SPEAKER_00: Please.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, thanks for pointing those out.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess I'll go ahead and let you know we have one of our our younger members uh here uh who last week uh came up and was showing off her very colorful pink and purple and blue shoes.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and I made a comment like, hey, maybe I could get some like that and we could match.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and then I realized I have some of these, and so they're not pink and purple.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I don't know if I'm that masculine to pull that off, but I do have my my yellow and blue and orange shoes.
SPEAKER_00: So um if you want to make fun of me, you have to go through her first, and so that's all I'm gonna say about that.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I also do want to acknowledge that um tomorrow is a big day.
SPEAKER_00: We have um people are gonna be taking off.
SPEAKER_00: There'll probably be some folks out on the lake, there will be picnics, there will be time in which we gather around to celebrate, but also want to be mindful of the fact that um tomorrow is a reminder of people who sacrifice and lost.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so for those of you um who have um experienced loss, um, we just wanted to let you know that that you are are loved.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and even on a day when when people celebrate, we want to honor you and your loved ones uh that you have lost.
SPEAKER_00: Bad things happen.
SPEAKER_00: They happen usually on Monday mornings, but also on Friday nights and even on the occasional Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Bad things happen to good people and bad people, young children and aging widows.
SPEAKER_00: Cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, liberals and conservatives, no one is immune from hardships and heartaches.
SPEAKER_00: It's a biblical concept that bad things happen.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus announces that God sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
SPEAKER_00: And so you don't need to sit in here to listen to a sermon to know that bad things happen to us all.
SPEAKER_00: If you lived more than a minute, you've experienced how life can be harsh and unfair and sometimes just downright cruel.
SPEAKER_00: Throughout the Bible, it acknowledges that life isn't easy.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Jesus promises that it's going to be hard.
SPEAKER_00: And so we can read the stories throughout the Bible and see example after example of how bad things continually happen to people who choose to follow God and even some who don't.
SPEAKER_00: Joseph is sold into slavery, then he's falsely accused, and then he's thrown in prison for a really long time.
SPEAKER_00: Moses was marked to be murdered as a child.
SPEAKER_00: He became a fugitive at 40, and then God called him to rescue an entire nation of complainers, and that was at the age of 80.
SPEAKER_00: David was a young boy when Samuel came and anointed him as the new king over Israel, and then he sent back out to the pasture, where he's forced to go up against lions and bears, a rather large giant, and to even fend off a king who he would later replace.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was thrown into a lion's den because he prayed to God, and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into a furnace because they would not worship a king in his statue.
SPEAKER_00: Noah built a really large boat with no power tools, and then filled it with lots and lots of smelly animals.
SPEAKER_00: Esther risked her life from an egomaniac who wanted to completely wipe out all of her people.
SPEAKER_00: Ruth lost her husband, left her home, begged for food, and she did all of this while living with her mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty bad.
SPEAKER_00: Paul was blinded, Jonah was swallowed, Jacob wrestled, Elijah hid, Hannah was barren.
SPEAKER_00: Abraham and Sarah were really old.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted kids.
SPEAKER_00: And Sarah had an infant at 90 years old, which means that she had a teenager at 103.
SPEAKER_00: The list goes on and on and on.
SPEAKER_00: Life is sometimes unjust and relentless, and it just plains.
SPEAKER_00: Chad, are you ready for the invitation song?
SPEAKER_00: Can we just end it there?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like this, like wow, like we show up for this.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're gonna listen to.
SPEAKER_00: But before we close, I want to point something out.
SPEAKER_00: Now that sounds a little confusing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about heat, which with the humidity that you guys have around here, every day when I walk outside, it feels like 180 degrees.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm I'm not talking about Fahrenheit, I'm talking about rotation.
SPEAKER_00: 180 degrees.
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of God that we serve.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we just need to wait for God's turn.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe wait for God's turning.
SPEAKER_00: He brings hope from ruin, life from loss, healing from heartache, and strength from suffering.
SPEAKER_00: He gives light in the darkness and splendor from sorrow.
SPEAKER_00: He's the God who allows flowers to grow through the cracks and gold to come from the fire.
SPEAKER_00: Because of him, we have redemption from ruin, glory after grief, life from ashes, and new mercies every morning.
SPEAKER_00: Life's bad.
SPEAKER_00: We can praise him in the pain, we can glorify him in the grief, and we can sing to him during the storm.
SPEAKER_00: Why can we do this?
SPEAKER_00: Because he instantly fixes all our problems?
SPEAKER_00: No, because we have a God who feels our pain, who wipes away our tears, and who covers us in the downpour.
SPEAKER_00: It's because he is with us.
SPEAKER_00: It is who he is, and it is what he does.
SPEAKER_00: At this point, not just in any individual's life, not just in a part of humanity, but for all of the world, it was at its absolute worst.
SPEAKER_00: It was the worst that it would ever get.
SPEAKER_00: God had a plan.
SPEAKER_00: He sent his son to save the world, and the world was set out to kill him.
SPEAKER_00: Up to this point, Jesus had been betrayed and abandoned, arrested and questioned, accused and mocked, slapped, spit on, mocked, bound, and condemned.
SPEAKER_00: Pilate is sitting there in the judge's seat, confused, overwhelmed, and admittedly really scared.
SPEAKER_00: His wife just moments ago had warned him about a dream that she had had.
SPEAKER_00: So let's pick up in Matthew chapter 27, starting in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: I want to read here.
SPEAKER_00: It says, But the chief priest and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
SPEAKER_00: Which of the two do you want me to release to you?
SPEAKER_00: asked the governor.
SPEAKER_00: Barabbas, they answered.
SPEAKER_00: What then shall I do with this Jesus who had called is called Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Pilate asked.
SPEAKER_00: And they all answered, crucify him.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: What crime has he committed?
SPEAKER_00: But they shouted all the louder, crucify him! When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but instead an uproar was starting, he washed his hands in front of the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: I am innocent of this man's blood.
SPEAKER_00: He said, it's your responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: And all the people answered, Let his blood be on us and our children.
SPEAKER_00: And there you have it.
SPEAKER_00: The worst moment in all of creation, when the one who came to save the world, the one that was to free everyone, is now the one who has been sentenced to death to be crucified, a painful and humiliating death.
SPEAKER_00: Life as a whole was at its worst.
SPEAKER_00: Threats were made, guilt is assigned, and a sentence is passed down.
SPEAKER_00: But what I find so incredible, really so baffling, is the lengths and the depths that the crowd would go to in order to secure a death sentence for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this for just a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Pilate is really, really torn between what he ought to do and what he has to do.
SPEAKER_00: He's had multiple conversations with Jesus, going back and forth.
SPEAKER_00: He realizes that he's innocent, but even at one time, just to appease the crazed mob, he agrees to have him flowed.
SPEAKER_00: Let's have him just beaten, beaten badly.
SPEAKER_00: Bring him back out in the robe that he's wearing, in the crown of thorns.
SPEAKER_00: Let them see that, and maybe that'll appease them, and they'll say, okay, we can go home.
SPEAKER_00: He went so badly to save Jesus and he doesn't know how to do it.
SPEAKER_00: His job more than anything else is to maintain order.
SPEAKER_00: Maintain order.
SPEAKER_00: He is just a puppet for Rome.
SPEAKER_00: Rome says, keep things going and you're okay.
SPEAKER_00: If something gets out of line, we'll come handle it.
SPEAKER_00: And when we're done with it, then we'll come handle you.
SPEAKER_00: And he didn't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: He talks to Jesus over and again.
SPEAKER_00: And at one time he kind of seems to think that he's going to follow the mob.
SPEAKER_00: And then they say, well, here's why we're going to kill him.
SPEAKER_00: Because he claims to be the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: And this really terrifies Pilate because it seems like he believes that maybe Jesus could be telling the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Because he goes back inside and he says, Hey, where are you from?
SPEAKER_00: And after that, Pilate says, I've got to save this guy.
SPEAKER_00: He takes him back out.
SPEAKER_00: He allows him to be beaten.
SPEAKER_00: Pulls him out in front of the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: And they doesn't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: He just knows he's got to get out of the way for his own sake.
SPEAKER_00: And for the sake of the mob that is about to take over and just run over Jerusalem and then Rome would come in.
SPEAKER_00: And so he thinks, I don't know what else to do.
SPEAKER_00: And so he says, Find them.
SPEAKER_00: Find them.
SPEAKER_00: You want him dead?
SPEAKER_00: That's your responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: And then he brings out a bowl and he washes his hands and he says, Look, my hands are clean.
SPEAKER_00: This is not on me.
SPEAKER_00: This is on you.
SPEAKER_00: You get the guilt and you get the responsibility and you get the blame for killing this man.
SPEAKER_00: This is all on you.
SPEAKER_00: And then they all cried out, We'll take it.
SPEAKER_00: We want it.
SPEAKER_00: He's telling them that they have to carry the curse, the responsibility of killing Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And they gladly accept it.
SPEAKER_00: We will accept the curse of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We will take his blood.
SPEAKER_00: Let his blood be on us and our children.
SPEAKER_00: And this is God's turn.
SPEAKER_00: This is God's moment to give them what they want.
SPEAKER_00: Surely God was prepared to give them the guilt and the responsibility and the consequences of killing his son.
SPEAKER_00: They basically call down a curse on themselves and on their family.
SPEAKER_00: The crowd has spoken and condemned Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And in just a few moments, the crucifixion and his death would take place.
SPEAKER_00: But don't forget that we serve a God of 180 degrees.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens next is God's turn.
SPEAKER_00: God's turn not to destroy, but to save.
SPEAKER_00: Not to judge his sons' murderers, but to forgive them.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I love about Matthew 27, 25.
SPEAKER_00: It's right there when they honestly think that the blood of Jesus is going to curse them.
SPEAKER_00: God says, oh no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: It's my turn.
SPEAKER_00: And my blood, the blood of my son, will not be a curse on you and your children.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to know the blessing will be so great that for generation after generation after generation, people will cry out, let the blood of Jesus be on us and our children, not as a curse, but as a blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Over and over again, we see God making good out of difficult situations.
SPEAKER_00: Joseph was sold into slavery and thrown in prison.
SPEAKER_00: And God said, I'm going to use you to save the people.
SPEAKER_00: Moses, who arrogantly killed a person and ran off to hide, God used to save an entire people.
SPEAKER_00: David was a man after God's own heart who spent a long time out in a pasture watching those dumb sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was thrown into a lion's den and came out of it the next morning.
SPEAKER_00: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace.
SPEAKER_00: And there the king witnessed four people standing there.
SPEAKER_00: And soon after the men walking back out.
SPEAKER_00: Esther saved her people.
SPEAKER_00: Ruth would be a part of the people who would lead to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Paul regained his sight.
SPEAKER_00: Jonah was spit back out.
SPEAKER_00: Jacob learned to walk with God.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah was brought up.
SPEAKER_00: Hannah was found with child.
SPEAKER_00: And amazingly, Abraham, Sarah, and their son all survived his teenage years and then beyond.
SPEAKER_00: It's because God can make good things happen out of difficult situations.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to know that for some of you in this room, we don't have to pretend life is not great.
SPEAKER_00: You showed up, you're here, you smiled, you're dressed nice, you have all the buttons are in the holes that they're supposed to go in.
SPEAKER_00: You have your kids with you, and at least at this moment they're not trying to kill each other.
SPEAKER_00: But we know life is really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you have just met with a doctor or will in the next few weeks.
SPEAKER_00: The pains are getting worse.
SPEAKER_00: Your spouse is declining.
SPEAKER_00: Your kids are struggling, and you think life has gotten you down and you don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to wait for God's turn.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have a God who turns our sorrow into joy, our trials into triumph, and our defeat into victory.
SPEAKER_00: And the biggest curse that ever could be spoken turned into the greatest blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Because the blood of Jesus heals and forgives and it saves not only the people several thousand years ago or the people somewhere else, but you in this room, in your seat, right where you are.
SPEAKER_00: The blood of Jesus changes everything, even amidst all the hardship and the heartache.
SPEAKER_00: Trust and believe and know that God is good.
SPEAKER_00: If you're struggling or you're hurting or you're searching this morning, we want to ask you to just surrender, give up, wave the white flag, and give your life to Jesus, the God who redeems.
SPEAKER_00: Trust in him.
SPEAKER_00: Believe that he will walk you through.
SPEAKER_00: Know that it's all going to work out in the end.
SPEAKER_00: And if it's not working out, it's because it's not the end.
SPEAKER_00: Trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: Believe him.
SPEAKER_00: It's his turn.
SPEAKER_00: Let him change your life and give you healing and hope.
SPEAKER_00: If we can help you in any way this morning, we want to ask that you'll join us as we stand and sing this song.