WEBVTT 00:00:00.641 --> 00:00:29.182 God Almighty, we are grateful that you have chosen and redeemed people from all parts of the world, that even though, lord, we come from different continents and have different stories and have different journeys, at the end of the day, lord, we have been united by the blood of Jesus Christ and we have one Father, we have one brother and we have been sealed by one spirit. 00:00:29.182 --> 00:00:35.273 Lord, I pray that you speak to us this afternoon. 00:00:35.273 --> 00:00:45.328 Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit illuminate our minds and move our affections and influence our will, and we pray for all of this in the name of Jesus. 00:00:45.328 --> 00:00:48.808 And we all say you may take a seat. 00:00:48.808 --> 00:00:51.945 All right, church. 00:00:51.945 --> 00:00:59.770 As you heard, my name is Hannibal Rodriguez and I want to say greetings from Wheaton Bible Church to Parkland Church. 00:00:59.770 --> 00:01:15.489 We have heard so many beautiful things about everything that the Lord is doing in you and through you and, believe me, if the pastors say that we have been a blessing to you guys, you have no idea what a blessing you have been to all of us. 00:01:15.489 --> 00:01:17.807 So, thank you, thank you so much. 00:01:17.807 --> 00:01:23.031 It is really a blessing for me to get to see what the Lord is doing in Kenya. 00:01:23.031 --> 00:01:29.671 It is amazing for me to hear that 80% of the population in Kenya are Christians. 00:01:29.671 --> 00:01:34.929 That in itself is a supernatural miracle of God, amen. 00:01:36.441 --> 00:01:42.706 Now, as you could tell, I'm a Latino, even though I live and work in the United States. 00:01:42.706 --> 00:01:43.649 I'm Colombian. 00:01:43.649 --> 00:02:01.524 That means that I know what it means to have the best coffee in the world and I know that you guys would debate that with me, but listen, put it this way, it is true, and your coffee is second best. 00:02:01.524 --> 00:02:08.007 So let me tell you how we're going to do this. 00:02:08.007 --> 00:02:16.485 So, because I'm a Latino, right, if there's one thing that Latinos have with people in this part of the world is that we are all super animated. 00:02:16.485 --> 00:02:18.340 Amen. 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:25.012 That means that, as a preacher, I expect the congregation to be just as animated as I'm preaching, amen. 00:02:25.012 --> 00:02:33.427 So I'm going to need participation and amen and do whatever you want to do, but I need to hear you interacting with me. 00:02:33.427 --> 00:02:37.526 Amen, love it, love it. 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:43.632 Today, my job is to speak to you something that the Lord placed in my heart. 00:02:43.632 --> 00:02:54.143 But Arasabu's spending time with your pastors on Friday, I realized that the same thing that the Lord has placed in my heart is the same thing that the Lord has placed in your pastor's heart. 00:02:54.143 --> 00:02:59.931 So, basically, I'm telling you things that they have been telling you for years now. 00:02:59.931 --> 00:03:08.364 The only difference is that I'm going to speak to you with a Latino accent, which we would all agree is super cool. 00:03:08.364 --> 00:03:12.525 So this is what I want you to think. 00:03:12.525 --> 00:03:22.552 I want to invite you to imagine what this creation looked like when God has started everything. 00:03:22.552 --> 00:03:31.804 And then I want to invite you to imagine what this creation will look like when Jesus returns and he makes all things new. 00:03:31.804 --> 00:03:49.872 And then I want you to imagine that, if we grasp what the Lord did in the past and if we grasp what the Lord is going to do in the future, I want to imagine what Kenya would look like if all of us would actually believe that. 00:03:49.872 --> 00:03:58.872 How is the image of our past and the image of our future influenced the way we live today? 00:03:58.872 --> 00:04:01.948 So I'm going to need you to do me a favor. 00:04:01.948 --> 00:04:05.747 Look at the person next to you and say you have to pay attention today. 00:04:05.747 --> 00:04:06.260 Go ahead. 00:04:06.260 --> 00:04:10.286 So these are my three points, for today. 00:04:10.286 --> 00:04:17.661 We're going to talk about God's original design, god's final victory and God's restoration plan. 00:04:17.661 --> 00:04:24.031 God's original design, god's final victory and God's restoration plan. 00:04:24.031 --> 00:04:28.309 Point number one God's original design for this creation. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:50.031 In the United States, there is a practice that whenever they want to equip someone to help them identify what a counterfeit bill looks like, a false bill looks like, the way they train people is that for about six months they study a real bill. 00:04:50.031 --> 00:04:56.976 For six months they pay attention to the letters and the ink and the details and everything. 00:04:56.976 --> 00:05:00.889 So people have a good understanding of what the bill looks like. 00:05:00.889 --> 00:05:16.410 And after six months they introduce a false bill and after six months people could spot right away what's wrong with that bill because they are so familiar with what the real bill looks like. 00:05:16.410 --> 00:05:28.709 So what I'm trying to do today is actually help you see what was God's original design for this creation, so we can truly understand why he said that. 00:05:28.709 --> 00:05:45.091 When we say that this world is broken, why he said that this world is so broken, I want us to imagine, I want us to picture what was God's original design for this creation, because in light of that you could truly tell why this world is broken right now. 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:53.324 So, if you remember, in Genesis one and two we get God creating everything by the power of his word. 00:05:53.324 --> 00:05:56.146 He speaks and thinks happen. 00:05:56.146 --> 00:06:05.394 And what is interesting about those chapters chapters one and two is that you see that there are three perfect relationships in the book of Genesis. 00:06:05.394 --> 00:06:08.923 There's a perfect relationship between God and nature. 00:06:08.923 --> 00:06:15.326 There's a perfect relationship between God and humanity and there's a perfect relationship between humanity, human beings and human beings. 00:06:15.326 --> 00:06:17.059 So look at the first one. 00:06:17.059 --> 00:06:24.262 So those perfect relationships, the relationship between God and nature, if you remember, god creates everything here. 00:06:24.262 --> 00:06:29.394 God creates the heavens, the earth, the sun, the moon, vegetation and animal. 00:06:30.115 --> 00:06:39.290 And if you remember, at the end of every single one of those things the Lord did, he said the same thing over and over again. 00:06:39.290 --> 00:06:41.422 It is good. 00:06:41.422 --> 00:06:47.394 Actually, we get to see a really good example of that in Genesis, chapter one, verse 25. 00:06:47.394 --> 00:06:49.117 Look at what it says. 00:06:49.117 --> 00:07:02.360 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds, and God saw that he was. 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:05.401 No, no, no, we got to do better than that. 00:07:05.401 --> 00:07:06.663 And God saw that he was. 00:07:06.663 --> 00:07:11.725 So do me a favor look at the person next to you and say creation was good. 00:07:14.076 --> 00:07:21.088 Can you imagine, can you imagine a time and a place in which everything is perfect in this creation? 00:07:21.088 --> 00:07:28.269 Can you imagine a time and a place where there's no earthquakes, no famine, no tornadoes, no violence, no hurricanes. 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:29.899 Everything is perfect. 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:30.682 The flood is. 00:07:30.682 --> 00:07:44.360 Can you imagine that Not only that relationship was perfect, not only the relationship between God and nature was perfect, but also the relationship between God and humanity was perfect, and we see that in Genesis, chapter one. 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:45.785 It's starting in verse 27. 00:07:46.815 --> 00:07:50.704 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God. 00:07:50.704 --> 00:07:54.199 He created them, male and female. 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:56.225 He created them Verse 28. 00:07:56.225 --> 00:08:04.048 God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and increase in number, which is what Kyle truly believed. 00:08:04.048 --> 00:08:15.375 Feel the earth and subdue a rule over the fish in the sea, in the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves in the ground. 00:08:15.375 --> 00:08:25.730 And you could see how God, in his divine providence, creates a man and a beautiful woman to be a helper suitable for him. 00:08:25.730 --> 00:08:29.004 Notice that there's no problems, there's no struggles. 00:08:29.004 --> 00:08:41.969 Notice that these couple are both created in the image of God and that simply means that both males and females were created with value and dignity and beauty simply because they reflect God. 00:08:41.969 --> 00:08:53.548 Can you imagine what our world would look like if we would look at each other the way God sees us? 00:08:53.548 --> 00:09:00.544 Actually, if you want to hear how joyful God was after he created humanity. 00:09:00.544 --> 00:09:02.369 Look at Genesis 131. 00:09:02.369 --> 00:09:10.989 God saw that he all that he had made, and this is after humanity, and he was very good. 00:09:10.989 --> 00:09:15.923 Look at the person next to you and say you were created very good. 00:09:15.923 --> 00:09:38.068 Can you imagine, can you imagine a time in a place where people are not afraid of God, people lived in harmony with God, where they enjoy the presence of God, where doing the will of God brings satisfaction and living for his glory brings pleasure? 00:09:38.068 --> 00:09:41.279 See, god created this. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:43.926 God had this perfect relationship with nature. 00:09:43.926 --> 00:09:47.538 God had this perfect relationship with humanity. 00:09:47.538 --> 00:09:55.909 But then we also see a third perfect relationship, which is a perfect relationship between humans. 00:09:57.398 --> 00:09:59.082 Genesis, chapter 2, verse 18,. 00:09:59.082 --> 00:10:03.355 And the Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone. 00:10:03.355 --> 00:10:07.304 I will make a helper suitable for him. 00:10:07.304 --> 00:10:10.201 You know what's interesting about that verse? 00:10:10.201 --> 00:10:12.763 Adam was not alone. 00:10:12.763 --> 00:10:16.375 He has a perfect relationship with the Father. 00:10:16.375 --> 00:10:19.142 God is very present. 00:10:19.142 --> 00:10:21.167 Sin is not even present at that time. 00:10:21.167 --> 00:10:36.927 So what makes that verse so incredibly important is that he tells you that, by design, we need other people, that first and foremost we need God, but also we need other people. 00:10:36.927 --> 00:10:48.784 And the beautiful thing about the word suitable thing there is that it tells you that the male has something that the female doesn't have and the female has something that the male does not have. 00:10:48.784 --> 00:10:56.427 The word suitable means that we complement one another, that we need one another. 00:10:57.414 --> 00:11:05.128 Can you imagine a time in a place in which we can say to one another I need you in my life and you need me in your life. 00:11:05.128 --> 00:11:14.408 Can you imagine a time in a place in which the first thing that we see in each other is the beauty of God reflected in each of us? 00:11:14.408 --> 00:11:28.005 Can you imagine a time in a place where everyone is treated with respect and everyone is treated with dignity, a place in a time in which there's no racism, no prejudice, no classism? 00:11:28.005 --> 00:11:34.485 Can you imagine a place in a time where there are no poor people, because they all get something. 00:11:34.485 --> 00:11:36.408 They all get what they deserve. 00:11:38.076 --> 00:11:48.846 See, at the beginning of creation we got three perfect relationships a perfect relationship between God and nature, a perfect relationship between God and humanity and a perfect relationship between human beings. 00:11:48.846 --> 00:11:55.485 But we know that that is not how the story ends, because there comes Genesis, chapter 3. 00:11:55.485 --> 00:11:58.759 And then God created beautiful. 00:11:58.759 --> 00:11:59.642 Now it's broken. 00:11:59.642 --> 00:12:07.746 Nature is broken, says Romans, chapter 8, the creation longs and groans for deliverance. 00:12:07.746 --> 00:12:12.182 Also, the relationship between God and humanity is broken. 00:12:12.182 --> 00:12:19.902 And now, instead of running toward God, you got Adam and Eve running from God, hiding themselves full of shame. 00:12:19.902 --> 00:12:40.614 And the third relationship is broken because now, instead of men and women and humanity loving each other, serving each other, protecting each other, now they see themselves as enemies and instead of walking in harmony, they run from each other. 00:12:40.614 --> 00:12:44.594 Now, what would happen if we stopped there? 00:12:44.594 --> 00:12:47.873 That would be the worst story of the world. 00:12:47.873 --> 00:12:58.697 But, thanks God, that is now where God stops, because in the story of the Bible we see that sin does not have the last word. 00:12:58.697 --> 00:13:04.658 In the story of the Bible, we see that the devil does not have the last word. 00:13:04.658 --> 00:13:17.437 Actually, in the story of the Bible we see that one day God is going to come back in Jesus Christ and he's going to make all things new, better than what he was at the beginning. 00:13:17.437 --> 00:13:23.236 And that leads me to point number two God's final victory. 00:13:23.236 --> 00:13:28.756 Now, for me, this theme in the Bible is extremely important. 00:13:28.756 --> 00:13:46.258 It's actually one of my favorite themes in the Bible when I think about the future and what we're going to get to see and enjoy one of the best things I enjoy about the story of redemption, because that image of what is yet to come really affects me the way I live today. 00:13:46.258 --> 00:13:51.855 So let me give you this illustration to help you understand why this is so important to me. 00:13:53.105 --> 00:13:55.932 How many of you guys like movies, any kind of movie? 00:13:55.932 --> 00:13:58.688 How many of you guys don't like movies? 00:13:58.688 --> 00:13:59.551 So we could pray for you? 00:13:59.551 --> 00:14:03.909 All right, I love movies. 00:14:03.909 --> 00:14:06.456 My wife and I watch movies all the time. 00:14:06.456 --> 00:14:08.910 We watch movies with my daughters all the time. 00:14:08.910 --> 00:14:13.254 But sometimes when the movie is complicated, I get impatient. 00:14:13.254 --> 00:14:20.006 You know, when there's a lot of drama and problems, that you don't know where the story is going and it's kind of confusing. 00:14:20.006 --> 00:14:24.638 So I do a very spiritual discipline when I'm watching a movie like that. 00:14:24.638 --> 00:14:27.011 This is the spiritual discipline. 00:14:27.011 --> 00:14:43.716 I pause the movie and I jump all the way to the last chapter of the movie and then I watch the last chapter and once I know how the story ends, I go back and continue watching the movie free of stress. 00:14:43.716 --> 00:14:48.924 And some people would say, hannibal, you just ruined the movie. 00:14:48.924 --> 00:14:57.840 And I would say, maybe, but I'm just following the biblical pattern because I know how the story ends. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:05.965 I know that at the end of the story God wins and that God is going to make all things new. 00:15:08.730 --> 00:15:15.553 Now I want to invite you to imagine what that looks like, and for that we're going to go to Revelation, chapter 21. 00:15:15.553 --> 00:15:16.616 It's starting in verse one. 00:15:16.616 --> 00:15:17.446 Look at what it says. 00:15:17.446 --> 00:15:32.634 This is John speaking about his dream and then he says then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea. 00:15:32.634 --> 00:15:55.640 Now the word sea in the book of Revelation is symbolism for chaos, symbolism for problems and the Texas that one day, when Jesus returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth and there will be no more chaos, no more sin, no more struggle, no more devil. 00:15:55.640 --> 00:16:17.697 Look at verse two and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband, and notice that he's described God not taking us away and erasing everything, but descending, this descending beautiful city. 00:16:17.697 --> 00:16:18.778 That is holy. 00:16:18.778 --> 00:16:27.158 You know what holy means Separated, consecrated, dedicated for God. 00:16:27.158 --> 00:16:41.614 And you can see that the first broken relationship now is fixed, that when Jesus returned, god and nature are going to have a healing relationship again, that God is going to make all things new. 00:16:41.614 --> 00:16:50.171 But not only that relationship is fixed, but the other two relationships are also fixed, and we see it in Revelation, chapter 21. 00:16:50.191 --> 00:16:51.234 It's starting in verse four. 00:16:51.234 --> 00:16:56.876 The Bible says that God will wipe every tear from their eyes. 00:16:56.876 --> 00:17:07.881 There will be no more death or mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. 00:17:07.881 --> 00:17:15.719 Verse five he who was sitting on the throne said I am making everything new. 00:17:15.719 --> 00:17:17.964 Isn't that a beautiful picture. 00:17:17.964 --> 00:17:23.877 It tells you that there's going to be a place and a time in which you are not going to struggle with your sin anymore. 00:17:23.877 --> 00:17:28.957 There's going to be a place and a time in which I'm not going to struggle with my sin anymore. 00:17:28.957 --> 00:17:37.880 There's going to be a place and a time, but there's not going to be any suffering, any pain, any hunger, any struggles, anything at all. 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:40.231 Everything is going to be peace, shalom. 00:17:40.231 --> 00:17:47.136 There will be a time in which God is going to restore everything. 00:17:47.136 --> 00:17:54.278 Everything will be completely restored because the old order has passed away. 00:17:54.278 --> 00:17:59.794 So do me a favor look at the person next to you and say God is going to make all things new. 00:18:03.807 --> 00:18:15.462 So the question is this why knowing about our past and imagining our future is so important for Christians today? 00:18:15.462 --> 00:18:29.817 Why actually having this picture of God's original design for this creation and what the Lord is going to do in the future should be important for us today? 00:18:29.817 --> 00:18:37.381 See, I don't know if you caught this, but right at the end of Revelation 21.5,. 00:18:37.381 --> 00:18:42.452 God does not say that he made all things new. 00:18:42.452 --> 00:18:47.733 He didn't say God will make all things new. 00:18:47.733 --> 00:18:55.817 What the text says is that God is making present progressive all things new. 00:18:55.817 --> 00:19:03.297 You got to ask the question why is it that the Lord is using a present progressive? 00:19:03.644 --> 00:19:10.253 I want to invite you to see that this is part of the reason why the Lord chose you, called you and saved you. 00:19:10.253 --> 00:19:17.329 I want to invite you to see that this is the reason, if you are a believer today, why you are a believer today. 00:19:17.329 --> 00:19:20.491 See, the Lord saved you because he loved you. 00:19:20.491 --> 00:19:25.654 He saved you because he's got a mercy and a grace and he's patient and loving. 00:19:25.654 --> 00:19:38.211 The Lord did that because he loves you, but the Lord also did that because you are an instrument in the hands of God as he is making all things new. 00:19:38.211 --> 00:19:43.055 We are part of the greatest movement in the history of the world. 00:19:43.055 --> 00:19:53.799 We are the instruments of God, agents of restoration, as God is using his church to make all things new. 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:57.712 Did you know that this is part of the reason why you are part of this beautiful church? 00:19:57.712 --> 00:20:07.239 So you can be used for the purposes of God, as he is making all things new. 00:20:07.239 --> 00:20:13.375 And with that, then, we go to point number three, god's restoration plan. 00:20:13.375 --> 00:20:38.836 I really want you to see that the reason why you exist today is because the Lord wants to use you to accomplish his purposes, that, regardless of who you are, where you have been, the things you do or don't do, at the end of the day, god saved you so you can become an instrument in his hands. 00:20:40.444 --> 00:20:43.232 I want to give you, then, a job description. 00:20:43.232 --> 00:20:50.195 I want to show you how the Bible describes believers, or cause believers to be. 00:20:50.195 --> 00:20:56.877 A famous passage that talks about this is Matthew, chapter five, starting in verse 13. 00:20:56.877 --> 00:20:58.189 Look at what it says about the church. 00:20:58.189 --> 00:21:02.894 You are the salt of the earth verse 14. 00:21:02.894 --> 00:21:06.411 You are the light of this world. 00:21:06.411 --> 00:21:09.885 A town built on a hill cannot be hidden Verse 15,. 00:21:09.885 --> 00:21:14.016 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. 00:21:14.016 --> 00:21:19.916 Instead, they put it on a stand and give light to everyone in the house. 00:21:19.916 --> 00:21:24.472 And I want to talk to you just for a few minutes, maybe a couple of hours, about. 00:21:24.472 --> 00:21:31.707 Hey, we're in Kenya, it's all right, and I'm a Latino, it's all right. 00:21:33.204 --> 00:21:39.145 I want to give you a brief description of what it means to be salt and what it means to be light. 00:21:39.145 --> 00:21:42.751 See, salt has two properties. 00:21:42.751 --> 00:21:48.734 The first property, and we all know it, is to give flavor. 00:21:48.734 --> 00:21:50.164 Right. 00:21:50.164 --> 00:21:57.635 Salt has the ability to get the flavor out of something and make it taste delicious. 00:21:57.635 --> 00:22:04.769 How about if I tell you the part of the reason why the Lord saved you and you are in Jesus Christ today? 00:22:04.769 --> 00:22:18.387 So you are flavor to this world, so you bring saltiness to this world, so you are people that bring flavor in your neighborhood, in your school, in your work, in your community. 00:22:18.387 --> 00:22:24.028 And if you want to know what bringing flavor looks like, all you have to do is think about the fruit of the spirit. 00:22:24.028 --> 00:22:39.455 To bring flavor means that we are all to be people of love, amen, people of joy, people of peace, people of perseverance, people of kindness, people of goodness, people of faithfulness, people of gentleness and people of self-control. 00:22:39.455 --> 00:22:41.770 That's what it means to bring flavor. 00:22:41.770 --> 00:22:46.516 I need you to do me a favor look at the person next to you and say you are here to bring flavor. 00:22:46.516 --> 00:22:51.933 Actually, this is what we're going to say you are here to be salty. 00:22:51.933 --> 00:22:57.672 That is the first property of what it means to be salt. 00:22:59.204 --> 00:23:04.214 The second property of what it means to be salt is that salt is a preservative. 00:23:04.214 --> 00:23:12.375 It keeps things from going bad or it protects something from getting worse. 00:23:12.375 --> 00:23:19.415 Nobody if I tell you that the Lord saved you and made you a part of this beautiful church. 00:23:19.415 --> 00:23:31.412 So you are a restoration agent, an instrument in his hands, in your community, in your town, in your work, with your friends. 00:23:31.412 --> 00:23:42.393 So you are going with your life and with your words against darkness, against what the devil is doing in this creation as well. 00:23:42.393 --> 00:23:45.853 Actually, let's go back and think about the fruit of the Spirit. 00:23:47.424 --> 00:23:53.217 See, christians, we ought to be people of joy instead of people of anger, amen. 00:23:53.217 --> 00:23:57.753 We ought to be people of peace instead of being people of war, amen. 00:23:57.753 --> 00:24:02.134 We ought to be people of perseverance instead of giving up, amen. 00:24:02.134 --> 00:24:05.353 We ought to be people of kindness instead of vengeance. 00:24:05.353 --> 00:24:08.374 We ought to be people of goodness instead of selfishness. 00:24:08.374 --> 00:24:11.615 We ought to be people of faithfulness instead of betrayal. 00:24:11.615 --> 00:24:22.037 We ought to be people of gentleness instead of harshness, and we ought to be people of self-control instead of simply following our own desires. 00:24:22.037 --> 00:24:27.094 See, there is a reason why the Lord plays you where you are. 00:24:27.094 --> 00:24:36.914 You are salt, you bring flavor and you are where you are as a preservative. 00:24:36.914 --> 00:24:41.231 This is the reason why we share the gospel church. 00:24:41.231 --> 00:24:45.534 This is the reason why we love with compassionate works. 00:24:45.534 --> 00:24:50.656 This is why the reason why we are people of loving with words and loving with deeds. 00:24:50.656 --> 00:24:53.112 But there's another thing that I want you to consider. 00:24:53.112 --> 00:25:03.674 This is the reason why the Lord has given you a vocation, work and a job. 00:25:03.674 --> 00:25:12.285 So, even if you're going through a season in which you don't have a job, I want you to think about this, because this informs how you pray. 00:25:13.909 --> 00:25:33.335 See, I think that a lot of Christians and this part of the world and in the other part of the world, the tendency is to do something that theologians call spiritual dualism, and what that simply means is that, as Christians, sometimes we think that there are some things that are really spiritual and other things that are not spiritual. 00:25:33.335 --> 00:25:39.305 So, for example, for most Christians, they would say well, it is a spiritual to come to church and we would say amen. 00:25:39.305 --> 00:25:49.178 It is a spiritual to read the Bible and we would say amen to give money to serve, to evangelize, and we would say amen, amen and amen. 00:25:49.178 --> 00:25:55.114 But I want to invite you to consider that, as Christians, those are not the only spiritual things we do. 00:25:55.114 --> 00:26:00.220 Everything we do is spiritual because everything we do is for the glory of God. 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:03.737 Let me say that again because I don't think you heard me well. 00:26:03.737 --> 00:26:16.258 Everything we do is spiritual because everything we do is for the glory of God, including your job, including your work. 00:26:16.258 --> 00:26:25.305 I want to help you see that in our jobs, our callings, our vocations, we do two things with our job. 00:26:25.305 --> 00:26:29.305 Number one we reflect something about the character of God with the things we do. 00:26:29.305 --> 00:26:33.285 And number two, we represent God in this creation, even through our work. 00:26:33.285 --> 00:26:35.556 Look at the first one. 00:26:35.556 --> 00:26:36.199 Why would I say that? 00:26:36.199 --> 00:26:48.662 As our jobs reflect something about the character of God, regardless of what you do, I could guarantee you that if you pay attention to the Bible, you would see that your job is a spiritual. 00:26:48.662 --> 00:26:53.265 To come to church In the Bible, you would see that your job reflects something about God. 00:26:55.191 --> 00:27:02.314 Amy Wilson Carmichael, which was a Christian to India for many years this is what she said long, long ago. 00:27:02.314 --> 00:27:07.285 She said there are farmers because God was the first farmer. 00:27:07.285 --> 00:27:11.305 There are doctors and nurses, because God was the first divine healer. 00:27:11.305 --> 00:27:15.305 There are engineers, because God was the first engineer. 00:27:15.305 --> 00:27:19.276 There are accountants because God was the first accountant. 00:27:19.276 --> 00:27:23.076 There are business people because God was the first businessman. 00:27:23.076 --> 00:27:26.994 There are communicators, because God was the first communicator. 00:27:26.994 --> 00:27:30.138 There are builders, because God was the first builder. 00:27:30.138 --> 00:27:35.305 Everything we do as believers reflects something about the character of God. 00:27:35.305 --> 00:27:41.952 Your job matters, what you do matters. 00:27:41.952 --> 00:27:58.694 And not only we reflect something about the character of God, but as Christians, even with our jobs, we are contributing to what the Lord is doing in this creation. 00:27:58.694 --> 00:28:08.588 See, as Christians, we bring truth, we bring beauty, we bring goodness and we bring justice. 00:28:08.588 --> 00:28:14.875 We bring truth, beauty, goodness and justice. 00:28:15.968 --> 00:28:19.224 There's another author that has really helped me understand this. 00:28:19.224 --> 00:28:21.375 Her name is Amy Sherman. 00:28:21.375 --> 00:28:35.285 She wrote a book years ago called Kingdom Calling, and she makes the argument that, if you really pay attention, all of our careers and our jobs are contributing to the redemptive power of God. 00:28:35.285 --> 00:28:39.305 So, for example, she says that God does redemptive work. 00:28:39.305 --> 00:28:41.275 He redeems things. 00:28:41.275 --> 00:28:49.897 Therefore, if you are an evangelist, a counselor, a pastor or a peacemaker, you are contributing to the redemption of this world. 00:28:49.897 --> 00:28:51.305 See, god is a creative God. 00:28:51.305 --> 00:28:55.064 God creates by nature. 00:28:55.064 --> 00:29:06.113 Therefore, if you're an actor, a painter, a musician, a poet, a designer, a carpenter or an architect, you are contributing to the creative work of God. 00:29:06.113 --> 00:29:06.594 Amen. 00:29:08.088 --> 00:29:10.461 She says that God does providential work. 00:29:10.461 --> 00:29:12.510 He provides and sustains. 00:29:12.510 --> 00:29:23.076 Therefore, if you are a social worker, a farmer, a fireman, a police officer, a banker, a painter, a technician, you are contributing to the providential work of God. 00:29:23.076 --> 00:29:25.978 God is a God of justice. 00:29:25.978 --> 00:29:28.327 God cares about justice. 00:29:28.327 --> 00:29:37.530 Therefore, if you are a judge, a lawyer, a government official, a diplomat, a law enforcement, you are reflecting God through justice work. 00:29:37.530 --> 00:29:41.153 See, our God is a compassionate God. 00:29:41.153 --> 00:29:43.988 He brings comfort, healing and guidance. 00:29:43.988 --> 00:29:53.556 Therefore, if you are a doctor, a nurse, a psychologist, a therapist, a community worker, you are contributing to the compassionate work of God. 00:29:53.556 --> 00:29:56.972 See, our God reveals truth. 00:29:56.972 --> 00:30:08.893 Therefore, if you're a preacher, a scientist, an educator, a journalist, a scholar or a writer, you are contributing to the revelatory truthful of God. 00:30:08.893 --> 00:30:19.285 Everything we do as Christians, everything we do as believers, is spiritual, because everything we do is for the glory of God. 00:30:19.285 --> 00:30:25.570 That's why we love with word, we love with deeds and we love through our works. 00:30:27.405 --> 00:30:28.530 So I want to share a story with you. 00:30:28.530 --> 00:30:37.455 Years ago, I wrote a book called the Lord of the Rings. 00:30:37.455 --> 00:30:48.027 I don't know if you know this, but that man took 40 years to write that story 40 years and at one point he was so frustrated that he wanted to quit. 00:30:48.027 --> 00:30:56.228 And one day he has kind of a dream and he writes this story that is called the Leaf of Niggle. 00:30:56.228 --> 00:31:04.749 And in this story there's a man, there's an artist, and has this image of this beautiful tree. 00:31:04.749 --> 00:31:22.835 He wants to paint and he starts to paint and he starts with one leaf and he pays attention to the detail so much and he spends hours, and hours turns into weeks, and weeks turns into months, and months turns into years, and he's just painting one leaf and then he died. 00:31:22.835 --> 00:31:26.934 And you would say what a terrible story. 00:31:26.934 --> 00:31:46.714 Well, one day he makes it into heaven and as he, walking through the streets of heaven, from afar, he sees the beautiful tree that he had pictured before and he goes to that tree and guess what he found there? 00:31:46.714 --> 00:31:48.992 His Leaf. 00:31:51.321 --> 00:31:52.986 This is why I want you to hear church. 00:31:52.986 --> 00:31:55.791 You are not called to paint the tree. 00:31:55.791 --> 00:31:58.183 That's God's business. 00:31:58.183 --> 00:32:01.413 We are called to paint our leaf. 00:32:01.413 --> 00:32:05.403 We are called to make a difference where we are. 00:32:05.403 --> 00:32:06.987 We paint our leaf. 00:32:06.987 --> 00:32:11.386 Do me a favor, look at the person next to you and say you are called to paint your leaf. 00:32:11.386 --> 00:32:16.222 Whatever God does with that, that's his business. 00:32:16.222 --> 00:32:19.771 We are called to be faithful to whatever he has called us to. 00:32:19.771 --> 00:32:22.346 That is the definition of salt. 00:32:22.346 --> 00:32:24.791 What about light? 00:32:24.791 --> 00:32:28.140 And this one is actually going to be faster. 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:34.067 Light has one principle Light is public. 00:32:36.270 --> 00:32:40.336 As Christians, we live our Christian life in public. 00:32:40.336 --> 00:32:43.365 We don't run from the world. 00:32:43.365 --> 00:32:44.950 We don't hide from the world. 00:32:44.950 --> 00:32:47.601 We don't create our little, only Christian communities. 00:32:47.601 --> 00:32:50.646 We are in this world for a reason. 00:32:50.646 --> 00:32:54.153 Our faith is public. 00:32:54.153 --> 00:32:57.460 You make it public with your words. 00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:00.625 You make it public with your life. 00:33:00.625 --> 00:33:03.411 You make it public by the way you work. 00:33:03.411 --> 00:33:06.804 You make it public by the way you raise your family. 00:33:06.804 --> 00:33:10.615 You make it public by the way you live your singleness. 00:33:10.615 --> 00:33:17.221 You make it public with everything you are and everything you are, and that's the reason why the Lord left us here. 00:33:19.104 --> 00:33:23.951 So one more question how do we become people like that? 00:33:23.951 --> 00:33:39.892 How do we become people that really, really live in light of our past and is looking forward to our future and understand that that future invites us to participate in what God is doing? 00:33:39.892 --> 00:33:40.894 How do we change? 00:33:40.894 --> 00:33:42.759 So this is the thing. 00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:51.871 In order for us to live that way, we need freedom Freedom from ourselves. 00:33:54.433 --> 00:33:56.779 You know who's my worst enemy? 00:33:56.779 --> 00:34:03.930 Not my wife, not even the devil. 00:34:03.930 --> 00:34:09.016 The devil uses what I already have. 00:34:09.016 --> 00:34:11.860 You know who's my worst enemy? 00:34:11.860 --> 00:34:14.143 Hannibal. 00:34:14.143 --> 00:34:29.135 And there's only one way that Hannibal can be killed it's when I have placed my faith in the one that has the power to kill the sin in me, jesus Christ. 00:34:29.135 --> 00:34:33.288 The one that has not that lived the life that none of us have lived. 00:34:33.288 --> 00:34:37.922 The one that went to the cross to die the dead that we all deserve. 00:34:37.922 --> 00:34:44.440 The one that looked at us in our misery and our struggle and decided to do something. 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:48.811 The one that did not walk away from us but was running towards us. 00:34:48.811 --> 00:34:54.954 The one that went to the cross, took the punishment we deserve and then he says it is finished. 00:34:56.097 --> 00:35:07.304 It is when we have that in our minds and in our hearts and it becomes part of who we are, that then we learn to extend to others what we have received. 00:35:07.304 --> 00:35:17.041 See, everyone is seeking to answer two questions who am I and why do I exist? 00:35:17.041 --> 00:35:22.110 Christians can respond to those two questions. 00:35:22.110 --> 00:35:24.474 You know who you are. 00:35:24.474 --> 00:35:28.503 You are the son of the living God. 00:35:28.503 --> 00:35:32.815 You are the one that has been adopted in Jesus Christ. 00:35:32.815 --> 00:35:35.824 You are the one that has been sanctified. 00:35:35.824 --> 00:35:38.253 You have been separated for God and His purposes. 00:35:38.253 --> 00:35:40.922 You are the one that has been justified. 00:35:40.922 --> 00:35:42.588 You have been declared righteous. 00:35:42.588 --> 00:35:44.715 There's nothing you could do to earn God. 00:35:44.715 --> 00:35:46.702 You already have an identity. 00:35:46.702 --> 00:35:49.876 You don't need to build your identity with anything else. 00:35:49.876 --> 00:35:50.960 You already have some. 00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:54.164 And you also have a purpose. 00:35:54.164 --> 00:36:01.112 We are here to be instruments in the hands of our God. 00:36:02.815 --> 00:36:05.905 So let me close with something that Mother Teresa once wrote. 00:36:05.905 --> 00:36:11.376 The poem is called Christ has nobody. 00:36:11.376 --> 00:36:19.351 Christ has nobody but yours, no hands, no feet, and earth and earth but yours. 00:36:19.351 --> 00:36:26.507 Yours are the eyes which he brings compassion and this world. 00:36:26.507 --> 00:36:30.556 You are His feet, you are His hands. 00:36:30.556 --> 00:36:34.545 You are how he brings blessings into this world. 00:36:34.545 --> 00:36:36.548 Isn't that a beautiful call. 00:36:36.548 --> 00:36:43.744 We are part of the greatest movement in the history of the world. 00:36:43.744 --> 00:36:50.036 May the Lord grant Parkland Church to be part of that movement. 00:36:50.436 --> 00:36:56.708 Amen, let's pray, heavenly Father. 00:36:56.708 --> 00:37:09.251 We are grateful that when we were lost, when we were dead in our sins and transpassers, like the Bible says, jesus died for us. 00:37:09.251 --> 00:37:17.851 He came to rescue us, lord, and he came to give us a new identity, and he came to give us a new nature. 00:37:17.851 --> 00:37:20.119 He also came to give us a new purpose. 00:37:20.119 --> 00:37:32.588 Lord, could you please help us see how beautiful was your design for this creation, how beautiful is going to be what is going to come in the future. 00:37:32.588 --> 00:37:43.269 And with that, lord, can you please help us see that we play our role in this creation, as you are making all things new. 00:37:43.269 --> 00:37:58.965 Grant us the gift to contribute to your purposes, and that we may do it with our words, that we may do it with our actions, that we may do it by how we work and what we do. 00:37:58.965 --> 00:38:02.923 And we pray for all of this in the name of Jesus and the Churches. 00:38:02.923 --> 00:38:04.711 Thank you, church.