1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,200 Hello and welcome to Trinity Sermons, our sermon podcast from Trinity Church Streetsville. 2 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:16,720 Today in our sermon, we will be hearing first about a story involving King Herod from Mark 3 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:17,720 Chapter 6. 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,200 It will be learning from Rob about Windows of Opportunity. 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,400 This is a great sermon that you don't want to miss. 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:31,920 Enjoy and God bless. 7 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:37,320 Reading from Gospel of Mark Chapter 6, Verses 17-29. 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:43,120 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:44,760 in prison. 10 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:51,120 He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:57,240 For John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. 12 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:03,280 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. 13 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:10,240 But she was not able to because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be 14 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,760 a righteous and holy man. 15 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:19,200 When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him. 16 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,520 Finally, the opportunity came. 17 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:29,440 On his birthday, Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders 18 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,080 and the leading men of Galilee. 19 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,680 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner 20 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,120 guests. 21 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:44,240 The king said to the girl, Ask me for anything you want and I'll give it to you. 22 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:51,720 And he promised her with an oath, Whatever you ask, I will give you up to half my kingdom. 23 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,240 She went out and said to her mother, What shall I ask for? 24 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,400 The head of John the Baptist, she answered. 25 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:05,040 I once the girl hurried into the king with the request. 26 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:10,960 I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 27 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,880 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did 28 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,360 not want to refuse her. 29 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:23,560 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. 30 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:31,000 The men went, beheaded John in the prison and brought back his head on a platter. 31 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,060 He presented it to the girl and she gave it to her mother. 32 00:02:35,060 --> 00:02:42,200 Upon hearing this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. 33 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:43,200 The word of the Lord. 34 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,680 I wanted to show you a picture, get started by throwing a picture up here. 35 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:51,520 This is a picture of a church in a little town called Port Colburn. 36 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:59,760 And this was where I was the pastor of this church for about 12 years, a while ago. 37 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,200 And Port Colburn was a lovely little town. 38 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:08,360 It was a quaint and cozy little town with quaint and cozy little people. 39 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:14,440 And some people might have called it a hick town, but no, we loved it there in Port Colburn. 40 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:15,440 It was great. 41 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:20,240 And it was in that church where I really learned so much about being a minister and in that 42 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:21,400 office. 43 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,760 And actually in my office, there was this window. 44 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,400 And I loved that window. 45 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:28,400 It was a lovely old window. 46 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:29,640 Actually, it was an old window. 47 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:31,880 It wasn't that lovely, as you can see. 48 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:37,080 But I would look out that window and I would look out on the market square that was right 49 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:38,080 there beside the church. 50 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,880 And I could see the people of Port Colburn coming and going and going about their business. 51 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:44,720 So I loved that window. 52 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:51,760 But another reason why I love that window is because on one occasion, that window saved 53 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:53,480 my life. 54 00:03:53,480 --> 00:04:00,440 You see, it was a February Sunday morning and I arrived at the church bright and early, 55 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:01,440 6 a.m. 56 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:02,440 And it was really, really early. 57 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:03,800 And it was really cold. 58 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,960 You might not know this, but in Port Colburn, the temperature can really go down. 59 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,840 I think that morning it was about minus 200 degrees Celsius. 60 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,320 And I pulled in and I had a couple of loads of stuff from the van that I needed to take 61 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:17,320 into my office. 62 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,920 And so I took the first load, I opened the church, I set it on my desk in my office, 63 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,240 and I went back outside to the van. 64 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:29,560 And I got to the van and I was like, oh, shoot, I left my keys in the office. 65 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:34,560 And so I went back and I went to open the door and I was like, oh, shoot, I've locked 66 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:36,200 myself out of the church. 67 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:41,600 So I had in just a matter of seconds locked myself out of the car and locked myself out 68 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:42,600 of the church. 69 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,000 And by now, the temperature was like minus 400 degrees outside. 70 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,360 It was getting colder, strangely. 71 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,440 And so I thought, who am I going to call at 6 a.m. in the morning? 72 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,440 And so I said, well, I reached for my phone. 73 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:55,640 I didn't have my phone either. 74 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,240 I had also left my phone on the desk of my office. 75 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:00,240 So here I was. 76 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:01,240 I had no phone. 77 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:02,240 I had no car. 78 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:03,240 I had no keys. 79 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:04,800 I had no warmth. 80 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,920 It was getting very, very, very cold, minus 600 degrees now outside. 81 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,560 And so I didn't know what to do. 82 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,000 And then I looked and I saw it, the window. 83 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:17,840 And I said, could it be? 84 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:24,400 Is it possible that I, at some point in the fall, forgot to lock that window? 85 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,440 And that I could actually pry it open and climb in? 86 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,560 And so I don't know if you have ever tried to break into your own house, or if you've 87 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,520 ever tried to break into somebody else's house, which is a bad idea. 88 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:37,960 That was against the law. 89 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:39,480 Do not do that. 90 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:41,440 But I said, this is the only option I have. 91 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,160 And so I looked around and I found a blue box. 92 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:45,160 And I took the blue box. 93 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:46,680 I turned it upside down. 94 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:52,120 And I kind of stepped up onto the box so I could get my hands onto the window sill. 95 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:53,600 Now the first step was the easiest step. 96 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,040 I just had to pop the screen off the window. 97 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:58,280 And so that was easy. 98 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:00,000 And I had that done. 99 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,760 But the next step was going to be the really hard part. 100 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:07,720 If indeed I had left the window unlocked, I was going to need to get my fingernails kind 101 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,320 of under that bottom part. 102 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,920 They make windows so that you can't break into them. 103 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:14,480 So it's actually hard. 104 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,760 So I was like, and again, mine is 800 degrees outside. 105 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,000 I'm up there on this blue box with my dress shoes on. 106 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:27,040 And lo and behold, it might be a surprise to you. 107 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:28,920 But for other people, it's no surprise. 108 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:30,520 I had left the window open. 109 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:31,800 I had left it unlocked. 110 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,720 And it started to go up. 111 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,960 And so I got my hands in it and I pushed it up. 112 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,480 I could feel the warm air come pouring out of my office. 113 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:40,560 I was like, I think this is going to work. 114 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,920 But really the hard, hard part of the job was going to be getting through that window. 115 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:52,680 Because God did not make my body to be the kind of body that easily fits through a two 116 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,120 square foot opening. 117 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:56,920 And so, but I had no choice. 118 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:58,600 My life depended on it. 119 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:04,680 So I reached my hands over the threshold and I pulled and clambered and climbed up and 120 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:06,680 got my belly kind of there. 121 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:07,840 And then I shimmy to cross. 122 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:14,080 I remember it hurt so much because I was rubbing my belly on that bottom of a window 123 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,160 with all those grooves and flaps. 124 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,560 And I think I popped a button or two off of my shirt as I was getting in there. 125 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:25,000 But eventually I got enough of my weight on the other side of the window. 126 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,880 And I just, all I got to do now is just like, grab. 127 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:27,880 I have it. 128 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:28,880 You do its thing. 129 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:34,160 And I just slipped and I flopped and I tumbled the rest of the way into my office. 130 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:40,120 And so, yes, that day, that window saved my life. 131 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:41,120 Yay. 132 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,480 And that's why I'm here today. 133 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,080 Thanks to that window. 134 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,760 You probably heard this expression at some point in your life, a window of opportunity. 135 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,000 What do we mean when we hear about a window of opportunity? 136 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:59,360 What it means is, occasionally, from time to time in our life, there are these momentary 137 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:06,720 chances we have to move from one place in our life to another place in our life. 138 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:13,000 There is an opportunity to move from one side, from say, one situation that we are in, to 139 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,160 climb through and get into a different situation. 140 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:20,480 We call these windows of opportunity. 141 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:26,600 And you might not know this, but the word opportunity comes from two Latin words, ob and 142 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:27,600 portis. 143 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:33,240 Ob means toward and portis means a harbor, like a port, a harbor. 144 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:34,720 And so, the imagery is this. 145 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,720 Imagine a little boat that's getting blown along the seashore and the wind is blowing 146 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,680 and the waves are pushing it. 147 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:46,240 At some point, an opportunity opens up where that boat can make a turn and get into the 148 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:47,320 port safely. 149 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:52,320 It's a window of opportunity, and it's only last a moment. 150 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,460 If the boat misses that opportunity, it's going to blow on, it might even run into the 151 00:08:56,460 --> 00:09:00,280 rocks or get blown down the seashore for miles and miles and miles. 152 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,280 But that is the thing about opportunities. 153 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:08,080 They are only there for a moment, and then they are gone. 154 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:13,600 And if you've missed it, you've missed it, and you're not going to get it back. 155 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,680 That's why we have expressions like this. 156 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:18,600 We say seize the opportunity. 157 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,240 Or we say jump at the opportunity. 158 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,560 Or we say this is a golden opportunity. 159 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,840 You've got to take advantage of this opportunity. 160 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:33,200 Or on this Mother's Day, one of the things my mom always used to say was opportunity 161 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,240 only knocks once, Rob. 162 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:37,240 Happy Mother's Day, mom. 163 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:38,520 Thank you for that advice. 164 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:44,520 But you probably already know this, because at some point in your life, or maybe it's 165 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:49,560 a point in your life like right now, you are aware that there are these windows of opportunities 166 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:52,760 that come into our lives. 167 00:09:52,760 --> 00:10:00,120 For example, it could be that you have an opportunity in your career, a career opportunity. 168 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,480 You're in a job, and this other job opportunity opens up, and you think, oh, I've got this 169 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:05,480 chance now. 170 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,680 It's only here now I could take that chance. 171 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:10,800 Or you've applied for a job, and they've said we'd like to offer you the job. 172 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:11,800 And now's your chance. 173 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:13,080 You've got to make a decision. 174 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,880 It's your window of opportunity, your moment of opportunity. 175 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,200 Or it could be perhaps a financial opportunity. 176 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,160 Somebody has said, if you invest right now, I can get you in on this thing. 177 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:28,560 If you sell right now, or if you buy right now, later it's no good. 178 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:34,640 Before it's no good, but right now there is a financial opportunity for you. 179 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,800 Maybe it's a relationship opportunity. 180 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,600 There's an opportunity for you to step into a relationship with someone. 181 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,520 Someone has said, hey, would you like to go for coffee? 182 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,960 Hey, would you like to get married over here? 183 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,440 Somebody just got engaged to get married over here. 184 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,600 So there's an opportunity to step into that. 185 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:58,560 Or on the other time, sometimes we're in a relationship, and we are looking for an opportunity 186 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,160 to step out of that relationship. 187 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,760 And we're waiting and watching, and oh, there's my chance. 188 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,720 Here's my chance to get a relationship opportunity. 189 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:13,760 Now, sometimes we talk about this in parenting, that in parenting you only have a very small 190 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:18,800 window of opportunity to really invest in, build into the life of your kids. 191 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:23,000 They say that by the time your kids are 12 years old, you will have spent 75% of the 192 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,240 time you will ever spend with them. 193 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,560 By the time they're 18, it's like 90% of the time. 194 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:34,440 So you've only got this small window of opportunity to build relationships with your kids, to build 195 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:36,960 into the lives of your kids. 196 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,640 One last example I'll give you that I learned is growing up on a farm. 197 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,440 Actually, when we were in Port Colburn, we also lived on a little farm, and we would 198 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,960 bale hay in the summer in order to feed all of our animals. 199 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,720 And if you know anything about baling hay, first you have to cut the hay, and then it 200 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,120 has to sit in the field to dry. 201 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,960 And then you kind of got to rake it so it gets really dry. 202 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,920 And then you can bale it all up, and then you got to get it into the barn. 203 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:02,920 It's got to be dry. 204 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,120 And so because farmers know, it's got to have really dry conditions for baling hay, they 205 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,280 look at their calendar and they see there's rain, there's rain, there's rain. 206 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:14,200 Oh, three days of sun, one, two, three, and then it's going to rain again. 207 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,040 That is our moment of opportunity. 208 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:20,420 We've got to make hay while the sun shines. 209 00:12:20,420 --> 00:12:26,140 So all this to say is I think all of us are familiar that in life sometimes there come 210 00:12:26,140 --> 00:12:32,520 these moments of opportunity, these windows of opportunity. 211 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:38,400 Because a window of opportunity comes to us as a change of plans. 212 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,440 You thought you had your life all figured out, it was going this way, you knew where 213 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,320 you were going and what you were going to, where life was taking you. 214 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,600 But now some other option has come up, and you now have to wrestle with the idea, am 215 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:54,640 I willing to change my plans to take this window of opportunity that has come my way? 216 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,560 Sometimes a window of opportunity is a change of plans. 217 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:02,160 Other times a window of opportunity is a choice of options. 218 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,560 There's a bunch of the young adults and youth in our church right now who are waiting to 219 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:10,040 hear back from colleges and waiting to hear back from universities. 220 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,800 And maybe you've received an acceptance to one or two or three schools. 221 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:14,800 Who knows? 222 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:16,760 Maybe all the schools have said we'd love to have you. 223 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:18,320 But now you've got to choose. 224 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,000 You've got a window of opportunity. 225 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,880 They're not going to keep that window open for long. 226 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,280 I think you've got until June 3rd and you've got to make choice which school you're going 227 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:30,800 to go to and as soon as you do all those other windows are going to close. 228 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,320 Or maybe you're on the other side of the spectrum and you're like looking to retire. 229 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:35,920 And you're like I could retire now. 230 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:37,120 I could go a little later. 231 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:38,440 I've got this chance right now. 232 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:39,960 They're offering me this package. 233 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,040 Do I get out now? 234 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:45,200 Is this my window of opportunity? 235 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,520 So a window of opportunity can look like a change of plans. 236 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,420 It can look like a choice of options. 237 00:13:49,420 --> 00:13:53,040 But the one I want to talk to you about today most of all is that sometimes a window of 238 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,760 opportunity comes to us as a challenge to our faith. 239 00:13:57,760 --> 00:13:59,200 Right? 240 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:03,320 Sometimes in life God gives us a chance. 241 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:10,000 God gives us a chance to step from one place in our spiritual life and to step through 242 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:11,960 to another place. 243 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:19,000 To move from one place in our relationship with God and enter into another place, a better 244 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:24,320 place in our relationship with God. 245 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,440 And I wonder if you've ever thought about it this way. 246 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,880 It could be, I'm not saying I know this, but it could be that even being here this morning, 247 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:40,800 being at church this morning might be for you a window of opportunity to take a step 248 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,080 deeper in your relationship with God. 249 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,640 Maybe this is your first time at church or your first time in a long time at church. 250 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:51,720 And you don't even know how you got here or you're watching online. 251 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:53,480 You're like why am I watching this? 252 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:54,480 Right? 253 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,000 And you know, somebody invited you to church and you reluctantly said yes. 254 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,360 You always said you weren't a church person, but you ended up at church today. 255 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,800 Or maybe you felt this little nudge inside of you, like God was nudging you, saying, 256 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,520 hey, you should really go to church. 257 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:07,720 Anyways, you're here now. 258 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:08,800 You're here in this place. 259 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:10,720 You're watching online, whatever. 260 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:11,720 What is that all about? 261 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:18,200 Is it possible God is opening a window for you, an opportunity that wasn't there before 262 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:24,240 and won't be there later, but there's a moment, a challenge, a choice for you to make in your 263 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,560 relationship with God even this morning. 264 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:33,000 Or if you've been at coming to church your whole life, you could still have a window 265 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,360 of opportunity even this morning. 266 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,800 Maybe you've been sensing for a while, you know what? 267 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:44,760 God is calling me to do something different, to do something a little more, to serve or 268 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:49,360 to lead or to get involved or to join a group or to give or whatever. 269 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:54,000 And you've sensed this and now you see, oh, the opportunity is there. 270 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:55,200 It's there before me now. 271 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:56,880 It might not be there later. 272 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:57,880 It wasn't there before. 273 00:15:57,880 --> 00:15:59,680 I wasn't feeling this that way before. 274 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:01,360 You know, that's the thing. 275 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:05,080 If you feel this way now, there's no guarantee you're going to feel that way later and you 276 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:11,840 didn't feel that way before, but there's a window of opportunity for all of us, potentially 277 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,760 even today. 278 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,000 What are you going to do? 279 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:22,960 Today I want to talk to you about a man who had a window of opportunity, a challenge to 280 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:28,160 his faith, and unfortunately he completely blew it. 281 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:33,320 On the surface, the story that we just read is a story of how John the Baptist, who was 282 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:40,800 Jesus' cousin and a great prophet, how he was executed, how he was put to death at the 283 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,280 hands of King Herod. 284 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:44,960 That's what the story is on the surface. 285 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:51,760 But actually, I believe this story has more to do with King Herod than John the Baptist. 286 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:56,440 And I think that the reason the author, Mark, in this case, has written down the story is 287 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:03,200 because he wants us all to learn something about missed opportunities. 288 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,880 In fact, I think this is what we're supposed to learn from this story. 289 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,680 Don't make Herod's mistake. 290 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,080 Actually, why don't we say that one together? 291 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:17,440 Don't make Herod's mistake. 292 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,920 So you're going to say, now, what was Herod's mistake? 293 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,080 What opportunity did he miss? 294 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,280 Well, let's take a look at the story a little bit. 295 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,720 There's a bit to understand in the background. 296 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,600 First to understand is a point in Herod's life. 297 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:39,200 He had a wide open window to take a step of faith toward God. 298 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:40,200 Here's the backstory. 299 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,560 Okay, the backstory is kind of important. 300 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:48,520 Herod himself had given orders to have John the Baptist, as John the Baptist, arrested 301 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:54,120 and put in prison because of, I say it, Herodias, but because of Herodias. 302 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:55,680 Now you might be like, what is that? 303 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:00,040 He did this because of Herodias, his brother, Philip's wife, whom he had married. 304 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,040 What is going on here? 305 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:02,040 Track with me here. 306 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:03,040 Okay. 307 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,920 Herod was actually one of three brothers. 308 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:10,000 There was Herod, and he had another brother, Aristobulus, and another brother, Philip. 309 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,400 Aristobulus had a daughter. 310 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,400 Her name was Herodias. 311 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,600 And for whatever reason, Herodias said, you know who I'd like to marry? 312 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,080 I'd like to marry my uncle Philip. 313 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,880 And so she married her uncle Philip. 314 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,840 So Philip was married to Aristobulus' daughter, Herodias. 315 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,360 And then, I don't know what happened later on, but at some point things kind of went 316 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:39,080 south with Philip and Herodias, and Herodias said, you know who I maybe should marry now? 317 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:43,520 Is I now I should marry my other uncle? 318 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,000 And so she ends up going and getting married to Herod. 319 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,520 So just get this. 320 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:59,200 Herod had married a woman who was both at the same time his niece and his sister-in-law. 321 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,600 I mean, that's crazy. 322 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:06,200 I mean, we didn't even do that in Port Colbert. 323 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,440 But that's the situation that he had gotten himself into. 324 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:11,720 And it was wrong. 325 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:12,720 It was wrong. 326 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,600 And nobody was going to say anything about it. 327 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:16,680 Nobody was going to say anything about it, except for who? 328 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:18,280 Except for John the Baptist. 329 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,400 John the Baptist came out and he challenged Herod and said, Herod, this is not right what 330 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:23,400 you are doing. 331 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:24,400 It's incestuous. 332 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:25,400 It's against God's law. 333 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,720 This is not God's plan for marriage. 334 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,200 And so what happened? 335 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,880 John, of course, got arrested by Herod. 336 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,440 But things take a bit of a turn, right? 337 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:37,440 Whoops. 338 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:38,760 I didn't want to go that far. 339 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,280 Things take a bit of a turn. 340 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,960 Herod feared John. 341 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:43,960 What does that mean? 342 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,960 Herod actually feared John and protected him. 343 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,440 And when it says he feared John, it doesn't mean that he was like, uh, get away from me. 344 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,720 It means he had a sense of awe when he was around John. 345 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,760 When he heard John speak, it sounded like the voice of God was speaking to him. 346 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,880 It convicted him, right? 347 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,160 This man is speaking God's words to me somehow. 348 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:07,880 It was a sense of holy fear. 349 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:12,040 And so Herod actually protected John, which is crazy, right? 350 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:17,960 This guy is publicly criticizing your marriage and your protecting him. 351 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:24,360 But it's because God was speaking through John to Herod. 352 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:26,800 And Herod knew he was a righteous man. 353 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:28,920 Herod knew that he was a holy man. 354 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,640 And so from time to time, Herod, I think, would just call John up from the prison and 355 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:33,920 sit and listen to him. 356 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:34,960 And John would talk to him. 357 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,000 And John would preach to him. 358 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,240 And Herod would just hear, hear what John was saying. 359 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:45,680 And as he listened, we read that he was greatly, and see that word there? 360 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:46,680 Puzzled. 361 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,000 But he liked to listen to him. 362 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,960 Now that word puzzled is a Greek word, which is aporeo. 363 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,440 Now you might say, what does, what does that mean? 364 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:01,880 If something is po-reo, just po-reo, it means that you will just go ahead and do it. 365 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,480 So if I po-reo, it means I'm going to do something. 366 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:06,480 I'm going to get on the road. 367 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:07,640 I'm going to walk down the road. 368 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:08,640 I'm going to get moving. 369 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:09,800 I'm going to get going. 370 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:15,680 But if you're aporeo, it means you get on the road and you don't know what you want 371 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:16,680 to do. 372 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:17,680 You don't know which way to go. 373 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:18,680 You're indecisive. 374 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:20,760 You're, you're, should I go this way? 375 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,560 It's almost like a fork in the road. 376 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,880 Someone who's aporeo doesn't know whether to go this way or doesn't know whether to 377 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:26,880 go that way. 378 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:27,880 You know? 379 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,040 And when Herod heard John talk to him, he was aporeo. 380 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:33,040 He was puzzled. 381 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:34,720 He was confused. 382 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:41,320 He was uncertain because on the one hand, John was, of course, his enemy, you know, publicly 383 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:42,840 criticizing his marriage. 384 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:49,440 But on the other hand, he knew this is a holy man and he's speaking to me. 385 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:54,000 He's speaking God's words through him to me. 386 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:59,760 And so Herod, in this moment, I hope you understand, he had a window of opportunity. 387 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,760 One of the greatest prophets, in fact, Jesus calls John the Baptist the greatest prophet 388 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:12,920 ever is speaking to you day by day, preaching to you day by day, calling you to live a certain 389 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,360 way and act a certain way and make decisions in your life. 390 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:24,720 A major window of opportunity is open before Herod in this very moment. 391 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:32,000 But will Herod take that step of faith and move through this window? 392 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,680 That window was not there before. 393 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,760 And that window may not be there later. 394 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,160 So what will Herod do? 395 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:43,920 And again, some of you know this feeling all too well because you find yourself in a situation 396 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:45,600 where God is calling you to do something. 397 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,600 You know God is calling you to do something. 398 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,640 But you're aporeo. 399 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:52,440 You're wasp-ling. 400 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:53,440 You don't know what to do. 401 00:22:53,440 --> 00:23:00,120 Are you going to step through it or are you going to let that opportunity pass? 402 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:05,480 For Herod, ultimately, a moment of decision arrives. 403 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,160 The Gospel writer Mark actually uses very ironic language. 404 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:12,760 He says, finally, the opportune time came. 405 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,560 The moment of opportunity, the moment of decision has come. 406 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,440 But wait, whose moment of opportunity is it going to be? 407 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,960 Unfortunately, it's not Herod's. 408 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:22,960 Herod doesn't seize the opportunity. 409 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:24,600 He doesn't jump at the opportunity. 410 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,640 It's actually Herodias who's deeply wounded because her character has been called into 411 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,880 question because of this marriage criticism thing. 412 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:37,280 So while Herod is wasp-ling, not sure whether to take a step of faith toward God, Herodias 413 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,360 saw her window of opportunity to put an end to it all. 414 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:41,760 And she was far more decisive. 415 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,000 She just took it. 416 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,760 She sees as one day, you know, Herod's throwing a great big birthday party, a big banquet. 417 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,160 And she says, here's my opportunity. 418 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:51,160 Right? 419 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,080 He's up in front of all his guests. 420 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:54,920 He's had too much to drink. 421 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:56,760 Here's my opportunity. 422 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,240 He's making all these lavish promises, promises that he doesn't, he doesn't even know what 423 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:01,240 he's saying. 424 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:02,320 Here's my opportunity. 425 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,840 He sees, you know, my daughter Salome dancing. 426 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:07,320 He really likes it when she dances. 427 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:08,760 Oh, now he's making promises. 428 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,720 He says he'll give her anything. 429 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,560 Here is my opportunity. 430 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,360 And she whispers in Salome's ear. 431 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:20,880 She says, hey, ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 432 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,200 She sees her opportunity. 433 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:24,200 Her window opened. 434 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,720 And at the same time, Herod's window closed. 435 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,120 It's a tragic moment. 436 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:30,560 It's a tragic moment. 437 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:35,920 It's tragic not so much because John the Baptist ends up dying because he actually dies quite 438 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:40,120 triumphantly preaching God's word right to the very end. 439 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:47,440 But what's really tragic is that Herod had this opportunity to take a step toward God 440 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,960 and he waffled and he missed it. 441 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:58,040 And he didn't want to do it because of the oaths that he had made to his dinner guests. 442 00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,800 You can read right here. 443 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:00,800 He had made these promises. 444 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:03,920 He had said all these things in front of people. 445 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,800 And now this is really important to know. 446 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:12,240 Is it how could somebody who had heard God's word spoken to them so clearly still somehow 447 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:14,640 miss their window of opportunity? 448 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,760 How could a person make a decision like this and miss it? 449 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:19,880 It's essentially this. 450 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,360 He was worried about what other people were going to say. 451 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:27,080 He was worried more about what other people said than about what God said. 452 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,920 He was more worried about saving face than saving his soul. 453 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,760 And so he ultimately caves in to the pressure of the crowd. 454 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:39,280 And I think that's how anybody, that's how you, me, any of us, might clearly hear the 455 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,240 voice of God and say, I'm not going to do it because we're worried about what other 456 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,600 people might think. 457 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,960 It's probably the biggest reason why we don't step through the windows of opportunity that 458 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:50,920 God puts before us. 459 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:55,320 We're worried about what it might look like to others. 460 00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:00,360 And so for Herod, the window closes. 461 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:02,720 And it closes forever. 462 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:07,240 He never gets another chance to take that step with God. 463 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,600 And you can just tell that Herod is haunted by what he's done because look what happens 464 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:11,960 a little bit later. 465 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:17,200 A little bit later when Jesus comes on the scene, Herod is like, oh, who is this Jesus? 466 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:22,640 Maybe this Jesus is actually John the Baptist who's come back from the dead. 467 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,600 And maybe I can get a chance to talk to him again. 468 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,600 And maybe I can listen to him speak to me again. 469 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,440 And maybe I can make a different decision this time. 470 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,200 Maybe, maybe, maybe, but sorry, Herod, no. 471 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:34,520 Jesus is not John. 472 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:35,800 John is dead. 473 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:36,800 You killed him. 474 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:38,520 You had your opportunity. 475 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,600 And that opportunity is now gone. 476 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:47,280 In fact, eventually Herod does have the chance to meet Jesus. 477 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:52,000 And we're told that when Jesus was arrested, he was initially brought before Herod. 478 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,760 And Herod actually really wanted to talk to Jesus. 479 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:59,120 He plied Jesus with many questions, we are told. 480 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:00,120 And this is significant. 481 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,440 Jesus gave him no answer. 482 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:08,400 This is the only time in all the gospels where Jesus refuses to answer a question that is 483 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,400 put to him. 484 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:10,400 Why? 485 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,840 The moment has passed. 486 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:13,840 The window is closed. 487 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,200 And maybe Jesus knows, hey, you had your chance, Herod. 488 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:21,160 You had a chance to listen to the greatest preacher of all time, John the Baptist. 489 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:22,160 You had your moment. 490 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,600 And if you wouldn't listen to him, you're not going to listen to me. 491 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,080 I'm not going to say another word to you. 492 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,960 Jesus is sent to his death. 493 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,160 Herod as well goes on, actually, to have a very miserable and gory death. 494 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:36,960 We're told that God strikes him down. 495 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,840 We're told that something about worms consuming his body. 496 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,600 I'm not sure what all that means, but apparently Herod's time was over. 497 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,560 He missed that window of opportunity. 498 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:51,160 And by its very nature, a window of opportunity is very, very small. 499 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,400 Things could have gone so differently. 500 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:59,600 Like Mom said, opportunity only knocks once. 501 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:04,400 So what is the moral of all this? 502 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,400 Why did Mark put this in his gospel? 503 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,360 I'm not 100% sure, but I think one of the reasons has got to be this. 504 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:11,480 It's not going to make Herod's mistake. 505 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:17,920 Or put differently, the moral, the lesson is a window of opportunity, even a small one, 506 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:19,400 can affect an eternity. 507 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,680 A window of opportunity only lasts a few seconds. 508 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,040 It might only last a few days. 509 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,920 It might only last a week or two in the period of your life. 510 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:28,240 It doesn't seem like much. 511 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:34,640 But in that moment, in that moment, that brief opportunity could have eternal implications 512 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,320 for your life. 513 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:42,360 Now if you're sitting here today, and I'm certain all of us are feeling this, we could 514 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,960 be saying, oh shoot, I've blown it. 515 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,240 I have missed so many opportunities in my life. 516 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:53,800 And maybe I've even missed opportunities that God has given me. 517 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:54,800 You haven't blown it. 518 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:56,360 It's not true. 519 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:02,280 Because we actually know something that Herod did not know. 520 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:10,960 We know that Jesus had many opportunities to walk away from us and to walk away from 521 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:11,960 the cross. 522 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:21,840 But when the time came, Jesus took His opportunity, not to save Himself, but to save us. 523 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:28,200 And when He gave His life for us, all of our mistakes and all of our missed opportunities 524 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,960 were wiped away, were wiped clean. 525 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:37,440 With Jesus, we always can have a new beginning. 526 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:46,760 See, God's love lasts forever, even if windows of opportunity do not. 527 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:52,160 But I still say this to you, never assume, oh, I'll just do it later. 528 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,120 I'll talk to her later. 529 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,480 I'll make that decision later. 530 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,120 I'll answer that question later. 531 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,160 I'll take that step of faith later. 532 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,080 I'll pray that prayer later. 533 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:10,120 Herod shows us later just might not happen. 534 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,680 Later the situation could be different. 535 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,240 Later you could be different. 536 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:22,560 There are only so many tomorrows in our lives and a missed moment could affect more than 537 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,800 you possibly know. 538 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:31,040 So don't ignore God's open door. 539 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,760 If the window is open, don't stand out there in the cold. 540 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,560 Climb into God's plan for your life. 541 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:47,200 Even today, if you feel like God is calling you to take a step, to take a chance, to trust 542 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:52,640 in Him, this is the opportunity. 543 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,120 I love this piece of Scripture from Deuteronomy 30. 544 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,920 This is a good one to stick to your fridge. 545 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,480 Every day when you walk out the house, if you looked at this, this would be a great one 546 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:02,480 to remember. 547 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,520 See, I set before you, right? 548 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,000 I set before you right now. 549 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:15,960 Right now, I set before you today in this moment, life and prosperity, death and destruction. 550 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,640 Choose life. 551 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,760 Window of opportunity can affect our eternity. 552 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:27,600 So don't ignore God's open door. 553 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,120 Be with God. 554 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:35,840 Thanks for listening to our sermon today, and we hope that you found the message inspiring. 555 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:41,440 Join us next week for Pentecost Sunday, where we will begin a brand new sermon series on 556 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,560 the fruit of the Spirit. 557 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,720 Thanks again for listening. 558 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:50,520 Today's sermon was taken from the May 12, 2024 service at Trinity Church, Streetsville, 559 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:58,680 in Mississauga, Ontario.