1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,400 All right, so I'm reading today's verse. 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,119 We are, if you don't have a Bible with you can find one 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:13,080 under your seat and we will be on page 763. 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,880 All right, and today's reading will be Matthew chapter 8, 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:25,440 verses 14 through 17. All right, let's read together. 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,280 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,040 lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand and the 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,720 fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 9 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,360 That evening they brought him many who were oppressed by 10 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,280 demons, and he cast out the Spirit with his word and healed 11 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,120 all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,800 spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our illness and bore our 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,040 diseases. This is the word of the Lord. 14 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,640 Thank you. What's going on Port City family 15 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:05,720 and friends. How we doing Good. 16 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:07,800 My name is Tanner lead pastor here. 17 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,520 It's a joy to be with you. One of the things we're super 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,880 passionate about at Port City is college students and tonight we 19 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,520 have a vision dinner for our college students. 20 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,520 If you know somebody, tell them to come. 21 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,320 We feeding them. We're hanging out and y'all 22 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,600 college is just such a massive time in life. 23 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,200 I got saved in college at 18. Praise the Lord. 24 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,280 Many come to campuses not knowing what God is about to do 25 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,040 in their life. They're just looking for, you 26 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,040 know, they're trying to fill the God size hole with everything 27 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:36,960 they can find and we know they're not going to find it 28 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:40,000 until they are found by Christ. And then others who love the 29 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,160 Lord just don't have a really compelling vision for how the 30 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,240 gospel changes maybe their life and all that is possible for 31 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:47,280 them. And we just want to paint a 32 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,280 picture of what we hope to see. I hear by God's grace through 33 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,640 Port City College. So tell your friend, tell your 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,560 Mama, and then tell your Mama, their Mama to tell their kid to 35 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,120 come to that. So yeah, hope to see you there. 36 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,320 Let me pray for our just our college ministry here and what 37 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:03,600 God wants to do. Guys, we're praying that one day 38 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,920 this room, maybe not this room, but a room that we gather in, is 39 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,560 full of Norfolk State Tidewater Community College, our region 40 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:13,960 and ODU students. And just just that God is just 41 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:15,720 sending students all over the place. 42 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,160 And also that that our great city would benefit from them 43 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,640 coming alive in Christ. OK, so let's pray and then we'll 44 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,720 dive into the word for today. Our Father, we're so grateful 45 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,520 for how you, God, when you unlock things for us, when you 46 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,960 save us from our sin, when you draw us through yourself, God, 47 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,800 you give us a vision for life with you. 48 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,160 God, you give us a Kingdom imagination. 49 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,760 And God, we believe you want to do that on these campuses. 50 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,960 God, we pray you would do it Norfolk State at OU at Regent at 51 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,240 Tidewater and God, you would do it for your glory and and 52 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,880 students would leave different than they came in. 53 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,160 So use this dinner even tonight for your glory. 54 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,960 We pray in Christ's name, Amen. We all recently you might have 55 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,400 seen this this come across your news feed. 56 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,120 There was a a hot mic picked up two world leaders having a 57 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:02,160 conversation about immortality. And they were, they were just, 58 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,840 you know, we talk about the weather and I guess casual world 59 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,520 leaders talk about organs and the ability to maybe live 60 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,200 forever. And I chuckled a little bit, you 61 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,680 know, because I know what you know, which is that death 62 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,040 doesn't lose, OK, that that's going to win. 63 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,440 And it's funny to me to think about with all that money and 64 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,640 all that power, you know, something deep down that we all 65 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:21,760 know, which is that you going to die. 66 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:24,520 But all that money ain't nothing you can do about it. 67 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,480 But also what what the concept of death brings up is a whole 68 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,120 host of other questions, which is something's not right. 69 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,360 Like we're not supposed to die, right? 70 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:36,920 Like when we get sick, when things happen. 71 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,000 And then there's all the stuff that's in us that's wrong. 72 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,160 Like how much we are so insecure, so prideful, so 73 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:45,760 arrogant. We say the meanest things to the 74 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,440 people we say we love the most. So there's stuff busted out 75 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:50,400 there. There's stuff busted in here and 76 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:55,520 we go die. So somewhat what our soul craves 77 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,840 is a story that makes sense of why things are the way they are 78 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,120 and where they're going to go. Like why are things that way and 79 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,360 what's going to happen about it? And we crave a hero who's going 80 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,840 to solve it, right? So we crave the story that makes 81 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,240 sense of it and we crave the hero to step in and help. 82 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,680 And y'all in the Bible, praise God, we have that story, that 83 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,360 true story. And in Jesus we have that hero. 84 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,600 And if we don't, if it's not true, we might as well start 85 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,680 partying right now and go join them in the conversation about 86 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:26,440 organs being able to make us live forever. 87 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,120 And it just, it's just, it's meaningless. 88 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:29,800 Let's just hang out. Who cares? 89 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:32,280 But y'all, praise God, that's not all we have. 90 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:34,280 We do have that story. We do have that hero. 91 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:38,360 And in today's text, what we're going to see is just a picture 92 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,760 of the Kingdom, just a slice, just a little taste of Christ 93 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,960 bringing the Kingdom to earth right in front of our eyes. 94 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,200 Heaven on earth, if you will. And it's going to raise a host 95 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,160 of questions. It helps define for us what 96 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,600 wholeness is. And then it kind of raises the 97 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,800 question, what should we expect about our life in the midst of a 98 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,280 broken, busted place here and now? 99 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:01,760 If we know this is our God, this is our hero, this is our story, 100 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:03,920 what does that mean for us as we live here and now? 101 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,040 OK, So what we're going to do is we're going to look at the 102 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:10,320 picture of wholeness, the obstacles to wholeness, and then 103 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,880 the path to wholeness. If you are ready, let me hear 104 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,280 you say I'm ready. Point #1 the picture of 105 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:19,520 wholeness. So the text said this, And when 106 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,200 Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick 107 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,320 with a fever. He touched her hand and the 108 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,880 fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 109 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,760 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by 110 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,800 demons, and he cast out the spirits with the word, and 111 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,440 healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was 112 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,120 spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our illnesses and bore 113 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,800 our diseases. If you're you're new with us, 114 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,040 we're not just picking this story here this week like we're 115 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,360 we're in a series in which you've got to understand, I 116 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,200 don't have time to go back through all of it. 117 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:53,960 You can go listen to our other sermons in the series. 118 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,840 But what Matthew is doing is painting this picture of King 119 00:05:56,840 --> 00:05:58,560 Jesus. He was just up on a mountain, 120 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:00,600 taught about the Kingdom for several chapters. 121 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,640 He comes down from the mountain and immediately is approached by 122 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,560 a leper. OK, he heals the leper. 123 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,320 Then he's approached by a Roman military official. 124 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,320 And now this week he's getting he is healing a woman. 125 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,600 I could take you into the theology of how dope this is. 126 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,280 But if you don't know now you know, in the temple, the the 127 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,120 construction of the temple and the laws around who had access 128 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:25,360 to what, there was kind of like cascading rings of removal from 129 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,920 the holy of holies. OK, So God's presence was said 130 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,760 to be in the holy of Holies. And as you kind of go out from 131 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,480 there, obviously lepers, you are on the outside, OK, you are not 132 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,720 allowed in. Then there's the court of the 133 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,720 Gentiles, which is represented by the Roman military official. 134 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,800 And then they had the court of women. 135 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:44,520 So what is being painted before our eyes? 136 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:48,000 When Messiah comes, those who were furthest are slowly brought 137 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,800 into God's presence. You see how that works? 138 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,840 He does not come first for those looking for Him. 139 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:55,960 He comes and makes worthy those who are previously considered 140 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,240 unworthy. Let's go with a leper. 141 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,040 Let's go with a Roman military official. 142 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,160 And then we come and heal Peter's mother-in-law. 143 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,000 So what we're seeing, although this this slice we get here, 144 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,880 we're going to zoom in on, it's a it's a building picture of who 145 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:11,520 Messiah is and what he came to do. 146 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,720 OK. And what I want to just burn 147 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,400 into our minds here today, The image you got a woman lying with 148 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:22,040 a fever, pre ibuprofen era, pre antibiotics. 149 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,880 The, the insinuation of the text is it's it's nearing game over 150 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,880 for her, right? She can't do anything. 151 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,560 She's on her back and upon a touch she is restored. 152 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:35,480 She stands up and begins serving. 153 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,120 OK, so kind of the picture is a curse is removed, purpose is 154 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,440 restored in the presence of Jesus. 155 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,160 OK, those are kind of the three images of wholeness that we get 156 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,400 here. We get a removal of a curse, 157 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,720 restoration of purpose and doing it in the presence of Jesus. 158 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,880 OK, so let's talk about those three ingredients first. 159 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,440 Wholeness requires removal of the curse. 160 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:02,600 Somebody say curse y'all, it's represented here by the fever, 161 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:07,480 but y'all life is busted, right? Like that's, that's sort of what 162 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,080 we have in this picture. Here is the the the the fever 163 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,920 represents things that are so normal to us, but we also know 164 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,760 it should not be this way. Right in in verse 17, Matthew 165 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,000 quotes Isaiah 53, which many of us know is a famous text about 166 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,600 Christ's atoning work to take his sin upon our sin upon 167 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,480 himself. But it's also a text that talks 168 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,480 about things like this. He came to take our illnesses. 169 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:36,080 He came to bear upon us his diseases. 170 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:39,679 And there's this sense that we've got to get in our mind 171 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,400 that Jesus came to make right everything. 172 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:48,360 The curse broke everything, OK, And so you've got to beg the 173 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,280 question, what all does the curse touch? 174 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,800 It touches everything. Obviously, we're going to talk 175 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:54,040 about sin. We're going to talk about the 176 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,760 internal struggles. But even a fever, y'all, is a 177 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,960 result of the curse. And if you are not a Christian 178 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,960 here today, we are so glad that you're here and you're checking 179 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:03,880 things out. I just want to challenge you to 180 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,400 think about how do you make sense of why things are not the 181 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,520 way you know they should be? Where does even like a fever 182 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,120 come from? Like, where does just stuff you 183 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,080 see that is apparently evil in our culture, where does it come 184 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,000 from? Like, what story makes sense of 185 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,200 it for you? Because the Bible teaches a 186 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,600 story that is pretty compelling, that starts with Adam and Eve's 187 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,080 fall. And it doesn't just impact them 188 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,760 hiding with leaves from God. It breaks everything. 189 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,720 It breaks the relationship with God, with each other, with 190 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,040 themselves and with the earth. And so all that is wrong in our 191 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:40,720 world goes back to that curse and y'all faith family, we've 192 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,600 got to keep in mind Jesus came to make right everything. 193 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,680 Sin took all of it. You know the old song goes like 194 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:51,280 this. No more let's sins nor sorrows 195 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,040 grow, nor thorns infest the ground. 196 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:01,720 He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found, 197 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:07,840 far as the curse is found, far as far as the curse is found. 198 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,040 And if you're ever wondering what it's like to be in my head 199 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:16,600 all day, I'm just walking around like and just making up songs 200 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,600 all the time. But y'all, I love that. 201 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,160 Because y'all, He came to make right everything that's wrong, 202 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,920 all of it. Did he come to take sin? 203 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,120 Yes. But everything that's busted 204 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,840 should point us to y'all. It's not supposed to be this 205 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:30,800 way. All of it. 206 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,040 So the cursed removal just by a touch. 207 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,240 Don't you love that it says the fever left? 208 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:39,640 I love that. It's not that the the I just 209 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,240 love this image that the fever knows it don't even make no 210 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:42,880 sense. No MO. 211 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,320 You know, like the fever is not a person right? 212 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:47,080 But the fever left. I'm out. 213 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,760 Bye. Messiah touched her is gone. 214 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,360 OK number two thing about wholeness. 215 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,520 Wholeness leads to our true purpose. 216 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,080 Don't we love the image that she don't get up and just start 217 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,080 watching Netflix. Appreciate you Jesus, let me 218 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,560 just now I can click. I've been waiting to watch my 219 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:06,800 new show. She rises and what does she do? 220 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:13,520 It says she began to serve him. Y'all the true you is the 221 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:15,120 neighbor you, not the Netflix you. 222 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,320 You when you're restored are moving towards others. 223 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:21,880 You don't go in a room by yourself when you're restored. 224 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,760 The point of restoration is to make you somebody who serves God 225 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,680 and others who loves God and others, who has forgotten self, 226 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:32,000 who is in love with God and others. 227 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,160 And I'll point out to the to those of us who are in the the 228 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:39,320 faith community in Christ, y'all we can think that worship means 229 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,040 she gets healed to start singing a song and kissing his feet. 230 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,600 Y'all which is part of worship. But notice she gets up and just 231 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,360 begins serving household tasks. She grabs some plates, she makes 232 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,160 a meal. She just starts doing stuff we 233 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,240 do all the time, which is a good picture for us. 234 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:00,080 That wholeness isn't like removal of normal life. 235 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,680 It's restoration of who you were meant to be in normal life. 236 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,360 Like you don't get less human when you get saved. 237 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,720 When you know Christ, you become more human. 238 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:13,640 So the goal of your life is to walk in wholeness, meaning that 239 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,480 the curse has been removed so that you can become one who 240 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,560 loves God, a neighbor, through normal activities. 241 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,960 When I'm making this, I'm giving it to Christ. 242 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,520 I'm giving myself through what I do. 243 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,680 I'm not doing this so later I can be with God by having a 244 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:31,960 worship set. Does that make sense? 245 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,200 It's that what I do in the worship set is what I do when I 246 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:38,360 build the tea set. Are you with me? 247 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:42,680 Like I'm always worshipping God? All of life is wholeness, it's 248 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:45,000 in Christ. Maybe you are under the 249 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,760 impression today that if God is was in your life, every moment 250 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,760 would feel magical. Maybe you think that your life 251 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,120 would just become like a walking just set of amazing things after 252 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,920 one after another. And I can resonate with wanting 253 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,600 that sometimes. But let me tell you that this 254 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,720 woman gets touched by Jesus himself, and she just gets up 255 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:05,800 and does stuff that you and I do every day. 256 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,120 She started to blow her nose, you know, like she's still, you 257 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,320 know, like she's still normal. Like life gets fuller when you 258 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,160 follow Jesus, but it doesn't like, change. 259 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,040 Does that make sense? Like in the sense that it's not 260 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,040 life, Like you still got to live. 261 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:25,240 OK #3 Wholeness brings us into the presence of Jesus. 262 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:32,080 So our three ingredients are curse gone purpose restored in 263 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,760 the presence of Jesus. Yo, you've got to have all three 264 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:37,680 to have the Bible's view of wholeness. 265 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,560 OK, Everybody thinks they know what it means to be a whole 266 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,680 human, right? Our, our, our culture is very 267 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,240 into like holistic is a word we hear a lot, right? 268 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,800 Y'all, to be whole in the Bible's eyes is to have the 269 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,640 curse removed for the purposes of your purpose being restored 270 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,960 to love God and neighbor in the presence of Jesus. 271 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,680 If you take any of those three away, you don't have biblical 272 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:00,960 wholeness. That's what the Bible says 273 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,840 wholeness is. It is love of God. 274 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,080 A neighbor with curse removed for the purpose of God's glory 275 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,920 in the presence of Jesus. I think some of us are like, 276 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,080 I'll take two of those. Let me get, let me get, let me 277 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,040 take the curse gone and I'll take the neighbor but no Jesus 278 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,360 or we'll go. Let me get curse gone and Jesus 279 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,480 but no neighbor, right? Like let me get, let me get 280 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,120 those two. But none of y'all fools. 281 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,120 I'm just cooking for Jesus, not for my mother-in-law, right? 282 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,760 And that's what I love about this text is it's all three 283 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,680 parts is what it means to be in Christ, to be whole. 284 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,160 So where is God tapping you on the shoulder of like? 285 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,920 Your view of wholeness does not line up with what the Bible 286 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,320 says. If you want a life that is not 287 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:46,480 life through God, you are using him to get a life of something 288 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:47,840 else. But it's not what the Bible 289 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:52,240 envisions of wholeness. OK, so let's talk about the 290 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,000 obstacles to wholeness in our text. 291 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,280 So out the obstacles to wholeness. 292 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,560 Cause y'all, I'm just gonna be real with you at some level. 293 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,200 When we read a text like this, Jesus touches everything's 294 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:03,800 amazing. It's all good. 295 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,000 So what's the problem? Why doesn't everybody believe in 296 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,560 Jesus? Why don't we all follow him? 297 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,120 And then why does the church look so much like the world 298 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,440 sometimes when it comes to the issues we have as we'll talk 299 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,200 about. So we can't read this through 300 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,240 rose colored glasses that this is easy. 301 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,080 Does that make sense? So I want us to be real. 302 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:22,960 The the phrase that came to my mind this week is many people in 303 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,400 the church are not like this is if you're a Christ follower and 304 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,360 I'm just being real, we can read a text like this. 305 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,120 Maybe it's not your experience and what you do is just a little 306 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,160 bit of soft quitting on God. Like I don't actually think 307 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,960 he'll be the things I say I believe he is. 308 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,400 And I don't know how to deal with my disappointment and 309 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,800 expectations. So I'm just going to soft quit. 310 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,120 I'm not going to not show up to things, but I don't actually 311 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,560 trust, I don't know what to do with my disappointment. 312 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,280 And so I'm just slowly removing. So I, I really hope for those of 313 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,720 us who are not in Christ, we could see what God is trying to 314 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,880 do through the text, through the person of Jesus, the Messiah. 315 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,640 And then for the church, we've got to wrestle with some of how 316 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,120 a text like this shapes our disappointment and expectations 317 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:06,280 moving forward. Are y'all with me? 318 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:08,760 OK, so let's talk about the obstacles. 319 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,160 There's kind of external obstacles and then internal, 320 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,920 external. The first one is sickness, 321 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,280 right? Like she has a fever, yo. 322 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,920 That's an obstacle to wholeness. It is on the last time you had a 323 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,560 fever, you were probably not your best self. 324 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,120 I get real annoying. The man cold stuff is real. 325 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:29,960 Every man thinks they're the exception to the rule of the man 326 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:31,040 cold stuff. You ever notice that? 327 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,920 I definitely think I'm the exception, but I'm just being 328 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,200 honest in front of all of you because I love you, that it's 329 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,280 real. I have my threshold, but once 330 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:40,600 I'm over it, I'm done. I'm just out. 331 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,040 Don't ask me to do nothing. I'm not being patient. 332 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:44,280 Just watch movies. I'm out. 333 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,960 You're incapacitated by the sickness, right? 334 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,440 And again, this is what the fall does. 335 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,320 Is it it? It's not just sin, y'all, We're 336 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:56,320 going to talk about sin. But it's there's so many things 337 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,040 that are wrong that are external, like a fever, like a 338 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,240 toothache can ruin your week. Like the littlest things just 339 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:06,880 throw you off and they just make you, I mean, with no coffee, you 340 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,280 are the worst, right? Like that just speaks to some 341 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,720 things that are not right. And in the old days before 342 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,400 antibiotics and those things, if somebody was sick to the point 343 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,240 of dying, they got desperate. They got desperate, 344 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,359 superstitious thoughts. Or maybe we just made that new 345 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:23,400 friend and they're doing this stuff. 346 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,480 So maybe are the gods displeased with me? 347 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,119 And like, there was just a chaotic view of how to be well, 348 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:29,760 right? And so they were like, am I 349 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:30,680 curved? What is wrong? 350 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:32,720 What did I do? Or let me go to this person in 351 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,320 town that everybody says has some power. 352 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,640 I don't know if you know this, but many people in world history 353 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,840 have done miracles. Many even today, like things 354 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,600 happen in other countries where they don't have the medicinal 355 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,360 framework, that they don't even need to go to some other source. 356 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:50,640 They have control like we do. They don't have that sense of 357 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,480 control and things get real interesting and we need to not 358 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,240 turn our nose up at those type environments and cultures which 359 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,200 a lot of the world is still in in our in our western medicinal 360 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,720 headspace. We can think we don't need any 361 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:06,480 of that. But y'all, the miraculous is 362 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,680 still somewhat normal. Which it's interesting that 363 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,520 demonic activity is also listed in our text as an obstacle, 364 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,520 right? It's a little uncomfortable for 365 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,400 me to read this sentence. That evening, they brought to 366 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,760 him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the 367 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,680 spirits with the word and healed all who were sick. 368 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,640 I'm like, why are those? Why are those like, oh, yeah, 369 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,560 healed demons and touch the fevers? 370 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,240 I'm like, why are they talked about? 371 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,240 Like, they're the kind of involved? 372 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,280 Like, what does that mean? Like, I'd love to split the 373 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,600 hairs of why Matthew thought, let's just throw those in the 374 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,320 same sentence, you know? And we're going to talk more and 375 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,200 more about demon activity throughout our series because 376 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,480 there's more stuff coming and more stories. 377 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,920 So we're not going to zoom in a ton on the demonic side of this 378 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,360 here today. But y'all, it's real. 379 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:54,360 It's not always as dramatic as the the commercials during 380 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:56,280 football games here this afternoon will lead us to 381 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,240 believe, which is like, come on, y'all, do we have to show these 382 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:00,960 at halftime of a 1:00 football game? 383 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,840 But y'all, the the demonic activity is not always as 384 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:09,200 dramatic, but these are two of the main things that give 385 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,800 humanity so many problems. The stuff like fevers and 386 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,680 demonic activity. That's why they're listed like 387 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,120 that. OK, let's talk about internal 388 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:17,920 obstacles. Let's talk about internal 389 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:22,240 obstacles again by quoting Isaiah 53 like he's kind of 390 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,160 bringing into a full picture. All that's wrong with humanity 391 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,720 is the external and the internal and Christ came to make it all 392 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,680 right. Isaiah 53 talks a lot about sin, 393 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,800 talks a lot about transgressions, iniquities. 394 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,240 So kind of the two things that are internally wrong is first, 395 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:41,920 we're wicked like we just are. Nobody makes us be as proud as 396 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,280 we are. Nobody makes us have the lustful 397 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:46,440 thoughts we have. Nobody makes us do these things. 398 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,680 They just flow out of us effortlessly. 399 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,000 Don't they much that's wrong with us. 400 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,800 Nobody made us say that thing we said. 401 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,920 Nobody in these past couple weeks has made anybody get on 402 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:57,760 there and start typing. I've I've heard it said out of 403 00:19:57,760 --> 00:19:59,800 the overflow of the heart. The the mouth speaks and the 404 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,640 fingers tweet like you're. It's almost like your your 405 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,040 fingers are. Like whatever you've liked, 406 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,720 nobody made you like that. Whatever made you mad, nobody 407 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,400 made you mad. You did that, you know? 408 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,880 Like, there's something so automatic to what moments like 409 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,240 we're in right now is a culture show where we can't help it and 410 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,040 we know the problems are deeper than anything education could 411 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,560 solve, right? Like, these are deep problems. 412 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:27,080 The curse runs deep. We want what we shouldn't want. 413 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,960 And then when we want to want what we should want, we can't 414 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:31,600 want it. And we have to force ourselves 415 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,640 to want what we know we should want, and we don't want it. 416 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,000 You know, sin is so complex, it's to miss the mark. 417 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,480 Like when you are full of pride, you are making a mistake, you're 418 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,240 breaking God's law. It is error. 419 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,920 Like you are erroring by sinning, by having pride. 420 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,560 But it's also to settle. It's to settle for less than 421 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,400 being amazed by God. You're amazed with yourself in 422 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,120 every sin. You're doing two things wrong. 423 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:57,520 You're failing to be who God made you to be, and you're 424 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,400 failing to be satisfied by all that God wants to be for you. 425 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,560 Though you're sinful, he still wants to give you the feast and 426 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:05,880 you settle for a snack in your own sin. 427 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:10,440 That is what sin is. The second internal obstacle. 428 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,720 Y'all is our weakness, A poor city we talk about. 429 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,280 We're wicked and we are weak. OK, weak. 430 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:21,160 What do I mean by weak week is when you watch that toddler who 431 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,880 is not taking the nap yet just losing it over the littlest 432 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:26,920 things. Eventually the parent, every 433 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:27,920 parent eventually gets the point. 434 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,880 Like, you're just tired, sweetie, let's get you to bed. 435 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,840 That is your understanding of the difference between 436 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:34,640 wickedness and weakness. Like, are they wicked in that 437 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,640 moment where it's like the 50th thing in a row? 438 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,560 Yes, but they also need to get some sleep. 439 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:39,880 It'll be a different person when they wake up. 440 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,400 Yes right. Like we're, we're fever shut us 441 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,520 down Like we're, we're weak like we're, we're undone by the 442 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:50,640 littlest things. And you know what that leads to? 443 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,360 Because we are falling wicked people who struggle with 444 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,040 weaknesses. It leads to all kinds of 445 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:59,320 escapism. So what we do is we find ways to 446 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,320 survive and cope and deal with fevers. 447 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,640 Does that make sense? Like I can't handle life as it 448 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:06,880 is. So I'm going to run 2X to help 449 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,120 me survive. And that's what we tend to do. 450 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:13,120 And a lot of the the things we struggle with in our life are 451 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:17,000 just some form of ISM to handle what is like alcoholism is an 452 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,440 escape from what is it's, I can't handle the pain of this 453 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,640 narcissism, right? Even one as simple as cynicism. 454 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,560 Maybe you've developed a spirit of dismissal of everything in 455 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,520 front of you through humor. You can't take anything serious. 456 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,000 You don't take people serious because you can't face it in 457 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:35,760 your weakness. You're just like, I can't. 458 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,840 Your Instagram ISM, your consumer ISM, your TikTok ISM, 459 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:44,080 whatever our ditches are tend to reveal our inability to handle 460 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,480 the fevers of life. Does that, does that make sense? 461 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,880 Like we are wicked, but also when things are really hard, we 462 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,520 just struggle to walk in them, staying hard. 463 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,480 So we escape. Every ISM is an escape from what 464 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,640 is at some level. So we read a text like this, 465 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,120 Jesus comes and with a touch he can remove all that is difficult 466 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:05,920 for us. All the fevers he comes to. 467 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:07,680 We know eventually through the cross. 468 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:09,840 He is dying for our sins and our place. 469 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,000 So all that is wrong, He wants to make it right. 470 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,720 Hebrews 13/8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and 471 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,160 today and forever. So he has the same power and 472 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,400 desires and heart as he did in this text. 473 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,240 So what are our options? Kind of the two ways people go 474 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,280 that I would say, neither of which are biblically healthy, 475 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,480 are a text like this is unrealistic and will never 476 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,600 happen and life is just awful and it's always going to be 477 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,720 awful and there's nothing you can do about it. 478 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,640 Do not expect this. This will never happen. 479 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:45,600 Wholeness is not possible. Give up and then all you can 480 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,520 hope for is escapism. Does that make sense? 481 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,120 All you've got is your survival tactics. 482 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,360 And then the other side reads a text like this and they 483 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,200 interpret what they think is the only issue is our faith. 484 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,680 And so it should be happening all the time. 485 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:03,120 So we run to either it should never happen or the only problem 486 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:04,760 is US. It should always be happening, 487 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:06,840 right? And then through our faith and 488 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,920 even a little bit y'all, some of the escapism the church can 489 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,160 develop is through the faith, if I had enough faith. 490 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,920 And that becomes its own form of let me be in denial. 491 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:17,160 I never weep. But only if we were happy enough 492 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,320 and believed enough. So mourning gets removed from 493 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:21,320 the church. You see how that works? 494 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,800 One group becomes cynics. One group becomes just joyful 495 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:25,240 all the time. You're like, this is weird. 496 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,760 One group has no tears and it's always a party, and one group is 497 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,080 just a bunch of cynics who are not fun to be around. 498 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,080 You know what I mean? I think the church is called to 499 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:34,680 something in between. Are you with me? 500 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,320 So here, here's what I would push us to in our expectations. 501 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,840 OK, the term I've been wrestled with this week is I want us to 502 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,600 be childlike redemptive realists. 503 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,880 Childlike redemptive realists. Let me flesh that out for you. 504 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,400 Jesus brings a slice. He touches this woman that 505 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,560 people are bringing to him. Everybody oppressed by demons 506 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,440 and those who are sick, and he's just touching them. 507 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:02,120 OK, First off, I love that image of where do you go to help 508 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:03,800 others be whole? Isn't it interesting? 509 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,080 You just tell them, well, just do X. 510 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,840 Just check out this podcast all the time. 511 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:08,680 We're giving people a path to wholeness. 512 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,440 So just ask yourself, what do I send people to make them? 513 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,680 Well, these people knew. Just go to Messiah. 514 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,760 I don't know what's going to happen when you go there, but 515 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:17,640 that's where you need to go. That's the source of wholeness. 516 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,960 So we go to Jesus to get wholeness. 517 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:24,560 We see in this text a window into eventual, unending 518 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,120 wholeness. It's a window into his power, 519 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:30,880 into the Kingdom, where there'll be no more fever, there'll be no 520 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,600 more demonic activity, there will be no more pride and 521 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,640 arrogance and all the stuff. It'll just be love of God, a 522 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,360 neighbor, unfiltered by any decay, any curse of any kind, 523 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:42,680 external or internal. Doesn't that sound amazing? 524 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:49,800 And y'all every miracle Jesus did was just a taste of what is 525 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,120 to come. And for everyone who received 526 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:55,520 one of those, eventually they didn't. 527 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,840 Lazarus gets risen from the dead and eventually he dies again. 528 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,520 This mother-in-law will get another fever one day she did 529 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,160 not recover from. Are you tracked with me? 530 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,040 Like every taste is just a taste. 531 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,400 So what we've got to have is a view of redemption. 532 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,600 Somebody say redemption. Redemption is the idea that God 533 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,520 is in the business of taking what is and making it beautiful 534 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,800 without erasing the painful path to get there. 535 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,960 They think Jesus resurrected. He comes to his disciples who 536 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,800 are saying we will not believe unless we see him and touch his 537 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,720 hands and he appears to them. Now he's going through walls and 538 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:32,960 stuff, which he didn't do before. 539 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:34,400 He just shows up and he's like, what's? 540 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,600 Good peace be with you. And he just shows him his hands 541 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,520 and lets them touch them, and they're now scars. 542 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,560 OK, the idea is what God wants to do is turn wounds into scars. 543 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:46,120 With scars, we have a story to tell. 544 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:49,880 It does not erase what happened. I was crucified, but now I'm 545 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,680 resurrected. And in a similar way, what God 546 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,800 wants to do is he wants to redeem us. 547 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,520 He wants to take what is broken and use it to build something 548 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,920 beautiful. But this is not a Men in Black 549 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:04,080 movie. He's not going to go. 550 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,480 Just look right here, Cha ching. OK, nothing bad happened to you. 551 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:10,040 Just got to get some new curtains. 552 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,920 We good like that, isn't He does not erase what happened. 553 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,200 OK. And he does not erase that you 554 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,080 still live in a broken world. So. 555 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,600 So guess what? After he heals her, she's going 556 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:22,960 to struggle with sin the next day. 557 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,280 She's still like, this world is still filled with frustration. 558 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:31,360 So even when the miracles come, this era we live in is still a 559 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,520 frustrated era. Are you with me? 560 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,760 One of my favorite pastors. He used to say even on his best 561 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,560 day, him and his wife would look at each other and say, it feels 562 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,080 like sometimes we are just sipping the ocean through a 563 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,680 straw. And I love that imagery because 564 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,280 like, there's so much I want to give you, there's so much I want 565 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,640 to do, but all I can access is through the straw. 566 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,000 Does that make sense? Even on the best day, life on 567 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:58,240 this earth is broken. Even when Messiah healed people, 568 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,440 it was a taste, but he wasn't pulling them out and taking them 569 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,880 to heaven. Do you see that He didn't come 570 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,320 on an extraction mission, He came on a redemptive mission. 571 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:12,000 He brought a taste of the future into the present to build in US 572 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,400 hope and belief in who He is and trust ultimately through his 573 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:20,200 atoning sin, sin bearing death so that we would trust Him in 574 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,160 the here and now. He is God with us. 575 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:26,440 Y'all, we live in the era where the main way God wants to be 576 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,720 with you is getting in the fire with you. 577 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,360 Doesn't mean he won't remove some fires, but he is God with 578 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:35,560 us. Does that make sense? 579 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,360 Like we live in the era where Christ wants to get in it, OK? 580 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,640 That's what he wants to do. So how do we live? 581 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,880 We live as childlike, redemptive realist. 582 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,360 Kids are awesome. Let them teach us some things. 583 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:53,360 When they're mad, they're mad. When they are sad, they're sad. 584 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,760 When they want something, guess what they do incessantly? 585 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,880 They ask for it, OK. And so I think in many ways what 586 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,720 we're looking for is the ability to live in the tension that 587 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,920 wholeness has come in part. We've been saved by grace 588 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,760 through faith. We could know Christ, the Spirit 589 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:15,000 and dwells you, and he still promises to bring slices of his 590 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:16,920 Kingdom if we'll ask. And we don't know when it's 591 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,400 going to be and wholeness is coming. 592 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,600 How do we live in that tension like kids, when it feels like 593 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,360 it's not right? You're probably right. 594 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,840 You should either be mourning or asking or a little bit of both, 595 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,720 right? Hopefully you felt that these 596 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:31,040 last couple weeks. Hopefully you've done some 597 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,600 mourning and some asking, not just being filled with rage. 598 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,720 I hope you are learning to mourn and ask. 599 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,600 That's what we need to be pushed towards is both. 600 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,360 Mourn what isn't, ask for what you want to be. 601 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,120 He wants to bring it, ask him and is still going to be cursed 602 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:48,160 if he does it. Does that make sense? 603 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,120 We're still going to live in an era of suffering even when he 604 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,720 breaks in. And y'all, I just got to be real 605 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,400 with us If we don't learn how to live and the fact that wholeness 606 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:01,560 has come and is still coming, the church becomes a space 607 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,320 filled with just as much escapism as the culture where we 608 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:06,880 can't handle life on life's terms. 609 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,520 And then we blame God as the source of our disappointment. 610 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:13,080 Does that make sense? And what I want to say is, 611 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,640 listen, we have to figure this out. 612 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,600 We have to figure out how to see that God has brought wholeness. 613 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,120 He is bringing wholeness. Sometimes he brings other 614 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,320 slices. And we, there is no formula to 615 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:26,360 that. That's the truth. 616 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,080 There are miraculous activities happening all over the world 617 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,080 right now. And we should ask like children. 618 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,600 And there are times where the answer will be not right now and 619 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,200 we don't know why. So what we have to learn is how 620 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,320 to live in that tension, like kids asking and asking and then 621 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,040 morning and morning and just sit in that tension. 622 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,400 And if we don't figure that out, we will become escape artists 623 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:50,600 just like everybody else. We will be filled with all the 624 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,920 isms with Bible verse slogans on our walls. 625 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:58,360 And that's the only difference. So part of what he's done in the 626 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,200 redemptive arc, the redemptive nature of being childlike faith, 627 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,600 is we can handle the tension and not escape from it. 628 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,000 Does that make sense? What if he died to bring you in 629 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,680 on the tension? What if he died so that you'd 630 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,680 become one saying your Kingdom come? 631 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,080 Jesus himself is telling you He's acknowledging it's not 632 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,320 fully here yet. Your Kingdom come like it's not 633 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,600 fully here yet. That's why we pray that every 634 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,080 day. So I want to invite you to a 635 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,200 reality. Let me tell you that it's going 636 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,280 to be hard and filled with tension and sometimes you're 637 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:32,160 going to be frustrated, but that doesn't mean God's not in it. 638 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,680 He died for you to bring you in the tension so you could feel 639 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:37,760 what He feels, and then you would ask him to come and then 640 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,440 you would mourn. You are becoming like how Christ 641 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:45,040 lived on this earth. Do you see that That's exactly 642 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,800 how he lived. The ultimate childlike, 643 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,120 redemptive realist is Jesus. He could have touched 644 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:51,240 everything. He did it. 645 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,720 He just brought slices. And y'all I want to. 646 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:56,280 I do want to say this before we move on. 647 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,840 Maybe there's some escapism in your life right now. 648 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:01,360 It could be. It could be big stuff. 649 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,120 It could be images, things you're watching. 650 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:04,960 It could be habits. It could be shopping. 651 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,560 I don't know what it is. I don't know where you run to 652 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,560 when you feel like you can't handle life. 653 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,480 Maybe it's food, maybe it's a substance. 654 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,600 Do not leave today without thinking about who you're going 655 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:19,560 to tell. You don't need to tell 656 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,760 everybody. But y'all, the superpower the 657 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,280 church has when we can't handle life is a thing called 658 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,400 confession. The point isn't you should 659 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:28,880 become somebody who can handle it. 660 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,360 The point is, you can't handle it, y'all. 661 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,600 I'm not telling you to be strong in your own strength. 662 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,160 I'm saying we learn to live in the tension through the strength 663 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:37,280 He supplies. Amen. 664 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,200 And So what we do as a church community is we are held up by 665 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,080 the Spirit as we share one another's burdens. 666 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,880 Life is hard. And I'm going to get next to you 667 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,120 and ask with you, and I want to get next to you and mourn with 668 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:51,560 you. That's why we become those who 669 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,840 rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. 670 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,440 That's why we're a church family. 671 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,080 But if we don't learn that and it doesn't become real, we're 672 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,960 just a Bible verse filled version of we can't handle it. 673 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,360 That makes sense. So tell somebody if you got 674 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,480 something going on and if you get told something, this is not 675 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,200 the time to go into coach mode. OK, This is the time to say been 676 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:14,880 there. I get it. 677 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,480 If I were you and I struggle with that too. 678 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,160 Let's get real because otherwise, what are we doing? 679 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,000 Like what? What is this whole community 680 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,960 thing if we can't be real about how life tempts us all to 681 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,160 escape? For me it is chips at 8:00 PM, 682 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:27,800 OK? It helps me survive. 683 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,920 People, I need help. Mourn with me and ask with me. 684 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,440 OK, the path to wholeness, the path to wholeness. 685 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:35,440 Let's talk about the path to wholeness. 686 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,680 We're done. OK, Verse 17 said this. 687 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,560 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. 688 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,160 He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. 689 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:52,720 Want to say fulfill? I love to think of fulfill as 690 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,120 filling full. So imagine like a cup that gets 691 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,520 filled full. OK, that's what fulfill means. 692 00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,960 You filled it full. He filled full what needed to be 693 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,600 filled full. He fulfilled what Isaiah 694 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:07,600 envisioned Messiah would do, which is he came to take our 695 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,719 illnesses and bear our diseases. So two things about Jesus and 696 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,719 we'll be done #1 Jesus brought wholeness, y'all. 697 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:21,080 He brought it, He did. He took our illnesses, He bore 698 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,040 our diseases, He went to the cross for us. 699 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,000 I hope you see Messiah's wholeness mission is to change 700 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,239 everything the curse has taken from us, y'all. 701 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,920 Every funeral you sit at, part of you wants to be mad at God. 702 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:36,320 I get that. And you're wondering what's he 703 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,880 going to do about it, y'all? He sent his son to die to kill 704 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,880 death. He sent his son to to take on 705 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,239 the weight of every cancer of everything. 706 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:48,239 When you're frustrated, know that God's solution for it is 707 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,199 what He did in sending His Son to take our illnesses, bear our 708 00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:54,760 diseases. He came on a bearing mission, a 709 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,880 taking mission. You know, this is what we crave. 710 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:02,960 We crave a story, a hero that makes sense of why are things 711 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,880 not the way they should be and what's going to be done about 712 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,000 it. The Bible's answer is a hero 713 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,320 would come who would not blame all of us for the problems we've 714 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,520 created, but take upon Himself the curse. 715 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,400 That's Jesus. That's our hero. 716 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:21,520 But y'all, the gospel is upside down. 717 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:28,400 You are not the hero. You want to be the hero so bad, 718 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,880 so do I. But the gospel is upside down. 719 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:33,000 Y'all. Do you know how bad you are 720 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,840 asking for help? Some of y'all know you're bad at 721 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,480 asking for help. Let me tell you how bad some of 722 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,640 us are at asking for help. Your house could be burning 723 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:46,320 down, your ovens on fire, legs bleeding, dogs running out the 724 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:51,920 door, kids screaming, tires flat before you would walk outside 725 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:56,400 like, oh, cut up. Could you help me real quick, 726 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,680 just with a little something? And it's like your world is 727 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:01,600 about to fall apart. And your thought is, I don't 728 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:07,960 want to be a burden. OK, I'm talking to somebody. 729 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:14,280 Clearly we are so bad at asking for help and then once you tell 730 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,920 the friend at the 9th hour when your whole world's about to fall 731 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,320 apart, they're like what didn't you tell me for man? 732 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,600 Why'd you wait until it was in this situation? 733 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,400 Recently watched Sandlot with my kids and at the end of the movie 734 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,160 The dude's just like why didn't you tell me? 735 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:28,240 I would have gotten and gotten for you. 736 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:30,640 Like what? But then we wouldn't have gotten 737 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:31,880 this great movie. OK? 738 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:35,200 But we naturally think we are the burden. 739 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:36,200 Y'all, let me tell you something. 740 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:42,880 You're right y'all. The gospel is that actually your 741 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:44,960 burden is bigger than you think it is. 742 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,440 Your problem is worse than you think it is. 743 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,520 The cost to carry you is higher than you think it is. 744 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,200 Your house is more on fire than you think it is. 745 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,680 Your soul needs more saving than you think it does. 746 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,280 Your problem is actually beaker bigger. 747 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:00,800 The mountain is actually steeper. 748 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:05,120 Thank you, y'all. The problem a little bit, what 749 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:08,600 we're doing is somewhat right. We don't want a burden, people. 750 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:10,840 There's something about that that's admirable. 751 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,120 There is because we realize it's a cost to carry me. 752 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,400 The problem is you're inaccurate about what the cost is. 753 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,360 The cost is way higher than you think it is. 754 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,800 The flip side of that, the good news of the gospel, so the 755 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,600 gospel is that your burden is actually heavier than you think 756 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:33,040 it is, but also there's somebody more pleased to take it than you 757 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,720 realize. Our burden is bigger than we 758 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:38,480 realize, and somebody is more willing to take it than you 759 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:39,960 realize. The gospel is that you are a 760 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,160 bigger mess than you ever could imagine, and Jesus is more 761 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,320 willing to take all the mess than you could ever imagine. 762 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:49,240 Y'all, He took our illnesses. He bore our diseases. 763 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:52,560 I imagine like take like, give me that, give me that fever. 764 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:57,360 That's what he was doing when he looks at our sin, y'all we think 765 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,440 God is thinking, what are you doing? 766 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,760 He's thinking, give me that, give me your sin, give me your 767 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,000 illnesses. Give me, give it to me, I'll 768 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,920 take it. So y'all, we're right that we, 769 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:13,720 we got some problems, but y'all we miss assess how good he is. 770 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,720 And So what we do surviving is our inability, our 771 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:20,760 unwillingness, our pride for whatever it is, whatever word we 772 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,440 want to insert, to not go to the source, for the burden to be 773 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,200 carried. And we escape. 774 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:29,000 We take the exit ramp through substance, through shopping, 775 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,680 through whatever it is. And actually what God wants to 776 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,760 do is say actually the load is even heavier than you think. 777 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,640 You're miscalculating. Just don't get off the exit 778 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:38,960 ramp. Does that make sense? 779 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,680 Just keep coming to me, I will take it. 780 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,600 That happens initially in salvation, which some of y'all 781 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,760 still need to get saved. The Lord's been knocking on your 782 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,280 heart for a long time, and it's time to repent and believe and 783 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:51,560 trust in Christ for the first time. 784 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,480 For others of us who are in Christ, we need to see that 785 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,880 that's always the way it is. The burden is always heavier 786 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,360 than you think it is, and there's always one more willing 787 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,120 to take it than you think He is. And then learning to walk in 788 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,080 community as His means of helping you is often going to be 789 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,360 through other people. Once He's washed you by His 790 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,320 grace, He's going to say, OK, now let me help you through 791 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:16,280 them, OK? Second thing, Jesus is bringing 792 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,440 wholeness. He's bringing it y'all. 793 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:22,360 Isn't it good news that the slice we see in this text won't 794 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,240 be a slice forever? One day it's all gone. 795 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:29,360 All fevers. No more fevers, no more man 796 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:31,560 codes. Make fun of your husband as much 797 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:33,880 as you can now. So one day I'm not going to do 798 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:34,440 that. No more. 799 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,640 No more toothaches, no more things externally holding me 800 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:40,560 down. No more demonic activity, no 801 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,280 more struggling with mental health, No more any of this 802 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:44,880 stuff. No more sin. 803 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:49,800 No more mixed motives, no more racism, no more hatred, no more 804 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:53,080 just anger. Wanting to hurt another person 805 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,880 initially like they're it'll all be gone. 806 00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:59,440 Doesn't that sound amazing, yo? Here's what's amazing about the 807 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,560 church. We get to live in that world 808 00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,760 now. What makes us different than the 809 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:10,480 world is not necessarily who we are. 810 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:12,280 We still struggle with the same things. 811 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,560 We're struggling to escape just like everybody else. 812 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:16,960 I don't have some gene that makes me not struggle with life. 813 00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:20,240 The difference is I've seen the taste and I live in light of 814 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:22,720 what's coming. That's the difference of the 815 00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:23,920 church. Y'all listen to me. 816 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:26,960 The church doesn't just have a hope for the future. 817 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:31,400 We have a hope from the future. Jesus brought the future to the 818 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:35,280 present so you'd start living it now you've been invited to a 819 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,160 party that's coming, that's already started. 820 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:41,840 You're in, you know, church, you know you don't have a hope for 821 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:43,400 the future. People like man, I'm just so 822 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,640 glad that this and that's good. We should hope for the future. 823 00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,400 But what will change your life is when you hope from the 824 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:55,560 future, when you live into it. Now we forgive because of what's 825 00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:57,760 coming, because of who Christ is, how he forgives us. 826 00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:02,360 But also, none of the things that we're seeing modeled for us 827 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:04,560 make sense if Christ is really coming back and making all 828 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:07,880 things new, right? Like we should be doing things 829 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:10,520 that align with the Kingdom to come, not with what the world 830 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,560 tells us things are now. Does that make sense? 831 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:18,040 So we forgive enemies because of who Christ is and what's coming. 832 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,480 We commit ourselves in our jobs to projects that will outlive us 833 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:25,680 because of what's coming. We build the the apple tree, so 834 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:28,360 to speak, like we, we think ahead, we become a visionary 835 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:33,880 because we see what's coming. So what in your life does not 836 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:36,640 make sense in light of the fact that the Kingdom is coming in 837 00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:39,000 fullness? And where is God inviting you to 838 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,440 live? Like that's really true. 839 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,360 And it really might be a miraculous healing, by the way. 840 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:45,080 It really might in light of what's coming. 841 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,720 But I think what God is inviting us to do is children get hype 842 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,160 the second you tell them it's their birthday in three months. 843 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:56,840 They think every single day is their birthday for the next 844 00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:59,520 three months. They can't handle time. 845 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:02,800 They only live in the now. There's something about child 846 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:07,040 likeness where anticipation goes away and it's just nowness, 847 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,000 right? And so I think what God's 848 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,400 inviting us into is to live in the future now like a kid. 849 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,840 Does that make sense? So we ask, we pray, we're 850 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,120 redemptive realist. I just want to call you church 851 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:23,880 dream, ask, go huge projects, things way beyond you forgive 852 00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:26,600 radically. We should be asking God to turn 853 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,640 things upside down in our city for its good, our joy and God's 854 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,400 glory, knowing that it's not because we're skilled at 855 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:33,880 something. This is what God's going to do. 856 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:36,400 All of these things will not be so one day. 857 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,000 So I'm a build. I'm a build a village now that 858 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,240 makes it look like that. Does that make sense in my 859 00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:44,360 neighborhood, on my team, at my job, whatever it is, y'all, 860 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:46,960 that's the joy we get. We don't have to wait to live in 861 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:48,160 the Kingdom. We're in it. 862 00:42:49,240 --> 00:42:51,920 And we trust our King about what it's going to look like on the 863 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:54,200 way. OK, let's pray together. 864 00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,600 Our Father, we love you. Thank you so much for this 865 00:42:58,600 --> 00:42:59,920 slice. Thank you so much for this 866 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:01,560 picture. Fever is just running. 867 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:06,360 God, thank you for sending your son to to take our illnesses, to 868 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:09,120 bear our diseases, to to die in our place for our sin. 869 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:10,880 God, I pray for my friends who are not in Christ. 870 00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:12,080 I pray they will believe the gospel. 871 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:15,240 I pray that they would see that this story, this hero is what 872 00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:16,520 they've been craving. It's true. 873 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:18,200 They would repent. They would believe in God for 874 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,440 us, Your church. God, protect us from escapism. 875 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:23,840 Help us to run all the way to you, God. 876 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:25,960 Help us to not take the quick exit routes. 877 00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:28,840 And when we feel like we can't stand it anymore and we turn to 878 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,800 one another in confession and need for help, may we not look 879 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:33,000 at each other like how could you? 880 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:35,760 May we bear one another up and go to Christ together. 881 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:38,040 So God filled this church with faith by the power of the Holy 882 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:39,880 Spirit. And we do ask on behalf of our 883 00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:42,760 city that you would do things that the future Kingdom has in 884 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,680 mind here and out. For our city's good, for our 885 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:47,960 joy, and for Your glory, we pray in Christ's name, Amen.