Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey, guys. Hasn't it been a crazy season? Can you believe we're actually in graduation season right now? I know, we had, some Campbell graduates, Lula graduates out there. I know it's also this weekend, so a lot of different things. But can we just say congratulations to those who graduated and some maybe watching a little later? I know that today was graduation for a bunch of you guys. You know, it's just it's it's amazing how time flies. Right? And then last week was Mother's Day, and was a great wonderful Mother's Day celebration. I hope that you guys had. Also, if you were able to, take a family photo last week that the photos have been should be emailed to you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:44]:
So if you took a photo and you didn't get it, email, please let us know, then we want to follow-up with that for you, but they should have all been, emailed out already. But can we just say thanks to all those guys, the photographer Steven and Sarah Silla, Ian Wheeler. They did such an awesome job. We're so grateful. And then, you know, I know for a lot of us, May 4 probably wasn't like, that big of a deal. Right? Just because that's the week before that. But, for for me, that's a was a big deal because that's actually my wife's birthday, as well as Jason's in the back. And, and so it was a it was a big deal, but you know, on May 4, I'm so glad that we didn't have somebody stand up and may the fourth be with you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:24]:
Right? You know, that's like that's usually, okay. The the pastor Jeff and our, Star Wars kinda lovers crew. Right? But, you know, I'm not a a hardcore Star Wars fan, but, you know, I do notice something about, you know, some of the old ones. Right? The the Han Solo and Luke Skywalker kind of a time, Obi Wan time, was that there's a difference. Everybody has such a particular personality. Right? Obi Wan's, you know, the wise sage. Luke is the upcoming kind of idealistic but rebellious kid. Han Solo, he's just kind of like the outlaw.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:01]:
But even the droids had a different personality. I don't know if you noticed. Right? Because, c three p o was kind of like a neurotic, pessimistic, worrying kind of guy. Right? He he'd be the guy like, we're doomed. We'll never make it. Right? And then this is madness, he's saying. And r t r two d two, I don't know if you guys noticed, but was just kind of the plotting going forward. I mean, maybe he gets a little bit bit, worked up every once in a while, but he keeps moving forward.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:28]:
And, you know, the thing is that sometimes I think we're in the place where, you know, life can throw curve balls at us and and but you gotta keep moving forward. And sometimes even if you've had a rough start, even if you've had hiccups in your life, that would you know that the God that we serve is a God of all hope. And last week we talked about it. We began our, kind of the section on hope last week, and we we talked about a a hope that that endures. It doesn't it doesn't quit, and and even when, you know, we talked about how sometimes there's shattered pieces to our hope. Last week, I know when I, broke the cup on the, in the service, I I actually heard the audible gasp, like in the congregation. Hey, there's your son's favorite cup. Did you tell your son that? I haven't told him yet.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:21]:
But, but I will. I'll probably talk to him a little later tonight. But you know, yes, on Sunday, Sunday was even different because Sunday, somebody said, what are you gonna do now? Like, well, it's not that hard. Just break a different cup. Right? And and I did, but I because it was so hard to crack the one here, I brought a hammer, and I thought I'd give it a little extra oomph because this one was so hard, and when I hit it, it just exploded. And that time I never heard anybody outside gasp. I gasped. I was like, oh my gosh, I didn't realize I was gonna do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:55]:
Right? But we talked about how God can even take the the shards and the pieces that sometimes you don't even know how it fits together, And he can still, at the the hands of the craftsman, at the hands of the master, he can still make something even more beautiful than it was before. Right? We we talked about that process, and it's because we serve a living God. And and I just want to remind us as we start by reading first Peter one three. It says this, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You see, we we started this series, on Easter, and and it was about the resurrection. The fact that that it was against the odds, it was against all odds, but the resurrection is not just an event, it's a foundation for an unshakable hope. Because we serve a living God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:52]:
Right? The one who who is still alive. And and, this evening we're singing that song, and just somebody had mentioned a little earlier, we sang the song, same God this evening. Right? You know, we're calling on the God of Moses. Right? The one who spoke from the burning bush. It's the same God that we serve. It's the same living God. Right? The the same God that that Mary fell down before and and said that wept with her tears and and and and and perfume, and she anointed and said, this is the same God that we serve. Right? And because we serve a living God, unlike the worldly hope which sometimes fades.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:34]:
A living hope is active. It's it's renewing and it's eternal. Because our hope is rooted in a living person. Right? And and so the fact that the the tomb is still empty matters. The fact that Jesus is still alive makes all the difference in the world. You know, in the New Testament, Paul wants to let the New Test his his listeners know that God is in the midst of still fulfilling his promises. And and the promises of God are still applied to you. That when we read this book, we don't find just a history of the people of Israel or the new Christians who came in.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:11]:
To be honest, we find your faith history, my faith history, that if we call on God, if we have found our hope in Jesus, it says this is my history book. This is your history book. Right? We find that we find our faith history in here. And so one of the stories that Paul brings up is the story of Abraham and Sarah, and I don't know if you guys are familiar. I think many of us are. It starts in the book of Genesis where God's speaking to a man, and He called to him and said, although he was already a senior, right, that he was 75 years, he said, I'm gonna give you children, and through your children there will be generations of descendants that will one day become a great nation, and are rising out of that nation will be one to whom is the savior, and the savior of all mankind. He couldn't understand that at the time partly because he was 75. Right? His wife was 60.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:17]:
And and even back then, that was past the years of of child rearing. It was an impossibility by all standards. But you know, Paul says that although he understood that this thing was difficult, that it was impossible, right, that that God promised him something. Now, when God promised Abraham, he had, I think, already made peace. He already made peace with some unexpected and unrealized hopes, I guess. Right? Some unrealized hopes. Some things that, you know, just wasn't in the cards for us. He had a great marriage.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:54]:
He had a good life. He was successful in his business, but God was still gonna change his story. And and to be honest, God still wants to change your story and my story when it when it's become a place that that maybe we need to make a turn. Maybe we're we're need to kinda extend and go beyond. Maybe where God says something that you never thought possible humanly. It's possible with God. And it says it like this. I'm gonna read in the book of Romans and it's a summary.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:28]:
It's a summary of the story with Abraham and Sarah. And it says it like this, because he was already 75 when he was called, and to be honest, by a hundred, still hadn't realized, still hadn't had a child. Right? His wife being 85 years old, it says this, in hope, he believed against hope. What does that mean? When it was absolutely hopeless basically, he was still hoping, right? That he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told. So shall your offspring be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead. Now, I hope that I live a long time, but I hope I don't live such a long time that when I talk about my physical frame, I say, well, it's as good as dead already. But he understood that, right? He was advanced in nature.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:22]:
He knew things might not be working in the way that you would think, but he did not weaken in faith, right, it says, since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God. And we're gonna just read this last part together. Would you stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word? Then we're gonna read that out loud. It says it like this. Ready? Let's read. But he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised. And And you know that if God has spoken to you, God's promise to you, if you understand the the promises from God's word, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you, that that that greater is he who's in you than who's in the world, that when you understand the promises of God, that he says that he wants you to grow strong even when it doesn't seem like it, even when it the situation looks the exact opposite.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:25]:
That he started with Abraham and he called him, him, and he says this, even when it looked hopeless, he still had a solid hope. In fact, he didn't go a week. It says, he still grew strong. And you know what? It's possible for you. You can still grow strong. So before you're seated, do me a favor. Just turn to your neighbor and says, hey, by faith God wants your hope to grow strong. By faith God wants your hope to grow strong.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:52]:
Because it entails a it entails a hope. Right? It it it needs that hope. And last week, we talked about what is hope. Right? Sometimes they they are difficult to explain, but hope's a positive expectation for the future. Right? A a a future being expected. Now this passage is about one of the most impossible things that you can find. Right? But God said, I'll still accomplish it. Now, what this is not saying is this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:19]:
This is not saying, you choose the most difficult thing that you can imagine, and God will do that. Right? That's not what this is saying. No. This is not even saying that you choose the thing that you want most in the world, and that whatever it is that's impossible, but then what you want most and God will do that. It's not saying that. It's saying that God is able to give what He promised. Right? Because sometimes I just want I just want stuff. Right? And and there were times, you know what, that God has given me great of my desires, but it wasn't a need.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:54]:
Right? You know, one of my big bucket list things was, to go salmon fishing in Alaska. And, I always thought that, you know, one day. You guys ever get those one day things, right? It's like one day when the kids get older, right? And then the kids get older and shoot, they got to go to college now. You know, it's like, so I never said, oh, okay. Well, all that, like one day when they graduate, that's how I was thinking, right? But you know, God made a way, and it was called my friend Frank, who paid for my way. He said, hey, let's go salmon fishing in Alaska. Just above and beyond. Did God need to do that? No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:33]:
Right? He he just blessed me. I I wasn't to be honest, I wasn't even praying about it. I wasn't even but God just blessed me. But sometimes, you know, it's not to say that God will give me everything that I want. Sometimes the things that I want probably are not even helpful for me or healthy for me, but but God does this. That he he does want us to have an expectation and a motivation to seek him and understand his will. Because when you understand his will, that then all of a sudden the faith will arise to meet that need. And you know, even when you can face the facts, you can face the facts like Abraham did.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:14]:
He said like, look, I'm not stupid. I know I'm a hundred. Right? I am not dumb. My wife is 85. She hasn't had a menstrual period in the last forty years or whatever. He understood, but he said this, My God's able. And sometimes you can face the facts. Sometimes we think like, Hey, to be a person of faith, do I have to ignore the facts? No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:37]:
You can face the facts when you know God's will. Abraham was fully aware, right? You know that word that his body was as good as dead? It means that it was utterly worn out. It ran his race already, you know. He kinda been it's the time we're getting towards the end. He was at that time where, you know, he knew, man. I mean, I'm glad to be a hundred, but, I can see the end in sight. And from a common sense standpoint, we understand that it would be impossible, right? We dream other dreams maybe, or we did we might do what they did. They tried to help God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:17]:
You guys ever tried to help God? Like, this is how he did it, right? They they said, maybe Sarah said, maybe you sleep with my maiden and my maid and she will give the children for us. And sometimes, you know, God, when He gives you a promise, He's very specific and that He doesn't want He doesn't really need your help to do it your way, right? Sometimes we have a fleshly way of trying to accomplish a God thing, but when God said to him, No, Abraham, that this is that's not the way it's going to be. I'm gonna do it through Sarah. And you know, the thing is that Abraham laughed when God said that. It says that he literally fell on the ground and he laughed, because it was so unbelievable. How many of you have ever been in a place that's unbelievable? Right? Sometimes I've been in that place, God, you're gonna do what? But Abraham was still strengthened through that odiyu. And part of it is that God will let us face impossible things because it's in those places that it strengthens our spiritual muscles. It strengthens our our spiritual fiber.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:28]:
It says that God, Abraham gave glory to God. Now, God specializes in rewriting stories, just like He rewrote Abraham's story. That Abraham actually, his original name wasn't Abraham, it was Abram. Right? And Abram, it's a great name. It does mean exalted father, but God said to him in that moment when he does laugh, he says, I'm gonna call you Abraham. You're gonna be the father of a multitude. Because it's it's a nation. He said, you won't even be able to count how many that is.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:00]:
And he changed his wife's name. His wife's name was Sarai, which means contentious. Right? And and you know the thing is, he changed her name to Sarah, which means princess. Now, some of us that, you know, we get character, like, what would your name be if God named you according to your character? Okay. Some of you guys laughed. You got, oh, I don't know if I have a like, I think Sarah, you know, like, I think she was probably a little argumentative. Right? But you know what? God, what He did when He changed her name, He was rewriting her story. And all of a sudden, she's called princess.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:38]:
All of a sudden, Abraham that Yeah, you think you were, you know, like I am exalted in the sense that I my all my servants and all my team and all those things that I've done, but he said no, no, that's not what I'm talking about. Yeah, that's good. That's just part of my blessing, but I'm changing your story. And it doesn't matter what your failures or your regrets, because everybody has them, God offers a clean slate, a renewed purpose. But you got to know the will of God. How do you know the will of God? You always know the will of God based on the word of God, Right? Because it will never be contrary to what God has expressed. And that when God gives you His word, we understand the word of God that it becomes much easier to face the facts and still believe even when the facts don't look great, don't look in your favor. I love what it says, Psalm one hundred and nineteen one hundred and five says this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:31]:
Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. And you know, sometimes what it's saying is is this, that that the word of God, it will guide your steps. It will guide your path in life, but it's not a giant, you know, kind of LED halogen spotlight, you know, the kind of mercury vapor light that's going to shine for miles. Sometimes it's enough like a kennel, that's what it's actually saying. It's a lamp, it's a light that in the midst of the darkness will shine and show you where to step. And to be honest, God wants you close.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:17]:
Right? He wants you close. Because if you could just see for miles, I think we just say, okay, God, I got it. I know where I'm going. Instead, He's saying, you know what? I like to be with you side by side, step by step. Right? And he says that how do we know what God is doing? To be honest, it's by His word that we understand His word. What else does it do? He says this in Psalm one nineteen verse 11. He says, I have hidden your word. Let's say hide.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:47]:
Right? That's that word hidden, right? I hide. Yeah. He we hide hidden this. We hide it. Your word where? In my heart. Why? So that I might not sin against you. I don't know if you guys have ever been in that place where, to be honest, if we don't have the word of God in our heart, we're probably prone to go sideways, right? We're prone to go go sometimes backwards. We're prone to go, you know, do things that are not good, not just simply for us, but for those around us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:15]:
And he says, sometimes you gotta get the word of God in your heart. You know, times like this are important for us, but to be honest, the things that you do even on your own, even if you just start with, I'm gonna just read, like, the verse of the day, even if I'm just gonna read a kind of a devotional, even if I'm just gonna read, like, I'm gonna read a few I read a paragraph from the Bible every day. Just be in the word of God yourself. You know what will happen? Is that I promise you two things if you read the Bible for yourself. First, you're not gonna understand everything you read. I promise you that. Because there's nobody that does. Not on the first pass.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:53]:
Right? It might cause you to ask questions, it might cause you to to search, it might cause you to, you know, seek out the answer, but the thing is this, it's sort of like what Mark Twain says, What bothers me is not the things in the bible I don't understand, it's the things that I do, right? Because I promise you this, that if you read, yes, you won't understand everything, but you will understand something, and God will begin to speak to you, And are there skills and tools along the way? Yeah, there are. And, you know, we're not going to kind of get into all that. That's a little bit more of a small group kind of a thing. It might be a class kind of orientation. We've talked about some things in in the past, but but here's the thing. Just start reading the word of God. Start reading the word of God because it will not just guide your steps, it won't only just kind of renew your heart and prevent you from kind of stepping off into the kind of the wilderness, but it says this, it'll grow your faith. Let's read what it says, Romans ten seventeen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:52]:
Ready? Let's read. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Right? Because when you know the word of God, it will give you the faith to face the facts of your life. And even regardless of what those facts lead, that you say, Okay. But my God is bigger. But my God is able. That what is impossible with man is not impossible with God. But the thing is that, this is what I've noticed for many of us, if you When you get in that hard point, when you get in that kind of bored point of your life, that you start saying things, and you start telling yourself a story about your life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:36]:
That when you've come maybe to a place of unpredictability, for many of us, I think, this season in our kind of our where we are as a nation, right, the economy, different things, there's a little bit of uncertainty. Anybody feel like that? Right? It's like, you're like, oh my, man. It's like, I know they they just kind of negotiated down some of the tariffs, but, you know, I'm expecting price hike, I'm expecting these kinds of things. What about my job? What about, you know, my job's kind of tourism dependent, or my job's this dependent, and we understand there's uncertainty in this thing. But here's the thing that what you need to do when you're faced with those facts, those are facts maybe that there's uncertainty, right? And you face you can face the facts, I wanna ask what story do yours do the facts tell you about your life? What do those facts tell you? Do your facts do those facts tell you, maybe I'm at the end of my rope? Maybe I had a good run, but this is it. I'm out of options. You know, sometimes your fears can tell you that, right? But you got to understand that, to be honest, you got to distinguish God's voice in speaking over those facts versus the other voices Because some of those voices are based off your fears, right? Some of those voices are based off your failures. Some of those voices are based off what, somebody has said about you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:12]:
Anybody ever highlight your mistakes in life? Like, oh my gosh, you know, like, if you have a nickname from, let's say, high school, right? Probably 50% chance it's something embarrassing, right? It's something embarrassing that you did, right? Like, you know, I knew somebody, like it wasn't really complicated, but somebody's nickname was called Skidmark. I don't know if you can guess what that is, but like, I mean, it wasn't a success, you know. It wasn't something that was, like, great. But this is the thing. Sometimes we hear those voices that says I'm just a skid mark, right? I can't control different things. But here's the story that what we need to be mindful of, I mean, we need to be careful of is that sometimes the devil uses the voices of your fears, Right? He uses the voices of condemnation or judgment against you. Right? He uses the things that you may have even said about yourself. Right? And you gotta be careful that don't curse what God is trying to bless.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:24]:
Some of us, we even curse ourselves. We just said this. I'll never amount to much. And because why? Because we're rehearsing. We're saying the same thing that we've had run-in the back of our head. In order to have a hope that lasts, you got to distinguish God's voice versus all the other things. I remember when I told a co worker of mine that, before we started the church, say, yeah, I'm gonna start a church and, I was working outside. I was working in sales at the time.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:55]:
And he asked me, oh, wow. What what church? And I said, it'll be New Hope. Right? And New Hope Kapolei, and he just, you know, kind of local style, just wanted to say, what? You know, I call him Old Hope. Right? And I said I said, exactly. I don't want to call it Old Hope because you know what Old Hope is? Old Hope is it's all me. Right? Old hope is the things that never turned out. Right? But the thing is it's called new hope. Why? Because it doesn't matter where you've been.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:22]:
It doesn't matter what's going on. It doesn't matter the story that sometimes you even tell yourself. God has a new hope for you. Why? Because he's a living God. Right? And then you can make a change. God is rewriting your stories. Now, the thing is that the scripture says that, you know, from the moment that you said yes to Jesus, you are a new creation in Christ. Right? You're a new person in Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:52]:
But the thing about that is you need to start growing in Christ as well. Because the more you grow, the more you grow, you start to silence those voices. The more you focus on God's voice, the more you'll be able to begin to put aside some of those other things. Sometimes we hear those voices because we keep stepping in the same mess. Nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. Right? Is is that true? Right? Say, nobody's perfect, but you don't have to always step in the same mess. In second Corinthians seven:one, it says it like this, But we have these promises, dear friends.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:33]:
Let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit, and let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. You see, sometimes it's when you hear the voice of God that versus the voices that condemn you, versus the voices say you'll never amount to much, versus the voice that says, it's too late for me'. I don't know how many people have told me, it's too late for me'. My own dad said that, right? One of my best friend's dad told me the same thing. Right? I mean, just so many people have said, it's too late for me. But I'm so glad it wasn't too late. I know that when I get to heaven, I'll see mister Kusaka. I know I'll see my dad because I've seen them make the change.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:22]:
I've seen God rewrite their story. Because the voices that sometimes you hear from your fears, God wants to say this, let your faith be greater than your fear. Would you listen to the, you know, the doubts that you have? If you have found that Jesus is trustworthy, would you start instead of doubting God's or doubting yourself, sometimes you got to doubt your doubts. You ever thought about doubting your doubts? You know, I don't think I can. Well, doubt that because God is still faithful. God is still able. He's still working in you. The devil's called the accuser of the brethren.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:05]:
The voice of discouragement so often that the enemy uses is is are those voices. But when you know God's voice, you'll hear the distinction. And what happens is Romans twelve two says it works like this. Do not be conformed. Let's say the word conformed. Conformed. What does that mean? It means to be squeezed into a shape. Right? You guys remember playing with Play Doh? You guys remember Play Doh? Some of you guys used to eat Play Doh.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:37]:
I remember some of you guys, but, like, but, the thing is that, you know, Play Doh, Doh is the a great thing about Play Doh is amazing is you could make it anything that you want it to, right? Because it's very moldable, right? That if you wanted that star thing that you just put it in and you squeeze it, right? And then that long star shape comes out, and you can cut it and make all the things. Right? And then the round circle, you squeeze that thing, and somebody's gonna, like, oh, look do do. Right? I never mind, but, I know that you guys did all kinds of things. But the thing about it is it's saying don't be molded by the world because the world wants to mold you. Instead, it says be transformed by the renewing of your mind, by the renewal of your mind. That by testing you may discern what is the will of God. You know, you can change the way that you think. You can change in some ways your emotional responses to things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:36]:
You know, how many of you guys ever that you would hear a certain kind of situation and you would instantly become afraid? You just get nervous. Like, if I said to this, right now, it's like, Lou, would you mind come finishing up the message? All of a sudden, your palms get a little sweaty, right? You know what I mean? Like, oh, that is natural, right? That's natural, but there's a lot of us that we have these things, but to be honest, I could never have imagined doing what I am doing right now when I was growing up. I stuttered. I hated to speak. It just literally made my hand sweat. I think about when I thought about that just now, I remembered how I used to feel, and my hand started to sweat again. But you know what? But now when I come up here, I think what a tremendous privilege. What an honor, right? And if God can speak through the burning bush or a donkey, God can speak through me, Right? And I might not be the best speaker in the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:42]:
I might not be the most knowledgeable about every topic, but the thing is I can face the facts, but God is able. Right? God is able. And so, here's the thing that when you know, when you know what God is doing, when you know what God is saying, when you know the voices, and if the voice of God doesn't tell you, like, what God says in His word, then you know that's not really His voice. This is what He says about His plans. He says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. That if you ever get to this place where it's like, man, God is against me. God is trying to ruin me. God is making me answer for all of my sins.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:25]:
You know what? The thing is, you may have consequences that you you live out from your sins, but God doesn't want you to pay for your sins. That's what Jesus died for. Jesus died so that you wouldn't have to pay. Sometimes we have to learn from the consequences of what we've done, but you don't have to pay for them, right? But he says my plans are to give you a hope and a future. So unless the plans that you hear and the word you hear from God is for to prosper you, to give you hope for your future, right, not to harm you. Unless you hear a voice like that, would you question whether that's really God or that's a fear or whether that's the enemy, right? Because that's going to grow your faith and going to grow your hope. And it creates like a garden around you. When you start understanding God's word, and you start understanding God's voice, it creates like a garden setting that even when you live in a kind of a dry and a dark place that you have a green space, something that will refresh you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:40]:
I was watching a movie this week with my son and we're based on a true story, but the guy was a gardener and he ended up running drugs for, the cartel. And he didn't know. He was an old guy. A horticulturalist. Ninety years old. But he was driving and he didn't know. I mean, he did actually know later. He just started to forget because of his dementia started to come in.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:07]:
But they showed him when he was in in prison and that he would just be there was a garden in the prison. And that he would tend his flowers in the thing. And you know, around the world, people will begin to make gardens. They have gardens often around some some of the most inhospitable places. Because there's something that when you see something living, and you see something nurtured, and you see something that you have invested in, that it's like that there is life even in sometimes this place that it seems is difficult to live. You know, I'm reminded that in my at my house, there's a crack in my, walkway that comes up my driveway, and then when it comes to my house, and there's always a piece of grass that's trying to grow up through that crack in the driveway. You know what that reminds me? Is that no matter how tough the situation, that god can always make a life sprout in the midst of that. Right? And and so would you be reminded of that? When you when you understand god's word, God's voice, there's always been a chance for life to happen, that you're not beyond His grace.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:19]:
You're not beyond His help. You and I may not always be able to do what we hope that we can do, but God is able. And when you have a promise from God, you'll never earn it, but you can receive it. I mean, God said to Abraham, I'm gonna make you a father of many, a decent of nations that that you're gonna change the world. That Abraham didn't earn it, but he could receive it. He could believe it. And so how do you do that? It says it like this in Colossians three verses one to four. Can we read this together? Colossians three verses one to four.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:04]:
He says it like this. Ready? Let's read. Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. That makes sense, right? I mean, saying that the moment that we put our faith in Jesus, that he says that you're raised up in Christ, that just as Jesus died and was risen from the grave, that here's the thing, he says that that's what baptism symbolizes, that we died to our old life and that when we come out of the water, is that we're raised in the newness of life. That's what baptism symbolizes. It's a start, a fresh start, right? He says, but this is what he goes on and he says this, For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:06]:
And you know, this brings us to the place where you gotta make Christ your life, right? You don't make Jesus just another option. You don't make Jesus the call of last resort. You make him your first choice. Amen. Right? That that you seek him first in life, that you you make his him the the hope of your life. You make him the shepherd of your soul. You make Him the leader of your life. That He's worth everything.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:35]:
Jesus tells the story about a man who who's walking in a field, and he he he stumbles upon a treasure, and when he sees how valuable it is, he sells everything in order to gain the treasure. That this is the treasure. Jesus is the treasure. He's worth everything. But this happens when you make Christ your life. When you say this, He's with me now, and He'll be with me through all the days of my life. Right? For some of us, that's all a long time right now. There's a long time more, some of us sitting on this table.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:14]:
Right? You guys get a long shelf life yet. Right? For some of us, not as long. Right? Not as long. But here's the thing. He'll be with you all the days of your life, but this is what he says. That the moment that you pass away, the moment that you die, he says to be honest, in many ways, that's where the real life begins. Right? Eternity. Right? I love what it says in, you know, in Hun, can you hand me my phone? I was just reading the Chronicles of Narnia.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:47]:
I was reminded of something this week. The end of the book, you know, The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe. Thank you. That book. But there's a whole series of things that he says. But you know, at the end of the book, this is the last chapter, he says this. They're walking, you know, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, they're walking, and actually his family, they're walking with Aslan, the Jesus figure, the lion. Right? And they had had a dream and they were there was an accident and all these things, and they get transported to this kind of a different land.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:33]:
And as they walk up, it gets higher and higher until they start seeing. It's like they can look down. It's like you're in an airplane and then they can see, hey, wait, because this was a story was written in Britain. And he says like, I see another Britain down there. He goes, yeah, but, there's a Britain, but it kind of looks like this. He says, well, because now you're in the the real Britain. The like, that's just a shadow of what what will be in the future. And they get to the top, and as they're walking, this is what he says.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:08]:
He says, Have you not guessed? He says, Don't fear. And he says, Because have you not guessed? And their hearts leaped with a wild hope rose within them. He says, there was a real railway accident, said Aslan softly. Your father and your mother and all of you are, as you call it, in the shadows lands. It's like death. And the term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream is ended that this is the morning. And as he spoke, he no longer looked to them like a lion, but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful, I cannot write them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:43]:
And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we must we can and must truly say that they all live happily ever after, but for them, it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Arnea had only been the cover of the title page. Now at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever and ever, and in every chapter is better than the one before. And, you know, there will be a time that this will happen, but you got to remember that God is still writing your story, even in this life. Now, you know the thing is that if you don't understand that that's possible, you won't even try, Right? This is an old story of a guy named George Dansig, and he was a graduate student in studying statistics. And he was in one class and his doctor, just doctor Naaman, put two examples on the board, and they were unsolvable problems, but George didn't know because he had come into the class a little late. And so he copied the the the the problem on his paper, and he went off to class. But he started working on them every day, every hour it seemed like.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:13]:
And and about six weeks later, he he knocked on the door of his professor's office and he said, doctor Naaman, I I solved the problems. I'm sorry. He felt like, you know, his his homework was late already because it's been six weeks. But the doctor was surprised. What are you talking about? Why are you apologizing? And he he says, I solved the problems. And he says when he looked at the problems, he realized that this guy solved the unsolvable problems that he used as an example, both of them. And and he says, well, I I do remember they were kind of little harder than normal, but over those years that George Dantzig then became the head of, like, combat analysis during the war. He earned a doctorate.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:06]:
He worked as a mathematical advisor to the Defense Department. He became a faculty at Stanford, a professor, right, did research, computer science, and he received numerous awards. He won the National Medal of Science in 1975. And the tools that he developed, we use today even with airline schedules and fleets and shipping companies, oil companies, trucking, all the we use things today that George Dantzig developed. But he didn't understand at that moment when he solved those two problems, that everybody thought they were unsolvable. And this is what he said. He said, if someone had told me that those two famous unsolved problems were unsolvable, I probably would never have even tried. But because he didn't know that it was impossible, he tried.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:05]:
And for some of us, we think changing our story is impossible, but it's not. And God doesn't want you to think that it is. You know, I I just want to close with this one story. In in the Gospels, we see the disciples often people of great faith, but also very fallible. Right? They they're very fallible. They're real people. And Peter is one of those guys that tends to say a lot of stuff and be the first in. Right? And when Jesus was having the last supper, He said that all of you will desert me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:46]:
And Jesus Peter said this, I'll never desert you. No matter what these guys do, I will never desert. And then Jesus took them on the mountain and as they were up there, Jesus said, I want you to pray so that you don't fall into temptation. He told that to Peter and James and to John. And Jesus went on the night before His crucifixion, and He was praying. And when He checked on them a little while later, less than an hour later, they were asleep. So Peter slept through that time a couple times. And when the the soldiers came and they captured Jesus, there was something that rose up in Peter that he first his first thing was to attack first.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:31]:
And so he wanted to cut somebody's head off, but it just managed to cut off somebody's ear. And after that, it says, to be honest, he ran away. And after that, he denies Jesus three times. When he's trying to follow Jesus from a distance, right? He's warming himself by the fire and he can see what's happening a little ways away in the building, but he's following at a distance. And when you're following at a distance, it's really easy to make mistakes. And and so when the the slave girl says, Hey, weren't you with Jesus? He says, No, I don't know what you're talking about. Not once, not twice, but three times. It says in that moment when he denied Him the third time, the rooster crowed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:22]:
And then when he looked at Jesus, Jesus was just looking him straight in the eye. And it says at that moment, he just broke down and wept bitterly because he knew he denied his Lord. He knew he denied his master, not once, not twice, but three times, and he ran off in his guilt and his shame. Now three days later, or on the third day, Jesus rose from the grave, and Peter, he was still there. He was he was one of the first guys there aside from the ladies, from aside from the women, and the Apostle John who was younger, who could run faster than him because Peter was a 40 year old guy probably when the Apostle John was probably more like Eloua's age, you know, he's just he was able to run. But Peter got there. He wanted to be there. But you know what? Sometimes there's a nagging doubt and a nagging part of guilt and shame in his life because he knew he failed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:27]:
He knew he denied his Lord. How do we know this? Because later in the gospel of John, what we find is that he wants to go back to his old way of life. His old way of life not like the wild crazy partying, but he was just a commercial fisherman. He said, You know what? I think I blew it enough that, you know, maybe the other 10 guys, they'll they'll do the things that that we all did, but I think I probably better cut out to be a fisherman. So Peter's fishing, and it's at that point that Jesus sees them when he's on the beach. You might be familiar with the story. He just says, how's the fishing? Oh, we skunked today. He says, hey, just turn that on the other side.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:16]:
And he probably was frustrated, but they do it anyway, and it says that it was an abundance of fish, right? It was like, to be honest, like about to sink the boat. And it was at that point that He was like, I've seen this before. That's Jesus on the beach. And He jumps in and He swims in. And they have breakfast. But after breakfast, Jesus pulls Peter on the side and He says, Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? Who are these? I don't know. Was it the fish? You love Me more than your fishing? Maybe. Was it, you love Me more than the disciples, the other guys? The ones that you you said those guys are losers? Do you love Me more than them? And he says, Yes, Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:15]:
You know I love You. And then Jesus says to him something he never expected, Then feed my lambs. And I'm sure Peter was thinking, Wait, wait, wait, wait. Now I I'm not qualified. I I'm blown in. And then Jesus said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He says, Yes, Lord, Peter said. You know I love you. Then take care of My sheep.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:44]:
I wonder if Peter is saying, How can I lead anybody with what I've done? And the third time he asked, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And Peter, it says, was hurt that Jesus asked him a third time, and he said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. And then Jesus said, Feed my sheep. How many times did Peter deny Him? Three times. How many times did Jesus make him confess that he loved it three times? Because I think he wanted him to know. It's like, you might have failed three times, but today we're rewriting that story. Today that you might have said that I I I disqualified, but today we're rewriting that story. Because when your hope is bound in the living God, your past is redeemed, your present is sustained, and your future is eternal.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:59]:
And that's the story that says, you know what? Peter's life changed. Because after that, he preaches to 5,000. And the person who would never have even felt qualified became a tremendous leader in the early church. So if God can do that with somebody who knew better you guys ever felt like that? I knew better. I failed, not once, multiple times. If he can rewrite Peter's story, he can rewrite your story and my story. Amen? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Hey, let's close in a word of prayer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:48]:
Yes, yes, yes, yes. Father, we're thankful that because you live, we have hope. We have hope in a living God. We have an expectation, God, that you are for us and not against us. Lord, we are grateful that you have a plan for us and that your plans are good. Lord, it is for a future and a home, and Lord, when we hear those voices that says it's too late for us. When we hear the voices that says, I've made too many mistakes. When we hear the voices that, I I don't have any options.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:28]:
God, I'm thankful that, Lord, with you, things are limitless. That Lord, you could take five loaves and two fish and and turn them into a meal for thousands. You can take the situation in my life, and Lord, you can make a way. Today, we're grateful that in Christ, when I've chosen him, not only was I made a new creation, but you redeemed my past. Would you see that the things that you have felt the most guilt, the most shame, that Jesus has forgiven? In Him is forgiven. Today He wants you to understand, I am still with you, and I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you. And I sustained you in the past, and I'll sustain you today. Father, I'm thankful that you're a present God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:41]:
Even in the greatest times of trouble, you are a very present help. Thank you that you are with me today. And father, although I don't always know the future, I thank you that you do and that my future is secure because You're already in the future. Lord, You stand outside of time to You, past, present, and future, You see it all the same. Thank you. Thank you that you've chosen me. God, I choose you today. Lord, you are the anchor of my heart and my living hope.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:28]:
Thank you, Lord, that you are rewriting the story. And today, Lord, I want to cooperate with you in the chapter that you are writing. There are some of us today, it's like today, God just turned a page, and the page is blank. What will be written will depend on what you trust Him with. If you trust Him with the thing that's overwhelming to you today, guess what? That's the part that's going to get rewritten. If you are trusting Him with your past, because some of us maybe you never said yes to Jesus, but if you say yes today, if you give Him yourself today, this is what He says: I will take you and I will make you My child and the past will be forgiven because I already paid for it. You just need to trust Me. And then this is what it will You're a new creation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:40]:
Whatever it is that you need to give, it usually starts with giving Him yourself, and giving Him your fears, giving him your challenges, giving him the voices that you've heard that Lord, we just say this, we want to be your sons. We want to be your daughters. And Lord, we're just thankful that what you say you're able to do, You're able to do. For me, for my family, Lord, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Father, we are surrendering our story to Yours, the One who conquered death, the One who made a way, the One who is with us now. And if you have never said yes to Jesus, but today you realize you'd like to, could you just raise a hand to Him and say, God, that's me today. God, I recognize. Amen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:40]:
God, we recognize today. Thank you that You allow us to change our story. Thank you that you allow us to make U turns. Thank you that you can redeem us. You can forgive us. Thank you, Lord. We just received that today. We're gonna pray a very simple prayer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:59]:
I'm gonna ask you to to join join with me if you're you're praying this. If you've already prayed it before, sometimes it's a nice way to renew your faith. Lord Jesus, thank you for knowing me and loving me. Lord, you're not just my savior today. You're my life because I'm surrendering to you. I give you my heart. I give you my past. I give you my present and I give you my future.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:37]:
Would you take all of me? Because Jesus, thank you. You died in my place so I could be forgiven. Come live inside me today. Be my God today. Be my friend today. Be my leader today. Be my healer today. I trust you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:02]:
Would you help me to become who you created me to be, your child with dignity and honor. Thank you that you live in me today. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hey, can we say congratulations to those folks? And you know, as we close that, if you've never got a yes packet, we have some yes packets in the back, or if you're online, and you'd like something that it's there's a helpful thing, there's a Bible in there, there's some other helpful information, and we'd love to be able to sit with you and kinda help you to grow as well. You can get a yes packet in the back.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:45]:
You can see somebody in the back. If not, pastor Jeff or any one of us, any other leaders. If you're at, online at home, you can always text the word commit, and then we there's something that we could, text you or email you. Let us know if you're gonna have the word commit. You'd like us to email you something. Would you, give us your email as well? But, hey, God bless you guys. Thanks for joining us today.