WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.769 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:19.050 here. So let us pray. Father, we thank you for 00:00:19.050 --> 00:00:22.230 another day that we're able to come together 00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:24.550 in fellowship and in praise and worship of you. 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:27.769 We ask that you open the eyes of our hearts and 00:00:27.769 --> 00:00:31.350 minds to what you have to speak to us. and teach 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:33.789 us how to apply it to our lives as we leave here 00:00:33.789 --> 00:00:37.670 today in jesus name amen short and brief so we 00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:39.450 get into it right so we already know i have a 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:43.549 problem getting long -winded so um again good 00:00:43.549 --> 00:00:45.950 morning everybody welcome to the cross 66 welcome 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:48.929 to everybody joining us online um the last couple 00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:50.909 weeks we've been going through our scrooge series 00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:53.250 it started with our movie night with watching 00:00:53.250 --> 00:00:55.880 scrooge right well One of the various versions 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:58.939 of A Christmas Carol. And we've been using Scrooge 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:03.000 a little bit as an illustration of the biblical 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:05.760 truths that we've actually found in that story, 00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:10.000 right? First week, we asked an important question. 00:01:10.099 --> 00:01:12.299 So just to kind of recap a little bit, are you 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:15.140 a Scrooge? And the answer we came to is yes, 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:21.010 absolutely. What? You need to soften your heart, 00:01:21.109 --> 00:01:27.590 brother. Love you, man. And then, of course, 00:01:27.650 --> 00:01:29.650 you know, last week we were talking about that 00:01:29.650 --> 00:01:33.530 we need to recognize the fact that when we... 00:01:33.930 --> 00:01:36.569 accept jesus christ as our lord and savior we're 00:01:36.569 --> 00:01:39.129 transformed and not only do we have to accept 00:01:39.129 --> 00:01:41.049 that transformation for ourselves because it 00:01:41.049 --> 00:01:43.750 is hard it is life -changing right but we also 00:01:43.750 --> 00:01:46.549 need to recognize it and accept it and others 00:01:46.549 --> 00:01:49.370 and that can be a whole lot harder especially 00:01:49.370 --> 00:01:51.730 when we we cling to the past that they've let 00:01:51.730 --> 00:01:55.129 go of right we're looking at the past for them 00:01:55.129 --> 00:02:00.230 and they don't live there anymore so um You know, 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:03.370 that's important that we recognize that and we 00:02:03.370 --> 00:02:07.090 remember it. And this week, we're going to look 00:02:07.090 --> 00:02:10.969 at the fact that having hope that's rooted in 00:02:10.969 --> 00:02:13.789 Christ is something that we can hold on to, not 00:02:13.789 --> 00:02:16.449 just at Christmas, but every day of our lives, 00:02:16.629 --> 00:02:19.830 right? So as we start today, I'm going to take 00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:23.270 you back to Scrooge's encounters with the ghost, 00:02:23.530 --> 00:02:28.969 right? So, well, specifically one. And it was 00:02:28.969 --> 00:02:30.889 the third ghost. It was the ghost of Christmas 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:35.349 yet to come. Now, I can't speak for you. I can 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:37.449 speak for myself. I'm going to have to say that 00:02:37.449 --> 00:02:40.050 this is probably, as far as the ghost encounters, 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:44.150 was the most powerful, right? This was the scariest 00:02:44.150 --> 00:02:47.370 encounter. It was darkest. It was horrifying, 00:02:47.629 --> 00:02:50.509 right? In fact, it was so terrifying that Scrooge 00:02:50.509 --> 00:02:53.689 himself, from the get -go, said, I'm scared of 00:02:53.689 --> 00:02:55.150 you more than any of the other spirits that are 00:02:55.150 --> 00:03:00.599 visiting me, right? What just really kicked this 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.960 up a notch is the fact that this encounter was 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:08.360 so strong, the ghost didn't even have to speak. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:12.580 Did you all notice that? Not one word was spoken. 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:15.639 He didn't have to. Kind of reminded me a little 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:17.360 bit of my drill instructors in boot camp. That 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:22.500 little point, you're like, okay, I'm falling 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:26.150 in line, sir. right but that's that's how it 00:03:26.150 --> 00:03:28.449 was he didn't need to speak scrooge himself was 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:32.629 terrified yet it was still a visit that left 00:03:32.629 --> 00:03:39.009 scrooge with hope right this realization that 00:03:39.009 --> 00:03:43.750 there's still time to change and uh and hope 00:03:43.750 --> 00:03:47.629 for a life to live that's full of love and embracing 00:03:47.629 --> 00:03:50.090 the christmas spirit every day of his life just 00:03:50.090 --> 00:03:53.349 like we can embrace every day of our lives Too 00:03:53.349 --> 00:03:56.449 often, though, it's a hard thing for us to see 00:03:56.449 --> 00:04:00.550 or to do. We go through the streets of our city, 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:04.389 and what do we see? We see drug use. We see prostitution. 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:07.849 We see homelessness. It's just rampant, right? 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:10.689 The other day, as you all know, I'm bivocational. 00:04:10.689 --> 00:04:13.810 I have another job. I drive a school bus. I pull 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:16.949 up. In fact, I was parked right next to another 00:04:16.949 --> 00:04:19.740 church. Just the other side, literally across 00:04:19.740 --> 00:04:21.980 the street from one of our schools. And I'm staged 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:24.060 there for a couple minutes because I got there 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:25.680 a little early before I get to my first stop. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.540 And as I'm sitting there, what do I see? A homeless 00:04:29.540 --> 00:04:33.019 person comes up, drops trowel right there in 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:35.839 the middle of a busy street, sits just on the 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:41.339 edge of curb and defecates. On a regular basis, 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:43.319 we're cleaning the same stuff up right out here. 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:46.339 And we are in the heart of the war zone after 00:04:46.339 --> 00:04:52.129 all. Needles all over the place. Violence. Violence 00:04:52.129 --> 00:04:54.589 is huge. You can drive through, especially in 00:04:54.589 --> 00:04:57.209 the summertime. Try going through this town with 00:04:57.209 --> 00:04:59.569 your windows down. You will hear and see people 00:04:59.569 --> 00:05:01.850 yelling and screaming and throwing things at 00:05:01.850 --> 00:05:06.569 each other. It's ridiculous. Yeah. What's that? 00:05:09.930 --> 00:05:12.850 Unfortunately, you know, yes, while that is part 00:05:12.850 --> 00:05:15.910 of the issue, it is not all of the issue. You 00:05:15.910 --> 00:05:20.079 know? um there's a lot that needs to be done 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:21.939 in this city and around the world for that matter 00:05:21.939 --> 00:05:24.720 there's a lot of darkness and that's what we 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.720 see we see a world of darkness everywhere we 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:31.019 go a lot of hopelessness because people have 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:33.800 given up hope they have a hole and they're trying 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.660 to fill it with drugs and in a you know porn 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:40.500 and alcohol and all this other stuff so we see 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:43.339 it on a daily basis it's very hard to hold on 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:46.660 to hope or even recognize it when we're face 00:05:46.660 --> 00:05:50.319 to face with this war for the world every day 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.519 that's really the best way i could put it it 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:57.879 is a war for the world right now we know who's 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:01.680 on the attack and we know who's on the defense 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.800 right the prince of this world is running roughshod 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.579 and his time is going to come but it's not here 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:12.079 yet so with on that note let's open up our bibles 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:14.259 to the heart of what we're going to be looking 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:25.519 at today in Romans 8. So Romans 8. And we're 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:34.660 going to start in verses 18 through 21. So Romans 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:40.339 8, 18 through 21. And the word says, For I consider 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:43.079 that the sufferings of this present time are 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:46.939 not worthy to be compared with the glory which 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:50.540 shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:54.860 of the creation eagerly awaits excuse me eagerly 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:58.620 waits for the revealing of the sons of god for 00:06:58.620 --> 00:07:01.560 the creation was subjected to futility not willingly 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:06.839 but because of him who subjected it in hope because 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:10.470 the creation itself also will be delivered from 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:12.990 the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty 00:07:12.990 --> 00:07:18.329 of the children of God. When Scrooge walked the 00:07:18.329 --> 00:07:24.709 streets, all he saw was the bad. People wanting 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:26.670 something, people taking advantage of things, 00:07:26.750 --> 00:07:30.550 begging for a handout. He didn't look for the 00:07:30.550 --> 00:07:34.470 good. He didn't see the hope of others, the struggle 00:07:34.470 --> 00:07:39.069 of others. He just looked around and saw, for 00:07:39.069 --> 00:07:41.170 lack of better words, like what a bunch of dirt 00:07:41.170 --> 00:07:43.550 bags. That was his view of the world, right? 00:07:44.350 --> 00:07:46.569 Unfortunately, a lot of people look at it the 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:49.389 same way. You know, he saw people looking for 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:51.110 the easy, not wanting to put any effort in, not 00:07:51.110 --> 00:07:54.009 wanting to do any work. Just wanting that handout. 00:07:55.569 --> 00:07:59.110 You know, and as humans today, it hits home because 00:07:59.110 --> 00:08:01.769 it's very much the same for us, right? This is 00:08:01.769 --> 00:08:05.670 human nature because the worldly influence is 00:08:05.670 --> 00:08:11.470 on it. You know, and it's sad because we look 00:08:11.470 --> 00:08:13.250 for the worst in people and we as Christians 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:16.430 especially should know better. But even as Christians, 00:08:16.709 --> 00:08:19.750 if you look around, you talk to your friends, 00:08:19.889 --> 00:08:22.189 you know, we all recognize it. We see it a lot. 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.350 You go into a church and we hear it from others. 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:28.949 We hear it from pastors in various churches. 00:08:29.790 --> 00:08:31.829 A homeless person comes in. Why should I give 00:08:31.829 --> 00:08:34.240 him my hard -earned money? You can get a job 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.240 like the rest of us. Like, whoa, pastor, slow 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.419 down. Really? That's what you're saying? But 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:42.620 we hear it. It happens. I've heard those exact 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:45.940 words myself. And it's not the way we should 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:49.279 be looking at it. And it's happened because sin 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:53.179 has infected the world, right? Sin is a cancer. 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:56.559 It's a cancer. It creeps up. It gets in there. 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:00.179 It gets in everything. So we see a decaying world. 00:09:01.929 --> 00:09:04.590 God saw that a long, long time ago, long before 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:06.769 us, long before any of us were even created. 00:09:08.269 --> 00:09:10.169 He knew it was there. And that's why when we 00:09:10.169 --> 00:09:12.730 go through the word, he issued warning after 00:09:12.730 --> 00:09:15.970 warning after warning, right? That, hey, you 00:09:15.970 --> 00:09:18.669 need to change. You need to come back to me. 00:09:21.210 --> 00:09:28.350 Sold out punishments, right? Sent other tribes. 00:09:29.309 --> 00:09:31.769 to wipe out other tribes right other civilizations 00:09:31.769 --> 00:09:37.110 to go after other civilizations all the way up 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:40.110 to the point of sending his son his one and only 00:09:40.110 --> 00:09:46.210 son jesus to die for us as believers we're blessed 00:09:46.210 --> 00:09:49.450 with hope This is one of those things we cannot 00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:51.570 take it for granted. We should not take it for 00:09:51.570 --> 00:09:53.750 granted. We should cling to it and pull it in 00:09:53.750 --> 00:09:55.450 and not give in to the gloom and doom that we 00:09:55.450 --> 00:09:57.289 see in the world. All this stuff that we hear 00:09:57.289 --> 00:10:00.509 on the radio and on the TV and the newspapers. 00:10:02.509 --> 00:10:05.690 Because God's promised a future in his glory. 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:10.250 It's a beautiful future because it's a future 00:10:10.250 --> 00:10:15.080 with him. Reunited with him as family. It's a 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:17.799 future without pain, without suffering, without 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:23.740 sickness, right? It's a life with him. So going 00:10:23.740 --> 00:10:25.960 back to our reading here, let's go back into 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:27.820 Romans 8. We're going to pick right up where 00:10:27.820 --> 00:10:34.059 we left off. Verses 22 through 24. So Romans 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:38.759 8, 22 through 24. The word says, for we know 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.720 that the whole creation groans and labors with 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.940 birth pangs together until now. Not only that, 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:49.580 but we also have the first fruits of the Spirit. 00:10:50.419 --> 00:10:54.080 Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.799 waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:01.840 body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.460 that is seen is not hope. For why does one still 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:10.039 hope for what one sees? A great question, isn't 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:15.480 it? See, we have a future, and we're also called 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.820 to work towards it. Not to sit back on our laurels. 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:21.879 We've been given things to do. We've been given 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:26.120 gifts to share with other people, right? Not 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:29.059 just hold for ourselves, but to share. We've 00:11:29.059 --> 00:11:31.639 been issued the Great Commission to go out and 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:33.860 share the gospel with others so that they too 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:36.879 could come to know Christ, right? We have things 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.519 to do. These are things that we should look at 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.279 joyfully and happily, be willing to go out and 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:49.019 do and share with the world. You know, and I 00:11:49.019 --> 00:11:52.659 don't say this to say, hey, go out and do the 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:54.039 work, you'll earn your way into heaven. No, you 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:59.299 won't. Jesus has taken care of that. When you're 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:01.259 a believer and you are a follower of Christ, 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.320 he says, you know what? Hey, we have this stuff, 00:12:04.419 --> 00:12:07.799 it needs to get done. And so you willingly go 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:09.940 over and you pick it up and you start pulling 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:12.419 your weight and doing your fair share. That's 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:15.639 what we're supposed to do, right? It's like when 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:17.340 you're at work and there's something big that 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:18.840 needs to happen and the boss comes in and says, 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:21.480 hey, I got this going on. I need some volunteers. 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:24.340 You know, I'm desperate, but, you know, hey, 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:27.860 who can help out? And, you know, what should 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:31.360 your response be? You know, not be, oh, that's 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.519 not my scope of care. That's not my job. No, 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:35.860 I'm like, you know what? Yeah, I need to get 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:38.100 done. We had the same end goal. We got the same 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:39.960 mission. Let's take care of business. And you 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.320 get up. It's like, okay, let's start. What can 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:43.779 I do to help? Oh, we got this. Cool. I'm going 00:12:43.779 --> 00:12:45.419 to do this. Hey, you, you can do that. Cool. 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:47.620 And everybody should be coming together and getting 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:50.259 the job done. That's how the bride of Christ 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:54.080 works, right? It's not just me up here talking 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.820 to you, right? We're all different parts. We 00:12:57.820 --> 00:12:59.340 all have different giftings. We all do different 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:02.399 things. When we come together, that's how we 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:07.960 fulfill the mission. It's not just sitting in 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:11.000 a pew once or twice a week getting spoken to. 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:16.440 We're all called to act. And who knows the word 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:20.059 for what that action is? I bet someone does. 00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:30.259 No. No. Sharing the gospel is part of it. Discipling 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:34.700 others is part of it. Love, yes. Love, because 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:37.919 love is an action. It's not just empty hollow 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.940 words. It's what we do for our fellow man, whether 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:49.279 they're a believer or not. It's what we do. It's 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.840 the way we should be acting. And I said, we can't 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:55.700 earn your way in. But you know what? In the way 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:57.820 that you love on other people, you can lead them 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:00.840 to or lead them away from Christ. And I hope 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:03.340 we're always leading people to Christ. Right? 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:11.419 That's right. Selfless action. Absolutely. Absolutely. 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:15.659 You're on the money, Darren. Absolutely. So, 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:18.960 as I said, we've been given work. We've been 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.460 tasked with looking out for one another's well 00:14:21.460 --> 00:14:25.159 -being. You know, we've been tasked with sharing 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:27.539 the gospel, warning others of what their sin 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:30.059 will lead them to, and pointing the way to Jesus. 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:34.700 God, God's promised us so much. He's promised 00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:37.659 us a lot. Yet, the human part of us is always 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:39.659 waiting for that other shoe to drop, right? I've 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:43.759 talked about this in the past. And why is that? 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:48.980 Well, because as humans, dealing with other humans, 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.889 right? Or even our... interactions with the enemy 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:54.870 whether we recognize it's the enemy or not you 00:14:54.870 --> 00:14:57.649 know satan and his ministers we've been lied 00:14:57.649 --> 00:15:00.149 to promises have been broken we've been hurt 00:15:00.149 --> 00:15:05.450 spiritually mentally sometimes physically for 00:15:05.450 --> 00:15:09.529 a lot of us all of the above right like well 00:15:09.529 --> 00:15:11.710 this is going on here and we got this because 00:15:11.710 --> 00:15:14.690 of our immaturity spiritually we're waiting for 00:15:14.690 --> 00:15:18.090 god to fail like what one's it going to happen 00:15:18.090 --> 00:15:23.629 that's what we're looking for People have failed 00:15:23.629 --> 00:15:26.529 other people, so they become weary. And it gets 00:15:26.529 --> 00:15:28.470 worse because even our parents have failed at 00:15:28.470 --> 00:15:31.750 certain points. Not that they necessarily intended 00:15:31.750 --> 00:15:37.009 to. Sometimes other things came up. Sometimes 00:15:37.009 --> 00:15:40.409 illnesses came in. Sometimes it was one parent, 00:15:40.450 --> 00:15:44.269 sometimes it was both. Right? It happens. Part 00:15:44.269 --> 00:15:45.990 of being human. None of us is perfect, right? 00:15:47.909 --> 00:15:51.340 You know, and as children, If you think about 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:53.799 it, think back to when you're a kid. Children, 00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:55.940 we love our parents more than anybody else. We 00:15:55.940 --> 00:15:58.360 look up to them for more than anybody, right? 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:00.000 You get in that argument with that other kid 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.259 on the playground. Oh, yeah, my dad will beat 00:16:01.259 --> 00:16:04.580 up your dad, right? My dad's bigger and better 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:06.399 than your dad. Oh, my mom's a better cook than 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.639 your mom, right? It's like my mom will come after 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:13.279 you with her wooden spoon or her clock. Mom, 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:17.159 if you're watching, yeah, that was you. It's 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:20.779 a whole other story. But no, that's what, right? 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:22.600 When we grow up, that's how we respond. Whether 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:25.899 we have one parent, both parents, adopted parents, 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:29.840 right? I got a good buddy I enlisted with. He 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.759 was adopted as a baby. He was grow up. His adopted 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:34.759 parents, they were his parents as far as he's 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.620 concerned. Wonderful people. Wonderful people. 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:43.940 Good godly people. They still filled that hole. 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:45.639 But you know what? There's still times where 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:54.440 none of us gets it right. So we grow up, and 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:56.580 what do we do? We still look to them for help 00:16:56.580 --> 00:16:58.840 if we still have them, whether it's one or both, 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.899 right? Those parental figures in our lives even. 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:07.559 I think most of us have those, even if our parents 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:09.480 have gone. We've got someone we still look to 00:17:09.480 --> 00:17:13.700 as a parental figure, right? I don't care how 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:16.839 old you are. All of us look for that. I'm going 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.440 to remind you, that's God for us. You know, when 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:23.039 I say failure, yeah, sometimes it's the things 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:24.500 they've done, but sometimes, you know, directly 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:27.859 or got to do directly for us. But sometimes it's 00:17:27.859 --> 00:17:29.740 the things that aren't even necessarily intended 00:17:29.740 --> 00:17:32.559 directly for us, like divorce. Divorce hurts. 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:34.660 It doesn't matter what end of the spectrum you're 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:37.380 on. Divorce hurts. It hurts both sides. It hurts 00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:40.960 the kids. It absolutely does. That's a failure 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.099 in itself, and we fail to recognize it for that. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.339 You know, people using their kids against one 00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:50.099 another or their nephews and their nieces against 00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:53.400 one another. I've seen that too. That was kind 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:57.200 of an odd one. But sure enough, nephews and nieces 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.119 are used between siblings, you know, whether 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:01.079 it's your dad and your uncle, your mom and your 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.839 aunt or any other of the mix -ups in there. It 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:10.569 happens. People get hurt. Kids know what's happening. 00:18:10.670 --> 00:18:12.970 Other family members know what's going on. Their 00:18:12.970 --> 00:18:15.009 friends know what's happening there. And the 00:18:15.009 --> 00:18:18.829 enemy takes absolute delight in this. He loves 00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:24.910 it. He relishes in it because it goes all the 00:18:24.910 --> 00:18:28.329 way back to the very weapon he deployed in the 00:18:28.329 --> 00:18:33.910 Garden of Eden. It creates doubt. He's doubting 00:18:33.910 --> 00:18:37.670 each and every one of us, right? And that in 00:18:37.670 --> 00:18:43.230 itself so seeds a division. It all comes down 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:46.509 to doubt, though. And it leaves us wondering 00:18:46.509 --> 00:18:55.490 when or if God's going to fail us. It leaves 00:18:55.490 --> 00:18:59.769 us wondering, does he even care? Right? At some 00:18:59.769 --> 00:19:01.230 point in all of our lives, we've all asked that 00:19:01.230 --> 00:19:05.910 question. And the world, because of that, becomes 00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:11.210 a very dark and lonely place. We start looking 00:19:11.210 --> 00:19:13.930 at people like Scrooge, where people only care 00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:16.450 about themselves. They're out for themselves. 00:19:18.349 --> 00:19:21.529 But God, he has an answer for us, though. And 00:19:21.529 --> 00:19:25.849 when we look at this, we see the word. I hit 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:28.430 on the wrong thing here. My notes are going bonkers 00:19:28.430 --> 00:19:31.710 on me. Sorry about that. But when we're looking 00:19:31.710 --> 00:19:35.170 at this. As I find my place again, we see first 00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:39.869 fruits. First fruits is kind of a big thing when 00:19:39.869 --> 00:19:46.950 we look at this passage. Because, you know, God 00:19:46.950 --> 00:19:48.970 doesn't break his promises. He loves you. And 00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:52.369 the first fruits are a part of that. The first 00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:55.549 fruits are down payment, if you will, right? 00:19:55.650 --> 00:20:01.720 Or like a security deposit. He's used to put 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:08.119 us on a sort of spiritual layaway. And to look 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:09.920 a little bit more at this, let's go to 2 Corinthians 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:16.480 1, verse 22. This will clarify what's meant by 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:20.180 first fruits a little bit better. 2 Corinthians 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:35.740 1, verse 22. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 22, the word 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:41.799 says, set his seal of ownership upon us and put 00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.640 his spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:48.799 what is to come. So the first fruit is the assurance 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:53.259 God's given us that he's going to deliver on 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:57.960 everything that he's promised. That's what it 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:00.240 is. He said, you know what? Not only do I want 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:01.799 you to take my word for it, but I'm going to 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:03.420 give you something to show just how dedicated 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:06.859 to this I am. And the Holy Spirit is just that. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:08.940 It's talking about this. It's talking about the 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:11.099 first fruits in this part. It's talking about 00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:12.599 the Holy Spirit. That's why it says it's given 00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:15.740 us the Spirit in our hearts, right? So Holy Spirit 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:21.240 dwelling within us. The guarantee that we have 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:25.359 salvation and we're going, you know, That we're 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:27.839 going to receive more when Christ comes for his 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:30.160 bride and takes us to heaven with him, right? 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:34.799 That's what it means. It is that guarantee that 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:39.059 we belong to the Father and that we are adopted 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:43.059 back into the family. Those are pretty big promises, 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:47.960 aren't they? That should feel good. That in itself 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.319 should give us all a lot of hope. Like, you know 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:52.460 what? Yeah, I walk out the door and I'm seeing 00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:56.359 this, you know, and that sucks. That breaks my 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:01.960 heart. I feel bad. I wish I could do more, but 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:06.759 I can't. It's not in my means. But you know what? 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.380 There's still hope. There's still light. As we 00:22:09.380 --> 00:22:11.400 get closer and closer, it's getting brighter 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:14.250 and brighter. It's covering more and more. right 00:22:14.250 --> 00:22:17.309 the closer we come to jesus the more mature we 00:22:17.309 --> 00:22:19.910 are in our walk with him the more light we see 00:22:19.910 --> 00:22:22.369 the more of him we see reflected in the world 00:22:22.369 --> 00:22:30.470 and a little bit less the gloom and doom you 00:22:30.470 --> 00:22:34.769 know in this season we tend to get a little hung 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:37.950 up a little too hung up really on the first coming 00:22:37.950 --> 00:22:44.319 of christ We should recognize the fact, though, 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:48.140 that Jesus comes to us in two points. First, 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:50.980 we recognize, you know, he was born of a virgin. 00:22:51.019 --> 00:22:54.339 He lived a perfect, sinless life, a perfect example 00:22:54.339 --> 00:22:57.900 for each of us. He was tortured and killed for 00:22:57.900 --> 00:23:06.279 our sins. He died and he rose again, right? And 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:08.640 he's ascended to heaven to create a place for 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:13.819 us to return again to take us back. right it's 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:16.759 a lot there however we need to remember it doesn't 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:21.119 just end there it is simply it is the fact that 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:26.059 he is going to return he came once he's coming 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:29.380 again you know people out there brian brian cracked 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:31.579 his joe cracked his joke well every once in a 00:23:31.579 --> 00:23:33.500 while you'll hear somebody else comes the south 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:35.420 is going to rise again it's like yeah but the 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:36.640 north is going to be there to knock him back 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:42.670 down right All right, now, there's a south trying 00:23:42.670 --> 00:23:45.869 to rise again. The world, the north, the Lord's 00:23:45.869 --> 00:23:47.490 going to knock it right back down into its proper 00:23:47.490 --> 00:23:53.230 place. We need to remember that he's coming back 00:23:53.230 --> 00:23:55.990 for us as his bride. That's a beautiful thing. 00:23:56.170 --> 00:23:58.250 That should give us all a lot of hope. You know, 00:23:58.269 --> 00:24:01.130 the resurrection of Christ, it set the stage 00:24:01.130 --> 00:24:05.609 for our own resurrections and the restoration 00:24:05.609 --> 00:24:10.829 of our relationships with the Father. The relationship 00:24:10.829 --> 00:24:16.230 that was broken because of sin. Our hope isn't 00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:20.309 that it may come. This is not a quote -unquote 00:24:20.309 --> 00:24:26.569 if situation. It's not a maybe. It's not wishful 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:32.049 thinking. And it's not a fantasy. We are able 00:24:32.049 --> 00:24:35.970 to have hope because we know this is our future. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:40.579 We have the evidences. We have the guarantees. 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:45.500 All we have to do is open our eyes and open our 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:51.480 ears to the Lord, and we will find it all. We 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:56.900 find it in this book, right? The Bible. We find 00:24:56.900 --> 00:25:01.940 it in our prayer with Jesus, our conversations 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:06.839 with the Holy Spirit. It's all there. Just for 00:25:06.839 --> 00:25:14.240 us to discern for ourselves. This is a fun one 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.599 here. Hebrews 11, verse 1. You've all heard this 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:22.220 a lot. Now, faith is a substance of things hoped 00:25:22.220 --> 00:25:26.460 for, the evidence of things not seen. When we 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:30.200 started here today, right, it asks the question, 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:34.359 we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:37.460 is not hope. for why does one still hope for 00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:41.480 what one sees right that's that's things where 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:43.299 a lot of prosperity preachers get it wrong like 00:25:43.299 --> 00:25:45.460 oh you can have it you can have it now well if 00:25:45.460 --> 00:25:47.160 i can have it now why do i even want to go to 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:52.160 heaven they're missing the point if i can have 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:53.960 it here and i can have it now this isn't a jg 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:57.519 wentworth commercial it's my salvation and i 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:59.460 want it now it's my heaven and i want it now 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:03.680 no you know what there's something even greater 00:26:04.930 --> 00:26:06.329 It's going to be that surprise. It's going to 00:26:06.329 --> 00:26:07.990 be worth it for all of us, whether you like surprises 00:26:07.990 --> 00:26:11.349 or not. But what's the point in mending that 00:26:11.349 --> 00:26:13.269 relationship? What's the point in going to Jesus? 00:26:13.549 --> 00:26:15.730 What's the point in redeeming that relationship 00:26:15.730 --> 00:26:21.289 with the Father if we can have it now? The Word's 00:26:21.289 --> 00:26:24.250 already told us we are going to suffer because 00:26:24.250 --> 00:26:30.079 Christ suffered. Plain and simple. So faith is 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:32.000 the substance that things hope for, the evidence 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:35.940 that things not seen. Substance meaning realization, 00:26:36.500 --> 00:26:40.259 and evidence meaning confidence. So when we look 00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:41.480 at this, we need to try to look a little bit 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:44.000 at the translation, and that's what it is. So 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:46.779 hope is the substance of our faith, confidence 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:50.700 and assurance. These are both needed to secure 00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:55.799 a beginning and an end point, right? It means 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:58.140 that believing in God, or excuse me, believing 00:26:58.140 --> 00:27:01.700 that God is who he says he is. That's the beginning. 00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:06.500 The culmination point is in knowing that he fulfills, 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:11.200 or in other words, keeps his promises. He's never 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:14.460 broken one, not one. He's never gone back on 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:21.079 his word. Right? He keeps his promises. And even 00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:24.390 though We don't see them materializing just yet. 00:27:24.450 --> 00:27:26.490 Doesn't mean that that promise isn't going to 00:27:26.490 --> 00:27:30.789 be fulfilled. Right? Sometimes we're working 00:27:30.789 --> 00:27:33.289 on things like, man, why is it some, I'm just, 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:35.130 I'm not getting where I need to. It's like, you're 00:27:35.130 --> 00:27:37.509 not supposed to be there yet. And then something 00:27:37.509 --> 00:27:39.910 happens and you get to that end point on whatever 00:27:39.910 --> 00:27:43.829 that project is. You're like, oh, this is awesome. 00:27:44.450 --> 00:27:46.670 Right? Sometimes you're working on something 00:27:46.670 --> 00:27:49.089 and it takes forever. I think back to when I 00:27:49.089 --> 00:27:52.599 was a teenager. One of my first jobs, I worked 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:54.740 for this company. We did everything from the 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:58.680 city line in. I mean everything. We had somebody 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:01.539 for electrical, plumbing, a lot of roofing jobs. 00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:03.339 Went out in the country. I'll tell you what, 00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:05.900 we pulled a whole lot of barbed wire. My hands 00:28:05.900 --> 00:28:10.000 tingled just thinking about that. You know, did 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.640 a lot of painting. We took out a lot of walls, 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.079 built up a lot of walls, installed fans, carpet, 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:20.079 you name it, we did it. and some of those projects 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:22.700 you would go out there and even just sitting 00:28:22.700 --> 00:28:24.299 there looking at it before you got started you're 00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:29.740 like oh boy this is going to be a project and 00:28:29.740 --> 00:28:32.559 you're in there and you got the different teams 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:33.759 and they're in the different rooms and they're 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:36.720 working on all the different stuff right we're 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:38.640 all kind of rotating around each other getting 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:42.559 the job done like man why is this taking so long 00:28:44.449 --> 00:28:46.670 it's like i'm bleeding i'm sweating i haven't 00:28:46.670 --> 00:28:49.849 eaten right i want to go smoke a cigarette right 00:28:49.849 --> 00:28:54.809 like i said i was a teenager that's where i was 00:28:54.809 --> 00:28:58.369 that's a lot of us are when it comes to stuff 00:28:58.369 --> 00:29:00.450 but when things are done you're able to stand 00:29:00.450 --> 00:29:03.109 back and able to see the final product and you're 00:29:03.109 --> 00:29:07.589 like oh this is amazing that's i man i got to 00:29:07.589 --> 00:29:10.710 have a hand in this thank you lord thank you 00:29:10.710 --> 00:29:11.930 for putting this in front of me thank you for 00:29:11.930 --> 00:29:13.450 letting me have the opportunity to work on this 00:29:13.450 --> 00:29:17.329 to be a part of this that's our work in the world 00:29:17.329 --> 00:29:26.170 i said we sometimes it takes a long time to get 00:29:26.170 --> 00:29:28.049 to that point where you can actually see that 00:29:28.049 --> 00:29:30.809 picture and sometimes you start to think that 00:29:30.809 --> 00:29:32.069 you're seeing the whole picture but it's not 00:29:32.069 --> 00:29:34.190 the whole picture it's getting it's getting there 00:29:34.190 --> 00:29:37.170 but then a little bit more time goes by a little 00:29:37.170 --> 00:29:38.630 bit more work's done and you start seeing more 00:29:38.630 --> 00:29:45.460 like oh Even better than I thought, right? So 00:29:45.460 --> 00:29:47.599 before I keep going down that rabbit trail, I'm 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:50.160 going to put this another way. Christmas is a 00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:53.180 celebration of the birth of Jesus, yes. It's 00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:56.839 a birthday celebration, right? So think back 00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:58.279 to when you were a kid and you were growing up 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:02.460 and it was your birthday, right? Maybe even the 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:06.880 immediate days leading up to it. What were you 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:10.000 feeling? A little excitement, right? A little 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:17.839 anticipation. There is a little bit of a buildup, 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:20.099 though, right? Even if you tried to play it off, 00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:22.640 you're like, ooh, it's my birthday. My birthday. 00:30:24.339 --> 00:30:25.980 I can't even log on social media now. It's like, 00:30:26.019 --> 00:30:28.200 hey, it's my birthday month. You guys want to 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:32.519 send me a gift card to McDonald's? Do it. Right? 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:34.500 A lot of people out there do this kind of stuff. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:36.940 I saw one just the other day. It's literally 00:30:36.940 --> 00:30:38.660 what they put up. Say, it's my birthday month. 00:30:38.779 --> 00:30:40.519 Anybody wants to send me a gift card to go get 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:43.519 a steak? I'm accepting all month. Let's do it, 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:52.000 right? That happens, you know? But there's this 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:53.859 anticipation. There's excitement because, you 00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:56.140 know, things are going to happen. People are 00:30:56.140 --> 00:30:58.599 going to be wishing you well. There's probably 00:30:58.599 --> 00:31:01.720 going to be some gifts, right? As a kid, that's 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:02.980 really exciting. It's like, ooh, I'm going to 00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:10.049 get a toy. I love toys. Right? You know, so there's 00:31:10.049 --> 00:31:12.490 some stuff, you know, and eventually the day 00:31:12.490 --> 00:31:16.329 would come and he'd wake up like a kid on Christmas 00:31:16.329 --> 00:31:19.730 morning, like, ooh, Christmas, right? Go through 00:31:19.730 --> 00:31:21.730 the day, you do all your stuff. Ooh, here's dinner. 00:31:21.950 --> 00:31:23.690 I get to sit down. What do you want for dinner? 00:31:23.750 --> 00:31:28.970 It's your birthday. Want cake? Scream for dinner. 00:31:29.569 --> 00:31:33.809 No, no, that comes after. No, no, no. I want 00:31:33.809 --> 00:31:35.089 an ice cream cake for dinner, and then I'll have 00:31:35.089 --> 00:31:38.490 cake and ice cream, right? That's how kids think, 00:31:38.650 --> 00:31:41.250 right? Or in my son's case, what do you want? 00:31:41.849 --> 00:31:45.589 I want a cheeseburger. Probably the only kid 00:31:45.589 --> 00:31:46.910 on the planet that loves a cheeseburger more 00:31:46.910 --> 00:31:51.309 than pizza. But it's there. And then you look 00:31:51.309 --> 00:31:54.769 over. Think of our nephew Mason not that long 00:31:54.769 --> 00:31:58.210 ago at his birthday. We're sitting there, right? 00:31:58.289 --> 00:32:00.130 And down at the end of the table, you got all 00:32:00.130 --> 00:32:04.230 the presents sitting down there, isn't it? He's 00:32:04.230 --> 00:32:06.490 looking back and forth, right? He's ready. He's 00:32:06.490 --> 00:32:08.349 high. Yes, exactly. He's high and he's ready. 00:32:09.349 --> 00:32:14.230 Right? And then the moment comes. You know, there's 00:32:14.230 --> 00:32:17.430 a gift. You know there's a gift. You can't wait 00:32:17.430 --> 00:32:20.069 eating. You want to get to the gifts. You want 00:32:20.069 --> 00:32:21.470 to get to your cake. You want to get to your 00:32:21.470 --> 00:32:24.730 presents. All the exciting stuff. It is an exciting 00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:27.309 time. Christmas is an exciting time, especially 00:32:27.309 --> 00:32:30.529 for kids, right? Whether you tell them there's 00:32:30.529 --> 00:32:32.309 a Santa Claus or not, it's an exciting time. 00:32:33.399 --> 00:32:37.420 Period. Because they know there's gifts. And 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:40.480 you see, we ourselves as Christians, we have 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:44.180 that confidence just like we do with our birthdays, 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:46.700 just like we do with Christmas. We have that 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:50.099 past experience that tells us, hey, this is what's 00:32:50.099 --> 00:32:53.940 coming. This is what's waiting for you. We have 00:32:53.940 --> 00:32:56.940 that assurance and that anticipation that's building. 00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:01.420 Faith is no different. Our faith is exactly the 00:33:01.420 --> 00:33:04.099 same and it should be. We know we're going to 00:33:04.099 --> 00:33:05.640 receive gifts. We know we're going to receive 00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:07.920 some other goodies, right? Jesus already told 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:11.680 us he's making a place for us, right? He said, 00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:15.279 if it wasn't so, what I tell you, right? So we 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:18.759 know what's coming. We've already been blessed 00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:21.759 with gifts here in our lives as we go through. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.440 So we already have some experience to build on. 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:27.680 We know this is just going to get better, right? 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:34.019 For some people, those gifts, some of those surprises, 00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:36.400 right, are going to be exactly that. They're 00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:40.099 going to be a surprise. And for other people, 00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:46.079 it is absolutely going to blow them away. I said, 00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:47.640 that's the problem with prosperity preaching. 00:33:48.660 --> 00:33:52.160 It's not what we get here. Our ultimate rewards, 00:33:52.380 --> 00:33:55.519 our ultimate gifts are all stored there, and 00:33:55.519 --> 00:33:58.339 we have no idea. Our imagination can't even start 00:33:58.339 --> 00:34:02.059 to fathom what they may be. We are very limited 00:34:02.059 --> 00:34:04.819 into the scope that we have here in front of 00:34:04.819 --> 00:34:07.519 us on earth. There are things created that we've 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:10.780 never even seen or heard of before. It's going 00:34:10.780 --> 00:34:14.280 to be amazing. You think about the animals, like 00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:16.260 kids not being able to go out and play, you know, 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:18.239 animals sleeping in one another and not having 00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:23.519 to worry anymore, right? The danger is all gone. 00:34:25.079 --> 00:34:27.280 And then itself is already pretty exciting when 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:32.639 you think about it. So we should have that anticipation, 00:34:32.780 --> 00:34:35.079 knowing that we have the promise of this future. 00:34:38.659 --> 00:34:40.719 So we start to close up here. You think back 00:34:40.719 --> 00:34:46.059 to the ending of Scrooge's story. He has, well, 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:48.619 first off, what happens? He wakes up. It's like, 00:34:48.659 --> 00:34:51.059 oh, it wasn't done in three nights. It was done 00:34:51.059 --> 00:34:55.010 in one. Wow. Right? And he's already changed. 00:34:55.090 --> 00:34:57.190 The transformation's already taken place. And 00:34:57.190 --> 00:34:59.329 he goes to the window, and he throws open the 00:34:59.329 --> 00:35:02.110 shutters, and what does he do? Hey, you, is that 00:35:02.110 --> 00:35:05.070 turkey still in the shop? Yeah, the big one, 00:35:05.110 --> 00:35:10.170 the big one. Yes, sir. Go get it. Go get it. 00:35:10.210 --> 00:35:13.329 And he sends it, right, to the Cratchit family. 00:35:14.969 --> 00:35:16.590 He's already showing that change. He's already 00:35:16.590 --> 00:35:19.570 doing what he knows needs to be done. Right? 00:35:20.250 --> 00:35:23.130 So he sends out anonymously here. Here's a gift. 00:35:23.650 --> 00:35:25.670 Imagine the Cratchit family when that thing shows. 00:35:25.710 --> 00:35:29.590 Like, really? What? Who paid for this? We can't 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:33.030 afford this. What do you mean it's anonymous? 00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:35.389 What? Right? Or maybe they did tell. They don't 00:35:35.389 --> 00:35:38.630 tell us. Right? This turkey goes to the family. 00:35:38.710 --> 00:35:42.070 Wow, what a blessing. That's the first thing 00:35:42.070 --> 00:35:45.010 he does. What's the second thing he did? Anybody 00:35:45.010 --> 00:35:53.059 remember? But he did have some fun. Absolutely. 00:35:53.320 --> 00:35:56.219 But what was he doing? What was he on his way 00:35:56.219 --> 00:36:00.340 for when he did that? That's right. He was going 00:36:00.340 --> 00:36:02.900 to meet his family. He was going to his nephews. 00:36:02.940 --> 00:36:06.519 He's going to restore that bridge, mend that 00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:08.980 bridge and reunite with his family. Remember, 00:36:09.079 --> 00:36:11.340 we talked a little bit about this, right? And 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:12.800 that's one of those hard things is how do you 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:15.039 mend a broken bridge? How do you reconcile a 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:18.039 relationship? You know, and that's a hard thing 00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:20.179 to do. And here's this guy. He's a curmudgeon. 00:36:20.730 --> 00:36:22.750 He already knows they're talking bad about it. 00:36:22.769 --> 00:36:25.030 They're making jokes at his expense. And what 00:36:25.030 --> 00:36:31.130 does he do? He walks up to the door, and he goes 00:36:31.130 --> 00:36:35.510 in, and he humbles himself. Family, I'm here 00:36:35.510 --> 00:36:39.449 if you will have me. That's pretty powerful. 00:36:40.389 --> 00:36:42.269 And that's a hard thing, because a lot of us, 00:36:42.349 --> 00:36:44.829 we push people away, and we don't want to let 00:36:44.829 --> 00:36:50.630 them back in the door, ever. How are they going 00:36:50.630 --> 00:36:52.110 to have that chance for redemption? How are they 00:36:52.110 --> 00:36:54.449 going to have that chance for forgiveness if 00:36:54.449 --> 00:36:57.050 you won't give it to them? You can't forgive 00:36:57.050 --> 00:37:02.550 somebody. How do you love them? Don't dash out 00:37:02.550 --> 00:37:06.349 another person's hope. Even if you think it's 00:37:06.349 --> 00:37:07.469 silly, because there are some people out there 00:37:07.469 --> 00:37:09.489 with hopes that we as individuals think are silly. 00:37:10.010 --> 00:37:14.550 Don't dash out another person's hope. If they're 00:37:14.550 --> 00:37:19.110 Cowboys fans, well, you know, their taste has 00:37:19.110 --> 00:37:20.570 a lot of room to be elevated. I'm just going 00:37:20.570 --> 00:37:26.090 to put it that way. No, don't even dash the Cowboys. 00:37:26.110 --> 00:37:28.469 They could say, even though we know better, let 00:37:28.469 --> 00:37:32.429 them have their hope. Good Lord, that's bad. 00:37:32.630 --> 00:37:38.849 That's bad. I'm just going to tell them to enjoy 00:37:38.849 --> 00:37:43.519 a different sport like hockey. Obviously, there's 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:45.320 not a lot of Cowboys fans in here. My goodness. 00:37:45.900 --> 00:37:52.099 We got one, two. I'll see you all at the outpost 00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:53.460 for the hockey game. We'll call that getting 00:37:53.460 --> 00:38:04.119 off. Oh, my goodness. What was that? Okay. So, 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:05.980 yeah, so he's going back to reunite with his 00:38:05.980 --> 00:38:09.059 family. And then what happened after that? The 00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:11.449 next day. He's sitting in the office, right? 00:38:12.230 --> 00:38:14.550 He goes to work just like he normally would because 00:38:14.550 --> 00:38:16.889 he's always the first one in the door. And what's 00:38:16.889 --> 00:38:18.769 he doing? He has his watch out, right, in his 00:38:18.769 --> 00:38:20.809 hand, his pocket watch. And he's watching those 00:38:20.809 --> 00:38:24.090 minutes tick by. Ooh, he's late again. He's late 00:38:24.090 --> 00:38:27.730 again. But he's not mad this time. He's not mad. 00:38:28.750 --> 00:38:30.530 He already knows that Cratchit's going to be 00:38:30.530 --> 00:38:33.550 late. He's not surprised. He even makes a comment. 00:38:33.570 --> 00:38:36.980 It's like, as usual, right? So here comes old 00:38:36.980 --> 00:38:39.320 Bob Cratchit running the door. So sorry, so sorry, 00:38:39.380 --> 00:38:41.239 right? He's already anticipating getting yelled 00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:46.219 at. What does Scrooge do? He kind of plays along 00:38:46.219 --> 00:38:50.460 with it for a minute, right? Just a minute. But 00:38:50.460 --> 00:38:53.260 what was the truth? He was sitting there. He 00:38:53.260 --> 00:38:56.739 was anxious. He was like a little kid. He could 00:38:56.739 --> 00:38:59.179 not wait for old Cratchit to walk in that door 00:38:59.179 --> 00:39:04.099 so he could give him another gift. It's kind 00:39:04.099 --> 00:39:06.199 of like... When you give a gift to somebody, 00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:08.460 you can't wait for them to open it, right? It 00:39:08.460 --> 00:39:09.940 doesn't matter if it's Christmas or birthday, 00:39:10.139 --> 00:39:12.960 anniversary, whatever, right? You're just sitting 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:14.880 there like, ooh, I hope they open mine first. 00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:17.519 It's that one right there with the bow, yeah. 00:39:18.539 --> 00:39:23.659 The not -cowboys wrapping paper, yeah. Right? 00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:28.119 It's exciting. It feels good, right? That's why 00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:29.760 they say it's better to give than to receive. 00:39:31.099 --> 00:39:33.400 Because it does. It feels good. It's its own 00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:37.320 reward. And that's what Scrooge was experiencing. 00:39:39.219 --> 00:39:43.960 He comes in. He's like, you're late. But that's 00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:45.440 okay because I got another surprise for you. 00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:48.179 Not only is it okay that you're late, but here's 00:39:48.179 --> 00:39:49.599 some money. I want you to go and get some coal. 00:39:49.659 --> 00:39:52.619 I want you to warm this building up. And you're 00:39:52.619 --> 00:39:56.199 getting a pay raise. And it gets even better. 00:39:56.650 --> 00:40:00.369 right it's like um oh the name just left me the 00:40:00.369 --> 00:40:03.590 the the infomercial guy uh billy mace right but 00:40:03.590 --> 00:40:07.889 wait there's more right remember him and that's 00:40:07.889 --> 00:40:09.329 what scrooge is doing he's like but wait there's 00:40:09.329 --> 00:40:12.309 more because i'm gonna do everything i can to 00:40:12.309 --> 00:40:14.369 make sure tiny tim is taken care of and your 00:40:14.369 --> 00:40:18.190 family's taken care of and ultimately the story 00:40:18.190 --> 00:40:21.869 goes on to tell him to tell that not only had 00:40:21.869 --> 00:40:25.860 he changed Not only did he keep his word and 00:40:25.860 --> 00:40:29.699 became a different man, a good man, but he became 00:40:29.699 --> 00:40:34.900 like a second father to Tiny Tim. That's amazing. 00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:41.619 This is a fictional character. What impact can 00:40:41.619 --> 00:40:43.500 each and every single one of us, what impact 00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:46.599 can you have in the life of another person by 00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:49.179 just opening up your heart and showing them the 00:40:49.179 --> 00:40:53.949 love and grace of God? By loving on them as we've 00:40:53.949 --> 00:40:57.989 been commanded to. Not getting caught up with 00:40:57.989 --> 00:40:59.829 the infighting that we see all over the place. 00:41:00.210 --> 00:41:01.710 Matter of fact, Dusty and I were just talking 00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:04.750 about this before service. There's always someplace 00:41:04.750 --> 00:41:06.730 all of us can go. There's always going to be 00:41:06.730 --> 00:41:10.650 infighting. I don't care if it's work. A lot 00:41:10.650 --> 00:41:12.130 of us, we go to work and what do we see? We see 00:41:12.130 --> 00:41:13.849 a lot of infighting there. A lot of people at 00:41:13.849 --> 00:41:15.829 each other's throats, right? It shouldn't be 00:41:15.829 --> 00:41:22.250 that way. But that's what we see. So we need 00:41:22.250 --> 00:41:24.750 to be more like Scrooge and recognize the world 00:41:24.750 --> 00:41:27.550 as a brighter and better place because of He 00:41:27.550 --> 00:41:33.409 who's in us, right? He that's in you. Because 00:41:33.409 --> 00:41:35.210 of Jesus Christ, it can absolutely not only be 00:41:35.210 --> 00:41:37.130 the same for you, but it could be the same for 00:41:37.130 --> 00:41:41.869 them. God paid the highest sacrifice, the highest 00:41:41.869 --> 00:41:46.750 price for you, for your salvation, for your reunification 00:41:46.750 --> 00:41:50.059 as an adopted member of the family. He's made 00:41:50.059 --> 00:41:54.699 wonderful promises to you for your future. And 00:41:54.699 --> 00:41:58.760 it's because he loves you. And to accept it, 00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:02.679 you need to be like Scrooge. I already asked 00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:04.219 that question. Are you a Scrooge? You need to 00:42:04.219 --> 00:42:07.679 be like him. Repent of your sin. Repent of your 00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:13.159 wrongdoings. Reclaim Jesus Christ as your Lord 00:42:13.159 --> 00:42:14.800 and Savior and accept him as your Lord and Savior. 00:42:17.389 --> 00:42:20.369 Do that and you too will see a bright and wonderful 00:42:20.369 --> 00:42:25.269 future. You will see those promises of God in 00:42:25.269 --> 00:42:29.510 your life and in your future. And as a follower 00:42:29.510 --> 00:42:31.869 of Christ, you will eagerly anticipate getting 00:42:31.869 --> 00:42:38.190 there. There's some people out there who are 00:42:38.190 --> 00:42:41.010 not afraid of death. They're excited to be reunited 00:42:41.010 --> 00:42:44.539 with the Father and with Christ. As a believer, 00:42:44.619 --> 00:42:46.639 that's the same anticipation each and every one 00:42:46.639 --> 00:42:51.059 of us should have. And on that note, let us pray. 00:42:53.300 --> 00:42:56.039 Father, we thank you again for this day. We thank 00:42:56.039 --> 00:43:00.099 you for speaking to our hearts. As we leave here 00:43:00.099 --> 00:43:02.559 today and we go into the world, teach us not 00:43:02.559 --> 00:43:07.900 to dwell on the darkness, not to dwell on these 00:43:07.900 --> 00:43:12.460 bad things as we see it. but to carry you and 00:43:12.460 --> 00:43:14.500 to carry your light into the world, into all 00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:16.000 these things, into all this darkness, so that 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:19.099 your light can shine for others to see. Let it 00:43:19.099 --> 00:43:21.460 be encouraging to us, a reminder that you called 00:43:21.460 --> 00:43:24.000 us to be a light to the world, that you've made 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:26.860 promises, that you keep your promises. Let us 00:43:26.860 --> 00:43:29.940 be a beacon to draw people near so that they 00:43:29.940 --> 00:43:33.480 can come to know you as well. Let us rejoice 00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:36.480 in this season. Take absolute joy in this season. 00:43:37.289 --> 00:43:39.730 that joy that only you bring to us, only that 00:43:39.730 --> 00:43:43.570 joy that you bring to the world. And as we ourselves 00:43:43.570 --> 00:43:46.449 struggle with those dark places that we go into, 00:43:46.510 --> 00:43:49.570 or even those dark places in our lives because 00:43:49.570 --> 00:43:53.050 of our experiences and our pains and our hurts, 00:43:53.190 --> 00:43:57.030 we ask for your healing embrace, we ask for your 00:43:57.030 --> 00:44:00.010 protection, and we ask for your guidance to take 00:44:00.010 --> 00:44:03.280 us through it all. In Jesus' name. Amen and amen. 00:44:03.579 --> 00:44:05.599 And remember, as you leave here today, you are 00:44:05.599 --> 00:44:07.980 loved and you are blessed, so go and be the church. 00:44:10.500 --> 00:44:13.559 Thank you for joining us at Healing Scars with 00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.719 Pastor Burton. If this message spoke to you or 00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:18.659 if you would like to help us reach more people, 00:44:18.860 --> 00:44:22.960 please like, review, and share our podcast. You 00:44:22.960 --> 00:44:25.500 can learn more about our ministry or how you 00:44:25.500 --> 00:44:32.250 can support us at www .thecross66 .org. Until 00:44:32.250 --> 00:44:35.090 next time, take care and God bless.