WEBVTT 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.719 Morning, church. Good morning to those of you 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.560 online this morning, wherever you happen to be, 00:00:09.619 --> 00:00:11.580 whatever screen you are watching on, whether 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:14.820 large, small, welcome. We're glad you're part 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:17.399 of the family with us. Paul, then we love you. 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:19.719 We are so grateful for what God is doing there. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:22.620 And we're excited to hear and continue to hear 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:26.160 about how your space and your neighbors are different 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.359 because you're there. We're super excited for 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:32.170 that. And Baghdad. Welcome, welcome. We love 00:00:32.170 --> 00:00:34.810 you guys. So happy to have you here at Easter. 00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:39.630 That was phenomenal. And it's interesting because 00:00:39.630 --> 00:00:42.289 there's people gathering in different places. 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:47.149 And so while Park Collective and Prescott Valley 00:00:47.149 --> 00:00:50.009 is gathering, you've got Baghdad. Here's what's 00:00:50.009 --> 00:00:55.090 interesting to me. That God is present in each 00:00:55.090 --> 00:01:00.420 space. Right. And in each space where his people 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:06.980 gather together, there's an expectation of the 00:01:06.980 --> 00:01:10.480 mystery of God. Here's what I mean. Like we can 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.319 get into church mode and church mode is, you 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:15.359 know what I mean? You get done with this, right? 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:18.359 And you get to the checkout line at Costco and 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:19.980 you're frustrated because there's so many people 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:21.739 because they all go on Sunday. You know what 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:24.799 I mean? And you get there and it's like. You're 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:26.319 in the checkout line and somebody goes, what 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:29.879 did you do today? Oh, it's church. What's the 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:33.900 next question? How was it? And we're like, oh, 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.980 it was good. And they're like, well, what made 00:01:36.980 --> 00:01:38.859 it good? Well, it's what I expected. We did three 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.000 songs and then somebody came up and they did 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:42.840 something about giving and then somebody got 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:45.299 up and talked about God and then we sang a song. 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:47.000 Sometimes we don't because the guy goes long 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.019 and we don't sing a song at the end. But this 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:52.939 week we sang a song. You know, and it's like 00:01:52.939 --> 00:01:56.400 that's our highest expectation. Is it we're going 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.140 to come in, we'll sing some songs, maybe I'll 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:01.060 like them, maybe they'll resonate with me. I'm 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:02.840 waiting for somebody to go, what is that new 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:05.799 song we sang today? All Creatures of Our God 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:08.400 and King? It's like really old, but new. You 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.599 know what I mean? Like those moments. But isn't 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.740 it interesting? This is supposed to be mysterious. 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:18.919 This is supposed to be something you can't explain. 00:02:20.169 --> 00:02:22.750 This is supposed to be meet the person at Costco 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:25.129 and go, I don't even have words to tell you what 00:02:25.129 --> 00:02:27.629 God did today. Because I met with the living 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:32.550 God and he moved within my spirit. That's what's 00:02:32.550 --> 00:02:35.569 supposed to happen when we gather. That when 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:38.449 we sing and we worship that our eyes are raised 00:02:38.449 --> 00:02:41.030 up because your eyes were always meant to be 00:02:41.030 --> 00:02:45.000 up. And what worship does is it raises you, right? 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:47.699 And God meets you in the midst of it. And sometimes 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:49.259 you're crying and you're like looking at your 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:50.539 neighbor going, I don't even know why I'm crying. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.699 There's mystery to it. We open the Bible. You 00:02:55.699 --> 00:03:00.319 know, God calls his word living and active. It's 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:04.599 like a sword that cuts through. Right? When we 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:06.639 open this, it's living and active and it wants 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:10.039 to move through you. Not just be here so you 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:12.979 can go, well, he's kind of good. I liked his 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:17.080 joke. But this is supposed to be something where 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.460 you go, man, the Bible read me today and I'll 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:22.479 never be the same. That's what's supposed to 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:26.639 happen when we gather. Is that God wants to meet 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:29.460 you and move and God wants to transform you. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:31.819 And that's the expectation on what's going to 00:03:31.819 --> 00:03:38.360 happen today. There's mystery, right? It's interesting 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:40.120 how you have moments and you go, those moments. 00:03:40.669 --> 00:03:43.870 like lock in and they change the way we view 00:03:43.870 --> 00:03:45.409 something. I don't know if you've been following 00:03:45.409 --> 00:03:49.930 it or not, but anybody been watching NASA going 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:53.729 back to the moon? Okay, some of you. The rest 00:03:53.729 --> 00:03:55.349 of you, I'm going to catch you up just so you 00:03:55.349 --> 00:03:58.430 know. It's that important, right? And so the 00:03:58.430 --> 00:04:00.849 idea was for astronauts, they're going to go 00:04:00.849 --> 00:04:04.090 further into space than any human has ever been, 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:07.729 right? And so, which... I didn't say this anywhere 00:04:07.729 --> 00:04:09.449 else, but I just had this thought, so I probably 00:04:09.449 --> 00:04:10.750 should keep it to myself, but I'm going to tell 00:04:10.750 --> 00:04:14.069 you anyways. Except for when Jesus left the planet. 00:04:14.770 --> 00:04:16.670 Right? Okay, where did he go? That's a whole 00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:19.490 other story. Okay, so just in case, so we're 00:04:19.490 --> 00:04:20.970 all caught up. This is what a rocket looks like 00:04:20.970 --> 00:04:25.970 when it is taking off. This was Artemis II. The 00:04:25.970 --> 00:04:28.410 mission was to go the furthest away from the 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:31.490 moon, but also take humans back to the moon. 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:34.000 We haven't been there since 72. And so this is 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:36.360 a pretty significant moment in human history. 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:39.699 The next picture kind of, so they blast up, they 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:42.779 get out. This is the capsule that they are in 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:45.819 as they are going to the moon. Now, to give you 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:48.060 some kind of perspective on what this capsule 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:51.319 is, they claim it's like if you took two minivans 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:53.540 and put them together, that's how much space 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:56.439 you have in the capsule. There are four astronauts 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:58.720 for 10 days and you thought you had problems 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.819 with roommates. Just saying. The next picture 00:05:01.819 --> 00:05:03.360 kind of gives you a little bit of perspective. 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:05.639 Can you see the face in the window kind of in 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:07.959 the middle? It's a little harder on the side 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:10.600 screens, but that gives you a little perspective 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:13.560 of they are in this capsule and that is what 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:17.600 they can look out of into space, so to speak. 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:21.319 And as they are moving through, the next picture 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:26.560 captures what they begin to see. And it is just 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:31.680 stunning. That all of a sudden we get these images 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:35.639 that people have not seen for a long time. Like 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:39.060 the next one. Look at the next one. I need to 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:40.939 make sure you see this. You got to see this. 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:43.699 That's home, just in case you're wondering. That's 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:46.639 planet Earth, just so we're clear. But look at 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:49.579 the sun on the bottom, shining on the southern, 00:05:49.819 --> 00:05:52.620 right? And then you have the top. That's the 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:56.300 northern lights on the top. When in your lifetime 00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:59.279 have you seen the sun? And the northern lights. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.600 I mean, that's incredible. And that's one of 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:07.420 the images, right? Because they got far enough 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:14.160 away that they could capture planet Earth. And 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:15.800 then they continued on their journey towards 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.199 the moon. And then they end up behind the moon. 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:20.639 And there's this eclipse that takes place. You 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:22.319 know the language. These are astronauts. They've 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:24.839 been four years in preparation for this moment. 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:28.360 And they get behind the moon. You know the best 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:30.360 language they had for what they were experiencing? 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:37.600 This is otherworldly. It's sci -fi. You thought 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:42.420 your TV is backlit well. That is the sun backlighting 00:06:42.420 --> 00:06:53.180 the moon. I just sit on that for a second. There's 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:58.170 no words to explain that. How that works, how 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:04.509 that can be. And then they started getting images. 00:07:04.930 --> 00:07:07.529 That is a crescent earth, just in case you were 00:07:07.529 --> 00:07:12.290 wondering. And the next one kind of gives a little 00:07:12.290 --> 00:07:19.410 more scale. One of the astronauts looked back 00:07:19.410 --> 00:07:24.629 and saw what they called tiny earth. And she 00:07:24.629 --> 00:07:29.490 said it wasn't, and seeing earth that got me. 00:07:30.290 --> 00:07:35.009 It was seeing earth surrounded by all the darkness. 00:07:37.350 --> 00:07:43.589 This little lifeboat, she said, suspended in 00:07:43.589 --> 00:07:51.069 the universe. I mean, come on. If that doesn't 00:07:51.069 --> 00:07:53.670 all of a sudden raise your sense of mystery and 00:07:53.670 --> 00:07:56.850 awe, If that doesn't all of a sudden, I don't 00:07:56.850 --> 00:07:58.509 know what it is to you. No, no, put it back up 00:07:58.509 --> 00:08:02.569 for a second. We're not done. If that doesn't 00:08:02.569 --> 00:08:07.110 all of a sudden frame who you are. You guys, 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:09.050 I geeked out on this. There was one day, it was 00:08:09.050 --> 00:08:10.949 like a six hour live stream when they went behind 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:15.050 the moon. I watched all of it. Because it's so 00:08:15.050 --> 00:08:17.680 stunning. Because what it does is it. Frames 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.740 who we are. You know how small and insignificant 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:22.920 when I look at that picture and I go, man, I'm 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:27.040 a little human on that. This picture is from 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:34.379 252 ,000 miles away. And on tiny earth, all of 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:39.399 a sudden I am framed. I am not a big deal in 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:43.259 the universe. And then verses start to pop like, 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:47.139 God. What is man and humankind that you're even 00:08:47.139 --> 00:08:51.899 mindful of us? I think this moment, seeing this 00:08:51.899 --> 00:08:56.940 picture, what it does for me is it takes more 00:08:56.940 --> 00:08:58.879 faith. It convinced me watching this thing. It 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:00.980 takes more faith to believe that this all happened 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:04.399 by accident or some big bang than it does in 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.879 a God who is all knowing and all powerful that 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:13.120 can put that into space and time. You have, You 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.419 have astronauts who got the furthest away that 00:09:15.419 --> 00:09:17.460 humans have ever been. And you know what was 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:20.460 on their mind? We're all in this together, humans, 00:09:20.539 --> 00:09:24.720 and we have to love one another. Right? One of 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.659 the guys is saying, like, I can't love everybody, 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:30.000 but I can love my neighbor. Another person or 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:31.720 the same person looked at this and he goes, you 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:35.179 know what I'm stunned by? Is that inside of planet 00:09:35.179 --> 00:09:38.480 Earth, we have everything we need to sustain 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:43.220 life. Because there is a God who is life that 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:47.960 created life that we live inside of. And you're 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.399 on a planet that's spinning really, really fast 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:55.899 right now. We don't understand that, let's be 00:09:55.899 --> 00:10:00.820 honest. It's mystery. You know, there's a moment, 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:03.139 you can take it down now. There's a moment where, 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:06.820 thank you. There's a moment where there... Coming 00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:08.799 back. They're between the moon. They've experienced 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.840 the high of the moon. And Earth is over here. 00:10:11.940 --> 00:10:16.840 And they're heading home on that 252 ,000 mile 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:19.179 journey. Just to frame up, you think the gas 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:22.460 station is far away? And they're on their way 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:25.080 back. And I'm hit by how much faith it takes 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:29.519 for these astronauts. They're in a tiny, tiny 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:34.799 little spaceship. Size of two minivans. And they 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:42.830 are going. They are going extremely fast. And 00:10:42.830 --> 00:10:46.769 it just hit me. They're trusting in their preparation. 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:51.409 They're trusting in their ground crew. They couldn't 00:10:51.409 --> 00:10:53.210 even turn it five degrees without the ground 00:10:53.210 --> 00:10:55.990 crew. They're only going to drive this thing 00:10:55.990 --> 00:10:59.429 if something goes greatly wrong. There's one 00:10:59.429 --> 00:11:01.049 point where they're reentering and they don't 00:11:01.049 --> 00:11:03.289 know if the outer, I don't know what it's called, 00:11:03.370 --> 00:11:05.230 the shield, the heat shield thing is going to 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:08.870 hold up or not. Because on the test model, it 00:11:08.870 --> 00:11:11.730 took more wear than they thought. It takes an 00:11:11.730 --> 00:11:14.730 immense amount of faith. And it reminded me, 00:11:14.830 --> 00:11:17.629 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Some of you are like, 00:11:17.690 --> 00:11:19.789 did we just come to a science course? No, 2 Corinthians 00:11:19.789 --> 00:11:27.419 chapter 5. In 2 Corinthians 5, we spent a lot 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:30.580 of time here during just camping, but verse 6 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:32.159 says this, Therefore we are always confident, 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:34.299 and know, we are always confident, and know, 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.220 that as long as we are at home in the body, we 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:39.000 are away from the Lord, we are away from Jesus. 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.279 For we, catch this, for we, this is the mantra 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:46.919 of you and me as followers of God. For we live 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:52.759 by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:54.539 and we prefer to be away from the body and at 00:11:54.539 --> 00:11:57.360 home with the Lord. So what he's getting at, 00:11:57.419 --> 00:11:59.200 and we spent many weeks on this, so we're not 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.600 going to belabor it, but what one language I 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.059 want to put to it today is this, that we stand 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:06.799 right here, right now, you stand in the middle. 00:12:07.980 --> 00:12:10.919 You're in the middle. What do I mean? This body 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:13.500 is a tent. It is going to decay. It's going to 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:16.860 die. This body is not home. You are not home. 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:21.000 Therefore, Home is over there in eternity with 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.480 God. So we know that while we're here, we're 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:25.500 not at home. We're in the body, right? Like we're 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:27.600 not with the Lord and where we're going. We're 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.860 in the middle. And what does it say about the 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:35.720 middle? Verse seven, for we live by faith, not 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:38.340 by sight. What is the mantra of the middle? You 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.840 live by faith, not by sight. Right here, right 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.399 now, your life as a follower of Jesus is to be 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:50.279 lived by faith, not by sight. By sight. This 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:53.539 week sits in the middle. Haha, no pun intended. 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:56.940 Sits in the middle of next week is celebration 00:12:56.940 --> 00:12:59.440 weekend. And then starting May, we'll have a 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.159 new collection that we're heading into. This 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:06.120 week is, it was weird for me. I didn't speak 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:09.919 on the Easter message at all this time. No stage 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:13.000 was I speaking about Easter and the Easter story. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.340 And so for me, though, I'm still a follower of 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:19.509 Jesus. So I'm still doing what I normally do 00:13:19.509 --> 00:13:21.029 through the Easter story. And there's just some 00:13:21.029 --> 00:13:23.750 stuff that kind of jump out that has to do with 00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:27.509 this idea of faith in the middle. And the story 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.309 we're about to jump into, Jesus has been crucified. 00:13:30.409 --> 00:13:32.490 He's died. He's taken off the cross. Joseph has 00:13:32.490 --> 00:13:35.389 the body. He wraps him in linens. And at this 00:13:35.389 --> 00:13:38.629 point, then we pick up in verse 55, Luke 23, 00:13:38.629 --> 00:13:43.340 55. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:45.860 followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:50.000 body was laid in it. The women who had been with 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:51.799 Jesus had been part of his ministry, knew him 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:54.200 extremely well, knew who Jesus was. There was 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:58.440 no confusion that they saw Jesus die. Jesus was 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.600 taken. He was wrapped. And now they follow to 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.679 the tomb where Jesus is put inside. They see 00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:08.779 they see the body on the slab. I don't know if 00:14:08.779 --> 00:14:11.100 they physically got to go in, but they saw enough 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.879 to go, Jesus is dead. He is in the tomb. The 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:19.419 stone is rolled. Their sight told them that Jesus 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:26.500 was dead. By sight, they are very, very confident 00:14:26.500 --> 00:14:29.100 in what they have seen, even if it may not make 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:32.539 sense. So confident that then verse 56, then 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:36.200 they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:39.110 but they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to 00:14:39.110 --> 00:14:40.450 the command. So they go home and they prepare 00:14:40.450 --> 00:14:43.470 spices so that they can go and do the proper 00:14:43.470 --> 00:14:48.049 burial ritual for Jesus. On the first day of 00:14:48.049 --> 00:14:51.370 the week, very early in the morning, anybody 00:14:51.370 --> 00:14:54.090 come to sunrise? You left your house and it was 00:14:54.090 --> 00:14:56.850 dark? Isn't that weird? Like it's dark, but I'm 00:14:56.850 --> 00:14:58.250 going to church. And then I was like, oh, this 00:14:58.250 --> 00:14:59.990 happens every winter. I don't know why this feels 00:14:59.990 --> 00:15:03.490 weird. But on Easter, it feels weird. And in 00:15:03.490 --> 00:15:06.190 this case, the idea is it's very early. It's 00:15:06.190 --> 00:15:10.389 still dark. Isn't it interesting that our sight 00:15:10.389 --> 00:15:13.750 sometimes puts us in a dark space? That what 00:15:13.750 --> 00:15:17.129 we see and we think we know sometimes puts us... 00:15:17.129 --> 00:15:20.149 And so they go early in the morning. The women 00:15:20.149 --> 00:15:22.169 took the spices they had prepared and went to 00:15:22.169 --> 00:15:26.360 the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.820 the tomb, but when they entered, they did not 00:15:28.820 --> 00:15:32.320 find the body of the Lord Jesus. So they're so 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.000 confident by sight that this is what it's going 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:37.740 to be. They get there and their sight doesn't 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:41.440 match up with what they know. Right? Like instantly 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.679 their sight and what they thought they knew by 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:47.220 sight is now challenged in such a way that they 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:49.809 have a different opinion. Kind of like when you 00:15:49.809 --> 00:15:52.350 look at the heavens, and especially from these 00:15:52.350 --> 00:15:55.450 astronauts' view, they go, we don't even have, 00:15:55.549 --> 00:16:00.549 this does not make sense. Why? Because what's 00:16:00.549 --> 00:16:02.490 the mantra of the Christian faith? You are to 00:16:02.490 --> 00:16:06.029 live by faith, not by what you see. So much so 00:16:06.029 --> 00:16:08.789 that what happens with the women is, verse 4, 00:16:08.909 --> 00:16:11.370 while they were wondering about this, suddenly 00:16:11.370 --> 00:16:13.549 two men in clothes that gleam like lightning 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:15.210 stood beside them. You want to talk about a jump 00:16:15.210 --> 00:16:18.379 scare, right? In their fright, the women bowed 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:20.580 down with their faces to the ground. But the 00:16:20.580 --> 00:16:23.960 men said to them, why do you look? Why do you 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.779 look for the living among the dead? He is not 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:35.379 here. He is risen. Okay. They are bang in the 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:39.019 middle. What is the middle for them? They know 00:16:39.019 --> 00:16:41.659 what's true. They saw Jesus die. They saw him 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:44.879 put in a tomb. They saw his lifeless body. They 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.820 go back. He's not there. And now they have these 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:50.919 angels telling them truth that they now have 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:56.960 to accept by faith and not by sight. They now 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.059 have to stand and go, this is what's true in 00:17:00.059 --> 00:17:01.659 the middle. You could put it this way, that in 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:04.980 the middle, faith is the playground of the middle. 00:17:05.940 --> 00:17:08.559 Right? That you are in the middle. Whether you 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.160 like it or not, you're in the middle. And in 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.140 the middle, the call on your life, the call on 00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:15.900 my life is that we would live by faith. faith. 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:19.759 We shouldn't be surprised by this. Like the story 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.200 of God, right? Like you go back and you look 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:24.900 at the individuals. Let's just start with Noah. 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:31.579 Noah, I need you to build a boat. What for? For 00:17:31.579 --> 00:17:34.819 rain. What's that? Well, it's kind of like your 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:36.660 springs, but it comes from the sky and it's really 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:40.200 gonna, it's gonna mess things up. So you need 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:42.519 a boat. And now I'm going to bring two by two, 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:47.650 all the animals will come to you. Huh? You know 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:51.190 how long? Over 100 years Noah is building a boat. 00:17:52.490 --> 00:17:55.269 He's in the middle for a long, long, long time. 00:17:56.049 --> 00:17:58.329 God has told him something. He's in the middle 00:17:58.329 --> 00:18:00.569 by faith building this boat and his neighbors 00:18:00.569 --> 00:18:03.289 come over and go, hey Noah, what you doing? I'm 00:18:03.289 --> 00:18:05.769 building a boat. What's a boat? Imagine how many 00:18:05.769 --> 00:18:08.829 times this poor guy had the conversation. It's 00:18:08.829 --> 00:18:12.250 going to rain. What's rain? He's in the middle 00:18:12.250 --> 00:18:16.099 and in the middle you live by what? Faith. And 00:18:16.099 --> 00:18:18.500 you move forward in the story, get to Abraham. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:23.200 Abraham, where are you going? I don't know. God 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.539 just told me to pack up my family and go to a 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:28.640 land he'll show me. Wait, you're taking your 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.859 whole family and you're just walking, but you 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.500 don't know what you're looking for? Yeah, because 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:35.819 I'm in the middle. And in the middle, I walk 00:18:35.819 --> 00:18:38.759 by faith. God said it. Here's truth. So here 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:41.359 I go out here in no man's land and I'm just going 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.160 to start walking. How do you know when you get 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:46.480 there? I don't know. God will tell me. Think 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.740 about Sarah, his wife, right? You're going to 00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:54.140 have a baby. And your descendants will be like 00:18:54.140 --> 00:19:00.700 the stars. Numerous. And she starts by sight 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:02.900 going, I'm getting really old. I know how this 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:06.369 works. And so she's like, I'm gonna help out 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:08.650 in this story. And God goes, that's not the way. 00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:11.589 She starts to live by sight and he pulls her 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:13.509 back to what? To faith, because in the middle, 00:19:13.529 --> 00:19:18.630 you live by faith. You follow the story forward, 00:19:18.750 --> 00:19:21.630 you get to Joseph. I mean, think about Joseph, 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:25.789 he's sold into slavery. He's a slave in a foreign 00:19:25.789 --> 00:19:28.289 land and he's doing really well, then gets thrown 00:19:28.289 --> 00:19:31.170 in jail on a false accusation. And in jail, he's 00:19:31.170 --> 00:19:33.789 still walking by faith, even though he can see. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.680 I'm in jail. God's got a plan. God's going to 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:39.079 figure this out. God's going to work out. He 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:41.160 didn't know that it would end up saving the entire 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:46.319 family and future of the nation of Israel. But 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.660 in the middle, he's got to walk by what? By faith. 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:53.099 I mean, it's just stunning. You just keep going. 00:19:53.579 --> 00:19:56.519 Get to Moses. Moses' life starts by faith. I'm 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:57.960 going to put you in a basket and send you down 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:03.099 the stream, son. Good luck. And by faith in the 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:05.799 middle, he gets raised by the household of Pharaoh. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.519 And he ends up running away for doing the right 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:13.380 thing. And he ends up in the desert for a long 00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:15.480 time. And what happens? God comes to him in the 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:17.680 middle and he goes, hey, Moses, I got something 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.339 for you, man. You're going to go back to the 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:21.779 most powerful man on the entire planet with the 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:24.200 largest army and the greatest technology. And 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:25.339 you're going to walk into him and you're going 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.980 to go, let my people go, says God. And when you 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:32.119 get there, guess what, Moses? You're not going 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:37.240 to be good at speaking. Moses is in the middle. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:44.380 It's just stunning. He gets there and the people 00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:46.180 he's supposed to be rescuing are actually mad 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:47.740 at him because it's not going well for them. 00:20:48.940 --> 00:20:53.579 His sight is, God, this is not going well. And 00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:57.119 yet, God's people are called to live by. I mean, 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.319 think about it. Get to the Exodus story. Paint 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:02.119 blood on your door. And the angel of death, you 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:03.799 want to talk about mystery. The angel of death 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:05.519 will pass over, but where the blood is, there 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:07.960 won't be any death. You know how much faith it 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.380 takes to do something like that, to follow everything 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:13.140 that God's told you to put blood on the door. 00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:15.299 And then you get out of there. You're blessed 00:21:15.299 --> 00:21:17.019 with all this stuff, right? Like you get all 00:21:17.019 --> 00:21:20.279 their gold from Egypt. You get out, you're running 00:21:20.279 --> 00:21:22.759 away and you're like, yes. And then you get to 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:26.380 the Red Sea because God led you there. And what 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:29.349 you see in front of you is death. And what you 00:21:29.349 --> 00:21:32.329 see behind is the world's strongest army with 00:21:32.329 --> 00:21:34.910 the greatest technology. That's death. So you 00:21:34.910 --> 00:21:37.230 look at it and you go by sight, death, death. 00:21:40.329 --> 00:21:44.150 And what do we call to live by? Faith. And what 00:21:44.150 --> 00:21:46.230 does God do? He parts the water. They walk through. 00:21:46.769 --> 00:21:48.589 Think about it. This doesn't get any easier. 00:21:48.789 --> 00:21:50.369 They get to the desert and God goes, you know 00:21:50.369 --> 00:21:52.269 what? I'm going to feed you by frosted flakes. 00:21:53.250 --> 00:21:55.210 Every morning, frosted flakes will show up on 00:21:55.210 --> 00:22:00.240 the ground. Right? Can you imagine the stress? 00:22:00.380 --> 00:22:02.259 Dad's in the room. Can you imagine mom's in the 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:08.019 room? The stress. That first week, you have no 00:22:08.019 --> 00:22:11.799 plan B. There is no way to feed your babies. 00:22:13.099 --> 00:22:16.299 There is no backup plan other than look out the 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:21.920 tent. Frosted flakes. And for a long time, God 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:26.940 fed them by manna. I mean, it's stunning, right? 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:28.579 And then he goes, hey, I got a promised land 00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:30.940 for you. It's so good. It's full of milk and 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:34.240 honey. It's the best you have ever seen. And 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.019 they get there and he goes, it's right over there. 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:38.200 And they go and look and it's like, there's giants. 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:42.880 What do they see? Giants, what do they fail to 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.019 do? Live by faith. And what happens in that moment 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:48.579 in the middle? An entire generation doesn't enter 00:22:48.579 --> 00:22:51.579 the land because of giants. And then they get 00:22:51.579 --> 00:22:53.599 in the land and they come up to Jericho, right? 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:56.579 Jericho's a city with large walls. And God goes, 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:58.279 hey, here's the battle plan. You're going to 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:02.640 walk around twice a day. And then on the last 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.559 day, you're going to walk around once and just 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.359 cheer. And the walls are going to fall down. 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:13.759 Okay. Never seen that before in my life. But 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:15.700 they're in the middle. They got to walk by faith. 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:18.000 I don't know about you. I want to try it on my 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:25.410 weeds. See if my weeds will... I think of David. 00:23:25.630 --> 00:23:27.769 David's anointed to be king, and the person who's 00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:30.089 supposed to mentor him into this king, he wants 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:31.890 to kill him, so he ends up living in caves for 00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:34.710 a while. He's on the run. Think about David and 00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:36.750 Goliath. You talk about in the middle with faith 00:23:36.750 --> 00:23:41.410 and a stone. If you're like John, that's all 00:23:41.410 --> 00:23:47.230 old, and those stories are fun and all, but let's 00:23:47.230 --> 00:23:50.380 get to the New Testament. Okay. There's a widow 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:54.500 in a town called Nain, and she is in the procession 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:58.660 of her death of her son. She is in the middle 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:02.099 of grief. And who enters the middle of her grief? 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:06.099 Jesus. And what does Jesus do? Raises the son 00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:12.900 to life in front of everybody that's there. I 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:15.700 mean, you go to the blind man. 38 years, he's 00:24:15.700 --> 00:24:17.869 blind. 38 years he's waiting for the Messiah. 00:24:18.029 --> 00:24:19.849 38 years he's waiting for the one who can heal. 00:24:20.329 --> 00:24:24.990 38 years of living by faith in the middle. And 00:24:24.990 --> 00:24:26.829 then Jesus shows up and he doesn't even know 00:24:26.829 --> 00:24:30.369 how Jesus did what Jesus did. But it's by faith 00:24:30.369 --> 00:24:34.329 that he was healed. I mean, if that's not enough 00:24:34.329 --> 00:24:37.009 for you, Jairus' daughter, right? Jairus, she's 00:24:37.009 --> 00:24:39.769 12 years old. Jairus comes to Jesus and he's 00:24:39.769 --> 00:24:41.829 like, hey, hey, I need you to come heal my daughter. 00:24:42.089 --> 00:24:45.829 Jesus gets a little delayed. She dies. Jairus 00:24:45.829 --> 00:24:47.670 is bang in the middle of grief. I lost my daughter. 00:24:47.690 --> 00:24:49.470 Don't even worry about coming. What does Jesus 00:24:49.470 --> 00:24:52.170 do? Jesus shows up. And when Jesus shows up, 00:24:52.170 --> 00:24:55.750 the impossible happens. And she's raised to life. 00:24:56.170 --> 00:24:58.690 But don't miss that on the way, there was a lady 00:24:58.690 --> 00:25:01.390 who had been bleeding and been an outcast for 00:25:01.390 --> 00:25:05.329 12 years. And by faith, what does she do? I know 00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:07.289 I'm an outcast. I know I shouldn't buy sight. 00:25:07.329 --> 00:25:09.390 I shouldn't do any of this. But I just got to 00:25:09.390 --> 00:25:13.289 touch the hem of his garment. And she touches 00:25:13.289 --> 00:25:15.569 the hem of Jesus' garment and she is healed. 00:25:17.950 --> 00:25:19.609 We're called to live by faith, not by sight. 00:25:19.670 --> 00:25:21.569 Think about John the Baptist. He's in jail. What 00:25:21.569 --> 00:25:23.049 can John see? He can see a prison cell. What 00:25:23.049 --> 00:25:26.410 does he know? I'm going to lose my head. They're 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:30.630 going to behead me. And Jesus sends him back. 00:25:30.690 --> 00:25:33.490 Hey, John, these are the things that I'm doing. 00:25:33.609 --> 00:25:35.190 These are the things that the Messiah would do. 00:25:35.269 --> 00:25:37.529 You have a choice to walk by sight or walk by 00:25:37.529 --> 00:25:40.849 faith. Why? Because in the middle, in the middle, 00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:48.279 You have to walk by faith. We haven't even talked 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:50.240 about Lazarus. I mean, you want to talk about 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:52.799 a crazy story? Lazarus has been in the tomb so 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.200 long that their own language is, do not open 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.839 the tomb, Lord, he stinketh. Don't do it. He's 00:25:58.839 --> 00:26:02.579 going to smell real bad. You know what Jesus 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:04.779 does? Not only does he remove it, right? Because 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.140 he meets them in it. And his language is, if 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:10.369 you believe, if you believe. You're going to 00:26:10.369 --> 00:26:14.390 see the glory of God today. It's mysterious. 00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:18.890 And Jesus, and I love this. I came across this 00:26:18.890 --> 00:26:20.549 recently. I was listening to something and we'll 00:26:20.549 --> 00:26:22.589 do something at some point with it. But Jesus 00:26:22.589 --> 00:26:25.750 doesn't call to Lazarus multiple times. He's 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:30.789 not waking him up. He calls once and Lazarus 00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:35.950 comes out. Jesus meets him where? In the middle. 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:39.900 There's another story that kind of wraps out 00:26:39.900 --> 00:26:44.220 the Easter morning or Easter day. It's in the 00:26:44.220 --> 00:26:46.619 same chapter, chapter 24, verse 13. There's two 00:26:46.619 --> 00:26:49.319 other gentlemen. Now that same day, two of them 00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:51.460 were going to a village called Emmaus, about 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:53.539 seven miles from Jerusalem. So it's a seven mile 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:56.720 walk is what's happening. They were talking with 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:58.640 each other about everything that had happened. 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:01.880 As they talked and discussed these things with 00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:05.880 each other, Jesus himself came up and walked 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:09.769 along with them. But they were kept from recognizing 00:27:09.769 --> 00:27:13.230 him. He asked them, so Jesus asked them, what 00:27:13.230 --> 00:27:15.250 are you discussing together as you walk along? 00:27:15.769 --> 00:27:22.710 They stood still, their faces downcast. What 00:27:22.710 --> 00:27:26.970 do they believe by sight? They're not walking, 00:27:27.089 --> 00:27:29.569 high -fiving each other. Man, Jesus raised from 00:27:29.569 --> 00:27:32.750 dead. They're not doing that. They're still in 00:27:32.750 --> 00:27:36.529 their downcast. Their posture is, we're sad. 00:27:39.019 --> 00:27:43.859 We're grieving. And Jesus, Jesus, you want to 00:27:43.859 --> 00:27:45.660 know what Jesus was doing on Easter day? He was 00:27:45.660 --> 00:27:49.819 getting his cardio. It's a seven mile walk. The 00:27:49.819 --> 00:27:54.180 resurrected Jesus is walking seven miles with 00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:56.160 these guys that are walking pretty slow because 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:57.859 it says that they stop and they're downcast. 00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:04.819 They stood still, their faces downcast. Verse 00:28:04.819 --> 00:28:09.049 18, one of them named Cleopas asked him, Are 00:28:09.049 --> 00:28:11.750 you, this is so good, are you the only one visiting 00:28:11.750 --> 00:28:14.390 Jerusalem who does not know the things that have 00:28:14.390 --> 00:28:16.529 happened here, happened there in these days? 00:28:17.890 --> 00:28:21.309 He's like looking at Jesus and going, don't you 00:28:21.309 --> 00:28:25.190 get it? Can you imagine Jesus' response? Well, 00:28:25.230 --> 00:28:26.670 let me tell you about the last three days where 00:28:26.670 --> 00:28:29.650 I've been, right? Because I've set the captives 00:28:29.650 --> 00:28:31.750 free. I've been up to my father. Like there's 00:28:31.750 --> 00:28:34.269 a whole thing that Jesus could do here. But notice 00:28:34.269 --> 00:28:39.019 what Jesus does. What things? What things, he 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:41.839 asked them. Okay, if you don't think sense of 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:43.839 humor belongs in spirituality, you need to read 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:48.440 the Bible. Like Jesus is punking them. Like Jesus 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:52.500 is here and he's like, huh, what things, what'd 00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:56.119 I miss? Tell me the news. And they go on to say 00:28:56.119 --> 00:28:57.900 about Jesus of Nazareth. So now they're telling 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:00.920 Jesus about Jesus. They replied, he was a prophet, 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:03.200 powerful in word and deed before God and all 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:05.859 the people. The chief priests and the rulers 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:08.500 handed him over to be sentenced to death. And 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:10.960 they crucified him. What do they know by sight? 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.720 Jesus was crucified and put to death. But, but 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:20.799 listen to this. We had hoped. If that doesn't 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:24.539 describe the middle. You ever felt like you're 00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:29.180 beyond hope? You ever feel like something is 00:29:29.180 --> 00:29:31.720 so overwhelming that you've lost hope of what 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:36.160 can happen? But we had hope that he was the one 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.140 who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, 00:29:39.180 --> 00:29:41.480 it is the third day since all this took place. 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:44.539 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:47.140 went to the tomb early this morning, but did 00:29:47.140 --> 00:29:50.940 not find his body. They came and told us that 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:53.119 they had seen a vision of angels who said he 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:56.279 was alive. Then some of our companions went out 00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:58.259 to the tomb and found it just as the women had 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:02.309 said, but they did not. See Jesus. What are these 00:30:02.309 --> 00:30:04.549 guys walking by? They're walking by sight and 00:30:04.549 --> 00:30:07.009 not by faith. Where does Jesus meet them? He 00:30:07.009 --> 00:30:08.930 meets them in the middle. Why? Because he needs 00:30:08.930 --> 00:30:14.049 them to walk by faith. Their story is that they 00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:16.549 are downcast. They have beyond hope. They have 00:30:16.549 --> 00:30:20.359 essentially given up. They're confused. And I 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:22.680 don't know how you're doing. I don't know how 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:24.960 you came in the room. I don't know what questions 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:27.160 you got for God. I don't know what you're in 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.339 the middle of, but I do know that there is a 00:30:29.339 --> 00:30:31.799 mantra for you as a follower of Jesus. And it 00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:34.859 comes from your story. That when you are in the 00:30:34.859 --> 00:30:38.240 middle, here is your mantra. It's found in Ephesians 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:42.559 chapter two. And in Ephesians two, it says this, 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.539 as for you, he's speaking to the church. Those 00:30:44.539 --> 00:30:47.359 of you that are followers of Jesus, as for you, 00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:52.230 you were. dead in your transgressions and your 00:30:52.230 --> 00:30:56.269 sins. It is a statement about who you were. You 00:30:56.269 --> 00:30:59.710 were dead. You were lifeless. You were on the 00:30:59.710 --> 00:31:03.109 slab in which you used to live when you followed 00:31:03.109 --> 00:31:05.349 the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom 00:31:05.349 --> 00:31:08.049 of the air, the spirit who is now at work in 00:31:08.049 --> 00:31:12.589 those who are disobedient. All of us also lived 00:31:12.589 --> 00:31:15.109 among them at one time, gratifying the cravings 00:31:15.109 --> 00:31:18.079 of our flesh and following the desires. and thoughts 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:22.039 like the rest we were by nature deserving of 00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:26.539 wrath. What does he say? This is who you are. 00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:30.119 You're alienated from God. You're an enemy of 00:31:30.119 --> 00:31:35.619 God. You were dead. And notice the language. 00:31:35.740 --> 00:31:40.319 This is the language of the middle. But because 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:46.920 of his great love for us, God. Who is rich in 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:50.019 mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:53.640 were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you 00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:59.559 have been saved. But God. What is the language 00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:01.779 of the middle? How do we live by faith? But God. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.839 I know that what I see today seems impossible. 00:32:05.259 --> 00:32:07.279 I know that what I see today feels overwhelming. 00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:10.319 I know that what's in front of me is too much. 00:32:11.419 --> 00:32:13.259 I know that what's in front of me is confusing. 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:19.359 I know that I feel downcast. But God. But God. 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:23.559 Lazarus is dead. But God. We can't get through 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:27.640 the Red Sea. But God. What is the language that 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:29.460 we are called to live? We are called to live 00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:31.859 by faith. And so what we need to do is we need 00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:35.299 to talk to ourselves. We need to talk to our 00:32:35.299 --> 00:32:38.440 souls. That's what the psalmist does. David's 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:40.279 away in the caves and what's David doing? Why 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:42.579 are you so downcast, oh my soul? Put your trust 00:32:42.579 --> 00:32:46.220 in God. He's calling himself back to faith. What 00:32:46.220 --> 00:32:48.759 is the call on you and me? It's in the midst 00:32:48.759 --> 00:32:54.099 of the middle. But God. But John, you don't understand. 00:32:54.259 --> 00:33:00.759 This feels impossible. But God it is. What's 00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:04.680 the mantra of the faith? Not sight, but God. 00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:10.779 The story continues in Luke. And these two guys 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:13.200 get done telling Jesus about Jesus. And then 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:16.039 Jesus tells them the entire story of God. It's 00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:17.720 probably one of the greatest messages ever preached. 00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:20.460 He starts at the beginning and goes all the way 00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:24.420 through the cross. And then he looks like he's 00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:25.759 just going to keep walking. He's just getting 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:30.000 more cardio. And they say this in verse 29. But 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:33.240 they urged him strongly, stay with us. For it 00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:36.960 is nearly evening. The day is almost over. So 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:42.339 he went in to stay with them. When he was at 00:33:42.339 --> 00:33:47.259 the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks 00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:52.259 and broke it and began to give it to them. Then 00:33:52.259 --> 00:33:55.539 their eyes were opened and they recognized him 00:33:55.539 --> 00:33:59.779 and he disappeared from their sight. They asked 00:33:59.779 --> 00:34:02.299 each other, were not our hearts burning within 00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:06.210 us? While he talked with us on the road and opened 00:34:06.210 --> 00:34:09.150 the scriptures to us. Can you imagine you go 00:34:09.150 --> 00:34:12.090 to Costco today because you came to church and 00:34:12.090 --> 00:34:14.070 God met you and you're in line and somebody goes, 00:34:14.110 --> 00:34:16.010 hey, how was church today? I don't know, man. 00:34:16.110 --> 00:34:19.809 I got this burning in my chest. And they're like, 00:34:19.809 --> 00:34:22.050 heartburn? You're like, no, it's like in my soul. 00:34:23.829 --> 00:34:26.050 That's what they experienced because they met 00:34:26.050 --> 00:34:30.239 with God and it's mysterious. And it takes them 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:32.179 from this moment in the middle where they don't 00:34:32.179 --> 00:34:35.079 have faith to where they walk by faith. They 00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:38.099 actually run the seven mile journey back on Easter 00:34:38.099 --> 00:34:41.079 night to tell others what they've experienced. 00:34:42.739 --> 00:34:50.519 There's something mysterious about this. See, 00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:53.360 what's amazing is what we have as a reminder 00:34:53.360 --> 00:35:00.389 of the person of Jesus. You guys, I don't know. 00:35:02.730 --> 00:35:06.889 I don't know your story. I don't know how you 00:35:06.889 --> 00:35:11.530 came in the room. I don't know what by sight 00:35:11.530 --> 00:35:16.610 feels impossible today. It may be your addiction. 00:35:19.550 --> 00:35:21.489 You know, the addiction you haven't told anybody 00:35:21.489 --> 00:35:24.269 about or the addiction you're trying to hide. 00:35:27.670 --> 00:35:31.300 The one you, Promise you'll quit only to do it 00:35:31.300 --> 00:35:40.380 again. And you feel shame and guilt, which is 00:35:40.380 --> 00:35:42.719 why you're hiding. And it just feels too much. 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:48.719 What I love about Jesus is he wants to break 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:55.489 bread in your addiction today. He wants to meet 00:35:55.489 --> 00:35:57.489 you in the middle. He wants to meet you in the 00:35:57.489 --> 00:35:59.869 addiction. He wants to meet you. He doesn't want 00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:02.349 to preach at you. He wants to sit down and he 00:36:02.349 --> 00:36:05.650 wants to give you himself in the middle today. 00:36:08.610 --> 00:36:14.530 Maybe it's your marriage. You came in here and 00:36:14.530 --> 00:36:19.449 you know we feel like we're on polar opposite 00:36:19.449 --> 00:36:25.210 sides and this will never get better. You feel 00:36:25.210 --> 00:36:29.530 like your marriage is done. You feel like it 00:36:29.530 --> 00:36:31.809 couldn't be restored. In fact, you maybe have 00:36:31.809 --> 00:36:36.329 divorce papers already filled out. The mantra 00:36:36.329 --> 00:36:40.510 of the middle is what? But God. Your marriage 00:36:40.510 --> 00:36:45.670 may be done, but God. Don't you give up on God. 00:36:48.489 --> 00:36:50.710 And in the middle of your pain of your marriage, 00:36:50.889 --> 00:36:56.880 Jesus wants to break bread. with you today in 00:36:56.880 --> 00:37:01.920 the middle of the mess of your marriage, that 00:37:01.920 --> 00:37:06.199 just maybe you'll see him and it'll change everything 00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:12.559 and you walk out of here by faith today. I mean, 00:37:12.579 --> 00:37:15.440 for some of you, it's your kids. Your kids are 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:17.059 at an age where they're making their own choices 00:37:17.059 --> 00:37:19.599 and their choices, it's hurting, it's painful. 00:37:22.730 --> 00:37:24.630 You want them to make different choices and they're 00:37:24.630 --> 00:37:27.989 not. I talked to somebody last night after the 00:37:27.989 --> 00:37:30.590 gathering and they were telling me their kids 00:37:30.590 --> 00:37:34.610 have stopped talking to them. A story is so common. 00:37:34.670 --> 00:37:37.610 Maybe you have the pain of broken relationship 00:37:37.610 --> 00:37:40.909 with your own kids and Jesus wants to meet you 00:37:40.909 --> 00:37:43.809 today and break bread with you in the pain and 00:37:43.809 --> 00:37:46.610 in the suffering and in the moment of the middle. 00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:51.960 For some of you, maybe it's a phone call. You 00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:53.800 ever had that phone call that just changed everything? 00:37:54.599 --> 00:38:01.460 Maybe it's about your health. Maybe it's about 00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:03.440 somebody passing away and you are pushed into 00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:09.420 grief. The doctors have said it's impossible, 00:38:09.619 --> 00:38:16.760 but God. And inside of the impossible, Jesus 00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:24.150 wants to break bread. with you today. Inside 00:38:24.150 --> 00:38:29.710 of the grief and the pain, inside of the fear, 00:38:29.869 --> 00:38:34.849 I mean, you only have to go to the gas pump to 00:38:34.849 --> 00:38:39.050 be filled with fear. Where's it all going? How 00:38:39.050 --> 00:38:41.130 do I make ends meet? And so finances become a 00:38:41.130 --> 00:38:44.289 thing, right? And we get all concerned and Jesus 00:38:44.289 --> 00:38:46.730 goes, hey, you're in the middle and I want to 00:38:46.730 --> 00:38:51.849 meet you in I want to break bread with you in 00:38:51.849 --> 00:38:58.969 the middle. Maybe it's relationships for you. 00:39:03.349 --> 00:39:06.170 Maybe you are staying with somebody much longer 00:39:06.170 --> 00:39:09.389 than you should. Or maybe someone's walked away. 00:39:12.050 --> 00:39:16.960 And Jesus wants to break bread with you. In the 00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:22.280 middle of that. He broke bread with them. Guys, 00:39:22.380 --> 00:39:26.679 it was mysterious what happened. I don't believe 00:39:26.679 --> 00:39:28.739 that's unique to them. I believe that's unique 00:39:28.739 --> 00:39:32.579 to who Jesus is and what he has given us to remember 00:39:32.579 --> 00:39:40.440 him in. What's stunning about, to me, about communion 00:39:40.440 --> 00:39:44.730 is the mystery is you. I don't know if this is 00:39:44.730 --> 00:39:46.869 like theologically, politically correct for you. 00:39:46.929 --> 00:39:50.730 I don't care. Because there's something here 00:39:50.730 --> 00:39:54.130 that we're missing. That Jesus just doesn't want 00:39:54.130 --> 00:39:57.829 to meet with you in the middle. But you ingest 00:39:57.829 --> 00:40:02.170 what represents his body and his flesh. You ingest 00:40:02.170 --> 00:40:06.550 Jesus. And when you ingest something, it goes 00:40:06.550 --> 00:40:09.530 to every part of you. And Jesus wants to be in 00:40:09.530 --> 00:40:12.849 every part of your life today, including the 00:40:12.849 --> 00:40:15.269 middle, including the impossible, including the 00:40:15.269 --> 00:40:18.369 thing that you have given up on. He wants to 00:40:18.369 --> 00:40:23.269 meet you today. And so we're going to let him. 00:40:24.650 --> 00:40:26.769 And the next moments are yours for you to chat 00:40:26.769 --> 00:40:31.949 with him and invite him to break bread with you. 00:40:33.670 --> 00:40:36.969 To see the mystery and the wonder of the God 00:40:36.969 --> 00:40:41.469 who can hang planets and also break bread at 00:40:41.469 --> 00:40:44.909 a table with you. So the next moments are yours 00:40:44.909 --> 00:41:56.780 and we'll take it all together. Bye. Jesus broke 00:41:56.780 --> 00:42:01.360 bread with them. And it says their eyes were 00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:10.139 opened that he was there. In your impossible, 00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:20.280 Jesus says to take bread and to break it. And 00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:27.130 in that process, take and eat. And do this to 00:42:27.130 --> 00:42:37.269 remind you of him. His blood that was represented 00:42:37.269 --> 00:42:43.309 by wine was your reminder that but God. You're 00:42:43.309 --> 00:42:48.050 dead, but God. You can't love your neighbor, 00:42:48.170 --> 00:42:56.650 but God. You can't see Jesus, but God. And so 00:42:56.650 --> 00:42:58.670 he took a cup that represented the new covenant 00:42:58.670 --> 00:43:02.010 in his blood. And he said, take, drink, do this 00:43:02.010 --> 00:43:08.489 in remembrance of me. Church, would you stand 00:43:08.489 --> 00:43:11.130 right where you are? Because I can think of no 00:43:11.130 --> 00:43:16.190 better way than seeing galaxies and planets and 00:43:16.190 --> 00:43:19.349 hearing the story of life from death and knowing 00:43:19.349 --> 00:43:21.250 that God meets us in the middle. I can think 00:43:21.250 --> 00:43:23.150 of no better response than to take our voice 00:43:23.150 --> 00:43:27.219 and just go. How great is our God? How great 00:43:27.219 --> 00:43:31.039 is our God, church? Oh, that's it, huh? That's 00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:32.199 it, huh? All right, let's go.