1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,840 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,680 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today. 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,400 Let's begin with our confession. Each week our confession is we 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,360 are badly broken. Yes, you are. 8 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,680 Grace and peace to you. I'm excited that the students 9 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,920 all, they were not ready to give up the stage. 10 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,240 They were ready to stand their ground on this. 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,520 But I'm glad that they came and these are this is what a 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,040 traditional Christmas looks like. 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,360 And if you wonder, the traditional celebration of 14 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,760 Christian of of the Christian Christmas, it looks like Advent. 15 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,760 Advent is the beginning. And in fact, Advent begins the 16 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,280 March, the beginning of the church calendar between now 17 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,680 between this Sunday and then Ascension Sunday that comes a 18 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,760 few weeks after Easter. We call that as the church 19 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:00,880 calendar. It marks the life of Jesus. 20 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,000 And there are all these seasons throughout that that tells the 21 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,760 life that Jesus meant. So the church. 22 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:08,640 As we focus. On that we begin to be formed 23 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,080 and shaped by the life of Jesus in the world, and we begin our 24 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,960 gear in the Christmas season by looking at incarnation and the 25 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:20,960 symbol of Advent is the. Candle. 26 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,520 Candle is a remind us that light is coming. 27 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,080 It doesn't say it's just a candle, right In a dark room, a 28 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,320 candle's a little bit of something. 29 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:30,520 It's a little bit of light, but it doesn't light the whole. 30 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,720 Thing up, it's not like spotlights, million Watt candle, 31 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,400 power flashlights, it's just a little bit light, but it reminds 32 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,640 us that light isn't completely extinguished, that there's light 33 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,160 coming even though the darkness may surround us. 34 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,840 So in the 5th century, when the Christian started practicing 35 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,880 Advent, it looked a lot like Lent. 36 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,680 They practiced the same way with with fasting and with all kinds 37 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:56,920 of mortification. But over time, over the 38 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,520 centuries of development, Advent came to be about waiting. 39 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,280 The whole season is about this sense that God is coming, good 40 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,600 is coming. We know that it's coming, but we 41 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,760 haven't experienced it yet. So the whole season of Advent, 42 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,480 the whole for the next several weeks leading up to Christmas 43 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,040 Day, the thing we want to point you at and the thing that we 44 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,800 want to kind of try to cultivate and stir up in your heart is 45 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:26,960 this idea that God is absolutely at work, He's just not done yet. 46 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,240 So things are still being shaped, things are still being 47 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,120 formed. And our part in this Advent 48 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:38,360 season, our part in the Advent celebration, is to make room to 49 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,160 createspace in our lives for the things that God wants to work 50 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,840 out. And what that means then is that 51 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,520 often times. We come with candles to poorly 52 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:54,840 lit, dark, scary places. Advent is the time to. 53 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,040 Have revealed and to see and sometimes to sit with things 54 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,080 about us that maybe we don't like so that we can evaluate 55 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,360 those and decide which things need to stay, which things need 56 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,000 to remain and which things don't. 57 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,320 And this is important for us as we process. 58 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,080 How are we going to celebrate this? 59 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,120 How can this Christmas, how can this Advent season be what it 60 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,520 was created to? It begins understanding we have 61 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,240 to know Advent is not a passive thing. 62 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,440 Advent is not a thing that you sit back and feel vaguely 63 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,240 nostalgic. Feelings, things and things will 64 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,960 happen to you. Advent is purposeful. 65 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,840 The point of Advent is for us, for you, and for me and for us, 66 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:33,840 right. We're going to carry our 67 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:38,960 language forward all y'all, for all of us to evaluate our lives 68 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,440 and to begin actually decluttering the things that 69 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:47,360 take up space in our lives to remove perspectives, biases, 70 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,600 fears, hopes, habits, old things that no longer fit anymore to 71 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,320 make space for those because our hope is that something better 72 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,400 has come in the person of Jesus. Although we're going to have 73 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:01,800 things that will hopefully bring. 74 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,000 We have Christmas trees, 1,000,000 Christmas trees and 75 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,920 crosses and lights and holly and bells and angels and bows. 76 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:09,920 Oh my. And all of the things that I 77 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,800 hope that you'll see those things that I hope they will 78 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:13,720 touch a place that is deep in you. 79 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,120 But I hope you also know that the purpose on the point of this 80 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,959 season isn't about sentiment, and is not. 81 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,520 About nostalgia, It is about formation. 82 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,120 The point of Christmas is to form us around this single idea, 83 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,000 incarnation. There is a God who is real, and 84 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000 that God because of his great love for us, John. 85 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,120 When John tells the creation story, it says that that word 86 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:44,840 that Logos put on flesh and dwelt among us. 87 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,600 The idea behind Advent is that the life that God desires to 88 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,880 give. You is perfectly compatible with 89 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,080 the situations that you're in. It need only be chosen. 90 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,480 Advent isn't a feeling. Christmas isn't about something 91 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:05,000 that we feel together. Advent is about all y'all and me 92 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,400 and us becoming the kind of people who are increasingly 93 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,480 growing towards eternal life, towards the kind of life that 94 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:18,320 God wants to give us. Advent is a spiritual season. 95 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,040 All the things that we're going to talk about, the lights, the 96 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,240 wreath, the Garland, the bells, the trees, all of it has a 97 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,680 spiritual significance. All of it is pointing us towards 98 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,120 something. And so this understanding, this 99 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,320 idea that it's not just about trees and lights and bells, it's 100 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,480 about something spiritual within our heart. 101 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,240 That is why for many times for some of you would be my 102 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,240 assumption, Christmas is bells and lights and whistles and also 103 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,640 sadness and loneliness and darkness. 104 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,800 And the last thing in the world that I want to do is paper over 105 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,880 what is real and what is present in this space with us for some 106 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,600 aspirational thing that we all kind of feel vaguely. 107 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:03,840 Guilty for not living up to We know the stats about depression 108 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:07,080 during the holiday season. We know the stats about 109 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,120 loneliness, We know the stats. The question is and again I want 110 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,480 to acknowledge some of you are here in that and so the question 111 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,000 that like. And let me also acknowledge some 112 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:17,960 of you. Aren't here in that and that's 113 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,720 an. Interesting presentation for us. 114 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:21,800 What about the people that hit this Christmas season? 115 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:23,400 And we really feel like we got it together. 116 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,240 We feel like finally I've got my life put together. 117 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,200 I'm finally doing it all right. God, finally you gave me what I 118 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:31,440 needed. I'm handling it all. 119 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,640 I've got it under control. And God, we're good. 120 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,440 What does Christmas have for you? 121 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:36,960 What does the admin have for you? 122 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:38,880 I don't know. But I know. 123 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,520 What it has for those who are struggling and has an answer to 124 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,560 the question how does your pain and struggle fit into the 125 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,680 Christmas story? Because we know the Christmas. 126 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,520 Story The Christmas story is where the angels come to the 127 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:53,360 shepherds. Right. 128 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,200 And they say I have. Good tidings of great joy, which 129 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,040 will be for all people. And we read about the shepherds, 130 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:00,480 man. And they went, and they saw the 131 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,320 baby and they worshipped, and then they went back to the sheep 132 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:08,160 poop for the rest of their life. What about them? 133 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,360 What about you is you're just shoveling the stuff day after 134 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,000 day after day, and you're lonely and you're sad and you're sorry? 135 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,480 And now it's Christmas. Time and everything is lit up. 136 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,040 Is it just time to pretend? See, the story of Christmas 137 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:27,360 doesn't begin with a Manger. The story of Christmas didn't 138 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,800 begin when an Angel came to Mary and said, blessed are you among 139 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,800 women? The story of Christmas didn't 140 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,560 begin when angels showed up over field and Angel. 141 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,160 The Christmas didn't begin Angel. 142 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,200 The story of Christmas begins with promises. 143 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:47,560 The story of Christmas begins with a promise made in the 144 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:53,200 Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve had sinned and fallen and 145 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,600 separated. And God said, I'm going to 146 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:58,720 create one that's going to crush the enemy. 147 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:00,800 It's going to crush his head under your heel. 148 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,520 That's a promise. And when God? 149 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,200 Came to Abram and he found him and he said, Abram, you didn't 150 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,600 choose me, but I chose you. And he said, Abram, I've set you 151 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,000 apart for a purpose and your purpose are you listening? 152 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,360 Abram, your purpose is to have a family that's going to be a 153 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:19,080 blessing to the whole world. Our God who saw the end from the 154 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,280 beginning, who saw billions of people on earth, went to Abram 155 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,440 and said, Abram, I've got a job uniquely for you. 156 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,320 I'm going to give you so much goodness that you can't contain 157 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:29,720 it. And Abraham, your plan and your 158 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,480 purpose is simply to distribute it out to the world. 159 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,000 And the whole world is waiting for it and watching for it, and 160 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,080 they want it, and they're waiting for you to get there. 161 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,720 Abraham and Abraham had a family and they became a nation and 162 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:45,240 they inhabited the land. And then God made a promise to 163 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,240 David, and David was a king. And he did. 164 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,320 I lose this. David was a king and he told. 165 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,200 David, he said. David, for as long as there is 166 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:57,320 history, someone from your family and from your line will 167 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,120 be seated on the throne. David, your family among my. 168 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,160 People will have power and will have authority. 169 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,840 Forever. Can you imagine as a people with 170 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,000 those promises? Can you imagine a people whose 171 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,000 identity is the God of all? God sees us and fights for us 172 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,480 and knows us and has established us. 173 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,200 Can you imagine looking around the promised land, a land 174 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,320 flowing with milk and honey? And he says our God has given us 175 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,600 all of this. Who can take it away from us? 176 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,440 Who are we afraid of? Because our God is mighty and he 177 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,440 rules and he reigns. And the people lived under that 178 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,720 for centuries and for millennia, and they were shaped like that. 179 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:38,320 So you. Can imagine how distraught they 180 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,880 must have been when in the 8th century on their northern 181 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:45,120 border, the Assyrian Kingdom under kings Tiglev, Pylaezer and 182 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,680 and all these crazy names, they started to camp out on the 183 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:53,680 northern border of Israel and they entered and they came first 184 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:56,240 the land first the towns of Zebulun and Naphtali. 185 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,080 The the the tribes assorted to those those tribes. 186 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:03,080 They fell. The Assyrians came and ran 187 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:05,720 roughshod all over all of them. Now, Can you imagine if God had 188 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,000 told you specifically? We're the people that God 189 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,320 protects. We're the people that God fights 190 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:11,760 for. God has promised us. 191 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,320 God made a promise to Abram. God made a promise to David that 192 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,320 one of his kings would sit on our throne. 193 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,760 That's not one of David's kids on our throne. 194 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,760 That's Senecarib. I don't even know how to say 195 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:28,080 that. In the 8th century, every hope 196 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,400 and dream that the Israelite people had ever had collapsed as 197 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,680 the Israel, as the Assyrian armor invaded their people. 198 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:37,320 And you know the questions that they asked God, I thought you 199 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:43,040 said you said that, right? God, you said if I would that 200 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,840 you would. Oh, and I'm I'm perfect also. 201 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,080 I got to do everything perfect now I got to get everything 202 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,240 right for you to make it. God, it sounds like a setup. 203 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,640 God, where are you? God, where have you been? 204 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,920 God, have you forgotten us, or are you just? 205 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,000 Mean to me? Oh, you got lessons to teach me 206 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,200 God Good. God, are you too? 207 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,960 Weak for this situation or are you just unwilling to get 208 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:11,080 involved for me? God, why are you treating us 209 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,440 this way? These are the cries of the 210 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:15,240 people, and we can hear them in the Psalms. 211 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:16,400 We hear them. We read them throughout the 212 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,280 Scripture. But my question is, I want you 213 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,960 to find your voice in the in, in the lament. 214 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,440 Have you had that moment where you thought you were walking, 215 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:26,840 you thought you were doing it, and you wake up one day to find 216 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:28,600 and feel like you're betrayed by God? 217 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:33,040 I have. I've had that moment where I 218 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:34,680 feel like, God, you're a stranger. 219 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:39,200 To me. Why would I know how I love my 220 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,960 kids, Lord, and I'm broken and fall and why don't you love me? 221 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:47,280 Better God. We're sad, we grieve, and we 222 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,400 feel disoriented by the way our worlds are shaping up. 223 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:51,840 I'm just saying. Have you ever identified with 224 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,680 that? The Bible has a phrase for that. 225 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,440 They call it walking in darkness. 226 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,920 And notice it's not a moment of darkness, it's walking in 227 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,600 darkness, is walking through life with the darkness of grief 228 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,480 and sin and betrayal and fear and discomfort and all of this 229 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:14,680 things that God has. Called us out. 230 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,320 From out of it's all of those things hanging on us and hanging 231 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:23,760 over us. And so before the Angel spoke to 232 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:28,760 Mary about her blessedness, before the Angel spoke to the 233 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:36,320 shepherds, the prophet Isaiah spoke to God's people about 234 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,360 darkness. He says this Isaiah Chapter 9 235 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:45,080 starting in verse 1. He says, nevertheless, the gloom 236 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,520 of the distressed land. Now before he called, I don't 237 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:50,360 even need these. See this is a big print Bible. 238 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:57,800 I solved my problems. See, when Isaiah talks to the 239 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,480 distressed land, he's talking to the people of Israel. 240 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,520 Now notice how different it is before when he was talking to 241 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,320 the people, to Abram and the people in in the wilderness, 242 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,640 what he said, he said he called it a land flowing with milk and 243 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,760 honey. But now that the presence of the 244 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,480 invaders or the presence of the armies, it is a distressed land. 245 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,680 And what we're told is the distressed land will not be like 246 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:22,520 that of the former times. And he humbled the land of 247 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:25,360 Zebulun and the land of Naftali. Remember, we talked about those 248 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,880 where the Assyrians came first, these lands under the thumb of 249 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,240 the Assyrian Empire. These would have been signs and 250 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,320 symptoms of the shame and the betrayal of God for his people, 251 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,760 the seeming betrayal and abandonment of God. 252 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,640 God, you said you would protect us. 253 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,560 And now look at the lands that you gave us that have been 254 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:44,920 reclaimed. You've given them to the pagans. 255 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,600 What? Shame must have fallen on God's 256 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:52,600 people as they now felt. Betrayed and the former things, 257 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,200 the former times when he humbled Zebulun and Aftala, but in the 258 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,760 future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land 259 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,600 east of the Jordan and to Galilee of the nations. 260 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,480 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. 261 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,240 A light has dawned on those living in the land. 262 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,360 The darkness, this passage that Isaiah's talking about, this 263 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,960 message that he's giving to God's people, it's a message 264 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:24,800 about an old way and about a new way and the old way that has 265 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,040 fallen under the the the hand of the Assyrians. 266 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,400 It feels like betrayal. It feels like God has turned 267 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,280 from them and it feels like God doesn't see them anymore. 268 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,080 And their defeat. Are you listening? 269 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,000 Your defeat feels like judgement. 270 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,240 God you are. Judging us in this, what it 271 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,680 looks like for us as we walk and we feel the darkness and it 272 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,120 feels like shame or pain or fear. 273 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,920 And what we do is when it haunts us day after day after day, what 274 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:55,680 we do is we. Begin to try to just get it to 275 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,920 quiet just a little bit. So maybe we turn the radio up, 276 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,440 maybe we put the air pods in, or maybe we take a drink, or we 277 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,680 take a puff, or we spend a little more than we should. 278 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,400 Or we do something that either to make us feel something or to 279 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:13,800 make us stop. Feeling something, we just want 280 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,600 to drown out the insecurity. Or maybe we're afraid, and we 281 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,320 get so frayed and we live with fear for so long that we start 282 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:22,280 to. Think, well, maybe I'll just 283 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,160 compromise my integrity. This just this, this once, I'll 284 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,960 just do this one thing one time and that's it. 285 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,080 And so that's the whole former way. 286 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,920 The old former way is trying to negotiate with darkness to try 287 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,040 to make sure say like, Lord, just give me a little bit of 288 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,000 legend. I'll take a candle's worth of 289 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,480 light in my life for right now. Lord, just show me. 290 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,600 And he says it's not going to be like that time, the former time, 291 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,720 he said it's going to be like the future time, what's coming. 292 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,840 This is the now and the not yet that we've talked about in the 293 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,640 Kingdom of God forever, the ages of God has come. 294 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,360 Jesus is resurrected, seated at the right hand of God. 295 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,920 And Paul tells us in the throne we also are. 296 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,280 And yet we walk in this world, and we walk through. 297 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,960 This and we seem to feel judgement but in the future 298 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,080 there's light and what we're told about the light what we see 299 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,680 about the light is what the light does is it undoes the 300 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,920 darkness we're told that the light is aggressive, it moves 301 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,280 forward, it penetrates, it goes and what I'm. 302 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:26,520 Saying is this is the hope of. Christmas Christmas hope is the 303 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:31,400 refusal to accept that darkness is the last word. 304 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,720 Christmas hope. Is not the the? 305 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,000 The heartbeat of Advent. And this is where I think we get 306 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,080 it wrong so many times. I like. 307 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:42,960 We read it and we're just like, oh, we should have hope. 308 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:44,040 OK, OK, good. I'm going to. 309 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,800 OK, I'm going to muster up hope, but I'm going to have hope. 310 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,560 If you don't have hope, you don't have hope. 311 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,200 It's not there. The heartbeat of Advent. 312 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,840 The thing that I get from Advent isn't I wake up suddenly on 313 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,920 today and he's going, oh, great. I feel so hopeful with Christmas 314 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,400 cheer. Listen, the bill that you forgot 315 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,720 to pay yesterday, it's still unpaid today. 316 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,480 The sickness that you felt yesterday, you're still sick 317 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:07,800 today. The diagnosis. 318 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,880 Listen, we woke up today basically in the same world that 319 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:15,079 we fell asleep in last night, the same troubles, the same 320 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,680 difficulties. Does that negate our hope? 321 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:21,400 Because the heartbeat of Advent, what Jesus shows us, what Isaiah 322 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,960 shows us, what we see from the people of God, the heartbeat of 323 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:28,359 Advent says, I don't feel any cheer, but it's coming. 324 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,240 And when it does, I will be right. 325 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:38,600 Here, waiting for it, Hope believes that what God says and 326 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,880 promises and tells is more real and relevant and present than 327 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,360 what I feel and what I think. See the people of Israel, what 328 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:48,800 they found, what they wrestled with, and what they contended 329 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,680 with in exile. The very thing that God 330 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,400 intended, remember said He humbled them. 331 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,880 The very reason and the very way that God intended to humble His 332 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,200 people is to show them you can't make it. 333 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,640 You can't manufacture hope. This is the same thing that he 334 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,520 wants to get to you. Aren't you tired running around 335 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:06,800 all the time? And I'm going to, oh, I'm going 336 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,000 to earn my way. I'm going to make, I'm going to 337 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,800 pull myself up my bootstraps. You don't have any boots. 338 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:14,560 Unless somebody gave them to you. 339 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,200 I mean, like, we got to do the best. 340 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,640 We got to step back and acknowledge and realize this is 341 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,280 not a world that we make. I can't control the weather. 342 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:27,680 I can't control what you do. I can't control what the dollar 343 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:28,320 does. I can't. 344 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:33,640 I can't control anything, but I can control where my hope is. 345 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,440 I. Can control what I look to in 346 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,400 the future where I draw strength from for this moment. 347 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:47,360 So what does God say right? Because he said like it's going 348 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:49,680 to be a baby right? That's weird. 349 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:57,320 But the thing that I want to ask you first is, do you believe 350 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,720 that your darkness, that fear, the thing you know what it is? 351 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:06,880 Do you believe that in your life that is what gets the last word? 352 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,760 Do you believe that that thing in your life defines you, 353 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:19,160 clarifies you, names you? Well, what does God say? 354 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,600 What does God say about hope? Because Adamant's about hope and 355 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,200 darkness, right? So we've seen the darkness. 356 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,520 What does God say when he brings in what hope does he bring with 357 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,400 him? Well, he says in verse 3, what 358 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,640 does he say? Verse 3 You've enlarged the 359 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,440 nation and you've increased it's what say it. 360 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:42,360 You've increased it's joy the people have. 361 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,120 What say it? Rejoice before you as they what? 362 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:51,640 Rejoice at harvest time and as they what over and over and over 363 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,520 and over and over again about rejoicing and God's people 364 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,800 rejoicing and rejoicing. The first sign of hope is the 365 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,720 return of joy. Ask your heart, check your heart 366 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,200 right now. Do you have joy? 367 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,120 I don't mean are you happy? Cowboys beat the chiefs. 368 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:09,400 So what? OK, some of you, right, I've 369 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,360 been a big tirade a while back about the Cowboys, and so now 370 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:13,920 they're showing. You're welcome, by the way. 371 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:15,240 I did that to take responsibility. 372 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,440 Now listen, joy is one of the themes of Advent. 373 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,680 So we're going to talk about that not next week, but the week 374 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,160 after that where we're going to unpack joy a lot right like, but 375 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,360 the thing that so we're going to unpack and see that, But here's 376 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:30,320 the thing that I want to give you joy should show up. 377 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,760 I believe that God's people should be the most joyful people 378 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,720 on the planet. I believe that the people who 379 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,640 follow God the most closely not that everything is neat and 380 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:40,440 great. Listen, God's people will have 381 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,240 cancer. They should have joy in the 382 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,240 midst of it. God's people will lose 383 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,200 everything. They should have joy in the 384 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,080 middle of it because as God's people, our joy and our hope and 385 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,720 our peace isn't rooted in what we have. 386 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,680 It's rooted in the one who has us, who came for us, who sees 387 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,440 us, who loves us. And He's calling us out of 388 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,480 hopelessness and addiction and fear and destruction and 389 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,920 devastation. Those are the reasons that our 390 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,040 joy is gone. Those are the things that 391 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,560 consume our joy. And what does it say, right? 392 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,680 It says the places, the people that were walking in darkness, 393 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,400 the very land where the darkness was. 394 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:23,400 That's where the light shows up. See, the problem is we get the 395 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,120 first hint of darkness. And what do we do? 396 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,240 But whatever it is that we got to do to escape, Netflix writes 397 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,480 a little pacifier so we don't have to deal with the stuff. 398 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,640 Why don't you just sit there for an hour? 399 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,800 Sad as you've ever. Been God, I cannot even believe 400 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,560 that you would let me feel this way. 401 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:43,960 You know the problem, some of you? 402 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,840 You haven't cried. You've been just holding it in 403 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,200 so you can be strong. And nobody will like what? 404 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:56,360 Listen, I've seen babies, little boys, they cry for no reason. 405 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,720 You should try that. You know your feelings are given 406 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:09,480 to you by the Lord. You had joy because hope. 407 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,560 Sign of hope is the return of joy. 408 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,880 Counterfeit hope is circumstantial. 409 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:20,320 I have hope because the right guys win and I have hope because 410 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,320 I'm in the fast lane. Boy, I have hope. 411 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,080 Because I'm those are counterfeit, circumstantial. 412 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,480 That is a hope that is dependent on everything else going right. 413 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:36,120 How's that working? The best way to understand 414 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:39,840 biblical hope is after, not before. 415 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:43,080 Because biblical hope is born in darkness. 416 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,680 Biblical hope is born when we feel like there's. 417 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:47,600 Nothing but emptiness. Biblical. 418 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:51,680 Hope is that dare to dream that something real is coming there. 419 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:55,640 Biblical hope is that sense of joy that in the darkest moment I 420 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,480 can look at someone that I love and go, man, it's going to be so 421 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,880 good when this is done. Let's say joy comes in the 422 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:03,320 morning. I'm looking at my friend here 423 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,800 who just had cancer and who just walked through it, and every 424 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,440 time I saw him, I'm OK, I'm fine. 425 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,320 That's what hope looks like. The journey is not done. 426 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,360 He's right in the middle. Of it encouraging people, giving 427 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:20,200 them hope and grace, because that's what hope does. 428 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,240 Joy is the ability to. See what God has delivered us 429 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,920 from. Can you look back in your life 430 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,040 and see a moment that you thought was certainly going to 431 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,440 be the end of you? Can you look back in your life 432 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,800 and see a moment where you thought, there's no way I'm 433 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,280 getting out of that. There's no way this is the end 434 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:37,840 and you, and again, here you are. 435 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,280 Do you remember that thing that you thought was going to crush 436 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:41,800 you? Listen, I don't want to tell you 437 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:43,520 that it's not hard. I don't want to say that it 438 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,400 didn't change your heart. I don't want to say that it 439 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,240 didn't leave a scar. My guess is it broke your hip 440 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,200 and you're limping still. What I want to say is you're 441 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:56,640 still here and God is still working and your life and the 442 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,280 fact that you're here means He still has something for you. 443 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:02,000 He has joy to give you and He has goodness to give you. 444 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,320 But only, only, only are you listening if your hope isn't 445 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,520 your job, or if your hope isn't your reputation, or if your hope 446 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,400 isn't your income? Only if your hope. 447 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:17,680 Is sorrow, and the grief that I see around me will soon and 448 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,520 someday come to an end. And on that day, I will be 449 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,880 standing and believing that my Jesus made it happen. 450 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,360 Does that sound impossible? Like like all this just like it 451 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:31,560 does. So the way that we get ready for 452 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,720 that, this is too simple. You're going to blow me off. 453 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,520 I'm just telling you right now you're about to blow off what 454 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,160 I'm going to tell you because it's not hard enough. 455 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,800 The practice is gratitude. Oh, no, Make no, no. 456 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:48,120 Something hard. Do it right. 457 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:49,720 I have a friend, my friend Amy. She's sitting right there. 458 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,040 Every once in a while, Amy will send me a text message. 459 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:58,000 And it's like this long. It's her gratitude list, and she 460 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,200 shares it with me. And every time she shares it 461 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:02,280 with me, do you know what happens? 462 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:06,760 I look at my gratitude list and I go, I got work to do. 463 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:08,960 But you know what else I know about Amy? 464 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,160 When she walks in, she cheers me up. 465 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,800 She encourages me. She tells me she's praying for 466 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:15,160 me. She's my friend. 467 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,280 See, gratitude has this power of showing us what's right in front 468 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,480 of us. What do I have to be grateful? 469 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,840 For things that you've received, which by the way, is everything. 470 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,440 I know people who make less money than you, who live in a 471 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,920 smaller house than you. I know people with less money 472 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,120 than you that drive an older car than you. 473 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,800 I know people who have done more good deeds, who have sicker 474 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,320 children than you. I know people in this world who 475 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:44,040 have it worse than you. We have the capacity for 476 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,800 gratitude. We are just out of practice. 477 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,480 Hope begins growing where gratitude loosens the grip of 478 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,200 fear. See, the reason I'm afraid all 479 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:57,960 the time is because I think I don't have enough. 480 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,520 I think my only hope is for things to stop getting depleted. 481 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,200 But that's not that's not the case. 482 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,040 That's not my hope. My hope is that I have a God 483 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,880 who's a creator. I have a God who can make more 484 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,560 when more is needed, who has the capacity to give me exactly what 485 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,600 I want and so I don't have to be afraid. 486 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,240 And the secret to hope and the secret to loosening that fear is 487 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,680 joy and its gratitude. That's the second movement. 488 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,120 Look, verse 4, Chapter 9, verse 4. 489 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,320 For you have shattered their oppressive yoke. 490 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,200 It doesn't say you set it off to the side. 491 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,720 It didn't say you wrapped it in bubble wrap and set it in the 492 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,400 garage. It says you shattered it, you 493 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:34,960 destroyed it. Their what? 494 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,840 Their oppressive yoke. The point of a yoke. 495 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,360 This is a metaphor. The metaphor for the yoke is to 496 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:44,680 carry something heavy, to carry something that is a burden. 497 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:46,440 For. You right something that you're 498 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,160 not meant to carry something like endless grief, endless 499 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,320 loss, something like your own limitations these things that 500 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,520 you that you are supposed to feel right. 501 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:58,920 This is what God is leaning out. He's going to shatter those 502 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:00,480 things. He's going to shatter the lobe. 503 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,760 He's going to shatter I should get to it. 504 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,040 What else he's going to say? And the rod. 505 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,160 The rod is your wound, right when he strikes you, it's a big 506 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:12,360 stick, the wound that. You have from growing up your 507 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:16,720 fear, that nickname that someone called you, that you can't 508 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:23,000 shake, the abandonment you feel, the scarcity, that you think 509 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,560 you're never going to have enough, you'll always going to 510 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,440 be behind. That's the rod. 511 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:30,920 The staff of their oppressive rest is just as you did on the 512 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:32,880 day of Midian. The staff is about authority, 513 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,480 right? Shepherd's staff, the King's 514 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:36,480 staff. Some of you would have been 515 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:42,640 abused by authority, whether it's a parent or pastor or a Co 516 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,080 worker or a boss or whoever it is. 517 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,080 You've been abused spiritually, you've been abused 518 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,840 professionally. Side note also to see what God 519 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,280 said he's going to do here is he's going to crush all of those 520 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:01,480 things real quick. If you're a boss or a parent or 521 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,680 a spouse and you like to do things like put burdens on your 522 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:10,440 wife or your children, or you like to strike or you like to 523 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,880 abuse, and you just should be careful because what God says 524 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,600 here is he's going to destroy all of those things. 525 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,680 And so if those are the things that you use to get your way in 526 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,920 this world, you're going to find yourself fighting against God. 527 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,080 You're not that strong. And so the thing that he calls 528 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:29,960 us to do, what he tells us he's going to do is he's going to put 529 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,320 all those things away, right? That's what our hope is. 530 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,440 Our hope is in a God who breaks the things that break us. 531 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,320 What breaks US? Loss, fear, scarcity, doubt. 532 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,680 All of those things are are real and they feel inevitable to us. 533 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,800 But Paul says they're not inevitable. 534 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:54,440 Listen Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16 through 18. 535 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:56,360 Paul says therefore. We don't give up. 536 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,680 Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner 537 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:02,760 person is being renewed day by day. 538 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,000 See, that's what Hope looks like. 539 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,960 Hope says I'm being destroyed today, but tomorrow's a new day 540 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:08,960 and I'll be restored. I'll be renewed tomorrow. 541 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:10,800 Tomorrow. I'll have enough energy for 542 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,960 tomorrow. I don't have enough energy for 543 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:14,920 tomorrow. Today, but tomorrow. 544 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,200 Tomorrow I'll have it. Tomorrow I'll be good, right? 545 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:24,240 Our momentary light affliction is producing for us an 546 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:30,080 absolutely incomparable, eternal weight of glory. 547 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:34,080 So we don't focus on what is seen, but we focus on what is 548 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,560 unseen. For what is unseen is temporary, 549 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,640 but what is? No, what is seen is temporary, 550 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,160 and what is unseen is eternal. What he's saying is he's not 551 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,480 saying that the pain that you feel right now isn't real. 552 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:48,280 What he's saying is, are you listening? 553 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,320 The pain that you feel isn't going to last forever. 554 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,240 What he's saying is this moment is producing something in you 555 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,400 that you need for the journey to come. 556 00:29:57,880 --> 00:29:59,240 So when's it all going to go away? 557 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,280 Revelation chapter 21 starting in verse three, I heard a loud 558 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,160 voice from the throne. Look, God's dwelling is with 559 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,360 humanity. This is a statement of presence. 560 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,040 It doesn't say from a long way off. 561 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,240 God is going to cast a spell. He's going to use his. 562 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,040 Patronus right to cast a spell for this. 563 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,760 It says his presence will be with. 564 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,800 His people. See the subject of our. 565 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:25,640 Hope is the presence of God. That's the answer, that's the 566 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:31,360 solution. He'll be his people, and God 567 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,360 himself will be with them, and they'll be their God. 568 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:35,840 He'll wipe away every tear from their eyes. 569 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:44,120 Death will be no more grief, crying, Pain will be no more 570 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,320 because the previous things have passed away. 571 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,560 Then the one seated on the throne said, look, I am making 572 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,880 everything new. He also said, right, because 573 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,880 these words are faithful and true. 574 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,680 See, it's the presence of Father that's going to pull off and 575 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,080 that's what our hope is. Our hope isn't that we're going 576 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:04,880 to be strong enough or we're going to figure it out. 577 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,680 The hope isn't in you at all. See, the thing that we know most 578 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,240 about ourselves is we're broken. We break things. 579 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,520 But the hope that Jesus wants to turn our eyes to, the hope that 580 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,960 we find in his life and the life of his disciples, the life of 581 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,680 the Word, is our hope is that he is real. 582 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,320 That's what hope does. It fixes our eyes on God's 583 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,800 faithfulness as he battles our easy fights, our battles, and he 584 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,960 fights the battles within and he fights the battles without. 585 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:33,240 He fights our fear and our insecurity, but he also fights 586 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,800 against our enemies. He fights against oppression. 587 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:37,920 He fights with strength and with might. 588 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:39,720 This is the God that you're hoping for. 589 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,240 The problem is the way that God fights. 590 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,640 That isn't the way that you, you fight it. 591 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:47,080 See, if you'd have given Israel a million years and an infinite 592 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,320 number of guesses what their deliverance, what it's going to 593 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,680 look like, they would have never, ever, ever, ever, ever 594 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,720 come up with baby Jesus, 8 lbs six ounce newborn baby Jesus. 595 00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:59,280 They would have never said that. It would have never come. 596 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:00,600 So what did he say? Right. 597 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,000 Every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of 598 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,400 war. Will be burned as fuel. 599 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,360 Oh, that was the last part. I'm going to read verse 6 here. 600 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,560 What does it look like? A child. 601 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,400 A child will be born to us, a son will be given to us and the 602 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,360 government will be on his shoulders. 603 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,520 Sounds dangerous, you. Would have never come up with 604 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,000 that. My kids can't even clean their 605 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:26,520 room. And I'm supposed to have the 606 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:30,160 government on his shoulder? I'm supposed to have might and 607 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,040 power with him, right? The Dominion will be vast. 608 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,920 Oh, and I forgot this. He'll be named Wonderful 609 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,680 counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 610 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:43,400 The Dominion will be vast. And it's prosperity will never 611 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:45,200 end. He will reign on the throne of 612 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,240 David and over his Kingdom. Remember the promise to Abram 613 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,160 and the promise to David. He's going to reign on your 614 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:55,160 throne, David, to establish and sustain it with justice and 615 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,880 righteousness from now on and forever in the zeal of the Lord 616 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,000 of armies will accomplish this not. 617 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:06,080 You not workaholism. You need to take a break. 618 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:10,080 You need to go home at 5:00. Be with your family, right? 619 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,520 Like you're not going to do this. 620 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:16,560 This is what the Lord is going to do for you. 621 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:19,320 Because here's the truth about Christmas. 622 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,040 Here's what Christmas shows us more than anything. 623 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,080 Our hope doesn't look like power. 624 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:29,920 It looks like presents. See, we think we just got a guy. 625 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:31,440 Find the guy with the biggest muscles. 626 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:35,320 We got to find the guy who with, with the biggest what? 627 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,080 What's the, what's the strength for you? 628 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:39,720 What's the strength that you put your hope in? 629 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,440 Economics degree, big car, big guns. 630 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,400 What's the thing right? Because what the father tells us 631 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:54,240 is that peace looks like a baby. You know what you do with the 632 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,840 baby? You just hold it. 633 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:01,320 It's just there. Sometimes it's cute and sweet 634 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:05,960 and sometimes it's in smells funny and right, but it's just 635 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:08,159 there. You just hold it. 636 00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:12,159 You just received the presence of the child, and that is how 637 00:34:12,159 --> 00:34:16,440 our God wanted you to see him. That is how our God wanted you 638 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:18,520 to relate to him. And notice what it says here, 639 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,159 remember. Like we talked about the the 640 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:22,400 yoke on our shoulders. Right in the oppression and you 641 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,639 feel and talk about the rock, well notice where it is. 642 00:34:24,639 --> 00:34:26,120 Now it sits on his. Shoulders. 643 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,560 It's not on your shoulders. Good news as you follow. 644 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:31,239 Jesus, it's not your yoke anymore, it's His. 645 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,960 That's what the hope is. That's what he calls us into. 646 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,800 And this is the right this is the the thing that Isaiah is 647 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,600 trying to pull our eyes to, this comparison between what's 648 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:48,520 fleeting and what's eternal. He said he's called wonderful 649 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:49,560 counselor. What's? 650 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,719 Eternal is wisdom and goodness. What's fleeting is oppression 651 00:34:54,719 --> 00:35:01,240 and violence, shame and empire and your burdens and your fear 652 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:06,600 and your limitations, the promises that the Lord is going 653 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,320 to do all of these things in you and for you. 654 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,280 Your hope isn't in yourself or in your luck. 655 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,400 Your hope is in Him. So this is the message in 656 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,000 Easter, in Christmas, Easter, it all goes together, right? 657 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:24,360 Everything that feels final in your life is temporary, and 658 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:28,280 everything that feels fragile about Jesus is eternal. 659 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:31,920 See, the cross of Jesus makes me uncomfortable because I don't 660 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,800 want them to do that to me. When I look at Jesus, I look and 661 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:37,280 go. It didn't diminish him one bit. 662 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:39,880 You know what that tells me? Maybe the things that I'm most 663 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:41,680 afraid of aren't the scariest things. 664 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,680 Maybe the problem is I've got these powers out there trying to 665 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,720 tell me that the worst possible thing would be to miss, to be 666 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:50,520 misunderstood Jesus. Like, no, the worst possible 667 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,160 thing would be to be missed. Of course, possible thing would 668 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,000 be to be alone. So why would you do that when 669 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,840 you have the power to have the presence, the personal presence 670 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:02,240 of God himself with you? And all he says is quit 671 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:05,880 fighting, relax, show up and make space. 672 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,880 Show up and make space every day. 673 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:10,600 That's what it is. Remember what Johnny told us. 674 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:13,080 The fight never ends. Every day it's a fight. 675 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,200 Every day it's a battle against the powers. 676 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,120 So if you came here today exhausted. 677 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,880 Hopeless in your job or in your marriage and your finances or in 678 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,240 any context? Listen, here's what I want to 679 00:36:25,240 --> 00:36:29,240 tell you today. Exchange your life of striving 680 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:33,360 for Jesus's life of rest. It's an exchange. 681 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,520 You don't get to keep both. You get to have one or the 682 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:36,760 other. You can have your way. 683 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:37,720 And here's what I'm going to tell you. 684 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:40,120 Jesus is a. Gentleman and he will stand 685 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,040 behind you daily, every day and going. 686 00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:44,120 Are you too tired yet? Do you want to rest? 687 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,320 Are you tired? You want to rest? 688 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:51,640 You want to rest? I'm asking you, do you want to 689 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:54,800 rest? Remember that song like Jesus 690 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,080 take the wheel. You mean you've had the 691 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,560 omnipotent creator of all things in the passenger seat. 692 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,880 That's your problem. I have specifically want to talk 693 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:07,000 to you today. Maybe somebody drug you here. 694 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:09,440 Maybe somebody brought you with it's Christmas, you're going to 695 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,080 lunch, either the lights and all that stuff. 696 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,200 What I'm going to tell you is that person who brought you here 697 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:17,160 cares very much about you. You're a very important person 698 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:19,280 in their life, and they want to make sure that you had an 699 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:23,760 opportunity to hear that the God who created all the things, the 700 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,000 God who is rescuing us from darkness, He loves you. 701 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:31,840 Put your name on it and what? He says is if you'll trust me, 702 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:32,800 you'll. Follow me. 703 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,120 Following is a very real thing. You know how? 704 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,880 You know how I know whether I'm following a leader or not? 705 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,960 We end up in the same place. He says if you'll trust me 706 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:44,680 enough to follow me. He says if you'll give me your 707 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,040 life, and I mean your old habits. 708 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:48,840 I mean the way that you talk about your mother and the way 709 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:50,680 that you talk about your spouse and all this. 710 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,120 If you'll give me those, slowly but surely I'll begin to 711 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,120 transform you. And what happens is you'll start 712 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:56,680 to see little changes along the way. 713 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,840 And what it'll do is it'll give you hope. 714 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:02,720 Big changes can come after. Oh, you'll be disappointed. 715 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,680 You'll be frustrated because it won't come nearly quickly enough 716 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:07,000 for you. And you'll still feel like you 717 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:07,720 are. You are. 718 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:11,120 You're still being transformed. But the point of Jesus isn't to 719 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,520 finish the job. The point of Jesus are you 720 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:19,400 listening is to be with you in your brokenness, loving you. 721 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:23,160 See, it's the enemy that tells you you're not enough. 722 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,400 You're not good enough, you don't make enough, you're not 723 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,200 smart enough. That's where the striving comes 724 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:29,960 from. That's what wears you. 725 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:31,960 Down that's what makes you anxious. 726 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:36,440 It's called sin when you try to earn your way to God. 727 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:40,200 The phrase for that, the word for that is self righteousness. 728 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:43,080 When you come to God and go God, here I am look at me and I've 729 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,040 worked so hard for you. He's like, did you die for me? 730 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,360 Well, no, no. But I went to church every 731 00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:53,400 Sunday, said that's not it. But I closed my eyes when I sang 732 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,000 the song. That's not it. 733 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,680 Did you follow? Me. 734 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:58,200 So I just want to give you an opportunity today. 735 00:38:58,200 --> 00:38:59,800 If you haven't done that, confess it. 736 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:04,120 Say it. I can't do what I need to do. 737 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,960 I can't create the peace in my own life that I desperately 738 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,640 need. And boy, am I chasing everywhere 739 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:12,840 after it. And then what we do is we repent 740 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:15,000 the word repent. It's not a big scary word. 741 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:18,600 It means start looking for your hope in a different place. 742 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:21,000 It means you're 10 miles down this road and you're going. 743 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,960 I haven't seen hope anywhere. Cranky bosses, cranky spouse, 744 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,040 cranky kids, not enough money to I've been down this road and 745 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:30,320 there's nothing down here. I'm going to switch roads. 746 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:31,760 I'm going to start looking for hope down. 747 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:36,440 Here, that's what repentance is. I'm not saying you have to quit 748 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:37,640 your job. Are you listening? 749 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:39,360 I'm saying you may have to quit your job. 750 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,120 I'm not saying that you need to divorce your spouse. 751 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,920 I'm saying you need to repent and love them and respect them 752 00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:50,640 and honor them. And we need to do different 753 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,960 because our hope isn't that we're going to get it right. 754 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:57,600 Our hope is that he is. And so if you are in darkness, 755 00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:59,480 maybe you've been following Jesus for a while and you're in 756 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,240 darkness. What I'm going to say is stop 757 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:04,640 and wait with him. Just stop where you are. 758 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:08,080 Wait with Jesus. This is the message of Psalm 46 759 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:10,280 right though the. Oceans roar and the waves 760 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:11,600 tremble and that all this stuff would. 761 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,440 Have got to be still and know that I am God. 762 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:17,720 You're not going to fix your problems. 763 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:19,960 You made the problems. We know that, right? 764 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:25,320 They're your problems. Jesus wants to rescue from them. 765 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:27,520 So what we do is we stand in faith. 766 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,280 You're trying to overcome darkness, but all that's in you 767 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:34,400 is darkness. Your goal is to stand there and 768 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,160 let the light shine. So how do you do that, build 769 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,320 margin in your life? Listen, it's not going to happen 770 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:40,920 to it. It's not going to happen. 771 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:42,880 God's not going to force himself on you. 772 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,920 You're going to go to work tomorrow and do the same thing 773 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,120 you did the day before and the day before, and someday you're 774 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:49,920 going to be 50 years old and go, why aren't things changing? 775 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:52,080 If nothing changes, nothing's going to change. 776 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,480 You can make a change, a small change. 777 00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:56,560 I'm not asking you to change the world. 778 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,640 Oh my gosh, I used to say that. Oh, we'll get up in the church 779 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:00,720 to change what? I don't think that's the point. 780 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:01,760 I don't think that's the mission. 781 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:04,400 I don't think that's the goal. The point is to change your 782 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,120 hearts, to give your heart entirely to Him. 783 00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:10,920 And so one moment at a time, one blessing at a time, 1 gratitude 784 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,480 at a time. Slow down, stop to pray. 785 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:16,080 Don't talk on the your phone in your car. 786 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,680 You want to talk on the phone, pull over and wait and sure 787 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,760 it'll be safe. I don't care about safety. 788 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:23,360 Your hand, your life is in the Lord's hands. 789 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,040 I'm talking about slowing down, getting your head right around 790 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,200 and recognize the Father is with you in this moment. 791 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:34,200 You will see Jesus if you will quiet and so pray differently. 792 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,320 Don't pray on the run. Oh, I pray with Jesus everywhere 793 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,200 with me. No, yes He is. 794 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,440 That's about His omnipotence, not your prayer life. 795 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:43,680 I say that too. You know why I say, Oh, I pray 796 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,680 without ceasing because mostly I forget and I feel guilty. 797 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:52,000 Sit down in a chair for 20 minutes and contend with the 798 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,040 reality that your mind is all over the place. 799 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:57,920 And go, Lord, what do you want to do with that? 800 00:41:57,920 --> 00:41:58,440 And you know what? I. 801 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:01,440 Think you'll start to hear? I knew that. 802 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:06,480 I'm not worried about your You think I'm worried about your 803 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:07,880 scatterbrain. I'm not. 804 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:11,800 Just sit there. Go serve. 805 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,520 Go meditate. Go do something different. 806 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:19,120 You won't grow if you keep doing the same things that you've done 807 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:22,480 before. And finally, cultivate hope by 808 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,560 the practice of radical hospitality and gratitude. 809 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:28,880 I mean radical. Listen, River City, do you want 810 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:30,600 to be the best at something in the world? 811 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:35,680 The best This is it hospitality you. 812 00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:38,400 You want to break records that will make the Kingdom proud. 813 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:41,560 You want to make break records that make angels stand on their 814 00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:43,200 heads and said. Hospitality. 815 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,360 That's it. Be the most welcoming, the most 816 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:48,760 inviting. Create the biggest tables for 817 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:53,200 the largest group and the best food and the best whatever it is 818 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,320 that you're drinking and making an Invite everybody and talk 819 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,480 about the Lord's. Goodness and faithfulness. 820 00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:02,080 And when it's done, thank you, Lord, for all that. 821 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,520 You've done, you're doing it yourself and you're trying to go 822 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:06,680 alone and you come to hard Bible passage and you don't know what 823 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:08,320 it means. So you just turn the page and 824 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:10,440 keep going. Find somebody else, find 825 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:14,200 somebody like my friend Amy and just spam them with your 826 00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:16,880 freaking thing. Your, what's it called? 827 00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,640 Gratitude. Just keep sending it to them. 828 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:22,800 I'm really fired up, Amy. Thank you. 829 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:28,240 It takes time. We got a whole month. 830 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:31,360 What if we just practice it? What if we work on it? 831 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:36,040 This series is called Prepare Him Room and it acknowledges the 832 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:37,800 reality that our God is a gentleman. 833 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,440 He has made all the provision that we need for a hope. 834 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:46,000 That will sustain us until every single sad thing comes untrue. 835 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:53,040 But you listening, He will not force His hope and peace upon 836 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,360 you. We must choose it by 837 00:43:56,360 --> 00:44:00,440 intentionally aligning our thoughts and behaviors with the 838 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:07,680 Prince of Peace. Let's pray, Jesus, you came with 839 00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:13,240 the authority to give peace. And boy, we run around and done 840 00:44:13,240 --> 00:44:18,560 a lot of other stuff. But I think Jesus that a lot of 841 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:21,240 that I know for me is because I feel like my hope is in 842 00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:23,920 different places. I feel like I've got to earn 843 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:29,320 something or prove something or be enough or be smart enough or 844 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:33,640 or or something. I don't even know what I feel 845 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:36,240 like I need. I just know that the sense of 846 00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:41,200 hope often eludes me. And I think, Lord, it's because 847 00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:44,880 I haven't. I haven't made peace with the 848 00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:50,480 reality that we're not home yet. Things aren't always going to go 849 00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:53,800 the way I want them to. Sometimes people will hurt me. 850 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,840 Sometimes things will run out. Sometimes I'll look in the 851 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:02,040 mirror and really not like what I see. 852 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,560 And those moments I start to lose hope. 853 00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:08,040 And Christmas just feels like another burden that I have to 854 00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,120 carry that I don't have the shoulders for, and my back 855 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:17,440 hurts. And oh, Jesus, I pray that you 856 00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:21,560 would give us the hope that this burden is not one that we can 857 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:24,320 carry. And so you're with us. 858 00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:28,440 And I pray especially for those who are carrying a load, a 859 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:32,520 burden of grief and fear and pain and discomfort this 860 00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,440 morning. You see the details of every bit 861 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,840 of it. And so I pray that during this 862 00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:43,200 season, as we, your church, press in not to do the easy 863 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:44,720 thing. Lord, we're not looking for 864 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:51,880 numbing experiences and and the OR we want something that's real 865 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:55,920 and eternal. So call us to you. 866 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,720 Plant the seeds of your hope, this tiny candle flicker of 867 00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:06,360 light and our hearts and grow and expand and teach us Jesus, 868 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:10,000 living in a land of great darkness to wait on your light. 869 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,080 Jesus, we love you and we thank you and we ask these things in 870 00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:15,960 your name and for your glory. Amen. 871 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:19,400 Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about 872 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,120 experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and 873 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:24,800 community, and we hope that you've been able to experience 874 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:27,440 that today. As grateful as I am that you've 875 00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:30,720 spent this time listening in this morning, this podcast is no 876 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:33,760 substitute for full participation in a local church. 877 00:46:34,200 --> 00:46:37,360 I love it when River City people listen to other pastors, but it 878 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,440 is those who show up week after week faithfully giving their 879 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:43,320 support and time and resources that make all of this possible. 880 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:47,160 If we can help you get connected to a local church, pray for you, 881 00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:50,440 or support you in any way, click the link in the description and 882 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,560 let us know. If you'd like to financially 883 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,400 support the ministry of River City, click the give link on our 884 00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:58,600 website in the description. Don't forget to subscribe and 885 00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:00,280 don't forget to share this with your friends. 886 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:03,320 Thanks so much for listening. May the Lord bless and keep you 887 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:04,920 in all grace and peace.