WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.959 Richmond campus, happy resurrection Sunday. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:04.559 Are you guys doing okay? 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.000 Forget you guys, Missouri City campus. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:11.679 Happy Easter. 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:12.880 Are you guys doing okay? 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:14.560 I'm sure they're going crazy over there. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.160 Everybody at West End, we want to welcome you uh as well. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:22.640 Everyone watching with us online this weekend, we're so grateful that you get to be with us. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:28.559 And at every campus, come on, let's go crazy for all of the amazing men at our God Behind Bars campus. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.000 All you men at the Rams unit worshiping with us, you know how much we love you, gentlemen. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:37.359 Want to wish you a happy uh Resurrection Sunday. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:47.439 Uh to everybody at the Richmond campus specifically that is outside or in the lobby, uh, we've got overflow in one of our other auditoriums. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.679 It's a bit crazy, you know, uh, and what a good problem to have, man. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:59.679 Everybody, and I'm sure at the other campuses do too, but I can tell you at Richmond, everybody's looking incredibly beautiful, suave, dapper, beautiful. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:09.040 Uh, I was watching a bunch of you guys walk in, man, and I love watching everybody getting all dressed up because we have such an incredible reason uh to celebrate. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:10.640 Uh the tomb is empty. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:11.920 He has risen. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:18.079 Uh, the implications of that are beyond even our uh own human understanding. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:25.280 I know at every campus we've already welcomed the so many visitors that we have with us, but I'm gonna say it again on behalf of our team. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:34.079 I am so incredibly honored that you guys are visiting with us this weekend, and we just want to say thank you and hope you have an incredible experience. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:39.280 Uh, it is really important if you're a visitor with us that you know this, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:42.079 We don't want anything from you. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:45.760 But I will say this: we want so much for you. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:57.920 I know we don't know each other, you don't know me, I don't know you, but we have been praying hard for you this whole week that when you step foot at any one of our campuses, that you would feel and experience something that's different than the rest of this world. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:02.159 And it's not us, it's not church, it's not any of the stuff that we do here. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.400 It is the power of God who is just welcoming you. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:22.240 And I believe that if you will lean in in these next few moments as we talk about one of the most beautiful things that we have been given through Jesus, which is this thing called hope, I promise you you're gonna walk out of the doors of your campus better than you uh walked in. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:34.479 This is uh probably almost my 20th year of talking about Easter in some form or fashion, taking the old, ancient, yet very real story and uh looking at it from another angle. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:40.479 And no matter what we talk about or how we go about talking about Easter, uh what I have to do is this every year. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:41.840 I have to do two things. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.680 Number one, we have to talk about the eternal implications of Jesus rising from the dead. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:51.840 And we're gonna do that, but we're gonna circle back to that because you always save the best for what? 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.360 You save the best for last. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.960 But we also have to talk about the immediate implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:00.080 That matters so much. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:05.840 Like, what's that mean to us right here, not someday, but right here and right now? 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:09.120 And to do that, I'm gonna start with a little bit of confession time. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:22.879 Uh I don't know if you're like me or not, you may be a better human than me, but um every now and then I find myself saying this, usually in my mind, sometimes unfortunately out loud, and it's usually with the people I actually love the most. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:24.400 I find myself saying this. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:25.599 Maybe you've said it before. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:27.680 I say, man, I love them. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.080 But I don't like them at all right now. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:31.439 You ever been there? 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:33.520 Come on, married people, you've been there. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:34.719 Don't act like you haven't. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.159 We're in church, be honest. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:38.319 Parents of teenagers, be honest. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:40.400 We've all been, I love them so much. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:41.919 I would literally die for them. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.479 They're the best thing that's ever happened to me, but I do not like them right now. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.639 We've all probably said it, and if you haven't, we've all felt it. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:04:01.039 And the reason I bring that up is because um we're gonna look at a passage of scripture today that I would categorize in the category of I love this, but I don't like it. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.039 It's kind of like with my wife. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:26.480 I was coming home from work uh earlier this week, and I had put in a hard, honest day of work like many of you, and I just wanted to get home to the haven with the people you love most, kick off my shoes and enjoy the rest of the evening, and that was uh squandered pretty quickly because when I got out of my car and was walking up the porch, I saw not one, not two, but three packages from Amazon. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:30.560 And I know we use this word too much, but I was triggered, man. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:31.920 I was not feeling it. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:39.600 And then the top two said this on them, and I don't know if I'm saying it right, it said Sephora, and I just started feeling my blood getting angry. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:45.360 I'm like, my whole day of work probably just paid for my wife and daughter's facial regime, whatever that's going on. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:46.879 I'm not happy about it. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.560 And I was thinking in my mind that very moment, God, you know I love that woman. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:54.720 She is the absolute best gift apart from you that I have received in this lifetime. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:58.800 I can't wait to grow old with my wife, but I do not like her right now. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:00.160 You know what I'm saying? 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.160 It's one of those moments. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:08.560 And I'm about to read you a verse from Romans chapter 8, verse 11, and I would categorize this. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.720 We're gonna build from this all day. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.360 It's a beautiful passage of scripture. 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:18.000 One small sentence has massive implications for our lives. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.519 And I would categorize this verse as I absolutely love this verse. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.279 It fires me up, it motivates me, it inspires me, it challenges me. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.920 But also, there's many times in life when I would equally say, but I don't like this verse. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:37.040 And here it is, Romans chapter 8, verse 11, it says this the same spirit that what raised Christ from the dead. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.120 Now let's stop there for a minute. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:45.199 Can we agree that is a powerful spirit of miraculous proportions? 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:58.959 When the Spirit of God has the power to literally put breath back into the lungs of someone who has lay dead for the last 72 hours, to reawaken the organs, to get the blood flowing again through the veins. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:04.000 And it says this the same spirit that did that, that raised Christ from the dead. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:05.199 You ready for this? 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:06.800 Now lives in you. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:08.240 Wow. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:10.319 Now lives in you. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.360 That same resurrection power, it says, now lives in you. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:22.959 Let me tell you why I love that verse, because we humans, we just we love uh statements of possibility. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:28.240 Who doesn't love to be told there is so much more potential in you than you think? 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.319 It helps get up uh get us out of bed in the morning, does it not? 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.279 It gets me fired up as a competitor in life. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:35.759 I love it. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:36.879 I'm like, man, there's more. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.480 I haven't even like Chad, you don't have to play small today. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:49.439 Chad, you can wake up today again and you can believe for big things because the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is now dwelling in you. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:51.439 And so, like you, I love that. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.639 But let me tell you why sometimes I go, but I don't like that verse. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:55.839 And here's why. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:58.160 Because sometimes life starts lifing. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:06:59.759 Can I get an amen? 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.720 Sometimes life's telling me what to do instead of me telling it what to do. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.319 Sometimes, like my children, life starts acting up. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.800 And I love life, but man, I do not like it right now. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:26.240 And here's what I start dealing with mind game-wise during seasons of difficulty, during seasons of what the Bible calls trials, tribulations, difficulties, troubles, even the big S word, suffering. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:28.160 Here's what I start to think. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.759 Maybe that's not true. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:34.399 But I've done this Jesus thing long enough to fully reject that mind game. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.439 I stand on the word of God, I stand on the promises of God. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.040 I know it's true, I've tasted it, I've experienced it at different times in my life. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:41.920 So I reject that. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.680 But do you know what the one that gets me even more? 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:44.720 Maybe you two? 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:46.000 It's this. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:50.480 Well, I'm probably just not living a life worthy of that kind of resurrection power. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.160 So that must not be for me. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:55.680 That must be for one of those saints that have done it a lot better than me. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:59.279 But I've done this a while again, and I reject that as well. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:00.079 You know why? 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:01.920 Because there's condemnation in that. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:16.480 And a few verses earlier in Romans 8, the same writer said, Therefore, now there is no condemnation if you've put your faith in Christ Jesus, because Christ Jesus has set us free from the law that came with sin and death that came with sin. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.160 We've been set free from that. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.839 So I reject that as well. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.560 And the third option that I have come to anchor myself in is simply this. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:31.519 No matter what I am going to go through in life, no matter what you are going to go through in life, here is the truth. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.840 God does not absolve us from all difficulty because we put our faith in him. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:42.000 God doesn't get us out of all of the troubles we sometimes create for ourselves and others because we've put our faith in him. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:47.360 God is explicitly honest with us throughout his word and history. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:48.720 Jesus said it best. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:50.799 He said, In this world you will what? 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:51.840 You will have trouble. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:53.840 I'm so grateful he said that. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:59.360 He says, but be of good cheer, because I've overcome the world. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:06.159 In other words, be of good cheer because the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is going to see you through this season. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.799 Some of us walked in here and life is going amazing, and we celebrate that with you. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:11.679 We're grateful. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:14.240 We rejoice with you, enjoy it. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:24.559 But a bunch of us today, just by the sheer numbers, you come in here, and this is one of the chapters being written in the book of your life that you say I could do without this chapter. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:37.120 And this is the beauty and the power of the empty tomb, is that it brings with us, the with it, this powerful force, this fuel to the human soul and spirit, which we call hope. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:43.519 Easter is a weekend of hope where we re-up on it and we remember it. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.080 And so I want to do this for a few minutes. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:51.279 I, since this is year 20 into preaching about Easter, start running out of material. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:52.799 You know what I'm talking about? 00:09:53.120 --> 00:10:00.480 And so I'm gonna tell the same precious story over, but I'm gonna go to a place you wouldn't normally in the Bible associate with the Easter story. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.639 It's this book, many of you might not even know that it was in the Bible or where it's in the Bible. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.480 It's this book called Lamentations. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:13.120 And it's titled Lamentations precisely because it's a guy lamenting about how difficult life has gotten. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:23.519 But when you really start to get into what he is saying, you start to realize in this small, obscure book, he's actually giving us a masterclass on what hope is. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:29.679 And he's equally and importantly giving us a masterclass on what hope isn't. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:39.759 Because to fully understand what true hope is, you also have to understand the false definitions that we as a world and we as a culture have putting on this idea of hope. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.960 And so I'm gonna start by talking about what hope isn't. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.679 And I learned this from the guy who wrote this book. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.000 His name is this uh Jeremiah. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:52.639 He's one of the great prophets who helped tell the story of God in ancient times. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:55.759 He's famously referred to as the weeping prophet. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:01.679 Because if you think life's hard, I challenge you to read his life, and you might feel a little bit better. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.000 You'll at least feel seen and heard. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:23.600 And in chapter three, where we're gonna start reading in a few minutes, before we get there, the first 18 verses is this it is Jeremiah just pouring out his heart to God, and he is being brutally honest, and he is pulling no punches, and he is unashamedly telling God what's up and what is going on. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:30.720 Jeremiah had been asked by God as a prophet to speak to the nation of Israel when they were at one of their heights of rebellion. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.919 And so he didn't have a fun message to give. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.200 They weren't leaning in like you guys are. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.279 They rejected his message. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:49.679 He lost his friends, he lost his family, he had to be in hiding and on the run because not his enemies, his own people wanted to kill him for the message he gave on behalf of God. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:58.799 He goes on in the first 18 verses to say, because of that season of life, his body had also caught up to that stress, and he had become very physically ill. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:04.879 And he's talking honestly before God, going, I don't get this, I don't like this, I want to quit, I want to give up. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:11.440 There's some points in the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations where he's alluding to just wanting to die and be done with it. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:19.360 And what we learn in those first 18 verses before we get to the really beautiful news is what hope isn't. 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:26.159 So I just want to give you a few thoughts about what hope isn't so we can be very clear about what true hope really is. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:32.159 And the first thing is this hope is not simply blind optimism or wishful thinking. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:36.080 Hope is not just a principle to live by. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:40.799 Hope is definitely way more than an emotion or a feeling. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:52.320 Hope in its purest form is a person and it has a face and it has a name and it has scars in his hands and scars in his feet. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.639 Hope is not closing your eyes and wishing for a better future. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:06.960 Hope is anchoring yourself to the one who did the ultimate for you and said the reason he was compelled to do it is because nobody on planet earth can love you the way he loved you. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:15.279 He would say, a greater man has no one than this, that when someone lays down their life for their friend, and this is what Jesus has done. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.080 Jesus is our hope. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:23.279 Hope has a name, hope has scars, hope has a face. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:24.960 Number two is this, this is huge. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:26.639 Jeremiah teaches us this. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.320 Hope, true hope, is not dismissing reality. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:35.519 Go back this week and read the first 18 verses of Lamentations chapter 3. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:40.799 Jeremiah is so boldly saying everything that's on his mind before the Lord. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:49.759 And if you didn't know this about God, let me be the first one to tell you you have been given full precedent and permission to be brutally honest before God. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.159 See, God knew the end from the beginning. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.480 Not one of your days is a shock to him. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:14:03.120 Your seasons of difficulty and struggling and sometimes even suffering, that is not in any way, shape, or form a shock to God. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:10.879 And see, the human soul and spirit only has a certain capacity to hold things. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:21.200 And so if you don't feel permission with God to get it all out, there's no room left for it to be replaced with what can move you forward in this life. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:22.320 Hope. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:34.080 And so hope isn't just a denial of reality, instead, it's letting Jesus Christ lead you and guide you through every single one of those difficult realities. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:39.360 Third thing is this hope is not a get out of jail free card. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:41.679 And here's why I say that. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:51.120 The Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3, he starts talking Easter language and he says this, listen to this, he says, I want to know Christ. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.799 And I say, Me too, Paul. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:53.600 And he repeats it. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.200 He goes, Yeah, I want to know Christ. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:59.279 But then he says this, he goes, and I want to know the power of his resurrection. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.279 And I'm feeling it, I'm going, me too, Paul. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:01.759 Who doesn't? 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:04.960 The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, I've been told now lives in me. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:05.840 Let's go. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.240 The problem though is Paul keeps writing. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:12.960 And he says this, but I also want to share in his sufferings. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.799 And then he says, so as to attain to the fullness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.279 Resurrection, by its very definition, means this. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.799 It has to be preceded first by death. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:28.559 Difficulty. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:30.960 Jesus said, Some of the sufferings. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:39.279 If you're my disciple, if you're my follower, you're gonna share to some degree in some of the same things that you saw and witness me go through. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.200 Of course I want to share in the resurrection power. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:51.840 But you can't have resurrection power unless it's preceded by something incredibly difficult, which Jesus told us we would have. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:10.159 Now, where hope comes into play and is so powerful is knowing no matter what difficulty I am walking through, no matter how hard life can get, God is up to some of his most sovereignly important and significant work in my life, not when everything's easy, but when everything's difficult. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:17.360 I think it was Frederick Nietzsche who said it, and then Kelly Clarkson who sung it. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:20.480 What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:27.679 Alright, I won't sing because I don't want to ruin your Easter, but and it's literally true. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:34.639 The Apostle James put it this way: consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:35.519 Here's why. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:39.360 He says, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:42.399 He says, and perseverance has to finish its work. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:42.960 Why? 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:47.679 So that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:17:03.759 The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 says it this way: He says, In my weakest moments was ironically when God's power was actually made most perfect, and then he finishes by saying, His grace is sufficient for you. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:10.160 In your weakness is when God's resurrection power is actually up to its best work. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:15.119 And most of the time you won't feel it because you feel like you're surviving, not thriving. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.119 But what's the alternative? 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:19.119 Getting through that alone? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.160 Getting through that powerless? 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.359 Last but not least, and then we get to what hope is. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:26.640 Hope is not this. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:31.279 Hope is not, and I'm gonna step on a few toes, and please know I do this out of love. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:34.079 Zero judgment, because I understand why we do this. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.279 But in 2026 America, I think we gotta talk about this. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:45.200 Hope is not closing your eyes, crossing your legs, lighting a hemp candle, and manifesting your future. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.400 It's not a conversation with the universe. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.400 And I mean that with love. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:18:05.599 There is only forever and all time one man affestation, keyword manifestation, that you will ever need, and it will not disappoint. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.559 There's only one hope that does not disappoint. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.400 And it's not closing your eyes and saying, Universe, bring me that man. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:13.920 It's overdue. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.880 Universe, get me that job. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:18.000 I need that promotion. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.519 Universe is gonna fill my bank account in 2026. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:24.319 I know because it's on my vision board. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.759 Listen, I know why we humans do that. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:32.799 We're desperate for some semblance of control in a chaotic world, are we not? 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:45.599 I think God understands, but what he desperately wants us to know is the only manifestation that can ever bring life and life to the fullest is the fact that uh, well, you don't know your future. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:50.799 You put your faith and trust and hope in the one who knows the end from the beginning. 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.759 I don't want to speak to the universe about my future. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:19:01.519 I want to speak to the man sitting a throne above the universe about the future because he's already written it all out. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:06.960 Hope, again, is what I'm trying to say, is a man. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:08.079 It's not an idea. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:17.200 I grew up in church hearing pastors get up, and I used to think it was cheesy and a bit of a platitude, and as I get older in my faith, this is a sacred statement to me. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:18.799 Some of you might have heard it before. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:24.960 The pastor would get up and go, I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:26.559 Can I get an amen? 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.240 And I'd be like, oh my goodness, get me out of church, wins lunch. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:39.359 But as I've gotten older, I proudly stand before you and say, none of us know what the future holds, if you're really honest. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:47.039 But here's what you can lean into with hope is that you do know the person who absolutely holds the future. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.279 So now let's get to the good stuff. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.799 Let's talk about what true hope actually looks like. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:59.519 So Jeremiah, he's wrapping up his lamentation by saying, I remember my affliction and my wandering. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.799 The bitterness and the gall that came with it. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:10.640 He said, I remember them well, and here's what that does to my soul it makes my spirit downcast or depressed within me. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:14.559 And if he stopped there, that would be horrible, no hope at all. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.839 But listen to how he concludes the truth about how he's feeling. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.759 He says, Yet, that's that's like I'm about to rev up my soul and my spirit. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:24.400 I'm about to replace hurt with hope. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:29.519 He says, Yet I call this to my mind, and therefore what do I get? 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:30.640 Hope. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.759 And here's what he recalls to his mind. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.720 Because of the Lord's great love. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:52.480 Not my resume, not my accolades, not my achievements, not my status financially, nothing to do with how many amenities me and my family have accrued over the years. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.640 None of those things are inherently bad at all. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:56.319 They're just nothing to put your hope in. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.720 They could be here today and absolutely gone tomorrow. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:00.640 Some of you have experienced that before. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:05.759 He says, I have hope because of the Lord's great love over me. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.359 And because of that, he says, we are not consumed. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:16.960 If anyone had a right to say, My life has absolutely and utterly consumed me, it is Jeremiah. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:23.759 And he says, It's because of the Lord's great and unceasing love that my life, as hard as it is, is not consumed. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:24.240 Why? 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:31.039 Because his compassions, most of your Bibles will say mercies, his compassions and mercies, I love this, never fail. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:33.920 My compassion personally fails a lot. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.160 I gotta get a lot better at that. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:41.519 Having mercy for others and having mercy for myself fails all the time for me. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.799 But his never fail, and I love this. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:46.559 They're new how often? 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:48.480 Every morning. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.480 Every morning you and I take our head off our pillow. 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:59.759 Knocking at your door is new mercy saying, I would love to walk with you today and every day. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.559 Of your life. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.359 I think David said it best when he ended Psalms 23. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:10.559 He said this declaration surely, God, your goodness and your mercy will follow me all of the days of my life. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:16.319 His mercies are brand new every morning, and then he finishes by saying, Great God is your faithfulness. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:17.920 Thank goodness. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:21.519 Because I've put my my hope is not in my faithfulness. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:23.519 I want to be a faithful man. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:26.000 I think you want to be faithful men and women as well. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.480 I don't think you would have showed up today. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.720 But my hope isn't in my faithfulness because I'm not batting a thousand, y'all. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.920 I don't even know that I have Hall of Fame numbers, not even close. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:37.839 But God is. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.440 That's the one I want to put my hope in. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:23:06.400 Now, the reason on Easter that I would choose such an odd passage from such an unread, unrecognizable book for so many people is because I am not exaggerating when I say this. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:12.960 This passage of scripture with these truths we just read have it a couple times in life saved me. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:14.079 Literally. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:29.839 I wanted to preach from this passage of scripture this Easter weekend because of how personal and meaningful and anchoring what we just read is for me, hoping that some of that personal part of it would come out and minister to you guys. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:39.920 If you've been going here very long, some of you know the cliff notes of this about me, but we have so many visitors at all of our campuses that I thought I would want to share this with you guys. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:49.680 So you know when I'm up here spitting and getting all passionate, it's not just because that's what a preacher does, it's because I have experienced the power of resurrection hope. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:54.640 I have made it through like you, some things I never thought I could make it through. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:58.720 And the only thing I know to do is get up here and go, and here was the source. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:02.160 Not me, not my awesomeness, not my abilities. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:14.160 It was God's unconditional, overwhelming great love and his compassions being new and his mercies being new every single morning, and I have tasted and seen his faithfulness. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:23.759 For about four decades of my life since I was a teenager, uh, I've wrestled with something that I hate, and it's this thing called depression. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:27.279 Um, some of you, many of you might know what that's like. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:28.960 Many of you don't know what that's like. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.279 So let me talk about it for a minute. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:42.880 Um I start to know I'm going through a really dark season, and they've happened a few times over my life, here's how I know it's getting dark. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:49.200 Because getting out of bed, something as simple and normal as that, getting out of bed feels like climbing Mount Everest. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:52.559 And I've been there before. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:25:03.839 And in some of my bouts with depression, some decades back, I had two different moments in my life where I was struggling with suicidal ideation. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:10.240 And what's so weird is if anyone would have known me in those seasons on paper, they would have thought I had it all together. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:14.880 One of those seasons I was in ministry then at that point. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:16.079 I'm the pastor. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:18.160 I'm not supposed to be struggling with that, right? 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:20.160 I'm supposed to have graduated out of that. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:23.279 I grew up in an amazing family, not perfect, but amazing. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:27.039 Many of you didn't get blessed by uh that kind of upbringing. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:33.200 I had protection, we had provision, we had unconditional love, all of the things our children need the most. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:36.079 I was blessed to be able to, I hit the lottery. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.880 I was blessed to be born into a home that had all of those things. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:45.119 I did not think I would qualify for all the troubles in life with, of all things, depression, and yet here I was. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:52.960 And I've prayed for it to be delivered, I've prayed for it to be healed, I've read all the books, I've done all of the things that I know to do, and guess what? 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:56.480 It still creeps its way into my life all these years later. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:03.680 But here is where I've drawn so much hope is I've had just enough rear view mirror. 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:10.240 I've lived just enough life now to see God's faithfulness through every one of those dark seasons. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:15.359 I have seen his mercy carry me time and time again when I had nothing. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:17.119 I couldn't get out of bed. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:26.240 The reason I wanted to preach that passage of scripture this Easter and talking about hope is for the last decade I've made a habit out of getting up every morning. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:33.039 And the first thing I do is go right to the coldest water we have in our house, and I throw it all over my face and all over my body just to wake up. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.599 I slap myself a few times, and then here's what I do immediately next. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:44.319 I look in the mirror, especially the mornings when life's lifing. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:52.400 I look in the mirror and I say, yet I'm gonna call this to mind this morning, God, because of your great love that I have tasted and experienced. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:57.519 I am not gonna live today consumed by life and all of the chaos around me. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.759 I'm not gonna do it. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:06.079 And God, I I literally say this stuff out loud. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:08.079 You'd think I was losing my mind if you walked in on. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:12.799 I say, God, you promise that your compassions never fail. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:17.039 And I need a failure-proof promise this morning because life is hard right now. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:19.279 So I am trusting that your word is true. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:21.359 Your compassions never fail. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:29.519 God, you promise that every 24 hours when that sun comes up again, that there is mercy waiting at my door to walk me out and go about my day. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:34.640 And I am going to, by faith, God, look for mercy and compassion everywhere I go. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:38.559 And in return, I'm going to try and give it to every person I see. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:43.119 And God, the only thing getting me out of bed this morning was not my awesomeness. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:43.920 You know what it was? 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:45.039 Your faithfulness. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:47.359 Great is your faithfulness. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:50.160 That's what resurrection hope looks like. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:54.720 And who doesn't need that? 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:58.400 We all need that kind of hope. 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:02.960 Jeremiah goes on to say this, and this is a really important thing about what hope is. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:07.599 He says, I say to myself, the Lord is my portion. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:08.880 I love that. 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:12.799 He's been through it, and him and God are still here. 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:19.279 He's saying, as again, trite and cheesy as that can sound, he's literally everything I need. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:23.119 Man, that's a sweet spot to get to when you can say that with honesty. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:25.759 That's one of those if you know, you know, type statements. 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:26.960 If you've been there, you know it. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:28.640 The Lord is my portion. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:31.359 And then he says this, and this is the tough part. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:34.079 I love this part, I don't like this part, but it's true. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:35.759 He says, Therefore, all what? 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:36.960 All that word. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:37.920 Wait. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:40.000 Therefore, I'm gonna wait for you. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:44.480 You know how many times the psalmist in the Word of God said, How long, O Lord? 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.079 Some of you walked in feeling that today. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:54.720 It took everything you had to put on a nice pastel outfit and come to this crazy church where there's not enough seats. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:56.559 I get it. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:58.319 I get it. 00:28:59.039 --> 00:28:59.920 Been there. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:11.759 But can I remind you, because this is so important about what hope is and what it isn't, the majority of your life on this side of the grave before you breathe your last is spent waiting. 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:15.759 We all love the moments where the goal is achieved. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.039 You should celebrate it, enjoy it. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.200 Learn from it. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:22.480 Be excited about it. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:26.319 We all love when graduation happens and into a new and better season. 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:27.200 We all love that. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:33.920 We all love when our hard work and our faith and our perseverance pays off and there's some fruit that's come from it that is beautiful. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:35.279 You should enjoy that. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.759 But those moments in life are the exception. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:39.039 You know what the rule is? 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:40.240 Waiting. 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:47.440 God's timetable, because he is sovereign, will rarely match our timetable. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:56.640 And hope, by again, its very definition, is precisely the gift of grace that God has given the human heart to wait with integrity. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:28.400 Most of us humans, worst, most dysfunctional, and destructive decisions come when we're getting bored in the waiting, when we're getting frustrated in the waiting, when we're getting tired and worn out in the waiting, and the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is a power to allow you to wait with hope and faith and trust that God is up to something underneath what you're experiencing that is for your good, that he's growing you, that he's maturing you. 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:30.480 Goes on to say this. 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:42.720 So let me talk to those of you as we switch over and end with the eternal implications of the resurrection. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:48.640 Let me talk to those of you who walk through the doors of any one of our campuses today and you are seeking him. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:50.880 You go, well, I don't know that I am. 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:52.240 Well, you showed up. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.599 You took some steps in the right direction. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:00.799 And I've always said this: you take two steps towards God, he'll take a thousand quickly back to you. 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:04.400 He's speaking to you this morning, whether you know it or not. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:09.039 And I just want to lovingly challenge you in these next few minutes, lean in. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.960 Because the Bible said, God's good to and loves those that seek him. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:15.680