1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Back in 2019, when I had the privilege of being with you, 2 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:07,700 one of the sermons which I don't expect you to remember, 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,340 come on, I'm not that dumb. 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,100 In fact, you might not have remembered it 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,340 Sabbath afternoon, just you know. 6 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:20,820 But I delineated for you what to me were the top 10 reasons why 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,020 Jesus must return. 8 00:00:24,020 --> 00:00:29,700 This precious theme from the time of John 13, 14, 15, 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,900 16, the Last Supper onward, where he says, 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,300 I'm going away, and they panic. 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:34,800 They said, you can't do this to us. 12 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:36,340 And he says, no, no, it's going to be fine. 13 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:37,340 It's going to be fine. 14 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:38,700 Actually, it's going to be good. 15 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,800 And so Jesus shared the return. 16 00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:43,580 And we have, of course, as something 17 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,580 that's with half of our name, this whole idea 18 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,220 of the blessed hope, the anticipation, 19 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:51,780 the ultimate conclusion. 20 00:00:51,780 --> 00:00:54,460 That is, by the way, just off to the side, 21 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,160 you already know this, and you're convinced, 22 00:00:56,260 --> 00:00:58,560 so I don't have to sell you on this. 23 00:00:58,660 --> 00:01:03,120 But that is, I've taught a couple public universities. 24 00:01:03,220 --> 00:01:05,960 And there obviously are differences 25 00:01:06,060 --> 00:01:09,060 when I taught at Adventist schools versus public schools. 26 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:16,840 And with Christian education, you get to tell the whole truth. 27 00:01:16,940 --> 00:01:19,480 I've taught history at public institutions. 28 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,020 And the problem is, you look at most history books, 29 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,820 and there's this nebulous beginning, 30 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,080 you know, Hammurabi's Code or whatever, 31 00:01:26,180 --> 00:01:27,680 and then nebulous ending. 32 00:01:27,780 --> 00:01:29,520 Well, what humanity is going to do now, 33 00:01:29,620 --> 00:01:30,780 we've got lots of choices. 34 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,260 And there's this nebulous front and back, 35 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:34,900 whereas with Christian education, 36 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,800 because we take it from the framework of the scripture, 37 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:39,960 we say, dude, we know how we got here, 38 00:01:40,060 --> 00:01:41,960 and we know how this thing's ending. 39 00:01:42,060 --> 00:01:45,840 And we have the capacity to tell the whole picture, which you 40 00:01:45,940 --> 00:01:48,580 cannot do in a public institution. 41 00:01:48,580 --> 00:01:52,080 And so this idea of the blessed hope of us knowing. 42 00:01:52,180 --> 00:01:55,040 As Seventh-day Adventists, it has been a main theme 43 00:01:55,140 --> 00:01:57,280 from our heritage on. 44 00:01:57,380 --> 00:02:00,480 But most people, most Seventh-day Adventists, 45 00:02:00,580 --> 00:02:04,520 at least in my track record, got really pretty good 46 00:02:04,620 --> 00:02:06,720 at when and how. 47 00:02:06,820 --> 00:02:08,920 OK, I'm not going to give you that whole November sermon. 48 00:02:09,020 --> 00:02:10,920 I'm just refreshing you. 49 00:02:11,020 --> 00:02:15,160 OK, the when and how about, but did we talk about why? 50 00:02:15,260 --> 00:02:17,300 Why must the Lord return? 51 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:20,900 And so I spent time with you about the top 10 reasons why, 52 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,380 to me, Jesus must return. 53 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:25,580 He's going to rescue his planet. 54 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:30,040 He's going to restart eternity. 55 00:02:30,140 --> 00:02:33,480 He's going to eradicate the cancer that exists 56 00:02:33,580 --> 00:02:35,660 in the universe at this time. 57 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:36,720 He's going to end it. 58 00:02:36,820 --> 00:02:39,660 He's going to silence the enemy. 59 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,260 It's like 1 Samuel 17, where David says, 60 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,700 who's going to shut that boy up? 61 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:46,760 The guy's up on the hill there screaming and saying, 62 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:48,300 thus about our God. 63 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,460 Who is this uncircumcised that he 64 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,100 should say thus about our God? 65 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:53,800 Somebody's got to shut him up. 66 00:02:53,900 --> 00:02:56,340 And so one of the reasons why Jesus will return 67 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:02,020 is to silence the enemy, to complete the process. 68 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,180 Unless you're really just somebody I don't understand, 69 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:09,820 farmers do not cast seed and then walk off hoping everything's 70 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:11,080 going to work out. 71 00:03:11,180 --> 00:03:13,620 The reason for a farmer to start a process 72 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,020 is he's looking for the harvest. 73 00:03:15,020 --> 00:03:19,100 He's looking for the good that will come out of it. 74 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:20,660 This isn't just random. 75 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:21,760 I've got nothing else to do. 76 00:03:21,860 --> 00:03:23,940 I think I'll plant a field. 77 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:25,540 There is a dream down the line. 78 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:30,040 And Jesus will return to complete his process. 79 00:03:30,140 --> 00:03:35,420 He will respond to the victims from Genesis 4 80 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:36,980 all the way down to Revelation 6, 81 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,780 where it says the souls under the altar cry, God, come on. 82 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:41,760 How long? 83 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,160 If you're a good God, how long do we have to put up with this? 84 00:03:46,260 --> 00:03:50,720 How long do the innocents have to endure? 85 00:03:50,820 --> 00:03:55,900 He will hear the cry of victims and respond to it inevitably 86 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,840 to restore the family. 87 00:03:57,940 --> 00:04:00,800 Once upon a time, it was the family of heaven and earth. 88 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:02,940 Things got fractured. 89 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,480 There was a divorce. 90 00:04:05,580 --> 00:04:08,240 We need to get the family back together again 91 00:04:08,340 --> 00:04:10,820 to restore the family. 92 00:04:10,820 --> 00:04:14,320 Number three, to reveal his verdicts. 93 00:04:14,420 --> 00:04:16,080 The Bible is replete with the issue 94 00:04:16,180 --> 00:04:18,580 that he is a judge, faithful judge, righteous judge, 95 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:19,660 and all this. 96 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:20,920 But what's the purpose of judgment 97 00:04:21,020 --> 00:04:22,800 if you're not inevitably going to bring this thing 98 00:04:22,900 --> 00:04:24,600 to a conclusion, if you're not going to reveal 99 00:04:24,700 --> 00:04:26,500 the purpose for the judgment? 100 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,760 And behold, he comes and he brings the reward 101 00:04:28,860 --> 00:04:30,800 of the judgment with him. 102 00:04:30,900 --> 00:04:35,980 He peels back the results of the judgment. 103 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:37,940 He reveals his verdicts. 104 00:04:37,940 --> 00:04:40,880 Number two, to reward Christ. 105 00:04:43,980 --> 00:04:48,720 Philippians 2, 5 to 8, someday Jesus 106 00:04:48,820 --> 00:04:52,820 has to get what he deserves. 107 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,600 Everybody else in the universe agrees on that. 108 00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:57,060 We need to get on board. 109 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,460 And how do I make that happen even today? 110 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:05,160 How do I start that echo right now, where this one has a name 111 00:05:05,260 --> 00:05:06,100 above all names? 112 00:05:06,100 --> 00:05:08,340 And every knee bows, at least every knee 113 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,200 in the Ringled Church today bows. 114 00:05:11,300 --> 00:05:14,640 Whether they do three doors down here in Ringled, I don't know. 115 00:05:14,740 --> 00:05:15,440 That's their bit. 116 00:05:15,540 --> 00:05:17,180 But every knee must bow. 117 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:18,280 Every knee will bow. 118 00:05:18,380 --> 00:05:22,220 And we start that process already of bringing Christ 119 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:23,320 his reward. 120 00:05:23,420 --> 00:05:25,620 And finally, the number one reason for why Jesus must 121 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,420 return is because he said he would. 122 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,720 If there was no other reason, he's painted himself 123 00:05:31,820 --> 00:05:32,820 into a corner. 124 00:05:32,820 --> 00:05:36,600 And if he is the covenant-keeping God, 125 00:05:36,700 --> 00:05:40,200 he must return. 126 00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:42,900 Otherwise, he does not deserve to be God. 127 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:44,880 He must return. 128 00:05:44,980 --> 00:05:47,200 And so that was sort of an overview. 129 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:48,280 He will return. 130 00:05:48,380 --> 00:05:49,180 He must return. 131 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:50,240 He's going to return. 132 00:05:50,340 --> 00:05:51,080 That's an overview. 133 00:05:51,180 --> 00:05:53,940 Well, I was thinking about, OK, part two. 134 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:55,480 Haven't seen you folks in a while. 135 00:05:55,580 --> 00:05:57,660 And this just has been something that's 136 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,060 been brewing in me over the last, I don't know, 137 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:01,060 a few months. 138 00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:03,760 But I've come up with this idea of what are the top 10 139 00:06:03,860 --> 00:06:06,900 reasons why, not why Jesus will return, 140 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,660 but why in the world do we do this? 141 00:06:11,260 --> 00:06:13,940 Why do we do this church stuff? 142 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:15,800 What is the purpose of this? 143 00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:17,640 Why do we do this? 144 00:06:17,740 --> 00:06:19,580 Why do we show up? 145 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:20,700 Why do we lock in? 146 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:21,900 Why do we participate? 147 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,240 Why do we do this? 148 00:06:23,340 --> 00:06:25,020 And so I've come up with what, for me, 149 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:29,380 are 10 reasons that I think are all scripturally viable 150 00:06:29,380 --> 00:06:32,280 and why we do this. 151 00:06:32,380 --> 00:06:35,120 Why Sabbath morning, you do this. 152 00:06:35,220 --> 00:06:37,920 Why Tuesday evening, small groups get together. 153 00:06:38,020 --> 00:06:40,300 Why do we do this? 154 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:41,960 Which made me think about churches. 155 00:06:42,060 --> 00:06:43,360 And I'm going to go very fast here, 156 00:06:43,460 --> 00:06:44,840 because this stuff fascinates me. 157 00:06:44,940 --> 00:06:46,060 It'll bore you to tears. 158 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:47,460 That's OK. 159 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,000 It's not going to hurt you. 160 00:06:49,100 --> 00:06:51,180 I was thinking about churches that impress me. 161 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:54,580 The oldest existent Christian church 162 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,320 that I've ever been in, probably, I think, 163 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,940 probably is the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. 164 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:01,620 Some of you maybe have been there. 165 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:03,480 You may know that that entry that you 166 00:07:03,580 --> 00:07:06,880 can see inside the black square, that that is the main door. 167 00:07:06,980 --> 00:07:12,160 The reason it's the main door is because when Islam came across 168 00:07:12,260 --> 00:07:14,320 and took over the Middle East, they 169 00:07:14,420 --> 00:07:16,340 turned the Church of the Holy Nativity, which 170 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,240 was 500 years more than that. 171 00:07:18,340 --> 00:07:19,700 It was older than that. 172 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,340 At that time, they turned it into a barn. 173 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,040 They put their horses in the Church of the Holy Nativity. 174 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,440 Well, when Christians reasserted and got the Church back, 175 00:07:30,540 --> 00:07:31,480 they shrunk the door. 176 00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:34,140 No horse is ever going to get in there again. 177 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,960 That's why my wife is 5 foot 1, wishing she was 5 foot 2. 178 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:42,080 She has to bend over to get in there. 179 00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:44,320 No horse is ever getting in that church again. 180 00:07:44,420 --> 00:07:46,000 That's why the door is what it is. 181 00:07:46,100 --> 00:07:48,220 Now, you get inside, and you've got this massive, what 182 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:50,900 you would expect, ornate, heavy. 183 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,160 It's fascinating. 184 00:07:52,260 --> 00:07:54,460 And the floor in the middle of the main sanctuary area, 185 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:55,900 you can see there's a hole there. 186 00:07:55,900 --> 00:07:57,200 If you go there, you can look down, 187 00:07:57,300 --> 00:07:59,700 and you can actually see the original flooring 188 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,280 from the days of Constantine down in the floor, 189 00:08:03,380 --> 00:08:05,540 the mosaic work, which is pretty cool. 190 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:07,720 Most Christians don't go there for this reason, 191 00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:10,520 but it is worth it, because if you go down in the basement, 192 00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:13,980 there's a room down there called the Cave of Jerome. 193 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,660 And that's where St. Jerome spent 30 years translating 194 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,260 from the Greek Old Testament, Septuagint, 195 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:24,060 and the Greek New Testament into Latin, the Latin Vulgate. 196 00:08:24,060 --> 00:08:26,460 He did the work in that room. 197 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:27,560 Took him 30 years. 198 00:08:27,660 --> 00:08:28,840 OK, that's underneath. 199 00:08:28,940 --> 00:08:31,500 The reason why most Christians want to go, this is the place. 200 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,140 You know, X marks the spot. 201 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,640 That's where Jesus was born. 202 00:08:36,740 --> 00:08:38,540 Don't hold your breath. 203 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:39,740 But it's worth seeing. 204 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:40,820 You know, it's worth seeing. 205 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:41,780 It's OK. 206 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,480 All right, now, the next, I was thinking, OK, 207 00:08:44,580 --> 00:08:47,260 that's probably the oldest Christian church I've been in. 208 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,860 What's the next oldest Christian church I've been in? 209 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,420 Probably Galerius Oratory. 210 00:08:52,420 --> 00:08:54,720 It's on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. 211 00:08:54,820 --> 00:08:57,800 It represents the first incursion of Christianity 212 00:08:57,900 --> 00:09:01,840 into Ireland, this ancient Irish church 213 00:09:01,940 --> 00:09:03,500 out there overlooking the bay. 214 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:04,600 It's kind of cool. 215 00:09:04,700 --> 00:09:05,640 It's kind of fun. 216 00:09:05,740 --> 00:09:08,300 And obviously, I just love the concept 217 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:09,980 of church and church architecture 218 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:11,080 and this kind of stuff. 219 00:09:11,180 --> 00:09:15,820 It amazes me what Christians have done with churches. 220 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,960 Some creative, some amazing, some stunning, 221 00:09:19,060 --> 00:09:21,880 some are boring to tears, I'm sorry. 222 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,520 Just, but anyway, the idea of churches. 223 00:09:24,620 --> 00:09:28,160 What does a church do to evoke in you? 224 00:09:28,260 --> 00:09:30,200 You've got the old church. 225 00:09:30,300 --> 00:09:31,700 This just feels like church, you know? 226 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:33,100 It just feels like church to me. 227 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,440 It triggers, or this. 228 00:09:35,540 --> 00:09:39,200 That's kind of magical for an ancient church, in my opinion. 229 00:09:39,300 --> 00:09:40,240 You don't have to agree. 230 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,920 Very simple, simple little faithful people 231 00:09:47,020 --> 00:09:48,980 who would get together in this little building. 232 00:09:48,980 --> 00:09:52,120 That represents something. 233 00:09:52,220 --> 00:09:54,580 I was driving up the Romance Highway in Germany one time, 234 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:57,120 and I looked over, and there was this Lutheran church just 235 00:09:57,220 --> 00:09:58,220 off the road. 236 00:09:58,320 --> 00:09:59,020 And I thought, that's pretty classy. 237 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,220 That's interesting. 238 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:02,120 So I decided I was going to see if the place was open. 239 00:10:02,220 --> 00:10:03,120 And it was. 240 00:10:03,220 --> 00:10:04,900 And I went in, and it was unlocked. 241 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:05,960 I don't know why. 242 00:10:06,060 --> 00:10:07,060 And I went in. 243 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:08,360 It was majestic inside that building. 244 00:10:08,460 --> 00:10:09,200 I loved it. 245 00:10:09,300 --> 00:10:11,260 It was very modern. 246 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:12,740 Sandy and I, just a few weeks ago, 247 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:14,940 somebody asked about Sandy and I going on a trip. 248 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,240 We went out to Utah for close to a month. 249 00:10:17,340 --> 00:10:18,440 We had a wonderful time. 250 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:23,280 And when we were coming back across in Salina, Kansas, 251 00:10:23,380 --> 00:10:26,880 this little church was right outside the road. 252 00:10:26,980 --> 00:10:28,920 I just was drawn to that. 253 00:10:29,020 --> 00:10:31,420 I so much wanted it to be open. 254 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:33,220 It wasn't. 255 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,200 But it warmed me to see that. 256 00:10:37,300 --> 00:10:40,360 This is one of the most amazing churches I've been in. 257 00:10:40,460 --> 00:10:42,400 It's the Newman Center at Berkeley, 258 00:10:42,500 --> 00:10:44,100 on the campus of Berkeley. 259 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,040 It's the Catholic Worship Center on Berkeley Campus 260 00:10:47,140 --> 00:10:48,140 that they own, and this guy. 261 00:10:48,140 --> 00:10:53,140 If you look at this, the pulpit furniture is all boulders. 262 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:54,580 The pulpit is a hewn boulder. 263 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,980 The altar is just one single stone. 264 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,320 And the architecture is just, you may not be drawn to that. 265 00:11:01,420 --> 00:11:05,780 That amazes me, the Newman Center. 266 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,020 Up in Merrillville, our own church here, 267 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,320 some of you have been there in the Georgia Carverland 268 00:11:11,420 --> 00:11:12,500 Conference. 269 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,360 I did a wedding here a few weeks, a couple months ago. 270 00:11:15,460 --> 00:11:17,760 And I also have spoken at that church a few times. 271 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,460 It's a very colorful, famous little church, 272 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:22,040 actually, in the region. 273 00:11:22,140 --> 00:11:24,800 The architecture is pretty amazing, the Merrillville 274 00:11:24,900 --> 00:11:27,380 Church, our sister church up there in Merrillville. 275 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,820 This is one of the most gaudy, expensive churches 276 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:31,940 I've ever spoken in. 277 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,520 I spoke there, I think, four times. 278 00:11:34,620 --> 00:11:36,360 $32 million building. 279 00:11:36,460 --> 00:11:37,620 Whoa. 280 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,480 It is kind of breathtaking. 281 00:11:40,580 --> 00:11:41,900 This is one that means a lot to me. 282 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:43,560 This is one of those one-day churches 283 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:47,800 by Maranatha in honor of my dad. 284 00:11:47,900 --> 00:11:51,940 This was, mom gave the money so they could build this church. 285 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:54,340 It's in memory of my dad in Kenya. 286 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,840 That church means something to me. 287 00:11:57,940 --> 00:11:59,980 Sandy and I used to randomly, when we were in the Bay Area, 288 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,840 we'd, on Sabbath afternoon, go over to San Francisco 289 00:12:03,940 --> 00:12:08,020 to St. Mary's Assumption Church, because it's just majestic. 290 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,480 And they play this beautiful music all the time. 291 00:12:10,580 --> 00:12:11,560 You just wander in there. 292 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,360 You just sit for hours. 293 00:12:14,460 --> 00:12:16,900 It's just, it is astounding. 294 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,900 This is the church I had my longest tenure as a pastor. 295 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,900 Sandy and I were in this church for 10 years. 296 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,900 We were in this church for five years. 297 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,640 The architecture, obviously, completely different. 298 00:12:32,740 --> 00:12:34,840 Just down the street from that last one 299 00:12:34,940 --> 00:12:39,320 was the Bullfinch Church, which is one of the two remaining 300 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,460 churches in New England designed by America's first true 301 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:47,460 architect, Charles Bullfinch. 302 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:51,360 And we used to do Christmas Eve services at 11 o'clock 303 00:12:51,460 --> 00:12:54,260 at night every Christmas Eve in the Bullfinch Church. 304 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,240 There'd be snow on the ground most of the time. 305 00:12:56,340 --> 00:12:58,340 Not always, but there'd be snow on the ground, 306 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,400 and the chimes would ring at 11 o'clock, 307 00:13:00,500 --> 00:13:02,400 and people from the community would come out. 308 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:07,940 And I got to help lead out in a Christmas Eve midnight service 309 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:09,040 for the community. 310 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,520 Some of our church members would go and be part of the choir. 311 00:13:11,620 --> 00:13:15,220 It was so much fun, the Bullfinch Church. 312 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,860 Some of you have been to Sedona. 313 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,620 This chapel in Sedona. 314 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,620 Don't ever go to Sedona without stepping into that. 315 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:24,860 You can't miss it. 316 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,260 It sticks out like a sore thumb on the main road leading 317 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:29,800 into Sedona, but whatever you do, 318 00:13:29,900 --> 00:13:34,400 don't go to Sedona without going into this little chapel, 319 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:35,300 this prayer chapel. 320 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:36,340 It's majestic. 321 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:37,540 Now, this is a church. 322 00:13:37,540 --> 00:13:42,240 I've never spoken there, and I'm glad I never did. 323 00:13:42,340 --> 00:13:45,120 It's the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sedona. 324 00:13:45,220 --> 00:13:47,120 And the reason why I'm glad I never spoke there 325 00:13:47,220 --> 00:13:48,580 is who in the world would ever listen 326 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:51,120 to anything you'd have to say when they could sit there 327 00:13:51,220 --> 00:13:54,900 and look out those massive glass windows at the red rocks 328 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:55,700 like that? 329 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,000 Why would they listen to a sermon? 330 00:13:58,100 --> 00:13:59,100 Are you kidding me? 331 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:00,300 It is stunning. 332 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,360 I've never spoken there. 333 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,600 Again, you can see my tastes in architecture 334 00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:10,880 are very eclectic when it comes to what churches are. 335 00:14:10,980 --> 00:14:12,240 This is a church I've never seen. 336 00:14:12,340 --> 00:14:13,180 I would love to. 337 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,140 Maybe some of you have in Helsinki. 338 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,180 It's the Church of the Rock. 339 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,420 That's the outside. 340 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,860 This is the inside. 341 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:26,360 Amazing. 342 00:14:26,460 --> 00:14:30,400 Hewn out of this cliff wall, and it just, 343 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,740 I think that is just majestic. 344 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:35,300 Why do Christians build stuff like that? 345 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,160 Why do we do this? 346 00:14:37,260 --> 00:14:39,600 Why do we expend the energy for stained glass 347 00:14:39,700 --> 00:14:43,580 like this in Brazil? 348 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:44,480 Why do we do this? 349 00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:48,240 Some of you have been there. 350 00:14:48,340 --> 00:14:50,820 I've only driven by it several times. 351 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:55,060 Adventism's first church in Washington, New Hampshire. 352 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:56,380 You can still go there. 353 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,020 There are services there right now. 354 00:14:59,020 --> 00:15:02,600 There's a small congregation in Washington, New Hampshire, 355 00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:06,500 and it's very historic in our legacy. 356 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:07,960 Why do we do this? 357 00:15:08,060 --> 00:15:11,540 And it isn't just why do we build buildings 358 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:16,840 and stick them on street corners and pay for the upkeep. 359 00:15:16,940 --> 00:15:20,140 Why do we do this church thing? 360 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,240 Why do we envision architecture? 361 00:15:24,340 --> 00:15:28,520 Why do we put time and money into this? 362 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,160 So I'd like to direct your thinking, just suggest to you, 363 00:15:31,260 --> 00:15:37,060 what to me are possibly top 10 reasons why we do this. 364 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,900 Number 10 to me is number 10. 365 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,440 To some of you, it may be number one. 366 00:15:42,540 --> 00:15:45,040 We're told to do this, and that's enough. 367 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:49,600 Caleb read the scripture this morning. 368 00:15:49,700 --> 00:15:54,180 We are admonished to do this, to get together, to assemble, 369 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:58,180 to be together, to collect. 370 00:15:58,180 --> 00:15:59,380 We're admonished to do this. 371 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,260 And if that was the only reason and there 372 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,560 was no other excuse, that would be enough. 373 00:16:04,660 --> 00:16:05,220 I agree. 374 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,520 It would be enough. 375 00:16:07,620 --> 00:16:09,200 I'm not sure about nine to three. 376 00:16:09,300 --> 00:16:10,860 They could, I don't know what comes nine. 377 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,940 I don't know what comes seven, whatever. 378 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:14,840 Two and one to me are either two and one. 379 00:16:14,940 --> 00:16:16,060 I don't know which one's one, and I 380 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:17,340 don't know which one's two. 381 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:19,800 But they're very, OK, that's my pattern. 382 00:16:19,900 --> 00:16:20,800 You don't have to agree. 383 00:16:20,900 --> 00:16:22,180 Here we go. 384 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,780 A lot of the art you're going to see is by Elizabeth Wang. 385 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,140 She died in 2016. 386 00:16:26,140 --> 00:16:33,560 She had some very unusual concepts of church. 387 00:16:33,660 --> 00:16:38,260 And she artistically was able to put them out there. 388 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,920 She was from Britain. 389 00:16:41,020 --> 00:16:45,060 Number one, number 10, we are commanded to, as was read. 390 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,240 And by the way, if you can read the words, I hope you can. 391 00:16:48,340 --> 00:16:51,000 This is something that since I left you folks, 392 00:16:51,100 --> 00:16:52,880 has become absolutely my tradition. 393 00:16:52,980 --> 00:16:55,240 I don't do classes without this. 394 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:56,840 I don't do sermons without this. 395 00:16:56,940 --> 00:17:00,320 I've come to the place now where I take a passage 396 00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:02,880 and I glue it together from as many different versions 397 00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:04,780 as I can find. 398 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,380 I may use 13 different versions for one verse, 399 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:09,920 because each of them added a little. 400 00:17:10,020 --> 00:17:10,920 It doesn't extend. 401 00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:13,420 I don't extend it out 13 verses long. 402 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,260 I compress it, but I grab that word, 403 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:18,200 and I grab that phrase, and I glue them together. 404 00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:20,300 They're all from viable translations. 405 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,340 So it won't read necessarily the way that Caleb read it, 406 00:17:24,340 --> 00:17:29,380 but I believe you'll find it sings uniquely. 407 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:35,940 Not abandoning our common assembly as some, 408 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:41,080 I'm a little far away, some habitually do, 409 00:17:41,180 --> 00:17:45,960 but giving mutual encouragement. 410 00:17:46,060 --> 00:17:47,220 That's what we're called to do. 411 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:48,860 We're called not to abandon this. 412 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,300 We are called to, Jesus says, you do this. 413 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:53,000 You collect. 414 00:17:53,100 --> 00:17:54,000 You gather. 415 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:54,700 You be my people. 416 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:56,500 You be the family. 417 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,560 You get together. 418 00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:00,500 That is his heart. 419 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,900 This is one of Elizabeth Wang's, and you'll begin to see her 420 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,580 style and you'll recognize her. 421 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,940 Jesus wants, he wants his people together. 422 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:09,940 He said that. 423 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,040 He commanded that. 424 00:18:12,140 --> 00:18:14,420 He saw the value in it. 425 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:15,980 We're commanded to do this. 426 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,560 Ellen White uses that famous phrase, press together. 427 00:18:19,660 --> 00:18:20,260 Press together. 428 00:18:20,260 --> 00:18:21,160 Press together. 429 00:18:23,900 --> 00:18:26,400 Quit your fracturing. 430 00:18:26,500 --> 00:18:28,540 Quit your positioning. 431 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,500 Do whatever it takes, unless you're 432 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:31,940 absolutely crossing a moral line. 433 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:33,000 Do whatever it takes. 434 00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:34,400 Submit to one another. 435 00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:36,780 Press together. 436 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,640 Refuse to allow somebody. 437 00:18:39,740 --> 00:18:42,280 That's why the church at Antioch in the New Testament, 438 00:18:42,380 --> 00:18:44,920 the Book of Acts, is so exalted. 439 00:18:45,020 --> 00:18:47,080 Look at the Church of Antioch, where they were first 440 00:18:47,180 --> 00:18:49,860 called Christians, and it makes perfect sense 441 00:18:49,860 --> 00:18:51,660 that that would be the place where they were first 442 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:53,600 called Christians, little Christs, 443 00:18:53,700 --> 00:18:55,100 because they knew how to do it. 444 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,460 And one of the things that you see in the Book of Acts 445 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:01,600 about Antioch is they refused to fight. 446 00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:04,100 They would not quibble with each other. 447 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,540 When they came up against something they couldn't solve, 448 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,300 they went and reached out to the apostles. 449 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,040 They said, help us out, because we are not 450 00:19:10,140 --> 00:19:11,380 going to split over this thing. 451 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:12,880 We will not split. 452 00:19:12,980 --> 00:19:15,340 So you need to help us. 453 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:16,740 Press together. 454 00:19:16,740 --> 00:19:19,780 Number nine, an outlet for gifts. 455 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,820 One of the reasons for this is an outlet for gifts. 456 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,860 And a lot of you, your first thought, my first thought 457 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,000 is, well, offering plate. 458 00:19:29,100 --> 00:19:30,420 That's true. 459 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,160 That's not all of it by any means. 460 00:19:34,260 --> 00:19:38,040 You are, I know, from 1 Corinthians 14, 461 00:19:38,140 --> 00:19:41,480 eager for the gifts of the Spirit, 462 00:19:41,580 --> 00:19:45,540 ambitious for spiritual endowments, 463 00:19:45,540 --> 00:19:49,280 strive that your abundant possession of them 464 00:19:49,380 --> 00:19:52,680 may build up a church, may strengthen 465 00:19:52,780 --> 00:19:56,460 the faith of the church. 466 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,760 Jesus, Matthew 24, 25, tells the parable of the man 467 00:20:00,860 --> 00:20:01,960 he hands out talents. 468 00:20:02,060 --> 00:20:04,360 And two guys do real well with him. 469 00:20:04,460 --> 00:20:06,960 One guy didn't. 470 00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:08,540 It didn't play out real well for the guy 471 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,160 who buried it in the earth. 472 00:20:10,260 --> 00:20:13,740 The guy who didn't utilize the talents. 473 00:20:13,740 --> 00:20:18,340 The master was just exultant over the guys who 474 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,780 did something with the gifts. 475 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,140 The guy who didn't. 476 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:23,920 It didn't play out real well. 477 00:20:24,020 --> 00:20:27,960 When the accounting time came, bad news for the guy who 478 00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:29,560 did not use his giftings. 479 00:20:33,260 --> 00:20:34,700 He's sent away into outer darkness. 480 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,140 If you can lead kids in singing, and you 481 00:20:43,140 --> 00:20:49,500 are a car salesman, when do you ever get to use that gift? 482 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,640 If you work for an insurance company, 483 00:20:52,740 --> 00:20:57,980 and you're a great storyteller, and God gave you that gift, 484 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,520 when is your occupation ever going to allow you to do that? 485 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,960 We are given gifts, and we are expected 486 00:21:06,060 --> 00:21:07,820 to do something with them and use them. 487 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:09,700 And you may never have thought of that before. 488 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,100 One of the best reasons for church existence 489 00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:14,260 is it allows you an outlet for gifts 490 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:16,560 that you may not have in other areas of life, 491 00:21:16,660 --> 00:21:18,440 and you're supposed to do something with them. 492 00:21:20,740 --> 00:21:22,940 Let's keep moving. 493 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:24,980 Church allows you to use your gifts. 494 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,640 This is to be a refuge. 495 00:21:27,740 --> 00:21:29,280 Some of you may remember a phrase 496 00:21:29,380 --> 00:21:32,620 that it wasn't original with me, but just one of the best 497 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,280 phrases I've heard in the last 700 years. 498 00:21:36,380 --> 00:21:40,820 Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, 499 00:21:40,820 --> 00:21:42,020 there you have people. 500 00:21:47,060 --> 00:21:49,260 We should never forget that. 501 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:55,100 We should expect that things, we will be tempted to, 502 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:56,240 because we're people. 503 00:21:56,340 --> 00:21:58,640 We are what we are. 504 00:21:58,740 --> 00:22:02,180 But this place is supposed to be a place where we work hard 505 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,180 to not have that become a problem. 506 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,920 It's a place where everyone should be able to run 507 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:14,480 and know I'm going to be embraced there. 508 00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:16,220 I'm going to be OK there. 509 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:17,760 They're going to love me hard sometimes, 510 00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:20,120 but they're going to love me. 511 00:22:20,220 --> 00:22:24,900 The church is to be the refuge from what's out there. 512 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,160 You and I get enough of what's out there, out there. 513 00:22:28,260 --> 00:22:29,600 We don't need any of it here. 514 00:22:32,940 --> 00:22:35,480 None of us. 515 00:22:35,580 --> 00:22:37,580 Psalm 27. 516 00:22:37,580 --> 00:22:41,680 One favor I've asked of the Lord, something which I earnestly 517 00:22:41,780 --> 00:22:45,780 desire, to view the delightfulness of Yahweh 518 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,260 and to contemplate in his temple my whole life long, 519 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:55,360 constant in the Lord's goodness, and to consult him in his temple. 520 00:22:55,460 --> 00:22:58,260 For in the time of my misfortune, 521 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:00,500 he will keep me safe in his tent. 522 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,340 He will hide me in the haven of refuge 523 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,300 and establish me upon a firm foundation. 524 00:23:07,300 --> 00:23:11,980 One thing I need from God is I need to know where I can go 525 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,220 when nothing else is going to give me the answer. 526 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,420 I need the refuge. 527 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:22,520 The church is to be that refuge. 528 00:23:22,620 --> 00:23:25,260 Number seven, we need family time. 529 00:23:28,260 --> 00:23:30,360 We need family time. 530 00:23:30,460 --> 00:23:34,540 Jesus was non-negotiable when he looked at him and said, 531 00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:38,340 y'all are family. 532 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,140 Think about that. 533 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,440 Standing in front of him is Simon the Zealot, 534 00:23:44,540 --> 00:23:47,440 an anti-Roman revolutionary. 535 00:23:47,540 --> 00:23:51,580 He is part of what is called the sicarii, the dagger men, 536 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,580 the guys who carried little knives in their belt 537 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,360 so that they could maybe sneak up behind a Roman soldier 538 00:23:57,460 --> 00:24:00,100 when nobody's looking and stab him in the ribs. 539 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,560 The sicarii, the dagger men. 540 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:07,800 They were the terrorists, subversives 541 00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:11,340 against the policies of Rome, aggressive. 542 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,840 Simon the Zealot. 543 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:20,740 Standing next to him is a buzzard named Matthew 544 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,680 who sold out to raise taxes for Rome. 545 00:24:28,020 --> 00:24:29,660 And Jesus put him in the same room. 546 00:24:29,660 --> 00:24:30,860 Doesn't Jesus know what he's doing? 547 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:35,440 Family. 548 00:24:39,780 --> 00:24:43,080 What you may not know is early church history, look it up, 549 00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:48,280 says that Matthew took off to North Africa 550 00:24:48,380 --> 00:24:50,780 when it was all said and done for the name of Jesus 551 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,020 to be spread and he got himself killed down there. 552 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,800 About two years later, he was killed. 553 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:05,840 Two years later, Simon followed him to go finish the work 554 00:25:05,940 --> 00:25:08,640 and Simon got killed there too. 555 00:25:08,740 --> 00:25:13,040 They both died in North Africa with the anti-Roman 556 00:25:13,140 --> 00:25:16,280 revolutionary following his brother, 557 00:25:16,380 --> 00:25:19,880 the guy who'd sold out to Rome. 558 00:25:19,980 --> 00:25:22,780 This is supposed to be family. 559 00:25:22,780 --> 00:25:29,400 This is the family that overrides all the labels otherwise. 560 00:25:29,500 --> 00:25:32,100 We don't have any choice in this. 561 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,040 All who received him became the children of God. 562 00:25:35,140 --> 00:25:38,460 You are no longer aliens but members of the household of God. 563 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,400 We are the children of God, Romans 8, 564 00:25:41,500 --> 00:25:45,880 for the Spirit himself endorses our inward conviction 565 00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:49,680 that we are the children of God and if we are his children, 566 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:55,280 we must share treasures and all that Christ claims as his 567 00:25:55,380 --> 00:26:00,360 will belong to all of us as well but to share his glory, 568 00:26:00,460 --> 00:26:03,300 we must now be sharing his sufferings 569 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:08,360 for I recognize the sufferings of the now that we now endure 570 00:26:08,460 --> 00:26:14,300 bear no comparison with the splendor as yet to be unrevealed 571 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,600 which is to burst upon us for the whole creation 572 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:25,920 on tiptoe, looks eagerly, is expectantly looking for the time 573 00:26:26,020 --> 00:26:29,120 when the glory of the sons of God shall be revealed, 574 00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:33,180 the disclosing of his sonship. 575 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:38,160 Heaven is waiting for us to live the family. 576 00:26:38,260 --> 00:26:40,100 That's what that passage says. 577 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,060 It's waiting for us to embrace that and say, 578 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,200 that's it, we're living it. 579 00:26:46,300 --> 00:26:47,540 I don't like you, I don't like your car, 580 00:26:47,540 --> 00:26:51,500 I don't like how you make food for potluck 581 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,180 but I'm going to love you to pieces just saying. 582 00:26:58,620 --> 00:26:59,720 We need family time. 583 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:05,280 This is a place to recharge. 584 00:27:09,460 --> 00:27:10,920 I don't know how your week went. 585 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:18,340 Mine ended up not as good as I would have wished. 586 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,740 We come here and we get energized. 587 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,500 We tap back in to the core of what 588 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,740 should be important to all of us, what should be central 589 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,980 and vital to each of us. 590 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,980 First Thessalonians, exhort one another, 591 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,180 encourage one another, console one another, 592 00:27:38,180 --> 00:27:41,320 and try to build up one another's characters 593 00:27:41,420 --> 00:27:44,600 as indeed I know you're already doing. 594 00:27:44,700 --> 00:27:46,920 I know you're into that, Paul says. 595 00:27:47,020 --> 00:27:48,400 I know you're into it. 596 00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:49,600 Keep doing it. 597 00:27:49,700 --> 00:27:53,060 Get better at it. 598 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,200 Keep building up each other's characters. 599 00:27:56,300 --> 00:28:01,040 Keep being the link for each other reaching to God. 600 00:28:01,140 --> 00:28:05,380 Elizabeth Wang again, a corporate recharging. 601 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,640 Yeah, you get it when you open your Bible 602 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,520 at your kitchen table at home. 603 00:28:09,620 --> 00:28:10,320 Yes, you get it. 604 00:28:10,420 --> 00:28:11,360 Don't know. 605 00:28:11,460 --> 00:28:14,360 But there is something that pleases God 606 00:28:14,460 --> 00:28:16,260 when his children get together and say, 607 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:17,960 we're going to do this thing together. 608 00:28:18,060 --> 00:28:19,000 He likes that. 609 00:28:24,060 --> 00:28:27,300 When we all come back to the recharging place 610 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:33,180 for our corporate recharging, we get reoriented. 611 00:28:33,180 --> 00:28:38,440 Personally, I am confident about you, Romans 15. 612 00:28:38,540 --> 00:28:43,820 My brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, 613 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:48,020 richly supplied with every kind of knowledge 614 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,360 and are well qualified to instruct one another, 615 00:28:52,460 --> 00:28:56,060 competent to counsel one another. 616 00:28:59,700 --> 00:29:02,040 We draw each other here. 617 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:03,240 We corporately recharge. 618 00:29:03,340 --> 00:29:05,400 And there are some Sabbaths, you come in here, 619 00:29:05,500 --> 00:29:07,980 and you're a little stronger than the person sitting 620 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:09,840 two pews away from you. 621 00:29:09,940 --> 00:29:12,440 They need you to be stronger, that Sabbath. 622 00:29:12,540 --> 00:29:14,620 The Sabbath will come down the line when you need them to be 623 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,060 stronger. 624 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,780 But we do this together because Jesus said so. 625 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,660 We get reoriented together toward him. 626 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,620 Number four, critical mass has some value. 627 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:28,900 There's some value in. 628 00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:34,000 Somebody asked me when we were out preparing to come in, 629 00:29:34,100 --> 00:29:35,940 they said, does anybody understand 630 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:41,100 why Southern is exploding, which isn't necessarily 631 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,140 the norm for everybody? 632 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,940 And there are lots of speculative reasons. 633 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,380 But one reason, I think, it's one is just right now, 634 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:53,160 it's kind of the thing to do. 635 00:29:53,260 --> 00:29:55,520 I have in my class, it's going to start Monday, 636 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,960 I think I have either 10 or 11 students from California. 637 00:29:59,060 --> 00:30:01,800 What? 638 00:30:01,900 --> 00:30:05,500 It isn't like California doesn't have a few schools closer. 639 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:06,000 What? 640 00:30:09,140 --> 00:30:10,540 Critical mass. 641 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,600 There's this inertia, some excitement, some building 642 00:30:15,700 --> 00:30:20,620 momentum that maybe one student is coming from Maryland 643 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,180 because two of his friends is coming from Maryland. 644 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:24,580 Other than that, he couldn't care less. 645 00:30:24,580 --> 00:30:26,080 But he's coming because they're coming. 646 00:30:26,180 --> 00:30:30,920 Critical mass, the draw seems to be picking up some inertia. 647 00:30:31,020 --> 00:30:33,420 I don't know how much that plays into it. 648 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,400 I think it has something to do with it. 649 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:37,700 Critical mass has value. 650 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:43,400 Being together gives us a strength. 651 00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:45,680 Encourage one another day after day. 652 00:30:45,780 --> 00:30:47,780 Give the same daily warning. 653 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,100 Help one another stand firm. 654 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:51,540 Admonish one another. 655 00:30:51,540 --> 00:30:55,380 And thereby, strengthen your own resolution 656 00:30:55,480 --> 00:31:02,180 so that while there is a today, as long as today lasts, 657 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,120 while there is yet time. 658 00:31:05,220 --> 00:31:10,900 Today's the day for us to press together, strengthen together. 659 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,460 While there is yet time, make sure 660 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:17,140 that none of you grows hardened or stubborn 661 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,040 through the pleasantries and wiles. 662 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:25,640 The fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery 663 00:31:25,740 --> 00:31:30,480 which the divisive glamour of sin may play on any of you. 664 00:31:35,180 --> 00:31:35,760 Critical mass. 665 00:31:38,460 --> 00:31:41,200 Jesus started the fire. 666 00:31:41,300 --> 00:31:43,660 Upper room flame. 667 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,240 He started the fire for this church. 668 00:31:46,340 --> 00:31:49,100 And you all know enough about fires, campfires, et cetera, 669 00:31:49,100 --> 00:31:51,300 that for a fire to be really viable, 670 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:52,400 it needs to kind of stick. 671 00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:55,200 You start pulling embers out and pulling pieces out, 672 00:31:55,300 --> 00:31:57,640 it's going to start losing its energy. 673 00:31:57,740 --> 00:32:01,140 That when you take one stick and stick it off by itself 674 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:06,460 like it's some maverick, it doesn't have much of a chance. 675 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,820 Critical mass gets it done. 676 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:11,960 We need critical mass at the time of funerals. 677 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,160 You know, I was on the radio for, well, still am, 678 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:22,600 but intentionally alive for 17 years. 679 00:32:22,700 --> 00:32:24,940 And one of the things that I used to randomly say 680 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,580 was, I really, we do need you to support this ministry. 681 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,280 But we need you to be committed to a local church 682 00:32:34,380 --> 00:32:37,080 before you do that. 683 00:32:37,180 --> 00:32:39,420 Because you need it. 684 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:40,720 Because when you get sick, I'm not 685 00:32:40,820 --> 00:32:44,420 going to be visiting you in the hospital. 686 00:32:44,420 --> 00:32:48,360 When you die, I will not be having your funeral. 687 00:32:48,460 --> 00:32:54,660 You make investments in that kind of community ongoingly. 688 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,240 I'm going back up to Knoxville this Thursday evening 689 00:32:57,340 --> 00:32:59,540 for a funeral. 690 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:04,740 It was a call I got on Tuesday I did not want to hear. 691 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,080 Out of the blue, the pastor called me, 692 00:33:07,180 --> 00:33:09,020 and one of my young men that I ordained 693 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,220 as an elder in his early 30s. 694 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:13,220 Wonderful guy. 695 00:33:13,220 --> 00:33:14,820 Sweet Christian. 696 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,660 He was the neatest guy. 697 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,160 Beautiful wife, sweetheart, just, and two little girls. 698 00:33:21,260 --> 00:33:23,560 They must be about eight and six now. 699 00:33:23,660 --> 00:33:26,040 Just the sweetest family. 700 00:33:26,140 --> 00:33:27,660 He died unexpectedly on Tuesday. 701 00:33:30,900 --> 00:33:31,980 Nobody saw it coming. 702 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:33,000 Nothing scandalous. 703 00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:34,840 Nothing, you know, just something 704 00:33:34,940 --> 00:33:37,240 happened with a blowout in his brain, 705 00:33:37,340 --> 00:33:40,140 and nobody saw this thing coming. 706 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:41,640 And now we've got this young widow 707 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,680 with her two little ones. 708 00:33:43,780 --> 00:33:45,820 And that church is going to have to be 709 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,260 what that church needs to be for them moving forward. 710 00:33:57,100 --> 00:34:01,640 Critical mass is valuable for keeping us strong. 711 00:34:01,740 --> 00:34:03,640 It's called ecclesia, which in Greek 712 00:34:03,740 --> 00:34:07,400 means the assembly, the gathering. 713 00:34:07,500 --> 00:34:11,340 Church is ecclesiastical. 714 00:34:11,340 --> 00:34:14,180 It is the gathering, the assembly. 715 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:15,520 This is valuable to God. 716 00:34:15,620 --> 00:34:17,220 It's valuable to us. 717 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,920 It's valuable to God because he knows it's valuable to us. 718 00:34:20,020 --> 00:34:24,160 It means more to us than it means to him, I think. 719 00:34:24,260 --> 00:34:26,520 And that's why it's so important to him. 720 00:34:26,620 --> 00:34:28,900 Ecclesia, critical mass. 721 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,260 Number three, this is what got modeled to us. 722 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:33,260 You want to be a Christian? 723 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,540 This is what you do. 724 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:36,600 Early Christians did it. 725 00:34:36,700 --> 00:34:38,400 They gathered. 726 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,480 So those who had taken his words to heart, 727 00:34:41,580 --> 00:34:43,680 who welcomed his message, were baptized. 728 00:34:43,780 --> 00:34:46,240 And on that day alone, about 3,000 souls 729 00:34:46,340 --> 00:34:48,320 were added to the number of the disciples. 730 00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:52,080 And they went on to give constant attention to 731 00:34:52,180 --> 00:34:55,820 and regularly occupy themselves with the instructions given 732 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:57,860 by the apostles and to the fellowship 733 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,800 and with the society of the common life, 734 00:35:00,900 --> 00:35:03,120 breaking bread and praying together, 735 00:35:03,220 --> 00:35:07,060 content in attendance to hear the apostles teach. 736 00:35:07,060 --> 00:35:11,200 They devoted themselves to the fellowship. 737 00:35:11,300 --> 00:35:13,580 That's what early Christianity showed us. 738 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,680 You do when you become a Christian. 739 00:35:17,780 --> 00:35:20,240 They gather. 740 00:35:20,340 --> 00:35:21,320 Jesus did it. 741 00:35:21,420 --> 00:35:23,820 He came to Nazareth as his custom was. 742 00:35:28,260 --> 00:35:30,160 He knew where to go. 743 00:35:30,260 --> 00:35:33,400 He modeled that for us. 744 00:35:33,500 --> 00:35:36,360 As our custom is, do you come to church 745 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:37,300 just because it's habit? 746 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:43,140 Well, that's a good start. 747 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:44,840 Don't break the habit. 748 00:35:44,940 --> 00:35:46,700 Let the rest of it get it done for you. 749 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:48,880 But don't break the habit just because you say, 750 00:35:48,980 --> 00:35:51,680 I don't have all the rest of this together. 751 00:35:51,780 --> 00:35:52,380 Keep your habit. 752 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:53,120 Let it grow. 753 00:35:53,220 --> 00:35:55,320 Let it mature. 754 00:35:55,420 --> 00:35:56,880 Again, I told you number two and number one. 755 00:35:56,980 --> 00:35:57,860 We're just about done. 756 00:35:57,960 --> 00:35:59,080 Number two and number one. 757 00:35:59,180 --> 00:36:00,320 I don't know which one's number two, 758 00:36:00,420 --> 00:36:02,720 and I don't know which one's number one. 759 00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:07,500 Jesus waits for us here. 760 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:09,600 If there's no other reason to get together, 761 00:36:09,700 --> 00:36:13,640 Revelation 1 says, I turned to see the voice 762 00:36:13,740 --> 00:36:15,300 that was speaking behind me. 763 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,180 And when I turned, I saw seven lamps of God. 764 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,580 And in the midst of the lamps, one resembling the Son of Man. 765 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,980 He wore a long robe that reached to his feet, 766 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:27,220 and he had a golden band around his chest. 767 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,160 The mystic meaning of this, the open secret 768 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,660 of the seven stars, which you saw in that right hand, 769 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,000 and in the seven golden lampstands, what is it? 770 00:36:39,100 --> 00:36:40,760 The seven stars are the messengers 771 00:36:40,860 --> 00:36:44,260 of the seven assemblies, and the seven lights 772 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,240 are the seven churches. 773 00:36:46,340 --> 00:36:47,200 Look at Revelation 1. 774 00:36:47,300 --> 00:36:48,400 Where is Jesus? 775 00:36:48,500 --> 00:36:49,600 He's in the middle of the church. 776 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,840 He's not off to the side with the church hanging on by itself. 777 00:36:56,940 --> 00:36:58,820 He's not taking little lampstands 778 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:00,680 and setting them out there by themselves saying, 779 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:02,720 hang on, do your thing. 780 00:37:02,820 --> 00:37:04,760 Jesus says, I'm going to be in the middle 781 00:37:04,860 --> 00:37:06,420 of where the church is. 782 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:10,400 That's his imagery that he gave you of what to expect. 783 00:37:10,500 --> 00:37:13,720 So you see the artists who portrayed Jesus 784 00:37:13,820 --> 00:37:16,000 in the middle of the lampstands. 785 00:37:16,100 --> 00:37:19,000 He's in the middle of the churches. 786 00:37:19,100 --> 00:37:21,880 That's valuable to him. 787 00:37:21,980 --> 00:37:24,800 And finally, I don't know if this is last or if it's number 788 00:37:24,900 --> 00:37:26,980 two, practicing for eternity. 789 00:37:26,980 --> 00:37:29,400 When we do this, when we gather, when we collect, 790 00:37:29,500 --> 00:37:31,880 when we encourage each other, when we support each other, 791 00:37:31,980 --> 00:37:35,880 when we re-energize, when we do this, 792 00:37:35,980 --> 00:37:39,480 it's because we will be doing this for eternity. 793 00:37:39,580 --> 00:37:41,120 For as the heavens and the earth, 794 00:37:41,220 --> 00:37:46,500 I will make a new shall last before me, the eternal promises. 795 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,200 So shall your race and your name. 796 00:37:49,300 --> 00:37:52,100 They will stand continually in my presence. 797 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,000 All mankind will come to work with you. 798 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,940 All mankind will come to worship me from Sabbath to Sabbath, 799 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,940 from month to month, says our God. 800 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,940 This is one of my favorite pieces of art, Machachmakoff. 801 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,220 It's called Angels Running Toward God. 802 00:38:10,980 --> 00:38:14,560 Given the chance, the angels want to run toward God. 803 00:38:14,660 --> 00:38:17,160 Do we want to run toward God? 804 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,100 Eternity, we know what we're going to be doing. 805 00:38:24,100 --> 00:38:27,200 Are we getting good at it now? 806 00:38:27,300 --> 00:38:29,600 Are we practicing it now? 807 00:38:29,700 --> 00:38:32,380 Are we making it part of who we are now? 808 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:34,880 Some people say, oh, yeah, we read the scripture. 809 00:38:34,980 --> 00:38:36,040 It says, yeah, get together. 810 00:38:36,140 --> 00:38:37,940 OK, we've been commanded to do that. 811 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:42,880 But, but, it's been 2,000 years, and that was a long time ago. 812 00:38:42,980 --> 00:38:46,320 And the world has changed, and the church has changed, 813 00:38:46,420 --> 00:38:48,220 and yeah, OK, fine. 814 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,700 Let the text tell you what to do with that argument. 815 00:38:51,700 --> 00:38:55,900 Let us vie with one another, bestow thought, consider, 816 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:03,080 and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one 817 00:39:03,180 --> 00:39:09,340 another, that we may incite to love and stimulate one another, 818 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:13,180 arousing one another to brotherly love, right conduct, 819 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:18,860 and rivalry of love and noble actions, 820 00:39:18,860 --> 00:39:25,100 not abandoning our common assembly, 821 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:28,000 not neglecting our church meetings, 822 00:39:28,100 --> 00:39:31,900 but holding aloof from the church meetings, 823 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:36,300 as some people out there do, but give mutual encouragement, 824 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:38,580 admonition for one another. 825 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,840 And you do this more and more and more, 826 00:39:40,940 --> 00:39:43,380 the closer you get to the end. 827 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,980 The argument that church is archaic, and it's old, 828 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,420 and it doesn't have its day anymore, 829 00:39:48,420 --> 00:39:52,960 you're disagreeing with what Hebrews just told you. 830 00:39:53,060 --> 00:39:55,960 It says the closer you get to the end, 831 00:39:56,060 --> 00:39:58,560 the more you need to do this. 832 00:39:58,660 --> 00:40:01,400 None of this, well, the church ain't what it used to be. 833 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:03,640 What's your point? 834 00:40:03,740 --> 00:40:04,640 The world is different. 835 00:40:04,740 --> 00:40:06,340 So what's your point? 836 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,200 We're told that the closer we get to the end, 837 00:40:08,300 --> 00:40:12,240 the more we're going to need this, not less. 838 00:40:12,340 --> 00:40:13,240 So that's my 10. 839 00:40:13,340 --> 00:40:14,180 You don't have to agree. 840 00:40:14,180 --> 00:40:16,060 Why do we do this? 841 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:20,600 Why are we invited by Jesus singularly, 842 00:40:20,700 --> 00:40:24,600 where he leads us to a corporate body called the church, 843 00:40:24,700 --> 00:40:28,300 where he leads his church to his ultimate presence? 844 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,600 That's his progression. 845 00:40:33,700 --> 00:40:35,340 Yes, first singularly. 846 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:36,640 No church is going to carry you. 847 00:40:39,540 --> 00:40:41,920 But first to Jesus, and then to the Lord. 848 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:45,420 But first to Jesus, and then Jesus takes you, 849 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,260 and he takes you to his church, and he takes his church 850 00:40:48,260 --> 00:41:12,180 to his end goal.