WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:23.679 How would you um define paradise? 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:26.559 Like, like describe it. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:27.359 Just think about it. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:29.359 Like what is paradise? 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.960 Maybe who are mountain people? 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:34.079 Anybody mountain people? 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.880 Like you just, the majestic mountain, like that's paradise. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:37.359 Okay. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.439 How about beach people? 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:41.200 Okay, okay. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:42.799 We got more beach people this service. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:51.759 It was kind of split last service, not gonna lie, but um maybe maybe when you think of paradise, it's this, you know, picture perfect, quiet garden. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:52.880 Maybe it's a lake. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:56.880 It's the majesty, right, of the ocean. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.840 Um we think about paradise too, it's it's not just a place, but it's also a state of being. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:13.120 It's it's this sense of well-being and bliss and uh like joy and happiness and and harmony and and life is right. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:17.599 And we get like slices of that. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:18.719 We even talk about it, right? 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:20.719 You get a slice of paradise. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:28.319 Um, in fact, um, something for me that's like this is a little bit like I love I love competition. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:28.959 Okay. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:34.000 So in in paradise for me, like I love like to be competitive, right? 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:39.840 Um, I know on the strength finders, I like my number two strength is competition. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.239 Um, some of you didn't even know that was a strength. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:43.359 Uh well, you're welcome. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.079 You learned something. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:44.799 It's a strength. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.680 My wife doesn't fully agree it's always a strength. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.000 Um, but uh Friday. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:51.760 Friday was like a slice of paradise. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:52.640 We saw the sun. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.560 Remember that yellow thing in the sky that we pay so much money here for? 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:01.439 Like it was just beautiful sun, and Friday's my day off. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.120 Often, Jenny, I get just some time together, a little date day. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:06.239 And we tried something. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.800 We went, uh we live across the street from a park. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:10.240 There's pickleball courts. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.680 Um, anybody pickleballers you put okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.280 Um we've never tried it before. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:16.960 I don't even know if you say pickleballers. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:17.439 I don't know. 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:19.439 I'm sorry if I offended your community. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:20.639 Um, right? 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:26.639 Uh but but we went over there and we, you know, got in line. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:28.400 We we pick up pickleball. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:29.120 That's what we did. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:31.120 We got out there, we tried something new, we're out. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:32.639 It was so much fun. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.159 It was beautiful, this competition, so I enjoyed that. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.159 It was new, so my wife enjoys that. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:39.439 That's part of paradise for my wife. 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:41.360 She just loves new and adventure. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:42.639 And then it was so nice. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:48.240 We went out uh, you know, on a bike ride in our neighborhood, and just was like one of those days. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:52.000 And we get those from time to time, don't we? 00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:05.599 Just one of those days, like this slice of paradise, of perfection, of beauty, this breathtaking, of moments that are meaningful and matter. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.879 The longing of the soul is for paradise. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:19.360 Hardwired deep inside each of us is this longing, this desperation for paradise. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.479 And we get glimpses of it, don't we? 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:28.479 We get moments of it, and yet the reality is, is in this life it's fleeting. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.159 They're passing. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.639 They're pictures of like, oh, that's what life could be. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.199 Oh, that's what life should be. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:56.879 Taking in the grandeur of the mountainscape, or taking in the beauty and the expanse and the wonder of the beach and the ocean, you sense the majesty of it all and your smallness, and you're once more brought into the reality of God's beauty and creation. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:00.719 The soul longs for paradise. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:10.240 And yet it's so often just beyond our grasp, where we just don't get a hold on to it very long, do we? 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:17.199 How can you find the paradise your heart truly longs for? 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:24.959 Where you actually can hold it and it takes hold of you. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 And then we live in this world, right? 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:34.160 Um, well, that's hard. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.600 A paradise lost, a paradise broken. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:49.040 And what do you do when life doesn't turn out the way you hoped, the way you dreamed, the way you longed for. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:59.360 You know, the um antithesis to paradise is crucifixion. 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:07.199 Um we're in a series called Savior, where we're looking at Jesus' final words from the cross. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:11.439 Each week, these are Jesus' sermon, basically from a cross. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:12.720 He has seven sayings. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:14.879 The pulpit is his cross. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:24.079 And in this moment of crucifixion, by the way, the Romans perfected torture in the ancient day that stands up to today. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:30.160 Historically, this is the most painful, anguishing way to die. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:48.879 Uh, even in our English word, um, the English for the most painful thing that we can experience is the word excruciating, which means out of or from the cross, as painful as the cross. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.160 That Jesus is in a moment of anguish. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:06:14.639 He is hanging on a cross and he's crucified between two criminals as people are on looking in disgust and horror because a crucifixion, it was um like today we talk about it, and in fact, we have gold chains that hang on our necklaces around it. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.639 This was something that you wouldn't speak of in polite society. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:25.519 It was that it was almost worse than a curse word. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:35.040 Only the criminals, the most violent criminals and slaves, the worst of the worst, no Roman citizen would be executed this way. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:48.879 And there's a crowd watching in disgust, and then in the middle of that scene, in the middle of that moment, paradise came up. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:56.079 Jesus starts to talk about paradise. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:01.600 We pick up the story in Luke chapter 23, verse 39. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:09.600 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:12.240 Aren't you the Messiah? 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:14.959 Save yourself and us. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.199 But the other criminal rebuked him. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:21.600 Don't you fear God? 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:32.240 Since you're under the same sentence, we are punished justly for what we're for we're getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:41.360 Like we know about him, we've seen him, we've heard of him, and people know about us and why we're here. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:47.680 Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:56.800 And Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:14.160 Between two criminals, Jesus makes a staggering promise to one of them that if true, awakens the soul to the paradise we've longed for and addresses the problem of a life not turning out how we hoped. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:20.240 The longing of the soul is for paradise. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.560 And the thief, the life didn't turn out the way he had hoped. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.759 It's not the way as a child he envisioned it to be. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:31.519 Obviously, he made some bad choices. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:32.879 He even owns up to that. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.960 He's getting what he deserved. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:54.159 He's hanging upon a cross, he's his life is being cut short, and yet in that moment, he is getting promised something from Jesus that he thought was beyond his grasp or reach. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:16.240 And in our time together, I just want to make a few observations that help us experience and step into the reality of the paradise that Jesus actually invites you and me into today. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:24.000 And the criminal actually, the very first thing, he hints at this, and then Jesus affirms this. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.039 The first thing I want you to notice is this. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.759 Now is not all there is. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:31.759 Now is not all there is. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:45.759 Notice that the the thief next to Jesus says, When you come into your kingdom, when you come back, there's there's a time, and I know we're being executed, but death is not the end of the story. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.759 I don't believe it's the end of the story. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:49.360 Now is not all there is. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.799 And Jesus says, by the way, you'll be with me in paradise. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:58.000 Even though we're gonna die, you're going to live forever with me. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:00.240 Now is not all there is. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:03.600 We are made for eternity. 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:11.039 In fact, Ecclesiastes 3.11 says it this way: that God has actually set eternity on the hearts of humanity. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:20.639 Like it's inside of us, and we have this inkling, we have this reality, we have this, there's more to life than just this life. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:25.039 Let me ask you, what do you believe happens when you die? 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:37.519 You know, uh there's a Pew Research study that uh went researched Americans' belief around the afterlife. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.519 73% of Americans believe in a heaven. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:44.799 62% believe in hell. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:49.120 One in six Americans don't believe in any afterlife, about 17%. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.720 33% believe in reincarnation. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.639 You're more likely to believe in reincarnation if you're younger. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:07.679 Roughly three-quarters of America believe, says they believe, now is not all there is. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.600 And yet here's the reality, and this is what our culture tells us. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.000 This is how we live. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:15.759 Now is all there is. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:21.039 We live as if now is all there is, that all you have is today. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.159 Right? 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.639 If now is all there is, then you have to get your paradise now. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:31.279 You have to hold on to it, you have to grasp it, you have to escape to it. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.200 YOLO, right? 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.519 Come on, you only live once, seize the day. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.200 If now is all there is, if this one moment? 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:42.240 Did you know? 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:43.039 Think about this. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:44.799 This is insane, by the way. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:50.559 Uh, this isn't all of us, but uh did have you research just type this into the Google, okay? 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:51.200 Do this. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:52.080 This is great. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.799 Uh yeah, not do it into the Google. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:55.759 That's right. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.240 Billionaires trying to live forever. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:05.600 Just type that in. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.320 It's fascinating. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.240 It's absolutely fascinating. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:21.120 One billionaire, Brian Johnson, you may have heard of, he's a little um he is literally getting younger blood transfusion to live, yeah, from his son. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.519 Uh to live longer. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:27.759 Peter Thiel also, all in AI. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:35.279 How can we upload our consciousness to AI when the singularity happens so we can become immortal? 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:37.279 Why? 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:46.639 Because there's a fundamental belief that now is all there is, and so I have to make the most of now, and I have to hold on to now, and I have to get my now. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.120 And I have to create my paradise now. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:04.879 It creates a self-centered scarcity mindset that I gotta get mine because you might get it at first. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:13.519 First observation, the longing of the soul for paradise now is not all that there is. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:20.960 And yet at the same time, this moment is all we're guaranteed. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:33.120 This moment, thief on the cross knew with crystal clarity, like few of us know, death was moments away. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:36.960 Was this his last breath? 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.000 Would he be able to breathe more? 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.279 Would he be able to speak more? 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:43.279 Would he have enough to ask a question? 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.360 He would make the most of this moment. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:54.960 You know, when I was writing this originally, I wrote, today is not, you know, is all we're guaranteed. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:57.600 And I'm like, that's just not true. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:01.120 Life is made up of moments. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:13.679 What makes life meaningful for us is our memories of those moments that we're able to recall and remember it, but we're just given these flicking moments, these passing moments, like right now, and then it's gone. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:20.879 This moment is all that we're guaranteed. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:31.840 You know, um, one of my mentors when I first started out in ministry, Dan Kimball, he's the first person that hired me uh in ministry. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:41.200 He gave me one of the strangest gifts, and I I got rid of it because it creeped my family out, but he gave me a ceramic skull. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.480 And I was like, oh, thank you. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:15:06.960 And then he began to tell me, and it's true, the ancient philosophers, the poets, the stoics, and the early Christian fathers, they would keep a skull on their desk to remind themselves of the brevity life and the reality of death. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:15.840 Moses in Psalm 90 would say it this way teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:26.240 And the truth is in our culture, we may not be doing blood transfusions, okay, that's for the billionaires, but what we try to do is mass death so we don't see it. 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:32.720 And so we don't live in that reality, and as a result, we don't live wisely or well. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.799 We treat time as if we have all the time in the world. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:39.840 This moment. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.000 Life's just far more fragile. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:59.120 You don't have to look far. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.399 And often you don't have to look beyond your own life. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:09.840 Uh on Friday, Jenny and I just got really, really tragic, sad news. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:26.320 Uh her dear cousin that she grew up with, her son, who's a 10-year-old playing baseball, after practice, going home, got hit by a car and was killed. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.600 And we live across the street from a park. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.360 Yesterday was opening day. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:35.600 Life is just far more fragile. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.759 Oh, church, think about what would change in your life. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:54.720 If you realize that there's more to life than just here and now, but all you get and all that you have is guaranteed this one moment. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:17:04.480 And so instead of just living life however, thinking you can do it later, you would make the most of this moment. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:16.559 The other thing we see, this is a hard one. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:28.400 The criminal, remember the conversation the criminal is having with the other criminal, and basically tells the guy who's ridiculing Jesus, shut up, right? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:36.319 And then he says, for we're getting what we deserve. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:42.640 By the way, left to ourselves, we're destined to get what we deserve. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.480 Left to ourselves, we're just destined to get what we deserve. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:52.079 And I think sometimes when we think about that, the reality is like, well, what's the problem? 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:53.200 I'm a pretty good person. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:54.000 I do okay. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:18:00.240 Yeah, I've hurt some people, I've lied some things, but overall, I'm I'm a decent human being. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:06.240 And then you read a passage like this, Romans 6.23, where it says, for the wages of sin. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:19.359 Sin is this idea of not just the harm or bad things or hurt that we've done to others, it's also like a cancer that we carry. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:21.519 It's just a part of who we are. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.319 It's death. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:39.119 Like the absurdity and destruction and the violence of death that we experience, the reason we put it off, the reason you know we mask it with, you know, Botox, and no, no shame if you're doing that. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:39.599 That's fine. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:40.799 I know a lot of people do that. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:53.359 Uh, and all other things that you're like just trying to like stave off the focus of death, the reason we do that is because it's so violating, because we know we were made for more. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:19:03.599 And that abrupt end at the because we live in the land of the shadow of death. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:09.359 Of separation, of heartache. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.839 See, left to ourselves. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:14.880 We're just destined. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:20.720 Sin, the cancer that we carry that has infected the world, that's infected you, and it's infected me. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:22.880 It's just the end is death. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.960 There's a biblical salvation story. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.519 This is the story of God actively working to redeem and restore. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.720 It begins this way in creation. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:38.160 God created everything. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:43.200 And he says, in the beginning, by the way, God created this is good news, by the way, because you're not an accident. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:50.559 You have purpose, you have meaning, you have value because you have a creator who designed you. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:13.839 And his original intent and design was to be in the garden, walking with humanity in paradise together, where we're one with God and each other, intimacy and harmony with people and with God, well-being, breathtaking, beauty, purpose. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:19.759 And then we see what theologians call the fall. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:25.519 Whereas humanity, we go, we just want to do it our own way. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.000 And God says, just have your way. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.680 And sin entered, chaos, cancer, death. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:48.480 And the beauty of the gospel is that we are not waiting or working or trying to make our way back to God. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:53.759 But that Jesus, the Creator, hung on a cross. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:02.160 He literally came, stooped down to earth, and took on the greatest enemy humanity ever faced, death itself. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:16.880 And then he defeated the grave that you and I might have life, so that he could say to that criminal today, today, today, you will be with me. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:21.440 Promise of presence and relationship in paradise. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.720 Creation, fall, salvation, heaven. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:33.759 I think a lot of Christians don't really know what heaven's like. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:37.119 Otherwise, you'd be way more excited about it. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:49.440 Somewhere in our mind, we think heaven is like where there's a bunch of pillowy clouds, some dudes with harps and gals with harps, and there's lots of singing. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:51.920 There is singing, Robbie, so don't worry, they're still singing. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:54.480 Right? 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:57.599 It's this picture, and it sounds awful. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.519 It does. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.839 Like some disembodied, like living. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:12.480 Heaven is the new Eden, the return to the garden, the new creation. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:15.440 It's gritty, it's real, it's tangible. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:22.240 You know, when my kids were little, the way I explained heaven was this way. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:29.519 Heaven is the very best that earth has to offer, and way, way better. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:33.200 It's the very best. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:38.799 Like you love breathtaking majestic mountains, you love the ocean, you love pickleball. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:40.559 It's the very best. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.000 And way, way better. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.160 You can't even fathom it. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:47.599 It's paradise. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:53.440 It's what your heart's been longing for and hoping for. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:23:07.200 It's the ache of our soul because we live in the shadow of death, and it's him saying, I am restoring and returning and making all things right, where there is no more sorrow, there is no more pain, there is no more sin. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:13.680 There will be right relationships where people will no longer lie to one another, but they'll love one another. 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:18.880 The biblical salvation story. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.079 And the truth is, is we all need saving. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:27.920 And we're all trying to save ourselves. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:40.319 And there's another salvation story at play in our culture because we're constantly trying to figure out how do we fix ourselves and fix what's going on in me and around me. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:50.079 And that's I want to call actually Mark Sayers, uh Australian uh pastor author calls it the secular salvation story. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:24:00.720 And it starts with elements, and it's not that there's some elements that are very true in here, but it's how can I save myself? 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:05.839 The secular salvation story starts with your true self, your inner child. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:08.880 It's this place of innocence. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:14.160 It's the belief that humanity is basically intrinsically good. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:24.960 And the gospel, the Bible actually says that you're made in the image of God in the fall, you actually, we all have a sin nature. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:34.160 We are image bearers of God, and there's a distortion, and that we actually have brokenness inside us. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:39.599 That's why every toddler, you never taught a toddler how to lie. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:42.720 You've never taught a toddler how to say mine. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.599 It's just hardwired in to our DNA. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:57.359 Secular salvation story says there's this true self-age of innocence, and then trauma, and certainly we've all experienced trauma that's been done to us. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.160 That there's this trauma that robs you of your innocence. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:06.559 And I just want to be clear, there is truth to that there. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:13.839 And in the secular salvation story, there is the sin is the binding commitments. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:19.039 Society that puts its societal pressure norms. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:32.799 And so if you can just be free of the binding commitments, free of your commitments to your family, of your job, of whatever thing that is holding you back or holding you down, then you will be in paradise. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:36.559 And there's this rediscovery of your true self. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:39.599 We talk about it like I'm gonna go find myself. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:41.440 I need to look within myself. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:43.680 And we're constantly focused on who? 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:45.519 Ourselves. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:47.680 The centeredness. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.880 And the end goal is pleasure and happiness. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:55.759 And again, there is nothing wrong with pleasure and happiness. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:00.640 It just, friends, is a terrible end and goal. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.559 And here's what Christians do, here's what we do. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:17.039 We take Jesus instead of being our rescuer, our redeemer, like I can't do any of this, I'm stuck, I need help. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:24.400 What we do is we we use Jesus like a tool or a technique to rediscover ourselves. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:26.799 Like a guide. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:32.480 I don't need good news of what you did, I need good advice. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:35.359 Just give me some more good advice. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:38.559 And Jesus says, no, no, no. 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:41.359 It doesn't work that way. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:43.839 And aren't you tired? 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:50.400 Because the end result of what we're experiencing is so much anxiety and depression and overwhelmedness. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:54.480 And if it's up to you to save yourself, aren't you exhausted? 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.799 And Jesus says, I could take that for you. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:01.839 I've come for you. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:07.680 I finished it for you. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:20.880 John Stott, theologian, says this grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to rescue, God giving himself generously in and through Jesus. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.440 I love this by the way. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:24.640 There's two thieves. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:26.160 There's two responses to Jesus. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:28.480 We all get a response to Jesus. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:32.640 Um but the one thief, notice this. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:34.799 He said, Remember me. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.319 And did you notice what Jesus didn't say? 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.039 He didn't say, um, it's too late. 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:49.200 Like, seriously, you're gonna ask now? 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:52.720 Kind of in the middle of something. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:57.599 Like, what did you do with your life? 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:02.799 I mean, look at you. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:04.799 Oh wow. 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:10.000 What were you thinking? 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:14.319 He didn't give him a list of to-dos. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:16.400 He didn't tell him, well, you need to fix this up. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:21.119 He didn't tell him you've done so many things bad that there's no hope for you. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:23.039 He didn't do any of those things. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:24.000 You know what he did? 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:28.640 The minute the thief, the criminal, just said, remember me, he said, today. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:37.119 Because all that it takes is Jesus, will you rescue me? 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:40.559 And he says, Today you'll be with me. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:50.799 Grace is God loving, God stooping, God coming to rescue, God giving himself generously in and through Jesus Christ. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:54.960 Lessons we learn. 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:02.960 And friends, here's the good news. 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:09.440 We live in the shadow of the valley of death. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:15.279 And the paradise our heart longs for is found in Jesus alone. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:31.759 That inkling, that longing, that that nudge, that that breathtaking moment, that that moment of transcendence and deepened relationship, that's all pointing to one person, one moment, one longing. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:35.119 It's Jesus. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:42.000 Not Jesus plus Jesus. 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:44.400 Just Jesus. 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.319 We add so many things to it. 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:57.759 Well, Jesus plus my work, Jesus plus that relationship, and I give it freely. 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:14.319 And then he said to him, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:17.200 Rescue me. 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.640 By the way, this is gonna sound a little funny. 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:28.400 Only needy people experience the rescuing of Jesus. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.519 Until you recognize your need and go, I'm needy, you won't experience Jesus. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:37.359 And that's many of our problems. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:46.720 Because we're still trying to save ourselves, still trying to fix ourselves, still trying to say, I can good my way to God, or I can get my way out of this, I can figure out my own paradise. 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:54.880 Only needy people experience the rescuing grace of Jesus. 00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:56.799 Jesus, remember me. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:00.000 I am at my last ditch effort. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:03.680 I can't go anywhere, and I know I'm moments away. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.759 By the way, we're only guaranteed this moment, we're all moments away. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:23.039 And Jesus answered him, truly I tell you, today you'll be with me in paradise. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.680 Paradise is interesting, it's it's a Persian word that Jesus used here. 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:30.960 By the way, this kind of little geek fact. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:37.839 Um the first people to come up with crucifixion were the Persians. 00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:40.400 It's funny that he would use this word. 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:43.519 But paradise means heaven. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:52.480 We often think of it this way, but it also, the original meaning for the Persians was a walled garden of the king. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:54.160 Think about this. 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.079 The criminal says, Remember me in your kingdom. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:08.079 Like, I don't know how this works, but if there's any chance, I'm just gonna reach out and hope it's my lifeline. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:11.680 I'm just gonna ask, could I kind of squeak into the kingdom? 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:13.440 Can I get into the back door? 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:17.039 I know I don't deserve it, but can I somehow kind of squeak in there? 00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:21.759 And Jesus says this, no, you're not squeaking in, you're not just eeking in. 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:27.839 Today you'll be with me in the king's palace, in the garden of the king. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:36.240 Because there are no second-class citizens in heaven, and there is no one who just barely got in. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:42.079 We all are desperately in need of the rescuing grace of Jesus. 00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:45.759 See, Jesus gives us far more than we could ever imagine. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.759 He gives us far more than what the thief even asked for. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:53.839 Like, I just want to try to get in. 00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:56.480 And Jesus says, You're with me. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:32:59.359 You're with me. 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:07.039 The longing of the soul is for paradise. 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:08.880 C.S. 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:20.240 Lewis wrote this: if I find in myself a desire which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world. 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:24.559 I'm a pastor. 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:26.559 I didn't need to tell you that. 00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:40.000 But as a pastor, sometimes get like odd receptions or greetings from people, especially in Silicon Valley. 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:44.799 Years ago, um Jenny and I were on a date on a Friday night. 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:49.119 We're walking in downtown Lil Glenn, and we decide to kind of go up to the table. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:49.920 It's packed out. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:52.000 We know we didn't have a reservation or anything. 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:54.720 We just gonna see if we can kind of get in a little bit. 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:59.440 And um as we go up, uh we're walking, there's this patio. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:04.880 I mean, just it's a Friday night, it's packed, it's loud, there's people everywhere. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:07.599 And all of a sudden I hear this line. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:12.639 This lady yelling, you can't save me. 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:17.039 I'm like, oh, you can't save me. 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:20.159 And then all of a sudden we see our neighbor. 00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:23.280 Thankfully, she's hilarious, by the way. 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:25.199 She's got a great sense of humor. 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:33.599 Um, but she's with a whole bunch of friends that we don't even know, and she just sees me and she's like, you can't save me! And I'm like, oh hello. 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:38.880 And then she's like, um, yeah, hey, this is that uh, you know, uh surfer pastor dude I was telling you about. 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:57.920 The truth is though, all of us get a respond to Jesus in one or two ways. 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:05.440 It's either Jesus save me or you can't save me. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:13.760 Jesus, rescue me, or I'm gonna keep rescuing myself. 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:27.199 And there's plenty of people in the church who have been working hard trying to continue to rescue themselves, getting a little bit of Jesus, but not saying, I need you. 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:29.039 Rescue me. 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:34.239 And as we close, I just want to give an opportunity. 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:54.159 If you're here and you've never accepted the invitation of a God who loves you, who came for you, who died for you, who defeated death, invites you in and says, today you will be with me in paradise. 00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:00.400 The gift of God is eternal life, both now and forever. 00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:10.079 I just want to invite you, if that's where you're at, would Jeby, all pray with me, close your eyes, bow your head, and just pray this prayer with me. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:15.280 Jesus, will you rescue me? 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:20.400 I believe you came for me. 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:28.559 You died for me and defeated the grave that I might have life in you forever. 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:37.519 Would you come into my heart and make me new? 00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:51.119 If you wouldn't mind just keeping your eyes closed, and if you prayed that prayer, would you would you just raise your hand so I could know and pray over you? 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:51.920 Amen. 00:37:01.760 --> 00:37:08.320 Ah, Jesus, I pray for my friends and those who stepped from death to life. 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:18.000 Who asked you to rescue them and your response is today, not tomorrow, not later, not fix up your life today. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:20.159 You're with me. 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:26.559 Thank you for the new life. 00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:32.639 Thank you for your healing and your hope. 00:37:54.079 --> 00:37:57.039 Live with an urgency. 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:04.639 The hurting broken world needs to know your grace and your love. 00:38:08.559 --> 00:38:10.880 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:15.440 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:17.679 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:23.679 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.