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:51,440 fixing with everything that they know how except the one solution 423 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,680 that actually works. Your family, your friends, your 424 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,960 classmates, your Co workers. They need to hear about the 425 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:03,680 fixer. This doesn't mean being preachy 426 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:08,920 and obnoxious. It means living so differently, 427 00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:13,560 with such hope and peace. In the middle of your suffering, 428 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,840 in the middle of your your problems, in the middle of 429 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,679 getting to know that you have cancer, whatever is going on in 430 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:27,560 your life, living with joy that people can't help us. 431 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,400 Why? What makes you different? 432 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:36,040 Why are you still joyful in this situation? 433 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,840 When that door is open, tell them about Jesus. 434 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:49,280 Application #4 is find the fixer. 435 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,920 Some of you have come here in this morning feeling broken, 436 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,880 feeling that there's no other way, that there's no hope. 437 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,640 Others have been carrying guilt and shame, thinking I have gone 438 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,640 too far, I have done too many things, I've dipped too far into 439 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,960 this world. I want to tell you that God, 440 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:12,720 what God told humanity in the darkest moments, that there is a 441 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:16,440 fixer. His name is Jesus. 442 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,080 It's the same thing He's telling you right now. 443 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:24,800 He's not looking at your failures. 444 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:29,240 He's looking at what His Son did on the cross. 445 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,880 He's not asking yourself to clean up first. 446 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:40,280 He's asking you to trust Him with your mess, with your 447 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,320 situations, with your pains, with your sufferings. 448 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,800 This is the same power that the universe was spoken into 449 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,880 existence with, and it's being offered to you. 450 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:57,640 I want you to take the opportunity to start a 451 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:02,680 relationship with Jesus. You can do that by praying what 452 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,240 we're about to pray. This isn't about perfect words. 453 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:08,720 It's not about getting the right formula. 454 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:14,880 God just cares about our hearts and that we're actually 455 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:19,760 surrendering to Him. You can pray this quietly. 456 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:24,480 You can pray this silently. You can repeat after me, or you 457 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:28,520 can declare in your own words that you fully trust in Jesus. 458 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,960 But this is a moment between you and Him. 459 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:39,560 Let's bow our heads in prayer. Right now is the time for 460 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:45,120 someone in this room to surrender their life to God and 461 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:48,200 tell him you're putting your full faith in Him. 462 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:56,080 Let's pray Jesus today I choose to follow you. 463 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,560 I know I'm a messed up person and lost on my own. 464 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:07,560 I know I can't save myself. I've tried. 465 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:14,400 I can't follow you perfectly. But I trust you to save me 466 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,000 today. I give you my entire life. 467 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:24,000 I surrender to you. I accept your love. 468 00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:30,880 I accept your peace. I accept your forgiveness of all 469 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:39,400 my sins, all my problems. I look to you, God, Jesus, be my 470 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,800 savior. Head still bowed. 471 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,680 If you prayed that prayer for the very first time, would you 472 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,320 be brave and raise your hand for me to see? 473 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,240 I see your hand. I see your hand. 474 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,840 You put your hands down in the name of Jesus, Amen. 475 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:07,000 Listen, if you prayed that prayer for the very first time 476 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,480 and meant it, something incredible just happened. 477 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,000 You didn't just say some words. You stepped from death into 478 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,880 life. You stepped from darkness into 479 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,240 life. You went from lost to being 480 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:23,040 found. Welcome to the family of God. 481 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:33,400 This is just the beginning of the greatest adventure of your 482 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:33,800 life.