WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.700 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:08.240 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.660 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:10.839 --> 00:00:13.640 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:15.800 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.280 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.839 us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.519 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:29.609 sermon. God bless. Let me pray once more Lord. 00:00:29.870 --> 00:00:32.409 Thank you again for this passage. Thank you for 00:00:32.409 --> 00:00:38.990 the Psalms these This great hymn book this this 00:00:38.990 --> 00:00:42.469 book that gives voice to all of the great emotions 00:00:42.469 --> 00:00:49.869 of this life God this invitation That you give 00:00:49.869 --> 00:00:53.170 to us to bring all of our self to you all our 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:55.649 raw self all of our real self all of our All 00:00:55.649 --> 00:00:59.789 the different dynamics of life that we go through 00:00:59.789 --> 00:01:03.829 to you. God, I pray that wherever we are right 00:01:03.829 --> 00:01:07.689 now, that you meet us through these words. Meet 00:01:07.689 --> 00:01:09.469 us in the different stages of our life. Meet 00:01:09.469 --> 00:01:11.670 us in the trials of our life. Meet us in the 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:17.409 joy of our life. Be with us present in this, 00:01:17.670 --> 00:01:25.879 your word. Now we pray. Amen. All right. This 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.640 past fall, I was with a friend from Richmond 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.140 where we had lived before we moved here 10 years 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:34.659 ago. This friend is one of those friends who's 00:01:34.659 --> 00:01:37.680 particularly good at asking questions that invite 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.680 more questions or that invite a deeper conversation, 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:45.099 which I will say is a skill that we should all 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:47.319 be seeking to develop. It's a great gift when 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:49.060 you're with somebody like that who really asks 00:01:49.060 --> 00:01:51.819 questions that make you think and can be fun, 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:55.750 but also invite something deeper. And so this 00:01:55.750 --> 00:01:57.730 friend who I've now known for 15 years asked 00:01:57.730 --> 00:02:01.930 me, Peter, what signs have you seen in your body 00:02:01.930 --> 00:02:08.270 that you're getting older? And so I remember 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:11.310 really clearly when I turned 28, actually I remember 00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:13.030 this because a couple of years before this, a 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:16.129 friend of mine said, man, when I turned 28, my 00:02:16.129 --> 00:02:18.550 metabolism changed and I used to be able to eat 00:02:18.550 --> 00:02:22.090 everything. And this was me, right? from basically 00:02:22.090 --> 00:02:26.370 the time I was 14 till the time I was 28 I weighed 00:02:26.370 --> 00:02:31.830 145 pounds wet and 130 pounds sick, you know, 00:02:32.289 --> 00:02:35.189 and I could eat anything I could eat all day 00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:40.150 long and I turned 28 and I just was like I can't 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:42.889 do that anymore. What what happened to my body? 00:02:42.930 --> 00:02:46.969 I just can't eat whatever I want Some of you 00:02:46.969 --> 00:02:49.310 have experienced this others if you you will 00:02:49.310 --> 00:02:52.659 hopefully if you make it there anyway that was 00:02:52.659 --> 00:02:54.139 not what came to my mind i was looking at my 00:02:54.139 --> 00:03:01.120 hands and my friend asked me this and i and i 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:02.680 don't know if i had i think i had noticed them 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:05.099 before but this was what i was doing and i saw 00:03:05.099 --> 00:03:08.039 this spot right there and this spot right there 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.979 and right there and right here and right there 00:03:11.979 --> 00:03:18.919 uh some of you know those are called aging spots 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:24.569 It's the clumping together of the melanin that 00:03:24.569 --> 00:03:27.770 gives color to your skin. It often is aggravated 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:29.509 by being in the sun a lot, but it pretty much 00:03:29.509 --> 00:03:35.310 only happens when you put on a few years. Some 00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:39.210 of you have heard me talk about this one. So 00:03:39.210 --> 00:03:41.169 I was watching this fall in November I was watching 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:44.169 this video of this physical therapist who counsels 00:03:44.169 --> 00:03:46.150 people who does sports and he what he does is 00:03:46.150 --> 00:03:48.750 he does he does these exams first of sort of 00:03:48.750 --> 00:03:50.789 range of motion things, you know, like these 00:03:50.789 --> 00:03:54.669 kinds of things and You know like muscle movements 00:03:54.669 --> 00:03:57.969 and what not and he gives people these exercises 00:03:57.969 --> 00:04:00.250 So they are their range can improve and their 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:03.129 muscles with certain activities can improve and 00:04:03.129 --> 00:04:10.280 I'm watching this and I hear him say That He 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.120 starts to see injury and significant decline 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:18.800 in people when they turn 43. And so I'm bowling 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:23.459 on January 4th this year with my family and with 00:04:23.459 --> 00:04:30.139 a few folk. And all we're doing is bowling. I 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:32.439 mean, Mary was on a bowling league for like 50 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:36.090 years, right? Or longer than that, a while. And 00:04:36.090 --> 00:04:41.430 we get done, and my knee has this sharp, acute 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:45.069 pain. And my hip is just, I'm doing this kind 00:04:45.069 --> 00:04:51.350 of like, you know, leaving Trindle Bull. And 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:53.949 here's the thing, I went to bed and it was still 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:56.649 there in the morning. What is up with that? You 00:04:56.649 --> 00:05:00.829 know? Like, why? And then you know what? Actually, 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:03.850 my hip, it pretty much hurt for about two months. 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:07.879 My knee just got better like two months ago, 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:11.100 five months after this happened. I don't remember 00:05:11.100 --> 00:05:14.360 falling over, nothing. I was doing this bowling. 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:20.740 And I know, by the way, that was my 43rd birthday. 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:26.000 And I know I'm not that old. I have been called 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.699 names from the likes of Dottie Roden and Diane 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:31.339 Koning and other of our senior saints. Names 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:37.360 like Spring Chicken. and youngster. And I understand. 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:42.019 That's fine. I don't take offense to any of that. 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:44.899 I understand what the love from which it's offered. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.420 This song that we have before us this morning, 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:55.439 it is definitely written in the waning years 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.540 of David's life. He says there in verse nine, 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:04.480 do not cast me off in the time of old age. forsake 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:10.860 me not when my strength is spent." But I don't 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:15.519 think he's, in saying that, I'll show you this. 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:19.939 I don't think what he's doing is saying that 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:22.199 the pains that we have in other stages of life, 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:24.120 the different trials that we go through, the 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:26.060 troubles that we go through physically, emotionally, 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:32.160 mentally, socially are diminished. In fact, what 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.180 he's doing is he's looking at his old life and 00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:37.139 he's saying, don't forsake me in my old age. 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:39.079 And you know what? You haven't done it at these 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:41.420 other times either. And so verse seven tells 00:06:41.420 --> 00:06:44.480 us things like this, that he's been a portent 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:48.560 to many. It's been a sign of the hard things 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.439 that are to come in the various seasons of life 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:55.740 to many throughout his life. And yet God has 00:06:55.740 --> 00:06:57.579 been with him and he's been present with him 00:06:57.579 --> 00:06:59.699 through these challenges. So he can look back, 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:03.160 verses five and six, tell us this, for you, O 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:08.240 Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:12.259 youth. He's kind of, and then he goes back farther. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.420 Upon you have I leaned from before my birth. 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:21.839 So David begins this Psalm primarily in these 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:25.139 first few verses by asking God to not, you know, 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:27.800 that he would not be put to shame. He asks that 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.660 he would be saved. He asks God to be his rock, 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.439 his refuge. He asked that a couple of times in 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:36.439 this Psalm. He says also a rock and a fortress, 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:38.459 something to defend, not just to protect, but 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:40.639 also to defend against the onslaught of others. 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:45.509 He asks for God's rescue from the hand of the 00:07:45.509 --> 00:07:49.449 wicked. And it says, and from a cruel man. Just 00:07:49.449 --> 00:07:55.629 people that are just cruel, mean, ornery. And 00:07:55.629 --> 00:07:57.389 what I want us to do a little bit today is to 00:07:57.389 --> 00:07:59.449 think together because I think this is actually 00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:01.269 what David is doing. He's coming to the near 00:08:01.269 --> 00:08:03.029 the end of his life and he is experiencing one 00:08:03.029 --> 00:08:07.189 of the hardships that age presents. But he's 00:08:07.189 --> 00:08:09.769 also giving, he's kind of thinking back on his 00:08:09.769 --> 00:08:12.259 life. about how he's been a portent to many, 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:14.060 the sign of the difficult things of life, but 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:17.579 also how God's been faithful in those things. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.180 He's thinking back through the challenges of 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:26.759 aging. And I do want us to think a bit about 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:31.759 the hardship of getting older, but also how just 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.179 simply getting older from one stage to the next 00:08:34.179 --> 00:08:40.240 presents different challenges. He mentions here 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.600 shame and a need for refuge and wickedness and 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.360 cruelty. And one of the things I would suggest 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:48.700 to you is that those dynamics are present pretty 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:53.340 much in every stage of life. A degree of shame 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:56.360 and a degree of cruelty, a need to take refuge 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:01.879 in God. Getting older is not just something for 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:06.470 the elderly. Getting older happens to each one 00:09:06.470 --> 00:09:12.070 of us in each stage. David, interestingly, goes 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:14.750 back to birth. And did you notice he actually 00:09:14.750 --> 00:09:23.129 goes back before that? Verse six, upon you have 00:09:23.129 --> 00:09:27.649 I leaned from before my birth. You are he who 00:09:27.649 --> 00:09:30.730 took me from my mother's womb. He's looking at 00:09:30.730 --> 00:09:33.120 birth, but he's also actually going. back before. 00:09:33.139 --> 00:09:34.340 And I want us to think about this a little bit. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.899 There are challenges that face us even in the 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:42.340 womb. You might not be terribly cognizant of 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:45.779 those. Most of us have very few memories before 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:48.659 the age of three or so. I was speaking though 00:09:48.659 --> 00:09:51.480 with a local psychologist who's become a friend 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.960 about my own life, my own family upbringing. 00:09:54.220 --> 00:09:56.279 And you start to ask questions like, why am I 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:58.940 like this and this and all these kinds of things. 00:09:59.529 --> 00:10:03.409 And we're talking about how we're so multifaceted. 00:10:03.450 --> 00:10:07.190 Us becoming us is such a strange and interesting 00:10:07.190 --> 00:10:10.330 subject. If you look actually at one of the meditation 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:13.909 quotes, Dan Allender there at the bottom in his 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:16.049 book, The Wounded Heart says, every person enjoys 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:19.509 dignity and suffers depravity. The structures 00:10:19.509 --> 00:10:21.789 of personality is a result of the interaction 00:10:21.789 --> 00:10:25.250 of these two dynamics. And that can be said also 00:10:25.250 --> 00:10:29.059 actually in utero. How you were cared for the 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:31.039 joy that parents might have embraced with you 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:34.059 even when they just first learned of pregnancy 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:37.299 That can have an effect on you even in the womb 00:10:37.299 --> 00:10:39.519 there. There's certain difficulties and challenges 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.259 that take place I mean, of course, it's not hard 00:10:42.259 --> 00:10:44.159 for us to think of things like fetal alcohol 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.059 syndrome, which certainly affects many but this 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:49.210 wasn't the focus of my conversation with my friend. 00:10:49.309 --> 00:10:51.250 We were just talking about how everything that 00:10:51.250 --> 00:10:53.549 we're experiencing, even within the womb outside, 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:55.250 how parents talk to each other, how they love 00:10:55.250 --> 00:10:57.529 each other, how they think of you with joy and 00:10:57.529 --> 00:11:02.090 gladness or the inverse of that affects us. Of 00:11:02.090 --> 00:11:04.549 course, any birth is a miracle, right? I mean, 00:11:04.590 --> 00:11:06.490 the weaving together of a child within a mother 00:11:06.490 --> 00:11:11.029 and the ways that children are cared for and 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:15.519 fed. And it's an astounding miracle of miracles 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:19.059 kind of thing. Wonder of wonders. How we are 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:22.600 made such wonderfully and cared for in our wombs 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:28.039 from our inception. But we also know how common 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:30.019 it is to not make it out of the womb. I read 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:34.320 that 15 % that's sort of a low number of pregnancies 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.720 end in miscarriage. It's actually likely a lot 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:39.519 higher than that because most of those happen 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:43.850 in the first trimester. So many of them are not 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:48.429 reported or unknown. And so many of us have experienced 00:11:48.429 --> 00:11:52.549 the pain and loss of a child in that way, which 00:11:52.549 --> 00:11:55.750 is to say to lean upon the Lord even in the womb 00:11:55.750 --> 00:12:01.169 is a necessary dynamic. To bear a child can be 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:04.710 full of joy and also full of unbelievable hardship, 00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:10.269 overwhelming sadness. Sometimes a child is planned 00:12:10.269 --> 00:12:13.899 for, Often a child is the joy of their parents 00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:16.600 having waited a long time for that child. And 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:23.220 yet often that's also not the case. Sometimes 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:26.580 childbirth is met with the unrelenting scorn 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:30.120 of others. How could you bear a child? How could 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.659 you be a mother? And it's also actually in our 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:36.759 own minds. How can I, what am I doing? You know, 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:39.779 you leave. the hospital with that child and they 00:12:39.779 --> 00:12:44.559 just let you leave with it. What are they doing? 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:49.240 I remember being astounded the first time that 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:51.460 happened. It eased the second and third times. 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:58.360 But sometimes children are born in the middle 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:05.200 of a separation or a divorce. There are certain 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.500 trials and troubles that are born even in infancy, 00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:12.480 even when just coming from your mother's womb. 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:19.919 Leaning on the Lord is for the old and for the 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:24.059 very, very young. And it goes on, of course, 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:26.500 think with me, right, of the challenges and the 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:30.580 joys of being a young child. You're full of interest. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.980 full of energy, sometimes to your own parents 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:37.419 chagrin. You're learning to move, but also you 00:13:37.419 --> 00:13:39.480 have to learn to not stick your finger in the 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:44.340 socket or not touch the oven when it's on. When 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.379 I was in, I think it was third or fourth grade, 00:13:46.419 --> 00:13:51.039 I think I was nine or 10, around that. I was 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:53.240 at a neighbor's house and we were playing and 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:58.600 somehow we ended up upon a wasps nest. Yeah, 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:02.840 you can imagine how that went. I remember more 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.639 or less just being like covered in, you know, 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.480 baking, the baking soda, baking soda afterwards. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.799 That's, this was stung me and it hurt like crazy, 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:16.019 but actually what sort of hurt even more was 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:18.720 that the very next day was my pictures for my 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.480 baseball team. And I'm telling you, it looked 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:23.139 like, you know, sometimes baseball players have 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:24.840 a wad of chew in their mouth. I had the whole 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:27.860 baseball like on my, in my cheek and it was just 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:32.899 kinda like. I'm like, that's not what you want. 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:36.080 That's a degree of shame for a kid who loves 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.659 sports and you're 10 years old. We learn the 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:42.299 scorn of others even at a young age and we learn 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.539 to lean on the Lord in the unique ways that that 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:48.500 age invites and the difficulties of those different 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:52.360 stages. And of course, parenting those stages 00:14:52.360 --> 00:15:01.360 has its challenges. It's amazing how quickly 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:04.159 parents, and I am speaking of myself in this 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.620 regard, okay, but no doubt probably a lot of 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:08.919 you will resonate. You go from having opinions 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:10.879 about like parenting on everything when you have 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.059 one child to then like having your second or 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:15.159 your third and you're like, I actually don't 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:17.419 know if I have an opinion about anything because 00:15:17.419 --> 00:15:19.340 I'm pretty sure I've failed at all of it right 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:24.299 now. Which is to say we have learned how little 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:26.899 we actually know, right? Because parenting can 00:15:26.899 --> 00:15:28.769 be actually a very humiliating thing. because 00:15:28.769 --> 00:15:31.649 it's such a deep trial. It's so much deeper than 00:15:31.649 --> 00:15:36.210 just a loss of sleep. Think with me a little 00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:40.009 bit about the puberty years. Those can be actually 00:15:40.009 --> 00:15:45.429 pretty exciting years. Your body's growing. There's 00:15:45.429 --> 00:15:47.250 a sense in which you're coming of age, growing 00:15:47.250 --> 00:15:50.070 into womanhood or manhood. And you're becoming, 00:15:51.110 --> 00:15:53.649 as Jess pointed out to us this week, I thought 00:15:53.649 --> 00:15:55.909 this was lovely, like a part of the great sisterhood. 00:15:56.509 --> 00:15:58.090 Part of the great brotherhood. There's something 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:04.190 exciting about that You're getting stronger I 00:16:04.190 --> 00:16:07.370 remember looking in the mirror in the upstairs 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:11.129 bathroom and flexing and thinking this is cool 00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:17.250 And yet our bodies don't feel like our own and 00:16:17.250 --> 00:16:22.970 we don't feel really comfortable in them We wonder 00:16:22.970 --> 00:16:25.909 to what people group, what friend group we belong 00:16:25.909 --> 00:16:35.090 to. Who are we? How do I exist outside of mom 00:16:35.090 --> 00:16:39.529 and dad and my siblings as myself? Because I 00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:42.330 know more and more that I'm a unique person and 00:16:42.330 --> 00:16:47.120 I don't know how that functions. So of course 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:49.639 those years can be really socially deeply trying 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:51.840 and really difficult friends can scorn you you 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:54.600 can be made fun of You know for a little peach 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:57.039 fuzz that starts to grow or if you just never 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:58.860 end up having decent facial hair as some of us 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:04.019 do Often in the teenage years you're introduced 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:06.839 to things that can really harm you externally 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:09.880 and internally sometimes you grab on to those 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:11.940 because you know, they made you in in the social 00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:15.859 setting that you were in and And again, in those 00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:18.019 kinds of seasons, you learn to lean on the Lord 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:22.619 through the troubles and the challenges. Of course, 00:17:22.700 --> 00:17:24.440 the end of the high school years, young adulthood 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:28.319 has its huge challenges. What are you studying 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:32.839 becomes a question that I used to lead college 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:34.579 ministry. And I remember talking to people and 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:37.559 they said, after the first week of being on campus, 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.750 I just wanted to write out a card. that had like 00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:42.690 the four main questions. Where are you from? 00:17:42.769 --> 00:17:44.769 What are you studying? You know, what's your 00:17:44.769 --> 00:17:46.269 major? What are you going to do with it? Because 00:17:46.269 --> 00:17:47.930 it just gets so incessant that you just want 00:17:47.930 --> 00:17:49.509 to go, can you read this? Because you're not 00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:50.789 going to ask me anything else and I don't really 00:17:50.789 --> 00:17:57.450 want to talk to you. And they can be such fear 00:17:57.450 --> 00:17:59.289 inducing questions because so often you don't 00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:03.329 really know. I've heard it said that the years 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:05.630 from 18 to 25 can be some of the most difficult 00:18:05.630 --> 00:18:08.930 years you experience. And I don't know that there 00:18:08.930 --> 00:18:11.430 are years that are not difficult to be frank. 00:18:12.130 --> 00:18:14.089 I think that's part of what David is even saying. 00:18:16.009 --> 00:18:18.549 But those years can be very trying. You're still, 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:20.609 you're wondering, what do I do? Do I go to the 00:18:20.609 --> 00:18:22.930 trade school? Do I go work this job that's been 00:18:22.930 --> 00:18:25.529 offered to me? Do I go to this school? If I go 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:27.029 to the school, what does this mean? Here, here, 00:18:27.029 --> 00:18:31.809 here. They're certainly very difficult. Where 00:18:31.809 --> 00:18:35.569 do you belong? Dating can be unbelievably hard. 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:39.119 and unbelievably sorrowful. We learn again to 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:43.519 lean on the Lord. We learn to lean on the Lord 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.140 in our singleness. We learn to lean on the Lord 00:18:46.140 --> 00:18:48.420 in our dating or not, because some of us are 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:51.880 not called to that kind of life. We learn to 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:54.519 lean on the Lord in our sexual pain and our sexual 00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:57.700 sin and our sexual history. We learn to lean 00:18:57.700 --> 00:19:01.119 on the Lord in our new jobs or our lost jobs 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:06.039 or our searching for jobs. or our heart emptying 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:08.559 jobs, which many of us have at least from time 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.819 to time. We learned to lean on the Lord with 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:15.940 our roommates that won't do the dishes or that 00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:19.160 don't pay rent. Or as one of the roommates that 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:23.160 I had once just ghosted us. And all of a sudden 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:24.880 all of our rent went up because he just decided 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.720 he didn't want to live with us anymore. And that 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.440 was it. It was actually a pastor's kid in my 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:31.519 own presbytery at the time. What's going on? 00:19:34.210 --> 00:19:36.230 We learned to lean on the Lord when we venture 00:19:36.230 --> 00:19:38.210 out from our mom and dad's house for the first 00:19:38.210 --> 00:19:43.329 time, or for the second time, or for the third 00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:48.710 time. We just moved down to the basement. We 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:50.809 learned to lean on the Lord in our young marriages 00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:54.309 where we have no idea how our spouse ever made 00:19:54.309 --> 00:19:59.369 it out of the third grade, or how we thought 00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:04.920 that we were mature enough to say yes. We learn 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:07.859 to lean on the Lord through divorces and through 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:12.279 infidelity, through angry words thrown at you 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:16.819 late at night, sometimes punches through doors, 00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:23.740 sometimes through forgiveness and healing. We 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:26.000 learn to lean on the Lord when we are sitting 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.380 with our children crying with them because they 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:31.079 didn't make the basketball team because their 00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:34.670 friend Just said one of the meanest and cruelest 00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:43.950 things We learn to lean on the Lord when we're 00:20:43.950 --> 00:20:48.369 sitting with our teenager because We just said 00:20:48.369 --> 00:20:55.309 one of the meanest and cruelest things We learn 00:20:55.309 --> 00:20:58.349 to lean on the Lord when they move out when they 00:20:58.349 --> 00:21:00.829 head off to college or decide to take a job or 00:21:00.829 --> 00:21:10.279 to move states We learn to lean on the Lord when 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.299 we outlive our children because of that car accident, 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:21.140 because of that overdose. We learn to lean on 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.140 the Lord when our parents start to show the signs 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:28.640 of aging and not just skin spots. We learn to 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.900 lean on the Lord when the diagnosis comes back 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:33.160 and the cancer comes and the stroke happens, 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.319 when the degenerative disease persists as they 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:41.059 do. I'm heading back to Washington in two weeks. 00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:44.900 And I'm going to a friend's wedding. And you 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.859 all heard me say this a few years ago. One of 00:21:48.859 --> 00:21:51.700 my mom's best friend, she died a few years ago 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:54.259 and she had Alzheimer's for the last 12 years 00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:59.400 of her life. And her husband's one of my dad's 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:03.259 best friends and he's getting remarried. And 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:06.720 I mean, you wouldn't believe the hair loss at 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:09.950 his wife's funeral. kind of like mangy hair loss 00:22:09.950 --> 00:22:12.190 and how skinny he was and how much he had loved 00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:16.569 his wife and cared for her through unbelievably 00:22:16.569 --> 00:22:23.190 difficult years. And when his youngest daughter 00:22:23.190 --> 00:22:25.950 was little, she's one of my younger, my youngest 00:22:25.950 --> 00:22:29.690 sister's best friend, they were over at our house 00:22:29.690 --> 00:22:32.029 and they riding bikes. They rode to the end of 00:22:32.029 --> 00:22:35.490 our gravel road. Because there's like a few houses 00:22:35.490 --> 00:22:37.190 that are on this gravel driveway and there's 00:22:37.190 --> 00:22:39.089 this little hill that goes down and little Chelsea 00:22:39.089 --> 00:22:41.470 Rode her bike down that hill and got hit with 00:22:41.470 --> 00:22:45.069 a car And it ran over her and she spent the next 00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:47.869 four months in the intensive care unit at Harborview 00:22:47.869 --> 00:22:50.630 in Seattle She's actually doing them remarkably. 00:22:50.670 --> 00:22:52.150 Well, but we know none of us knew if she's gonna 00:22:52.150 --> 00:22:58.630 live You learn to lean on the Lord in that Praise 00:22:58.630 --> 00:23:01.390 the Lord. She's doing well now. She's gonna walk 00:23:01.390 --> 00:23:06.650 her dad down the aisle Some of you have sold 00:23:06.650 --> 00:23:09.589 houses and they were the ones you raised your 00:23:09.589 --> 00:23:13.890 kids in. And the ones you hoped you would die 00:23:13.890 --> 00:23:18.309 in. And the ones you hoped your kids would buy 00:23:18.309 --> 00:23:22.769 the house next door to, right? Maybe it was also 00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:26.470 the house though that your husband got so angry 00:23:26.470 --> 00:23:30.789 in. Maybe it was the house that you dreamed of. 00:23:30.930 --> 00:23:32.730 Maybe it was the house that you came to fear. 00:23:35.980 --> 00:23:38.740 You've learned to lean on the Lord in the nursing 00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:44.700 home and the assisted living facility. Maybe 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:47.039 you learned to lean on the Lord when your husband 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:50.579 or your wife learned to change you and your diapers, 00:23:51.539 --> 00:23:55.660 help you go to the bathroom. We learn to lean 00:23:55.660 --> 00:23:57.880 on the Lord, what I'm saying, through every stage 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:00.279 of life, because every stage of life has its 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:02.500 unbelievable burdens and trials and hardships. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:04.880 And there is no stage that is exempt from this. 00:24:08.180 --> 00:24:11.079 I mean, this Psalm speaks of enemies multiple 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:14.240 times, but think of verse 10, speaks of cruel 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:19.960 man. All right, verse four, speaks of shame in 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:23.799 verse one, speaks of accusers in verse 13, speaks 00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:27.039 of the wicked in verse four. And of course the 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:33.619 list goes on, because that is this life. Verse 00:24:33.619 --> 00:24:37.279 10 and 11. For my enemies speak concerning me 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:40.619 those who watch for my life consult together 00:24:40.619 --> 00:24:45.319 and say What actually maybe people say have said 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:48.660 about you right like God's forsaken him that's 00:24:48.660 --> 00:24:53.940 forsaken her Pursue and seize him pursue and 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:57.680 seize her There's none. There's none to deliver 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.759 him hurt. There's nobody that really cares about 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:09.089 you It seems as if at each stage of life, there 00:25:09.089 --> 00:25:12.230 are reasons that we can say that we have enemies 00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:15.230 and there are reasons why we hear these words, 00:25:15.289 --> 00:25:21.150 God's forsaken them. And sometimes actually, 00:25:21.269 --> 00:25:24.109 I would say often, it's actually our own selves, 00:25:24.809 --> 00:25:27.869 right? We're the accusers, we're the cruel men, 00:25:28.210 --> 00:25:33.460 cruel women. We are the ones who are saying these 00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:35.920 kinds of things to ourselves. Think about this 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.579 Paul writing in Romans 7. He says this, so I 00:25:38.579 --> 00:25:43.019 find it to be a law that when I want to do right, 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:47.319 evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the 00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:50.559 law of God in my inner being, but I see in my 00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:53.059 members another law waging war against the law 00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:57.140 in my mind and making me captive to the law of 00:25:57.140 --> 00:26:00.579 sin that dwells in my members, wretched man that 00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:03.119 I am. who will deliver me from this body of death." 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:07.500 He says, I'm part of the very problem. And I 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:10.519 bet you know that experience, because we can 00:26:10.519 --> 00:26:12.599 say that at just about every stage of our lives 00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:21.759 too. And yet, and this is the truth, okay, this 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.259 is one of the great things that I think commends 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:24.779 the scriptures to you. If you're not a Christian, 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:26.500 if you're kind of exploring, or let me say this, 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:27.640 if you are a Christian, I think one of the things 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:30.180 that commends the Bible to us the most is how 00:26:30.170 --> 00:26:34.849 honest it is. David's never like, ah, things 00:26:34.849 --> 00:26:38.750 are just peachy keen all the time. Put on your 00:26:38.750 --> 00:26:41.809 rose -colored glasses. No, but for as much as 00:26:41.809 --> 00:26:44.150 he's willing to be always honest about the challenges 00:26:44.150 --> 00:26:49.569 of life, he also says, I have learned the faithfulness 00:26:49.569 --> 00:26:55.130 of God. He's learned the faithfulness of the 00:26:55.130 --> 00:26:57.650 Lord. Turn with me again to the inside cover 00:26:57.650 --> 00:27:01.490 of your bulletin. Michael Gorman in a phenomenal 00:27:01.490 --> 00:27:03.650 book called cruciformity says the sufferings 00:27:03.650 --> 00:27:06.890 of Paul are not interruptions to his mission, 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:10.450 but are intrinsic to it Through them the message 00:27:10.450 --> 00:27:20.329 of Christ crucified is embodied David does not 00:27:20.329 --> 00:27:22.470 shirk away from it, but he says that through 00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:25.130 these trials. He's learned the faithfulness of 00:27:25.130 --> 00:27:32.140 God. He's learned to lean on the Lord So Paul 00:27:32.140 --> 00:27:34.160 after those words that I just read in Romans 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:41.059 7 he says this Thanks be to God through Jesus 00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:46.440 Christ our Lord Not shrugging off the enemies 00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:50.079 and the accusers which are often ourselves Naming 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:53.420 those but naming the faithfulness of God for 00:27:53.420 --> 00:27:56.359 us in Christ And so David says a little bit like 00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:58.579 this if you look down at verse 17, he says this 00:27:58.599 --> 00:28:01.059 read that whole section. Oh God, from my youth 00:28:01.059 --> 00:28:05.259 you've taught me and I still proclaim your wondrous 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:09.640 deeds. So even in old age and gray hairs, oh 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:11.700 God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:14.599 might to another generation, your power to all 00:28:14.599 --> 00:28:18.220 those to come. Your righteousness, oh God, reaches 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:21.240 to the high heavens. You who have done great 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:23.880 things with God, who's like you? You who have 00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:26.019 made me see many troubles and calamities will 00:28:26.019 --> 00:28:28.079 revive me again from the depths of the earth. 00:28:28.460 --> 00:28:30.539 You will bring me up again. You will increase 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:35.259 my greatness and comfort me again. See, I've 00:28:35.259 --> 00:28:39.200 learned to lean on the Lord and He has not failed 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:42.819 me. The trials and the troubles of David's life, 00:28:43.140 --> 00:28:46.380 they shape the context of his fidelity to God, 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:50.109 but more than anything they show him God's fidelity, 00:28:50.190 --> 00:28:54.309 God's faithfulness to Him. And the same thing 00:28:54.309 --> 00:28:58.650 is true for you and for me. Various trials and 00:28:58.650 --> 00:29:01.190 the troubles that we go through in the various 00:29:01.190 --> 00:29:05.950 seasons of our life. All right, I wanna wrap 00:29:05.950 --> 00:29:09.390 this up, but I wanna encourage you with a few 00:29:09.390 --> 00:29:10.930 things first, okay? And then I'm gonna give a 00:29:10.930 --> 00:29:15.190 little historical ending, okay? I wanna encourage 00:29:15.190 --> 00:29:19.720 you with a few things. One, I wanna encourage 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:25.519 you to embrace each season of life, okay? There 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:29.619 are seasons that we go through where it is very 00:29:29.619 --> 00:29:37.099 easy to live into nostalgia. Ah, the glory days 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:43.000 of being a dink, double income, no kids, or whatever. 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:46.140 Oh man, I was the star football player. We've 00:29:46.140 --> 00:29:50.599 all heard about that guy. There are seasons of 00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:53.259 our life where it's so easy to say, back then, 00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:58.059 if only I was living then. There are also seasons 00:29:58.059 --> 00:30:00.000 of our life where all we want to do is look ahead, 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:06.039 look to the next thing. How much of life seems 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:08.119 to be lived towards retirement or something. 00:30:10.299 --> 00:30:13.440 I want to encourage you to embrace the season 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:17.039 in which God has you. as much as you are able, 00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:20.000 embrace where God has you now. With its trials 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:23.339 and tribulations, its troubles, the Lord is with 00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:25.700 you and He's teaching you something unique. He's 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:27.880 giving you certain joys and certain difficulties. 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:31.380 They are always there with you. And yet embrace 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:33.799 where He has you now. Okay, that's one thing. 00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:37.140 I wanna encourage you in another way. And that 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:39.279 is actually, in some ways I want you to look 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.720 around. Like really literally, look around right 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:45.599 now. Very few heads are turning, so I'm just 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:50.160 gonna wait. Okay, just looking around a little 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:54.740 bit. I want you to embrace, I want to encourage 00:30:54.740 --> 00:30:56.920 you to embrace the beauty of a multi -generational 00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:01.400 church. Sadly, it is true that many, many churches 00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:04.420 are divided up in all kinds of ways. Churches 00:31:04.420 --> 00:31:07.500 loved, we are the church that does rock and roll, 00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:10.019 we use the organ or whatever it is. We divide 00:31:10.019 --> 00:31:11.900 over all kinds of things. It's still the case 00:31:11.900 --> 00:31:15.289 that Sunday, morning is the most racially divided 00:31:15.289 --> 00:31:18.670 hours. Absolutely true. One of the great ways 00:31:18.670 --> 00:31:20.789 that we divide is over age. You know, we're the 00:31:20.789 --> 00:31:23.390 young church. Look at all the programs we have 00:31:23.390 --> 00:31:26.430 for kids or, you know, we're older church, whatever. 00:31:27.690 --> 00:31:29.569 But we need one another and we need one another 00:31:29.569 --> 00:31:35.829 in each stage of our lives. I think there's a 00:31:35.829 --> 00:31:40.609 unique need in a way to see the next stage beyond 00:31:40.609 --> 00:31:48.240 you following Jesus. So, you know, people that 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:52.680 may be my age, we need to see couples who have 00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:58.160 fought for their marriages, like put in work 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:00.579 and done something, made something beautiful 00:32:00.579 --> 00:32:03.019 because it is unbelievably difficult at times. 00:32:03.859 --> 00:32:07.480 And you're holding onto Jesus through the challenges 00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:11.680 that your marriage presents to itself. Teenagers, 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:14.900 need to see young adults who have said, you know 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:17.880 what? I know the challenges of that stage and 00:32:17.880 --> 00:32:21.700 you can follow Jesus after it and you can do 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:28.400 it with joy. I need to see the faithfulness of 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:34.119 you empty nesters. I already, I feel like I'm 00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:38.039 going to cry. I dread when my kids are going 00:32:38.039 --> 00:32:43.269 to leave my house. I can't believe I'm talking 00:32:43.269 --> 00:32:47.150 about that right now. We need you, right? We 00:32:47.150 --> 00:32:49.789 need people that have gone through that stage 00:32:49.789 --> 00:32:51.930 and are holding fast to Jesus and Jesus has been 00:32:51.930 --> 00:32:57.529 faithful to them. Our retirees need to see our 00:32:57.529 --> 00:33:01.549 elderly folk who are holding fast to Jesus in 00:33:01.549 --> 00:33:05.269 their older age, okay? Each one of us gives a 00:33:05.269 --> 00:33:07.750 gift to the other and we need one another. We 00:33:07.750 --> 00:33:09.930 need to embrace the beauty of this kind of life 00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:14.250 together. Okay. Sorry. I did not think I would 00:33:14.250 --> 00:33:17.190 stir up like that a little bit. Sorry. I'm going 00:33:17.190 --> 00:33:24.089 to go three, okay? I want to encourage you to 00:33:24.089 --> 00:33:27.589 learn to speak of and praise the Lord in the 00:33:27.589 --> 00:33:30.670 stage He's put you in, okay? I know this is kind 00:33:30.670 --> 00:33:32.150 of like the first one, like embrace where you 00:33:32.150 --> 00:33:36.109 are. But here's what, here, I want to, this is 00:33:36.109 --> 00:33:38.369 a little bit different because you senior saints, 00:33:39.049 --> 00:33:41.170 you who have been following Jesus a long time, 00:33:41.990 --> 00:33:45.630 I think you should be seeking to articulate the 00:33:45.630 --> 00:33:48.769 faith in a deeper and richer way, as David's 00:33:48.769 --> 00:33:53.069 able to do, than younger folk. Children, I want 00:33:53.069 --> 00:33:54.569 you to be thinking about this. And sometimes 00:33:54.569 --> 00:33:56.269 I get to see this because we do interviews for 00:33:56.269 --> 00:33:58.420 community and stuff, but... I want you to learn, 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.599 what does it mean for me to profess and speak 00:34:00.599 --> 00:34:03.039 about Jesus and praise Jesus as a nine -year 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:05.019 -old or as an eight -year -old or as a 13 -year 00:34:05.019 --> 00:34:07.380 -old? You know what I mean? What does it mean 00:34:07.380 --> 00:34:11.619 for me? I'm 43 and how do I speak about the Christian 00:34:11.619 --> 00:34:15.659 faith and how do I sink deep down more my feet 00:34:15.659 --> 00:34:17.579 and become more rooted in what God has taught 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:19.900 me through the years? I want each of us to say, 00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:22.440 how can I embrace this reality of God with me 00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:25.760 now and how can I learn to articulate it to others? 00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:36.900 All right, let me end. In February, in the year 00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:43.239 155, there was an 86 year old man who was taken, 00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:46.079 actually he had supposedly spent, he knew people 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:47.420 were coming for him and he had spent this time 00:34:47.420 --> 00:34:50.239 in prayer. And he'd been praying for all these 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:52.400 churches and these people that he knew and old 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:55.019 and young alike, it said actually. But he was 00:34:55.019 --> 00:35:01.039 taken and he was marched. through his town and 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:04.280 to the stadium there. And he was actually put 00:35:04.280 --> 00:35:10.880 to death by fire and by the sword. This man's 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:13.039 name is Polycarp. Some of you know his name. 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.360 He was arrested because he wouldn't burn incense 00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:19.500 to Caesar. Caesar was like a god. He could do 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:22.119 whatever he wanted. And the Christians, they 00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:24.059 were called atheists because they only believed 00:35:24.059 --> 00:35:26.420 in one true God and they denied all the pantheon 00:35:26.420 --> 00:35:30.730 of gods. And so Christians were said, they had 00:35:30.730 --> 00:35:33.489 to come and they had to declare Caesar's Lord. 00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:38.929 Caesar's Lord. But he would not do this. He had 00:35:38.929 --> 00:35:40.989 learned over the years to lean on the Lord and 00:35:40.989 --> 00:35:43.550 he was going to do so until the end. And so he 00:35:43.550 --> 00:35:46.110 was arrested. He was brought to that stadium. 00:35:47.010 --> 00:35:50.010 And as he entered the stadium, the account of 00:35:50.010 --> 00:35:54.070 his martyrdom says that a voice from heaven came 00:35:54.070 --> 00:35:55.369 down. At least people looked around. They had 00:35:55.369 --> 00:35:57.559 no idea where this voice came from. He said, 00:35:57.619 --> 00:36:02.179 be strong, Polycarp. Be the man. And then it 00:36:02.179 --> 00:36:04.039 goes on, and I want to read to you a little bit. 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:06.940 When he was finally brought forward, there was 00:36:06.940 --> 00:36:09.460 a huge uproar when they heard that Polycarp had 00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:11.420 been arrested. After he was brought forward, 00:36:11.539 --> 00:36:13.719 the procounsel asked whether he was Polycarp. 00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:16.239 When he confessed that he was, the procounsel 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:18.900 tried to persuade him to recant saying, have 00:36:18.900 --> 00:36:25.199 respect for your age. Come on, you don't need 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:30.179 to be a martyr at your old age. And all the other 00:36:30.179 --> 00:36:33.000 things they usually say, swear by the genius 00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:37.679 of Caesar, turn away, say away with the atheists, 00:36:38.059 --> 00:36:41.800 meaning the Christians. Polycarp looked solemnly 00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:44.159 at the whole crowd of lawless heathen who were 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:47.039 in the stadium, motioned toward them with his 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:49.679 hand, then groaned as he looked toward heaven 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:54.579 and said, away with the atheists. But the procounsel 00:36:54.579 --> 00:36:56.920 was insistent and said, swear the oath and I 00:36:56.920 --> 00:37:02.079 will let you go. Revile Christ. Polycarp replied, 00:37:03.079 --> 00:37:08.420 86 years I've served him. From his womb, from 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:13.260 his birth. 86 years I have served him and he 00:37:13.260 --> 00:37:16.840 has never wronged me. How can I have blasphemed 00:37:16.840 --> 00:37:21.900 my King who saved me? It's not that Polycarp 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:24.539 had an easy life. We actually know he was born 00:37:24.539 --> 00:37:27.940 into slavery. He was adopted as a young child 00:37:27.940 --> 00:37:30.320 by a single woman who taught him the Scriptures. 00:37:31.579 --> 00:37:34.639 We also learned that he learned from the Apostle 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:38.000 John himself about the great love of God and 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.340 Christ. And that upbringing, that tutoring, that 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:46.440 mentoring from an older, wiser person changed 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:54.670 his life. What I'm saying is, may we, may all 00:37:54.670 --> 00:38:00.030 of us fight the good fight, finish the race, 00:38:01.030 --> 00:38:06.789 keep the faith. And when we are old and all of 00:38:06.789 --> 00:38:10.210 our hairs are gray, when our body is failing, 00:38:11.550 --> 00:38:15.570 would we also proclaim, He's never wronged me. 00:38:16.090 --> 00:38:20.690 Great is the faithfulness of the Lord. Let me 00:38:20.690 --> 00:38:27.809 pray. Lord, so grateful for polycarp and for 00:38:27.809 --> 00:38:34.829 John. God, I'm thankful for Mary and Ross coming 00:38:34.829 --> 00:38:39.130 to Sunday school this morning. Four generations 00:38:39.130 --> 00:38:47.409 in a room, opening up the Bible. God, I'm thankful 00:38:47.409 --> 00:38:56.610 for Linda, loving people that come for English 00:38:56.610 --> 00:39:03.369 classes, little children. Got them thankful for 00:39:03.369 --> 00:39:08.789 Peter who plays with Will and August and all 00:39:08.789 --> 00:39:12.610 the others. Got them thankful for the names. 00:39:13.519 --> 00:39:15.719 that surround us in this space. People who have 00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:18.179 given time and money to build this sanctuary, 00:39:18.380 --> 00:39:22.260 to love us. Generations later who they didn't 00:39:22.260 --> 00:39:26.500 know. God, most of all we're thankful for your 00:39:26.500 --> 00:39:33.079 love for us in Christ. The great love of God 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:37.239 for us. coming among us as one of us, dying, 00:39:37.420 --> 00:39:41.500 rising, giving new life, giving us the sure promise 00:39:41.500 --> 00:39:43.760 that the trials and tribulations of this life 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:48.139 are not the end of the story. But you will be 00:39:48.139 --> 00:39:51.820 faithful and bring us through the resurrection, 00:39:52.659 --> 00:39:57.800 new heavens, new earth, no more crying or tears 00:39:57.800 --> 00:40:01.480 or pain, no more cruel men, no more accusers, 00:40:01.619 --> 00:40:06.190 no more shame. They will be the old things that 00:40:06.190 --> 00:40:09.670 have passed away and you will make all things 00:40:09.670 --> 00:40:12.429 new. We love you, Lord. We thank you for your 00:40:12.429 --> 00:40:14.710 great faithfulness in Jesus. In whose name we 00:40:14.710 --> 00:40:20.369 pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to Second 00:40:20.369 --> 00:40:23.190 City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has 00:40:23.190 --> 00:40:25.190 encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate 00:40:25.190 --> 00:40:28.050 the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing 00:40:28.050 --> 00:40:30.909 to this podcast and joining us in person each 00:40:30.909 --> 00:40:33.760 Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.940 secondcitychurch .org and on Instagram, Facebook, 00:40:37.199 --> 00:40:39.679 and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God 00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:40.039 bless.