WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:03.160 Good morning to those of you on our online family. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:07.040 Pauldin, that is you. We are so excited for you 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.939 to gather and be a part of the family there in 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:11.919 Pauldin. We hope that you are enjoying good hospitality 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.580 and that your community is blessed today because 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:17.780 you gathered. And same with Baghdad. Randy, I 00:00:17.780 --> 00:00:19.739 saw that you kind of said you guys were out there 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:22.079 today, and we're so grateful that you're a part 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.660 of our online family. We get to walk alongside. 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:27.500 There is... I think her name was Georgia. She 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:33.020 is in Johannesburg, South Africa on a missions 00:00:33.020 --> 00:00:35.520 trip and wanted to be a part of the family. How 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:38.259 fun is that? Right. So rest of the online fam, 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:40.020 wherever you happen to be, whatever you happen 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:43.340 to be doing. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to Prescott. 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:46.439 We're glad you're here. We're glad you're here. 00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:48.659 I know we say that a lot. And I want to just 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.140 slow down for a moment because. Some of you, 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:52.439 if you've been coming for a while, you're like, 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:54.479 why do we say that so often? Right. Like, why 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.700 are we still saying you're welcome? You're welcome. 00:00:56.939 --> 00:00:59.780 I meet people on the weekly who it is their first 00:00:59.780 --> 00:01:03.079 time here. It's their first time at a Heights 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:05.840 gathering or they've only been a few times. So 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:09.859 they feel and part of that is if that's you today, 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:11.719 whether that's here in the room or that's across 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:13.959 screens that you go, hey, that's me. I'm new 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:16.719 here. I just want you to know before we get into 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:19.439 anything else that we are so glad that you are 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:23.700 here. that you belong here, that if you're on 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.280 the, wherever you are on that journey, right? 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.439 Like that if you're a cynic and you're here, 00:01:28.579 --> 00:01:31.939 welcome, you belong here. And if you're a skeptic, 00:01:31.939 --> 00:01:33.859 right? Like you've been burned by faith and you're 00:01:33.859 --> 00:01:36.579 like, I got all kinds of skepticism about this 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:38.400 thing, if it's real or not, and whatever else 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.060 comes along with that, welcome to you. You're 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:43.959 welcome here with your skepticism, right? And 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:46.500 what you'll find is we're just a group of people 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:51.010 who We belong together because we're human. And 00:01:51.010 --> 00:01:54.530 part of being human is stumbling towards discovering 00:01:54.530 --> 00:01:58.890 a God who is madly in love with each of us. And 00:01:58.890 --> 00:02:02.650 he has chased us down and he has rescued us and 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:06.090 he is transforming us. And that changes everything, 00:02:06.250 --> 00:02:08.330 right? And so the hope is that as you hang out 00:02:08.330 --> 00:02:11.300 with the family, you discover. That what we've 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:13.520 discovered along the way that this Jesus really 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.159 is the real deal. And we can't wait for you to 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:18.520 meet him. Right? Like that's the whole point. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.219 So if that's you, welcome. Glad you're here. 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:23.639 I don't know about you, but anybody else got 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:29.020 allergies? Okay. All right. Some of you. It's 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:34.789 not right to watch the Winter Olympics. With 00:02:34.789 --> 00:02:36.770 allergies. Like there's just something wrong 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:39.770 with that dynamic, right? Like it just does not 00:02:39.770 --> 00:02:42.349 feel right that we're in February and we have 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:49.050 allergies. So God bring the snow. No? Anybody 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:53.669 ready for a good snow? I am. Yeah. The rest of 00:02:53.669 --> 00:02:55.409 you that don't like snow, you'll be fine. You'll 00:02:55.409 --> 00:02:59.310 be fine. It melts in a week. Okay, so there's 00:02:59.310 --> 00:03:03.710 a game today, apparently. Okay, let's get it 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:11.590 out of the way. You ready? Patriots fans. Seahawks 00:03:11.590 --> 00:03:17.810 fans. Okay, you remember everything I said about 00:03:17.810 --> 00:03:20.310 being welcome here? Patriots fans, you are welcome. 00:03:21.569 --> 00:03:25.210 In the family. But you are way outnumbered. That 00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:27.870 has happened at every single gathering so far 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:30.069 this weekend. So I don't know what that says. 00:03:30.629 --> 00:03:32.750 What is interesting, Drake May, those of you 00:03:32.750 --> 00:03:34.169 that don't know, Drake May is a quarterback for 00:03:34.169 --> 00:03:36.689 the Patriots. Drake May, I got to hear his testimony 00:03:36.689 --> 00:03:39.650 this week. The man knows Jesus, loves Jesus. 00:03:39.810 --> 00:03:42.189 It was pretty incredible. If that's not enough 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:45.409 to make you like him, he married his middle school 00:03:45.409 --> 00:03:48.050 sweetheart. That's pretty incredible, right? 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:52.210 But Drake May, so I'm kind of torn. Like I like 00:03:52.210 --> 00:03:54.349 that story. And then I hear testimonies from 00:03:54.349 --> 00:03:56.930 the Seahawks side and I like those stories. But 00:03:56.930 --> 00:03:59.330 here's the bottom line. Sorry, Patriots fans. 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:02.629 I think the Seahawks have a full rounded team 00:04:02.629 --> 00:04:05.289 and you could be in trouble. We'll see. We'll 00:04:05.289 --> 00:04:07.430 see. Who knows? I don't have a dog in a fight, 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:09.650 so I don't care. I just hope it's a good game 00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:11.830 and I get some food. So there you go. Real simple, 00:04:11.949 --> 00:04:17.050 real simple. Some of you, okay. Who could care 00:04:17.050 --> 00:04:23.540 less about football? So communication one -on 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:25.399 -one, they're like, know your audience. So I'm 00:04:25.399 --> 00:04:27.100 glad I've been talking for months about football. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.800 It's great. It's great. It's so fun. But welcome. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.220 We are normal. Life is hard. Life is hard and 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:36.540 we need each other. And so we get to laugh and 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:39.100 we get to cry together. We are heading into a 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.879 new collection. Specifically, this collection 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:46.920 of talks has been... kind of rattling around 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.879 in our world behind the scenes for about two 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:53.959 years. God gave this idea and I've been really 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.019 passionate about it. I got to hang out with Pastor 00:04:57.019 --> 00:05:00.100 David Bleckley two years ago and I told him about 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:01.839 it and he was excited about it. And I'm like, 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:05.699 we have to do this. It is so impactful or can 00:05:05.699 --> 00:05:08.800 be for our church family. And so we've been trying 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.899 for two years to get this into the teaching. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.009 And every time God has just gone, nope. not time 00:05:15.009 --> 00:05:16.829 yet. Nope, it's not time yet. Well, we are here 00:05:16.829 --> 00:05:21.959 and the collection is called Just Camping. And 00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:25.220 the hope is that as a church family, we gain 00:05:25.220 --> 00:05:27.920 some language in our interactions with each other 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.860 as we walk through the hard things of life, as 00:05:29.860 --> 00:05:33.120 we walk through the things that surprise us in 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:35.899 life, that we have some language and some commonality. 00:05:36.019 --> 00:05:38.379 I also hope for you as an individual that what 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:41.319 happens is you are steeled in your faith and 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:43.860 you are able from this point forward, when we 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:45.220 get done with this, it's going to go all the 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:48.439 way through Easter, that when we get done, there 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.100 is just a slogan known to you personally. known 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:54.199 to our church, that we are just camping and instantly 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:58.220 it frames up some huge theological truths about 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:00.439 what it means to be human and what it means to 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.220 be here right now. And so the hope is that when 00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:06.220 we walk away from this collection, we are all 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:10.819 going together with clarity of what it means. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:16.560 But to get there, if you'll let me, if you'll 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.750 do the honor. I would love to be vulnerable for 00:06:21.750 --> 00:06:28.829 about five minutes if that's okay. So 23 days 00:06:28.829 --> 00:06:37.170 ago, my father -in -law, he got up. It was a 00:06:37.170 --> 00:06:40.810 Friday, and it was a fishing tournament weekend. 00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:46.370 And so he got up, did his normal prep. They went 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:49.730 down there to, him and his son, who do the fishing 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:53.490 tournaments together, went down there to kind 00:06:53.490 --> 00:06:56.389 of scout the lake. Is that the right term? I 00:06:56.389 --> 00:06:58.170 don't know what the fishing term is, but they 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:00.209 went down there to figure out where are the fish 00:07:00.209 --> 00:07:02.930 biting? How are they biting? They had a phenomenal 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:07.250 Friday. They caught, we have a picture of the 00:07:07.250 --> 00:07:09.889 fish they caught. I mean, just an amazing, amazing 00:07:09.889 --> 00:07:13.610 Friday. They got back to the campsite. They're 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:16.750 hanging out. doing what they normally do. They're 00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:18.670 strategizing, right? How are we going to win 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:20.230 this tournament? Where do we need to go first? 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:22.550 Where are we going? And so they got their plan 00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:25.790 in place. They eat dinner, and it's an early 00:07:25.790 --> 00:07:29.310 start. And so they go to bed, and that's Friday 00:07:29.310 --> 00:07:35.069 night. Saturday morning at 5 .50 a .m., I received 00:07:35.069 --> 00:07:41.689 a call, a quite panic call, that my father -in 00:07:41.689 --> 00:07:46.720 -law was unresponsive. And that's all we knew 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:50.879 at that point. And for the next hour, we just 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:56.879 waited for news of what was happening. And within 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:06.220 that hour, we got news that he was gone. And 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:12.680 completely unexpected. If you knew him, the man 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:18.420 still... was working construction. Like he was 00:08:18.420 --> 00:08:22.439 still working on motors in his spare time and 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:27.339 going to fishing tournaments. And there's this 00:08:27.339 --> 00:08:38.360 unexpected nature to it, right? And we got the 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.259 news, began to tell other people some things 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:44.889 you need to know about him. I was trying to figure 00:08:44.889 --> 00:08:46.750 out the years. He's been a part of this church 00:08:46.750 --> 00:08:52.350 family for 25 years plus maybe. He would always 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:54.590 sit right back there at the 8 o 'clock service, 00:08:54.769 --> 00:09:01.970 and his chair was empty this week. And what you 00:09:01.970 --> 00:09:05.210 need to understand about him is he knew and loved 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:09.230 Jesus an awful lot. He has been building into 00:09:09.230 --> 00:09:12.850 the kingdom. He was one of the family members 00:09:12.850 --> 00:09:16.490 that jumped on board when we decided that God 00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:18.929 was leading us to start Park Collective. And 00:09:18.929 --> 00:09:22.289 he was one of the family members that was a part 00:09:22.289 --> 00:09:25.529 of that. That he was faithful with what God had 00:09:25.529 --> 00:09:27.370 given him. If you went to a men's breakfast, 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:30.950 he was probably someone who helped cook your 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:33.840 food. Because he served on that team. He had 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:36.539 a men's Bible study that he was at weekly. This 00:09:36.539 --> 00:09:42.139 is who he is. So there's this reality of when 00:09:42.139 --> 00:09:45.200 people ask, how are you doing? We're living in 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:47.759 the and, the world of the and. And what I mean 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:58.379 by that is this, that yes, he is gone, right? 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:13.549 And. I know where he is, right? It's sudden and 00:10:13.549 --> 00:10:17.690 shocking and all of that, right? And we have 00:10:17.690 --> 00:10:21.450 complete peace because we know where he is and 00:10:21.450 --> 00:10:25.450 who he's with. The end changes everything. We 00:10:25.450 --> 00:10:27.929 can see the goodness of God leading up to it. 00:10:27.990 --> 00:10:31.710 I could stand here and tell you stories of where 00:10:31.710 --> 00:10:34.830 we've seen the hand of God in the last year preparing, 00:10:35.070 --> 00:10:37.769 not for, we didn't know what was coming, but 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:41.629 he's been preparing and we miss him on the daily, 00:10:41.769 --> 00:10:44.730 right? Like it's still painful. So we're living 00:10:44.730 --> 00:10:48.070 in the world of the end. And I think, I think 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:52.110 this is what Paul was getting at. When in 2 Corinthians 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:57.850 chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 00:10:57.850 --> 00:11:02.610 1, it says this, for we know. Okay, we got to 00:11:02.610 --> 00:11:05.269 be really clear. When Paul says for we know, 00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:08.269 he's not going, hey, there's a question mark 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:11.549 here. We've been kind of sitting around and talking 00:11:11.549 --> 00:11:13.669 about. He's going, no, no, no, we know. This 00:11:13.669 --> 00:11:17.149 is what we're confident in. This is what we understand 00:11:17.149 --> 00:11:19.850 to be true. This is what we are banking on. This 00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:21.789 is what we are living our lives on. This is how 00:11:21.789 --> 00:11:24.509 we exist in the present. He goes, for we know 00:11:24.509 --> 00:11:28.730 that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, 00:11:28.789 --> 00:11:31.610 we have a building from God, an eternal house 00:11:31.610 --> 00:11:36.990 in heaven, not built by human hands. He goes, 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:39.730 we know, right? Like we are confident in this. 00:11:39.789 --> 00:11:43.629 We are living with this reality. That if the 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:46.769 earthly tent, the original language there, is 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:50.070 a temporary dwelling. When he talks, when Paul 00:11:50.070 --> 00:11:53.990 is talking about this body, this earthly body 00:11:53.990 --> 00:11:58.950 you have, it is a temporary dwelling. And he 00:11:58.950 --> 00:12:01.409 goes, if this temporary dwelling, and his next 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:05.370 words is, We live in is destroyed. That word 00:12:05.370 --> 00:12:09.070 destroyed is that if you were to take a tent 00:12:09.070 --> 00:12:13.250 and dismantle it, the tent lies flat on the ground. 00:12:13.769 --> 00:12:17.730 That is the word destroyed is to dismantle, to 00:12:17.730 --> 00:12:21.929 tear down. That if the earthly tent, if this 00:12:21.929 --> 00:12:29.129 body is laid flat, we have a building from God, 00:12:29.129 --> 00:12:35.539 an eternal house in heaven. Notice the difference 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:38.840 that's being created. Temporary dwelling, laid 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:42.980 flat. When that happens, we have a permanent, 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:47.899 and he uses the word eternal. We have an eternal 00:12:47.899 --> 00:12:53.100 dwelling, house compared to tent, from God. And 00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:55.279 this last part's important, not built by human 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:58.120 hands. You know why? Because everything you build 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:03.490 with your hands will fall apart. will corrode, 00:13:03.490 --> 00:13:05.649 will not last. Everything that has ever been 00:13:05.649 --> 00:13:10.049 built by human hands does not last. And he says, 00:13:10.070 --> 00:13:13.169 wait a minute, what you're getting, what happens 00:13:13.169 --> 00:13:17.409 is you are receiving from God something that 00:13:17.409 --> 00:13:21.110 cannot fall apart, that will not fall apart because 00:13:21.110 --> 00:13:23.289 it's not built by your hands, it's built by God's 00:13:23.289 --> 00:13:26.210 hands. And so he goes, you can have confidence 00:13:26.210 --> 00:13:29.950 that this earthly body, when it lays flat, which 00:13:29.950 --> 00:13:33.250 by the way, you know what has a hundred percent 00:13:33.250 --> 00:13:37.549 hit rate? You know what it is? Death. Death never 00:13:37.549 --> 00:13:40.529 misses. Go back through the Bible, right? When 00:13:40.529 --> 00:13:43.799 sin entered. Notice what happens from when sin 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:46.320 enters at the beginning of the story over and 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.840 over and over. What is recorded on the pages 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:52.000 of the Bible for you is, and they died, and they 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.019 died, and they died, and they died. Why? Because 00:13:55.019 --> 00:14:00.419 what God is getting at is no one escapes because 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.899 it's got 100 % hit rate. Because of sin, everybody 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:09.240 will die. You're not going to beat it. I'm not 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.230 going to beat it. So what Paul is saying is get 00:14:12.230 --> 00:14:15.970 a correct perspective, get a correct perspective 00:14:15.970 --> 00:14:20.470 on what this life actually is. That this life 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:29.110 is just a tent. And you are just camping. You're 00:14:29.110 --> 00:14:33.330 just camping. This life that we think is so much 00:14:33.330 --> 00:14:36.350 and so big and we got to do, you're just camping. 00:14:37.809 --> 00:14:40.350 James goes, you're a mist. And the idea is of 00:14:40.350 --> 00:14:43.389 like shooting water, a mist in the air. You're 00:14:43.389 --> 00:14:47.529 just a mist here today, gone tomorrow. Right? 00:14:47.669 --> 00:14:50.629 When we get correct perspective because of sin 00:14:50.629 --> 00:14:52.769 and what sin has done in death entering, you 00:14:52.769 --> 00:15:00.549 are just camping. And that changes everything. 00:15:02.429 --> 00:15:04.610 That changes the way we relate to everything 00:15:04.610 --> 00:15:09.220 around us. My father -in -law was just camping. 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:14.779 And you know what? That verse tells me that it's 00:15:14.779 --> 00:15:18.419 not up for debate. He has an eternal dwelling 00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:23.080 that was built by God himself. That's reality. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:27.000 Which is why we live in the world of the end, 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:32.299 right? I'm sad. We're sad. We don't want him 00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:37.100 back. He's in a better place. But I wonder if 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:40.799 we actually believe that. And so what Paul is 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:42.879 getting at here is he's going, hey, this is temporary. 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.379 This dwelling is temporary. It's like a tent. 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:49.639 So if you would let me, I'd love to go back because 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:52.159 he has such confidence in what he's saying. I'd 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.360 love to go back to the verses prior and kind 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:56.620 of build through using the tent as kind of a 00:15:56.620 --> 00:15:58.980 picture of what Paul's getting at. So if you 00:15:58.980 --> 00:16:02.960 jump back into chapter four, verse 13, it says, 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:05.769 it is written. And so he's quoting Psalms here, 00:16:05.830 --> 00:16:08.149 right? He's quoting the Psalmist. I believed, 00:16:08.409 --> 00:16:11.429 therefore I have spoken because I believed I 00:16:11.429 --> 00:16:14.330 spoke up, right? So there's a deep connection 00:16:14.330 --> 00:16:17.129 there. And so then Paul says, if that's what 00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:20.429 the Psalmist said, since we have the same spirit 00:16:20.429 --> 00:16:25.370 of faith or spirit of God, we also believe, therefore 00:16:25.370 --> 00:16:29.730 we speak. So what he's getting at and what he's 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:32.070 framing up is right before this, he's talked 00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:35.049 about how difficult life is, that he is pressed, 00:16:35.230 --> 00:16:39.129 he is crushed on all sides, but they're not broken. 00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:42.590 And so what he's getting at is the faith that 00:16:42.590 --> 00:16:46.769 is required. He goes, we have believed, that 00:16:46.769 --> 00:16:49.190 is where our faith is, therefore we have spoken. 00:16:49.970 --> 00:16:52.789 You know what's interesting with tense? Tense 00:16:52.789 --> 00:16:56.129 are suitable. And what I mean by that is when 00:16:56.129 --> 00:16:59.450 you move a tent to ground, it becomes suitable 00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:04.309 for that ground. The tent adapts to where you 00:17:04.309 --> 00:17:06.670 have it. If you have it in the living room, there's 00:17:06.670 --> 00:17:08.390 not much adaption going on. I talked to a guy 00:17:08.390 --> 00:17:10.710 last night. He was telling me that they went 00:17:10.710 --> 00:17:13.650 camping and they got there at dark and it was 00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:15.450 raining and they had to set up the tent. And 00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:17.269 so he was telling me about setting up his tent 00:17:17.269 --> 00:17:19.130 in the dark and the rain. And I was like, this 00:17:19.130 --> 00:17:21.970 is why I don't go camping ever. This does not 00:17:21.970 --> 00:17:24.470 sound fun. And then it carried on. He goes, well, 00:17:24.549 --> 00:17:27.230 when we got it all set up, we climbed into it 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:29.930 and realized there was a root and they were laying 00:17:29.930 --> 00:17:31.509 on it all night. But you got your tent set up. 00:17:31.529 --> 00:17:32.849 So what are you going to do? Right. Because the 00:17:32.849 --> 00:17:35.049 tent adapts. The tent is suitable. And I was 00:17:35.049 --> 00:17:37.269 like sleeping on that. That's why I don't do 00:17:37.269 --> 00:17:42.710 it. But the tent adapts. It is suitable. You 00:17:42.710 --> 00:17:45.049 know what this life is and what Paul's saying 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:50.559 here? This life, because it is temporary. Because 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:55.779 it is this tent, it is suitable to live by faith. 00:17:57.019 --> 00:18:00.119 You get to live by faith here. How do I know 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.339 that? Because the hit rate of death is what? 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:07.720 100 %? Every single person in this room, across 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:11.079 screens, at our other locations today, you are 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:14.160 all living by faith. Why? Because this life, 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.480 this... temporary tent is suitable for living 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:19.880 by faith. You're living by faith. Here's what 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:23.099 I mean. Everybody, everybody knows death is coming. 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:25.759 So everybody has a thought of what's beyond. 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:28.200 Now you may put your trust in a whole bunch of 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:30.539 voices. You may put them in scientists. You may 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:32.180 put them in people that think they know. You 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:34.519 may put them in gurus. You may put them in whatever, 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:39.299 the latest podcaster. What we have is we have 00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:43.420 left by God through his people. This is the reality 00:18:43.420 --> 00:18:47.519 of what is to come. And by faith, I get to step 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:51.180 into that in this temporary life and go by faith, 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:54.240 I know what is coming. We're going to spend weeks 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:56.640 together all the way to Easter talking about 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.700 the importance of what this means, not only in 00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:02.779 our daily life, but on large theological sense, 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:07.529 what happens. Because the more you know, the 00:19:07.529 --> 00:19:10.269 more faith you can apply, the way it changes 00:19:10.269 --> 00:19:14.490 how you hold on to this life. And he says specifically 00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:17.410 then, right? Like this life is suitable for faith. 00:19:17.470 --> 00:19:20.049 You know what's amazing about worship, right? 00:19:20.990 --> 00:19:23.089 Worship, if you just got a raise or you just 00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:26.029 got a new job or your kid just got into whatever 00:19:26.029 --> 00:19:28.829 college or you just had like the greatest win 00:19:28.829 --> 00:19:31.569 from a sports perspective, right? Like whatever 00:19:31.569 --> 00:19:35.869 it happens to be. It's easy to come in this room 00:19:35.869 --> 00:19:39.849 and go, you're a good, good father, right? It's 00:19:39.849 --> 00:19:41.849 easy to come in this room and go, oh God, we 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:44.289 worship you. I can sing at the top of my voice. 00:19:44.470 --> 00:19:49.529 Tell you what, when you're in pain, worship is 00:19:49.529 --> 00:19:55.730 an act of faith. Because in faith, you step in 00:19:55.730 --> 00:19:59.349 through the pain and you still worship. You realize 00:19:59.349 --> 00:20:03.589 something? You'll only do that here. For all 00:20:03.589 --> 00:20:05.630 of eternity, you'll never have to worship through 00:20:05.630 --> 00:20:10.269 the pain ever. That's only here, right? For all 00:20:10.269 --> 00:20:13.430 of eternity, pain won't be a part of our worship. 00:20:13.470 --> 00:20:17.650 We will just see and therefore worship. But here 00:20:17.650 --> 00:20:21.230 we, by faith, why? Because this life is suitable 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:25.849 for you to live by faith. He carries on then 00:20:25.849 --> 00:20:28.670 after talking about, we believe, therefore we 00:20:28.670 --> 00:20:32.900 speak. Verse 14, because we know. Again, this 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:36.119 confident language, right? We know the one that 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:39.200 who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:43.299 also raise us with Jesus and present us with 00:20:43.299 --> 00:20:47.140 you to himself. We'll unpack this more in weeks 00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:49.680 to come. For today, here's what you need to grab. 00:20:50.420 --> 00:20:53.920 His confidence, his confidence to live by faith 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.920 is that he looks at an empty tomb and he goes, 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:01.710 if God can raise Jesus, he can raise me. And 00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:05.349 if God can raise Jesus, he can raise you. So 00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:09.109 the same God that raised Jesus is going to raise 00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:13.829 you to life because he has resurrection power. 00:21:17.410 --> 00:21:21.210 So while yes, we are in this temporary dwelling, 00:21:21.529 --> 00:21:25.970 we know is what he says. He's not sitting there 00:21:25.970 --> 00:21:27.509 going, hey guys, what do you think? Do you think 00:21:27.509 --> 00:21:30.029 that's a, no, he goes, we know. How do we know? 00:21:30.269 --> 00:21:33.829 Because Jesus was raised from the dead. Therefore 00:21:33.829 --> 00:21:36.670 you will be raised from the dead and he will 00:21:36.670 --> 00:21:41.150 present. Here's what's, you ever notice on a 00:21:41.150 --> 00:21:47.890 tent that there are no roots? There's no roots 00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:52.710 to a tent. You're like, huh? There's no roots 00:21:52.710 --> 00:21:56.460 to a tent. We were sitting in teaching prep and 00:21:56.460 --> 00:21:59.839 Pastor Michael later, he jotted down this thought. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.859 And I'm like, that is brilliant. There's no roots 00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:05.559 to a tent. What I mean by that is this, that 00:22:05.559 --> 00:22:08.140 if you went camping with your buddy, right? And 00:22:08.140 --> 00:22:11.200 your buddy, you pull up in the parking lot and 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.579 you're about to head out and you notice your 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:14.339 buddy's got a cement mixer on the back of his 00:22:14.339 --> 00:22:17.380 truck. And you're like, what are you doing with 00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:18.799 a cement mixer? He's like, man, when we get to 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.240 that campsite, I'm gonna pour a slab that's gonna 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:25.589 be perfect for a... You don't do that. Why? Because 00:22:25.589 --> 00:22:28.309 you're not putting down roots when you go camping. 00:22:30.130 --> 00:22:32.029 Right? And this is what he's getting at when 00:22:32.029 --> 00:22:36.190 he says, wait, wait, you are made. You are made 00:22:36.190 --> 00:22:41.539 to be raised to life through Jesus. Right? This 00:22:41.539 --> 00:22:44.019 has blown my mind in thinking of the concept 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:46.420 of who God is and how he's so all -knowing, that 00:22:46.420 --> 00:22:48.960 God is so all -knowing that in creation, when 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.160 everything was perfect and death wasn't a part 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:54.539 of it, he knew sin would enter, death would come 00:22:54.539 --> 00:22:58.279 along, and if he didn't design us this way, you 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:01.400 would get stuck in a broken, sinful environment 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:05.779 forever. But he designed that you could be released 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:10.750 from your earthly tent. So that you, you could 00:23:10.750 --> 00:23:13.609 experience what he always wanted for you to experience 00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:15.670 for all of eternity, the new heavens, new earth. 00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:20.230 So what you have, what you have is this beautiful 00:23:20.230 --> 00:23:22.650 moment where God goes, don't put down roots here 00:23:22.650 --> 00:23:26.170 because you're living in a tent. And just as 00:23:26.170 --> 00:23:29.029 weird as it would be to put a slab underneath 00:23:29.029 --> 00:23:32.230 your tent and begin to frame up. Could you imagine 00:23:32.230 --> 00:23:34.289 you get to the site and somebody starts to frame 00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:36.839 around their tent because they're. You'd be like, 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:40.539 it's a tent, man. What are you doing? I wonder 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:44.279 how many times people look at us and go, aren't 00:23:44.279 --> 00:23:46.900 you Christians? Don't you believe you're temporary? 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:51.660 Don't you believe this life is here today, gone 00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:56.339 tomorrow? Why are you building like it's forever? 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.019 And another thing that is interesting with this 00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:04.859 idea of there's an empty tomb, therefore resurrection. 00:24:09.860 --> 00:24:16.440 It's this. It's made to move. Right? It's made 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:20.619 to move. It's not meant to stay in one location. 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:24.380 God, by design, designed you not to stay here. 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:29.140 Right? Like God knew, God knew in his sovereignty 00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:33.599 that you're not staying put. And so what's beautiful 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.240 about a tent, a tent's designed to move. A tent 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:38.240 might be here, and then it might be over here. 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:42.500 Right? And so your tent may be on earth today, 00:24:42.599 --> 00:24:50.200 but guess what? It's not staying. No matter how 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:54.400 much face cream you put on. It ain't staying. 00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:59.460 Sorry, Misty, I won't block you. That would be 00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:01.660 mean. We're going to move our tent. Why? Because 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:07.900 tents were made to move. You weren't meant to 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:09.519 stay. You're meant to be resurrected by Jesus. 00:25:11.529 --> 00:25:13.809 How do I know that? How can I have the same confidence? 00:25:13.910 --> 00:25:24.130 Because the tomb is empty. Verse 15, all of this 00:25:24.130 --> 00:25:27.069 is for your benefit so that grace, so that the 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:31.549 grace is reaching more and more people. may cause 00:25:31.549 --> 00:25:34.589 thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:36.549 So we'll talk about this in weeks to come connected 00:25:36.549 --> 00:25:38.650 to the tent idea and just camping. We'll unpack 00:25:38.650 --> 00:25:40.970 this further. But the idea behind it just for 00:25:40.970 --> 00:25:43.250 today is this, that you weren't designed to stay. 00:25:43.390 --> 00:25:45.450 You weren't designed to stay. Jesus, when he 00:25:45.450 --> 00:25:47.630 leaves, he goes, as you are going, it's supposed 00:25:47.630 --> 00:25:49.549 to be moving. You're not putting a permanent 00:25:49.549 --> 00:25:51.950 thing in place, right? Like as you're going. 00:25:52.650 --> 00:25:54.509 And it says here that it's gonna give more glory 00:25:54.509 --> 00:25:56.769 to God. Verse 16, therefore, therefore, based 00:25:56.769 --> 00:25:59.829 on all of that that we just talked about, Therefore, 00:25:59.930 --> 00:26:02.569 we do not lose heart. What do we do? We double 00:26:02.569 --> 00:26:10.769 down. We actually don't shy away. We double down. 00:26:13.150 --> 00:26:16.109 Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly 00:26:16.109 --> 00:26:18.849 we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being 00:26:18.849 --> 00:26:23.289 renewed day by day. Outwardly, we're falling 00:26:23.289 --> 00:26:26.859 apart. Paul's talking about the persecution that 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:28.579 he'd gone through, the hardships that he'd gone 00:26:28.579 --> 00:26:31.259 through. He uses language like we are crushed, 00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:37.579 but not broken. And what is he getting at? This 00:26:37.579 --> 00:26:43.279 outward tent, it's vulnerable to the elements. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:49.859 A tent is vulnerable to what's around it. You 00:26:49.859 --> 00:26:52.819 ever been in a tent in a windstorm? Another reason 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:59.930 to not go camping. Right? It's vulnerable to 00:26:59.930 --> 00:27:02.289 that environment. If it rains, what a miserable 00:27:02.289 --> 00:27:06.130 experience. Especially when it leaks. You ever 00:27:06.130 --> 00:27:09.289 been in a tent and it leaks? But you know what? 00:27:10.369 --> 00:27:13.089 This is vulnerable to the elements. It is going 00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:16.130 to wear down, right? And that's what he's saying, 00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:19.720 that outwardly we're wearing down. It's taking 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:22.740 its toll because this, this that we try and hold 00:27:22.740 --> 00:27:25.279 on to, that we keep getting extra gym memberships 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.319 and whatever else we can get, right? Injections 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:32.880 and whatever. We're trying and he's going outwardly, 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:37.900 it's wasting away. Inwardly, through the spirit 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:41.809 of God, you are experiencing a renewal. On the 00:27:41.809 --> 00:27:44.190 inside. So while the outside may not look good, 00:27:44.269 --> 00:27:47.369 the inside. You ever met somebody who has reached 00:27:47.369 --> 00:27:49.049 that point of life where they're a little aged, 00:27:49.269 --> 00:27:54.410 right? They've lived a full life and you sit 00:27:54.410 --> 00:27:55.990 with them for five minutes and you go, you're 00:27:55.990 --> 00:27:58.670 so alive on the inside, but you can barely walk 00:27:58.670 --> 00:28:02.549 to get a cup of coffee. Why? Because outwardly 00:28:02.549 --> 00:28:04.150 they are wasting away, but inside they are being 00:28:04.150 --> 00:28:06.730 renewed by the Holy Spirit. They're being restored. 00:28:06.970 --> 00:28:08.549 They're being revitalized. They're experiencing 00:28:08.549 --> 00:28:17.390 life at its fullest. Verse 17, for our light 00:28:17.390 --> 00:28:19.549 and momentary troubles are achieving for us an 00:28:19.549 --> 00:28:22.789 eternal glory that far outweighs them all. We'll 00:28:22.789 --> 00:28:25.750 talk about this in weeks to come. So what do 00:28:25.750 --> 00:28:28.589 we do? What do we do, church? We fix our eyes. 00:28:28.670 --> 00:28:31.990 We fix our eyes. It's what we focus on. It's 00:28:31.990 --> 00:28:33.930 what we look on. It's what we're consumed with. 00:28:34.130 --> 00:28:38.170 It's what we choose to put in front of us. We 00:28:38.170 --> 00:28:40.390 fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is 00:28:40.390 --> 00:28:43.390 unseen. Why? Because what is seen is temporary. 00:28:44.439 --> 00:28:46.839 And what is unseen is eternal. You realize that 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:48.980 everything you see around you today from a physical 00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:53.140 perspective will not be here someday. Everything 00:28:53.140 --> 00:29:01.359 around you. That chair that you're like, I don't 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:02.500 know if I like this chair. I don't know if it's 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:07.079 comfy. Who cares? You won't be here. Right? It 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:09.609 won't be here. That's what he's getting at. He 00:29:09.609 --> 00:29:12.049 goes, we fix our eyes on all this stuff, right? 00:29:12.230 --> 00:29:14.069 This building, to the best of my knowledge, was 00:29:14.069 --> 00:29:16.190 built and designed that if the church wasn't 00:29:16.190 --> 00:29:17.730 here, it would be a blessing to the community 00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:21.990 and become a warehouse if it was needed to. Right? 00:29:22.049 --> 00:29:24.930 Like the idea of we try and hold on to this stuff, 00:29:25.049 --> 00:29:27.650 right? Like we try and hold on to permanence 00:29:27.650 --> 00:29:29.789 of the physical. The physical is not permanent. 00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:31.910 And that's what he's getting at. So what do we 00:29:31.910 --> 00:29:34.450 do as believers? Because we know the tomb is 00:29:34.450 --> 00:29:36.029 empty, right? Like we know the tomb is empty. 00:29:36.109 --> 00:29:38.190 We know without a shadow of a doubt, we're going 00:29:38.190 --> 00:29:40.170 to be raised to be with Jesus. So what do we 00:29:40.170 --> 00:29:43.630 do? We focus, we set our eyes on what is eternal, 00:29:43.970 --> 00:29:56.150 not on what is temporary. Friday was the first 00:29:56.150 --> 00:30:04.710 time for me I'd walked into his house. See what's 00:30:04.710 --> 00:30:11.750 caught my mind with that? Is when he got up and 00:30:11.750 --> 00:30:16.009 he left his house and locked it up on Friday 00:30:16.009 --> 00:30:21.809 morning, he fully intended to walk back in. on 00:30:21.809 --> 00:30:25.190 Saturday night. He fully intended to be at the 00:30:25.190 --> 00:30:34.029 8 a .m. service the next morning. And as his 00:30:34.029 --> 00:30:38.890 body, that is a tent that had been dismantled, 00:30:38.890 --> 00:30:46.990 lay flat in the dirt. Someone else, his son, 00:30:47.130 --> 00:30:56.990 had to pack up. His favorite fishing rods. Someone 00:30:56.990 --> 00:31:04.410 else had to prepare the boat to come home. Someone 00:31:04.410 --> 00:31:07.890 else had to pack up the campsite. Someone else 00:31:07.890 --> 00:31:16.630 had to drive his truck. Someone else had to park 00:31:16.630 --> 00:31:20.619 his boat back in the garage. Where when I walked 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:32.960 in Friday, that boat is sitting. The man loved 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:37.839 bad coffee. I don't get it. But you know what 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:47.220 was also there? His bad coffee. His room that 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:51.480 he expected to come back to. It's all still there. 00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:59.500 The sink that he thought he would clean, still 00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:06.539 there. The clothes, he didn't care about clothes 00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:08.380 much, but he really cared about his fishing stuff 00:32:08.380 --> 00:32:13.079 and his hunting stuff. So camo and fishing are 00:32:13.079 --> 00:32:22.079 all hanging in his closet. Friday, we found his 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:27.660 medals from Vietnam. You would know he's a hero. 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:31.779 He would never tell you. But we found his medals 00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:38.720 and his pictures. We also found his baseball 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:44.640 trophies and his monuments to the years he coached 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:55.390 his kids in baseball. His golf clubs, they're 00:32:55.390 --> 00:32:58.809 still there. The things he cared so much about 00:32:58.809 --> 00:33:09.950 are all still there. What is Paul getting at? 00:33:11.569 --> 00:33:21.630 This is temporary. It's temporary. And I can 00:33:21.630 --> 00:33:27.109 just imagine That my father -in -law watching 00:33:27.109 --> 00:33:33.490 me go and touch his golf clubs. He's like, don't 00:33:33.490 --> 00:33:37.849 you, don't, don't you? But you know what I think? 00:33:37.970 --> 00:33:39.490 I don't think that's what he's saying at all. 00:33:39.670 --> 00:33:43.230 Because what I think he's saying is, wow, wow, 00:33:43.589 --> 00:33:49.109 wow. Because God Almighty is in his presence. 00:33:53.369 --> 00:33:58.039 Isn't it crazy? That we can get so hung up in 00:33:58.039 --> 00:34:02.420 this life. Giving everything we have to hold 00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:04.559 on to the temporary. I just need to tell you 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:07.559 today because I just lived it. It all stays behind. 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:14.119 Every part of it. Every piece. Everything that 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:16.579 meant something. Everything that mattered to 00:34:16.579 --> 00:34:21.920 him. It's all still there. So we fix our eyes 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:28.050 where? on what is eternal. We get our eyes off 00:34:28.050 --> 00:34:32.590 of this life because it's not going to last. 00:34:33.329 --> 00:34:35.150 You know, the only thing, we're going to talk 00:34:35.150 --> 00:34:36.909 about this in weeks to come, the only thing you 00:34:36.909 --> 00:34:40.630 take off the planet is people. That should at 00:34:40.630 --> 00:34:42.889 least get an amen. The only thing we take off 00:34:42.889 --> 00:34:49.090 the planet is people. That's it. Why? Because 00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:55.000 you're eternal. The people around you are eternal. 00:34:58.440 --> 00:35:01.219 And so Paul says, this is how he lands at it. 00:35:02.199 --> 00:35:04.440 It ends with the unseen is eternal. And then 00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:07.440 the very next verse is, we know, we're not questioning 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:10.639 that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:12.940 we have a building from God, an eternal house 00:35:12.940 --> 00:35:17.119 in heaven, not built by human hands. You are 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:24.940 just camping. Paul's done camping, guys. Paul's 00:35:24.940 --> 00:35:33.000 my father -in -law. He's done camping. You're 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:40.159 just camping. This is temporary. It reminds me 00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:46.800 of upgrading my phone. There's a... I'm sure 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:48.679 you've upgraded your phone. If not, I want to 00:35:48.679 --> 00:35:50.159 see it because it's probably worth a whole lot 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:52.440 of money at this point. And it'd just be kind 00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:54.579 of fun to reminisce. I'm sure I had one at one 00:35:54.579 --> 00:36:00.659 point. But I got an offer from the phone company 00:36:00.659 --> 00:36:03.980 prior to the phone I have now, like a while ago. 00:36:05.099 --> 00:36:07.320 And they were like, we'll send you two free new 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:11.579 phones. You just got to turn in yours. And so 00:36:11.579 --> 00:36:16.139 they sent the phones to us. And I put it on the 00:36:16.139 --> 00:36:18.559 counter. And day after day, my kids be like, 00:36:18.679 --> 00:36:20.239 Dad, when are you going to upgrade your phone? 00:36:22.099 --> 00:36:24.639 I'm like, I don't know. And so now weeks have 00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:26.179 gone by. Dad, when are you going to upgrade your 00:36:26.179 --> 00:36:30.179 phone? And what I realized is I hadn't upgraded 00:36:30.179 --> 00:36:33.119 my phone because I didn't believe from the phone 00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:35.300 I was using, even though the one I had had a 00:36:35.300 --> 00:36:37.840 cracked screen, it was shattered. I didn't believe 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.199 that the phone I was getting was actually an 00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:43.239 upgrade. I wonder how many of us in this life. 00:36:43.739 --> 00:36:47.099 don't believe that what we get, what we are getting 00:36:47.099 --> 00:36:51.099 is an upgrade when we die. I wonder how many 00:36:51.099 --> 00:36:53.239 of us are holding onto this life because we don't 00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:56.300 believe the upgrade is coming. We hold onto this 00:36:56.300 --> 00:36:59.099 like, no, this is better. The earthly tent is 00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:03.460 not better. Why? Because what you have is a permanent 00:37:03.460 --> 00:37:08.920 dwelling from God himself. But what Jesus does 00:37:11.690 --> 00:37:13.889 Is he gathers around the table and he tells him 00:37:13.889 --> 00:37:17.769 something that matters. Because when he sits 00:37:17.769 --> 00:37:20.489 around the table with his disciples for, maybe 00:37:20.489 --> 00:37:23.309 you've heard it called the Lord's Supper, communion, 00:37:23.650 --> 00:37:31.389 Eucharist. When he gathers with them, he takes 00:37:31.389 --> 00:37:37.650 elements that are connected to his death. Why? 00:37:42.539 --> 00:37:46.360 Because he knew if life was gonna come, it had 00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:51.619 to come through death. He knew he had to die. 00:37:51.719 --> 00:37:53.219 That's why he sits around that table. And what 00:37:53.219 --> 00:37:55.840 does he tell them? Hey, I gotta die. Because 00:37:55.840 --> 00:37:58.280 the only way for life to come for all of humanity, 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.780 the only way for the resurrected life to come 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:03.159 is I have to go through the doorway of death 00:38:03.159 --> 00:38:06.340 to get to the resurrected life. And so Jesus 00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:10.159 knew that death is just a doorway. It's a life. 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:13.780 And what you hold in your hand is a reminder 00:38:13.780 --> 00:38:23.019 that Jesus went through death, through the doorway 00:38:23.019 --> 00:38:27.219 of death, and he experienced resurrected life 00:38:27.219 --> 00:38:31.840 because the tomb is empty so that you could have 00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:40.699 life today. I don't know how you feel. But what 00:38:40.699 --> 00:38:44.619 Jesus was doing is he's purchasing for you the 00:38:44.619 --> 00:38:50.619 upgrade. In his body and with his blood and with 00:38:50.619 --> 00:38:52.920 his life, as he lays it down, he gives it up. 00:38:52.920 --> 00:38:54.639 They crucify him. They put him to death. Your 00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:57.900 sin, your debt, your shame, your guilt, all of 00:38:57.900 --> 00:39:01.260 it is put on him. Your separation from God, right? 00:39:01.340 --> 00:39:04.639 Because death separates us. He takes that separation 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:08.000 and closes it to where you're united. How are 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:10.920 we united? Through Christ. So what you hold in 00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:16.760 your hand is the way that you and I have received 00:39:16.760 --> 00:39:23.320 the promise of the upgrade. That when this life 00:39:23.320 --> 00:39:27.320 is over, I will walk through the doorway of death. 00:39:27.460 --> 00:39:31.480 When this tent is dismantled, we will walk through 00:39:31.480 --> 00:39:38.260 into resurrected life all because of Jesus. So 00:39:38.260 --> 00:39:39.820 I don't know about you. I feel like saying thank 00:39:39.820 --> 00:39:42.719 you to him. And so the next moments are yours 00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:46.239 just to tell him thank you. Thank you for what 00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:48.280 he's given you in this life. And also thank you 00:39:48.280 --> 00:39:53.659 for the promise that you have of eternity. Because 00:39:53.659 --> 00:40:00.420 of his death. For you. So the next moments are 00:40:00.420 --> 00:41:21.800 yours and then we'll take it all together. What 00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:25.300 you hold in your hand is hope today. What you 00:41:25.300 --> 00:41:30.380 hold in your hand is promise today. That the 00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:33.019 same God who showed up to die in your place, 00:41:33.179 --> 00:41:39.639 the same God who gave his body, will raise you 00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:45.980 to life. That same God is coming back, as we 00:41:45.980 --> 00:41:51.179 sang earlier. And so he took bread. And what 00:41:51.179 --> 00:41:53.079 I love about it is this, some point in your day 00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:57.219 today, even if you hate carbs, you're going to 00:41:57.219 --> 00:42:01.360 have some form of bread and something to drink. 00:42:02.699 --> 00:42:04.880 Because that's how simple it should be that we're 00:42:04.880 --> 00:42:09.099 reminded that we're just camping. That every 00:42:09.099 --> 00:42:10.940 time you would eat bread, every time we would 00:42:10.940 --> 00:42:13.920 gather and do this together, it's a reminder 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:18.880 that we're just camping. That eternity is waiting. 00:42:22.030 --> 00:42:24.429 And so he took his body or he took bread and 00:42:24.429 --> 00:42:27.010 said, this is my body given for you. Do this 00:42:27.010 --> 00:42:37.070 and remember to me. He took a glass of wine. 00:42:39.989 --> 00:42:42.670 And he talks about how it represented his blood, 00:42:42.730 --> 00:42:45.829 that in his blood, it was a new covenant. In 00:42:45.829 --> 00:42:47.550 his blood, there was forgiveness of sins. In 00:42:47.550 --> 00:42:51.210 his blood. Those who were separated and not right 00:42:51.210 --> 00:42:53.730 with God got to be right with God because we 00:42:53.730 --> 00:42:57.710 get the righteousness of Jesus. And it came to 00:42:57.710 --> 00:42:59.969 you through his blood being shed on the cross. 00:43:00.070 --> 00:43:03.230 He goes, don't forget it. Don't forget it. And 00:43:03.230 --> 00:43:04.789 so he handed him a cup. He said, take drink. 00:43:04.889 --> 00:43:11.730 Do this in remembrance of me. God, we're so grateful 00:43:11.730 --> 00:43:15.309 this morning. Thank you for loving us. Thank 00:43:15.309 --> 00:43:17.590 you for the truth that you were a God who did 00:43:17.590 --> 00:43:22.750 not stay distant. You came near. God, that you 00:43:22.750 --> 00:43:28.349 have taken our place. That you have gone through 00:43:28.349 --> 00:43:33.170 the doorway of death so that we may experience 00:43:33.170 --> 00:43:36.969 life. You have gone through the doorway of death 00:43:36.969 --> 00:43:39.289 that we may know what is waiting on the other 00:43:39.289 --> 00:43:43.650 side is resurrection life. You are proof of that. 00:43:43.980 --> 00:43:45.900 And we say thank you today. God, I pray over 00:43:45.900 --> 00:43:47.820 this room. I pray over those that don't know 00:43:47.820 --> 00:43:50.239 you. I pray that today would be a day of them 00:43:50.239 --> 00:43:53.059 taking their faith and placing it in you, that 00:43:53.059 --> 00:43:55.800 they would know with confidence that when they 00:43:55.800 --> 00:43:57.920 say yes to you, when they give their life to 00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:02.360 you, God, you, you rescue them. You are their 00:44:02.360 --> 00:44:05.340 promise of eternity. God, for the rest of the 00:44:05.340 --> 00:44:08.460 church family, as we process what it means to 00:44:08.460 --> 00:44:11.480 be in a temporary dwelling, a tent, would you 00:44:11.480 --> 00:44:15.079 remind us that this is This is not permanent. 00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:18.820 Give us courage to say no to the things we need 00:44:18.820 --> 00:44:22.039 to. Give us courage to not bow down today to 00:44:22.039 --> 00:44:24.559 things that don't deserve it. But God, give us 00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:28.000 eyes to fix on eternity today. Thank you for 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:30.559 loving us. Thank you for your grace and your 00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:32.719 mercy. Thank you for salvation. Thank you that 00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:36.599 we, we are just camping, which means we spend 00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:41.280 eternity with you in our forever home. We are 00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:43.599 grateful. And everybody said. Amen.