1 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:15,240 Happy Monday. Pastor Matt's here with you. 2 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:17,880 Pastor Chris along for the ride as well. 3 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:22,640 Welcome to the ERC Leftovers podcast. 4 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,800 We're coming up. We Pat, do we pass a year? 5 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:27,720 I don't remember it. We need to. 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:29,360 We need to do that. We have. 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,680 I think episode 50 is coming up. Maybe it already happened. 8 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,520 Oh man, we're so bad at this. I'm so bad at this. 9 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,920 Well, yeah, because, you know, if you haven't figured it out 10 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:46,840 yet, Matt, is, I think the brains behind the operation. 11 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,920 I don't feel bad saying that. Well, but you know, you're 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:52,960 you're the guy. I am the guy. 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,680 You do the things, you know, if you could see us right now, if 14 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,400 we're doing a, a video version, Matt's the one who's setting up 15 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,160 the recording and all that kind of stuff. 16 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,200 And he's the one who's like tracking things. 17 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,440 And you post all of the sermon podcasts and stuff like that. 18 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,120 Like you are the the the brains in the administrator behind all 19 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,600 of this madness that we do. So we really the, the first one, 20 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,520 the first leftovers, we were in the middle of the Revelation 21 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,920 series last year and we were like, it's way too much going on 22 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:26,000 Revelation four and five, that sermon didn't get it. 23 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,720 I had so many things that I didn't get to say. 24 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,160 So that was February 10th of last year. 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,840 So we're 55 weeks worth, which I guess so we missed the milestone 26 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,560 episode 50. We'll have to wait for 100 27 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:41,560 coming up. But like, we'll, yeah, we'll do 28 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,960 something, do something crazy. There are there are ideas out 29 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:46,840 there for that. Maybe there'll even be video by 30 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,760 then for episode 100. And then, yeah, it'll make 31 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,640 today's discussion a little more relevant as we as we get into 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,120 the, yeah, the icebreaker, you won't just have to imagine what 33 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,080 you're what we're talking about. You can, that's true. 34 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,320 You can see it on video too, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 35 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,920 You know what, Speaking of just, you know, here's the thing. 36 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,960 Over the last year of doing this podcast, one of the funny things 37 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,520 that I suspect happens is that I don't know, like they're just 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,360 things that you can bring up randomly that they don't seem 39 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,160 off limits. And so today, as we were kind of 40 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,320 talking at staff meeting, just started talking about facial 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:27,480 hair choices. Oh boy. 42 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:33,120 Now, Mr. Schweitzer, you have recently adopted a beard and 43 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,400 I've known you for a number of years now, and you've never done 44 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:40,680 that, but now you have one. So yeah, it's thank you. 45 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,200 It's it's generous. It's generous of you to call it 46 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:49,360 that. I for a long time, I mean, I 47 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,160 don't know, I don't feel like it's a full-fledged beard 48 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,120 because so like I look at your beard and you've got, you've got 49 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,080 some room up the cheeks, like the, it your, your beard 50 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,720 connects to like the top of your mouth and also goes. 51 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,800 There's not hair that comes in on the cheeks for me. 52 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:08,280 Like it's, it's really, I didn't. 53 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,320 You have to shave something there, don't you? 54 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,800 I, I trimmed it, but like, it's like singular hairs on my 55 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:16,520 cheeks. There's no, there's no like, 56 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,160 there's no like blanket of beard hair. 57 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,040 I'm blanket of beard. OK, I need to hold on to that 58 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,280 phrase because I love. It I don't have a beard blanket 59 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:33,640 on my cheeks. No, no. 60 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,760 So, so my struggle and why you've never seen me with a 61 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,720 beard is like the OK, the this is a goatee. 62 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,000 The whole. The whole thing, Sorry, I didn't 63 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,840 I didn't do the you say you never have gone less than a soul 64 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,240 patch in like I don't know how many years. 65 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,960 It's. True, the flavor saver, Kristen 66 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:58,880 would say anyway, So the the goatee with with the mustache 67 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,440 and and that like that's really the only spot that it's like my 68 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,960 hair has grown in strongly in in my life. 69 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:09,320 It's all my it's all my dad has too. 70 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,680 My dad like actually pretty actively shaves just down to 71 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,880 down to a goatee. He does have a thinner beard 72 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:20,320 kind of on the jawline that I that I have going to. 73 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,080 I have a little more hair than he does there, but I like on the 74 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,920 cheeks. I don't it's not there like I've 75 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,360 I've cleaned it up because I don't want just like the 76 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,680 singular stragglers, but I don't I don't have what you have on 77 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:34,080 the cheek. Like it's just not that thick. 78 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,760 It's only this inch thick, just like my whole jawline. 79 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:39,760 And then I also get the neck beard too, which I. 80 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,680 Neck beard that. I don't some of y'all rocket I 81 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,880 need, I feel like I need to let the rest of this get longer. 82 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,800 I don't I don't want the neckbeard to be like the 83 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,080 prominent feature of it. I need to let the front get 84 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,520 longer before I can let the neck really come in. 85 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,720 So. You know, I've never, I've never 86 00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:58,720 thought. About this way too much. 87 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:00,400 No, no. I've never thought about it till 88 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:02,280 now. You know what I would find 89 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:03,840 hilarious? Oh no, if. 90 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,840 Everybody. If somebody shaved everything 91 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,880 but the neckbeard, Can you imagine what that would look 92 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:10,960 like? You can't do that. 93 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:16,240 It would be so funny. It would be hilarious. 94 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,640 It would be so funny. You definitely like just having 95 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,320 the guys who have wives. You definitely can't do that 96 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,040 because you you will not have a wife anymore and no one will 97 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,600 blame her. It would be so funny. 98 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:31,160 Just the neckbeard, no. Nothing else. 99 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,400 Nothing else. I think we just thought up a 100 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,160 Valentine's Day punishment. No, I cannot participate. 101 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:44,120 Just a neckbeard. Chris preaching in Fringe and a 102 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,680 neckbeard next year. No, I quit. 103 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,160 I quit. Chris, your. 104 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,520 Face has fringe. It's on your neck. 105 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,400 Your. Face has your face has fringe. 106 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,560 That is going too far, Sir. I cannot deal with that. 107 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:59,800 That is too much. I won't do it. 108 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:02,320 In the neckbeard, kind of the fringe of the face though I 109 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,440 guess it is. Yikes. 110 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,880 OK, this is better. When you when you said you 111 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,120 wanted to talk about facial hair, I had no idea where we 112 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,480 were going. And I'm I'm at least entertained 113 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,960 that we ended up here. I'm not sure if it's good that 114 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,200 we ended up here, but yeah. OK, well, I just, you know, 115 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:24,960 there's some people who I think, OK, so. 116 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:27,720 And by the way, it's not a good neither of us. 117 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:29,080 We've both talked about this at length. 118 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:31,760 We have to have some facial hair. 119 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,800 We can't we You don't want to see our face either. 120 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,840 You don't want to see either of our faces. 121 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:38,600 Our hairless. Faces. 122 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,160 It's not good. No, it's not great. 123 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:45,160 I mean, so my wife will testify to like, 'cause I always make 124 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:46,440 the joke. I was like, you just don't like 125 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:48,200 my face. And she's like, no, your face is 126 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:49,800 fine, It's just better with hair. 127 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,880 And I went, OK, that's fine. I can, I can take that, I guess. 128 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,680 But yeah, the couple times I've, you know, kind of gone without 129 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,400 any facial hair, it's weird. It's just really strange. 130 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,400 And even Kristen, as she balls up her tiny little fist and 131 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,120 points at me and she's like, no, you can't shave. 132 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,080 And she's probably right. She's probably right. 133 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,520 No, in the same way that she we we're glad that she doesn't have 134 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,520 a beard. Yeah. 135 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:22,240 She's glad that we have beards. So wow, I don't know. 136 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,360 Sorry. Just when he thought we couldn't 137 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,040 get further off the rails, Nope, we can. 138 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,440 Yeah. So that was a productive Monday 139 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,360 morning staff meeting discussion that then made its way into the 140 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,520 podcast. So yeah, what is if if you had 141 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,000 what? What are some iconic like 142 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:48,360 celebrity or or what? What are some iconic facial hair 143 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,280 things that are prominent in your mind, People. 144 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:56,280 OK, so if you grew up in the 80s like Tom Selleck's mustache. 145 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,040 Magnum, right? Like Magnum Pi. 146 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,320 Yeah, I mean, he rocked that mustache so well that he 147 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,680 actually made. I mean, I I'm not just 148 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,800 necessarily a fan of just mustaches on their own, but man, 149 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:10,720 that guy. He is. 150 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:12,080 He's the mustache. Yeah. 151 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:17,240 What about who's, who's the? Is it the Coors guy? 152 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:22,040 He's got a, he's got a deep, deep Southern Western voice. 153 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,560 Oh, I know that guy. Gray hair, Yeah. 154 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,120 Why? Oh man, people are shouting at 155 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,040 us that. They know his name. 156 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,240 Oh, he's got Sam. Sam. 157 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,520 Sam, Darn it. Dang it. 158 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,200 Yep. People are people are yelling at 159 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:38,520 us now. They they know where we're 160 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:40,240 supposed to be. Yell in your car. 161 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:41,720 You know what this guy's name is? 162 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:46,400 Sam Elliott. Sam Elliott. 163 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,640 Sam Elliott. I thought of it before Google 164 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:50,040 answered the question. It came. 165 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:51,320 It came to my head. Sam Elliott. 166 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,960 Yeah. That's an iconic, that's an 167 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:55,360 iconic facial hair. He's got the. 168 00:08:55,720 --> 00:09:00,080 He's got the low southern drawl and the and the he's got a big 169 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:01,960 fluffy must. He's not like a fluffy. 170 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,320 I feel like Magnums is like it's tight. 171 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,320 It's like Caterpillar tight and thick. 172 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,840 But like, I feel like Sam Elliott's is like fluffy. 173 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,120 It is. It is feathery, yeah. 174 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,400 Feathery. I don't know that you'd want to 175 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,240 Nestle down into there, but you might be OK with them. 176 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,840 This got way weirder than I thought, than I thought it could 177 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,440 have. Oh man. 178 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,760 Oh my gosh. OK, So what about those are 179 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:34,160 mustaches though, Like, and and we did talk about this. 180 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:39,880 I have gone just mustache in my in my time at ERC. 181 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:41,680 That was a fun two or three weeks. 182 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:46,400 Maybe not for the rest of you, but that was that was July 2023. 183 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,800 There are pictures somewhere, but yeah, not gonna go back to 184 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,280 that. Not gonna go back to just 185 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,400 mustache. Are there other prominent faces 186 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:00,400 you can think of that are not just mustache that are just like 187 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,680 that guy's got a good beard? You know, oh gosh, some really 188 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,000 great beards. John Krasinski from the made 189 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,240 made most famous by The Office. He has grown a beard for certain 190 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:15,640 roles and I think he looks fantastic with it. 191 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,440 But he can also pull off no facial hair at all. 192 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,680 He can, because that character, Jim on The Office was Babyface 193 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:23,920 Jim. I think he's the rare person who 194 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:28,920 does both really, really well. Like, again, naming me like, I 195 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,960 can't do both really well. It's one no, but he can do both 196 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:34,840 really, really well. Did you have somebody in mind? 197 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:40,240 I can't think of I I can't think of, I guess like an iconic 198 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,440 celebrity beard. Maybe we'll need well, I. 199 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:49,120 OK, so basketball player James Harden, like his nickname, is 200 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,920 literally the beard. You can't see his mouth and 201 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:52,600 he's. Weird. 202 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:54,640 Yeah, it it's been more refined now. 203 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,880 It's just kind of like big and long and bushy, but it was he 204 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,800 had this thing like chiseled into a cone off of his face 205 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,800 almost, but it was like really long. 206 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:04,080 I guess that's the one that comes to mind. 207 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,520 I can't think of like actors or celebrities though that just 208 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:14,880 iconically have beard face. Maybe did do you know? 209 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:20,240 OK, so Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies was played by a 210 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,120 couple different actors, yes, but the second one was that his 211 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:29,480 real beard 'cause that was intense like that was a. 212 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,320 That could no way. He would have to grow. 213 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:35,120 He would have to grow that for like 4 years. 214 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,120 There's no way that was real. I mean, I think Hollywood does a 215 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,600 great job either creating facial hair or whatever, but there's no 216 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:43,960 way that'd be like a four or five. 217 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,320 That's ZZ Top level beard. OK, no, they were not real. 218 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:51,640 They were not real. What about Ian McKellen, Gandalf 219 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:54,640 in Lord of the Rings? When he turned into what? 220 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,440 Was Gandalf the White? Gandalf the White, I think that 221 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,720 was him. And even even Saruman the the 222 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,320 evil wizard. That looked up really authentic 223 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:04,760 too. Yeah, so. 224 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:06,120 But again, those are like characters. 225 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:07,600 I feel like those guys probably aren't. 226 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:09,520 They're not walking. Around in their everyday life, 227 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:10,920 they're not walking around like a wizard. 228 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,760 No, because like Sir Ian McKellen, he's always been a 229 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,120 clean shaven guy. You can watch him and other 230 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,080 things or see him in interviews and just a very classy looking 231 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,880 man, clean shaven. So I guess I don't know, I don't 232 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,120 think I have like prominent beard looks in in mind. 233 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,240 So, you know, you know who, who is super famous, who I don't 234 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:35,240 think does any facial hair well, which is Matthew McConaughey. 235 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,160 He's got this great Southern draw like you were kind of 236 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,000 talking about with Sam Elliott. And he's he's awesome to listen 237 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,440 to and he's a great actor. But when I've seen him in 238 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,520 interviews with facial hair, it just, he just looks awful. 239 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:49,760 Like it's, it's not a good look for him. 240 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:51,600 He cannot pull it off, I don't think. 241 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,240 Yeah, I don't know, even going through this list, I feel like, 242 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:57,680 I don't know. I feel like I'm not seeing just 243 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:00,280 like iconic celebrities. So let us know if there's, I 244 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,240 don't know, other men out there that you feel like have just 245 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,320 been defined by their beard. We have a lot of good beards at 246 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:07,920 church. Like there's, there's, we got a 247 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,440 lot of, yeah, a lot of men. Tom's got a great beard. 248 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:12,960 Yep, really well shaped and everything. 249 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,560 His dad, his dad Dwight, had the Yeah, that, that was a beard 250 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:18,160 that was getting there. Yeah. 251 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,160 Yeah. So, you know, Josh, Josh Cannon, 252 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,920 great beard. And when we were talking about 253 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,480 trying to put that up as like something to maybe shave off 254 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,440 for, to raise money for our youth group during Valentine's 255 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,880 Day, him and his wife were both like, no. 256 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,240 No, that was a non non starter. Nope, not going to happen. 257 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:41,600 He yeah, I feel, I feel like there's a lot of dads, a lot of 258 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,560 the dads that have beards here are are the my kids have never 259 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:48,480 seen my face Dad, dad's like, yeah. 260 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,760 And that's fine. A couple times my kids have seen 261 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,880 my bald face. They're like, oh, gross, Daddy. 262 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:59,320 Yeah. Bald and cold and sad and 263 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,760 little. That's recently I I just took 264 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,200 basically like a A1 Garter, no guard and trimmed everything up. 265 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:11,800 And Kristen came to me and she's like, why is your face so small? 266 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,560 I just felt, I felt terrible in that moment. 267 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,040 I was like, oh, I have a tiny head now. 268 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,680 So OK, I can't do. I definitely can't even do. 269 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,720 That your head got smaller. Why is your head so little? 270 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,080 Oh, my goodness. All right. 271 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,120 Well, that was Yeah. If we're, if we are missing 272 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,040 prominent beards that you know of, please let us know. 273 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,560 We need more, more beard examples in our life. 274 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,880 So we are in Romans 8. You did an awesome job 275 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:45,000 yesterday, I thought, continuing our progression through the 276 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,600 greatest chapter, Paul's writing writings to the church in Romans 277 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:54,920 8 focused a lot on hope this week and what we put our hope 278 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:59,000 in, what we maybe shouldn't put our hope in, but definitely what 279 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,080 our hope should be anchored in. So we're in Romans 8, verses 18 280 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,080 through 25 is what you covered and we're going to try to pick 281 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,080 up on, Yeah, some of the leftovers, maybe some of the 282 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,920 things that you didn't cover or, or jump in deeper on what we 283 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,000 discussed yesterday in the sermon. 284 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,120 So Romans 818 through 25. For I consider that the 285 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,440 sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the 286 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,440 glory that is to be revealed to us. 287 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,640 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing 288 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,240 of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected 289 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,840 to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, 290 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,720 in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its 291 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,200 bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the 292 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,240 children of God. For we know that the whole 293 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,200 creation has been groaning together in the pains of 294 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,080 childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but 295 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:49,440 we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, grown 296 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,960 inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption 297 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,640 of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. 298 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:57,520 Now hope that is seen as not hope. 299 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,200 For who hopes for what He sees? But if we hope for what we do 300 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,440 not see, we wait for it with patience. 301 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,440 Excellent yeah, one of the things that I think comes up 302 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,720 that I certainly didn't cover was the you know and. 303 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,840 And there's some crossover because I think you ended with 304 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:17,920 verse 18 and I picked it up this week. 305 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,040 So there's some crossover there. But, you know, addressing that, 306 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,360 the sufferings of this time from minor inconveniences to great, 307 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:29,960 you know, pain and disease and hardship and all these kinds of 308 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,880 things. Paul looks at that and he goes, 309 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,200 yeah, I mean, I get it. It's, it's difficult, but it's 310 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,360 nothing compared to what's coming, you know, in the most 311 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,960 positive sense you can think of. And so we took some time even 312 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,720 last night in my life group to say, OK, so how does Paul have 313 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,080 any, any context to talk about suffering? 314 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,800 And so you go, well, he's been shipwrecked a couple times. 315 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:56,160 They tried to stone him to death. 316 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,040 He's been beaten, he's been thrown in jail. 317 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,320 And he's got a laundry list of things that have happened to him 318 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,079 which are just awful, just terrible. 319 00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:10,280 I think they make a an uninspired person just quit at 320 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,599 life and certainly quit at this pursuit of Christ. 321 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:20,000 But you know, it Harkins back to what made Paul do such a 180 to 322 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,079 go from persecuting Christians, having him thrown in prison or 323 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:26,480 even killed to a guy who's like, no, I'm going to I'm going to be 324 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:27,839 shipwrecked. I'm going to be beaten. 325 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:32,520 I'm going to be almost stoned to death and that's fine. 326 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,680 I'm going to keep plugging forward despite those things 327 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,160 because those sufferings are nothing compared to the glory 328 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,760 that's coming. So I think that's interesting 329 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,920 because I mean, he met Jesus quite literally, right. 330 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:50,920 And I think I think what's interesting in this verse 18 and 331 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,520 these are some thoughts from the enduring word commentary too, 332 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:58,160 that this is a glory to be revealed. 333 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:03,280 It's not being created. It's not, it's not this thing 334 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:08,680 that's being like formed and progressed towards as creation 335 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:13,000 and civilization adapts or changes or like it's already 336 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,600 established. The glory of God already is. 337 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,960 Did Paul get a glimpse of that on the road to Damascus? 338 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:24,560 Like, yeah, it in, in some ways it was revealed to him and it 339 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:29,680 did have that change in him. So it's already existent but not 340 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:31,440 apparent. And that's, and that's what 341 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,240 Paul's like. Did he get just a little, a 342 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:39,440 little taste, a a little glimpse of what that is and what it's 343 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:44,640 worth suffering for? Yeah, so Paul seen Jesus Christ 344 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,480 in his glorified body and demeanor. 345 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,880 It rocked his world. And so I actually, it's 346 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,480 interesting because you will you, if you look it up, you can 347 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:01,440 find stories all over the Internet of people who they're, 348 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,120 they're Islamic, right. But especially kind of during 349 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,120 Ramadan, there's a, there's a heightened spiritual awareness 350 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:11,440 for them. And so many of them are praying 351 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,440 for God to reveal himself. And So what has happened to many 352 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:22,720 of these people is that Jesus, they will report that Jesus has 353 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,640 showed up in their dreams glorified. 354 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:32,720 And so they will do a 180, which means they're family. 355 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:34,320 Like they're kicked out of their family. 356 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,080 They're basically kicked out of their community because they 357 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,520 have gone from being Muslims to Christians overnight. 358 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:44,800 And they all kind of simultaneously report something 359 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,840 very similar, which is Jesus showed up to me in my dream. 360 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,360 I saw him that was real. That wasn't just a dream. 361 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,480 Like I asked God to show up and, and show himself to me and this 362 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,280 is how he showed up. And they instantly convert 363 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,480 overnight. Now you might ask the question, 364 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,640 why doesn't God just do that to everybody? 365 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,760 Well. These people, again, they are 366 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:11,200 very highly intentionally seeking the presence of God 367 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,920 during Ramadan in particular. And so it's just really cool to 368 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,040 hear those stories coming out of kind of all over the planet. 369 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,880 Yeah, I don't know. So I think, yeah, I think that 370 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:26,320 lends credence to, yes, that that being real. 371 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:30,080 But on the same token, like for those of us who are Christians 372 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:35,880 who profess faith in Christ, do we hold, do we hold our faith 373 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,160 with that same sort of like, have you met Jesus, kind of 374 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,280 like, have you really met Jesus? Do you do you live your life 375 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:48,720 having encountered the living God? 376 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,880 I don't know. That's a that's a question for 377 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:58,040 for you and us to answer. Have have we understood and come 378 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:02,800 to relationship with Jesus without that radical revelation 379 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,560 moment, I guess that Paul had or or some of these people have so 380 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,600 we have we have that contrast those that he has revealed 381 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,840 himself to. Yes, there there is that seismic 382 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,520 change. Are we living lives out as 383 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:22,080 Christians in that way? Because what the if not, what 384 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:27,520 are what are we living for? Like if if you aren't living a 385 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,320 life already, not yet with with heaven in mind. 386 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,080 And we're going to talk about hope a little bit later and how 387 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,000 we we've talked about it. Sometimes our, our modern 388 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,920 understanding of hope is very different than what that word 389 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,200 was in our in the Greek, in our, in our Bibles. 390 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:50,640 And it's a lot more wishful now then yeah, then the certainty 391 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,200 that that the Greeks talked about with hope. 392 00:21:52,200 --> 00:22:00,040 But are are we living even a without having to glorify Jesus 393 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,680 in front of us to to transform our lives? 394 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,680 Like are are we living a life with heaven in mind, with the 395 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,080 surety of heaven in mind? I think it's an interesting 396 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,560 challenge. Well, and I think The thing is, 397 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,480 if you ask the question, well, why doesn't Jesus do that with 398 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,760 everybody who believes in him so that there's even a deeper 399 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,080 greater appreciation and assurance and understanding, all 400 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,360 that kind of stuff? Well, this is the same Jesus in 401 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,400 his glorified form who said blessed are those who have not 402 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,560 yet seen and still believe. So there is a special blessing 403 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,600 that comes with enduring suffering, enduring some 404 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:41,080 hardship, holding on to that God-given faith, even though 405 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:46,640 maybe the physically glorified Christ has not shown himself to 406 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:52,920 our eyeballs, you know, And so I just, I think I think God loves 407 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,920 the faith that he's given us and I think he calls us to lean into 408 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,240 that. And quite frankly, I talked a 409 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:04,240 little bit about it yesterday. And man, how else do you gain 410 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:09,840 meaning in suffering unless you have this hope and a glorified 411 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:15,360 Christ who will also bring the, the sons and daughters of faith 412 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,680 with him in that redemption, in that glorification? 413 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,760 How do you find any meaning suffering? 414 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:25,480 Because without that, I, I can't help but think that suffering is 415 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:30,920 just a, a huge bump in the road, a a substantial inconvenience 416 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:35,640 during what is otherwise I'm trying to make a fun and a good 417 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,400 and a healthy life. Well, when suffering comes 418 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,320 without hope in Christ and hope in resurrection and hope in new 419 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,480 heavens, new earth and all those kinds of things, when suffering 420 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:49,280 comes, it's just really annoying and it feels unfair and it feels 421 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,360 random and it feels all these different things. 422 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,880 And it's like, man, I, if I'm going to create, if, if, if 423 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,440 there's any meaning in suffering that can only come with the hope 424 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,920 in Jesus Christ because nothing else will do. 425 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,960 And that's attached to that hope is that the present sufferings 426 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:10,040 that Paul talks about like not worthy to be compared with the 427 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,840 coming glory, but also that like this suffering, isn't it? 428 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:19,440 It's not gonna remain this way. That's that's the Christian hope 429 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:24,120 that can be had. What I also think is is 430 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:28,520 interesting you you touched on creation being subject to 431 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:35,560 futility in in verse 20. You use the word, the kind of 432 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,280 synonym there could you could translate as futility or 433 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:44,480 frustrated frustration in there. I think that attached to hope 434 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,800 and the things that you talked about in the message yesterday 435 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,400 is whether it's the American dream or or career success or or 436 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,760 monetary worth or or whatever it might be. 437 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:59,280 None of those like in and of themselves are evil or or 438 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:04,840 sinful. But parsing out verse 20 here, 439 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,240 creation subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of 440 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:13,760 him who subjected it, God's creating these things. 441 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:18,120 He has structured these things to not be it like that. 442 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:22,840 They're meant to fail, that they're meant to run out. 443 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:28,760 They're meant to not be the thing that sustains and brings 444 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,800 ultimate hope in, in eternal, right? 445 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,200 Like that's Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, right? 446 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,680 So it's in some ways, even even the success we have in these 447 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:41,920 things, God didn't orchestrate them to be the foundation on 448 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,240 which we stand right, that they're meant to disappoint. 449 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:49,720 They're meant to run out and and in our time, honor we have like 450 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,200 it's still rule over the earth and subdue it like what we're 451 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,920 still we're still stewards in in the vineyard. 452 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,440 We're servants in the vineyard tending, tending the fields for 453 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,160 the masters return and like and caring for those things. 454 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,000 I'm not going all Ecclesiastes and just like everything is 455 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,560 meaningless here either, but I, I think you did a really good 456 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,000 job of, of honing in on that yesterday. 457 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,320 Like these things that we make the point aren't the point. 458 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,800 Well, and that's what, and, and please know that I, I think I 459 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,520 had a couple people come up to me yesterday and, and we had 460 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,400 conversations about the sermon and stuff. 461 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,880 And, and I, and I think I shared with at least a couple people, 462 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:34,760 you know, I, I was preaching to me, honestly, like the fact that 463 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,440 that hopefully was meaningful for other people. 464 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,120 That's great. But like I needed, I needed that 465 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,160 preach to me. And so just in development and 466 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,320 looking at these verses and development and coming to kind 467 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,920 of some, some fruition about some things, it's like, I need 468 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,640 to hear this. I need to remember that like 469 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:58,760 when I put my hope in financial security, which I've done, and I 470 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:04,080 put my hope in my family, which I've done, those things can they 471 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:09,600 can just never, they can't hold the weight of what I expect from 472 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,800 them. And it's never worked out. 473 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:14,720 And I'm always, I've been always so disappointed. 474 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,280 And even when I've been successful in some of the things 475 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,320 that I realized later I was putting my hope in that success 476 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,920 didn't really give me the joy that I thought it would. 477 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,120 It still felt a little empty in the end. 478 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,960 And inevitably, give it a day, give it a week or a month, and 479 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:37,120 all of a sudden I'm back hoping again because it either didn't 480 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:39,440 work out or it did work out. And now I'm searching for 481 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,320 something else. And it's just what a terrible 482 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,000 cycle to be in. And I've been in that too many 483 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,120 times myself. And so, yeah, those, those words 484 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,120 that I'm said yesterday, they were just as much for me as 485 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,120 anybody else. And I think that's an important 486 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:57,920 thing for a preacher to do is like, it's in some ways, if it's 487 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,920 going to be effective, and this is preacher talk, but in some 488 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,400 ways, if it's going to be effective for any given 489 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,800 audience, it has to be effective for me first because I am not. 490 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,600 My life is not uncommon. I experienced the same things 491 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:13,960 everybody else does, the highs and the lows and everything in 492 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,600 between. And so man, God's got a word for 493 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,240 me too. And happy, happy to be able to 494 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:23,800 help other people understand that you're not alone in those 495 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:25,840 things. But I think it's interesting 496 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,000 too, that these, these sufferings or these struggles 497 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,520 and, and whatever you want to have it out the, the business 498 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,440 venture that didn't work out or the, OR the physical ailments 499 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,760 that continue to stack up against you or, or the, the 500 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:45,080 bills that aren't getting any smaller or like the futility of 501 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,680 that all verse verse 21 says creation being set free from its 502 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:55,240 bondage to corruption. Like I feel like there's an 503 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,120 aspect of that these things that are constantly failing or that 504 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,600 these things that are constantly a struggle are actually 505 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:05,160 screaming. There's more to life than this. 506 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,880 Like, and, and, and God set it up. 507 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,640 It why, why did he subject it to futility? 508 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,400 Because that it's a beacon of why are you hoping and these 509 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,000 things that fail that disappoint? 510 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:22,040 I think that's what that's what you said yesterday, challenging 511 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,520 where, where is your hope? Why do you why do you keep 512 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,760 putting your hope in things to disappoint you? 513 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,840 A Christian hope put in Jesus Christ will not be disappointed 514 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,040 that that doesn't end in disappointment. 515 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:41,520 So why does God allow suffering? And again, God didn't create 516 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,840 suffering That that is it. That is a fallout of sinful 517 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:47,000 rebellion. Why? 518 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,680 Why does he allow it? Because it's all the more 519 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:51,800 supposed to point us back to Jesus. 520 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:57,880 I, I think, like, why are you, are you pursuing the definition 521 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,080 of insanity, of trying this thing over and over and over 522 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,320 again that fails over and over and over again instead of 523 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,800 running to Jesus? Like, yeah. 524 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,880 I mentioned this last night in our group and it's something 525 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:10,840 that a pastor told me that I'll never forget. 526 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,880 Ron Erickson out of Williston, ND. 527 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,120 He said this to me at maybe just the right time in my life 528 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,680 because, you know, dealing with life and death and all these 529 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,920 kinds of things sometimes, sometimes on a weekly basis. 530 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:30,000 And he just said, you know, Chris, God has a way of weaning 531 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,480 us off this world. So in other words, God has a 532 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,920 way. And sometimes it is often times 533 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,560 I think it's frustrating things and things that are inconvenient 534 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,680 and annoying or just outright painful. 535 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:45,240 But God has a way of saying, you know what? 536 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:50,440 I I need you to love this current state a little bit less 537 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,400 and to to lean into my relationship with you a little 538 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,240 bit more. And it seems maybe to God that 539 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,960 one of the key ways of doing that is to make sure that we 540 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,000 understand that this world is not it, that it doesn't really 541 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,720 fully satisfy everything that we are successful in, as the right 542 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,440 of Ecclesiastes talks about it, in some ways, it's kind of in 543 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,160 vain. Like whether it's financial 544 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,240 resources or relationships, like, you know, all these things 545 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,560 eventually decay and fade away and what are we left with? 546 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:28,680 And so again, it all felt to me, quite honestly, it felt a little 547 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:33,240 heavy and I, I don't want to say dark, but it felt heavy coming 548 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,800 into that conversation with our church. 549 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,480 But ultimately, like we have to address that reality. 550 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,640 We have to talk about these things. 551 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,600 We can't always be, you know, skipping through fields and 552 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,960 whistling and we have to talk about some of these things, 553 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,760 these harder realities. And so, you know, I don't know, 554 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:58,200 I guess doing that it, it's, it's our call, right? 555 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,080 We get to talk about the hard things and we, we get to look 556 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,360 them square in the face and help other people do that well. 557 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,320 And so it's a, it's a gift to be able to do that, but there's 558 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,480 some difficulty there bringing that out. 559 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:16,480 Yeah, absolutely. There's an interesting phrase in 560 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,440 verse 22. Especially we have, we have this 561 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,520 for we know the whole creation has been groaning together in 562 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,560 the pains of childbirth until now. 563 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,880 OK, you actually started out your sermon a little bit talking 564 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,160 about death, talking about how it like from the moment, from 565 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,520 the moment we're born, we're, we're and, and that's kind of 566 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:39,000 what we would think all the, the world's, the, the world's dying. 567 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,720 The, the, the world's going off the rails and, and going away. 568 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,040 It's interesting that Paul writes, it's actually, there's 569 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:49,760 actually this expectation in creation, this, this glory to be 570 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,880 revealed. That's, that's actually, instead 571 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:57,360 of the the earth withering away and wasting away, we're actually 572 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,600 in this creation is in this preparatory time of the 573 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,720 revelation of the glory of God. That's the that's the rumblings, 574 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:10,560 that's the, the the evidence of these sufferings, the signs of 575 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:14,400 these sufferings is, is kind of a preamble in, in the way that 576 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,920 birthing pains would would be to, to this new thing to, to 577 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,320 this new creation, right? Not only creation, but we 578 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:24,800 ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit grown 579 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:27,560 inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoptions as sons, the 580 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:32,200 redemption of our bodies, really the full realization of that 581 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:33,480 right. Like we talked about last week, 582 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,960 how we have we have this inheritance. 583 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,040 It's not it's not fully realized. 584 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,360 We, we don't we're not living in the glory of God. 585 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:44,440 We're we're in the already not yet. 586 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,760 But these these signs of suffering that the the present 587 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:53,400 sufferings are actually burning pains pointing towards the 588 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,680 revelation of God's glory. So I just want to pick that 589 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,360 apart that that's like a weird Paul, Why are we talking about 590 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,720 pregnancy? Yeah. 591 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,880 Well, but I mean, thank you for putting it that way because 592 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,920 actually thinking about it now, that's a much more, I would say 593 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:13,360 like positive pointing light because I I took it from more of 594 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:17,840 a death decay angle and that was overriding in some ways. 595 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,760 But you, you said that beautifully just now. 596 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:23,520 But yeah, I mean, think about this. 597 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,880 He gives this great little illustration about a mother in 598 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:31,040 pain. But why do women have multiple 599 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:32,719 children? Why would they do that more than 600 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,920 once? Because, you know, here's the 601 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:36,800 thing. You can watch all the videos and 602 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,800 stuff, but like until I suspect not speaking as a woman, but I 603 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:46,120 suspect you know, like you can see all the videos and stuff and 604 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:49,040 but until you live that you don't really know. 605 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:55,000 But as difficult as that is, women are many women are more 606 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,280 than happy as they're able and willing to have multiple 607 00:34:58,280 --> 00:34:59,800 children even though they know how. 608 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:03,040 Far, yeah. Because there's something so 609 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:05,840 much greater on the other side of that pain. 610 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,040 There is new life, there is hope. 611 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,960 And I just, that's such a beautiful little illustration 612 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,880 that Paul gives us. And you put that. 613 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,040 Yeah, you framed this entire thing in a much more positive 614 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,760 way based off that verse. So thank you for doing that. 615 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:21,920 Thank you for adding yeah, speaking your expertise on on 616 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:23,800 pregnancy and and birthing children. 617 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,040 Whatever the podcast can you go to to get expert insight on 618 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:30,280 beards and pregnancy in the same in the same episode? 619 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,720 Yes, you're welcome. Men talking about pregnancy. 620 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,040 Clearly I'm an expert, right? That's what you came here for? 621 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,520 Yes, My goodness. I'm in trouble. 622 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:44,560 So let's let's kind of close out talking about hope here. 623 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,080 I know I've said this several times from from the stage on 624 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,520 Sundays. You've brought it up before too. 625 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,320 And I should have, because I think I know where you're going. 626 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:56,920 I should have said it again. I I think you did not explicitly 627 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:58,520 but like you made the point clear. 628 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,960 Verses 24 and 25 of chapter 8 in Romans 4. 629 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,040 In this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not 630 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,480 hope for who hopes for what he sees? 631 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:14,000 Let's stop there for a moment. If, if something is this is a 632 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,320 philosophical question, then of the of the importance of hope. 633 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:17,920 Cause a lot of people would say, why isn't Jesus? 634 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,280 I believe in Jesus if we just come back, right? 635 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,360 Like if I could see him, if he'd reveal himself to me, that would 636 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,160 do a lot of good for me. So then we need to think about, 637 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,800 OK, how powerful is hope? Well, Star Wars would tell you 638 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,080 rebellions are built on hope. Oh, here we go. 639 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:37,960 That's neither here nor there verse 25 but if we hope for what 640 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:40,560 we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 641 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:46,800 And this is where the sort of deeper meaning of hope in the 642 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:51,080 Greek language is is captured a lot better than our wishful. 643 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:57,600 I hope it's tacos for lunch today at school sort of sort of 644 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:02,320 flippant, fleeting hope. I I feel like it's it's more 645 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:09,040 often hope in the Greek language was was this thing unseen that 646 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,960 you were sure would come to pass right. 647 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:20,480 It it it was a certainty and and Paul ties then hope to you can't 648 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:23,440 who hopes for what he do what you do not or who hopes for what 649 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:24,840 he sees. It's in front of you. 650 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:26,360 You're not hoping for it. It's there. 651 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,960 But this Christian hope is attached to this glory to be 652 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:35,600 revealed, this, this full adoption as sons and daughters, 653 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:40,280 this, this Jesus Christ's return, waiting for it with 654 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,920 patience. So, and also, are you out there? 655 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,840 Are you out there hoping for things that you're not sure of 656 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,480 that are, that are going to come to pass? 657 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,440 And I think that's where part of the danger is too. 658 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:58,040 Are you? Are you spending hope on the 659 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:02,040 wrong things? You know, and The thing is like, 660 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,600 you know, you get to, you get to this thing about patients and 661 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:10,080 that's a big topic in itself. But The thing is that's really 662 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:15,160 interesting about that is that I can have patients and suffering 663 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:21,520 if I expect, hope, expect what's going to happen in my future 664 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:24,400 regardless of what the suffering may or may not look like. 665 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,120 So I think Tim Keller puts it this way. 666 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,240 What I believe about my future will absolutely change what I do 667 00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:36,720 today. So that means that if I hope, if 668 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:40,240 I expect that my future is glorified as perfect, it's 669 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:43,680 without disease, it's without pain, sorrow, all these things 670 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,000 that we dread in this life, we avoid like the plague. 671 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:53,000 If I know, if I expect that everything is going to be made 672 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,800 right, every wrong undone, then I will move differently today, 673 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,840 even if I am suffering because, and I can do that with patience, 674 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:03,600 because I know what my future is. 675 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,280 It's a great little illustration that I'll be brief about. 676 00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:11,120 But two women, OK, They are similar in background beliefs, 677 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,600 they're similar in how they grew up, culture, all these things, 678 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:16,760 They both take the exact same job. 679 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:20,760 One of them gets individually told at the end of the week, 680 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,480 we're going to give you $2000. The other one is individually, 681 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,640 quite privately told at the end of the week, we're going to give 682 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:31,440 you $2,000,000. So they meet at lunch one day, 683 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,520 3-4 days into the job, and their job is mundane and they're by 684 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,080 themselves in this little room with no windows, and they're 685 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,440 just putting these tiny pieces together and they don't even 686 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:41,960 know why they're doing it. So the one who's going to get 687 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,760 $2000 at the end of the week sees the other one in the 688 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,440 lunchroom and says, man, this job is kind of killing me. 689 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:49,640 It's so boring. There's nothing to do. 690 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:51,640 And I just don't, I don't even know why we're doing this. 691 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,760 And the other one is whistling going, this job is great. 692 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:56,800 This is the best job I've ever had. 693 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:58,680 Well, what's the difference between the two? 694 00:39:58,680 --> 00:39:59,960 They have the same job. They have the same 695 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:03,160 circumstances, same backgrounds. Well, it's what they believe 696 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,840 about their future. That's the difference between 697 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:08,280 the two. So one with the exact same 698 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:12,800 circumstances is joyful and happy and the other one in the 699 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,920 same circumstances. It's just like I'm not feeling 700 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:18,720 this, you know? And So what do you believe about 701 00:40:18,720 --> 00:40:22,160 your future will change how you interact with today? 702 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,320 Suffering good, bad, anything in between. 703 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,320 Yep. And that loops us right back to 704 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:30,160 the start of this passage. Then if you're, if you have the 705 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:34,880 Christian hope in Jesus Christ, then you have that. 706 00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,040 You have that hope, that expectation of what your future 707 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:38,560 is. Then the sufferings of this 708 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:40,960 present time are not worth comparing with that. 709 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:43,720 It's it's the lady that has the $2,000,000, whatever, whatever 710 00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:45,480 the job is. I know what's waiting for me at 711 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,480 the end of the week. Not worth, not worth comparing 712 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:49,560 the two. Perfect time. 713 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,880 Yeah. So there it is. 714 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,840 There it is. Maybe a little shorter this 715 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,520 week, but I thought, I thought you did a really good job of 716 00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:01,280 working through all the all the angles and aspects there are. 717 00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:03,480 Yeah. The questions you had for for 718 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:05,480 life groups and things, if you're not in a life group, 719 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:07,080 those are ongoing throughout the week. 720 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,120 Most of the format of them is, hey, you usually get together 721 00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:13,720 for snacks or a meal or just time together. 722 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,080 There's some discussion questions on the sermon from 723 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:18,400 this week and you just spend some time on the word together. 724 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:22,000 And we really believe Christian community can and is that 725 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:25,360 simple. That's that's the foundations of 726 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:26,880 it. We believe there's power in the 727 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:30,400 word of God and and being in it regularly and encouraging each 728 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:33,720 other in it. So that's really they're they're 729 00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:38,960 not meant to be clicky, culty little group things. 730 00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:43,480 It it really is to encourage and foster community centered on the 731 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,760 word of God. So I encourage you to join a 732 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:49,040 life group too, if you're not already in one, and do a deeper 733 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:51,800 dive on the sermon serieses with us. 734 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,000 Meet some, meet some more people, some like minded 735 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,520 believers at this church with you too. 736 00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,600 And yeah, that's the whole that's the whole life groups 737 00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:01,880 spiel. But thanks man, for walking us 738 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:07,120 through this next part of Romans 8 this next week. 739 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:08,800 Do we? Do we reveal the? 740 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:11,360 Do we? I don't know, I guess. 741 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,920 Well, well, you and I, we already confessed that we told. 742 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,200 Our crew, the news. The news is neither one of us 743 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:20,880 are preaching on Sunday, and we can maybe leave that in 744 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:22,280 ambiguity. Uh oh. 745 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,040 If neither of us are preaching, who is 0? 746 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:32,040 Yes, moving guest, guest Mystery preacher next. 747 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,320 Let's leave it there. We'll leave it Mystery Preacher 748 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:38,200 on Sunday, March 8th. It is going to be great taking 749 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,760 us through the next step of Romans 8 here. 750 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:45,480 So thanks for tuning in, listen to the ERC Leftovers and joining 751 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:48,560 in on continued conversation with us. 752 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:49,720 Have a blessed week, Church.