1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,360 Thank you for listening to this message from Life House Church. 2 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:20,520 Listen, turn to somebody, give them a high five, tell them it is almost Christmas time. 3 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,260 It is almost Christmas time. 4 00:00:22,260 --> 00:00:23,260 Come on, do it. 5 00:00:23,260 --> 00:00:24,260 I want to see. 6 00:00:24,260 --> 00:00:25,260 I seen like three high fives. 7 00:00:25,260 --> 00:00:26,800 Come on, work with me here a little bit. 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:27,800 High fives. 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:29,120 It's almost Christmas time. 10 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:30,800 Tell somebody you're glad to see them. 11 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,160 Sometimes they need that encouragement. 12 00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:34,560 Welcome, welcome, welcome. 13 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,920 West Shore, East Shore, online, wherever you're joining us together. 14 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,840 And you may take notice just a little bit this morning that some people have gone out 15 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:45,400 and have not come back in. 16 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,960 That is because this is Be the Church Sunday and there's an outreach that's going to take 17 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,200 place simultaneously this first gathering. 18 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,640 While we're worshiping and hearing the word, there are a few people that are going to go 19 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:01,200 out and they're going to do an outreach and we're believing God to use that outreach. 20 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:06,360 They're going to go out into the stores in the local area, hand out gift cards and just 21 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:08,200 offer to pray for people. 22 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:09,960 And we're just believing what God's going to do. 23 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:12,800 I think they're going to have to dodge the raindrops while they're doing it, but that's 24 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:13,800 all good. 25 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,520 Hey, listen, rain's blessing in the word of God. 26 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:17,520 It really is. 27 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,160 So they're getting blessed big time. 28 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,980 But it's good to have you here this morning. 29 00:01:21,980 --> 00:01:23,580 And we are here to give glory to God. 30 00:01:23,580 --> 00:01:25,720 We're here to raise up the name of Jesus. 31 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,320 That's why we come to church, right? 32 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,480 We come into this place to lift up His name. 33 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:30,960 We come into this place to worship. 34 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:34,400 We come in this place to gather and lift up His name. 35 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,700 And all that we do when we're worshiping in the morning, when we're preaching the word, 36 00:01:38,700 --> 00:01:42,080 when they're teaching up in class, when you're even, even when you're getting coffee, how 37 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:43,960 many of you worship God while you're getting coffee? 38 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:44,960 It's true. 39 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:49,080 Even while you're getting coffee, you can be worshiping the Lord and just lifting Him 40 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:50,080 up. 41 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:51,080 And that's why we come together. 42 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,120 And this morning, I just want to continue on. 43 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,440 We've got a theme over Christmas. 44 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:56,440 You can look there. 45 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:57,440 You can look on that wall. 46 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,880 It is hope for real, hope for real. 47 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,360 And we're going to move into John chapter five. 48 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,280 So if you've got your Bible, you can go into the book of John chapter five. 49 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,880 And while you're going there, I'm going to speak for just a little bit. 50 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,480 And I'm going to make somewhat of a bold statement. 51 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,040 And it's this. 52 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:18,440 What we hope for will predict our future. 53 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,040 If you're jotting things down this morning, if you're taking notes, I encourage you to 54 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,240 do that last week so that you remember what God might be speaking to you. 55 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,840 What we hope for will predict our future. 56 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:34,200 If you want to know where you're headed in life, if you want to think about what you're 57 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,280 hoping for, you want to know what direction your life might be moving in. 58 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,740 I want you to ask yourself, what am I hoping for? 59 00:02:41,740 --> 00:02:46,920 If you want to know what might happen this week, next week, maybe next month, maybe next 60 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:48,880 year, you need to articulate. 61 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,960 Maybe write down, maybe verbalize. 62 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,040 Take note of or even pin it up on your refrigerator. 63 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,240 What am I hoping for? 64 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:04,060 Because it's what you're hoping for, what you're dreaming of, what you're fantasizing 65 00:03:04,060 --> 00:03:09,280 about will predict some things in your future. 66 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,400 It'll come to pass in your future. 67 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,120 And I said it'll predict some things about your future. 68 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,520 I did not say that you will get everything that you're hoping for in your future. 69 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:20,520 Amen. 70 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,520 That's a big difference. 71 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,440 It'll predict some things in your future, but you may not get everything that you're 72 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:27,440 hoping for. 73 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,200 When we say we hope for something, it's our idea. 74 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,080 It's our thought of a desired preferred future. 75 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:37,080 Do you know that? 76 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:38,080 Right? 77 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,080 When we hope for something. 78 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,080 I remember when it was like, how many remember the old cartoons, a little bubble would pop 79 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:44,080 up, right? 80 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,400 When somebody was thinking something, they'd go blink and it'd be a little cloud or bubble. 81 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:49,400 And how many remember that? 82 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,000 One, don't make me feel old here. 83 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,000 All right. 84 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,760 And it would be the desire to be a vision of a desired future. 85 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:02,320 When we're hope for something, it's the idea of what things might look like in the future. 86 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,760 What might be needed in our lives and how we want things maybe to play out. 87 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,880 And that hope can be a good idea or a good hope, or it can be a bad idea or a bad hope. 88 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:13,880 Right? 89 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:15,960 It can be a godly hope or it can be an ungodly hope. 90 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:16,960 It really can. 91 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:23,440 And I may or may not obtain that desired future, but it will definitely, definitely predict 92 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,560 some things about my future for real, for real. 93 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,360 It'll shape some things in my future. 94 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,760 And I don't know what you're hoping for this morning. 95 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:33,760 Maybe it's a good thing. 96 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:34,760 Right? 97 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:35,760 Maybe it's a godly thing. 98 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:36,920 Maybe it's not a great thing. 99 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:38,840 Maybe it's an ungodly thing. 100 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:41,160 Maybe it's a Christmas present that you've been longing for. 101 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:42,840 How many are you longing for a Christmas present? 102 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:43,840 Right? 103 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:46,880 Maybe it's a pair of shoes that you've been dreaming about. 104 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:47,880 I don't know. 105 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:48,880 Kids are into shoes these days. 106 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:49,880 Man, I talk to some of these kids. 107 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:51,480 They're telling me all about these kind of shoes. 108 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:52,480 I'm like, you're a kid. 109 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:53,480 What do you know about shoes? 110 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,480 All right? 111 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:55,480 It could be a pair of shoes. 112 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:57,040 It could be a new outfit. 113 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:58,040 Right? 114 00:04:58,040 --> 00:04:59,040 It might be a new car. 115 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,600 How many of you like a new car for Christmas? 116 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:02,600 That's a dream. 117 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:03,600 Right? 118 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:04,600 Come on. 119 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:05,600 Right? 120 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:10,560 But if someone doesn't get what they're longing for for Christmas, what they're dreaming about, 121 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,400 maybe what they're pining away about, fantasizing about, maybe seeing yourself having a need 122 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,200 for, if you don't get it, you know it'll change your future if you continue to hope for that 123 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:22,200 thing. 124 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:23,200 Right? 125 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,280 How many of you, if you're hoping for a new car, that's probably not going to happen. 126 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:27,280 Come on. 127 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:28,280 How many know it's about 99% chance. 128 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:29,280 Right? 129 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:30,640 You're not going to get that. 130 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:36,360 But if you're, if you're hoping for that, it'll change your future. 131 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:41,600 If you continue to hope for that after Christmas, you might go work some after, some extra shifts 132 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:42,600 at work. 133 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:43,600 Right? 134 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:44,600 How many know that changes your future? 135 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:45,600 It changes some things. 136 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:46,600 Right? 137 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,200 You might, you might put every dime you've got in a piggy bank. 138 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:50,480 You won't go on vacation. 139 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:51,480 Right? 140 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,200 You won't order that steak when you go to the restaurant. 141 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:54,200 Right? 142 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,520 You're just going to, you're going to live on beanie weenies for the next three months. 143 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:58,520 Right? 144 00:05:58,520 --> 00:05:59,520 Next year. 145 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:00,520 Right? 146 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:01,520 Maybe three years. 147 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:02,520 Right? 148 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:03,520 Cars are expensive. 149 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:04,520 Right? 150 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,600 You might be desperate, you might try to steal a car. 151 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,200 How many know that'll change your future? 152 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:10,200 Right? 153 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:11,200 Yeah. 154 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,440 I don't know what the sentence is these days. 155 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:14,840 And I don't want to know. 156 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:15,840 Right? 157 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:19,920 But what I hope for can predict my future. 158 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,960 And John chapter five introduces us to an unnamed man whose hope definitely predicts 159 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:27,420 some of his future. 160 00:06:27,420 --> 00:06:30,640 In this scripture, we're going to travel to the pool of Bethesda. 161 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:31,640 Say Bethesda this morning. 162 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:32,640 Yeah. 163 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,640 It's good. 164 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:35,640 Do we know where we're going in scripture? 165 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:36,640 Right? 166 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,120 They're going to put a picture of that up on the up on the screens. 167 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,080 There's a pic and there's a little bit of a back story that you need to know about the 168 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:48,700 pool of Bethesda because the pool of Bethesda was a five sided manmade pool that was accessible 169 00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:49,700 by steps. 170 00:06:49,700 --> 00:06:51,880 Now this is the ruins that you're seeing. 171 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,280 If you can imagine in your mind, when it was all finished and it was located by the sheep 172 00:06:56,280 --> 00:07:03,120 gate in Jerusalem, which was used to access the temple to bring sacrificial lambs into 173 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:04,740 the temple area. 174 00:07:04,740 --> 00:07:09,480 And in John's biblical account, the pool is described as having four or I'm sorry, five 175 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:11,020 porticoes, right? 176 00:07:11,020 --> 00:07:13,800 Five roofs that were suspended by columns. 177 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,320 And the pool is one of two pools in that location. 178 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:24,720 And if you were there back in Jesus time, those pools were fed by underground springs. 179 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:29,360 So underground springs would put water into those pools and there was a churning effect 180 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,000 that would take place sometimes. 181 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,880 There was a whirlpool effect while sometimes that level would go up and down in those different 182 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,200 natural naturally fed manmade pools. 183 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:46,200 And the legend was the Greek legend was that if the pool stirred and you got into the pool 184 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:51,200 just at the right time when it was stirring, the first person in would be healed. 185 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:52,200 Okay. 186 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:53,200 That was the legend. 187 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:54,200 Right? 188 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:55,480 That's what they believed. 189 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:01,000 So this pool was surrounded by people who had been to the doctors maybe and couldn't 190 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:02,080 get healed. 191 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,440 They were sick and they couldn't do anything about it. 192 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,480 And they were hoping that the waters would churn and that they could be the first one 193 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:16,240 in the pool and including in that mob or that crowd around this pool was an unnamed man 194 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:22,000 in the story who was in need of healing for 38 years. 195 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,720 And the problem that this man had or at least he thought he had was that he had no one to 196 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,760 help lower him into the pool or into the waters. 197 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,900 When the water stirred, he couldn't walk for whatever illness he had, he couldn't walk 198 00:08:33,900 --> 00:08:36,400 and he couldn't get there fast enough. 199 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,840 Somebody jump and when the water stirred, somebody else had jumped in in front of him. 200 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:45,280 And all this man's hope was fixed in the thought that the pool could heal him. 201 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,040 But one day he meets a man named Jesus. 202 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:49,040 Amen. 203 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,520 John chapter five verse one says this. 204 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,960 After this, it was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 205 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:01,600 Now there was there in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, 206 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,360 having five porches. 207 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:08,720 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving 208 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:14,360 of the water for an angel went down at certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. 209 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:18,840 Then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease 210 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,120 he had. 211 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:25,980 Now a certain man, say a certain man, certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years 212 00:09:25,980 --> 00:09:29,800 and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition 213 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:35,080 a long time, he said to him, do you want to be made well? 214 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,200 I want to stop right here and preach just for a couple of minutes. 215 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,680 How many know 38 years is a long, long time to hope for something, right? 216 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:43,680 For real. 217 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:45,360 That's a long time to hope for something. 218 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,080 If you had been hoping for a Christmas gift for 38 years, how many know that's a long 219 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:50,080 time, right? 220 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:51,080 That's a long time. 221 00:09:51,080 --> 00:10:02,680 38 years, 456 months, 13,870 days, 332,880 hours of hoping to be healed. 222 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:04,680 That's a long time to wait for something. 223 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,120 38 years, this guy probably hoped that he would be healed and I don't know, we don't 224 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,520 know how many decades he might have spent sitting by this pool. 225 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,000 Every day this guy, now can I do something this morning? 226 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,120 I'm going to name this guy because I don't want to call him the unnamed guy. 227 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:21,120 Don't email me. 228 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,340 I know this isn't in scripture. 229 00:10:22,340 --> 00:10:23,880 Work with me here, okay? 230 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,720 I'm going to call him Pete who laid by the pool, okay? 231 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:28,960 Everybody okay with that this morning? 232 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:30,520 I know it's not biblical. 233 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,000 Just for context sake, right? 234 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,720 For conversation, we're going to call him Pete. 235 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:40,280 Every day Pete woke up like you and I and thought, I got to get to the pool today. 236 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:42,160 This might be the day. 237 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:43,400 This might be the one. 238 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,280 This could be miracle day. 239 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,160 He probably took his breakfast there. 240 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,000 He probably took his lunch there. 241 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,400 He probably took his, I saw somebody bring their breakfast in this morning, right? 242 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,240 He took his supper there. 243 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,920 He probably had Grubhub on speed dial, right? 244 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,180 And maybe on more than one occasion, Pete slept by the pool, right? 245 00:11:04,180 --> 00:11:05,660 That's where he parked his hope. 246 00:11:05,660 --> 00:11:07,700 He probably brought a sleeping bag. 247 00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:09,520 He brought his lantern with him. 248 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,160 He got his favorite Batman PJs on, right? 249 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,920 And he got a thermos of hot chocolate and just sat and watched the water waiting for 250 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:19,920 it to stir. 251 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,440 And I'm thinking he might have really watched it at night, right? 252 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:24,320 Because everybody else would be sleeping. 253 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,720 Maybe he's thinking if it stirs at night, I might actually get there and be the first 254 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:28,720 one in. 255 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,680 Hoping nobody else would notice the stirring that would take place. 256 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:38,220 He stared at the water for countless hours, counting the ripples maybe that come across 257 00:11:38,220 --> 00:11:42,480 the water, thinking of the possibilities, counting the cracks in the side of the pool. 258 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,240 How many of you do that kind of stuff when you're sitting looking at something long enough, 259 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:46,240 right? 260 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,200 He's counting the cracks in the rocks or the cracks around the pool, right? 261 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,200 Hours, days, years. 262 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,400 Why does he do it? 263 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,160 Because his hope was in the pool. 264 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,840 His hope was locked up in the pool. 265 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,280 The pool predicted his future, right? 266 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:07,360 What he hoped for. 267 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:10,540 The pool shaped his future, his tomorrow. 268 00:12:10,540 --> 00:12:13,200 His next day was going to be at the pool. 269 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,780 What we hope for will predict our future. 270 00:12:16,780 --> 00:12:21,840 What we hope for, what we place our hope in, what our hope is parked on will predict our 271 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:22,840 future. 272 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:29,000 This guy's tomorrow was shaped by the hope in the pool today. 273 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,980 He knew exactly where he was going to be tomorrow. 274 00:12:31,980 --> 00:12:37,220 He knew what he would be parked beside tomorrow because that's where his hope was. 275 00:12:37,220 --> 00:12:42,680 What we hope for will predict our future, pieces of our future. 276 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:44,320 What has my attention? 277 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,100 What consumes my time? 278 00:12:46,100 --> 00:12:47,540 What I dream of? 279 00:12:47,540 --> 00:12:49,920 What I fantasize about, right? 280 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:51,360 We all dream about things. 281 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:53,400 We all kind of fantasize about things. 282 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:58,040 We maybe fixate on a preferred future of some kind. 283 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,680 It will grab your tomorrow. 284 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:05,080 If you really hope to get married, you might daydream about getting married. 285 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:07,760 You might fantasize about getting married, right? 286 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,360 It will predict your future on some level. 287 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:12,840 You'll go to where single people hang out, right? 288 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:13,840 Not where the married people are. 289 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:15,640 Well, at least I hope so, right? 290 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,800 You go to where the single people are. 291 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,840 If you're hoping to get out of your marriage, I'm going to know that's a whole different 292 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:23,600 kind of thing for your future. 293 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,340 That'll predict some things about your future, right? 294 00:13:26,340 --> 00:13:30,680 If you hope to buy a home, I can predict some things for you right up front, right? 295 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:32,440 You're going to probably have to go get a mortgage. 296 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:34,760 You're going to go see a bank or a lender of some kind. 297 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:36,160 You're going to buy homeowners insurance. 298 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,680 Isn't that a fun thing to do, right? 299 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:40,800 There's some things I can predict, right? 300 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:47,040 Be very, very careful of what you're hoping for. 301 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:48,180 For real. 302 00:13:48,180 --> 00:13:50,320 Be very, very careful. 303 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,800 Filter what you dream of. 304 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,000 Examine what you're fantasizing about. 305 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,320 Make sure it is a godly hope. 306 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:03,000 Make sure it is a God-honoring dream that you're engaging in of some kind because it 307 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,240 will predict your future. 308 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,400 It will show up in your future. 309 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:14,640 What has my hope has part of my future, if not all of my future locked up in it. 310 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:15,640 It's true. 311 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:16,640 It's true. 312 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:17,920 Take a moment. 313 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:18,920 Think about it right now. 314 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:19,920 Come on. 315 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:20,920 What's your hope? 316 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,500 What do you hope for when you see something? 317 00:14:23,500 --> 00:14:24,720 What are you hoping for? 318 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:26,520 Man, I could spend some time here. 319 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,000 I could go down a lot of avenues in this. 320 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,480 Good and bad, right? 321 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:32,480 Godly and ungodly. 322 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,480 What are you hoping for? 323 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,080 The story of Pete by the pool continued. 324 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,880 Pete didn't know it yet, but he was in conversation with the one who his hope should have been 325 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:44,000 in, right? 326 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:49,600 He didn't realize it quite yet, but every hope that he would ever have was standing 327 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,960 right in front of him and he didn't recognize it. 328 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,900 And he meets Jesus for the very first time. 329 00:14:54,900 --> 00:14:57,920 Jesus asked him an unusual question for their context. 330 00:14:57,920 --> 00:14:58,920 He really does. 331 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:00,680 I'm going to go back and reread six. 332 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,000 He says this when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that 333 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:09,080 condition a long time, he said to him, do you want to be made well? 334 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:10,800 The sick man answered, yes, sir. 335 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,600 I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. 336 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,800 But while I'm coming, another steps down before me. 337 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:22,800 Everyone sitting at that pool was waiting for the water to stir. 338 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:27,480 Every person that was sitting there, their hope was in the legend that the legend was 339 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:28,560 true. 340 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:34,320 Everyone that was there had their faith destroyed by a doctor or a diagnosis and they didn't 341 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:35,880 feel like anything could be done for them. 342 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,680 So they were by the pool waiting for that one shot, right? 343 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,640 Everyone camped by that pool was there for a reason and one reason only. 344 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:48,240 So why would Jesus ask a person sitting by this pool this question, do you want to be 345 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:49,840 made well? 346 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,680 That's what everybody wanted that was sitting there, right? 347 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:54,400 Of course he wanted to be made well. 348 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:59,800 Well, it turns out this is a legit question because Jesus was there to shift what this 349 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,880 man's hope was in. 350 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,520 Jesus knew what he was hoping for. 351 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,080 Jesus already knew that what his hope was fixed on. 352 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:10,920 He knew what Pete's hope was fixed on, right? 353 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:17,920 It was the pool because and I think Jesus wanted Pete to verbalize it. 354 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,600 I think he wanted him to say out loud what he was hoping for because a lot of things 355 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,560 can happen to your hope in a 38 year span. 356 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:27,640 Amen? 357 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,040 It really can. 358 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:30,760 Your hope can change. 359 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:32,840 It can shift in 38 years. 360 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:36,000 When you can't get the answer in one place, how many know we go to a different place to 361 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,360 get an answer, right? 362 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,100 Our hope might shift from one thing to another thing. 363 00:16:40,100 --> 00:16:43,160 Some people's hope in 38 years might die, right? 364 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,360 You're hoping long enough and that hope just kind of dies inside of you and it just goes 365 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,340 away and you move on. 366 00:16:49,340 --> 00:16:50,400 Your hope can shift. 367 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,920 But Pete verbalized, he showed that he still had faith. 368 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:55,200 Jesus questioned him. 369 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:56,360 He answers it right. 370 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,200 He shows he has faith in something. 371 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,960 It's not in Jesus, but it's in the pool. 372 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,360 His faith didn't wane and didn't diminish. 373 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,640 He's still showing up at the pool. 374 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,600 See, Pete didn't have a faith problem. 375 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,160 He had a hope problem. 376 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:11,720 He had a faith in something. 377 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,000 He just had his faith in the wrong thing. 378 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,440 It was fixed on the wrong thing. 379 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:21,000 And Jesus asked the question because he wants to shift Pete's hope. 380 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,720 He wants to change what Pete's hoping in. 381 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,400 So he asked him, I'm going to reread six again. 382 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,480 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition for 383 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,080 a long time, he said to him, do you want to be made well? 384 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:34,080 He's getting him to think. 385 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:35,080 He's getting him to realize. 386 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,560 The sick man answered him, sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water stirred 387 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:39,560 up. 388 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:40,960 But while I'm coming, another steps in before me. 389 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:45,560 Jesus said to him, rise, take up your bed and walk. 390 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,200 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed and walk. 391 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,040 Jesus posed one question. 392 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:53,860 Do you want to be made well? 393 00:17:53,860 --> 00:17:58,160 Then Jesus surmised from Pete's answer that he did want to be made well. 394 00:17:58,160 --> 00:17:59,160 Right? 395 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:05,620 Jesus heals him and commands him to take up his bed and walk. 396 00:18:05,620 --> 00:18:08,360 One question, one question. 397 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,120 What are you hoping for? 398 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:11,360 What are you hoping for? 399 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:13,800 He didn't ask him how long Pete was attending church. 400 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,080 He didn't ask him what denomination he belonged to. 401 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,360 He didn't ask him how much scripture he knew. 402 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:19,360 Right? 403 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:20,360 How much he had memorized. 404 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:21,360 He didn't ask him that. 405 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:24,480 He didn't ask him, hey, Pete, what's your faith level today? 406 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:25,480 One out of 10. 407 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:26,480 What would you think it would be? 408 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:27,480 Is it a three today? 409 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:28,480 Is it a two? 410 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:29,480 Is it an eight? 411 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:30,480 Right? 412 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:31,480 He didn't ask me that. 413 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:32,480 He just asked one question. 414 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:33,480 Do you want to be made well? 415 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:34,480 Pete indicates yes. 416 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,720 And Jesus tells him, take up your bed and walk. 417 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,640 And immediately he's made well. 418 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,040 And it says in the day was the Sabbath. 419 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:46,000 And the Jews therefore said to him who was cured, it is the Sabbath. 420 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,440 It is not lawful for you to carry your bed. 421 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,320 How many know sometimes even when you get the miracle, somebody's going to criticize? 422 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:53,500 Come on, right? 423 00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:54,500 They're worried about the rules. 424 00:18:54,500 --> 00:18:57,520 This guy just got healed in 38 years. 425 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:02,120 And he answered them, who made me well said to me, take up your bed and walk. 426 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:04,240 He didn't even know who made him well. 427 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,840 Then they asked him, who is the man who said to you, take up your bed and walk. 428 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,760 But the one who was healed, right? 429 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:17,080 Pete didn't know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn a multitude being in that place. 430 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:18,480 Pete didn't know who healed him. 431 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:19,480 He knew it was some stranger. 432 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,840 What a crazy day for him, right? 433 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:23,400 He's carrying his bed. 434 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,320 Just some guy walks up, asks one question, heals him and he's walking around with his 435 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,040 bed on the Sabbath day, which was illegal by then, by the way. 436 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:32,040 Right? 437 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,040 And when he gets questioned, he doesn't even know what happened to him. 438 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:36,720 What just happened? 439 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:42,360 And something happens after all this that really starts to lay out what's taken place. 440 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,080 How many of you know sometimes it's what happens afterward that really matters? 441 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,800 And it's true, it gets missed so many times in this portion of scripture, but in 14 it 442 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,120 says this afterwards, say afterward. 443 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:54,660 Sometimes it's what happens afterwards. 444 00:19:54,660 --> 00:19:56,720 In the temple, right? 445 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,200 Afterward, Jesus found Pete. 446 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:00,200 I'm throwing in Pete there. 447 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,200 I know it's not in the scripture. 448 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:02,200 Him, it says, all right? 449 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:08,200 Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see you have been made well, sin no more 450 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,120 lest the worst thing come upon you. 451 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:15,040 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him well. 452 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,200 There are two miracles that took place. 453 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,360 The first miracle for Pete leads to the greater miracle. 454 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:27,620 Jesus heals this man physically to heal his hope problem spiritually. 455 00:20:27,620 --> 00:20:30,640 The end game was not just a physical healing. 456 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,000 If that's all this was about, Jesus would have healed him, slipped into the crowd, and 457 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,800 that would have been the end of the story. 458 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,320 Would have been like, woohoo, he got healed, right? 459 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:40,440 Would have been celebrated. 460 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:41,840 But that's not the end. 461 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:42,840 That wasn't the end game. 462 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:48,500 Jesus goes and finds him in the temple and he says, Pete, sin no more. 463 00:20:48,500 --> 00:20:50,120 Go and sin no more. 464 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:54,560 He tells him, lest something worse happens to you, don't get caught up in sin. 465 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,660 Jesus, the bigger fix was his soul. 466 00:20:57,660 --> 00:21:01,160 The biggest fix was what he had his hope in. 467 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,280 Jesus was there to shift his hope from the pool to Jesus. 468 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,680 He just used the healing to do it. 469 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:09,800 He caught his attention, right? 470 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,280 His hope, he wanted Pete's hope shifted. 471 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,920 Because here's what could have happened, and I don't know if this took place or not because 472 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,820 of the legend, but what if Pete would have got in the pool, right, when it stirred? 473 00:21:20,820 --> 00:21:24,000 What if he'd have been watching it at night and he just slipped in there and he did get 474 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,000 healed? 475 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,440 He'd have been healed physically, but his hope still would have been in the wrong thing 476 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,480 spiritually. 477 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,940 He would have had nothing of eternal value. 478 00:21:32,940 --> 00:21:36,400 Maybe his body would have been healed, but the rest of them wouldn't have been. 479 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:41,840 Jesus came and he healed this man so that his hope would shift. 480 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:46,520 And it would no longer be in the pool, but it would be in the man, Jesus Christ. 481 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:53,720 And we know this because that last portion of scripture, he goes and tells everybody, 482 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:59,520 he goes and tells the Jews who were questioning him previously, it is Jesus who made me whole. 483 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,380 He didn't care if he got in trouble. 484 00:22:01,380 --> 00:22:05,280 He didn't care if he was associated with Jesus because they were all after Jesus. 485 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:06,980 He didn't care. 486 00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:11,000 It shifted his hope because your hope will predict your future. 487 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,000 Amen. 488 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:24,880 Thank you for tuning in to this message from Lifehouse Church. 489 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:25,880 We pray that you were impacted powerfully by this message. 490 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,960 If you have been personally affected by our ministry and you would like to partner with 491 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:42,400 us as we love God, love people every day, visit our website at www.lifehousecog.com.