SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Refinery Church Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We're so glad you've joined us today.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayer is that this message will help you grow in your pursuit to love and follow Jesus for life.
SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to learn more about the refinery, find ways to get connected, share a prayer request, or explore resources to help you grow deeper in your walk with Christ, visit us online at refineryohio.com.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's dive into today's message.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, Church.
SPEAKER_01: It's good to be with you today.
SPEAKER_01: Palm Sunday, beginning of Holy Week, as we um await a really fun and exciting week.
SPEAKER_01: Um I don't want to jump too far ahead of ourselves, though, because we don't get to then before getting through now and what we're gonna walk through today.
SPEAKER_01: Uh do me a favor though, turn to your neighbor and in celebration of Palm Sunday, give them a high-five.
SPEAKER_01: You picking up what I'm putting down?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't know that's what it meant.
SPEAKER_01: That's where it originated.
SPEAKER_01: Um, they were so pumped, they high-fived each other and decided to call it Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: You can look it up.
SPEAKER_01: It's real.
SPEAKER_01: Um, raise your hand if you hate forced group participation.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: I made you do two things now that you hate.
SPEAKER_01: Uh so do I.
SPEAKER_01: I hate group forced participation.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, our our team was at a conference a couple weeks ago, and during one of the worship songs, you know, the worship leader was like, you know, to the beat of the drum, like, I want all of you to pump your fist in the air, the beat of the drum.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's like five, six thousand people who are like doing this.
SPEAKER_01: And I even though everybody's doing it, I'm just like, I don't want to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Nope, I'm not gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna jump on.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I hate it.
SPEAKER_01: And and and being a youth pastor, that's like your pseudo-title is just like forced group participation person, you know, like that's essentially what you're doing as a youth pastor half the time.
SPEAKER_01: Um so with that in mind, I I want to make us all do something today.
SPEAKER_01: Um here here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_01: And I need you to trust me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I I want I just want you to close your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Don't look to the neighbor to the left.
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's funny when when we pray around our dinner table, my daughter likes to pray.
SPEAKER_01: And um, whenever one of us opens our eyes, she yells at us for it.
SPEAKER_01: Um says, You're not allowed to do that.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, how did you know that I did that?
SPEAKER_01: And it just doesn't work.
SPEAKER_01: Um just close your eyes though, no one's gonna yell at you, but uh close your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And I what I want you to do is envision uh the baptismal on the platform with me.
SPEAKER_01: And it's baptism Sunday, it's a celebration Sunday, and somebody gets dumped into the water, and what I want you to do is I want you to visualize coming out of the water the person that it would bring you the most joy to see come out of the water.
SPEAKER_01: Like, like who would it just floor you to see come out of that water?
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: Was it still your eyes closed?
SPEAKER_01: Um Do you believe that that can happen?
SPEAKER_01: Do you believe that God can do that?
SPEAKER_01: And let me just speak this truth over you.
SPEAKER_01: God wants to see that happen even more than you do.
SPEAKER_01: And with God it is not impossible.
SPEAKER_01: I so believe that.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, you can open your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Um that visual for the past couple months has grieved me.
SPEAKER_01: Um, why has it grieved you?
SPEAKER_01: Um is it is it because that I uh the person that I visualized getting baptized, I don't I don't think it can actually happen.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Um is it because there's so many people that I want to share Jesus with?
SPEAKER_01: We didn't have a big enough baptism, I just don't know how I'm gonna reach them all.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: The reason that that visual has has grieved me, I mean, in some ways haunted me, like if I'm being transparent, is because when I was asked to do that, I couldn't think of anybody.
SPEAKER_01: Like, how is how is that possible?
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't think of any friends that I had that didn't already know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, well, isn't that a good thing?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm I'm a pastor, like I work with Christians, I I invest in people who know Jesus and encourage them so that they can go and invest in people to get to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I kept writing that off as an excuse to not become friends with people who actually don't know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like my kids are younger right now, so we're not really doing a bunch of sports.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not, you know, sitting in the bleachers really yet, um, and bumping shoulders to people when I when I work out, like I'm doing that more at home than I am.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not bumping into people at the gym and like and really in my day-to-day, it's like, yeah, I work with people who know Jesus, so God, I'll just help other people make friends who need to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And like the Holy Spirit called me out on it and said, So you're trying to lead people in something that you're not doing yourself.
SPEAKER_01: I said, That's a good point, God, when you put it that way.
SPEAKER_01: And so clearly in that moment, it was God saying, quit making excuses, you need to begin making friends with people who don't know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And it was like that next week, like three people laid on a silver platter, like boom, boom, boom.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, here's how I want you to begin investing them.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna name their names.
SPEAKER_01: Um, open my eyes and kind of help me and point me in that direction.
SPEAKER_01: As we make our final stop in Isaiah today, I want you to have that person getting baptized.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to have that person in mind.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because as we explore Isaiah 61 and 62, so that's where we're gonna be today, as we explore these two chapters, it's gonna talk about the hope that the Savior of the world brought to us.
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, this is Palm, this is Palm Sunday before Palm Sunday, because this is a prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: This was this was hundreds of years before, like this day actually came where Jesus rode in on a donkey, but this day that we're talking about was prophesied of what would come.
SPEAKER_01: But here's what we're gonna find in the text today.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody who has the hope of Jesus needs to be connected to somebody who needs the hope of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Non-negotiable.
SPEAKER_01: I don't care if you're a pastor, I don't care if you became a Christian yesterday, I don't care your story.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody who has the hope needs to be connected to somebody who needs the hope.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah is a massive book, 66 chapters of the Bible, and the way that we've been kind of walking through it as a church is I the way that I visualize is we've been on a cruise ship, and we have this four-week journey that we're on, and but there's too much to cover, so we're just making you know, docking or going to the port at certain points throughout the story to explore that bit, and then we get back on the ship, and then we kind of scurry around and then we we stop again.
SPEAKER_01: And so today is today today is our final stop, and it's gonna be in Isaiah 61 and 62, but I want to like quickly refresh just because there's there's so much, I want to refresh where we have been up to this point.
SPEAKER_01: So look, chapters 1 through 39.
SPEAKER_01: If you were to divide the book of Isaiah into two sections, it would be chapters 1 through 39, and then it would be chapters 40 through 66.
SPEAKER_01: So chapters 1 through 39, it just really um explores this idea of judgment and hope, and judgment and hope, and the judgment that the Israelites face, right?
SPEAKER_01: And then exile with the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then we but we also see this juxtaposition of God continually talking about and trying to point these people to the hope that He promises that God's kingdom would be restored and this new kingdom that's gonna be ushered in through a messianic king.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of the quick picture we get.
SPEAKER_01: Jumping into chapter 40, though, and I think the reason that I I we divide it into those two sections, one through 39 and 40 through 66, is it's it's believed by most scholars that uh Isaiah would have been alive in chapters 1 through 39, but then a hundred years passes before uh chapter 40 kind of picks up.
SPEAKER_01: And most likely the folks who would have been continuing uh telling and sharing these writings were Isaiah's uh disciples essentially, who are carrying on the prophecy that he shared and wrote down and scrolls that were passed down in stories, and so these are like Isaiah's disciples who are continuing to pass on this prophecy that is unfolding and sharing with God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so that's kind of the way that it's divided up.
SPEAKER_01: But the Israelites in chapters 41, so they're actually no longer in exile at this point.
SPEAKER_01: But instead of moving the mission forward, Lana talked about it.
SPEAKER_01: They're just complaining.
SPEAKER_01: God, why were we in exile?
SPEAKER_01: Like, why would we follow God who brought us through and made us go through all of that?
SPEAKER_01: And what they're blind to see is that the judgment that took place was less of God being, here's what's gonna happen, here's what I'm gonna force upon you.
SPEAKER_01: And it was God saying, Hey, if you keep living the way that you're living, I need to show you what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: And it was a natural consequence of the way that they were living.
SPEAKER_01: And so what God does is he tries to, you know, respond to these accusations and doubts that the Israelites are throwing at him, um, and they're blind to see that because of God, um, that's the only reason there's even hope and a way out after exile.
SPEAKER_01: So in chapter 48, this and this important thing happens where God, despite his efforts, he decides to be like usher in a new figure, and it's a new way of doing things, because God's mission is still to use God's people, and so we learn in verse or chapter 48 that God is going to do a new thing to bring about redemption to all people, because that has always been his mission for God's people, to restore, to renew, um, and rebuild.
SPEAKER_01: And so in chapters 49 through 55, uh we're introduced to this new figure, and this figure is called a servant king.
SPEAKER_01: A servant king, a very different title than the other kings that would have existed in that day.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they give him a name known as Israel, and he's given a few jobs to restore Israel and to be a light to all nations.
SPEAKER_01: Those are his two jobs to restore Israel and be a light to all nations.
SPEAKER_01: But he wouldn't come through conquest, right?
SPEAKER_01: He would come through surrender and sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: A very different picture of the kings that they had known before.
SPEAKER_01: But this is the picture that's displayed.
SPEAKER_01: So all of this is foretold, by the way, hundreds of years before it would actually happen.
SPEAKER_01: But this is kind of what leads us to today.
SPEAKER_01: So on Palm Sunday, I want us to kind of find, I want us to dock at Isaiah 61 and 62, and we're gonna kind of explore this together so that we can have a better understanding of who this servant king is, why this servant king humbly came to earth, and what are we supposed to do in light of it all.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 61, we'll read the first four verses, then we'll hit pause.
SPEAKER_01: The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive me, pause.
SPEAKER_01: So, as the prophet is writing at this point, um, the prophet is trying to write from the perspective as if this is the servant king talking.
SPEAKER_01: So, so think of think of that one.
SPEAKER_01: The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
SPEAKER_01: He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
SPEAKER_01: In Luke chapter 4, verses 18 through 21, uh you'll find Jesus quoting Isaiah 61, verse 1, and I think the first part of verse 2, uh, and he's quoting this, and at the end of this, he says, That's me they're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: I I'm I'm the one that they were prophesying about.
SPEAKER_01: So we know that this is Jesus that we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: But in the moment, they said, Who could this figure be?
SPEAKER_01: Continuing in verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: So those are all the things that this the Savior King does.
SPEAKER_01: But then the second part of verse 3, they will be called, so all of the people that the Savior is doing this thing for, they will be called oaks of righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
SPEAKER_01: A planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
SPEAKER_01: They will rebuild the ancient ruins, restore places long devastated, and renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
SPEAKER_01: So let me pause for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the prophet is proclaiming one day a savior is going to come, and these are all of the things that this Savior King is going to do, this servant king is going to do.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to bind up the brokenhearted, he's going to proclaim freedom to the captives, he's going to release darkness for prisoners.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to comfort those who mourn, be with those who grieve, the oil of joy instead of mourn.
SPEAKER_01: So these are these are all of the things that are going to happen to the people that God has come to rescue.
SPEAKER_01: And he's come to rescue his people who are experiencing and feeling this way.
SPEAKER_01: And so this is what God does.
SPEAKER_01: Which I think is a good reminder of who God's target audience is.
SPEAKER_01: If you went to a hospital, you're sick, you need some help.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Hey, I broke my arm.
SPEAKER_01: I need some help.
SPEAKER_01: Can you help me?
SPEAKER_01: And they just kind of like, oof.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we don't do that thing here.
SPEAKER_01: Uh if you're not feeling well, like you just might you might want to go somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01: We don't really heal heal sick people here.
SPEAKER_01: It's like you go to the car mechanic and they're like, hey, my car's not running.
SPEAKER_01: They're like, ooh, well, we only work on cars that run and work, so like if you could go like somewhere.
SPEAKER_01: That's that's the same as if like a hospital that doesn't treat sick patients and a mechanic that only works on running cars is kind of like a church that doesn't reach lost and broken people.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's the whole point of its existence is to reach these people.
SPEAKER_01: Because the church isn't for insiders, the church is for outsiders, all walks of life, everybody.
SPEAKER_01: And through the power of the Holy Spirit, every sick person has a chance to be made well, every person has a chance to know and be more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's all of these people, all of us, that the servant king lifts out of darkness.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what he does: he gives them a new name.
SPEAKER_01: He gives them a new name.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You will be called Oaks of Righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: It'd be a good band name, I think.
SPEAKER_01: Um I think if I were my band name, album one would be Acorns of Glory.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, there's something there.
SPEAKER_01: We're we're we're gonna tap into that here.
SPEAKER_01: Uh photosynthesis for the soul.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't I don't know, I'm just spit, but yeah, yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Ask ChatGBT or something, they'll have some good names.
SPEAKER_01: Um trees are they're pretty mighty trees, they're solid.
SPEAKER_01: Uh stand a hundred feet tall.
SPEAKER_01: Um the canopy of an oak tree is wider than it is tall, about 20% on average.
SPEAKER_01: So a hundred-foot oak tree would have a canopy 120 feet wide.
SPEAKER_01: Uh oak trees are they're home to over 2,300 species of wildlife.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they are incredibly vast ecosystems, uh just standing alone.
SPEAKER_01: They they're strong, they're durable, they're sturdy.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's why like oak wood, like wood floors, oak is like a very common choice or cabinets.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we're gonna be moving my mom out in a couple months to a new home, and there my dad built this big oak uh cabinet and it's in the basement.
SPEAKER_01: And us siblings are we're just trying to figure out how do we get away with not moving this thing.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it is it's so heavy and nobody wants to move it, so we're like, can we just can we just leave it here?
SPEAKER_01: Or can can some donation like we're trying to get rid of it without us having to move it?
SPEAKER_01: Because it's durable, it's sturdy.
SPEAKER_01: Uh oak trees live up to a thousand years.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, in fact, uh there's a there's an oak tree in California that's said to be 2,000 years old.
SPEAKER_01: It's called the Panchenga Great Oak, and and that's I think an anomaly, but but on average, like an oak tree can stand it, it can live up to a thousand years.
SPEAKER_01: So we put our faith into this servant king Jesus, and you too can join the bands of brothers called the Oaks of Righteousness, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is the name that you're given.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to come back to that in a minute, but we aren't just given a new name.
SPEAKER_01: It's part of it.
SPEAKER_01: We're given a renewed mission as well.
SPEAKER_01: Go back to verse 4 on the screen for me.
SPEAKER_01: The servant king, he says, They will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will restore the places long devastated, they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, there's work to be done.
SPEAKER_01: There's something implied about who you now are and what you're supposed to do when you've said yes to Jesus and when Jesus has changed your life.
SPEAKER_01: There's an implication that you're not on the sidelines, that you're not a fan, but that you get in the game.
SPEAKER_01: That's part of the implication of being a follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And this mission, I mean, this was the this was the Israelites' mission.
SPEAKER_01: And God and his infinite love, like he chose this was Israelites were the chosen vehicle to bring about redemption for the world.
SPEAKER_01: And they served an important role for an important season, but it came to a point where to more fully usher in the kingdom of God, it would require a servant king coming down from heaven to earth to make a way and show us a way.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what they're prophesying here.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so God's mission and desire is still to use God's people to rebuild, to restore, and to renew a lost and broken world.
SPEAKER_01: And if you were to read the rest of Isaiah 61, you would see further descriptions of what that looks like and who the servant king, and kind of examples of that.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to I want to jump to Isaiah 62 now because if Isaiah 61 is more of the voice or perspective of the servant king, like I have come to save the world, to bind up the brokenhearted, and who he was and who he's supposed to do.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 62 is now the prophet speaking, so not the voice of the sovereign king, but the voice of the prophet, and he's saying, if this is true, then we better get into shape because there's important work for us to do.
SPEAKER_01: Because you got to remember, this hasn't happened yet.
SPEAKER_01: This is a prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: This is gonna happen hundreds of years later.
SPEAKER_01: But the prophets can tell, look, if this is what we think it is, then we've got to start paving the way for the king to come.
SPEAKER_01: There is work to be done.
SPEAKER_01: This is not something that we can sit on the sidelines for.
SPEAKER_01: And so here is what the prophet urgently is requesting of the people who would be hearing this word.
SPEAKER_01: Let's read the first five verses here.
SPEAKER_01: He says, this, for Zion's sake, which Zion is just kind of this encompassing word for God's people.
SPEAKER_01: For Zion's sake, I will not keep silent about this.
SPEAKER_01: For Jerusalem's sake, I will not remain quiet till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.
SPEAKER_01: The nations will see your vindication and all kings your glory.
SPEAKER_01: You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
SPEAKER_01: You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
SPEAKER_01: No longer will they call you deserted or name your land desolate, but you will be called Hebzibah and your land Beulah.
SPEAKER_01: For the land will take the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married.
SPEAKER_01: If you look on the screen, so the orange highlights hebze in Hebrew translated, it literally means that God will take delight in you.
SPEAKER_01: Um Beulah literally means like covenant relationship or commitment or to be married.
SPEAKER_01: And so those are those are the connections there.
SPEAKER_01: He kind of explains it.
SPEAKER_01: But then we get to verse five.
SPEAKER_01: As a young man marries a young woman, so will your builder marry you.
SPEAKER_01: As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
SPEAKER_01: Jump with me to verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: The urgency picks back up from the prophet.
SPEAKER_01: He says, This pass through, pass through the gates, prepare the way for the people, build up, build up the highway, remove the stones, raise a banner for the nations.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord has made a proclamation to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Say to daughter Zion, see your Savior comes, see his reward is with him, and his recompense, or that which needs repaid, accompanies him.
SPEAKER_01: They will be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you will be called sought after the Savage.
SPEAKER_01: City no longer deserted.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of urgency in this text.
SPEAKER_01: If the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords comes to earth, there's just an assumption we can't stay silent about this.
SPEAKER_01: We can't sit on the sidelines, we can't just be fans.
SPEAKER_01: And so within this level of urgency, though, what you see at the beginning, I can't keep silent, and then towards the end, prepare the way, build up, remove the stones, raise the banners.
SPEAKER_01: Like we gotta, we gotta do everything we can to tell people about who is coming.
SPEAKER_01: Right in the middle of that, like slapped in the middle of this text, we get a metaphor on marriage.
SPEAKER_01: And it kind of feels out of place.
SPEAKER_01: But marriage is actually what brings us together.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read it to you again.
SPEAKER_01: As a young man marries a young woman, so will your builder marry you.
SPEAKER_01: As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
SPEAKER_01: Marriage imagery, it's very consistent in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: You see in Matthew chapter 9, Matthew 25, uh, you see Jesus is the bridegroom and his church is the bride.
SPEAKER_01: You see it in Revelation chapter 19, you see it in Revelation chapter 21.
SPEAKER_01: This is like an image that is incredibly important in the New Testament, especially as Jesus considers his relationship to his church.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so this isn't a new metaphor as far as it relates to the Bible, because it resembles covenant commitment to one another.
SPEAKER_01: But there is there is something a little bit deeper here.
SPEAKER_01: So in Isaiah's day, when a king would conquer a land, a nation, a tribe, a people, uh, that king would build a statue in the middle of the city.
SPEAKER_01: And the whole point of a king building a statue of himself in the middle of the city is so that everybody around them knows he's in charge now.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is my king, or this is my kingdom, these are my people, this is my tribe, I own this place.
SPEAKER_01: And so the king would make it all about them because he wanted to know who was at the center and who was in charge.
SPEAKER_01: Marriage in a relationship when two people come together is you ceremonially saying, God, it's you in the center of this relationship.
SPEAKER_01: God, it's you that is in the middle.
SPEAKER_01: Um, that our little world revolves around you.
SPEAKER_01: You are the builder of our marriage, and our marriage is going to be built on you.
SPEAKER_01: That's what a healthy covenant relationship should look like.
SPEAKER_01: But the temptation has always been for us, if you're in a relationship, you've been in one, you get it, to put ourselves in the middle.
SPEAKER_01: To put our needs first, our wants, our desires, our goals, our ambitions, our work, our fill in the blank.
SPEAKER_01: And we kind of push God away, and then things get off track.
SPEAKER_01: That's always been the temptation in relationships.
SPEAKER_01: And just like the statue, like it's in the middle for everybody to see, like when you get married, like your relationship is on display for all to see, and you might be like, I didn't sign up for that.
SPEAKER_01: And nobody ever really does.
SPEAKER_01: But it's on display, and people notice and people see.
SPEAKER_01: And you set the example for what is at the center of your marriage.
SPEAKER_01: People know what is at the center of your marriage.
SPEAKER_01: They can tell.
SPEAKER_01: There was a um a couple weeks ago, I think it was two weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01: I married a couple and did their ceremony, and I was meeting with them in advance, and we were chatting about you know, I want this ceremony to reflect you.
SPEAKER_01: There's never been a couple like you before, so I want to make sure that this ceremony honors that.
SPEAKER_01: And what they told me was both of these people just recently came into a relationship with Jesus, like within the last two years.
SPEAKER_01: And it was through coming to church and getting to know Jesus that they met each other, and now they're getting married.
SPEAKER_01: And I think they're 30, 31.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and in their words, not mine, they because I'm trying to get to know a little bit of their story to personalize this message, and they just said, I don't think you want to know us before we met Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And they said, We weren't the best people.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Okay, that's fine.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but they said, But because of Jesus, we're here today.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, praise God for that.
SPEAKER_01: So we're kind of talking through their ceremony, and they continue to say, Um, hey, about 95% of the people that are going to be at this wedding don't know who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: And so the best thing that you can do for this ceremony is, yes, it's us getting married, but we want this to be all about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so we go into that ceremony and it's all about Jesus, and all these people who are looking at two people on the platform who, if they knew them from when they were younger or years past, are looking at two incredibly different people.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, they're wondering who they're looking at because it was so much about Jesus, they're wondering what wedding they're even at.
SPEAKER_01: They said, make it all about Jesus, because that's the only reason we're standing here today.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has to be at the center for everything else to work.
SPEAKER_01: Because whenever we share something, we are sharing a reflection of what is at the center of our lives.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot reproduce what you are not or what you don't have.
SPEAKER_01: And with all of this urgency in Isaiah 62, like, hey, we can't keep silent, we gotta keep, we gotta talk about this, that the king is coming, so we've got to prepare the way.
SPEAKER_01: Urgency and urgency, but in the middle of that, we cannot allow our urgency to share Jesus outpace our walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He has to stay at the center, and everything has to flow from that space.
SPEAKER_01: And I think the perfect example of this is actually what we already read in Isaiah 61, and in our band name that we're gonna jump back to.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna look at the oaks of righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: How does this help us understand this and live this out?
SPEAKER_01: Um okay, oaks are strong, they're durable, they're tall, they live a long time, they have inviting ecosystems.
SPEAKER_01: This is all great.
SPEAKER_01: Here's my favorite part about oak trees, though.
SPEAKER_01: Um, oak trees can drop up to 10,000 acorns in a season.
SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, I mean, oak trees are natural multipliers.
SPEAKER_01: They know if life is gonna extend upon them, if they're gonna have more ecosystems that can sustain more life and invite more people in, um, then I need to reproduce myself.
SPEAKER_01: And so they can drop up to 10,000 acorns a year.
SPEAKER_01: How many of those acorns do you think on average of the 10,000 turn into trees?
SPEAKER_01: Close.
SPEAKER_01: One one in 10,000.
SPEAKER_01: If one in 10,000 is your success rate in anything you do, you should stop doing it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: If you are a salesman and it takes you 10,000 calls, like you're gonna get fired.
SPEAKER_01: If you're shooting percentage, if you're like if you're batting at if one in 10,000 is your success rate, you should stop.
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's bad.
SPEAKER_01: If I were to tell you, for the person that you imagined coming out of the waters of baptism, if you knew that it would take planting 10,000 seeds into their life and they would say yes to Jesus, would you do it?
SPEAKER_01: The answer is absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: When can I start?
SPEAKER_01: Of course you would.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Jesus isn't a formula.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna tell you it's 10,000.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but what 10,000 tells me is I need to keep planting.
SPEAKER_01: I need to keep planting.
SPEAKER_01: So when it says Jesus came and binded up the brokenhearted, proclaimed freedom to the captives, released prisoners from the darkness, when he did that in our lives and he now calls us oaks of righteousness, what is implied is that you are now a multiplier of the very same thing.
SPEAKER_01: It is supposed to be foundational to who you are.
SPEAKER_01: It's supposed to be implied that you have an ecosystem that is inviting, that you are wider than you are tall, because it's not about who you are, it's about who you bring in.
SPEAKER_01: And an ecosystem with 2,300 different species of wildlife is God's gentle reminder to you.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I have come for all people and all nations and all tribes, and it's not for insiders, it's for outsiders.
SPEAKER_01: Does our life have that kind of invitation to people who don't know Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Well, as soon as I hear that they watch this news channel and that do you draw a line in the sand?
SPEAKER_01: Well, as soon as I hear that their stance is X and not Y, like, then you cut them off so that you can't plant any more seeds in their life so that they might come out of the waters of baptism and know Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: How narrow is your ecosystem?
SPEAKER_01: Does it need to widen?
SPEAKER_01: Oaks of Righteousness is not about how mighty you are.
SPEAKER_01: No, that's the agenda of kings of old.
SPEAKER_01: It actually all starts with the same way that Jesus walked on this earth, that he walked on this day, Palm Sunday, riding it on a lowly mule.
SPEAKER_01: It starts with humility.
SPEAKER_01: That's where our sharing and evangelistic strategy begins.
SPEAKER_01: It reminds me of John chapter 3, verse 30.
SPEAKER_01: It's one of my favorite verses on the planet.
SPEAKER_01: Here's John chapter 3, verse 30.
SPEAKER_01: He must increase so that I can increase.
SPEAKER_01: So that uh he can increase in my life so that I can increase my business and my influence and my capacity and my stature and my bank account.
SPEAKER_01: He must increase so that I can increase.
SPEAKER_01: No, that's not what it says.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you caught on.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 3, verse 30 says this he must increase, but I must decrease.
SPEAKER_01: The band is gonna come at this time, and we're gonna close out with what is my favorite worship song right now.
SPEAKER_01: It's called What a God.
SPEAKER_01: And as we worship together, I will in just a moment, I'll invite you to stand and whether it's you singing the words out loud, whether it's just taking a moment of reflection, whether it's coming up to pray, whatever posture that you need to take while we worship, while we close out with the song, um, What a God.
SPEAKER_01: And it's funny because this whole message, it's a it's about planting seeds.
SPEAKER_01: It's about taking every advantage and opportunity that we can to sow seeds into people's life, that we would do whatever it takes to see people rise out of the waters of baptism.
SPEAKER_01: But we have to start humbly at the feet of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's not about how mighty we become, it's about how mighty he becomes.
SPEAKER_01: That oaks of righteousness is not about how great I am, it's about the great I am.
SPEAKER_01: So I want us to start from a place of humility where we look up and we say, what a God that we get to serve, what a God that we have, that he would come to this earth and die on the cross for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I commit myself to you today so that I can more faithfully plant seeds for your kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to take that posture today.
SPEAKER_01: And if you have somebody in mind, begin praying for them.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe text them today.
SPEAKER_01: There's gonna be an invitation, you got your Easter cards on your way in.
SPEAKER_01: Plant the seed.
SPEAKER_01: There's a Good Friday invite on the back, plant the seed.
SPEAKER_01: God's inviting you to do that.
SPEAKER_01: He's called you oaks of righteousness so we can go and share with the people in our life.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast.
SPEAKER_00: If you're ready to take a next step in your faith, please reach out to us through our website at refineryohio.com, or you can email us at office at refineryohio.com.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you have a blessed day.