1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,800 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor 4 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,960 of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life 5 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:42,120 we're searching for. So very glad that you're with us this morning. Please take your Bibles 6 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,440 and turn to Hebrews, the book of Hebrews today, chapter one. We're going to look at some verses 7 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:52,760 there. The God who brings justice. You know, the expectant series is all about what we're to expect 8 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:58,240 in the Messiah. Messiah, of course, is God's promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. And we've looked 9 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,440 at Old Testament prophecies that we're familiar with, but also those that we're not familiar with, 10 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:08,480 some of those more unusual prophecies that we don't often hear about at any time of the year, 11 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,440 much less Christmas. And they really bring definition to really what Messiah Jesus brings 12 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:20,240 us. So today, the God who brings justice. You know, I've noticed that we all tend to think in terms 13 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:25,520 of kingdoms. We think about all kinds of different kingdoms. Some of the most popular TV shows or 14 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:31,400 movies are movies that have to do with kingdoms. The Lord of the Rings, The Empire Strikes Back. 15 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:37,320 I'm not one for science fiction, but that's enormously popular. The Last Kingdom is a TV 16 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:43,400 series. Black Panther, Wakanda Forever is about kingdoms. Justice League, King Arthur, 17 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:48,600 the Princess Bride. Even the Lion King is something about kingdoms. And there are many, 18 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:55,120 many more. And really, the theme of all these movies and all of these shows are trying to get 19 00:01:55,120 --> 00:02:00,760 the answer to the question, who is right, who is just, who has power, who overcomes, 20 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:05,960 what's the greatest kingdom of all, and how's it going to come about? We really think in terms of 21 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,600 kingdoms, don't we? We really do. What kingdom am I a part of? What kingdom are you a part of? 22 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:17,080 Old Testament Israel was looking forward to a kingdom. And their question was, when will 23 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:22,360 the kingdom come? When will the king come? What will he be like? What will Messiah actually do 24 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:28,320 when he comes on to planet earth? And they were really hoping for a Messiah that would help them 25 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:33,040 get military victory. They wanted victory over Rome. They wanted victory over other peoples. 26 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:38,280 And they weren't thinking about the fact that victory over death and sin and everything else 27 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:44,520 was even greater than the typical kind of kingdom dream that people have. And so the prophecy that 28 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:50,800 we have of Jesus is far greater than what they could possibly have imagined. So I want you to 29 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,720 stand with me as we read Hebrews chapter one. First nine verses will carry several prophecies 30 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:01,360 of the Old Testament that are quoted in Hebrews chapter one. Now Hebrews one is a description of 31 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:08,160 Jesus past tense. In other words, looking back on the cross, looking back on understanding who 32 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:14,960 Jesus really is, but it quotes Old Testament prophets who were looking ahead to where Jesus 33 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,520 would come. So the Old Testament prophets that were trying to describe the Messiah to come are 34 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:26,360 now being affirmed by the writer of Hebrews writing back about Jesus. So you have the 35 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:33,080 perspective of the past and the future as was who Jesus was in the present day of his birth and his 36 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,960 walking on the planet earth. And then we'll also look at what it's like in the future in the forever 37 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:44,400 sense of the word. Now Hebrews compares Jesus with everything else. In chapter one, it's Jesus 38 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,280 versus the angels. People were impressed with angels. They were impressed by the power, the 39 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:55,000 glory of angels, but here you've got Jesus contrasted with the angels. So here we find it 40 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:01,600 in chapter one, verse one. Here's what it says. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and 41 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:06,660 the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son, 42 00:04:06,660 --> 00:04:13,080 whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he also made the world. Now there's no question 43 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:19,440 he's speaking about Jesus here. Verse three, and he, Jesus, is the radiance of his glory, 44 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,880 that's God's glory, and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word 45 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:31,040 of his power. Talk about an amazing description of who Jesus is. There it is right there in verse 46 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:36,080 three. When he had made purifications of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on 47 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:42,480 high, having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a much more excellent 48 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:48,360 name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son. Today I have begotten 49 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:54,680 you. And again, I will be a father to you and he shall be a son to me. And when he again brings 50 00:04:54,680 --> 00:05:00,440 the firstborn, that is Jesus, into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. And 51 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:08,040 that the angels, he says, who makes the angels winds and ministers as flames of fire. Now the 52 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,640 angels are important, but they're just ministers, they're ministering spirits. Verse nine, verse 53 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:21,320 eight rather. But of the son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the righteous 54 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:26,680 scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. For you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. 55 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:33,320 Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. We're 56 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,760 going to look at one verse out of those nine today, but we're going to see some pretty expansive 57 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:43,200 things about our Messiah today. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that your Holy Spirit will just shine 58 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:49,600 light on this text in our lives. Help us know how to hope in you. Help us to know what we're looking 59 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:57,160 for. Father, thank you so much for sending us a Messiah like this one. We ask this in Jesus' name. 60 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:06,640 And everybody said, amen. Please be seated if you would. How big is your expectation of the Messiah? 61 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:14,800 That's my question. I want to know what are you expecting for him to do in your life? I've noticed 62 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,360 this about earthly kingdoms and earthly kings and leaders and rulers. I've noticed they've all 63 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:24,640 disappointed in me time after time again. Have you ever noticed that? Can you connect with that? Can 64 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:29,880 you evaluate that and feel that's probably where you are too? Anybody that's a human, that has power, 65 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:36,000 anybody that's got authority, anybody in positions of leadership are going to disappoint you in some 66 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:42,200 way. And we've enjoyed a long run in America, but if we read history right, America is temporary as 67 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:49,280 well. It won't last forever. So there's got to be something greater than even the greatest nation 68 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:54,760 on the planet or any nation that has long endured. Something's got to be greater than that. And the 69 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,720 Messiah came to bring us something even greater than that. Now as we read the prophecies of the 70 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,600 Old Testament, affirmed by the New Testament writer in Hebrews, looking back to the actual life of 71 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:10,080 Jesus, three things are going to come to the surface in this one verse. This one verse that I read, 72 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,920 focusing on verse eight, says three things. First of all, it says the Messiah will be the greatest 73 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:21,520 empire. He'll bring the greatest empire you and I can possibly imagine. Verse eight, it begins saying 74 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:28,880 this, your throne, oh God. Now when we think about empires, we think about those who sit on the 75 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,840 thrones of power, don't we? We think of those who are actually the powerful leaders on those thrones. 76 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:40,760 In Old Testament times, that would have been people thinking about David or Solomon. In New 77 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,000 Testament times, they were thinking about Caesar or Augustus that they did not want to be on the 78 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:50,400 throne or Tiberius and later on Claudius or Nero. When they thought about thrones, they thought about 79 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:55,840 the one on the throne. You do the same thing. I do the same thing. When we think about thrones, 80 00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:01,520 we think about people who are in leadership positions. We think about Trump or Biden or any 81 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:08,000 other president of the past. Or if you're looking across the ocean, you're looking at Putin or the 82 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:13,960 leader of China, whose name I can't really pronounce at the moment. Names of all kinds of leaders 83 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:20,320 sitting on the throne. As we look at those leaders, we let those leaders define the power or the 84 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:28,040 authority of that throne, but we are always, always perpetually disappointed. We have hopes for new 85 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:34,640 leaders when they are elected or put into place in some way, but we are always disappointed. But 86 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:41,320 here in this passage, speaking of a ruler and a throne, we have a very different kind of look. 87 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:47,200 Here speaking of this throne and ruler, God speaks to his son through the scripture inspired by the 88 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:54,440 Holy Spirit and says, your throne, O God. In other words, the one on this throne is God himself. The 89 00:08:54,440 --> 00:09:00,800 Messiah, Jesus is God. Now we say this in a variety of ways. We say that word became flesh and dwelt 90 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:07,360 among us. That helps us know that Jesus is God in the flesh. But here in a very different perspective, 91 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:14,800 the book of Psalms chapter 45 repeated in Hebrews chapter one, verse eight, simply calls the one on 92 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:22,680 the throne, God. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the reason that they do that is so 93 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:29,640 that we'll know that there's never been one like this one. There will never be a one like this one. 94 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:35,920 Biblical writers used to speak of this throne and the one sitting on the throne in ways that made it 95 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:40,240 difficult for our minds to grasp, but they all knew something about this throne. They were given 96 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:46,080 some insight about it, but none of them could put it all together. But we have the privilege of looking 97 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:50,640 at scripture and knowing more about it. Let me read some of those to you. Matthew chapter 25, 98 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:56,840 verse 31, that when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will 99 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:02,960 sit on a glorious throne. So the throne that we're talking about for this Messiah is first of all, 100 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:11,640 glorious. Or in Psalm 47, verse eight, God reigns over the nation. God sits on his holy throne. So 101 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:18,200 now the throne is not just glorious, but it's holy and it's unique and it's different from all other 102 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:25,360 thrones you can imagine. Daniel in chapter seven talks about the throne in a very vivid way. He 103 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:30,840 says, I kept looking until thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his seat. His vesture was 104 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:37,960 like white snow and the hair on his head was like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames. Its 105 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:44,320 wheels were burning like fire. Now that's no ordinary throne. That's a brilliant throne, a 106 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:50,560 glorious throne. We found the picture that some artists rendered regarding some of the descriptions 107 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:57,640 of the throne in the Bible. This is what that image looks like. It's an unusual image. It's a glorious 108 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:03,120 image in amazing ways, but that's the best an artist could come up with. And I have to tell you 109 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,560 today that in all the scriptures that the Bible gives us about this throne, the one sits on it, 110 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:13,240 that picture will be a disappointment to us when we see it face to face. More glorious, more holy, 111 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:19,080 blazing with more fire than you and I can imagine. God seated on that throne the ancient of days. 112 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:25,480 That's what the scripture says about this Messiah that is coming and that has come. It's not a 113 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,680 typical throne, just like the one that sits on it. It's not like anyone else. It's a throne of the 114 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:35,840 one on the greatest kingdom. Not because it's a glorious throne, but because of the amazing God 115 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:44,920 who actually sits on that throne doing what only God can do. Now our depiction of thrones in earthly 116 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:50,560 kingdoms that we have anything to do with don't look like that picture, do they? Because we are 117 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:57,560 perpetually disappointed. We really are. I've always been frustrated with national leaders, 118 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:03,680 governmental leaders, even local leaders failing to do the right thing, never seeing the opportunity 119 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:11,160 that they should do. They're completely human is the reason that they fail so badly. So what are 120 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:16,920 we supposed to do? We have this king who sits on a throne that we know is the Lord God. What are 121 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:22,640 we supposed to do as believers? As believers, we're part of two kingdoms. Hope you know that. 122 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:28,200 But the kingdom that we have right now, that we live in right now, the kingdom in the country that 123 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,160 we live in right now is not ever going to be perfect. It's not ever going to be what it ought 124 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:39,080 to be. But we do our best with what we have to work with here. But we also wait and are expecting 125 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:46,600 about the kingdom to come. Because honestly, we're people of a greater kingdom that will come because 126 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:52,640 of the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming. That forces us to strike a balance with the here and now and 127 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:57,640 the there and then. But I have to tell you today, I want to remind you today, the greatest kingdom 128 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:02,520 will never be an earthly kingdom. And the greatest leader on the earth will never compare with the 129 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:08,000 coming one. I know we're a political nation. I know we think about political things all the time. 130 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,240 And I know we have hopes and we ought to have some hopes. But when those hopes have been 131 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:19,440 disappointed by an earthly ruler, we need to keep in mind we have a ruler who's coming that will not 132 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:26,800 disappoint. He sits on a glorious throne. He is a king and he will never ever disappoint us. He'll 133 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:32,000 never make the wrong move. He'll never do the wrong thing. He'll never desert you or fail to 134 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:38,120 protect you. The Messiah is not a national king. He's a global king. He's intergalactic. He's 135 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:43,600 created everything that we know. So as the creator of the universe and the one who sits on the throne 136 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:49,480 is this one. This one who sits on the throne who draws near to us and who loves us and helps us. 137 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:57,880 This is the one that our hopes are in. You need to keep that in mind. Because it's the spiritual 138 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:07,520 kingdom, we can live in a physical kingdom and also be in this spiritual kingdom. We're really 139 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,600 citizens of two worlds, Paul said. You're a citizen of heaven and you're a citizen of earth. 140 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:19,880 But the reality is every citizen of every earthly kingdom in the world can also be a citizen of the 141 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,200 kingdom of heaven. It's really amazing the invitation is given to all no matter who we are, 142 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,120 no matter what nation we're from, no matter what color our skin, no matter what background we've 143 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:35,000 been in, Jesus Christ calls us all to worship him as the one who's on the throne. He is the greatest 144 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:41,240 king in the greatest kingdom. But this passage also teaches us about an eternal reign. He will 145 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:48,360 reign, the scripture says, forever and ever. Go back to verse eight. Your kingdom, O God, is forever 146 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:54,080 and ever. You don't have to dig into the original languages to understand what that means. 147 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:59,920 Forever means forever and ever. I mean, it's its own commentary. It says everything it needs to say. 148 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:05,840 It means an indefinitely long period of time as far as your mind can stretch and even beyond that. 149 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:10,960 I just got a word attached to that that I've only learned in the last few years or used very often, 150 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:18,040 perpetuity. That means the kingdom of God is in perpetuity. It goes on perpetually and never has 151 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:24,880 an end at all. Basically, this king, when he sits on his throne, will never be toppled. He'll never 152 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:31,280 lose an election. He'll never be impeached. He'll never suffer a coup or an uprising. He'll never 153 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:37,760 experience an inflation. He'll never be replaced. This kingdom is immutable. It's unchangeable. 154 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:44,240 And Jesus will bring about and sustain a secure, stable, eternal kingdom, which we need so badly. 155 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:53,760 We need stability. We need something to stand on. As you know, this world is not looking quite like 156 00:15:53,760 --> 00:16:01,000 that. We have so many rises and falls in this world. It's just almost incredible. It feels so 157 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:09,640 temporary. It feels so unstable, insecure. We rise and fall with family things, rising fall with 158 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:15,880 government. We rise and fall in business, rise and fall in life. If you don't believe me, let me remind 159 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:21,960 you with a few examples. The temperature rises, then it falls. The sun shines, and then it's 160 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:29,760 obscured. The cowboys will win the Super Bowl, then they won't. The stock market rises, then it falls. 161 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:37,000 Inflation is up, then it's down. The future is hopeful, and then it's hopeless. We're healthy, 162 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:42,880 and then we're not. We're in a pandemic, and then we're not. Yes, we are, we think. We're not sure. 163 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:50,200 Things are getting better. Things are getting worse. A new leader brings hope, and then that 164 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:55,400 same one brings disappointment. Men are men, and then they're not. Women are women, and then they're 165 00:16:55,400 --> 00:17:04,400 not. We're not sure. Life seems stable, then unstable. Life is good, then life is hard. The 166 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:10,880 rise and fall of life is inseparable. It's just the way it is. It's the way earthly kingdoms 167 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:17,520 operate. Sometimes it seems like the wrong team is always winning at life or culture. We see no 168 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:23,240 righteousness. We see no justice, no hope, no integrity. This world is really messed up more 169 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:31,320 than ever. We're really reluctant to admit that. But one day all this will change. It will all 170 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:40,040 change. Your throne, O God, the Scripture says, is forever and ever. What this means is not just 171 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:47,320 that God's throne is forever and ever in sense of endurance, but it means that Messiah will bring 172 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:54,120 an unchanging eternal character to this kingdom. He'll be predictably glorious and immutable, 173 00:17:54,120 --> 00:18:06,280 reliable, steady, secure, comforting, reassuringly predictable. Not boring, glorious is what it will 174 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:11,520 be. Because you can count on him. You can rely on him. He will do the right thing every single 175 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:18,440 time. This one that sits on the throne is always going to do the best thing. Now, hopefully we have 176 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:27,120 a few people in our lives that are individuals we can count on. A few people that are always the 177 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:33,440 same with their character, that always love us with a steadfast love. I was privileged to have 178 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,440 two parents like that growing up. They always were the same towards me no matter how I acted. 179 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:43,840 Sometimes I acted out of character or certainly out of their will, but they always loved me the 180 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:48,520 same way. They always helped me and encouraged me. They were steady in character. I could predict 181 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:53,720 what my dad would say. I could predict what my mom would say. They were boringly predictable, 182 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:59,560 but as I look back in life, it gave me such a steady path to walk on, a steady life to live on. 183 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,960 I love people in my life that are boringly predictable in character, and you do too. 184 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:13,280 But you're also one of God who is steadfast, immutable, unchanging. What he said yesterday 185 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:18,400 will still be true tomorrow. A God that you can count on because you can get to know him, 186 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:26,680 a God who is secure. If you read on in Hebrews chapter one, further prophecies clarify that. 187 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:33,560 It says in verse 11 and 12 of Hebrews 1, they will perish, but you remain. They all will become like 188 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:38,000 a garment and a mantle. You will roll them up like a garment. They will also be changed, 189 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:44,800 but you are the same and your years will not come to an end. The writer of Hebrews wants us to know 190 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:51,520 God is eternal and he's unchanging. Read down to Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8, and it says, 191 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:58,840 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That means if he ever loves you, 192 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:04,120 he still loves you. If he ever was sacrificial in his love for you, he's still sacrificial in 193 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:09,640 his love for you. If he's ever holy, he's still holy. If he's ever true, he's still true. He is 194 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:16,240 predictable, immutable, unchanging, and that's what you need. A savior, a God like that, 195 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:23,040 when no one else can be counted on, this God can be counted on. Some of our staff members were 196 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:28,480 talking about this passage the other day, and Gloria Irving made a statement when we were 197 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,600 discussing this verse, and she made this statement. I'm going to quote her today like a famous author. 198 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:41,200 She said, his gift to us is that he will never change. Jesus will never ever change. That should 199 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:48,680 bring comfort in this crazy world. Close quote. I don't know if you need comfort in this crazy 200 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:53,520 world, but I need comfort in the crazy world. I need something reliable. I like that kind of 201 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,600 promise that God gives us. I like that kind of God who sits on that kind of throne who is forever 202 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:03,960 and ever the same, because I always know where he is. I don't have to wonder. Sometimes with people, 203 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,720 you have to wonder, where are they? What are they thinking? What do they think of me? I never have 204 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:13,120 to ask that question about my God, who is drawn near to reassure me he is steadfast in his love to 205 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:22,880 me. He's steadfast in his love for you. A few years ago, I was on a plane trip. I left Chattanooga to 206 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:31,520 fly to Charlotte, North Carolina. In route, we had to cross over the Smoky Mountains. This was back 207 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,640 in the day where you might have got a great regional jet or you might have got a prop jet. 208 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:42,760 On this particular trip, I had a prop jet. A prop jet doesn't handle a turbulence like a regional 209 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:47,440 jet does. It doesn't go as high. It doesn't go as fast. We're in this prop jet full of about a 210 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:52,440 hundred people or so. All of a sudden, we hit the worst turbulence I've ever experienced in my life. 211 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:58,720 I mean, we would go up a thousand or two thousand feet, then dive down another two or three thousand 212 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,560 feet. It was up and down. It was like the worst roller coaster I'd ever been in. I looked out the 213 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,960 window and the wings of the plane are almost flapping like a bird. I'm thinking, whatever's 214 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,920 going to snap off in a moment. I looked around me and I saw everybody had the paper bags out. 215 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:19,000 That's just a nice way of saying it, the barf bags. They had the barf bags out. Most of them 216 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:25,680 were using them. People were green in various shades of different colors in their faces. I 217 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,920 find perfect strangers holding hands and praying together. In fact, I think more prayer was going 218 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:37,440 on in that plane than any other plane in the history of my time of flying. Eventually, we got 219 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:42,880 through it all and eventually we landed. When we got to the ground, I was so thankful to be on that 220 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:47,080 ground that I wanted to actually kneel down and actually kiss the earth. I really wanted to do 221 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:54,280 that. The difference between turbulence and the steady ground that we rest on day in and day out 222 00:22:54,280 --> 00:23:00,000 is massive. The difference between the kingdom that you live in now and the kingdom you will one day 223 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:06,240 be in under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is like night and day. You cannot even imagine the stability 224 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:11,040 and the steadfastness and the character of this kingdom that's coming through Christ who sits on 225 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,160 the throne of this kingdom and what you're used to living here and now. You ought to have an 226 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:21,280 incredible degree of expectancy waiting for him to return because he's bringing all the great things 227 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:28,600 that you can't possibly find here on this planet when he comes. The comfort of a God who is a king 228 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:35,040 and God on a throne that is unchanging and eternal is encouraging. Live as faithfully as you can in 229 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:40,960 this day and time while in this kingdom, but wait for the one that's to come. Never take your eyes 230 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:47,520 off that promise of his return. Have you noticed that all the songs we sing during Christmas time 231 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:55,240 are carols that have a waiting portion to them? We're waiting for a Messiah. We're waiting for 232 00:23:55,240 --> 00:24:01,800 Emmanuel to come. Of course, all those personify those waiting for the first coming of the Messiah. 233 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:08,200 Some of the songs we sing today are songs where we are waiting for the second coming of Messiah. 234 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:15,400 There's always a waiting portion of this kingdom and one day it'll come with him. When he comes, 235 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:20,920 he sits on that throne where he demonstrates the glory that we all know about and read about. That 236 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:27,640 will be the day when all of life, all of existence changes. He's coming. He's coming for you. That 237 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:33,640 kingdom, oh God, is forever and ever, Scripture says. There's a third thing about this passage 238 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:42,280 that reminds us of this coming kingdom. I call it ultimate justice. Your throne, oh God, is forever 239 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:49,560 and ever and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. That was the prophecy. This Messiah 240 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:55,320 will hold a scepter and it'll be filled with righteousness and righteous deeds and righteous 241 00:24:55,320 --> 00:25:05,560 words. That righteousness will eradicate injustice. Let's think about that with me. Where else do we 242 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:12,520 find an empire or a throne or one who is like Jesus, who is forever and ever and who can bring 243 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:17,560 us righteousness and justice? The answer is nowhere. It can't be found on the earth. 244 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:23,720 If I were to find this for you, the justice of God is the attribute which makes his nature 245 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:30,520 and ways the embodiment of equity and mercy and fairness. His ways and his word will always 246 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:36,440 represent the ultimate righteousness and justice in the world. The scepter is the symbol of authority 247 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:42,600 and power and ability to bring about that righteousness and justice once for all. Now, 248 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:48,840 we talk about these in lofty terms, but we really want this in our heart. Hebrews 1 verse 9 further 249 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:55,000 defines the Messiah. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Now, think with me for a 250 00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:02,440 moment about the righteousness versus lawlessness and the injustice and lawlessness that's in the 251 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:09,240 world today. How often do you actually think a phrase is something like this? That's just wrong. 252 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:17,000 That's just terribly unjust. There need to be things done in order to correct injustices around 253 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,800 us. Does anybody ever think thoughts like that? Am I the only one that looks around and says, 254 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:26,280 how can that be? I look around and I say the world's not right and it's not fair. 255 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,040 I think about the injustice of the hurting or the hungry or the helpless, even the homeless people 256 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:39,400 all around us. I think about the injustice of human suffering, of enslavement, the injustice 257 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:48,280 of a broken culture and broken systems, the injustice of war and suffering as we saw overseas 258 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:55,240 just the last couple of years in the Ukraine, of rape and murder. It's everywhere, everywhere. 259 00:26:55,240 --> 00:27:01,000 Everywhere we look, injustice seemingly has no end. There's so much said, so much self, 260 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:06,760 so many people in the wrong way going the wrong direction. We want ultimate justice that we have 261 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:13,080 no way of bringing it about, have no idea how it can come about. And we look around and said, 262 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:18,040 all the world's systems and all the governments and all the movements that are clamoring for 263 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:26,200 justice and it's a stark testimony to the fact that we don't know what to do. We have no idea 264 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:31,720 how to make things right and we cannot bring justice and righteousness ourselves. 265 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:41,080 The Messiah is the one through whom all this will come. He's the only one. His scepter is only 266 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:49,720 righteous and it's only his scepter that's righteous. Now we use a few visual images in 267 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:55,400 our expectant logo. We'll put that up on the screen and I have a couple of interesting little 268 00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:01,720 things I'm going to hold up today. One is the scepter, the other is a sword. And this is 269 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:06,680 something that would look like what we have on our graphic, but this is the type of a scepter 270 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:13,000 that a king in the Old Testament days would carry. The scepter is a sign of authority. You're given 271 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,960 the scepter when you become a king. I'd like to say this is solid gold, but most of you can tell 272 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:23,160 it's not solid gold, but in that day and time it would have been solid gold. A person would not be 273 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:28,840 given the permission to speak in the presence of such a king until he extended that scepter 274 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:34,680 and gave them an opportunity to speak. The other symbol is a sword. This is a little bit more real 275 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:43,320 than the scepter. It's heavy. It denotes power. But not only a king would have the authority given 276 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:49,400 to him to lead well, but he would have the power to bring it about. The sword and the scepter are 277 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:56,120 two symbols that are closely identified with this Messiah, Jesus Christ. They're closely identified 278 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:01,640 with him because he is a warrior king who comes to deliver on all of his promises, and he has all the 279 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:08,200 authority of God to bring it about. And I want you to think of these two images as you think about 280 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:15,800 your Messiah. And I want you to couple those not only with a stable and a manger and a little baby, 281 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:23,320 but I want you to couple those with Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, 282 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:30,680 and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom or his kingdom. Here's what it means. 283 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:36,040 It means that any righteousness and justice we have on this planet will come from this king, 284 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:43,480 Jesus Christ. From his words, from his principles, from his commands. All those things come from him. 285 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:49,640 Justice doesn't come from us. It doesn't come from our words or our truths or ideas. It comes from 286 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:56,200 the one who's on the throne. That's why this book is important, because it's his book. That's why his 287 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:01,080 commandments are important, because they're his commandments. That's why his design is important, 288 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:07,800 because it's his design. If you want righteousness and justice in your life in any way, align yourself 289 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,840 with his words, with his commandments, with his person, with his character, and you can have a 290 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:18,120 measure of it. You can bring a portion of justice and righteousness into your leadership, into your 291 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:23,480 home, into your family, into your workplace. It brings a measure of salt and light into the world, 292 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:31,240 but only an immediate and not an ultimate measure of justice and righteousness, because there are 293 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:37,240 still other things out there that need to be dealt with and will be dealt with by this king. 294 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:43,560 Let me give you an example of how you can have an immediate set of justice and righteousness. 295 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:49,640 Think about Jesus Christ when he went to the cross. Think about the perfect life he lived. 296 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:54,200 Think about the fact that he became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. 297 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:00,680 The Bible says that we were all in our sins, separated from God, totally unrighteous in every 298 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:09,400 way. God's wrath, God's justice was being demanded for our sin, but Jesus, living this perfect life, 299 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:14,600 willingly laid his life down on the cross so that his righteousness was on that cross 300 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:20,600 in place of our unrighteousness. You know what this means, of course, is that he died in our place. 301 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:27,480 The Bible says that when Jesus died in our place, that God's wrath, God's justice was satisfied 302 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:34,680 in the righteous sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Immediately, we had an immediate righteousness 303 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:39,640 and justice dealt with. Sin was dealt with, righteousness was given to us that put our faith 304 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:44,840 and trust in Jesus on the cross. It's still true. Today, you can have righteousness and justice 305 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:50,360 in your life by allowing Jesus Christ to be the king and sit on the throne of your heart and your 306 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:57,400 life. That's how it comes immediately. It begins to infect and influence your life in every 307 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:04,040 possible way while you're on the planet. That is the immediate righteousness. But the truth is, 308 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:12,680 prophecy also points to an ultimate righteousness and justice, where when Jesus Christ comes back 309 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:20,200 in his glorious return, righteousness and justice will ultimately prevail forever over all. 310 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:26,200 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. 311 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:32,520 That's where we get to the place where we understand biblical prophecy that are familiar to us. 312 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:39,400 For example, Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 and 7, where a child will be born to us, 313 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:44,920 a son will be given to us, and the government will rest upon his shoulders. Does that make sense 314 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:51,000 today? His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 315 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:55,960 There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David 316 00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:01,960 and over his kingdom to establish him and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on 317 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:09,320 and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this, says the Lord. That prophecy 318 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:14,840 is not just about the child, but about the king. When you see the manger and think of Jesus the 319 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:20,360 baby, remember he's also a king. Remember he's also the one that has the scepter and the sword, 320 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:24,840 and is able to bring about all the things that the Messiah promised he would bring about. 321 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:32,760 We can hope for it now. We can wait for it now. We can trust in it now. Sometimes we actually do that. 322 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:39,960 You know, one of my favorite Christmas songs is Oh Holy Night. What a song. Someone singing 323 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:47,000 that song can just absolutely send me into great moments of worship. It's a great song. It has 324 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:52,600 great words to it. But most of us aren't familiar with the third verse that I'm going to share with 325 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:58,040 you today. It was written in 1847 by a French priest, but translated by a Boston pastor 326 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:05,160 whose name was John Dwight in 1855, if you know your history. You know that in 1855, America was 327 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:11,480 about to go into a civil war over the injustice of slavery. It was a massive issue in our country. 328 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:16,680 But listen to the biblical truth in this song and the plea for justice and righteousness to come 329 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:23,640 from this Messiah when you hear these words. Truly he taught us to love one another. 330 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:30,840 His law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother 331 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:38,280 and in his name all oppressions shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy and grateful chorus raise we, 332 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:45,720 let all within us praise his holy name. Christ is the Lord, oh praise his name forever. 333 00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:54,680 His power and glory evermore proclaim, his power and glory evermore proclaim. You know, our hope 334 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:58,840 and true justice still remains, but we wait for it to be fully consummated for his return. 335 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:06,360 And that temporary justice and righteousness, all because of his influence on our lives here and now. 336 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,760 Only in that way can all the chains break. 337 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:16,120 And all be free. You know, every kingdom theme maybe has those questions that I mentioned a moment 338 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:24,680 ago. Who is right? Who is just? Who has power? Who overcomes? And you and I have answers to that 339 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:34,120 question. Who is right? Jesus. Who is just? Jesus. Help me with this. Who has power? Jesus. Who 340 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:42,520 overcomes? Jesus. In whom do you hope? Jesus. You know, this king on the throne should be your hope. 341 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:49,160 He should be who you're looking for. He should be who you're trusting in. He should be who you 342 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:55,720 listen to. Jesus Christ alone brings the greatest in power, the eternal reign and ultimate justice. 343 00:35:55,720 --> 00:36:00,520 He's the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going 344 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:06,020 to be the one who's going to bless Him. Jesus Christ alone brings the greatest in 345 00:36:06,020 --> 00:36:12,920 power, the eternal reign and ultimate justice. Worship Him and no one else. 346 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:20,120 You know what I have several things I want to ask of you. Three things. First of all 347 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:25,960 that I will invite you to respond to. And then another thing we'll do together as a church. 348 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,200 to stop by our decision stations today. 349 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:32,400 If you've not put your faith and hope and trust 350 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,040 in this Jesus and this Messiah and this King, 351 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,740 oh, you owe it to yourself to have a conversation 352 00:36:37,740 --> 00:36:39,040 with someone about what that means 353 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:40,880 to put your faith and trust in Christ. 354 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,960 Let me just say, don't leave this building today 355 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:47,320 without having a conversation with one of our Catholic, 356 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,600 with one of our prayer partners, 357 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,620 and saying, I need to know that Jesus is the throne 358 00:36:52,620 --> 00:36:55,760 ring of my heart, that I've given him the lordship 359 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:58,200 of my life, that I'm trusting him for salvation 360 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:00,800 and everything else, because if you have doubts about that, 361 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:02,680 they don't have to go any further than today. 362 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:06,000 We can help you by walking you through what it means 363 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,160 to put your faith and trust in Jesus. 364 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:10,940 Secondly, I would ask you if you're a guest today, 365 00:37:10,940 --> 00:37:12,760 that we've mentioned a gift for you. 366 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,600 We have that in the guest reception center. 367 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,200 I'd love for you to meet me there, 368 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,960 just outside the center exit doors across the hallway 369 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,400 immediately after our closing prayer, 370 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:22,920 and I'd love to give you that gift 371 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,400 and share a little bit about our church with you. 372 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,680 Thirdly, we have some great Christmas services coming up, 373 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,880 and I want you to invite someone to come with you. 374 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,400 You know, most people that first come to church 375 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,040 come because somebody invited them to come with them, 376 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,040 and I wanna encourage you to reach out 377 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,680 to someone around you, friends, family members, 378 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,340 whoever they might be, and one of our two services, 379 00:37:43,340 --> 00:37:45,360 one on Christmas Eve, one on Christmas Day, 380 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,800 unique services that each are different, 381 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,760 but they're each services that I invite you to 382 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,800 and bring someone with you, and they can hear 383 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,240 the great message of Christ and the hope that he has. 384 00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:59,840 I want you to respond to that in just a moment. 385 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,100 We do something every year about this time, 386 00:38:02,100 --> 00:38:04,200 and it's called voting on the budget. 387 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:06,960 It's one of the greatest highlights of our church life 388 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:08,960 is to vote on the budget. 389 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,040 Now, those of you that know me well know that's really not, 390 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,280 really just, I mean, I'm trying to make a joke there 391 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:15,120 about it, but we do it every year, 392 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,680 and we do it because we want people to understand 393 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:21,160 that it takes all of us to support the church, 394 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:22,280 to move the church forward, 395 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,560 and God's been so good to us as a church. 396 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,720 We made out a budget about a month ago, 397 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:30,040 and we had a budget forum where people were invited 398 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:32,400 to ask questions, and we're really consistent 399 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:36,040 on how we plan our budget and how we spend 400 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:37,340 commencement with that. 401 00:38:37,340 --> 00:38:40,560 We always spend while in the block, never in the rub, 402 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,800 and we always really cross the T's and dot the I's with this. 403 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:45,720 We have a great committee that works with us 404 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:47,240 on this every year. 405 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:48,960 So I'll ask you to vote on that in just a moment, 406 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:50,880 but first I wanna show you a couple of things. 407 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,240 One slide I'm gonna put in front of you 408 00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:56,780 is a slide of a giving record in 1954. 409 00:38:56,780 --> 00:38:59,980 Now that's what a giving record looked like back then. 410 00:38:59,980 --> 00:39:02,080 Now think about all those years ago. 411 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,480 This is actually the grandfather of Shera Green, 412 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:07,920 a member of our staff and member of our church, 413 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,160 and this gentleman was about 30 years old at the time. 414 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,840 1954 was a very different church budget 415 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,240 and a very different economy as you can imagine, 416 00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:20,320 but I want you to see regular giving every week 417 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:22,840 this gentleman came and he just gave as he could, 418 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:27,000 gave as he was led, and you really see month after month 419 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,240 of that with hundreds and thousands of people. 420 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,160 And here's what I want you to see from this. 421 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,960 People who gave back in 1954 were laying a foundation 422 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:35,520 for ministry today. 423 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:36,980 Think about that with me. 424 00:39:36,980 --> 00:39:39,800 Those who give now lay a foundation for ministry 425 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:42,000 in the future, as many of you did. 426 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,760 In fact, in 2022 we had some incredible things happen 427 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,360 as a result of just regular budget giving, 428 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:49,300 not even counting the building, 429 00:39:49,300 --> 00:39:50,600 and the things that were done with that. 430 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:52,720 Let me point out a few things. 431 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:57,720 Because you gave in 2022, more than $700,000 in missions 432 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:00,640 was sent to different missionaries 433 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:03,720 in 168 different countries of the world 434 00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:06,120 with the express purpose of sharing the gospel 435 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:09,000 with people that have never heard the name of Jesus before. 436 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:10,700 We rejoice in that. 437 00:40:10,700 --> 00:40:12,320 We strengthened families and individuals 438 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:13,680 through the Healthy Home Emphasis, 439 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:15,040 which was not just a conference, 440 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,680 but we also began a Healthy Home Ministry, 441 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,200 and you'll see the fruit of that in the next five years. 442 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:23,080 We saw more than 230 people join with our church 443 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:24,120 along with their families. 444 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,080 Now these are the moms or the dads or the adults, 445 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,400 and they may have family members that we don't count 446 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:30,560 in this particular thing, 447 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,380 but more than that number joined with our church. 448 00:40:33,380 --> 00:40:36,800 We baptized 103 people over the course of this year, 449 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,120 saw many others come to faith in Christ. 450 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:42,140 We also welcomed more than 2,000 first-time guests 451 00:40:42,140 --> 00:40:44,680 who came and tried out our church for the first time, 452 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:45,880 and were able to talk with them. 453 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:50,880 In all, more than 6,000 people on our campuses in 2022. 454 00:40:51,500 --> 00:40:53,160 Now what that basically means is 455 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:56,760 that we have 6,000 active attenders in our church. 456 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:58,140 We don't all come the same week, 457 00:40:58,140 --> 00:40:59,640 but we all come at some point, 458 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:01,680 and those points we know about, 459 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,400 and so we minister to that many people 460 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,840 on all of our campus all the time. 461 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,040 At the same time, we did support 462 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:09,620 the Generation Building Project 463 00:41:09,620 --> 00:41:11,380 and finished on time under budget, 464 00:41:11,380 --> 00:41:12,480 and we are debt-free. 465 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:14,760 Aren't you grateful for all of that? 466 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:16,480 I am, I'm very grateful. 467 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:20,000 God has just been so good to us, 468 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,400 and so what we do every year is to ask you 469 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,080 as a congregation to simply stand 470 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:25,760 in affirmation of the budget. 471 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:27,680 If you don't know the details of the budget, 472 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:29,520 then we certainly understand that, 473 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:31,120 that we give opportunity for it. 474 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,520 Some people simply don't look or don't take the time, 475 00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:35,000 but it's been presented, 476 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:36,680 and we do want to ask you, if you will, 477 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:40,080 to stand in affirmation of that budget at this time, 478 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:45,080 and if you'll do that now, I would appreciate that. 479 00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:46,360 Thank you so much. 480 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:48,040 That's across the room, of course, 481 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:49,080 and if you're not standing now, 482 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,800 go ahead and stand for the closing word of prayer. 483 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,400 We do this in every one of our services, by the way, 484 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,120 and we're able to see as we sweep across the room 485 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,240 those that are in alignment with that. 486 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:01,940 Would you join me in prayer? 487 00:42:01,940 --> 00:42:04,000 Father, I thank you so much for this day. 488 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:05,480 Thank you for the time of worship. 489 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:07,880 Thank you so much for the promise 490 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,480 of a Messiah fulfilled in Jesus. 491 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:15,320 Lord, we stand on very stable ground because of Jesus. 492 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:17,680 We have great hope that we'll not be disappointed 493 00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:20,160 because of Jesus. 494 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:22,240 Father, we know of eternal life, 495 00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:24,680 that we possess that because of Jesus. 496 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:26,560 And Lord, today I pray that those who need 497 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:29,840 to make decisions to put their faith and trust in Jesus 498 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:31,160 will do that now, 499 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:34,200 and Lord, that we would draw near to you 500 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:36,400 and let you draw near to us in these days ahead. 501 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,400 Thank you for making all that possible. 502 00:42:39,400 --> 00:43:06,400 I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.