WEBVTT 00:00:09.449 --> 00:00:14.289 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:16.589 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:19.809 with dozens of nationalities worshiping together. 00:00:20.109 --> 00:00:22.989 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:22.989 --> 00:00:27.210 you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our 00:00:27.210 --> 00:00:31.050 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.050 --> 00:00:36.609 by this week's sermon. We are a community who 00:00:36.609 --> 00:00:40.049 gathers around the person of Jesus Christ. And 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:42.390 we desire to be shaped and formed into him as 00:00:42.390 --> 00:00:45.609 global disciples with all of what we do, looking 00:00:45.609 --> 00:00:49.929 increasingly like him. And the year as it shifts 00:00:49.929 --> 00:00:54.170 from 2025 to 2026 is a great opportunity for 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:57.210 us to think and reflect and say, Lord, what are 00:00:57.210 --> 00:00:59.789 some spiritual lessons for our journey of walking 00:00:59.789 --> 00:01:03.049 with you that is going to help us? as we continue 00:01:03.049 --> 00:01:06.609 forward in 2026. Now, last week, if you missed 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:10.609 it, Scott Hayden took words from Jesus' Sermon 00:01:10.609 --> 00:01:13.530 on the Mount about, do I judge or do I not judge? 00:01:14.209 --> 00:01:16.310 If you missed that, I would encourage you to 00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:18.290 go back there because at the core of relationships 00:01:18.290 --> 00:01:22.150 is really Jesus' teaching that helps us move 00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:27.760 forward in that well. I'd like to, before moving 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:31.280 into what we are going to consider today, a spiritual 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.780 lesson that I want to bring to us from God's 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:36.599 word, I want to invite you to join me in prayer. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:39.819 And you can do so by, if you want to hold your 00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:42.180 hands open, that's fine, or if there's another 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:44.879 posture there, but what we're desiring is that 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.599 the Lord would move in and through us according 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:50.140 to his purposes in this time. So, God, I thank 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.629 you that you... are not caught off guard by anything 00:01:53.629 --> 00:01:56.930 that has happened, even by the fact that we are 00:01:56.930 --> 00:02:02.569 here today together. And so, Lord, I ask that 00:02:02.569 --> 00:02:04.170 through the power of the Holy Spirit, that the 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:06.230 words of my mouth, that the meditations in my 00:02:06.230 --> 00:02:07.870 heart, that they would be pleasing to you, God. 00:02:08.569 --> 00:02:11.849 And I pray that those of us who are here, all 00:02:11.849 --> 00:02:15.150 of us, that our hearts would be tender and soft 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:18.240 towards your word. You say that it's alive and 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:19.960 it's active and it's sharper than a double -edged 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:22.400 sword and it pierces into the inner parts of 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:24.479 who we are and invites us into transformation. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:30.379 So welcome that. We welcome it. We pray this 00:02:30.379 --> 00:02:32.699 in the wonderful and matchless name of Jesus 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:38.300 Christ. Amen. As I took time to think through 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:43.240 2025, it's good to just take a pause as the year 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.330 shifts and think, Lord, What were you doing? 00:02:46.490 --> 00:02:48.909 Where were you active? Because we want to look 00:02:48.909 --> 00:02:50.550 into the next year and say, Lord, what are you 00:02:50.550 --> 00:02:53.909 calling me to? And I had a number of different 00:02:53.909 --> 00:02:57.330 things that, Lord, what should I bring forward 00:02:57.330 --> 00:03:00.490 in this month of January to ECB? And there's 00:03:00.490 --> 00:03:04.590 a picture here that captures well something that 00:03:04.590 --> 00:03:08.969 marked my year. Let's go ahead. Next picture. 00:03:11.050 --> 00:03:15.110 And it's... It's that, now we're playing tag. 00:03:15.889 --> 00:03:19.129 It's this picture here. And this was taken just 00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:22.389 a couple days ago, one of the outskirts of Manila, 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:26.849 in the Antipolo area there. And this is my wife 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:30.710 and I at her brother's gravesite. He passed away 00:03:30.710 --> 00:03:35.189 in the month of July this last year. And unexpectedly, 00:03:35.590 --> 00:03:40.689 he's quite young. I thought through this and 00:03:40.689 --> 00:03:43.009 this picture captures it well because we're sitting 00:03:43.009 --> 00:03:45.069 there and we intentionally went to the Philippines 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:50.969 to do this. And thinking through the last year 00:03:50.969 --> 00:03:52.990 and it's like, there's a lot of light in that 00:03:52.990 --> 00:03:56.689 picture. But there's also a grave in that picture. 00:03:58.289 --> 00:04:02.729 And that is really a capturing moment of 2025 00:04:02.729 --> 00:04:06.830 for many of us in this community. I know some 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:09.180 of your stories. I don't know all of them. But 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:11.240 quite a few of you have lost parents this year 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:16.579 or other loved ones. There's been massive political 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:19.800 realities that have shifted huge organizational 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:22.720 funding structures which have caused a lot of 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.620 you to lose your jobs. And that means a lot of 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:29.220 our community has had to move. There's other 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:31.279 transitions that have happened here. There's 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.079 diagnoses that have hit our community that have 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:39.490 just really rocked and moved us. within all of 00:04:39.490 --> 00:04:45.730 that is also beauty and light and goodness. And 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:48.029 just a matter of hours after this, I jumped on 00:04:48.029 --> 00:04:51.009 a flight to head back to Bangkok. And I'm standing 00:04:51.009 --> 00:04:53.430 there in the line just kind of processing all 00:04:53.430 --> 00:04:56.449 of this. And Pastor Phil, I turn around and there's 00:04:56.449 --> 00:04:59.389 another couple from ECB there. And I go to sit 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:02.779 on the flight. And we're with my kids and my 00:05:02.779 --> 00:05:05.139 in -laws as well, so we're taking up a whole 00:05:05.139 --> 00:05:08.079 row. And another ECB -er comes and sits right 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:11.060 in front of us. He's like, hey, how are you doing? 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:14.399 Some light, some beauty, some reminders that 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:16.980 there is goodness in all of what we do and we 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:20.019 see, right? So there's a question that we would 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:22.379 ask ourselves is, in a world still marked by 00:05:22.379 --> 00:05:25.779 suffering, what does it look like to still hold 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:29.470 hope? What does it still look like to hold hope? 00:05:29.589 --> 00:05:32.930 This is not a new thing that you and I have experienced. 00:05:33.689 --> 00:05:37.449 In fact, the words that Ben just read to us from 00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:42.870 1 Peter 1 through 9 were written almost 2 ,000 00:05:42.870 --> 00:05:46.290 years ago. Written to a community where Peter 00:05:46.290 --> 00:05:52.069 knew, hey, you need hope. You need a living hope. 00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:54.170 And I want to remind you of that. And so those 00:05:54.170 --> 00:05:57.610 are the words from Peter there. So here's my 00:05:57.610 --> 00:06:01.629 desire, ECB. My desire is that as a community 00:06:01.629 --> 00:06:04.329 over the next year, that we would be people formed 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:07.930 by resurrection hope. Formed by resurrection 00:06:07.930 --> 00:06:11.350 hope. And Peter is going to very nicely outline 00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:13.930 this for us within a matter of nine verses. What 00:06:13.930 --> 00:06:16.850 does it look like for you and for me to be people 00:06:16.850 --> 00:06:21.189 who are formed in resurrection hope? And he's 00:06:21.189 --> 00:06:23.209 going to begin with purpose. He's going to say 00:06:23.209 --> 00:06:25.709 there's a reason why, and it's actually more 00:06:25.709 --> 00:06:28.329 an inferred reality in the whole passage. Why 00:06:28.329 --> 00:06:30.449 write about hope unless it's very important? 00:06:31.009 --> 00:06:33.269 Now, you may be sitting there and saying, I'm 00:06:33.269 --> 00:06:36.089 not a very hope -filled person. I'm a pessimist. 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:39.069 I just see the world the way it is, and I kind 00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:41.829 of live that way, right? Others of you may be 00:06:41.829 --> 00:06:43.829 like, well, that's a virtue, but that's for that 00:06:43.829 --> 00:06:46.129 guy or that woman over there, and that's great. 00:06:46.250 --> 00:06:48.029 And every once in a while, I'll call them to 00:06:48.029 --> 00:06:51.350 receive some of their positive vibes or something 00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:53.709 like that. But that's not what we're looking 00:06:53.709 --> 00:06:57.569 at here. Hope is absolutely a necessary ingredient 00:06:57.569 --> 00:07:01.689 to what it means to be fully human. Now, as an 00:07:01.689 --> 00:07:04.110 example of what this plays out, there's a man 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:07.069 by the name of Viktor Frankl who is an Austrian, 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:11.600 and he lived in the time of World War II. Now, 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:14.079 I bring up his story because this book, The Search 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.720 for Man's Meaning, if you have not read it and 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.379 you are a philosophical or you like to just study 00:07:19.379 --> 00:07:21.959 human nature, grab this book. It's really short. 00:07:22.139 --> 00:07:25.079 It's fantastic. It's not written necessarily 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:28.480 from a Christian perspective, but it does help 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:31.600 you understand the human experience. Now, here's 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:34.379 what Viktor Frankl went through. So as a 20 -year 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:36.360 -old just finished up his psychology degree, 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.639 the Nazis come in, they take over Austria, they 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:42.139 take all the Jews, Viktor being one of them, 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:45.000 to ghettos, and then eventually he gets put on 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.779 a train and ends up in Auschwitz in some of the 00:07:47.779 --> 00:07:51.579 worst concentration camps that are there. Now, 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:53.699 what Viktor did during this time is he actually 00:07:53.699 --> 00:07:56.220 spent time sitting with and listening to people 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:58.139 when he wasn't being forced into labor and things 00:07:58.139 --> 00:08:00.959 like that, and just hearing their stories. And 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:03.360 as he sat there and he listened to their stories, 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:08.199 he was categorizing and thinking, okay, what 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:10.740 is it about the human experience that I'm learning 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:14.560 in this situation? And he came away with something 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.500 that is captured in this picture right here. 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:20.949 This painting. is by a friend of ours that lives 00:08:20.949 --> 00:08:23.990 here in Bangkok. And what she's done is it's 00:08:23.990 --> 00:08:26.389 linographed, so she's etched into it and then 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:30.089 printed different colors onto a paper. You can 00:08:30.089 --> 00:08:32.210 tell I'm not an artist, right? And printed different 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:35.009 colors onto this paper, and you see light and 00:08:35.009 --> 00:08:37.090 darkness. You see the tomb. You see community. 00:08:37.330 --> 00:08:40.570 And it's capturing the women who are coming to 00:08:40.570 --> 00:08:43.289 the tomb and longing and hope at that space. 00:08:44.470 --> 00:08:47.860 And what Victor realized is that In the time 00:08:47.860 --> 00:08:50.940 span of those who are in the concentration camp, 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:54.820 a matter of years for most, they were experiencing 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:58.659 what you and I will experience during an entire 00:08:58.659 --> 00:09:04.039 lifetime smashed into a number of months. So 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:06.659 think about all the losses, all the pain, all 00:09:06.659 --> 00:09:09.159 the suffering as you get old and you age and 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.080 there's different realities, you lose loved ones, 00:09:11.139 --> 00:09:14.139 those things. You condense it, you concentrate 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:18.820 it into a couple months. Or a few years. That's 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:23.419 a lot of pressure on a human being. So why did 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:27.039 10 % of the people there survive? How did they 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:30.639 make it out? And what Victor realized is, he 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:34.320 said, it's not because they were strong. It's 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:36.879 not because they were extra smart. It's not because 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.139 they had great people skills. It's not because 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:43.700 they were leaders. What was it because? Hope. 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.559 They somehow found a way to have hope. And so 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:52.419 Peter writes this passage knowing that the life 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:56.100 that you live today is absolutely shaped by your 00:09:56.100 --> 00:10:00.419 understanding of the future. So back to you again, 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.919 what is your understanding of the future? How 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.929 is that shaping how you and I live today? This 00:10:07.929 --> 00:10:10.429 is the purpose that Peter writes for it. And 00:10:10.429 --> 00:10:13.269 he says, hey, I need to make sure that I write 00:10:13.269 --> 00:10:15.610 about hope because it is an essential component 00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:18.830 of what it means to be a human being, to thrive. 00:10:19.190 --> 00:10:22.190 Those who are tested to the absolute extreme, 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:25.110 the ones who do well in life, have been formed 00:10:25.110 --> 00:10:29.350 in hope. Well, the good news is that God cares. 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:32.549 deeply about you and I having hope. And so there's 00:10:32.549 --> 00:10:35.090 this outline from Peter here, from purpose to 00:10:35.090 --> 00:10:38.070 posture. What does the posture of hope look like? 00:10:38.690 --> 00:10:40.950 Well, right in the middle of this first passage, 00:10:41.049 --> 00:10:42.769 we might read it and be like, okay, Peter, you're 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:46.350 addressing some people to the ECBers, the exiles 00:10:46.350 --> 00:10:49.169 in dispersion in Bangkok, and you know, and on 00:10:49.169 --> 00:10:51.450 and on and on. Peter's going to say that. Now, 00:10:51.509 --> 00:10:54.529 what's important to realize is these people are 00:10:54.529 --> 00:10:58.570 not refugees. They're not exiles in the sense 00:10:58.570 --> 00:11:02.289 of a literal sense. They're actually Gentiles 00:11:02.289 --> 00:11:06.450 living in these areas. Peter, why are you calling 00:11:06.450 --> 00:11:09.149 them Gentiles and diaspora? Why are you calling 00:11:09.149 --> 00:11:12.870 them people that are outside of their home? Because 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:15.409 he's talking about an existential reality that 00:11:15.409 --> 00:11:19.350 you and I experience. We have all lost our home. 00:11:20.139 --> 00:11:22.940 This side of Eden, we are all living away from 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:25.440 our home. Now, you may be from Bangkok, and there's 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.799 a physical reality here that is true, but Peter 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:30.039 wants to remind these people that there's an 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:32.600 experience to our lives that is going to look 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:35.740 like those ladies at the tomb. There's going 00:11:35.740 --> 00:11:40.879 to be struggling that is there. We need to accept 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:45.559 the posture and embrace that posture of us being 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:48.440 away from home. That's one of the first steps 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:51.649 to it. Now, you might think, Pastor Phil, this 00:11:51.649 --> 00:11:55.529 sounds like bad news. And then you might think, 00:11:55.610 --> 00:11:57.769 okay, well, what are my options? If I don't like 00:11:57.769 --> 00:12:01.350 this, what do I do? Well, some of us, we dig 00:12:01.350 --> 00:12:04.809 in and we try really, really, really hard. And 00:12:04.809 --> 00:12:07.269 maybe we've lost our hope in something and we 00:12:07.269 --> 00:12:09.309 move towards something else to grab hope, right? 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:11.289 So maybe it's something that happened with a 00:12:11.289 --> 00:12:13.850 spouse and then we move that to the child or 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:16.809 we move it to a workplace or maybe it's our health 00:12:16.809 --> 00:12:19.809 and it begins to fade. And as we lose that hope, 00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:23.629 we just find something else to struggle to willfully 00:12:23.629 --> 00:12:27.389 attach hope to. But some of you may be like, 00:12:27.509 --> 00:12:29.990 well, I tried that for a while and that was exhausting. 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:33.340 And it's more the will -less reality where you're 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:36.120 like, you know what? Life is really difficult, 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:40.240 and I'm just going to hold on and let it play 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.179 its course. But that's a will -less way of doing 00:12:43.179 --> 00:12:46.059 it. And Dallas Willard actually offers these 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:48.720 two ideas to say, these are natural things we 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:51.399 move to as humans, either willfully trying harder 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:55.100 or will -lessly kind of giving up. And Peter 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:57.419 knows this as well, which is why he writes this 00:12:57.419 --> 00:12:59.860 passage to us. And he's going to remind us that 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:02.759 there's a third way. There's another option for 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:05.159 you and I to go forward, to be formed in hope. 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:08.720 And here's the key to it. What does it highlight 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.779 there? Go ahead and say it. New birth. New birth. 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:17.879 A little over 16 years ago, I became a parent 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:21.460 for the first time. And before I welcomed my 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.259 daughter into our life, there's kind of a little 00:13:24.259 --> 00:13:28.220 idea of like, I got this. And then you realize 00:13:28.220 --> 00:13:31.659 how unbelievably dependent these little creatures 00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:35.639 are that just stay with you. And sometimes, I 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:38.379 mean, I'm still calling my parents today at times. 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:42.840 It continues on. We are very dependent creatures. 00:13:44.089 --> 00:13:46.370 That's just the way that God has created you 00:13:46.370 --> 00:13:48.370 and I. And I don't think that Peter accidentally 00:13:48.370 --> 00:13:51.590 chooses this metaphor. He wants you to know the 00:13:51.590 --> 00:13:55.470 posture of those who are going to receive resurrection 00:13:55.470 --> 00:13:58.769 hope. You see, if you give me a gift that I don't 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:02.090 want and I don't know I need, it's probably going 00:14:02.090 --> 00:14:04.070 to go on a shelf somewhere and next Christmas 00:14:04.070 --> 00:14:06.730 I'm going to re -gift it to somebody else. But 00:14:06.730 --> 00:14:09.490 if you give me a gift that I know I desperately 00:14:09.490 --> 00:14:12.750 need, I'm going to cherish that gift with all 00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:15.899 of what I have. So the posture to resurrection 00:14:15.899 --> 00:14:19.960 hope must be this broken spirit, this undone 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:23.019 reality. And so how do we become Easter people 00:14:23.019 --> 00:14:27.659 living in a Good Friday world? Meaning Easter 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:31.259 is the celebration we all love because Christ 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:34.120 is risen. But then we go about our lives and 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:37.080 there's stuff that happens, right? Like what 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:42.220 I just came back from in Manila. There's another 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:46.279 third way, which is a willing sacrifice to go 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.220 through it. Resurrection hope is not for the 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:53.320 self -sufficient. It's for the undone. You've 00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.500 got to be at the end of your rope in order to 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:57.740 go through a new birth and continue forward. 00:14:57.899 --> 00:15:00.340 And it's not a one -time experience. It's something 00:15:00.340 --> 00:15:03.179 we journey forward through in life. Now, why 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:05.759 is this good news? Well, let's continue on with 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.059 the rest of it. We've talked about the posture, 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:11.039 and if it's left there, then it's really bad 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:14.419 news, but it's not left there. Peter is going 00:15:14.419 --> 00:15:17.559 to turn our attention now to why it's so good 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:19.700 if you have that posture, which is looking at 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.600 the person. So I want you to go ahead and read 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.139 this entire section with me out loud. So you 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:29.399 ready? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:33.710 Jesus Christ. By his great mercy, he has given 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:37.889 us a new birth into a living hope through the 00:15:37.889 --> 00:15:41.490 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Who's 00:15:41.490 --> 00:15:45.190 doing the movement here? Jesus, right? Peter, 00:15:45.350 --> 00:15:47.289 in fact, he repeats it over and over and over 00:15:47.289 --> 00:15:49.870 again. Why? Because he knows we may try to go 00:15:49.870 --> 00:15:52.539 for hope or we may resign ourselves. But he says, 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:54.580 you know what? Jesus has already done this for 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.820 you. You need to learn to live into that person, 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:00.519 that one who actually is the resurrection hope. 00:16:01.019 --> 00:16:03.779 Why is that good news? Here's the reality. If 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:07.220 I am the reason for my hope and my body continues 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:12.529 to age. and my relationships continue to be complicated 00:16:12.529 --> 00:16:16.750 and work realities are what they are and living 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:19.490 situations are difficult and there's wars around 00:16:19.490 --> 00:16:23.590 the world, if it all depends on me, that's a 00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:27.250 heavy load to lift. But if it depends on somebody 00:16:27.250 --> 00:16:29.889 else and somebody who's actually gone to the 00:16:29.889 --> 00:16:33.210 tomb and come back, now that is news worth holding 00:16:33.210 --> 00:16:35.830 on to. But I have to be willing to want it in 00:16:35.830 --> 00:16:39.289 order for that to be the case. So hope does not 00:16:39.289 --> 00:16:42.809 erase the darkness, but it teaches us to go through 00:16:42.809 --> 00:16:49.169 it. Why? Because God is there with us. He went 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:52.129 to the tomb and he's there with you and I. And 00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:54.649 he says, go through this because I'm going to 00:16:54.649 --> 00:16:57.549 do something with it, which is where we go to 00:16:57.549 --> 00:17:00.389 next. So when the person of the resurrection 00:17:00.389 --> 00:17:03.629 is there, we need to understand who Christ is, 00:17:03.750 --> 00:17:05.990 because then we'll move towards the process that 00:17:05.990 --> 00:17:10.519 Peter is going to invite us to. I grew up most 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:14.900 of my life near the equator and in high altitude 00:17:14.900 --> 00:17:17.599 where the weather was extremely predictable. 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:21.960 And the days were 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:24.200 of nighttime. It was really nice to just kind 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.160 of, you just knew exactly what was happening. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:28.279 The biggest change of the year was a little bit 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:30.480 of a rainy season and then a drier season, right? 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:34.839 At age 10, my parents moved me and my siblings 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:38.680 to... The northern hemisphere in North America 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:41.680 to the northern part of North America to a high 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.440 elevation town in a mountain area. Now, some 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:46.700 of you who know winters are already like, OK, 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.759 this is coming, right? So I get there in the 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:52.920 summertime reality. I'm like, this is great. 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:56.339 This is just like my home. But the days are longer. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:58.619 That means more playing, more freedom, more joy, 00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:02.880 more happiness. I love this. And then comes September. 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:07.869 And then October. And something is changing around 00:18:07.869 --> 00:18:10.930 me. The days are getting shorter. The nights 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:12.829 are getting longer. That happens, by the way. 00:18:12.829 --> 00:18:15.549 If days get shorter, the nights get longer. The 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:20.130 cold is setting in. And then the ground is covered 00:18:20.130 --> 00:18:24.509 with snow and ice. And the trees have lost all 00:18:24.509 --> 00:18:27.470 of their leaves. And for a little bit, you're 00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:29.589 like, okay, this is a new experience. I'm kind 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:32.859 of enjoying this. But I noticed week after week 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:35.799 after week, I started to get kind of like claustrophobic. 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.539 This sense of like, is this ever going to end? 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:46.259 Is my summer gone forever? And this long waiting 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:50.119 continues on. And about April or about March, 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:54.440 you're thinking, I can't do this anymore. And 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:58.359 then something happens. Something comes through 00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:01.400 the snow and the ice. And as an outsider stepping 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:03.619 into this environment, you look around at the 00:19:03.619 --> 00:19:06.400 community and they start doing things differently. 00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:09.140 But it doesn't make sense because there's snow 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:11.779 everywhere. So why are you putting away snow 00:19:11.779 --> 00:19:13.880 gear? Why are you changing your home? Why are 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:17.759 you adapting things as though the winter is changing? 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:21.039 You see, what they knew is something that I didn't 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:24.539 know. that that becomes a sign, this flower, 00:19:24.819 --> 00:19:26.920 this crocus flower that pokes through the ice 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.319 becomes a sign that summer is coming within a 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.740 number of weeks. And so everybody begins to prepare 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:37.359 for this warmer weather, actually. It's spring, 00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:40.920 and then it goes forward. But this is a reality 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.559 that I had to experience and live to, and the 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.140 crocus flower is kind of what Jesus is talking 00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:50.940 about as the living hope here. So he says, you've 00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:53.680 been saved into an inheritance that is imperishable, 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:56.859 undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you who 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:01.519 are being protected by the power of God. All 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.920 of what is being framed here is the fact that 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:08.059 you are not responsible for this hope. Who's 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:11.660 responsible for it? God is. The living hope is 00:20:11.660 --> 00:20:13.440 the one who is. You are there, kind of like the 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.940 crocus flower. You get to just watch it poke 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.539 through and this sign of something that is changing. 00:20:19.049 --> 00:20:21.769 before your very eyes. You see, we don't reason 00:20:21.769 --> 00:20:24.910 our way into resurrection hope. We receive it 00:20:24.910 --> 00:20:27.890 from the living Christ. We don't reason our way 00:20:27.890 --> 00:20:30.430 into resurrection hope. We receive it from the 00:20:30.430 --> 00:20:34.250 living Christ. Now, as an example of this, during 00:20:34.250 --> 00:20:38.269 the Soviet era, where the worldview that was 00:20:38.269 --> 00:20:41.369 being communicated from that part of the world 00:20:41.369 --> 00:20:45.559 was that there was no God. That we could not 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:49.440 trust in anything that could not be seen, identified, 00:20:49.660 --> 00:20:52.039 understood through science or the natural world. 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:57.319 So you had a guy who was spending his life efforts 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:03.619 to tear apart, logically, the resurrection. And 00:21:03.619 --> 00:21:05.680 he actually gathered in a room like this and 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.640 he spent an hour talking to the people and systematically, 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.359 logically saying, this is an impossibility. You 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:15.009 cannot. Somebody cannot rise from the dead. And 00:21:15.009 --> 00:21:17.130 his hope in all of that was to say, let's get 00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:21.150 done with these dreams and let's move on to the 00:21:21.150 --> 00:21:23.450 reality that is there. And at the end of his 00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:27.170 talk, he said, if anyone has questions or you 00:21:27.170 --> 00:21:29.910 want to kind of dispute what I've said, you've 00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:33.529 got a minute to share. And this old man in the 00:21:33.529 --> 00:21:36.210 very back of the room raises his hand and slowly 00:21:36.210 --> 00:21:39.980 makes his way to the front. And seeing that, 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.839 the speaker is like, hey, just want to remind 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.720 you, you only have one minute. And he goes, I 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.940 don't need a minute. I only need 30 seconds. 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:52.980 Confused, like I've just spent this hour dismantling 00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:56.460 the resurrection. And the guy gets up there and 00:21:56.460 --> 00:22:00.920 he says, Christ is risen. And the crowd erupts 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:05.039 with, he is risen indeed. You guys can do better 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:07.920 than that. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. 00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:10.150 Now we notice this on the first service. Everybody's 00:22:10.150 --> 00:22:11.730 like, it's not Easter. Can I say that? Is that 00:22:11.730 --> 00:22:15.529 okay? Pastor, what are you doing? But what you 00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:18.650 have here is the lived out reality of I have 00:22:18.650 --> 00:22:22.029 experienced the resurrection because I know the 00:22:22.029 --> 00:22:25.549 person of resurrection. And it defiles what I 00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:27.849 can see around me, which is where Peter is going 00:22:27.849 --> 00:22:31.630 to go next. But let's look at some stories, some 00:22:31.630 --> 00:22:34.569 actual stories of what resurrection hope growing 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:38.660 within a person looks like. painting that I told 00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:41.660 you about, Mary and the other women at the tomb. 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:46.339 It's a picture of longing for hope, right? Let 00:22:46.339 --> 00:22:48.799 me read a passage of scripture that describes 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:53.599 how Jesus first met Mary. It's from Luke 8. It 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.660 says, Soon afterwards, he, meaning Jesus, went 00:22:57.660 --> 00:23:00.059 on through the cities and villages, proclaiming 00:23:00.059 --> 00:23:02.259 and bringing the good news of the kingdom of 00:23:02.259 --> 00:23:06.079 God. So Jesus is bringing this new way of life, 00:23:06.180 --> 00:23:08.839 this hope into the world around him. The twelve, 00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:11.079 the disciples, were there, as well as some women 00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:13.599 who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.240 Mary, who's pictured in this, called Magdalene, 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:22.829 from whom seven demons had gone out. I want you 00:23:22.829 --> 00:23:26.269 to imagine Mary's life and the tear that she 00:23:26.269 --> 00:23:29.289 was living in when Jesus first encountered her 00:23:29.289 --> 00:23:32.930 and freed her from that. Do you think her allegiance 00:23:32.930 --> 00:23:36.069 and her hope is in Jesus? Absolutely. But then 00:23:36.069 --> 00:23:38.349 she finds herself here when Jesus is in the tomb 00:23:38.349 --> 00:23:40.809 and she's like, Lord, what am I supposed to do? 00:23:41.069 --> 00:23:44.029 There's this deep grief and this deep loss of 00:23:44.029 --> 00:23:46.230 saying, I thought you would come to change things. 00:23:46.250 --> 00:23:51.269 You changed my life. Now what is this? And she 00:23:51.269 --> 00:23:53.470 actually looks in the tomb and she realizes that 00:23:53.470 --> 00:23:55.670 Jesus's body is not there on Sunday morning. 00:23:55.769 --> 00:23:59.250 And so she's even more desperate. They took my 00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:01.450 Lord and my Savior. And she turns around and 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:03.150 she finds somebody there and she thinks it's 00:24:03.150 --> 00:24:04.809 the gardener. And she's like, hey, do you know 00:24:04.809 --> 00:24:08.829 what they did with Jesus? And at that moment, 00:24:08.950 --> 00:24:13.089 the man says, Mary. And that personal connection 00:24:13.089 --> 00:24:16.430 of him and her story come together in that moment. 00:24:17.259 --> 00:24:20.200 And Mary realizes this is Jesus actually here 00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:22.880 with me. He's resurrected from the dead. And 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:26.559 she ends up going back as the very first witness 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.440 of resurrection hope. You see the transformation 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:32.359 that happened? You go from a posture of despair, 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:34.759 whatever you're bringing into that, you wait 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:37.799 and Jesus encounters you and something amazing 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:39.839 happens. Well, let's go on to some of the other 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.200 stories, the disciples. They're up in the upper 00:24:42.200 --> 00:24:44.339 room. They've just seen their leader, Jesus, 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:47.279 be crucified brutally on the cross. Rome looks 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.740 like it's won. What are you going to do? Go hide. 00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:53.680 I'm going to be terrified. I'm going to go up 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:55.359 to a room and I'm going to hide. I'm going to 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:58.019 be full of fear. So that's what they do. This 00:24:58.019 --> 00:25:03.000 is expected of them. And who comes? Jesus enters 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.740 into that space. And within a matter of days, 00:25:07.450 --> 00:25:10.329 They end up preaching the gospel and 3 ,000 people 00:25:10.329 --> 00:25:14.410 come to know Jesus from fear to courage. What 00:25:14.410 --> 00:25:16.789 about Thomas? Thomas missed that scene, but Thomas 00:25:16.789 --> 00:25:18.789 comes as a doubter, right? He's that thinker 00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:20.549 and he's like, I'm only going to believe it if 00:25:20.549 --> 00:25:23.269 I can see it, touch it, know it. Otherwise, I'm 00:25:23.269 --> 00:25:26.230 just going to kind of hold back. And Jesus doesn't 00:25:26.230 --> 00:25:28.650 look at Thomas and he's like, oh, you're doubting, 00:25:28.650 --> 00:25:30.809 you're out of this whole thing. He encounters 00:25:30.809 --> 00:25:34.190 Thomas in his doubt. And he says, go ahead, touch. 00:25:35.339 --> 00:25:38.480 The scars on my hands touch the scars on my feet. 00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:43.500 And as Thomas does that, he declares something. 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:50.700 He says, Jesus, my Lord and my what? God. This 00:25:50.700 --> 00:25:54.079 is the most clear statement of Jesus's divinity 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:58.079 coming from the doubter himself. That's the transformation 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:00.359 that happens when the person of the resurrection 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:03.180 comes to you. What about the Emmaus pilgrims? 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:05.380 So they're in Jerusalem and they're like, great, 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.200 there's this great movement forward. I'm gathered 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:08.859 in a group of people. Something is happening 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:12.680 here. And then all of what happens takes place 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:15.779 and Jesus ends up on the cross crucified. And 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:19.200 you can see them just kind of walking away, dejected 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:24.190 to Emmaus. And on their walk, who comes? A man 00:26:24.190 --> 00:26:26.569 joins them on that and begins to talk to them 00:26:26.569 --> 00:26:29.410 and says, what's going on? And they say, I'm 00:26:29.410 --> 00:26:31.930 so disappointed. I was a believer, but it didn't 00:26:31.930 --> 00:26:35.150 seem to work. So I'm heading this way. And it's 00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:38.309 not until Jesus actually breaks bread with them, 00:26:38.329 --> 00:26:41.509 which we are going to do here in a moment, where 00:26:41.509 --> 00:26:43.549 their eyes are open and they realize this is 00:26:43.549 --> 00:26:46.089 the resurrected living hope. And what do they 00:26:46.089 --> 00:26:49.269 do? They take a U -turn and they head back to 00:26:49.269 --> 00:26:52.710 Jerusalem. Their calling has been restored again 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:55.230 because they have come into contact with the 00:26:55.230 --> 00:27:00.349 resurrected living person, Jesus. So I want you 00:27:00.349 --> 00:27:03.230 to now hear a story, a testimony of a person 00:27:03.230 --> 00:27:06.549 in life today. So her name is Ellie Holcomb. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.000 Now, for those of you who know my last name, 00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:11.039 that's the last name, I am not related to her 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:13.700 as far as I know. She's a musician and songwriter. 00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:16.400 And the reason I share her testimony is she spent 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:19.539 a lot of time trying to understand what hope 00:27:19.539 --> 00:27:22.640 is and wrestling through it. She has song after 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:24.680 song about hope that's beautiful. But she's going 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:26.859 to share a story with you here. And let me just 00:27:26.859 --> 00:27:30.140 set one context for that. She's wrestling through 00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:34.160 with the fact that her niece has just died of 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:37.180 cancer. Nine -year -old girl has died of cancer. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:39.619 And so you're going to watch as she goes through 00:27:39.619 --> 00:27:42.240 this process of wrestling and surrender and then 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:45.259 being restored into resurrection hope with who 00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:54.200 God is. And I was walking through a lot of questions, 00:27:54.259 --> 00:28:00.900 wrestling, and also a lot of walks. Man, we lost 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:06.680 my... precious niece Bailey to a fierce battle, 00:28:06.779 --> 00:28:10.480 aggressive battle of cancer. She was nine. It 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.680 is like, that is not how the story is supposed 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:14.980 to go. You know, it just is like, no one should 00:28:14.980 --> 00:28:17.799 ever have to grieve a child. And yet she had 00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:21.299 a smile that stretched as wide as Tennessee and 00:28:21.299 --> 00:28:25.440 this deep confidence that she knew where she 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:29.880 was headed. She was like ministering to all of 00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:35.940 us as we were grieving. Um, I think there, what, 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:39.279 what I was marveling at is this mystery that 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:41.240 I continue to encounter over and over again in 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:44.420 my story is that in my deepest places of lament, 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:48.240 where I'm like, this is like, you say you work 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:50.160 all things for the good of those who love you 00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:51.799 and are called according to your purposes in 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:56.900 Roman. And I'm like, but this is not good. This 00:28:56.900 --> 00:29:02.480 is breaking my heart. And so, um, I think I feel 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:05.259 more boldness to just come and be like, what 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:11.220 the heck? Like, why? And honestly, like, I'm 00:29:11.220 --> 00:29:12.960 probably going to die with some of those questions 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:18.119 in me. And I can say with full confidence, I've 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:21.460 known the tenderness and the empathy of God and 00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:26.059 the goodness of God to remind me that this isn't 00:29:26.059 --> 00:29:29.369 the end of the story. There may not be healing 00:29:29.369 --> 00:29:31.789 on this side. We may not get the miracle on this 00:29:31.789 --> 00:29:35.049 side of heaven. But there is a day coming where 00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:38.650 every sad thing will come untrue. And we all 00:29:38.650 --> 00:29:40.549 make it back to the far country. We all make 00:29:40.549 --> 00:29:43.650 it back to our true home. And Bailey's there 00:29:43.650 --> 00:29:46.990 now. And I think she would love to know that 00:29:46.990 --> 00:29:49.670 I'm singing about the hope that I know lived 00:29:49.670 --> 00:29:53.380 in her, lives in her. Um, cause she is healed 00:29:53.380 --> 00:29:54.980 and whole and I know she's out of glory. And 00:29:54.980 --> 00:30:00.539 so it is this, I love that the gospel makes space 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:05.640 for both. Like from the grave and the garden 00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:10.240 where Jesus is literally weeping, like wrestling. 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:14.960 If you can take this cup, take it. I just love 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:19.900 that God's answer to brokenness is me too. I'm 00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:23.710 right here with you in it. And this is not the 00:30:23.710 --> 00:30:27.250 end. There is an empty grave and that's where 00:30:27.250 --> 00:30:31.950 our hope is grounded. And so, man, I, I'm so 00:30:31.950 --> 00:30:35.150 grateful to hold on to that for my own heart. 00:30:35.269 --> 00:30:37.690 And then, and then to get to say, Hey, I'll sit 00:30:37.690 --> 00:30:40.549 with you in the sorrow because Jesus sat with 00:30:40.549 --> 00:30:43.509 me and I'm going to point you to him because 00:30:43.509 --> 00:30:46.349 he's reminded me. And I want to remind you, this 00:30:46.349 --> 00:30:49.529 isn't the end. It's a good story that we get 00:30:49.529 --> 00:30:55.269 to be a part of. Yeah. Now what you watch is 00:30:55.269 --> 00:30:57.789 her process, right? So there's a beginning where 00:30:57.789 --> 00:31:00.109 she's like, there's this hope or this wrestling 00:31:00.109 --> 00:31:02.410 and this doubting and I don't know what to do 00:31:02.410 --> 00:31:05.869 with it. And she's open and honest about it. 00:31:05.910 --> 00:31:09.460 And then there's this and. And she switches because 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:12.539 she has encountered the resurrected living Jesus. 00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.039 And that has shaped and changed her experience 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:18.079 of life. So then she goes forward, still holding 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:21.599 it all together. But it's quite beautiful. Now 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:23.700 let's turn to the last one. The one who wrote 00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:26.859 the passage that we have, which is Peter. Peter 00:31:26.859 --> 00:31:29.539 took a couple encounters. Like all of us need 00:31:29.539 --> 00:31:31.559 a couple encounters with the resurrected Lord. 00:31:31.700 --> 00:31:35.740 And Peter has this time where he... So Peter 00:31:35.740 --> 00:31:38.140 was called to be the rock upon which the church 00:31:38.140 --> 00:31:40.680 was built. And at that point, he's like, OK, 00:31:40.859 --> 00:31:43.240 I'm going to be an important leader for the church. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:47.720 But he fails in his leadership so tremendously 00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:51.240 by denying Jesus three times. You can imagine 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:54.880 his regret and his shame in that moment. And 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:57.579 he's holding this regret and this shame. And 00:31:57.579 --> 00:32:01.440 he's walking. He goes back to his previous career 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.900 of fishing. And Jesus comes and encounters him 00:32:04.900 --> 00:32:08.299 there. And he spends time with Peter and he says, 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:12.180 Peter, do you love me? Yes, I do. Peter, do you 00:32:12.180 --> 00:32:15.240 love me? Yes, I do. Peter, do you love me? Feed 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:19.039 my sheep. Three denials, three restorations that 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:21.700 bring him back into relationship. And that feed 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:26.160 my sheep is Peter's leadership restored as part 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:27.839 of who he's going to do. And now he's writing 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:33.200 a letter that we get to read today. Here's what 00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:37.180 he says. In this you rejoice, even if now for 00:32:37.180 --> 00:32:39.140 a little while you have had to suffer various 00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:41.119 trials. Peter's not just talking about this because 00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:43.720 he read it in a book. He's talking about it because 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:46.539 he has gone through it himself. And he's going 00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:50.079 to say, give a metaphor here. And this metaphor 00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:53.660 is one of taking some elements from the ground, 00:32:53.819 --> 00:32:56.099 some metals from the ground, and you take these 00:32:56.099 --> 00:32:58.599 out of the ground and they're mixed with the 00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:03.200 pure metal and the impurities of the ground that 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:05.000 you pulled them out of, right? So you take that 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:08.359 and you have to heat it up so that the impurities 00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:10.660 come to the top and you can scrape them off. 00:33:10.819 --> 00:33:13.539 And what happens in that is the element itself, 00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:18.289 gold, is remaining in its pure form. And what 00:33:18.289 --> 00:33:22.730 Peter is saying through God's word in this situation 00:33:22.730 --> 00:33:25.670 is that our journey through life with all of 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:28.529 the difficulties that we experience is not God 00:33:28.529 --> 00:33:32.390 laughing at that reality, but it's an experience 00:33:32.390 --> 00:33:35.349 of us slowly losing the things that we have placed 00:33:35.349 --> 00:33:39.190 our hope into. And those are the impurities that 00:33:39.190 --> 00:33:42.369 need to come out up to the surface and get scraped 00:33:42.369 --> 00:33:45.269 away so that what is left is our hope completely 00:33:45.269 --> 00:33:49.279 and purely on Jesus Christ. We're going to lose 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:52.339 everything in this world anyway. And it's this 00:33:52.339 --> 00:33:54.740 process of doing that that God is right there 00:33:54.740 --> 00:33:57.440 with us. And he's saying, these are good things. 00:33:58.250 --> 00:34:00.609 But they're not the ultimate thing. Hold on to 00:34:00.609 --> 00:34:02.609 me and I want to help to continue to shape and 00:34:02.609 --> 00:34:04.950 form that in you. And so there's this metaphor 00:34:04.950 --> 00:34:07.509 of that about going through the tomb that is 00:34:07.509 --> 00:34:10.130 there. And what does he say? It's for the salvation 00:34:10.130 --> 00:34:13.349 of your souls. This is not about your ultimate 00:34:13.349 --> 00:34:16.610 destination. This is about the forming into the 00:34:16.610 --> 00:34:20.570 fullness of who God has called you to be. Think 00:34:20.570 --> 00:34:24.739 about the gold metaphor again. So resurrection 00:34:24.739 --> 00:34:27.039 hope is not just something we believe. It is 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:31.239 something that we practice and embody. We actually 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:33.880 become the resurrection in the world around us. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:36.199 So I want you to think back to that flower there, 00:34:36.260 --> 00:34:38.920 right? We look at this and it begins to change 00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:42.420 how we live our lives. It reshapes how we engage 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:45.039 in relationship. It reshapes how we engage in 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:48.219 our workplace. It reshapes how we engage in school. 00:34:48.420 --> 00:34:51.019 It reshapes everything. And in the end, what 00:34:51.019 --> 00:34:54.429 happens is we become this. An entire field full 00:34:54.429 --> 00:34:58.150 of resurrection examples. Because this process 00:34:58.150 --> 00:35:00.429 has been moving within us. And you know what 00:35:00.429 --> 00:35:02.489 happens the more you see there, the more hope 00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:04.429 is instilled in the world around you. And Bangkok 00:35:04.429 --> 00:35:06.789 needs this. Thailand needs this. And the world 00:35:06.789 --> 00:35:09.710 needs this. They need us, ECB, to be people who 00:35:09.710 --> 00:35:12.650 are formed in resurrection hope so that we can 00:35:12.650 --> 00:35:15.469 proclaim the goodness of what is happening in 00:35:15.469 --> 00:35:19.559 the world around us through God. So we've looked 00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:24.039 at the four -point process that Peter has outlined 00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:28.360 here for us. I don't know all your stories. I 00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:30.860 know some of them, as I referenced at the beginning, 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:34.599 but you do. And you know who you're sitting next 00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:37.119 to, and you know the places of resurrection that 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:39.179 need to still take place within your own lives. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:42.239 Remember that birth example? None of us have 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:45.000 arrived. We all need resurrection to be formed 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:48.380 increasingly within us. So what does it look 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:50.719 like to be formed regularly in resurrection hope? 00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:54.400 Hold on to this passage from 1 Peter. One of 00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:57.320 the things that I have made a practice of almost 00:35:57.320 --> 00:36:00.039 every single morning is when I go to make my 00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:02.639 coffee from a book called Every Moment Holy, 00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:05.940 there's this prayer called the ritual of morning 00:36:05.940 --> 00:36:08.599 coffee. And it is a ritual for me. I mean, grinding 00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:12.320 and all this stuff that happens. Jonas, you're 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:14.059 here, right? Jonas knows this. He's been to my 00:36:14.059 --> 00:36:19.460 house for coffee. During that process, there's 00:36:19.460 --> 00:36:21.420 a prayer that is there, and this is how the prayer 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:24.360 goes. Would you meet me, O Christ, in the stillness 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:27.539 of this morning? Would you move me, Spirit, to 00:36:27.539 --> 00:36:31.039 quiet my heart? Would you mend me, Father, from 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:34.480 whatever harms have journeyed into my life and 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:40.320 I have participated in from yesterday? In the 00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:42.760 discords of yesterday, would you resurrect peace? 00:36:44.010 --> 00:36:47.329 In the weariness of yesterday, would you resurrect 00:36:47.329 --> 00:36:52.289 strength? In the doubts of yesterday, would you 00:36:52.289 --> 00:36:56.409 resurrect faith? In the discouragement and the 00:36:56.409 --> 00:36:59.090 despair of yesterday, would you resurrect hope? 00:36:59.869 --> 00:37:03.250 In the woundings of yesterday that I did and 00:37:03.250 --> 00:37:05.590 that was done to me, would you resurrect love? 00:37:05.929 --> 00:37:09.670 Let me be awake to my need and aware of your 00:37:09.670 --> 00:37:13.400 grace. Amen. And you do this as you partake in 00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:15.920 your coffee or tea and you allow the resurrection 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:18.599 to shape you throughout your day in that way. 00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:27.519 Thank you for tuning in to the ECB sermon podcast. 00:37:28.139 --> 00:37:31.820 Whether near or far, if you are looking for community 00:37:31.820 --> 00:37:35.719 or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage 00:37:35.719 --> 00:37:40.579 by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia. 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:44.199 If God is calling you to support our ministries, 00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:46.920 you will find giving options on our website. 00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:51.159 And remember to join us next week. God bless 00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:51.400 you.