WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.660 Well, welcome to those of you that will be watching 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:05.919 this online and those of you that will be watching 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:10.199 this at the 930 in Prescott. You may be wondering 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:12.240 why you're watching a video today. It's because 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:15.339 I'm actually at Prescott Valley Live today and 00:00:15.339 --> 00:00:17.660 we're just honoring what we've set up for the 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:20.300 summer with Prescott Valley and our location 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:22.760 there. And so you get a video today. So you get 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.039 to honor them and in the same time we get to... 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.620 We get to walk this together. So welcome to those 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:29.460 of you at 930. Welcome to those of you in the 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.539 online family, Baghdad, Paulding, at our locations. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:35.060 That's you. We're grateful for you. Welcome to 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:39.579 those of you again in the room. Just so, so fun 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:41.759 to do this together, right? Like, I don't know 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:43.859 about you, but I love summer. Summer just brings 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:46.659 different rhythms. For starters, I love not having 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:48.899 to drive my kids to school at the crack of dawn. 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.960 Like, that's just a nice switch up in the whole 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:56.869 thing. Summer, the rain has been amazing. The 00:00:56.869 --> 00:01:00.649 change in, instead of it being blazing hot, we 00:01:00.649 --> 00:01:02.890 now have these things called monsoons that show 00:01:02.890 --> 00:01:06.370 up. And I also love summer because some of the 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:07.989 rhythms, I don't know about you, some of the 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:09.750 rhythms I love and some of them I'm like, eh. 00:01:10.250 --> 00:01:13.069 And it comes and goes because it messes up for 00:01:13.069 --> 00:01:15.549 when the fall comes, right? But one of the things 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:18.689 I love about summer is that we, as a family, 00:01:18.730 --> 00:01:21.489 get to take vacations. But our vacations have 00:01:21.489 --> 00:01:24.549 turned into where are our kids right now? And 00:01:24.549 --> 00:01:26.290 that's where we're going to plan our vacation. 00:01:26.510 --> 00:01:28.969 So we were gone for a week. We were in Long Beach 00:01:28.969 --> 00:01:33.469 and getting to see our kiddos. And the way the 00:01:33.469 --> 00:01:36.090 trip was planned was our younger kiddos were 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:38.709 going to go stay with their older sister and 00:01:38.709 --> 00:01:41.310 her husband for the first couple of days because 00:01:41.310 --> 00:01:43.049 they get so excited about that. They love the 00:01:43.049 --> 00:01:44.969 time together. And I'll be real honest with you. 00:01:45.010 --> 00:01:47.299 I love the time with Cindy without them. OK, 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:51.079 so let's just be clear on that. Now, it still 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.180 exists, by the way, like time with your spouse 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:55.760 when you have kids. It's amazing. You know, sometimes 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.620 it feels like it doesn't exist anymore. But but 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:01.599 getting that getting to spend time with her. 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:03.680 So we got an Airbnb the first thing and we're 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.540 like sitting on a peninsula on the beach with 00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:10.159 a book. And I'm like, I can't even read my book. 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:12.580 And she's like, why? Why can't you read? And 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:14.259 I'm like, well, there's just so much to look 00:02:14.259 --> 00:02:16.530 at. She's like, what is there to look at? And 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:19.629 I'm like, there's houses and boats and like things 00:02:19.629 --> 00:02:22.889 moving and all kinds of things to distract me. 00:02:22.930 --> 00:02:24.370 Like little kids. You ever watch little kids 00:02:24.370 --> 00:02:29.789 run on a beach? At some point they are going 00:02:29.789 --> 00:02:32.289 down. You just know it. They just bounce back 00:02:32.289 --> 00:02:35.469 up and they're in the water. And so we're sitting 00:02:35.469 --> 00:02:37.669 there and we just get to be for a couple of days. 00:02:37.750 --> 00:02:42.539 And that was like just. And then we moved, the 00:02:42.539 --> 00:02:44.780 second part of it, we moved to a different Airbnb. 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.139 We kind of planned the trip kind of last minute. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.580 And so things were a little chaotic. And so the 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:53.500 place we stayed in, we were upstairs. And downstairs, 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:55.319 somebody lived there, but they're not the person 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:57.340 that owned the upstairs. So it's kind of this 00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:01.340 whole thing, right? So I decided I was going 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:02.919 to get up in the morning and I was going to walk 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:07.020 down to the pier and the beach and take a book 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:10.469 and cup of coffee and just sit and read. And 00:03:10.469 --> 00:03:14.729 so I leave the Airbnb. I walk down the stairs. 00:03:14.830 --> 00:03:16.449 And of course, I forgot something because that's 00:03:16.449 --> 00:03:18.990 just me. So I go back up the stairs. And on my 00:03:18.990 --> 00:03:20.990 way back up, I see something move behind the 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:25.750 grill. And I'm like, the neighbor has a cat. 00:03:26.270 --> 00:03:28.669 I mean, it wasn't small. OK, so let me just clarify, 00:03:28.830 --> 00:03:30.930 like size of a cat. I'm like, well, the neighbor 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:34.449 has a cat. Well, then I just stood there to wait 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:36.530 to see if this thing was going to come out. It 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:39.740 comes out and I'm like. That's like no cat I've 00:03:39.740 --> 00:03:43.039 ever seen in my life. Take a look. I think we 00:03:43.039 --> 00:04:00.199 have it. I mean, that guy's just hanging on. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:04.400 He's just making it. I ain't never seen that 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:09.050 in my life. I mean, I'm not even joking. When 00:04:09.050 --> 00:04:10.789 the thing first came out, I went, who shaved 00:04:10.789 --> 00:04:15.050 their cat like that? And then I realized I was 00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:18.430 looking at him like, I can get my phone. And 00:04:18.430 --> 00:04:22.110 I'm watching. And so then I send that video to 00:04:22.110 --> 00:04:25.209 my family and I'm like, good morning from a hardworking 00:04:25.209 --> 00:04:29.889 mama. And so then I'm like, okay, chat, I know 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:34.189 nothing about what I just seen. How long do raccoons 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:41.750 carry their? Chat goes, possums carry their young 00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:43.970 through adolescence. I was like, thanks, chat. 00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:47.829 Needed that. Grateful. Oh man, it's so good. 00:04:48.029 --> 00:04:50.990 But here's something, right? Like you see, I'm 00:04:50.990 --> 00:04:53.189 watching this happen and I came back from my 00:04:53.189 --> 00:04:55.610 walk and she was back in the front yard walking 00:04:55.610 --> 00:04:57.269 through again. Looked like she'd lost a few, 00:04:57.310 --> 00:05:01.569 so I don't know what that means. And there's 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:05.689 just something you feel inside. Like just seeing 00:05:05.689 --> 00:05:08.699 it, you're like. First of all, I feel her pain 00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:11.500 of carrying children around. You know what I 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.279 mean? Well, I don't, but if you're a mother, 00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:17.740 you're like, I get it. Like, I look at that and 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:19.759 I go, that's motherhood. That's the picture of 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:21.439 motherhood. You feel like you're just carrying 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:23.040 them all the way through, right? And they just 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.740 keep hanging on. And you're like, let go. And 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:30.620 they keep hanging on. And I also feel just this 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:35.569 beauty of this moment. of our mama and our babies 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:39.790 and we're meant to feel. We're meant to feel. 00:05:41.050 --> 00:05:45.589 And especially like just the idea of when we 00:05:45.589 --> 00:05:47.970 read the scriptures, when we read a story in 00:05:47.970 --> 00:05:51.069 scripture, understanding what is it I'm supposed 00:05:51.069 --> 00:05:53.610 to, why does this exist in scripture? Why did 00:05:53.610 --> 00:05:57.269 God preserve this? And there's a story in Luke 00:05:57.269 --> 00:05:59.699 chapter seven. Some of you are like, we only 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:01.800 sang one song. You realize that, right? Like, 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.899 did you miss something? Because the band was 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:06.019 still here. I didn't miss nothing. I didn't miss 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:08.040 nothing. And I'll give you something. Well, I'll 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:09.339 tell you something in a little bit. We'll get 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:13.420 there. But in Luke chapter 7, there's a story. 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:17.120 And I found myself asking the question, why? 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:25.699 Why this lady? Why this mama? Why did God, out 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:29.259 of all the women, That Jesus could have had an 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:34.139 interaction with why this one at this time. And 00:06:34.139 --> 00:06:40.300 it says in verse 11, Luke 7, verse 11. Soon afterward, 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:45.920 Jesus went to a town called Nain and his disciples 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.439 and a large crowd went along with him. OK, so 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:54.019 the context before the story is Jesus was in 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:58.110 Capernaum and in Capernaum. There's a centurion, 00:06:58.129 --> 00:07:01.350 a Roman soldier, a leader of the Roman soldiers 00:07:01.350 --> 00:07:04.009 that came to him and he's got a sick servant. 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:09.089 And due to the illness of the servant, the centurion 00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:11.629 basically gets to the point he sent people, but 00:07:11.629 --> 00:07:13.610 Jesus is coming and he goes, hey, I don't deserve 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:15.970 to have you under my roof. Just say the word 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:19.670 and my servant will be healed. To which Jesus' 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:23.350 response is, I haven't seen this kind of faith 00:07:23.350 --> 00:07:27.290 in... Faith this great in all of Israel. And 00:07:27.290 --> 00:07:30.910 the servant is healed. The very next story is 00:07:30.910 --> 00:07:34.870 this one. And it says that Jesus, soon after, 00:07:34.970 --> 00:07:39.329 Jesus went to a town called Nain. I just think 00:07:39.329 --> 00:07:41.990 sometimes words are so important that Jesus went. 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:45.629 There was movement from Jesus from where he was 00:07:45.629 --> 00:07:49.250 to where this is happening. And sometimes I think 00:07:49.250 --> 00:07:51.990 we give the wrong messages when it comes to... 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:55.050 comes to Jesus and it's like, you've got to come 00:07:55.050 --> 00:07:58.850 to Jesus. You have to come to Jesus. That couldn't 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:00.949 be more wrong. Jesus has been coming to you the 00:08:00.949 --> 00:08:04.829 whole time. Jesus is the one on the move. We 00:08:04.829 --> 00:08:07.670 just get to realize he's always been moving towards 00:08:07.670 --> 00:08:11.829 you. Right? Like sometimes we get this false 00:08:11.829 --> 00:08:14.189 narrative of gospel of like, well, Jesus is over 00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:16.529 there and I'm over here. And when I choose to 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:18.290 stop doing what I'm going to do, I'm going to 00:08:18.290 --> 00:08:20.529 go find Jesus. I'm going to go to him. No, no, 00:08:20.550 --> 00:08:22.529 no. Jesus comes to where you are in the midst 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:24.649 of what you are and finds you where you are. 00:08:27.189 --> 00:08:30.250 Why is that so important? Because the other one 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:32.269 makes it a work that I do versus a work that 00:08:32.269 --> 00:08:35.850 Jesus is doing. And it says that Jesus went to 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:39.129 a town called Nain. And his disciples and a large 00:08:39.129 --> 00:08:41.570 crowd went along with him. So the picture being 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:44.570 given is that Jesus is going, his disciples are 00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:49.450 going, and there is a large crowd. Okay, so on 00:08:49.450 --> 00:08:53.809 one side of it, you've got this person who is 00:08:53.809 --> 00:08:57.669 Jesus, who is life, who is God incarnate. And 00:08:57.669 --> 00:09:00.909 now around him, you've got people that are following 00:09:00.909 --> 00:09:03.610 him that are close followers, but you also have 00:09:03.610 --> 00:09:07.610 a crowd of people. that are the extra ring around 00:09:07.610 --> 00:09:09.850 that, if you like, that are following because 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:12.570 he's been doing all these moments and miracles 00:09:12.570 --> 00:09:16.049 and they don't want to miss what could happen. 00:09:16.110 --> 00:09:19.230 They got FOMO, basically. They don't want to 00:09:19.230 --> 00:09:23.809 miss what's going to happen. Verse 12 says, as 00:09:23.809 --> 00:09:27.110 he approached the town gate, a dead person was 00:09:27.110 --> 00:09:31.190 being carried out, the only son of his mother. 00:09:31.730 --> 00:09:35.590 So he's approaching this town. And as he's approaching 00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:38.669 this town and he's got his crowd around him, 00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:42.309 he's approaching and what's coming out is a death 00:09:42.309 --> 00:09:47.289 march from this town, from this village. There's 00:09:47.289 --> 00:09:50.950 a march of death. Death has done what death does. 00:09:51.210 --> 00:09:55.389 Death always wants to kill, steal, destroy. Why 00:09:55.389 --> 00:09:57.029 do we know that? Because that's what the enemy 00:09:57.029 --> 00:09:59.549 is about. So we know that the end game of the 00:09:59.549 --> 00:10:03.049 enemy is this idea that life would not exist 00:10:03.049 --> 00:10:05.870 as God intended it. And so now this death march 00:10:05.870 --> 00:10:09.730 is coming out of this village and we're told 00:10:09.730 --> 00:10:14.210 that it's the only son. And then it adds another 00:10:14.210 --> 00:10:17.929 layer to it, right? The only son of his mother 00:10:17.929 --> 00:10:26.899 and she was a widow. Why this widow? There are 00:10:26.899 --> 00:10:32.139 many other widows. If you're familiar with scripture, 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:35.159 Elijah, who was a prophet, and he goes to a widow 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:39.500 who's lost her son, and scripture specifically 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:41.200 says there were many other widows he could have 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.840 gone to, but he went to that one. Jesus could 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.539 have gone to many widows. Why this one? And I 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:51.200 think the purpose of this is that we would feel, 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:55.850 that we would feel what is happening in the narrative. 00:10:56.529 --> 00:10:58.470 That we would feel what's actually happening 00:10:58.470 --> 00:11:01.490 within the story. What do I mean by that? Well, 00:11:01.509 --> 00:11:03.350 we're told, we're given the clue that she's a 00:11:03.350 --> 00:11:10.389 widow. That she has already suffered loss. She's 00:11:10.389 --> 00:11:13.250 already suffered the loss of her partner who 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:15.730 she thought she would build a life and a future 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:20.259 with. That she would grow old with. She's already 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:22.440 in the midst, she's already experienced, and 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:24.500 we don't have times, dates, we don't know ages, 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.440 we don't know at what point or why. All we know 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.539 is that the context we're given is she has suffered 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:33.620 loss already. And in the midst of that loss, 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:39.919 it says that the only son of his mother. Well, 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:44.000 now she's suffered complete loss. Because now 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:51.440 she's socially alone. I don't know how you enter 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:55.320 the room, but aloneness in our culture and our 00:11:55.320 --> 00:12:00.879 time is an epidemic. Feeling isolated, feeling 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:07.759 unseen, feeling alone is something that in 2026 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:13.480 we can resonate with. She suffered complete loss 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:18.629 in the sense of anyone relationally that could 00:12:18.629 --> 00:12:21.409 have been a support and that she could build 00:12:21.409 --> 00:12:27.570 a life with is gone. So we know from that that 00:12:27.570 --> 00:12:33.490 there's deep pain because of loss. And I, you 00:12:33.490 --> 00:12:37.429 guys, I just, the amount of people we'll have 00:12:37.429 --> 00:12:39.269 in rooms this weekend, the amount of people we'll 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:44.220 have across screens this weekend. The amount 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:46.200 of people that are sitting where this lady is 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:48.340 sitting, they go, I get it. I get it. I'm sitting 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:50.100 in the midst of pain. I'm sitting in the midst 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:53.559 of loss. And I'm sitting in the midst of what 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:58.320 she also loses is her future. A lady in this 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.720 culture, in this context, she would have had 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.799 her plans of how things were going to stay stable 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:07.100 and they've all been removed. She would have 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:09.360 not been able to work more than likely or find 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.759 work very easily. There wouldn't have been a 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:13.740 lot of opportunities. And so now she's going 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:15.639 to be dependent maybe on the charity of others, 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.500 if not end up begging. Her whole future just 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:21.700 got lost in this moment. You ever had a moment 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:23.440 in your life where you had your plans and you 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:25.519 had your future laid out and then all of a sudden 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:28.779 that shifts? Maybe you're sitting in that right 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:31.220 now that you're going, I didn't think life would 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:33.740 end up where it is. And I'm sitting in the midst 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:37.090 of an unknown future. That's where this lady 00:13:37.090 --> 00:13:42.230 is. This lady is sitting in what is fresh grief. 00:13:42.470 --> 00:13:46.169 How do we know that? Because we see the body 00:13:46.169 --> 00:13:48.990 being carried out. The death march is happening. 00:13:49.250 --> 00:13:51.370 And as the death march is happening, what we're 00:13:51.370 --> 00:13:56.990 told by that is that he has died recently and 00:13:56.990 --> 00:14:01.509 now has to be buried by sundown. So this is fresh. 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:04.570 This is not something where they've waited a 00:14:04.570 --> 00:14:06.669 certain amount of time and that time has passed. 00:14:06.889 --> 00:14:09.690 This is, it has happened and she is in the moment 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:15.730 of the pain. And all of those things are crashing 00:14:15.730 --> 00:14:21.990 down on her in this moment. That she is now feeling 00:14:21.990 --> 00:14:24.649 hopeless, right? You ever go to the town as you're 00:14:24.649 --> 00:14:26.570 driving to California, it's called Hope and you 00:14:26.570 --> 00:14:27.970 get to the other side and they go, you're beyond 00:14:27.970 --> 00:14:32.870 hope, right? She's hit the point where she's 00:14:32.870 --> 00:14:43.009 now beyond, beyond hope. Like why this widow? 00:14:43.230 --> 00:14:45.990 Because there's so much here that we can connect 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:50.129 to. The financial struggle that she now enters 00:14:50.129 --> 00:14:54.389 or has been thrust into. The lack of future. 00:14:55.950 --> 00:14:59.070 The loss of social, the loss of relationships, 00:14:59.190 --> 00:15:07.289 the loss of, And I think, I think we're supposed 00:15:07.289 --> 00:15:13.210 to let us, let ourselves feel what this lady 00:15:13.210 --> 00:15:16.610 is feeling to understand the story. I think sometimes 00:15:16.610 --> 00:15:18.370 we gloss over and we go, well, she's the only 00:15:18.370 --> 00:15:21.610 son, widow, okay. But I think we're supposed 00:15:21.610 --> 00:15:23.509 to slow down and go, no, this is a mom that has 00:15:23.509 --> 00:15:27.970 lost everything. And it's in that context, it's 00:15:27.970 --> 00:15:32.320 in that context. That it says, and a large crowd 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.399 from the town was with her. What the large crowd 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:37.220 from the town that was with her, what that's 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:40.639 doing is it's actually emphasizing their pity 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.620 towards her. Now, there was a time in this culture, 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.620 it was you could hire mourners like it was. You 00:15:47.620 --> 00:15:49.399 went out and you hired a group of people to mourn 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:50.940 with you for a certain amount of time because 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:53.279 that was appropriate. This is not who that is. 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:54.779 They don't believe that this was a group that 00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:57.519 was paid. This is a group that has such sorrow 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.059 because they feel her pain that they are walking 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:02.000 with her. But look what they're following. They're 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:07.590 following death itself. It's a death march. It 00:16:07.590 --> 00:16:10.590 is everything that death represents. And when 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:13.970 we talk about what's happening around us, when 00:16:13.970 --> 00:16:16.610 we talk about death in our lives, this is what 00:16:16.610 --> 00:16:20.429 death wants to produce. Hopelessness, loss. It 00:16:20.429 --> 00:16:23.330 wants to put us in a place where we don't know 00:16:23.330 --> 00:16:27.710 how we make it through. And it's in that context 00:16:27.710 --> 00:16:30.990 that there's a crowd who are following death 00:16:30.990 --> 00:16:40.399 along. Verse 13. When the Lord saw her, when 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:45.080 Jesus saw her, his heart went out to her and 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:51.620 he said, don't cry. When the death march is going 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:55.159 and they're coming out of the town and on the 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:59.519 other side, Jesus is coming, life is coming to 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:04.119 meet death head on. As life comes, Jesus sees 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:07.900 her. And when we say this a lot, but you guys, 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:12.180 we can't say it enough, that Jesus sees you today. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:16.160 That whatever it is that you're sitting inside 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.559 of, whatever questions, whatever struggles, whatever 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:22.220 hurt, whatever pain, that Jesus, Jesus here in 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:26.599 Prescott, Jesus in this moment sees you and sees 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:32.779 where you are within your pain. That's also true 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:35.349 of Baghdad. That's also true of Paulding. That's 00:17:35.349 --> 00:17:40.750 also true of the 930 gathering here. Jesus sees 00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:46.869 you. You're not lost to him. He's got eyes on 00:17:46.869 --> 00:17:52.670 you today. But notice, Jesus sees her, verse 00:17:52.670 --> 00:17:55.150 13, when the Lord saw her, when Jesus sees her, 00:17:55.210 --> 00:18:00.420 his heart went out to her. Now I've sat in counseling 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:02.819 enough, there's a question I absolutely cannot 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:04.960 stand. I love it and I hate it all at the same 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.000 time, if that's possible. I like it and dislike 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:10.200 it instantly. And as I'm sitting in counseling, 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.440 and at some point she goes, could you show me 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:18.039 physically where you feel that? And I'm like, 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:23.039 ah, there's the right answer. Because that's 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:27.980 my performer in me. And inevitably, I'll show 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.900 her where I feel the pain of the thing we're 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:36.140 talking about. And she goes and connects all 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:40.079 the dots for me of why that spot is where I would 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:45.660 feel it. Jesus, it says, his heart went out. 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:47.900 If we could ask Jesus, Jesus, where do you feel 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:50.460 the pain? You see this lady, where do you feel 00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:54.440 the pain? He would say, he would point to, he 00:18:54.440 --> 00:18:57.720 put his hand on his gut. Because the word here 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:00.180 is in his gut, in his bowels, in the deepest 00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:04.200 part of who he is. He feels this lady's pain. 00:19:05.180 --> 00:19:09.119 He sees her and he feels her pain. And then notice 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:12.980 what he says. Don't cry. Now that sounds completely 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:16.000 tone deaf to me. I'll be honest with you. She's 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.359 got fresh grief coming out. She's lost everything. 00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:23.460 And Jesus goes, don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:27.839 That would be completely tone deaf if not for 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:32.000 what happens next. Then he went up and touched 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.079 the buyer. They were carrying him on and the 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.740 bearers stood still. He said, young man, I say 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:41.980 to you, get up. He went up. He went up. Notice 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:46.500 what Jesus does. He went up. Jesus enters. Jesus 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:53.420 enters the pain. He sees and he feels. And when 00:19:53.420 --> 00:19:57.279 he feels it, he doesn't just go, don't cry. Come 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.200 on, boys. It's a little late. Let's go to Chick 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.059 -fil -A. It's closed on Sunday. Go somewhere 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:06.480 else. He doesn't have something where he goes 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:12.819 and he sees and he moves. He enters into. Why? 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.799 Because Jesus is in the pain with you today. 00:20:15.539 --> 00:20:19.859 Jesus is in the pain. This is theologically. 00:20:20.569 --> 00:20:22.730 Really important that we grasp that Jesus is 00:20:22.730 --> 00:20:26.049 in the midst of your pain. God himself is in 00:20:26.049 --> 00:20:28.269 the midst. He's not moving away from your pain. 00:20:28.410 --> 00:20:31.869 He's moving into your pain. Sometimes we think 00:20:31.869 --> 00:20:34.109 God's back here like a puppet master and he's 00:20:34.109 --> 00:20:36.569 the one causing the pain. God does not cause 00:20:36.569 --> 00:20:41.430 pain. He uses pain. How? By stepping into the 00:20:41.430 --> 00:20:43.829 pain with you and walking with you in the midst 00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:47.450 of the pain. And in the midst of the pain, look 00:20:47.450 --> 00:20:52.549 what he does. Verse 14, then he went up and touched 00:20:52.549 --> 00:20:54.109 the buyer. Now, if you were here a couple of 00:20:54.109 --> 00:20:56.049 weeks ago, you know where I'm going because we 00:20:56.049 --> 00:20:57.829 had a story about a leper. If you remember the 00:20:57.829 --> 00:20:59.650 story about the leper, he touches the leper and 00:20:59.650 --> 00:21:01.750 leprosy should have got on him, but it doesn't 00:21:01.750 --> 00:21:03.609 because he reverses it, right? Like it's this 00:21:03.609 --> 00:21:07.289 whole Jesus thing. And he touches something that's 00:21:07.289 --> 00:21:10.289 completely unclean. The buyer would have been 00:21:10.289 --> 00:21:12.670 like, if you've ever watched soccer, this is 00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:14.589 the best picture I got for you, okay? If you 00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:16.940 ever watched soccer. Player goes down and he's 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:18.599 actually hurt. Not the ones that roll around 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:20.680 for five minutes. Those guys, you know, we all 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.500 hate those guys just so you know, right? This 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:26.200 guy's actually hurt. He broke his leg. Four guys 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:29.599 come on with a little drop it. He gets on. They 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.779 carry him out, right? That's the same idea as 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:33.579 what's happening here. There's four poles. There's 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:36.140 two poles. And in the midst of those poles, there's 00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:38.099 four people carrying it. And it's kind of like 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:40.019 a hammock in the middle. And they're carrying 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.599 him along. The dead body is on it, which means 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:48.079 that this, this. buyer that he's on is now unclean 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.099 to touch. And what does Jesus do? He touches 00:21:51.099 --> 00:21:59.339 it. He touches it. He's now scared of what death 00:21:59.339 --> 00:22:03.640 can do. And notice what happens, you guys. The 00:22:03.640 --> 00:22:07.299 death march, when Jesus enters, the death march 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:13.180 stops. It says, touch the buyer. They were carrying 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:18.779 him on and the bearers stood still. They stopped. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.779 The whole entire death march stops. Why? Because 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:25.259 Jesus entered it. And when he touches it, he 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:30.339 then says, young man, I say to you, get up. Young 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:32.359 man, can you imagine that moment for that guy? 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:35.319 It says next verse, verse 15, the dead man sat 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:40.000 up and began to talk. What was that like? I mean. 00:22:40.460 --> 00:22:41.700 We can imagine what it was like for everybody 00:22:41.700 --> 00:22:45.279 else. What was it like for him? Because more 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:46.980 than likely, they've wrapped his body at this 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:49.740 point. They've washed him, wrapped his body, 00:22:49.779 --> 00:22:51.339 and laid him on there, and they're taking him. 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:53.720 The grave's been dug, by the way. The grave is 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.000 there, and Jesus robs the grave. Why? Because 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.339 Jesus is a grave robber. Just so you know, Jesus 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:01.339 is a grave robber. Next tattoo, that's what you 00:23:01.339 --> 00:23:04.480 can get. Jesus is a grave robber, right? Because 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:07.019 the grave is dug. He's on the way to the grave. 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.819 Jesus stops, and he robs the grave. Because that's 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:13.480 who Jesus is. The point of this whole summer 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:17.319 is that you would see who Jesus is. The reason 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:19.440 we're spending time in these stories is that 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.900 you would see Jesus for who he is and experience 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:25.819 him for who he is. This moment that is helpless 00:23:25.819 --> 00:23:30.140 and hopeless, this boy, can you imagine? He's 00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:33.619 wrapped. He sits up. He's like trying to pull 00:23:33.619 --> 00:23:40.660 it apart to look around. He's probably like, 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:46.519 how'd I get here? Why are we doing this? He sat 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:49.440 up and he talked. They were saying in commentaries, 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:51.720 that's proof of the miracle. Why did he include 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:53.880 he sat up and he talked? Because it's proof of 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:57.220 the miracle. The miracle has happened. I want 00:23:57.220 --> 00:23:59.079 you to catch something. Because up to this point 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:01.380 in the book of Luke, you got guys that rip open 00:24:01.380 --> 00:24:03.880 this roof and they lower people down inside, 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:06.359 right? You've got that that happened. It goes, 00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:09.220 when Jesus saw their faith, right? You got the 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:11.359 man, the centurion, the story before him. What 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.460 does he say? He has such great faith. I haven't 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:16.380 seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. There's 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:20.440 no mention of faith in this story. There's no 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:23.019 one. It's not that he comes along and he sees 00:24:23.019 --> 00:24:27.210 the mama and he goes, oh man, her faith. It's 00:24:27.210 --> 00:24:29.549 so great. Even through the tears, I'm going to 00:24:29.549 --> 00:24:32.450 go. And he doesn't say that. It says that Jesus 00:24:32.450 --> 00:24:37.250 saw her, felt her pain, moved into the pain and 00:24:37.250 --> 00:24:43.230 created a miracle. He did it void of faith. This 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:45.009 is really important because we got some things 00:24:45.009 --> 00:24:48.230 where we begin to project to one another. If 00:24:48.230 --> 00:24:53.369 you just had enough faith, that's not what's 00:24:53.369 --> 00:24:57.359 in this story. What is in this story is Jesus 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.700 is who Jesus is. And Jesus enters into it void 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:02.819 of whether there's faith or not. Why? Because 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:05.259 he's going to be who he is. And who is he? He 00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:08.099 is a grave robber. And he's going to raise the 00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:15.359 dead to life. And sometimes, sometimes we, we, 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:20.460 we want to project that it was someone's faith 00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:23.660 in the story is why this happened. That is not 00:25:23.660 --> 00:25:28.319 what the story says. Jesus was being Jesus. And 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:30.920 notice what he does at the end of verse 15. Jesus 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:42.000 gave him back to his mama. That's beautiful. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:49.819 That's amazing. That's who Jesus is. Jesus restores 00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:53.849 the things that are dead. That's who he is. That's 00:25:53.849 --> 00:25:58.069 his whole plan. Why this widow? Because it was 00:25:58.069 --> 00:26:02.130 hopeless. She had no hope of restoration until 00:26:02.130 --> 00:26:06.329 Jesus. Why this widow? Because this widow had 00:26:06.329 --> 00:26:09.650 reached a point of complete loss. And what does 00:26:09.650 --> 00:26:13.049 Jesus do? As death is marching in all of its 00:26:13.049 --> 00:26:15.769 power and all of it, Jesus maneuvers through 00:26:15.769 --> 00:26:17.990 death. Why? Because he feels the pain. He goes, 00:26:18.049 --> 00:26:19.930 he touches, he raises the dead. Why? Because 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:22.089 Jesus is a grave robber. He turns graves into 00:26:22.089 --> 00:26:26.809 gardens. That's what he does. I mean, you want 00:26:26.809 --> 00:26:29.150 to talk about a king that's worth hailing, it's 00:26:29.150 --> 00:26:33.910 Jesus. But I got a question for you because I 00:26:33.910 --> 00:26:35.869 believe that scripture is also supposed to read 00:26:35.869 --> 00:26:38.910 us. I believe we're supposed to feel it and it's 00:26:38.910 --> 00:26:40.589 supposed to read us and we're supposed to find 00:26:40.589 --> 00:26:44.150 ourselves within it, right? That's how these 00:26:44.150 --> 00:26:47.480 stories come to life in our life. And so I got 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:50.960 a question for you. Which character in this story 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:59.059 are you? Which character are you? And what I 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:02.900 mean by that is this. There's groups of people 00:27:02.900 --> 00:27:06.940 in here. Like clearly you're not Jesus, just 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:09.099 so we're clear. Jesus is Jesus in the story. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:14.640 Let's just set that one aside. But there's a 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:20.369 crowd. With Jesus. There's a crowd with Jesus, 00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:25.410 and then there are disciples, it says. And the 00:27:25.410 --> 00:27:29.289 crowd with Jesus are there because they're just 00:27:29.289 --> 00:27:31.410 looking on. They got FOMO. They don't want to 00:27:31.410 --> 00:27:33.349 miss out. It's a good place to be. It makes me 00:27:33.349 --> 00:27:39.049 feel good. I like to see him do this. I just 00:27:39.049 --> 00:27:48.180 wonder, are you on that outer crowd today? That 00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:51.000 you're just following Jesus, but it's from a 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:56.099 distance. It doesn't cost you anything. Can I 00:27:56.099 --> 00:27:58.640 just kind of, I'm going to be honest because 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:02.940 I'm honest anyways. You guys, if your faith doesn't 00:28:02.940 --> 00:28:06.660 cost you anything, you're doing it wrong. If 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:08.460 it doesn't cost you something because it said 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:10.539 to be a disciple of Jesus, it was going to cost 00:28:10.539 --> 00:28:14.019 you. Pick up your cross and follow me. That does 00:28:14.019 --> 00:28:18.730 not sound like it's cheap. And there's some of 00:28:18.730 --> 00:28:21.170 us, we're just in the crowd. We're just hanging 00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:25.450 out. I got FOMO. I don't want to miss what they 00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:27.210 do today because somebody might ask me about 00:28:27.210 --> 00:28:31.150 it. Then you got those, the disciples, they'd 00:28:31.150 --> 00:28:33.069 left everything and they're following them. They're 00:28:33.069 --> 00:28:38.410 in. But on the other side, you have a death march. 00:28:41.170 --> 00:28:43.470 But you realize a death march also had a crowd. 00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:49.259 There are some of you that are following the 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:54.359 march of death to your death. What do I mean 00:28:54.359 --> 00:29:00.819 by that? You're enjoying all of the things that 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:05.859 go wrong with having fun as the world calls fun, 00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:09.460 right? All the ways of enticing and all the things 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:11.960 that the enemy loves to do and all the ways that 00:29:11.960 --> 00:29:14.740 he loves to make things shiny for us and really 00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:18.119 they're leading us to death. Death has a crowd 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:20.519 and you may be in it. You may be following things 00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:23.019 that promise life, but they're actually bringing 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:34.299 death. I mean, maybe you're the mom today. And 00:29:34.299 --> 00:29:35.819 you walk through the door and you're like, man, 00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:38.720 I am at complete loss and it is hopeless today. 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:53.220 Life just hurts. The pain is overwhelming. I 00:29:53.220 --> 00:30:03.220 need restoration. I need some kind of hope. And 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:06.339 what I love is here comes Jesus. If that's you, 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:09.380 here comes Jesus. The Jesus who is in your pain. 00:30:11.099 --> 00:30:19.119 The Jesus who meets you there. The Jesus who 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:27.119 is for you. You may be one of the people who 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:32.579 are holding the buyer. You're carrying death 00:30:32.579 --> 00:30:35.720 for others. You're carrying others pain. You're 00:30:35.720 --> 00:30:37.640 carrying, you've got those in your life and you're 00:30:37.640 --> 00:30:40.000 carrying their, and you're in the midst of the 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.599 march carrying the pain and you're tired and 00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:46.000 it's heavy. And it's making you unclean and it's 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:48.240 hard and it's difficult. And you just need to 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.700 know, you just need to know that if that's you, 00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:53.740 if that's you, just own it. That's where I'm 00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:56.539 at. I'm tired. And I want to be honest with God 00:30:56.539 --> 00:31:03.740 with where I'm at. There's also the son. And 00:31:03.740 --> 00:31:05.900 you may be the son today that you need Jesus 00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:11.700 to look at you and go, get up, get up. I came 00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:14.700 to give you life. I came to rob. Get up. I came 00:31:14.700 --> 00:31:20.539 to turn your grave into a garden. Get up. But 00:31:20.539 --> 00:31:22.980 what it all begins with, whatever character you 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:27.079 find yourself in, and I'm going to be, I'll tell 00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:34.099 you something in a second. As this death march 00:31:34.099 --> 00:31:40.680 is happening, what changes the death march? is 00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:44.799 King Jesus. There's nobody else in the story 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:46.640 that changes the death march. The death march 00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:52.160 has to stop when it meets who? Jesus. This moment 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:55.759 has to change when it comes face to face with 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:58.420 life. And whatever you're in today, the beginning 00:31:58.420 --> 00:32:01.259 point is that we just recognize this is where 00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:05.319 I'm at, God. There may be a group of you that 00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:09.400 it's okay. You're in the disciple crowd and you're 00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:11.380 seeing the miracles and you're seeing the graves 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:14.200 being robbed and you get to celebrate today. 00:32:16.339 --> 00:32:19.160 You get to declare all hail this King Jesus. 00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:24.640 And you get to tell stories of how he's transforming. 00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:28.200 But you may also be on the other side and you're 00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:30.619 like, John, I am in the midst of the struggle. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.119 then I want to encourage you. We're going to 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:34.559 worship, and the reason we're going to worship 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:38.819 is because what happens is you get to declare 00:32:38.819 --> 00:32:41.980 for yourself in the midst of your pain things 00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:46.519 that are true. You get to sit and let the words 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:49.640 wash over the moment that you're in. You get 00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:52.980 to use your voice to declare, this is where I'm 00:32:52.980 --> 00:32:55.619 at, but this is also true, that even in the pain, 00:32:55.700 --> 00:32:58.380 he's still king. Even in the pain, he's still 00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:00.339 a grave robber. Even in the pain, he changes 00:33:00.339 --> 00:33:03.619 graves into gardens. Even in the pain, we'll 00:33:03.619 --> 00:33:09.579 say all hail King Jesus. I just feel like I have 00:33:09.579 --> 00:33:12.440 to say something. We have a habit as a church 00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:16.759 is we just leave early. And I'm not throwing 00:33:16.759 --> 00:33:20.420 shade on anybody. But we're going to sing a little 00:33:20.420 --> 00:33:21.640 bit and I'm going to come back and I'm going 00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:23.259 to wrap this thing up and we're going to sing 00:33:23.259 --> 00:33:26.119 one more time. Please don't miss it. Because 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:27.779 I think God's got something for you to experience. 00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:32.740 God's got something for you today. Where you 00:33:32.740 --> 00:33:34.839 are, he wants to speak. And so if you would stand 00:33:34.839 --> 00:33:37.960 in song, we're going to let God speak to us. 00:33:37.980 --> 00:33:40.059 The Holy Spirit speak in this moment and work 00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:44.799 right where we are and work it out for us. So 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:48.980 we answered the question, why this widow? But 00:33:48.980 --> 00:33:54.890 why this town? We've seen Jesus who is. Present 00:33:54.890 --> 00:33:59.710 in pain. The Jesus who stops the death march 00:33:59.710 --> 00:34:05.150 in its tracks. The Jesus who is in it void of 00:34:05.150 --> 00:34:11.030 whether I have enough faith or not. The Jesus 00:34:11.030 --> 00:34:15.469 who robs the grave. But why this town? Why did 00:34:15.469 --> 00:34:20.010 he choose to do it here? And sitting on that 00:34:20.010 --> 00:34:25.460 question, the town itself, is roughly about 25 00:34:25.460 --> 00:34:28.900 miles from the last story we had. So it's about 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:32.320 a day's journey. But it's kind of out of the 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:36.760 way. And so to go there would have been an intentional, 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:41.860 this place matters. And the town itself was built 00:34:41.860 --> 00:34:46.039 into a hillside. And as it was built into a hillside, 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:48.239 they put a wall all the way around it so that 00:34:48.239 --> 00:34:50.679 when it says there's a gate, there was only one 00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:57.260 way in. and one way out of this gate. And the 00:34:57.260 --> 00:35:00.940 picture we're given is from the village, the 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:07.079 town of Nain, where the word Nain in the Hebrew, 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.780 transliterated, means beautiful, delightful, 00:35:10.940 --> 00:35:15.980 and pleasant. That this place that is named after 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:18.519 beautiful, what is beautiful, what is delightful, 00:35:18.619 --> 00:35:22.340 and what is pleasant, What is coming out of it 00:35:22.340 --> 00:35:27.659 is death. What should have been beautiful is 00:35:27.659 --> 00:35:33.739 producing death. And what you have meeting it 00:35:33.739 --> 00:35:37.420 on the other side is life itself. And there is 00:35:37.420 --> 00:35:44.539 one way in and one way out. Did you get the picture 00:35:44.539 --> 00:35:49.929 yet? Planet Earth. That God goes, it is very, 00:35:50.110 --> 00:35:54.489 very, very good. It's very good. What's been 00:35:54.489 --> 00:35:57.409 created is beautiful. It is pleasant. It is delightful. 00:35:58.969 --> 00:36:04.070 And what's coming out of planet Earth? Death. 00:36:05.190 --> 00:36:11.510 Pain, struggle, hurt. This place is nuts. And 00:36:11.510 --> 00:36:14.429 the picture we're given is there's one way out. 00:36:16.289 --> 00:36:22.199 And it's death. And there's one way in and you're 00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:26.460 born. And what does God do? He goes, I'm going 00:36:26.460 --> 00:36:30.960 to be born into what is beautiful. I'm going 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:34.059 to show up into what is beautiful and I am going 00:36:34.059 --> 00:36:39.320 to stop the march of death. Once and for all, 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:43.019 I'm going to show up and I'm going to stop the 00:36:43.019 --> 00:36:47.820 march of death. Why? Because I am just that good. 00:36:51.630 --> 00:36:54.590 And the picture that's captured, I don't know 00:36:54.590 --> 00:36:56.369 about you, but there's so many moments in my 00:36:56.369 --> 00:36:59.369 life. One happened on Friday in my backyard. 00:37:01.250 --> 00:37:05.690 My mouth is running towards my wife. And I know 00:37:05.690 --> 00:37:07.789 I shouldn't be saying what I'm saying and I can't 00:37:07.789 --> 00:37:11.409 stop it. Why? Because what should be beautiful, 00:37:11.449 --> 00:37:14.210 this thing of marriage, that is a picture of 00:37:14.210 --> 00:37:17.670 Jesus and his church. What's coming out is death. 00:37:18.139 --> 00:37:20.679 But I am so thankful to know that I have a savior 00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:24.119 who is Jesus, who is restoring. Remember the 00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:27.159 purpose of the story is that the boy is brought 00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:32.320 back to who? His mother. There's relational restoration 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:36.139 that is happening. Why? Because he is just that 00:37:36.139 --> 00:37:40.360 good. There is restoration of life that is happening 00:37:40.360 --> 00:37:43.320 in your life today. Why? Because he's just that 00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:46.500 good. And I can't think of any better way to 00:37:46.500 --> 00:37:49.300 finish. A story about Jesus who is in our pain. 00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:51.800 A story about Jesus who is going to do it whether 00:37:51.800 --> 00:37:54.139 we have faith or not. A story about Jesus who 00:37:54.139 --> 00:37:58.980 showed up the one way he could, born on this 00:37:58.980 --> 00:38:01.980 earth to be a savior to us. So if you would stand 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:05.260 where you are, we are going to party as we leave 00:38:05.260 --> 00:38:08.300 the place, okay? Because he's just that good.