1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:06,280 I need to tell you about one of the greatest scandals ever in my 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,960 hometown of, you know, Bidwell, Rodney Road or Rodney Bidwell 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,920 Rd. depending on whether you were in Bidwell or Rodney. 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,960 And, and that was Norma. Norma and I knew each other 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,200 growing up and Norma, Norma was the golden child. 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,600 Norma got all A's in school from from kindergarten all the way 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,680 through high school. Norma played sports. 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,680 She was varsity Letterman and you know, in, in four different 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,800 sports and we only had two girls sports at the time. 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,720 She was really, really good. And, and she went away to 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,920 college and she went to an Ivy League and she played 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,960 competitive sports there as well and majored in four different 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:45,960 things. She majored in physics, she 14 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,880 majored in pre Med, she majored in literature and she majored in 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,760 international economics and got got straight A's, graduated 4 16 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,000 point average. And all of those went on to 17 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,400 Graduate School and became a medical doctor, doctor of 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,400 physics, a doctor of economics and literature. 19 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:07,320 All of these things and, and everyone in my hometown, we put 20 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,640 all of our hopes and Norma that she was going to go out and do 21 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,880 great things in the world. She was going to change the 22 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,000 world when she, she was either going to figure out cold fusion 23 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,360 or she was going to cure cancer, or she was going to bring peace 24 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,240 to the, to the world or, or, or write the greatest novel ever 25 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,680 written so that everyone would, you know, become a better human 26 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,120 being. And, and, and that was Norma's 27 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,520 plan too. But Norma decided, she said, you 28 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,360 know what, it's been a lot of work. 29 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,280 I'm going to take a gap year. I'm going to travel. 30 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,960 And, and she was travelling around the world and she stopped 31 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:41,880 in Luxembourg and met the king of Luxembourg, oddly enough. 32 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,480 And, and the king of Luxembourg said, you know what best thing 33 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,400 about Luxembourg is my aquarium. I want you to come see my 34 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:50,080 aquarium. And she went to see as well. 35 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,440 It was more than just like a glass box. 36 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,720 It was like this whole water park kind of thing. 37 00:01:55,960 --> 00:02:00,440 And his prized possession was his dolphin that that he named 38 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:05,280 Queenie. And Norma just fell in love with 39 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,479 Queenie and, and she did the rest of her trip around the 40 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:12,000 world, but she got to the end and she's like, I, I can't go 41 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,120 back to my previous life. I, I got to go back to 42 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:17,760 Luxembourg. She went back to Luxembourg, 43 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,880 said, Hey, I'd, I'd like to get a job taking care of Queenie if 44 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,840 I could, Mr. King and, and, and King said, well, you know, 45 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,360 you're not really qualified. You haven't been trained for 46 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:28,800 this. She said, I'm, I'm a quick 47 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:30,720 learner. And she did, she learned and 48 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,520 she, she, she fed Queenie and when Queenie got sick, gave 49 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,160 Queenie medicine and, and, and cleaned out Queenie's tank and 50 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,120 made sure Queenie had everything that she needed. 51 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,640 In the meantime, everyone in our town was just utterly 52 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:47,720 disappointed. We pinned all of our hopes that 53 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,880 she was going to be our claim to fame and, and, and, and we sent 54 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,560 a representative to meet with her there in Luxembourg. 55 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,160 And, and he went up to her and said, Norma, we don't 56 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,120 understand. We, you, you were had all these 57 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,640 brains and all of this skill and, and, and, and all of this 58 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:06,440 knowledge. You were going to change the 59 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,000 world. You were going to make a 60 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,880 difference. And, and, and now look what 61 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:11,720 you're doing. And Norma, stop. 62 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,440 She said well, I believe I'm serving a noble porpoise. 63 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,360 Here's the thing. We all have a noble porpoise. 64 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,600 We really do. We are all children of the King. 65 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,040 We are all followers of Jesus Christ, who is our King. 66 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:43,320 And being a follower of Jesus, the follower of the one who was 67 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,560 crucified and rose again from the dead, means living a life of 68 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,880 purpose. We live in a world that's been 69 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,520 turned upside down. We have to live by faith. 70 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:57,640 We live also with this sense. Well, that's the wrong way to 71 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:59,960 say it. Not necessarily with a sense of 72 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:03,480 purpose, but with the reality of purpose. 73 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,600 The Easter life is a life of purpose. 74 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:15,480 We are not here by accident. We, we are here on purpose and 75 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,920 we have, and this is dangerous for me because then I start, oh, 76 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,079 I'll look at the head to the next slide so I don't mess it 77 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:22,240 up. And then I get distracted by by 78 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:23,960 my next slide. So I'm just going to put it up 79 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:25,600 and, and stop looking at my computer. 80 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,040 Life isn't directionless. Life isn't meaningless. 81 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,480 Life isn't pointless and life isn't futile. 82 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,440 And there's so much in the philosophies of the world around 83 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,080 us and the cultures around us today that push us in that 84 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,880 direction that, that we're only here by accident by a random 85 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,960 occurrence of, of, of matter and energy and, and explosions and, 86 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,040 and, and, and we're only here by accident and there's no meaning. 87 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,400 And not only are we only here by accident, one day it's all going 88 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,520 to come to, to an end, You know, there'll be another, you know, 89 00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,760 implosion and then another explosion. 90 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:03,160 And no matter what we've done in this life, it all comes to 91 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:05,560 nothing, period. It's pointless, it's 92 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,520 meaningless. There are philosophies out there 93 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,880 now that that are gaining great traction. 94 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,720 They they come and go over the ages. 95 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,680 There's not really any of them that's new. 96 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:17,880 But but that that say, you know what? 97 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,840 There is no truth. There's no, there's no, there's 98 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:23,520 no purpose. We just make up reality as we 99 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,840 go. Our our reality is a construct. 100 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:30,320 It's a human construct and we can make it into whatever we 101 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,120 want, which means there's no purpose. 102 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,200 There's none. If we're just making it all up, 103 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,800 if, if it's not going anywhere, if there's not a direction, if 104 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,000 there's not a destination, then nothing that we do matters. 105 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:51,880 But the Easter life says the exact opposite, that life is not 106 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,000 directionless, but life has purpose. 107 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,720 Whoops, jumped ahead too fast. It's what I do when I get, yeah, 108 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:08,760 there is purpose. And, and Jesus's death on the 109 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:14,120 cross, Good Friday and the Saturday that followed it made 110 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,600 it look like life was utterly meaningless. 111 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,000 Every hope that Jesus's disciples had, every hope that 112 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,560 the multitudes had, that God cared, that God loved, that God 113 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:29,600 had come, that Messiah was here, that all of the long generations 114 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,280 of waiting were finally being fulfilled. 115 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:37,800 And God is is bringing his Kingdom into this world and a 116 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,720 tangible, beautiful, wonderful world changing way. 117 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:47,080 And then Jesus died on the cross and the impression was this 118 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:52,920 chaos wins, violence wins, destruction wins. 119 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:58,440 There is no point. If Jesus of Nazareth, who can 120 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,920 heal the blind, heal the lame, raise the dead, cleanse the 121 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:07,080 lepers with a word and with a touch, If his life doesn't 122 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:12,600 matter, if he just ends up as a dead slave on a Roman cross, One 123 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,280 of thousands and thousands of dead slaves on Roman crosses, 124 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,600 then what do I, what chance do I have for there being purpose in 125 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,000 life? But then Easter happens and the 126 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,040 world is turned upside down and we're invited into this life of 127 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:37,320 faith, this life of purpose. But it's not two different ways. 128 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,760 Again, we can go off the rails when it comes to this purpose 129 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,960 thing. One way to go off the rails is 130 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,160 to say there is no purpose. Life is meaningless. 131 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,480 The other way to go off the rails is on the other side where 132 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,200 there is a purpose and I get to decide what it is. 133 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,120 My purpose is is making money. My purpose is is having a 134 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:55,920 family. My purpose is growing a great 135 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,840 business. My purpose is global domination. 136 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,000 If you're you know, or, or just the tri-state area, if your name 137 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,160 is Doofen Schmurz. But it's it. 138 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,280 We cannot we don't get to pick our own purpose. 139 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:12,920 This is important and and because God is the one that 140 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,120 decides on our purpose, not us, we don't get to make it up. 141 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,360 We don't get to pick and choose for ourselves. 142 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,000 We get lots of choices in life, but we don't get to decide what 143 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,840 the purpose of life is, not even our own life. 144 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,040 That is in God's hands. We're God's handiwork. 145 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,919 God is the designer, God is the creator, God is the Craftsman. 146 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,280 We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus. 147 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,240 Why? Paul says to do good works, the 148 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,440 works that God has decided are good. 149 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,240 God has made us, God has created us. 150 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,960 God has put us in his image for his purpose. 151 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:58,200 The Easter life is a life filled and directed by God's purpose. 152 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,960 Let's take a look at a couple of scripture passages here that 153 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,400 we've already read today. Jesus said to them, this is 154 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:04,880 right before he ascends into heaven. 155 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,320 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and 156 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:13,320 you will be my witnesses. Power, that word power in the 157 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:19,120 Greek is is a specialized word. It's power in English is a very 158 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:24,520 generalized word, but the word there in Greek, it can be like a 159 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,080 firecracker or a stick of dynamite. 160 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,680 And I'm thinking about I saw the part of the trailer for the new 161 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:34,320 bugs Buddy Rd. you know, the Roadrunner show. 162 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:40,760 I got dynamite on my brain. This just goes anywhere. 163 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,960 Explosive power. Power in, in, in English doesn't 164 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,000 have to have a direction. It can. 165 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,720 It can be the power that's coming out of the power plant 166 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,520 that moves along the lines and, and operates machinery and many 167 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,240 other things throughout different parts of the country. 168 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:02,160 Or, or power can be a bomb that just explodes and and, and and 169 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,080 annihilates. But in Greek, the word has a 170 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,800 sense of direction to it. It's power operating in a 171 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:14,080 direction, it's directed energy, not simply explosive energy. 172 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,920 Jesus said the Holy Spirit is going to come with power, not 173 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:20,800 power for us to do whatever we want. 174 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,280 It's not he's not, he's not giving us all, you know, sticks 175 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,080 of dynamite and say go have fun, you know, go fishing, do 176 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,280 whatever you want to do with it. But just you have a good he's 177 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,800 giving his power with purpose, the power to do something. 178 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:38,440 And that purpose is his purpose. And here in Acts, as, as Luke 179 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,960 records Jesus's final words to the disciples in the book of 180 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:47,600 Acts, that purpose is to be Jesus's witnesses, to tell other 181 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:54,960 people what they see God doing, what we see Jesus doing, what we 182 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,520 have seen Jesus do in the past, what we see Jesus doing now, to 183 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:04,320 be witnesses. The witnesses in this is a legal 184 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,880 term. The witnesses are not the 185 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,640 investigators. And my Holy Spirit will come 186 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,480 upon you so you can investigate other people and make sure 187 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:15,880 they're living right. That is not what Jesus said. 188 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,440 Witnesses are not the prosecutors. 189 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,400 Your, your, your Holy Spirit will come upon you so you can, 190 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,440 you know, bring charges against other people when you know they. 191 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,800 That's not what Jesus said. Witnesses are not judges. 192 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,800 The Holy Spirit will come upon you so you can tell who should 193 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:38,640 be going to heaven and who should be going to hell. 194 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,960 That is not what Jesus said. You will have the power of the 195 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:48,560 Holy Spirit for this purpose, to be a witness, to tell what you 196 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:52,160 have seen and what you have heard, what you are seeing and 197 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,600 what you are hearing. And, and the, the present is at 198 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,160 least as important as the past in that, because without the 199 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,920 power of the Holy Spirit, we're not going to be able to tell 200 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,040 what God is doing now. The direction the Holy Spirit is 201 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:10,520 leading, the invitations Jesus is giving to us to step out in 202 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,360 faith and to love and serve and minister in his name. 203 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:20,600 We need that power of the Holy Spirit so we can see where God 204 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:22,960 is going, what God is leading us to. 205 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,040 And Matthew phrases it a little bit differently. 206 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,440 It puts a different nuance on it. 207 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,240 At the end of Matthew, Jesus says this all authority in 208 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,440 heaven and on earth has been given to me. 209 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,240 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. 210 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:45,040 As a little more active here we hear Jesus saying not just be my 211 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,440 witnesses, but but you you need to be accomplishing something 212 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,960 and that we don't have a good English different when it comes 213 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,480 to translations. Almost no translation is a word 214 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,760 for word translation because different languages do things 215 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:06,520 differently and and Greek has a whole range of participles and 216 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:10,440 verb tenses that are very difficult to express in English. 217 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,480 Probably the most literal way to say this is all authority in 218 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,280 heaven on earth has been given to me, therefore go and disciple 219 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,960 all nations. The word disciple is the verb 220 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,520 itself rather than make disciples, but that doesn't 221 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,640 quite capture it either. Another way to phrase it would 222 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,120 be to say go in all nations and go out. 223 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,720 Therefore, go and bring disciples, bring people into 224 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,440 discipleship. But however we look at that, 225 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,040 it's active. There's something for us to be 226 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,160 doing. And that discipleship has three 227 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,600 parts. It's teaching them to baptizing 228 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,880 them, initiating them, bringing them into the family through the 229 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,280 sacrament of Holy Baptism, A sacrament that, unlike 230 00:13:56,280 --> 00:14:00,720 circumcision and historic Judaism, that only males can 231 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,640 participate in, Baptism is something that everyone could 232 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,520 participate in. Unlike circumcision, which is an 233 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:12,040 outward physical sign, baptism can only be seen in our actions, 234 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,000 our attitudes, and in our hearts. 235 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:18,440 Whether a person has been baptized, we cannot prove that 236 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,880 except by the condition of their hearts and how they treat other 237 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,040 people, even if they've been dunked. 238 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,280 I don't mean to trivialize baptism, but but going 239 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,960 underwater is different than being baptized and having our 240 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:40,000 lives transformed and following that, baptizing them in the name 241 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,800 of the Father, the Son of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them 242 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,520 to obey everything I have commanded you. 243 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,960 Teaching people to live by faith, to recognize and hear 244 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,040 what God is saying, and to follow where God is leading. 245 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:57,200 And that is the work that we have to do. 246 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,040 That is the purpose that God puts in front of us. 247 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,480 Now, when it comes to this purpose thing, I've talked 248 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:07,360 enough with enough different people about purpose and purpose 249 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,400 in life to know that this is an important distinction to make. 250 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,880 There is a difference between sensing God's purpose and 251 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:19,160 acknowledging God's purpose. Some folks have a very strong 252 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,840 internal sense of purpose in their lives. 253 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,200 They're like, I, I know why I'm here. 254 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,280 I know why God made me. I know my role, I know my tasks. 255 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,840 They've got a very, very strong sense of God's purpose in their 256 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,320 lives. Other people don't, and too 257 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,960 often in the way I've taught about things like purpose, it 258 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,040 it, it. I have left it way too easy for 259 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,400 people that don't have a sense of God's purpose in their life 260 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:48,160 to feel like I must not have purpose in my life or I must not 261 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,040 be part of God's purpose in my life. 262 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,720 But there's a difference. And I now have the perfect 263 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,320 example to illustrate the difference between extensing 264 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,000 God's purpose and acknowledging God's purpose. 265 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,880 And that illustration is my dog Bruno. 266 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,200 Bruno is a knucklehead. Bruno's purpose. 267 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,520 I got Bruno for a purpose. I got Bruno to be my pal. 268 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,080 The best thing Bruno can do is lie on the couch with his head 269 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,000 on my lap and let me scratch his ears. 270 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,080 I really love that he's a 70 LB knucklehead. 271 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,960 He crawls up on my lap and I rub his tummy and, and, and I love 272 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:26,560 it. And he seems to enjoy it too. 273 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:29,640 That's Bruno's purpose. To hang out with me. 274 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,560 You need to do things with me. That's not what Bruno thinks his 275 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:39,760 purpose is. That's Bruno's purpose. 276 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:47,400 Bruno thinks his purpose is to defend us from the mortal threat 277 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,200 of Shelly, Renee's sister, who happens to be our mailman, who, 278 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:56,240 according to Bruno, is the most dangerous person in the world. 279 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:02,240 Every day she has to be chased off our front porch because we 280 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,920 got a mail slot. She comes all the way up there. 281 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:10,160 And Bruno, he's, he's ready to defend the house from Shelly. 282 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:17,640 It is, it is a thing of noble beauty, and he's not particular. 283 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:21,079 He defends us from everything that walks along the sidewalk in 284 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,000 front of her house, no matter how big or how small. 285 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,400 He he's convinced that's his purpose. 286 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:30,880 He will run from the backyard through the house to bark at 287 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:32,840 someone walking along the front sidewalk. 288 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,240 He won't go outside because he's also a chicken, so he has to 289 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,960 stay on the right side of the door where it's safe. 290 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,040 So he really does run inside and run to the front door to bark at 291 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,280 people. And he thinks he's fulfilling 292 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:52,760 his purpose, but he's not his. His purpose is not to defend us. 293 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:57,320 If my, my life depends. He tries, he really does. 294 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,040 He's he's mortally afraid of loud noises. 295 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,480 And, and, and there's our neighbors straight behind us. 296 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:05,920 They've got a big German shepherd. 297 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:07,680 I have no on the other side of the fence. 298 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:09,920 It sounds like a terror too. I have no idea whether it's 299 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,000 really a terror or whether it's just because it's on the other 300 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,880 side of the fence. But I was out mowing and, and I 301 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,480 had electric mower. So it's not real loud, but it 302 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,320 makes some noise. And I was out mowing and the 303 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,280 neighbor's dog was out and I was mowing back by the fence and 304 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,560 that dog was barking at me like it wanted to RIP my throat out. 305 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:31,120 And poor Bruno came running from the house to defend me and his 306 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:34,960 tail was between his legs and his ears were down and he ran 307 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,040 up, but he was afraid of the lawn mower. 308 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:44,400 He's like, got to help Dad. He tries, he tries, but that's 309 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,800 not why Bruno's there. It's not his purpose. 310 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,440 Bruno will never understand his purpose. 311 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:53,200 He'll never have a sense of that. 312 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,800 He's going to bark at things until the day he dies. 313 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,880 I am confident and think he's defending the family from all 314 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,120 sorts of threats. His purpose is just to be a 315 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,800 companion. It's just there to be my bud and 316 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:07,160 and he's doing all right with that. 317 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,240 He sheds a lot, but he's doing all right with that. 318 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:17,960 It's the same for us. It's not important that we sense 319 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,360 God's purpose. What is important is that we 320 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:27,360 acknowledge that we have a God who has a purpose for us, and 321 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,520 God will accomplish his purpose through us even when we can't 322 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,600 sense it, even when we get it wrong, even when we think, I 323 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,240 know God wants me doing this and God's like, very nice, bark 324 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,800 away, you're all right. And this other thing is really 325 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,440 what's happening. And sometimes we sense it and 326 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,840 sometimes we don't. What's important is to recognize 327 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:54,240 that God has a purpose for us. I got a, an illustration that I 328 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,560 want to share with you. And it's another one of those 329 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,520 amazing stories that I didn't hear about until recently. 330 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,880 I don't know if you're familiar with the website called I am 331 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,920 second iamsecond.com. It's a. 332 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,320 It's a. There's lots of video stories 333 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,280 there and, and it's it's an explicitly Christian based 334 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:16,720 website and the notion is God is first in my life and I am 2nd. 335 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,600 And, and there's some a whole range of different people 336 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,400 telling their stories. And one of the stories is the 337 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,600 story of Tiffany Whittier and Michael Kent. 338 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,480 And I'm just going to play. There's this is not their video 339 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:31,600 from that. Their video from I Am Second was 340 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,040 like 12 minutes long. It was too long to play this 341 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:35,920 morning. I'm playing a news report. 342 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:40,080 Once they were on I Am Second some some local news areas and 343 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,920 then some national news areas picked up on their story and 344 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,440 interviewed them. But let's meet Michael and 345 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,360 Tiffany. My name is Michael Kent. 346 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:50,800 I'm over here at Fallen Heroes to get a swastika covered up. 347 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,720 I've never, never, never been in a inside of a tattoo shop 348 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:57,880 getting a professional tattoo. It's a lot different than the 349 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,080 prison style one. It's not done with guitar 350 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,760 strings. It's painful to get it out, yes. 351 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,840 But it's going to be worth it. Tell me your story. 352 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,040 Behind that shirt is a lot of ink. 353 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,320 I was a part of a Skinhead group, a very violent group. 354 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:18,720 My first tattoo, the racial tattoo was my white pride when I 355 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,360 got 2 swastikas, 1 on my chest. How long have you had that on 356 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:25,040 your chest? Over 20 years. 357 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,080 Talk about that transformation process. 358 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,520 This is kind of a good story, but odd story. 359 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,840 I got my caseload transferred to a black woman. 360 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,040 She just marched up to my house, but if it wasn't for her I 361 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,080 probably would have been deep back into it. 362 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,400 You feel like she became much more than a probation officer. 363 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,280 Yes, she's much more than that, so I would look at her as 364 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,080 family. I'm Tiffany Whittier. 365 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:47,560 I haven't seen him in over a year. 366 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,640 He doesn't know that I'm here. We're going to surprise. 367 00:21:50,840 --> 00:22:01,520 Him say hello. Hi. 368 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,080 She gave me a chance and it opened my eyes. 369 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:12,320 You 2 are unlikely friends. Yes, yes, I had a German war 370 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,160 flag, she says. You need to take that crap down 371 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,920 and start putting up more positive stuff, Put up smiley 372 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,920 faces so when you wake up, you see positive instead of hate. 373 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,080 That's a big difference. Yeah, that's a big change. 374 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,520 When you wake up and you see a :) you're going to go to work 375 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,640 and you're going to smile. Before all this, I wouldn't work 376 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,360 for anybody or with anybody that wasn't white. 13 people that 377 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:35,600 work with me, I'm the only white person there. 378 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:39,760 We have company parties or they have quinceaneras or barbecues 379 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,160 or birthday parties. I'm the only white guy there. 380 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,800 Last night we were with him and he got a tattoo taken up, he 381 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,200 said. Tiffany was one of the people 382 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,280 that helped me make this transition. 383 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,720 I'm not here to judge him. That's not my job to judge. 384 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,520 My job is to be that positive person in someone's life, try to 385 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,560 make a difference. I'm getting trucked up again. 386 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,480 If you got a strong support system and you have people that 387 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,360 believe in you in a positive way, you can change. 388 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:10,240 You're touching before and after. 389 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,000 Now did. You ever think they'd come off? 390 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,280 Did you be a part of that? Not a million years I would have 391 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,920 ever guessed that Michael changed his life for the better. 392 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:23,640 She gave me the strength and the courage to do what I'm doing and 393 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,760 changing my life because I know it, she can do it and she 394 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:28,400 believes in people, good in people. 395 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:37,280 I know I can't too. Now this is ABC News secular 396 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:42,000 news agency, which is not a judgement or it's just reality. 397 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:49,000 And and so we heard nothing of the faith story that is in this. 398 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,560 So I would encourage you go to YouTube, search for Michael 399 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:57,560 Kent, Tiffany Whittier. I am 2nd and and watch their 400 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:04,640 whole interview and and and Michael in that says to her, why 401 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,640 did you do this for me? I don't understand why, why you 402 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,280 did this. And and her first response was, 403 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,440 well, it was my job. And he's like, no, this wasn't 404 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,760 your job. She's like, it was my job. 405 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,680 But maybe you can see and and she went on to say it's God and 406 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,520 and and Michael, God loves you and God values you and God wants 407 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,720 to be part of your life and once you as part of his life. 408 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:37,000 And, and it changed Michael's life the way she went in there. 409 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,080 Now I've known probation officers sharing Jesus is not 410 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:48,640 the job of a probation officer. Loving people is not the job of 411 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:54,840 a probation officer. But Tiffany understood her job 412 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,560 and her purpose. She had a job to do, to work for 413 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:05,240 the probation authority, set goals, monitor people, keep 414 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:10,040 track of people. She had a purpose to share love 415 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,640 and hope and the transforming power of God with people. 416 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:20,040 Now, I don't know how many of Tiffany's probationers ever had 417 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,600 as dramatic experience as Michael Kent. 418 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,360 She's like most probation officers, she said. 419 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,520 Lots and lots of people, and lots and lots of them go back to 420 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:34,680 jail. Kent, who had done a lot of bad 421 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,600 stuff, again watched the interview. 422 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,960 His life was transformed. And do you know the things she 423 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:42,800 did that opened the door the most? 424 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:48,600 She went to his house alone. When she first got the file, she 425 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,400 read the file. She'd seen the pictures, she 426 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,640 knew the tattoos, she knew who he was, she knew what he was. 427 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,680 And she went to his house for the first visit alone. 428 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,080 And, and he said, she said that when she first got there, he 429 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:08,160 asked her, are you alone? And she was like, yes, I am 430 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,320 alone. Is that going to be a problem? 431 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,600 And he said, no, no one's ever had the courage to come to me 432 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,520 alone before. Not even white people come to me 433 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,720 alone. They always have backup. 434 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:26,440 And her courage and her faith and her love and her compassion 435 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,000 opened the door for his life to be transformed. 436 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:34,760 Because she saw her work in the world as more than just a job, 437 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,800 but the work that she was doing as part of the purpose that God 438 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,680 had for her of being a witness and bringing people into 439 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,240 discipleship. If you can do that as a 440 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,480 probation officer, you can do that in any role, in any role, 441 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,280 whether it's a desk job or a construction job or a, a, a, you 442 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:03,320 know, retail job, whatever, whatever the job, homemaker, 443 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:12,480 whatever it is, school teacher, to see our purpose within our 444 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,840 job and upon our job and not just the tasks that need to be 445 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:19,560 done. That's what it means to 446 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,160 acknowledge the purpose of God, even if you don't sense it. 447 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,520 I got the sense that Tiffany did not. 448 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:30,960 She really seemed genuinely perplexed that that she had had 449 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,240 the impact that she had on Michael because she felt like 450 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:38,320 I'm just doing my job. Whether she had a sense of that 451 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,320 purpose, she was living that purpose. 452 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,240 She acknowledged that purpose, and that makes all the 453 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,920 difference. And that's what God invites us 454 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,320 to, to acknowledge the purpose that he has for our lives, even 455 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,560 if we don't feel it, even if we don't sense it, to acknowledge 456 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,760 that it is there and trust that God will accomplish that. 457 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,960 The Easter life is a life of purpose in Jesus name. 458 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,240 Amen. Amen.