WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 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. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:22.719 Hey, we're starting a series today called Hello Life. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:24.879 Would you just go ahead and say that with me? 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.199 And literally, it's kind of like, Hello Life? 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:30.960 Like, hi, how are you? 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:38.560 I I just I just wonder, we spend so much of our lives trying to get our lives together. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:40.960 You know, what am I gonna do? 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:47.439 I have to make sure and get the right education, find the right career, find my person. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.439 We get our lives together, and then something happens in the process. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:57.520 It kind of feels like then life tends to like pass us by, doesn't it? 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.320 And you look back and like, well, where did life go? 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:01.039 What is life? 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:02.399 Is this really life? 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.200 How do I find life? 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:12.879 If life showed up, if life like just showed up, would I even recognize life? 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:15.760 I came across this quote on Instagram. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.480 That's where you find all of your great wisdom. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.879 Uh and so I deep dive in, you know, daily wisdom. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:25.359 So if you disagree with it, talk to the gram. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:26.400 Um here we go. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:33.439 It goes something like this though you cannot add more days to your life, you can add more life to your days. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:38.239 And everyone went, ooh, or a few of us did. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.000 Though you cannot add more days to your life. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:57.840 And the reality is, is we really can't, although there's a bunch of tech billionaires trying to say we can and doing a ton of research to say we can, and you know, whether it's transhumanity where we're gonna merge with be a cyborg and have, you know, digital immortality. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:59.280 That's a thing, by the way. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:00.959 Research it, weird. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:07.280 Um, but we can't add more days to our life. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:19.360 The uh couple years ago, I I received a book from Jenny that was, I and some of you know this already, so I apologize to bore you, but that was offensive. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:23.840 You ever got a gift from like someone and you're like, thank you? 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.240 Do I need this? 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:28.800 Do you think I need this? 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:36.639 And I remember when she ordered it because I I get the emails of the Amazon order, and I'm like, she doesn't need this. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.759 Why would she buy this book? 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:40.639 What in the world? 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:46.240 And then she gave it to me before we went on vacation, and I'm like, so you think I need this? 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.759 And the book is this it's called Younger Next Year. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.120 I've talked about it a few times. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:03:00.479 Great book, not a Jesus book in any way, really fun book, but How to Live Strong, Fit, Sexy, and Smart Until You're 80 and Beyond. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.840 And like the opening line of the book starts something like this. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.800 He said, Well, you're 50, in great shape. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.039 No, I'm 43, turning 44. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.280 You're 60, you're a weekend warrior. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:12.639 Yeah, I mean, it just goes on. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:17.759 Um, and then I'm like, wait a second, are you trying to tell me something? 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:23.759 You know, about I I thought I was, I'm not like in great shape, but I'm in decent shape. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.039 I can still play basketball and some of these sort of things. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:35.919 Well, she had heard a podcast that was talking about, hey, this book was really helpful because it struggled, he was struggling with getting injuries. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:39.199 I had a season of uh big injury proneness. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:40.800 I got injured a lot. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:42.960 So she's like, oh, this would be good for you. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:53.759 One of the premises of the book, though, is that you can't reverse aging, but most of what we see today isn't aging, it's decaying. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:02.400 And so there are practices and habits that we do to not decay, but and that's where you can live to your 80s and beyond. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:10.080 And we can't reverse age, uh, decaying, or aging rather, but we can do some things around this decaying stuff. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:15.360 And much of our activity today is how do we live longer? 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.199 How do I live healthier? 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:23.040 How do I live well into my 80s and beyond and have a quality of life? 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:31.759 And yet I think the question, the bigger question in all of that, is how do I add life to my days? 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:43.920 Okay, even if I add a little bit more days to my life, how do I add more life to my days? 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.079 How do I not just exist? 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:49.199 And that's how we kind of feel, isn't it? 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:57.680 I'm just existing, sleepwalking through life and move to truly living. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:03.199 We're gonna spend the next eight weeks in what's called the book of 1 John. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:06.319 Uh and it's really not a book at all. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:08.560 It's some people call it a letter. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.720 It's not even a letter, it's a sermon. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:14.319 It's the sermon of a guy named John. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:25.600 And so before we dive into the uh sermon today, I wanted to just give us an overview of the book of 1 John, because we're going to be spending eight weeks teaching through this book. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:32.720 And the book of 1 John was written by a guy, uh tradition has it as John the Disciple. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:34.720 Uh it's a sermon of his. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:47.199 He he wrote the Gospel of John, and this is where it gets a little confusing at times because you have in the New Testament, you have the Gospel of John, then at the end of the New Testament, you have one, two, and three. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:51.439 John, the first, second, and third John, and these are little letters. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.680 Uh, and this is John's sermon. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:10.399 He also wrote Revelation, and this is John's sermon that he wrote to a group of house churches in and around Ephesus, uh, about 50 to 60 years after the resurrection of Jesus, somewhere between 85 and 95 AD. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:17.199 John the disciple is in his 80s, maybe even in his 90s at this point. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:31.759 And he's writing back, and it's brilliant as we begin to read it and to understand the profound impact and intimacy and relationship he has and desire he has for the church to really know Jesus. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:38.879 And the reason he wrote this sermon is he was addressing false teaching that threatened the church. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:41.279 It was actually dividing the church. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.319 There was deep disagreement and disunity. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:50.639 And the the most of the false teaching was this idea or concept called Gnosticism. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.519 It comes from the Greek word gnosis, knowledge. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:58.560 And it meant to have a very special knowledge, a secret knowledge. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:03.759 You actually had to kind of build your way up these rungs of secret knowledge. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:12.240 At its core, Gnosticism would say that matter is evil, physical is evil, and the spirit or spiritual is good. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:19.680 And this teaching was undermining the actual who Jesus is. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:26.480 It was saying that Jesus wasn't really a human or a man, he was only spiritual or God. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:37.600 And in that it undermines the work of Jesus in our lives, that he became one of us, what we are, that he could make us what he is. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:52.240 And so the major themes of this book are really summed up in three words: life, truth, and love, all around this idea of fellowship with God and one another. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:52.720 Life? 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:54.319 What is really life? 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.759 And then the book is broken into two big halves. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:02.399 Uh, it's it's broken into God is light, and what does that mean for us? 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.079 What does that mean for our relationships? 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:06.560 What does that mean for our relationship with God and others? 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.959 And then the second half, God is love. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:12.639 And in light of God is love, what does that mean for us? 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:13.519 How do we live? 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.319 How do we connect with God and one another? 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.639 And so we're gonna be spending the next eight weeks. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:25.519 Here's what I want to ask you to do bring your Bible, bring a journal, bring a pen, and let's learn and grow together. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:37.200 I believe this is an incredibly important book, especially this fall, as I don't know about you, but I kind of find myself holding my breath to see what's gonna happen in our country. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:38.639 Anybody else? 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.279 And I'm actually holding my breath to see how Christians are gonna respond. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:44.720 Anybody else? 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:55.519 And I believe this is a deeply formative and formational book for us and how to respond and love and live the way Jesus did. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:58.960 Alright, so as we dive in, would you pray with me? 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.320 Heavenly Father, we welcome you here. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:18.159 We ask that you would speak to us, that you would have your way, that you would show us what you want to say, that you would uh meet us and change us, make us more like your son. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.720 And Jesus, get me out of the way. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:26.159 And would you speak real clearly in Jesus' name? 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:27.120 Amen. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.759 Uh the title today is Life is Here. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:33.759 Life is Here. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:46.799 And we're gonna cover the introduction in 1 John, four verses, and what he wants to do is help us understand three big things that you're created for. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.279 Like, what are you really created for? 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:50.639 Like life is here. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:52.399 What are you made for? 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:57.200 And the first thing that he's gonna say is that you are created for wonder. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:59.679 You are created for wonder. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:03.519 Wonder is the natural state of the human heart. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.960 It is something that we do as kids and we can't help it. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:22.000 You remember when you're little, and some of you may hopefully still have this, when the life was magical, there was mystery, and then we grow older and we grow out of it. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:29.840 I want you to notice John, who's 80 years old, writing about the wonder of Jesus. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:42.000 50 to 60 years after the resurrection of Jesus, he writes this introduction that just is like this explosion of his heart around wonder. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:43.600 Notice what he says. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:57.039 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:00.639 That which was from the beginning, that is speaking about Jesus. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:11.440 Jesus, that he is the one who existed from limitless eternity, has entered time, space, and taken up residence on earth. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.320 He's like the eternity one, the eternity stepped into history. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.080 And then you see this progression. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:20.399 This is how wonder works, by the way. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:32.559 And you see this progression into intimacy and knowledge and understanding, which we had heard, like I just heard something about it, like somebody telling you about an incredible uh sunset. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:33.919 I heard about it, that's amazing. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:39.759 Seeing, all of a sudden you get to see it, and it's this idea of I just got a glance of it. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:50.799 And then he goes even deeper, because this is the space, this is the moment of wonder that we heard, that we seen, and that we looked at. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:56.720 A better word is that we gazed, beheld. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:09.039 This word means to look at something or someone long enough as to understand the significance of that purpose or thing. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:15.600 Like I'm gonna behold, I'm gonna sit upon the ocean and take it in. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:25.360 I'm not gonna take a glance, I'm gonna take it in long enough as to understand the significance or the importance of that thing or person. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:32.159 That which was from the beginning, when I we we saw him, we heard him, and then we beheld him. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:38.399 We looked at him long enough, we lingered, we beheld, and then he says, What? 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.000 We have touched him. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:48.159 Now notice he's addressing this heresy, this false teaching that Jesus wasn't fully human. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:55.039 He's like, No, no, no, he wasn't some, you know, myth, some ghost. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:56.960 We touched him. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:12:59.039 He was real. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.960 We're talking about a real person in real time. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:16.639 That word touch is the same word that's used for someone who's blind that would touch someone to understand what is in front of them, to truly grasp with their senses. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:23.840 And this we we proclaimed concerning the word of life. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:25.919 And he goes on. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:38.480 The life appeared, we have seen it, we testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:51.679 We proclaim to you, not a speculation, we proclaim to you not a fable, not a myth, not some abstract appearance, but a historical person we call life. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.679 Four things about Jesus that draw our hearts to wonder. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:00.080 The first thing I want you to notice is Jesus is eternal. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:02.000 Jesus is eternal. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:08.480 Jesus is the eternal creator God who stepped into time and history, becoming fully man. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:14.399 That he's eternal, that the infinite life of God Himself took shape before us. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:15.279 Think about this. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:24.639 The infinite life of God took shape, that he's eternal, the eternal one who created all that there is stepped into time. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:34.799 That we begin to behold Jesus not as a good man, we make the opposite problem that they did in their day. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:40.559 We don't diminish Jesus' humanity, we diminish his deity. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.919 And that also Jesus is a real man. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:52.399 He is human. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:58.159 He took on flesh, he became, like we said earlier, he became one of us. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:10.720 The incredible truth that God with us, not against us, God for us, God came down among us to become one of us. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.960 Third thing I want you to notice, he says in here, Jesus is the word. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:26.559 If you're familiar with the gospel of John, he begins it this way: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:28.240 He was with God in the beginning. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:32.080 All things uh came through him and by him. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:37.279 This idea of word in in the Greek, it's the it's the word Lagos. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:46.000 And Lagos for Judaism, it meant the creative self-expression of God by which the cosmos were made. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:46.799 He is the word. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:48.159 It's the title for Jesus. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:54.320 He is the Lagos, he is the creative self-expression of God by which everything was made. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:00.960 In Greek thought, the Lagos is the divine reason that gives the universe coherence and purpose. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:06.879 He is the origin of it all, the reason of it all, the purpose of it all. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.440 This is Jesus. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:15.679 And I felt this last service, and I feel it now. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:24.320 Like this, I it's like trying to describe an incredible waterfall to somebody. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.440 Like it just falls flat. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:32.879 Trying to describe a breathtaking sunset. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.600 Like words don't even capture it. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:44.480 Oh church, that we would return to the wonder of Jesus. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:46.799 Be in all of him. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:54.080 Like he, like we would gaze, we would linger, that he would capture our hearts and our attention. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:01.759 The more you know Jesus, the more wonderful he becomes. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:10.240 The more we know him, the more you know of him, the more you sit with him, the more wonderful he becomes. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:15.200 And wonder is ultimately at its core the fuel of our worship. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:22.559 A worshiping church, a church filled with passionate worshipers, are in awe of Jesus and they walk in here. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:23.920 And I don't know why I'm here. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.000 All I know is by grace I'm here. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:40.960 I'm saved, I'm loved by the God of the universe who became one of us, walked this planet in humility, died on the cross in my place, and rose again to the third on the third day that I might have life. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:42.559 I don't get that. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:47.519 I don't understand that, and I'm in awe of that. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:54.960 Would you return to the wonder of Jesus? 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:59.759 Jesus is the word, and then it goes on. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.440 Jesus is life. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:05.359 Notice he said that life appeared. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:06.559 I love that. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:12.079 The way it's constructed in the Greek here is that this is the title of Jesus. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.799 It's not like it's life. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:17.599 This is where the title of this sermon series came from. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.640 Hello, life. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.480 Like Jesus appeared, and Jesus is life. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:25.119 He's not a way, just a way to life. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.359 He's not pointing, he's not talking about life. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:37.200 He is life itself, the ultimate origin of the universe, the sustainer of all that we see and understand. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:40.799 He is life. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:52.400 In fact, so following Jesus means entering into a way of life that is permeated with God's own life and love, beginning now and carrying on into eternity. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:58.880 To know Jesus is to know the creative God of life-giving and self-giving love. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.880 This is Jesus. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:04.960 Why do we lose our wonder? 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:06.880 You ever think about that? 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:07.680 I do. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.480 Why do we lose our wonder? 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.359 I mean, we grow out of some of it, don't we, as kids? 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.880 I think we lose it for maybe two reasons. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.119 One is our familiarity. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.160 You've heard it, familiarity breeds contempt, right? 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:28.480 We diminish the extraordinary for the ordinary. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:34.400 We become so familiar with something we no longer see the wonder in it. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.880 Have we become too familiar with Jesus? 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.359 That we've diminished him. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:52.400 That we just show up and we sing songs and we do our thing and just get a little bit of Jesus instead of go like, whoa! And we say, Oh my God. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:20:00.880 And we mean it because we're in awe that the creator of the universe has beckoned us in and welcomed us home. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:08.480 I think the other reason we maybe lose our wonder is unfamiliarity. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.240 Is we're just not familiar enough with Jesus. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.799 We dismiss the extraordinary for the ordinary. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.119 We look at it and go, well, it's not really that big of a deal. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.599 He's just an okay guy. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.039 He's done some good things. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.440 Where we just begin to dismiss it. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:31.440 And the invitation is you are created for wonder. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.319 It's hardwired into your DNA and design. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:43.680 It's the natural state of the human soul because you are created to worship and be in awe of Jesus. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:44.960 A.W. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:59.200 Tozer in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, says this secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the light in our souls and turned us into a generation of zombies. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.039 We cover our deep ignorance with words, but we're afraid to wonder. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.160 We're afraid to whisper a mystery. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:15.119 We live busy, hurried, noisy lives, don't we? 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:21.279 I think another reason we don't wander is we just don't have the space. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:22.240 We don't pause. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.240 We don't gaze, we don't hold. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:43.200 I was up at a leadership thing in Tahoe earlier this week, and with uh several uh pastors, and one night we're sitting in this back deck, and the guy who is leading it just turned off all the lights. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.440 Like, dude, it's dark, man. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:48.799 What are you doing? 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:59.759 He's uh he he he was a pilot uh for the Air Force and he began to explain some things, but he turned off all the lights. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.519 And it took a while for our eyes to adjust. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:08.160 But when they did, you know what we saw? 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:10.720 The heavens. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:12.880 Not a star. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:16.240 We see a star a time or two here in San Jose. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.480 We saw the heavens. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:29.039 The starry host just on display, saw satellites streaking across, and because we know that because he told us that's what it was. 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:30.000 I'm like, shooting star. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:31.200 He's like, no, it's not. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:32.559 Like, okay. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:23:01.440 And then as we saw the heavens, he began to explain that our eyes, in the intricacy of our eyes, that there is actually a chemical when you enter the dark that's released into your eyes that allows you to have night vision, to see in dim light, that the brain works in such a way as to transmit what's happening from the retina, to produce those images, to see and understand it all. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:16.319 And it's like, are you kidding me that right now we just had to turn off some of the exterior noise and some of the exterior lights to behold and to gaze the wonder that's always been there all around us all the time, but we walk past it. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:27.200 Beauty is not hard to find, but it is easy to overlook. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.720 And we just walk past the wonder. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:35.759 Would you create space to wonder afresh of Jesus? 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:38.640 You're created for wonder. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:47.759 The second thing that the Apostle John wants to say, life is here, is that you're created for fellowship. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:54.400 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:58.799 And our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:08.079 At the core of John's themes of life and love and truth is the undergirding so that we might have fellowship. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:15.359 In fact, you see that word, that words right there, so that it's the Greek word henna, it's a henna cause, it's a purpose statement. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:22.880 Generally, when we see the so that there, it's saying this is the reason, the purpose, this is why I'm writing. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:38.319 This is my point, is that you may have fellowship with us, that there's going to be fellowship here, and that we'll have fellowship with God, the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, that there's a vertical element to our fellowship and a horizontal element to our fellowship. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:40.240 You are created. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:45.599 I am created for fellowship, relationship. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:59.519 We worship the triune God, a God who exists in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and yet is one a mystery we can't understand. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:15.359 Who has existed for all of eternity in perfect fellowship and then made you in his likeness in the Imago day, you are hardwired and designed for fellowship. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:28.640 That word fellowship means to share something in common, to share a common life, this idea of communion, which is a oneness in community and partnership. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:33.039 In fact, we're going to take communion because here is the point of it all. 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:53.039 The reason we take communion and talk about it as communion, the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, is there's this oneness in community, not because of what we agree on, not because of what we disagree about, everybody else on, not because of what tribe or what language or what nationality. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:57.839 We have an uncommon unity in Christ's finished work. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:03.119 Jesus is the foundation for our fellowship. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:08.000 Not your political party, not your stage of life. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:15.839 Isn't it interesting that we have an older season of life and a younger season of life, and there seems to be a gap we cannot bridge? 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:22.799 There's not your cultural identity, not your economic standing. 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:24.559 Jesus is what he's saying. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:26.559 Jesus is the foundation. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:33.039 If we want to have fellowship, it has to be centered on Jesus and nothing else. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.200 We live in a world that uh elevates the religion of me. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:39.920 It's all about me, it's all because of me, it's all for me. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:43.440 It's a rugged individualism, it's autonomy. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:50.960 The highest good is individual freedom, happiness, self-definition, and self-expression. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:53.839 The only authority is found with the individual. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:00.880 Thus, there is no possibility of a sacred order, something that pulls us and binds us all together. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:20.799 And so we live these really independent, self-sufficient lives that push us farther and farther away from what we actually are designed for. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:25.359 One another's each other. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.359 And where we go, you know what? 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:34.160 The only thing we can agree on right here is Jesus. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:40.319 And the only thing that matters is Jesus. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:43.680 I guess I'm done. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:52.079 What if that was true of us? 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:08.559 What if instead of the people that we kind of unite with just agree with some of our political rantings, ideologies, our cultural assumptions? 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:15.119 Or they're just that crew that you love to just sit back and criticize everybody else with. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:19.119 Became a pastime since COVID, hasn't it? 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:23.200 Let's just talk about how everybody else is wrong and we're right. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.079 I've done it too. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:33.279 But what if our core reality was Jesus and nothing else? 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:38.799 And it doesn't matter where we've come from, it doesn't matter what we've done, it doesn't matter. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:40.400 It's like, no, no, no. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:42.079 Are you a Jesus follower? 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.839 Then let's just talk about him because that's what we have in common. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:29:01.759 And what we have in common at the table in front of us is that there is level ground at the foot of the cross, and we come to a Savior who loved you and who loved me, and we're all desperately broken, and he says, Come to the table, you're welcome. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.480 And we all sit at the table by grace. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:11.119 Jesus is the foundation of our fellowship with one another and with God. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:18.880 You're created for wonder, you're created for fellowship, and then finally, you're created for joy. 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:21.279 Do this for me. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:22.480 I didn't do this last service. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:23.599 This may be terrible. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:27.920 Would you just do give me the biggest fake laugh you could possibly give? 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:29.920 All right, three, two, one, go. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:35.519 That was kind of fun. 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:41.440 That you are actually think about this created for joy. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.960 We miss this in the church. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:50.319 John writes, we write this to make our joy complete. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:55.839 Another emphasis is your joy complete. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.119 We write this down that we would have complete joy. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:03.920 Like joy is the essence of life with Jesus. 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:08.960 It's the indelible mark of a follower of Christ. 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:15.119 Jesus in John 15, he's talking to his disciples. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:21.039 The night he's going to be betrayed, and he's talking to them about what's most important. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:27.200 And he says, abiding or remaining in me, being connected to me, that fellowship with Jesus. 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:29.680 And out of fellowship with Jesus comes joy. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.480 And he says, This I've told you these things. 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.880 And here John is picking up on this. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:36.720 I've told you these things. 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:38.960 That my, think about this, this is amazing. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:41.759 That my joy will be in you. 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:58.960 The eternal creator, God, the Lagos, life itself, joy will be in you, and that your joy will be complete. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:13.279 When I am connected to Jesus, when I'm in fellowship with Jesus, you don't try to be more joyful, you don't work harder to get joy. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:14.400 It says, no, no, no. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:16.880 It's just a consequence. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:18.480 It's the byproduct. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:19.839 It's the overflow. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.960 Because when I'm connected to Jesus, that's life. 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:27.359 Joy just overflows because joy is what Jesus is about. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:32.079 What is joy? 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:40.559 Joy is not the absence of pain or trials, it is actually the presence of Jesus. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:51.200 Joy is not the passing sensation of pleasure, but a pervasive sense of well-being that is infused with hope because of the goodness of God. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:54.000 Lewis Meads, I like how he says this. 00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:55.920 You and I were created for joy. 00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:59.759 And if we miss this, we miss the reason for our existence. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:07.599 Moreover, the reason Jesus Christ lived and died on earth was to restore us to joy we've lost. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:12.640 His Spirit comes to us with power to believe that joy is our birthright. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:16.720 Because the Lord has made this day for us. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:18.160 C.S. 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:23.279 Lewis sums up well what we've all been talking about this whole time. 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:27.039 If you want to get warm, you must stand near the fire. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:31.039 If you want to get wet, you must get in the water. 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:39.599 If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to or even into the thing that has them. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:45.039 They're not a sort of prize which God could, if he chose, just hand out to anyone. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:47.359 You're created for life. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.359 Jesus is life. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:52.000 You're created for fellowship. 00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:54.000 He is the foundation. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:00.400 He is the author and the perfecter of our faith, at the foundation of our fellowship. 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:02.720 You are created for joy. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:05.759 Jesus is his presence. 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:10.799 The essence of the Christian life is joy with him. 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:21.519 This week, I gotta be with someone that I think epitomized what we're talking about. 00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:30.640 Moves on from that, you know, just trying to get through life to like living. 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:33.519 That there's more life in her days. 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:47.920 It was one of my great honors as our prayer team, some of our leadership council, and me and Dave got to go pray with Arlette. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:50.480 You can see her there. 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:56.319 Arlette, a few years ago, was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrick's disease. 00:33:56.559 --> 00:34:01.119 It's a neurological disorder that affects the motor neurons. 00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:05.920 As neurons die, there's less ability to control your movements. 00:34:06.640 --> 00:34:09.440 This disease has ravaged her body. 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:13.440 It has stolen her voice. 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:15.920 She can communicate. 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:20.639 She only has her right hand that is mobile. 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:25.679 She can text an amazing technology. 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:28.719 She can use her eyes on the screen to write. 00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:35.760 I first got to know Arlette because she was a teacher of some of my kids at San Jose Christian. 00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:38.480 She's been a member of Awakening Church. 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:41.280 She serves on the prayer team. 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.039 She watches most Sundays. 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:52.480 After our prayer time over her, she talked about missing the fellowship of believers. 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:56.159 Our let's end this service today. 00:34:57.280 --> 00:34:58.960 Thank you for being here. 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:24.880 She shares her journey with an incredible witty sense, great sense of humor, deep honesty of the pain and the struggle. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:41.519 And through it all, just a faith and a hope speaks louder than what she could say. 00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:48.000 She's lost her voice, but her life is spoken so loudly. 00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:51.519 Life. 00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:54.400 Life is here. 00:35:56.320 --> 00:36:06.960 Arlette is someone, as I've gotten to see, she lives more fully than most of us because she's not distracted by all the trappings. 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:16.400 As we're leaving, she typed this out. 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:22.800 With AOS, it's a hopeless end. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:25.920 There's no cure. 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:39.840 And then she wrote this with Christ, I have an endless hope. 00:36:42.639 --> 00:36:44.000 That's life. 00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:50.800 I don't know what you're walking through. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:37:00.960 I don't know the pain that's in this room, but I was told once never underestimate the amount of pain in the room. 00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:12.239 And as I'm talking about joy, talking about fellowship, talking about wonder, you're just struggling through today. 00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:19.599 Would you come to the table? 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:23.920 Would you come to Jesus? 00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:30.239 He wants to meet you right where you are. 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:37.039 He wants to breathe life into that which is dead. 00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:41.679 He is the word of life, and so he brings resurrection, life. 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:51.440 He wants to bring hope, even those circumstances are hopeless. 00:37:53.679 --> 00:37:55.599 Would you come to the table? 00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:02.159 Let Jesus meet you. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:04.880 Would you behold him? 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:16.960 Would you take time and just in the tangible grabbing of the bread and the wine and just realizing I want to take hold of life. 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:19.360 I want to take hold of you, Jesus. 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:29.840 And where you would walk out of this room with that same declaration. 00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:36.960 With Christ, I have an endless hope. 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:41.920 Jesus, I pray for my friends. 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:52.159 We confess, we get so distracted, so busy, so hurried with things that feel like life. 00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:57.840 But you've been in front of us this whole time. 00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:02.320 We just needed to quiet the noise, turn the lights down just so that we can see you. 00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:11.360 In this moment, as we step into the moments of communion, that oneness with you that is exemplified at the table. 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:17.280 Holy Spirit, I ask that you would move in this room powerfully. 00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:21.119 That you would awaken our hearts to you. 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:29.360 That you would draw us to yourself, that we would see and behold and encounter your presence. 00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:33.119 We'd be shaped by you. 00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:39.599 We would experience your life. 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:41.440 In Jesus' name. 00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:47.039 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:51.679 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:53.920 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:39:54.159 --> 00:40:00.079 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.