Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey. Can we give God praise this evening? Lord, we're just so grateful, Lord, that you have conquered the greatest problems that we could lord, that tonight, even as we celebrate this resurrection weekend, lord, would you lead us and guide us to you? Because we wanna honor you, but we also wanna experience you tonight. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Hey. Can we also say welcome to our, church family online? Hey, guys. Thanks for joining us as well.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:38]:
We hope to see you guys in person sometime soon. I know sometimes that, people who are just checking us on the first time also that you guys often, come and check us out online. So thank you for doing that. Hey. You know that Easter, this resurrection weekend celebrates really the greatest news that could possibly be that this seem like a little more crazy than normal? Right? If you see what's going on in the world, sometimes what we see going on in our island, whether it's what happened in Manoa, what happens it's it seems that that on this kind of an increasing sense, but yet in the midst of that that God says, hey, that I have not left you. I have not abandoned you. In fact, I made a way. And that the the living God, the risen Jesus, that because of what he's done, he's made a way for people to be reconnected to God, that we can have a close personal relationship with him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:40]:
And this Easter, this resurrection weekend, that what we wanna do is is not just honor what he's done, but we wanna experience what he's done. And so we really believe, to be honest, that it's possible for for any of us, no matter if this is your 1st day or if you've been a believer for many, many years, that that God has a a journey that he wants old timer, or if you've been around for a bit. But I believe for every person that God has a journey he wants for them, and that's our goal. That, to be honest, you might see them on the on the wall in our place that we believe that God has 4 things that that he wants each and every person here, online, those in Kapolei. To be honest, everybody on the island, everyone on the planet to be able to experience these four things. And the first thing is this, that that you would know Him. Right? That you would know God. Because this thing that we do, this faith that we have, it's not a religion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:46]:
Right? You don't have to bow down to something or just follow a bunch of rules. It's about having a real relationship with God that where you can experience him in a way that it makes you wanna enjoy it. Right? So aren't you glad that God doesn't want you to, endure it, but he wants you to enjoy it? And when you have an alive relationship with him, then things that are that different things become available to you. Second thing is this, that I really believe that that everybody here, you don't go through life, right, without getting some on you, right, that getting some of the hardships of life. And to be honest, I think all of us that we carry, you know, a few wounds. We carry a few scars because one thing I know about each person in here is that not only have you made your mistakes and that you've sinned, but that you've been sinned against. Right? That everybody here. And so sometimes what happens is we end up carrying things that, to be honest, that that if we didn't have it, that life would be better.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:47]:
Right? Sometimes it's a attitude, sometimes a perspective, sometimes it's a wound. There's different things. And so we believe that God wants everyone to be able to find freedom. That that not to be hemmed in by your past, but that's you can let go of some of those things so that you can embrace today and that you can have a better tomorrow. And so each of us have that. And as one of the things that we do is we even have a course for that to we call Finding Freedom, and we're planning to do one of those courses at the beginning sometime in May. So if you're interested in that, please let us know as well. But that one of the things that I've seen is it's just changed and transforms people's relationship with God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:31]:
You know, I remember talking to a friend where he would talk about the some of the things that he experienced in the war, and and he said that he lost a bunch of friends one day, and to be honest, he wasn't there. And then when that weekend would come, that that anniversary would come, we had our Finding Freedom retreat. And and he was filled with joy, and he was filled with a sense of lightness. And I remember asking him, like, man, you look so happy today. And he said this, you know, this is the first this this is the anniversary of that whole event. He says, this is the first weekend over the last 12 years where I haven't spent in my room drunk out of my mind and just isolated from my family. And it's wise because he found freedom. And maybe that's not your thing, but we all have something, you know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:30]:
And and so the other thing is that God wants you to discover purpose. Because there is a reason for you to be on the face of the planet. You're not just a a mistake or a happenstance or a product of chance, but God designed you on purpose, and He put you on the face of the planet for a reason. Sometimes we don't know what that is, and you can discover that. And part of it is the way God made you. Because to be honest, your design kinda indicates purpose. Right? You have how how many ears do you have? 2. 2.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:04]:
Okay. Well, I mean, you can have less than 1. I'm less than 2, I guess. But but, yeah, most of all, generally, we all have 2 ears. And how many mouths do you have? 1. 1. Right. Because we could we're supposed to listen twice as much as we speak.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:15]:
Right? So sometimes purpose design indicates purpose, but when you know how God has designed you that, to be honest, then you start to see God's purpose. And part of that is the last thing, is that you understand how to make a difference. Because I think at the end, most of us want to say that it mattered that I existed and that I took I didn't just take up space on the planet one day, you know, that I I had some fun, you know, I I I ate some good food, I traveled, I did all this, but it really was ultimately meaningless. And so everybody wants to learn how to make a difference, but you can't discover your purpose apart from your creator, and you can't make a difference about apart from impacting people's lives because ultimately, God's concern is about people. And so, we want you guys to know whether you you're in this place of getting to know God, experiencing him, finding freedom, discovering a purpose, or or making a difference that that this can be available to everybody. And, you know, this evening, as we're starting out still in our our time together, I did wanna bring your attention to something that we haven't done actually since the pandemic, and and that is to, to do a survey. What we used to do every Easter, we used to do a service every Easter because why? Because to be honest, in general, most of the folks come, they come on Easter. Most of them come on Sunday, but that there are those of us even here this weekend on Saturday, that it looks just like our regular connect card, but we want to do a couple of things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:49]:
1 is to update our database because people move, people get different email addresses, they change phone numbers, like, sometimes because you wanna get the free phone that we've done in the past. So it looks just like a regular connect card, but on the back, there is an Easter survey. And I'm gonna ask you, can you just take this out from your, bulletins tonight? Because we want everybody everybody to fill one out. And if you need a pen that we can give you a pen, sure you guys wanna hand out. Anybody need a pen? Right? And, you don't have to fill it all out right now, but we want everybody in the course of our time that would you take this time to fill this out, because there's a couple things that we want to understand. One of those is this, if you if there's anything that you want to hear in the future, at some point, that in a few months that we wanna know what it is that you want to hear. Now, we pray, We talk about it. We we plan.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:44]:
There's a team that helps us talk about the things that we talk about. But to be honest, sometimes it's just easier to ask. Right? And so we wanna know. And, we usually do a series when it comes to that. It's, sometimes it's just called because you asked. Right? And we wanna talk about the things that are important to you, or the things that might be bothering you, the things that have troubled you. So let us know, and that we'd love to know that. And sometimes people are looking for a connection because it's one thing to be able to come to church or even to tune in online, it's another thing to be connected.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:17]:
And I believe that God made us social beings, and everybody needs a connection. Whether you actually feel like it or not, that all of us, our lives get better. Right? It it tends to have our pains and multiply our joy. So if you're looking for a place of connection, there's nothing if you feel like there's any way that we can help you grow in your faith, and then we also wanna know how you how you heard about us. You know, I I'm not the most social media guy. I in fact, I have zero social media stuff. That's the last thing. But sometimes we we wanna be able to reach out to to folks, friends, neighbors, people who are out there.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:54]:
And there's just other thing on the bottom, and we'll talk about that a little later. But please take some time, just fill out the Easter survey and fill out the connect card on the front because we wanna make sure that, we're not sending stuff to an old address or that, to be honest, if you wanna get a hold of us, that you're not able to get a hold of us. And so we we can, have that connection as well. So take some time, and we'll come back to that, at the end. Hey, you know, this evening, though, we're gonna jump into our our message together, and it's one of my favorite verses when it comes to resurrection weekend, and that's found in Romans 8:11. And it's not just because that we're here not just to celebrate what Jesus did, but did you know that he wants you to experience what he's done for you personally? And this is what we're gonna read together tonight. It's found in Romans 8:11. It's on your it's gonna be on the screens.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:52]:
You have it in your notes as well. But would you be kind enough? Let's stand together, and then we'll read out loud. Let's stand in reverence for God, run his reverence for his word, and we'll read this out loud together. And it says it like this. Ready? Let's read. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by the same spirit living within you. Because Easter was never designed just to be an event.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:27]:
Hey, just come on Easter or just come on Christmas. Right? That that although we want people to come, it was never designed to just be an event where we say, Jesus rose from the dead and say, hey. Good for you, Jesus. Right? That's awesome that you could rise from the dead. That's not what it says, is it? It says because Jesus raised from the dead, he also has given us his spirit and that lives in you. Why? What is it supposed to do? Bring to life things that, to be honest, are not doing well. And I think everybody here that there's different areas of our life that, to be honest, it's not quite thriving the way you'd like. Sometimes it's a relationship.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:09]:
Sometimes it's a sometimes it's an aspect of your life, whether it's a career thing or whatever it is that's going on in your life. Sometimes what God wants to do is bring dead things to life. I've seen God do it in marriages. I've seen God do it. I've had the privilege to do weddings of people who've been divorced, who got remarried because God, when they encountered him, brought that thing back to life, things that they had not even thought about. But God has the capacity to do it because he's the living God. And the good news is this, that whatever things in you right now, that there's a place that's fading. There's a place that's difficult.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:49]:
There's a place that, man, it just seems like nothing's happening. God wants to bring life. So before you're seated, do me a favor. Just turn to your neighbor and just say, aren't you glad God wants to bring life those things that are fading? And then you can you can have a seat. Alright. There's sometimes there's some of us that you can't tell looking from the outside, right? That we look great on the outside, but inside sometimes we're dying. Sometimes we're struggling. And it might not look like it, but to be honest, if we're honest, there's there's areas that we're struggling in and and God wants to touch those areas because He's a God who's a living God and He wants you to have life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:30]:
And so this evening that as we are starting, that we wanna look at what's some of the implications that as a result of the resurrection. What's some of the implications that Jesus would die on the cross, but that he was raised again? We don't wanna just look at it like as a historical fact, but what we want to understand is that how then does God wanna work and impact our lives today as a result of what he's done. And one of those things that we have to say is the resurrected King can resurrect you, that the resurrected King can resurrect you. It says it like this in Matthew 2711. He says, now Jesus was standing before Pilate, and this is, before before he was crucified, the the Roman governor. He says, are you the king of the Jews? The governor asked him. And Jesus' reply is what? You have said it. You've said it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:28]:
Right? Because you know why Jesus was crucified? It wasn't for any crime. There was nothing that He had done that would have been considered a crime. He was ultimately crucified because of who he is. Now some of us, to be honest, that that you've heard Jesus described as the forgiving Jesus. You've heard Jesus described as the loving Jesus. You've heard Jesus described as the gracious Jesus. And He is all that. Right? He is all that, but that's not all He is.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:00]:
That's not all He is. He's not just some forgiving God. It's like he's not like a kind old man. He's just he's a king. And he was crucified. He was crucified not because He did anything wrong, but because of who He was. Now, as a result of that as a result of that, not everybody believed Him. Right? But that instead, what they did was when they understood that He was the King, right, that He was King Jesus, that they mocked him, that they that they belittled him, that they that they didn't believe.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:37]:
It says in in 27, it says, and they wolfed thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. And last night when we got together, as we talked on Good Friday, that that there there was a torture that he he went through. And just as the just as the prophet 700 years before Jesus was born said would happen. That he was pierced for our transgressions, that that he he would bear our sin, and that he would take our guilt and our shame upon himself, and he would be beaten so badly he would be barely recognizable as a man. And so they did that. It says that they they put a crown of thorns on his head, and they placed a reed and stuck it in his hand, and they knelt before him in mockery and taunted him. Hail, King of the Jews. And spit on him, and grabbed the stick, and struck him on the head.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:33]:
They mocked him. And you don't it it describes much more than that. The scourging that was done that it's not with a whip as much as a instrument of torture that that would disembowel a person. That it it was, it it was a horrific situation. But when they nailed him to the cross, they put above his head in three languages the description of his crime. And all it said was Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Said it in Greek, said it in Hebrew, said it in Aramaic. And so that everybody could see, this is his crime.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:12]:
What was his crime? For who he was. Now, for some, in some ways, that, you know, when they mocked him and when they beat him, in some ways, they absolutely knew what they were doing. But maybe they didn't quite understand who they were really doing it to. And it says on Jesus' words that as he hung on the cross, as he saw those who persecuted him, beat him, and nailed him to the cross, what does he say? If it was me, what would you say? If it was you, what would you say? Get them, Lord. Fry them. Right? I probably, you know, that would be probably what I would say. Right? But what does He say? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. They knew exactly what they did.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:02]:
They just didn't believe that they were doing it to the king. Jesus was king. But, you know, later, after the resurrection, when when they saw a man who had died, a man who has no right being alive, when they saw him and performing the same miracles, when it was evidenced, it says, among contemporaries, 500 at one time. Even extra biblical materials talk about Jesus alive after the crucifixion, and how they saw that it was because of this faith, because of this conviction that men gave their lives. Now how many of you would give your life for a lie? Something that you knew to be untrue. But because men and women saw him, experienced him, met him, that they were willing at times even to give their life. And some of our brothers and sisters are doing that right now all over the world. Not just in Myanmar, but in Korea, North Korea, not South Korea.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:11]:
In North Korea, in places at times, in communist countries around the world, in Muslim countries around the world, it happens today. It happens today. Still. Why? Because they meant the living Jesus. You don't do it for an idea. You don't just do it for a religion. You do it because you've experienced this. But later in the scriptures, if you look in your Bible, the last book in the Bible almost at the very end, it describes Jesus not simply as kind Jesus, not as Jesus who who who just forgives, not as Jesus who's the healer, not as Jesus who's the prophet, not as Jesus who can is he those things? Yes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:58]:
Yes. He's those things, but he's more than that. It describes him very differently. And it says it like this in Revelation 19. It says, then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And its rider was named Faithful and True. Would you know this, that God is faithful and true? That sometimes whatever it is that wherever it is that you've been, whatever it is that you've done, that maybe we haven't been as faithful as we should be. But God is always gonna be faithful and true.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:28]:
And he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. And so as king, he is not simply a ruler, but he will be a judge. And then it says this, and his eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many what? Crowns. Who gets crowns? Kings. Kings get crown. And he wore a robe dipped in blood, right, by his sacrifice, and his title was the word of God. And on his robe and at his side was written this title. What does it say? Let's read that last two phrases together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:03]:
Ready? Let's read. King of all kings and Lord of all lords. You know, Elvis once was said, Elvis, you're the king. And reportedly he said, I'm I'm not the king. There's only one king. His name is Jesus. Right? But you know other kings, the king of England bows his knee before Jesus. The different kings around the world that say that their king is not they don't say, I'm just my king, I'm my own king.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:36]:
He says, no. That Jesus is king. And so we see that the scriptures say that, yes, Jesus is kind. He's forgiving. He he he touches people. He he reaches know, He's King. Now some of us, you know, you said that you've tried religion and have come to church before. Right? I I've tried to read the Bible.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:05]:
I've prayed. Right? But but it didn't work for me. Somehow it just I I, you know, I watched I went to the movie with my friends that my friends wanted me to see, or watched The Chosen, or whatever it is. And, you know, the the thing is you just said, hey, it it didn't do anything for me. It didn't work for me. Now, I know what that's like because before I became a follower of Jesus, I believed that there was something. Right? And and in college, you know, I had my religious philosophy, and and and I believed there was something out there. And we we took some classes, and we talked about things, and I believed there was some kind of a spiritual dimension.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:43]:
It was a little bit of a hodgepodge of things. You know, it was it was something I learned as I studied and read different philosophies. It was something that, you know, having been raised kinda more like in a Buddhist background, having been in a place where, you know, I studied science and I looked at all these things, and I knew that, you know, scientifically, right, that that although this thing is solid, right, that the atoms that the atoms that make this up, right? There is more space between these pieces of this the size of this wood. There's more space than actual physical matter atoms. Right? Because those structure, right, there's more space between them when they're locked into molecules. And and we I understood those things. And so I had this philosophy. I had this thought.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:28]:
I had this thing that I said, this was my faith. Right? But you know the only problem was? When my life got rocked, it didn't work. It didn't work. It it didn't help me. It didn't it didn't make any difference. I still felt such confusion and pain and and and didn't know how to proceed in the midst of that. Why? Because to be honest, I wasn't really I didn't have a connection to God. I just had my own thoughts about it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:02]:
And what I really was worshiping, to be honest, was my own wisdom. Right? That that the things that I could piece together. I didn't realize that God made me and I was making my own God. Right? And so I understand. If you've had a faith that doesn't work, to be honest, that's why we're talking about tonight is that God wants you to have a faith that works, that makes a difference in the realities of life. Because all of us will go through hard times. Right? All of us will have things that are bigger than us. All of us will have challenges that cause us to dig deeper.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:37]:
But in those moments, you wanna be able to have a faith that works. Right? That sometimes maybe you lose your joy. Maybe that you you have a financial situation. Maybe there's relational issues, but everybody has something. But when you have a faith that works because you have a faith that's based in the living God. Now I don't I'm not sure where everybody's coming from. Right? We might come from different places. Some of us were raised in the church.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:04]:
Some of us never been to church. Some of us might be in church for the first time tonight, or you might be watching online for the first time tonight. And it doesn't Right? Fair. Tell your neighbor you can't change your background. But you can change your direction. Right? You can change where you've been, but you can change where you're going. Right? Now now sometimes the reason why we don't experience this, sometimes the reason why we don't understand how to make the conditions or how to how to make our faith work is because sometimes it's easy to miss the fact that there is a condition that Jesus has. Right? That there is a condition, and sometimes we don't see it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:49]:
Why? It's because we've heard about all the unconditionality things about things. But there is a response on our part that is necessary. Right? He he he doesn't just, you know, he and it's true that he doesn't love you for what you can do for him. Right? He it's true that he doesn't love you because you gotta earn it or anything like that. Right? Because if you gotta earn love, that's not really love. Right? It's something else. Sometimes you might feel like I've earned love. If you did, you earned something, but that's probably not love.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:18]:
But, you know, this thing is that we we do all hear that God is gracious. And so we sometimes forget that there's a response that's necessary from us for us to experience things. And so we mistake that. Right? And so we think, I just I don't have to do anything and God does everything, but that's not the way it it is. Because in any relationship, it's two way, isn't it? Right? Every relationship. If the relationship only goes one way, it's not much of a relationship. It's not much of a relationship. So maybe we end up sometimes living on the surface relationship with God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:54]:
Why is that? Because we haven't gone deep enough yet that allows us to experience all that God is, that doesn't allow us to experience His presence or His power, doesn't allow us to experience that we are we can hear His voice, doesn't allow us to experience the things that gives us the breakthrough when we need it? And but sometimes we keep that in a back pocket. We just say, God, when I have problems or when I have troubles, and then maybe that's when I'll pray. Right? And when, you know, maybe when things are totally out of control, then that's when I now it's not that God doesn't want you to to pray in those moments, He does. But I I'd say that's not enough. Right? And so sometimes the reason is, though sometimes the reason is it's hard for us to understand this aspect that Jesus is a king. Why? Because most of us never grew up in a kingdom. Right? If you grew up in the United States, what did you grow up in? I'm looking for an answer. This is not a rhetorical question.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:54]:
Yeah. That's right. You grew up in a democracy. Right? And what's the what's the founding document of our democracy? The constitution. Anybody remember what that first line of the constitution is? We the people. We the people. Right? And so if you grew up in a democracy, you grew up in a we the people thing, right, that it it still puts people at the front. Right? It it puts people at the forefront of things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:20]:
Right? And it's like that there's this this aspect of of us being much more people centered. Right? Much more, to be honest, individualistic because this is what it our our constitution was founded on what the fact that we didn't like the government of where we came from, from when they came from England. Right? And so this is what they said, so we'll just change the law. Right? We'll just change the law. Now And so, we tend to be much more individualistic and self ruled. Right? If you live in a democracy. And most of us, to be honest, we're concerned not so much what other people think, we're more concerned about what we think and what we say. Right? And so, now, here's the thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:02]:
If in in terms of human governments, I think democracy is the best way to go. Right? Don't make mistake. I'm not I'm not I'm not out so that we would have a totalitarian regime or anything like that. But the the difference is this, that because we come from a democracy, because we don't understand what kings are like or kingdoms are like, that sometimes when we don't like something, this is what we think. We just change it. Right? I'll just do what I want. I'll just I'll just do and and so we we when we do that, we can break God's laws, but what we realize is that you just don't get the chance you can do whatever that you wanna do. You are.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:40]:
You have that ability. But what you're not free to do is have no consequences for those things. And sometimes by the time we realize the consequences, man, it's so much more painful than it needs to be because we break our conscious is on those things, because we go against the God who made us a certain way. And sometimes we wanna convince ourselves that, hey, you know what? No. I'll be fine. I'll be fine till you realize you're not fine. Right? I don't know if you guys have ever been in that place where you realize there is a God and I'm not it. Right? But I I kind of grew up being my own God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:17]:
That's the way I was raised. You got to make it happen. That whatever it is that goes on, Glenn, it's all up to you. And I lived that way for for many years. But you know what I found? I didn't make a good God. I didn't have the wisdom. I didn't have the power. I didn't I didn't have the foresight.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:35]:
To be honest, I did so often the exact opposite of what should have been done. Now, those are things that happen when you live in a democracy. Right? Because we change it. Right? So today, they're in the place where he says, hey, you know what? That if people, you know, like, if they they're criminals sick, then just let them out. Right? Just let them out. If if we're there's drugs, then just let people do what they want. How many of us that we have been on the short end of the stake? Because that's the kind of way that we lived. That's the way I lived.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:10]:
Right? And so here's the thing, that the kingdom of God is not a democracy. And a lot of us, to be honest, you work in places that's not a democracy. You guys have ever been in that place? I'm sorry. This is not a democracy. Right? That you you some of us when we go home, you tell your kids, this is not a democracy. Right? This is we're not doing votes here. Right? Dad or mom, we're in control. Right? We we have the responsibility to lead.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:37]:
Right? I've been in places where I had to say that. You know, we were on a mission trip to Japan, and we're I brought a bunch of folks with us, the Hawaii kids and college kids. And when I was working as a missionary, and and we were there, and we had some clear rules that we said, you know, before, and you gotta you gotta, you know, honor the the pastor and the church that we're gonna be at, and there's some cultural differences. And Japan is not Hawaii. And many of us that's why you guys love to go to Japan because Japan is not Hawaii. Right? They have good food. Right? But the culture is different. I don't know if you guys noticed this, but, one of the guys was there, and he was just kinda the guy was just talking to the girls all the time, touching them, and doing all these things, and and and and the girls would laugh.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:22]:
Right? Like that thing. And here's the thing. This is what he thought. Oh, they think I'm funny. They think I'm funny, but you know what that means? That when they do this and they laugh, I'm uncomfortable. That's actually what that means. Right? You know how I know? I have a Japanese wife. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:38]:
But, but but that's it's it's it's a cultural cue. Right? And so I started telling the the guy, I started saying, hey, brother. You gotta you gotta chill out a little bit. You gotta don't touch the girls. Don't keep pressing. Just because they laugh, you're misinterpreting these things. And this was his response. That's just the way that I am.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:58]:
I can't control it. And I had to tell him, buddy, this is not a democracy. I am gonna put you on a plane and send you back to Honolulu if you don't listen. He listened. Right? Because he understood it. That part, it's not a democracy. Now, kings I'm not a king, but I was in charge at that time. Right? And we all understand that, that sometimes we're not asking.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:23]:
Sometimes God's not asking because kings are sovereign rulers in their own realms. Right? That that that the culture is formed around the king, and the king's priorities, and the king's ways. So when you live in a kingdom, you don't just live for yourself, although you have your own life. Right? But you live in king and his wisdom, sometimes more than your wisdom. Right? Because he has a place of authority, especially when the king is God. Right? In in the gospel of John, it says it like this. This is what our King is like. In the beginning was the in the beginning, the word already existed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:16]:
The word was with God, and the word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him and nothing was created except through him. The God that we serve is the creator. The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. God's concerned about everybody. And so the word became human and made his home among us. Why? Because we couldn't figure it out on our own, because we couldn't fix all the things that we broke.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:48]:
So he didn't just watch us from a distance. God's not just some distant faraway god. He came near, and He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we've seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. And so we see that even Jesus, when he walked the face of the earth, he submitted himself to his father and he said, not my will be done, but your will be done. And so we understand that I that in a kingdom, we submit our will to His will. See, living a kingdom and experiencing God as king, Jesus as king, the resurrected king is very different than how we do it in a democracy. Right? And so what we see going on so the question becomes the question becomes, is he your king? Right? Is he your king? You can be you can be in the church for dozens of years.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:49]:
Right? And really, you're still the king. Right? I I I run into people all the time that, you know, we we can talk about how long I've been a believer. But we talk about, to be honest, how we do things our way. And God doesn't want you to be a king to subjugate you though. He doesn't want to be a king to subjugate you. He wants to be your king because so he can bring into His family. You see, God doesn't just have subjects. He has sons and daughters.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:26]:
And He wants you to be part of the family. Right? Do me for you. Turn to your neighbor who says, God wants you to be part of His family. And he doesn't have he doesn't have favorites. Right? He doesn't have he doesn't have step kids. Right? He doesn't have those that that are are kinda half, you know, connected. They say, you're not mine. Really? Right? Because he says this, although we're all adopted, you know, somebody said this, what's the difference between being adopted and and being a kinda natural born child? And and and and this child had been adopted, and and and he always kind of felt I wasn't the real a real kid.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:04]:
And so he's asked his mom, what mom, what does it mean that I know I'm not your real child? She says, no, you you're my real child. So but I'm adopted. And the the mom looked at the son and said, son, you know, all that means is that that you weren't born out of my body. You were born out of my heart. Right? Right? Because I wanted you and I chose you to be part of my family. And so God wants you to be He wants to be your king. Why? Because He wants you to be part of the family. Now, Jesus told that a story about that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:41]:
Right? That he told a story about a a a family that a father who had 2 sons. And and one was kind of like the good son. How many of you guys growing up, you were the good child? Right? Okay. Yeah. I I can picture Laurie. I know that you were probably the good child. Right? And some of us that we were not the good child. Right? I I wasn't the good child for some of those years.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:03]:
And, but he tells about the story of a rebellious son and kinda like the good son. Well, the rebellious son, he goes up to his dad and he tells the dad, dad, give me all my inheritance now. I I'm not gonna wait till you get old and die. I just want it now. And what he's saying to his dad is that I I rather, to be honest, you be dead so I can get my inheritance. And so, how would you treat? How would you react to that? Man, I'd be outraged. Right? If if my kids told me that, I would be saying, there's a curb right now. You might wanna go sit on that place because, because if not, I might lose it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:36]:
No. But the thing is that but in the story, Jesus doesn't do that. The story the the the dad doesn't do this. Instead, what does he do? He indulges. He gives them all the money, and he says, okay, this is what you want. He gives them everything that he has or the half that he would have got, and it says the son takes it, and he just goes out and lives the high life. Right? He's buying whatever he wants. He's partying out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:01]:
He's he's hanging out with the ladies. He's doing all these things until he comes to the place where the money is out. I don't know if you guys ever been like having a great time. Right? Good friends that that you think until something happens and then all your friends leave. Right? When when it gets a little tough I've been in that place too. I've been in that place before. And and it says that it's at that point then you start understanding, man, I guess the buddies that I thought I had might not be what I thought I had. Right? And so it says that at this point, it it talks about it in this passage in this passage in verse The other question is, when do you finally come to your senses? For some of us, it is when you hit bottom.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:59]:
Right? For some of us, it's it's when you get this epiphany. Right? Sometimes you come to his senses, and sometimes we're deceived. Sometimes we deceive ourselves. But it says when he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, at home, even the hired servants have food enough to spare. And here I am dying of hunger. I'll go home. I'll go home to my father and say, father, I have sinned against both heaven and you. And was it so kind of a a humility? Right? You guys ever had that that time where you just said, you know, I I know I asked for it, but I was wrong.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:36]:
Right? I know I I know I felt I deserved it, but it was a mistake. He humbles himself. And he says, so he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Now, if this was a local story, if this was a local story where somebody told their dad, I wish you were dead. Give me my inheritance. I don't care what it cost you. That's what I want.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:10]:
They got the money, blew the money, right, travel, go around the world, partying at the latest clubs, right? Hanging out with all these and and blew the whole inheritance, and when they came home, what would be the typical response? Get the right? Like Right? That might be a typical local story. Right? But what does it say? His father saw him coming a long way and didn't lock the door. Instead, filled with love and compassion Let's say that. Filled with love and compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. And his father said to his servants, quick, bring the finest robe in the house. Put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet, for the son of mine was dead and has now returned to life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:09]:
He was lost, but now he's found. You know the reason that sometimes we don't recognize that Jesus is King? Because we don't always recognize too that the father's heart, that the father's heart is when you understand the father's heart, is that all of us, there's a little bit of prodigal in all of us. Right? Where we've we just wanted to do it our way. We've just wanted to live our life. Sometimes we didn't care what what God wanted. We didn't care what our family wanted. We're doing it our way. And you know what? Sometimes it goes well for a a great long season, but sometimes it's when you hit that place, I hope that we come to our senses.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:51]:
But when you understand it, it's why does God want you to understand these things? Because He loves you, because he's compassionate, because he's caring, because he's just, because we all will stand for account. And so God wants you to experience his kindness. Right? And so there's all all of us have a little bit of prodigal in us. All of us have a little bit of this sun, of rebellion and and independence, and I see it different, and I don't care how you think and that's your way, but this is my way. But he says this, you know what, when you come home, the door is still open. The light's still on. You guys ever been through that? I remember in high school, coming home, 4 o'clock in the morning, trying to creep in. You guys remember some of those days? Right? And you know the thing is that I've had friends who were locked out of their house.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:53]:
Right? I've had friends that just this when they came home, they came so late, door was locked, light was off, and the whole thing. Right? But I've come home and and the porch light on. And I sheepishly turned the knob and the knob's doors open. We didn't lock our doors back then. Right? You know, the thing is that God keeps the porch light on. God keeps the door unlocked. He just said you gotta come to your senses. And, you know, the thing is that God has that heart, but but resurrection power, the power that can bring those dead things to life is only activated at the level of submission and devotion that you have for him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:43]:
You see, the thing is that he's the door will be open, but we don't really experience his presence and his power maybe that if all we have is a transactional relationship. Right? That all we have is a the thing is that you if you do this, I'll do that. And and and and we don't understand because we don't understand his heart. We don't understand his will. We don't understand his ways. But resurrection power of Jesus is activated at the level of submission and devotion. So if you have zero submission and zero devotion, to be honest, you don't really experience God, and faith won't work for you. Right? Because you what are you trusting? You're still trusting in yourself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:25]:
But when you submit yourself to God, when you understand His heart and you say, I wanna respond to that, even if you've been even if you've never been, door's still open. Door's still open. We just gotta be willing to receive it. You know, it reminds me of of something that I I I read in a in one of the books. It's in the book in the old testament. It's found in the book of Daniel. And Daniel was a young leader in a culture that was so different than than how he was raised. Right? And and to be honest, for many of us right now, sometimes you look at the the world that we're living in, and it seems so foreign from how we were raised.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:07]:
Right? How we grew up and what we think makes sense. Right? And and so it was in modern day Iraq, which was the, and and a little bit of Iran. And it's it's a superpower of its state. It was called the kingdom of Babylon. And Daniel grew up in a in that in that environment, and he was a man who was very educated and respected because of his integrity and the way that he walked closely with God. And not only was he respected and educated, but he had position and influence. And so, Daniel was a man that the king depended on, that the king would call on from time to time. And the king, who was the king of Babylon, right, who was the superpower of the day, right, His name was Nebuchadnezzar.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:55]:
And, Nebuchadnezzar thought he was all that. Right? You guys know anybody who's like, man, I'm all that. You know what I'm talking about? Like, you guys should be lucky to be my friend. Right? Or right? That kind of a thing. Now the the reason he thought that because he was a self made man. He did. He did build the kingdom up way beyond his predecessors. Right? He did expand territory.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:18]:
He was skilled and accomplished. He was known as a builder and not just a conquering king. He's known to have built one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. You guys ever heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? This is Nebuchadnezzar's part of his legacy. Right? But he was also very prideful and arrogant. Right? Because he thought he's a self made man. Right? And it's all about him and his ways because he's the king. Right? And and I'm always right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:49]:
So that's how he is. But Nebuchadnezzar started to have these terrifying dreams. And in these dreams that he he had was he saw a tree and and this tree began to grow, and it grow and grew, and it became huge and magnificent. And it says that surrounding place came and rested in its shade, and birds and other animals came and lived in its tree, it lived in its branches. And and then it grew so big that it was like, you know, it's just a dream. Right? So it's not like exactly, but it says that and everybody in the land could see the tree from wherever it was, and and then all of a sudden that there was a warning. Right? There was a warning that says, cut down the tree. Cut down the tree.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:31]:
And so the tree was cut down, and everything scattered, and and all that was left was a stump. And this dream was so terrifying to him that he never he never told anybody to dream. Instead, he asked people, can you tell me my dream? Because he was too nervous to tell the dream so that they would kinda interpret it their way. But he asked Daniel because finally, there was no one in the kingdom who could interpret or who could tell him the dream that he had, neither then interpret the dream. But Daniel comes onto the scene and he tells him the dream like spot on. He says, this is what you dreamed, right? That you saw the tree and it was growing and everything was good and everything was living under that and everything was beautiful and every and everybody saw you. Right? But here's the thing. The tree is you, And God's warning is if you don't humble yourself before God, he's gonna cut you down and you're gonna be the stump.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:36]:
And you see, because you refuse to acknowledge God as king, because you think it's just all about you, you think all this stuff that you accomplished, it's all just because you were a great guy. Humble yourself before God and seek him. That's the warning that Daniel gives to him. Now, God gives warnings. Right? He he has no pleasure in just cutting off your life at the legs. Right? He has no pleasure in doing that. And so he gives the warning, but sure enough, Nebuchadnezzar continues on his on his pathway. And a year later to the day that the very thing that he said happened.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:20]:
And he says, this is what happened. He says, you'll be driven away from people and will live with wild animals. And you will eat grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. And 7 times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, and gives them to anyone he wishes. And the command to leave the stump of the tree with its root means that your kingdom will be restored to you when, let's say the word when. When. When you acknowledge that heaven rules. Right? That when you acknowledge that heaven rules.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:58]:
And whether he actually ate grass and walked around on his fours is to me, I don't think is the point. Right? But the thing is he lost his mind. He lost his mind. He went insane. The the description it gives is that he his fingernails that grew and were curled and that he lived like this for 7 years, It resembled more like talons or claws than it did human hands. And we understood that that somebody else had to come and rule in his place as a result. Now, many of us today, maybe you don't relate to that itself, but to be honest, so many of us today, it feels like something's insane in our life. Right? If you saw my marriage behind closed doors, man, it's it's crazy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:47]:
Right? If you saw if you saw my financial situation, I I I don't know how I'm doing it. Right? The the pressure that you're under or the social pressure that you're under to be to feel liked or to feel accepted or to to get promoted or whatever is that you or maybe you look at the country. Does the country seem crazy? Right? I think that the country seems crazy because we're living in a culture that's already crazy, and we're living in the midst of these last days. And so we see the craziness of our country and don't dare to think that that should be normal. It's not. It's not. But when we humble ourselves and we say, God, that there's a different way, and I know that you rule and reign. Right? Nebuchadnezzar ignored the warning, and so he paid the price for 7 years.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:39]:
But you know the good news is, the door was still open and the light was still on. And so, after 7 years, it says, he repented. After 7 years, he came to his senses. Right? Because the father heart of God. And he says, at the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and, what, my sanity was restored. And then I praised the Most High. I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:14]:
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, endured from generation to generation. He says, at the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven because everything he does is right and all his ways are just, and those who walk in pride, he is able to humble. And so as we come to this place in our, in our message, we just to be honest, that God doesn't need you to come in on the bottom. You don't have to be at rock bottom to come to your senses. That's not the point. A lot of us, that's what it takes. You can come in at the top.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:12]:
He's just saying just come. I've known some people who've who've had it all together and and were able just to humble themselves. And they didn't have this big crash and lost everything and then that's not their story. Because they were a they did have they did have some downward momentum, they but they were able to humble themselves. And I've seen men and I've seen women in that kind of position where they start to say, God I've been living all this thing and it's all been about me, But I recognize, to be honest, if it wasn't for you, right, if it wasn't for you, and they humbled themselves and things were restored. Why does God want that for us? Because as His sons and as His daughters, then we can experience the fullness of what He has. We can experience His grace. Yes.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:12]:
We can experience his forgiveness. We can experience his mercy. But you have a faith then that works in everyday life. Right? It's not just the thing that you pull out when the car's off the road, but you can experience on a daily basis. And that's what really God wants. And so this evening before we pray, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to take out that card that we looked at a little earlier, that connect card, This card. And on the bottom, you you see there's these letters a, b, c, and d.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:53]:
And, in the spiritual survey, one of the things that we'd like everybody to to have a chance is To be honest, you're you're one of these. Everybody's somewhere. Right? And let me just explain what they mean. A a is that Jesus is already my King. Right. I settled that already. Jesus is already my King. Now we're not talking about savior.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:18]:
We're not talking about somebody who I know is forgiving, not somebody who I know is a good teacher or a righteous person. I believe Jesus existed. But you've made Him King. You submitted yourself to Him. You're you're seeking Him, right? You're you're trying to do His will, not just your own will only. And so that's a. And there's a bunch of us, to be honest, if you we haven't done this in since before the pandemic, but that's a. Right? So if you've been around for a long time, that's that's where you are or maybe just you don't have to be around a long time to be a.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:52]:
To be honest, you can even have been very short. And B, B is this, B is beginning today. Beginning today I wanna have this kind of relationship with God. Beginning today. For some of us, beginning today means I'm beginning again. Right? Because we've been kinda like doing our own thing. C, c is I'm considering it. I'm thinking about it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:19]:
Right? I'm glad I came today, but I I still might have questions. Now Now if that's you, I'm so glad because we always wanted to have a church where people you didn't have to be a believer to get something out of it. Right? That there's some of us that you needed to think about it. Maybe you have questions like, if God is so good, why is there evil in the world? Or why is there there's good answers to that. I I I've had I've had great meetings with people who one of the one kid, 16 years old, had 3 pages of notes and all he he was like a interviewer and he was asking me these questions, right, a few months ago, just a few months ago, and and I just answered. But at the end, after considering, he says, I guess I wanna make Jesus my king. So we we say, hey, if you're considering, that's a great place to be. Right? That's a great place to be.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:22]:
But just put yourself in a place where you can you can find some answers. And now d d d is a don't I don't think so. I don't think so. I think I'm the king, to be honest. Right? And and if that's you, no problem. I know many people who've who've been the right? I don't think so. I think I'm the king. And and the thing is that, you know, you can you're free to do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:54]:
No problem. God gives us that capacity to do that. But the thing that we have to watch is sometimes like Nebuchadnezzar, it's good for a while. Right? Read this article today about this one coach who is so she's a winning coach, but they talk about how crazy she is, how she holds grudges, how you know all those things. So she wins, but this is what they say in the article, but at what cost? You see when you live this way, there's a cost and sometimes it doesn't show itself right away. Your life probably get a little crazier, but if that's you, just write d. And maybe this is the thing that we're you're gonna think we're gonna ask you. This is a survey, and we're just asking you to just be honest.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:42]:
And and why is that? Because, to be honest, we want you to know where you are. Right? But we wanna be able to pray for you as well. Because whether you're a or b or c or d, I believe God still loves you, cares about you, wants you to know Him, because he want he's kept the door open. And Jesus said this. He says, I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. And if anybody opens the door, and says, hey. We'll be friends. And and you know what? We'll eat together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:16]:
We'll and you know what? That's what that's saying? It's like there's a connection that that kind of faith works. And so we're gonna pray here in a second, but I'm gonna ask everybody that you just fill this out and that when we take the offering just turn it in. And let's join us. Let's let's pray this this evening. Father, we're thankful that wherever we are today, that we're loved the same. Lord, we're loved the same. Jesus still died for us. Jesus still paid the price for us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:51]:
It's just, Lord, that we haven't some of us have received that and some of us haven't. Some of us have experienced His leading and some of us haven't. And Lord that I'm praying for for those, Lord, this this evening that maybe that they're considering, and maybe that some that today are beginning again. But Lord the reason is is because not only did you die in our place and rise again, but You're the King. And one day, god, we know we're all stand account, but but, lord, thank you that your desire is that it it would be a great meeting. Lord, like the father who comes and runs when one comes to his senses. Lord, thank you. That's the father's heart.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:47]:
Lord, you don't need to us to see you as king so you can somehow feel good about yourself. Lord, it's so that we can see ourselves properly. That in the midst of the craziness of this world that we are loved, that we are cared for, that you are in control, and that we can trust you with our lives. And if this this evening that maybe you're beginning again, I just wanna lead you. This is how do you do it. You humble yourself and you submit. You submit yourself to Him. Say, God, I I realize.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:21]:
Come to my senses. I'm not God, but I need God. Now all you have to do is pray a very simple prayer, maybe something like this. God, I need you today. I recognize that. And would you come live inside me today? And thank you that Jesus died for me, and I wanna turn from what I know is wrong, and I wanna follow you today. Help me to know you. Help me to be the person that You created me to be.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:55]:
And I don't know how to do that yet, but, Lord, I wanna learn Your will, and I wanna learn Your ways, and I wanna get closer to You today. Would You receive me? Because I put my faith in You. In Jesus' name, amen. If you prayed that prayer or something like it, God heard you today.