WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 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 --> 00:00:08.560 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.000 Kicking off a brand new series today called Foundations. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.440 Would you go ahead and just say that with me? 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.399 Foundations. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:26.160 That's what I thought. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.079 I didn't think anybody was with me. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:29.600 Let's try it again. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:30.399 Foundations. 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:32.719 Perfect, thanks. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:35.200 Alright, here we are. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:37.920 Life's wild. 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.000 You ever thought about that? 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:41.840 This is wild to me. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:42.560 I don't get this. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:44.079 Some of you, you don't care. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:48.719 January, I celebrated my 44th birthday. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:50.399 Thanks. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:51.119 Thanks. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:52.719 It just means I'm old. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.600 I have a sophomore in college. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.920 I have a senior who's turning 18 this month. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:06.079 I have a freshman turning 15 in two months. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:14.719 In the very near future, we're gonna be having a house with no kids in it. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:16.640 Clap. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:28.000 And my wife and I literally were having conversations almost like back from the beginning of like, what is life after kids? 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:30.319 And it feels a little bit like this. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:36.560 It feels a little bit like when you graduated from high school, or when you graduated from college. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.159 There's all those questions that are thrown at you, right? 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.000 You remember this, or maybe you're in this season where, like, where are you gonna go to school? 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.319 What are you gonna major in? 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:52.079 Um, you're graduating from college, what are you gonna do with your life? 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:53.439 You're like, well, that's a big question. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:54.159 I don't know. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:55.519 I'm 22. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:56.640 What do you mean? 00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:58.959 Like, where are you gonna live? 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:01.680 How are you gonna go about like what's your purpose? 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:02.879 What's your point? 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:18.479 And in the midst of all those questions that get thrown at us that we that we deal with and wrestle with, there's one question that we often miss, we forget, and it's vital. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.879 And it's simply this what are you building your life on? 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:27.599 Like, what is the foundation of your life? 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:28.960 Like, what is the thing? 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:34.000 Oh boy, that was heavier than I thought. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:36.960 I gotta work out now that I'm 44. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:58.000 Like the truth is, and we get this, all of us are building our lives on something, but rarely do we take time to ask the question like, what is the thing or what are the things that our lives are being built upon? 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.599 And wouldn't it be amazing? 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:11.039 Wouldn't it be amazing if we had a manual or a guide to help us navigate life well? 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:26.319 Like when we're thinking about what we build our lives upon, we often build it around, you know, maybe it's our career, uh being successful, upward mobility, financially free or secure, right? 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.240 Uh I want to retire early. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:29.840 That's the reason I'm in the valley. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:41.759 Um, maybe it's around adventure or experiences, your family, your kids, happiness, pleasure, self-actualization, be the best version of you. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.479 And then we're wondering, how do you do that? 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.120 We're in a six-week series beginning today called Foundations. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:58.960 And what we're doing, we're actually going back to the very beginning of the Bible. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:04.560 We're gonna spend actually the entire year in this book called Genesis or Beginnings. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.800 And this series is actually just in Genesis chapter one. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:15.599 If you read it today from our perspective, it's it sounds like how everything began. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.759 It's the creation story. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:26.480 And yet, if you were reading it as the original audience, you wouldn't be asking the question, how everything began. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:28.720 They asked a different question. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.360 And it's actually a much bigger question and more important for us today. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:42.000 Instead of how did it all begin, like that scientific explanation, those are important, but they would ask, why does it exist? 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.360 And why does it matter? 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:49.920 And actually, Genesis chapter one is answering that question. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.399 It's answering the question, why are you here and why does it matter? 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:03.920 What are the foundation blocks that build your life, that you are to build our lives upon? 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:15.600 We're gonna spend six weeks unpacking these foundational areas to build a life, to experience flourishing that God desires for us. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:22.800 And so, if you got your Bibles or you got your notes, would you open up to Genesis chapter one, verse one? 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.839 We're just gonna talk about verse one today. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:28.720 And um, verse one begins this way. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.240 And wouldn't you do this for for me? 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.920 Would you go ahead and just read it aloud with me? 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:34.959 Okay, you ready? 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:35.680 You with me? 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:36.160 You ready? 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:36.800 Read, ready? 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:37.600 Okay, all right, right. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:38.959 Okay, here we go. 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:40.720 In the beginning. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:46.480 In the beginning. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.879 It's not a scientific manual, it's a theological masterpiece. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.360 That one sentence is amazing, by the way. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:11.680 That one sentence isn't just an introduction, it's actually outlining one of the most core foundation pieces for us to build our lives upon. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:16.959 The Bible begins this way, not with humanity, not with philosophy or with science, but with God. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.560 Before there was time, space, or matter, God existed. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.360 He's a part of, he is not a part of creation. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:24.639 He actually caused it. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:26.959 He is the uncaused cause. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:28.160 What does this mean? 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:29.120 Why does this matter? 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:31.920 Foundation block building our lives upon. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:37.040 God is the center of it all. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:46.720 Biblical foundation for this is that God is the center of it all, meaning that in the beginning, what does it say? 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:48.079 In the beginning, what? 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:48.800 God. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:50.399 Okay, we gotta be with me today. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:51.120 Gotta be with me. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.000 In the beginning, God, yeah, God. 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:55.120 That's it. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.240 Not in the beginning, Ryan. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:01.040 Not in the beginning, Jenny. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:02.639 These are just my wife's name. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.160 Fill in your name. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:15.360 In the beginning, God, like everything exists because of God, meaning that God is actually eternal and self-existent. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:23.920 Most other ancient origin stories around the world's creation, creation, things were created out of conflict. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.319 The God's at war, and somehow creation came into being. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:36.240 The Genesis narrative is fundamentally different, that the universe was not created out of war but peace, and a God who spoke. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:42.879 The universe does not depend on God for his existence, but God does. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.600 The universe depends, and let me say that again. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:53.839 The universe depends on God for its existence, but God does not depend on the universe for his. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:00.879 There is nothing before God, and there is nothing more basic or fundamental than him. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:07.040 Foundation block number one for us is as we're building our lives in the beginning. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:08.639 What are you going to build your life on? 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:10.160 And we have all these sort of things. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:14.240 He's saying, in the beginning, oh, God. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.199 Like God's the center of it all. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.439 It all began because of him, it's all begun for him. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:25.439 He started it. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:27.360 Now, why is this important? 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:31.120 Because our cultural foundation today is simply this. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.559 We begin today, not in the beginning God, but in the beginning you. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.440 Because what fundamentally life is all about you, isn't it? 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:44.159 Live your best life. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.720 Hey! YOLO, you only live once. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:47.440 Come on. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:48.320 Right? 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.559 It's all about you, it's all because of you, it's all for you. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:57.600 You get to define whatever you want. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:03.759 Sociologists and philosophers say that we live in the age of autonomy. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.399 Expressive individualism. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:13.519 Defined this way: that the highest good is the individual freedom, happiness, self-definition, and self-expression. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:16.639 The only authority is the individual. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:18.159 The only authority is you. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.639 There is no sacred order, no God, no higher truth. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:27.440 Any structure or authority that restricts personal autonomy must be removed. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:32.799 Don't you dare tell me how to live my life. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.440 Now, none of us carry this definition around with us, do we? 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:45.679 We carry something more simplistic called street philosophies. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.759 They go something like this. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.399 Live your truth. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:52.000 Right? 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:53.120 Live your truth. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:57.120 There is no higher authority, there is no absolute truth. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.000 You define reality, just live your truth. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:01.440 Be true to you. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:02.559 Come on. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:05.440 You deserve to be happy. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:06.799 Right? 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:08.159 You deserve to be happy. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:08.480 Why? 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.600 Because the highest good is individual freedom and happiness. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:13.519 The highest good is your happiness. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:18.799 So do whatever makes you happy. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:22.399 Follow your heart. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:25.600 Why? 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:29.919 Because there is no outside authority but you. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:32.879 You do you. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:35.440 See, we carry these around. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:49.600 This is actually the framework and the foundation culturally, the waters that we're swimming in that we accept as that is the core to life and how we are to build our life. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.159 Here's what happens: it's what's interesting. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.919 That's fundamentally an atheistic or agnostic worldview. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.759 It's called secular humanism. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:02.240 And yet 74% of Americans believe in God. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:06.320 So we'd say these things, live this way, but believe in God. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:11.840 What it produces in the church and everywhere else is what we call practical atheism. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:19.679 Not the disbelief in God, but the enthroning of self as a greater authority. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.639 Like I believe in God. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.320 Yeah, no, no, no, no. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:26.879 But I believe in me a whole lot more. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:33.759 It's the enthroning that my way, my rights, my priority is higher and greater than anything else. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:35.200 It goes something like this. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.559 I believe in God, but I decide what's right for me. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:42.480 I trust God, but only in areas where I'm comfortable. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.639 Faith should be, should serve my needs. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:49.360 It should never demand my surrender. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:56.720 I am the ultimate authority on my life, my truth, and my purpose. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.000 Now, there's parts of this, let's just be honest. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.039 Doesn't it sound good? 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.200 Like, yeah, you deserve to be happy. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:06.000 You do you. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.480 You're like, woo, doesn't that sound awesome? 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:11.440 Listen to what it's producing. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:18.080 One of the leading philosophers, French philosophers, uh Gil Lipoveski, writes this. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:26.480 He says, and notes that accompanying our increasing autonomy and freedom is greater personal fragility. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:30.320 He writes, and I quoted this last fall as well, but it bears repeating. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:46.799 Hence, the individual appears more and more opened up and mobile, fluid and socially independent, but this volatility signifies much more a destabilization of the self than a triumph affirmation of a subject endowed with self-mastery. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:58.960 Witness the rising tide of psychosomatic symptoms and obsessive-compulsive behavior, depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts, not to mention the growing sense of inadequacy and self-deprecation. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:12.879 The more socially mobile the individual is, the more we witness signs of exhaustion, subjective breakdowns, the more freely and intensely people wish to live, the more we hear them saying how difficult life can be. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:20.000 Freedom and autonomy, minus foundation, he says, produces fragility. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:31.679 We live in a culture that tells us to look inward for meaning and purpose, to be true to ourselves, to reach self-actualization by achieving our dreams and defining our truth. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:36.320 The truth is you were never created to be the center of your life. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.600 It's a burden too great to carry. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:49.759 And so as a result, we experience exhaustion, anxiety, depression at rates that have never been seen before in the history of humanity. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:56.240 God is the center of it all. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:01.360 And so life makes sense when God is at the center. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:04.879 Begins what? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:10.639 In the beginning, God is telling us that God is actually the main character of the story. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.120 Your life and my life will make sense. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:20.720 It begins to click, it begins to bring all of life into perspective. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.840 It infuses meaning and purpose, life and hope. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:39.600 When we recognize I'm not the main character, boy, does it take a lot of burden off your shoulders, a lot of pressure, all that weight of somehow having to define yourself and somehow live up to something and live in the shifting stands where everything's changing and all that you're feeling. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:44.639 Gosh, don't we live under all that, like, oh, you're not the main character of your story. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:46.080 God is. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:53.200 And when you begin to center on him, your life begins to make sense. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:57.919 The apostle Paul would say it this way about Jesus. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:03.519 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.440 Now notice this, you ready for this? 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:07.519 For in him all things were created. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:09.840 Speaking of Jesus, that he actually created it all. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:16.320 That's an unbelievable thing that the creator, we'll get to this in a minute, but the creator of the universe stepped into his creation. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.000 That's really cool, by the way. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:20.480 We'll get there. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:26.559 Things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:27.600 Now notice this. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.840 All things have been created through him and help me out. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:39.679 So Jesus made it all. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.240 And we wrestle with our purpose, don't we? 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.320 Why am I here? 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:47.759 What's going on? 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:52.960 He said, You have been made for me. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:05.440 Life works best when you recognize that you're not the main character, but you actually begin to center and organize your life around Jesus. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:07.440 Because you are made for him. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.679 And when you do that, all of life begins to lock in. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:15.840 And what we do is we oh good reef. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.759 We dethrone God, don't we? 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:30.480 We put ourselves in the place, and maybe God revolves around us and we wonder why we're struggling, why it's not working. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.200 Foundation number one. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.559 God is the center of it all. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.440 He is the main character of the story. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.679 Life works best. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:48.720 Life makes sense when God's at the center of your life. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.039 Foundation number two. 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:55.120 God is the architect of the universe. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:04.559 God is not a distant force that just kind of wound things up and let it go. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:12.480 Scripture speaks of God as an architect, a purposeful, intentional creator who designed the universe with precision and care. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:21.759 The Bible consistently affirms that creation is not random, but the work of an intelligent, lovely, loving designer, the biblical foundation. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:23.839 In the beginning, God, then it said what? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:29.759 God created the heavens and the earth. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.440 That He created, He designed, He architect them. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:41.039 Here is the incredibly good news, and so many need to hear it in our day today. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.559 You are not a cosmic accident. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:18:00.160 If God is the architect of the universe, if there is a designer, if he did create you, you were created with intention, you were designed with meaning, and you have a purpose. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:01.759 You are not an accident. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:07.599 And how many of us are walking around going, I have no purpose, I have no future, and I have no destiny? 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:09.920 And that is fundamentally not true. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:18.079 We have come to believe that life is just an happenstance, accidents like we're just here and we're just trying to eke through our existence. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:18.720 No. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.279 You're not an accident. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:33.599 In fact, scientists will tell us about this incredible thing called the fine-tuning of the universe, right? 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:34.799 You know about this. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:36.880 You took science at one point. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:38.160 I think. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:49.920 The fine-tuning of the universe refers to the fact that the laws, constants, and conditions of the cosmos are incredibly precise, making life possible. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:19:02.640 For example, did you know there are over 30 physical constants, such as the force of gravity, the strength of electromagnetism, and the mass of subatomic particles. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:06.799 Yeah, I know, I can't believe I said it right too the first time. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:13.200 That are so precisely calibrated that even a microscopic change would make life impossible. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:26.480 If the cosmological constant which governs the expansion rate of the universe were altered by just one part in 10 to the 120 power, the universe would either collapse or expand too quickly for galaxies to form. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:35.839 The ratio of protons to electrons must be balanced to one part in 10 to the 37th power for stable atoms to exist. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:56.559 The chances of our universe having the perfect conditions for life by random chance are so astronomically small you have a greater chance of winning the lottery 10,000 times in a row. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:03.839 There's a greater chance that a tornado would hit a junkyard and produce a 747. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:13.920 Paul Davies, physicist uh of Arizona State University, said the impression of design is overwhelming. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:27.920 Sir Fred Hoyle, astronomer, astronomer, atheist turned theist, wrote, A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics as well as with chemistry and biology. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:41.279 John Lennox, mathematician, Oxford University, said the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a creator gains in credibility as the very best explanation of why we are here. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:55.200 Even Stephen Hawken, though atheist admitted, the remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life. 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:00.880 You are not here by accident. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:03.279 And boy is that goodness. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:14.799 The more we see the universe and study it, we see order, not chaos, intentionality, not randomness. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:27.440 You have intrinsic that is built in hardwired value, meaning, and purpose because you are created and designed intentionally by God. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:41.440 It's simply this create your own meaning. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.240 You create your own meaning. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.720 You're the captain of your own ship, you're the hero of your own story. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:53.359 You get to create your own meaning. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.119 Sounds lovely. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.440 And anxiety filling. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:13.920 One of the most famous pictures ever captured by of the planet Earth was captured by the Voyager 1. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:26.640 It was taken in February 14th, 1990, 35 years ago, four billion miles away from Earth. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:29.680 Let me show it to you. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:32.240 You see it? 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:34.880 Are you impressed? 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.920 It's that little dot right there. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:41.440 You see it? 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:44.720 Go ahead, next slide so you can see it. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:46.720 That's it. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:48.720 That's Earth. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:56.960 Carl Sagan, a famous astronomer, he wrote and titled it the Pale Blue Dot. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:02.960 He wrote an op-ed uh on this, and what he said was this: look again at that dot. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:04.319 That's here. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:05.680 That's home. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:06.960 That's us. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:16.640 On everyone you love, everyone you knew, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who has ever was lived out their lives. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:24.720 Every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there on a moat of dust suspended in a sunbeam. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:28.079 And then this is his conclusion. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:36.480 The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and courage. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.880 We are custodians of life's meaning. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:48.640 We long for a parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes, but knowledge is preferable to ignorance. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.960 Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:00.799 If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:03.440 Translation? 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:07.759 This is one big cosmic accident. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:10.640 You create your own meaning. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:15.359 It's a hard truth to swallow. 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:17.920 But here's my question. 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:20.240 Carl. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:29.519 Think about that. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.799 Where did this matter stuff come from? 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:41.440 And for that matter, where did existence come from? 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:46.400 Why is there life at all? 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:54.000 I mean, why are there rational beings who can reason and think about the universe? 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:00.240 Why is the universe orderly and governed by laws? 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:05.920 Where did this idea of beauty, goodness, and love come from? 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.599 What is the purpose of existence in my life? 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:19.279 You know, human beings are fundamentally meaning-making machines. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:24.799 Or beings is a better way to see it, because you're not a machine. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:38.319 We can't help, hardwired into our DNA, is to look, to long for meaning. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:53.359 If we have to create our own meaning, define our own identity, if we have to be the hero of our own story, if there is no creator, we're left trying to make sense of life on our own. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:58.400 And if there is no higher meaning, then nothing really matters. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:04.160 And in that we have to sustain an identity. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:17.759 Your value becomes dependent on how well though you perform, how much you achieve, how others perceive you. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:20.000 That's not freedom, that's pressure. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:24.880 And without a sacred foundation, everything is in constant flux. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.359 Morality, relationships, purpose. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:30.559 What's true today might be deconstructed tomorrow. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:36.720 When the ground beneath you keeps shifting, you'll never, we cannot find rest. 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:43.759 God is the center of it all. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:50.319 He is the main character of the story. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:53.279 And so life makes sense when God is at the center. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:57.599 God is the architect, the designer of the universe. 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:02.880 And so life works best according to God's design. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:08.720 Like your life and my life. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.000 It works best. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.759 When we go, God, you are the designer. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:25.039 If there is a God, if he did design us, if he did create us, then doesn't that make sense? 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.640 Would you go ahead and just do this for me? 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.000 Would you go ahead and take out your iPhone? 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:30.720 Or your phone. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:32.079 Sorry, I didn't mean to assume. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:34.079 I didn't mean to assume. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:38.079 I know there's other phone, phone, phone, phone. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:40.799 Now let's just pretend you'd never seen one of these. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:44.000 Like I said, I was I'm 44, I was born in 1981. 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:46.000 81, these things didn't exist, you know. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:54.000 If we if someone dropped this in 81 or 85 or 1990 even, or even in 2000, they'd be like, what is this thing? 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:57.680 You look at it and you go, well, it's got some weight to it, right? 00:27:58.640 --> 00:27:59.279 Hmm. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.559 It could make a good paperweight, right? 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:04.160 Yeah. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:10.880 I mean, for the most part, as long as it's not too windy, but yeah. 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:15.200 Can it fulfill the purpose of a paperweight? 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:15.920 Sure. 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.400 Was that why it was designed? 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:19.039 No. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:25.839 And if you looked at it, you know, if you saw someone using this only as a paperweight, you're like, you're missing the whole point. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:28.960 Well, then I find right here, I can press this button right here. 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:29.920 This is amazing. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:31.039 Okay, there we go. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.039 And now I got a flashlight. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:34.559 How cool is that? 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.759 I got everywhere I go, I carry a flashlight. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:39.440 That's fantastic. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:44.400 Now, when I go out to eat because my eyes are so bad, I can read the menu. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:48.319 Don't judge me, there's a lot of you that do the same thing too. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:50.480 Right. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:58.480 And if I tell you, man, I this here's the best part of this thing. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:02.240 Everywhere I go, I carry a flashlight with me. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:04.000 Isn't that awesome? 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:08.880 And you go, like, well, yeah, that that is a function of it, for sure. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:10.000 That's wonderful, Ryan. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:11.279 That's a good function. 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:18.160 But that's like just scratching the surface of what it was designed for. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:27.519 Well, and then there's other times, like, you know, maybe I need to put a nail in the wall or attack, and I see this, it's kind of a little, right? 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:33.200 It's I mean, this is steel, and some of them are even made out of titanium now, which is amazing, right? 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:34.960 Well, I can I can use that. 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:40.880 You're like, no, that is actually opposite of its design, and it will break it. 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:53.519 When we look at this, there was a designer behind it, and then some of you designers are in the room who designed this with intentionality, intricacy, and there's a purpose and intent. 00:29:53.599 --> 00:30:02.319 And when we understand it from the designer's perspective, the full functionality unlocks, and now we have the world at our fingertips. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:18.720 But if I just take it and I don't allow or understand its design, I will never understand or in the impact of what this is or could be. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:25.119 Here's this thing is we're doing that not with phones, but with our lives. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:32.880 We're doing that with our lives of like, well, I get to define my own meaning, I get to define my own reality. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:36.400 God forbid you tell me how to do life. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:37.440 Are you kidding me? 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.880 I don't want to tell myself how to do life, and then we're running up to things of why am I empty? 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:44.079 Why am I exhausted? 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:45.519 Why am I so anxious? 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.079 Why does the future scare me so much? 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:51.440 Why do I feel like there's no meaning or purpose? 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:55.359 Why am I struggling with this sense of hopelessness in my life? 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:58.319 And we have this constantly. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:01.359 Why? 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:05.680 Because life works best according to God's design. 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:13.440 In the beginning, God created you. 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:17.759 He designed you. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:28.640 And I don't know what voices have been going on in your head or what things that you've believed, but listen to me. 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:41.759 You have infinite, intrinsic value and purpose because you have been created by an infinite, eternal God. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:47.119 And it gets even better than that. 00:31:50.799 --> 00:32:03.920 See, the interesting part is God was not content to just let us go about life and eke out this existence. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:17.519 You have a God who not only created you, but then he stepped into creation to rescue you. 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:28.720 A God who is the architect of all that we see, and he longs to step into your life and rebuild what's broken. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:33:03.039 And he is the head of the body, the church, the beginning, and the firstborn among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy. 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:17.519 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things, to restore, to redeem, to bring back into right relationship. 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:27.200 For God was pleased. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:29.200 Sorry. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:42.319 Whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross, the eternal God stepped into creation to rescue, to rebuild what was broken. 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:51.839 Jesus is actually the main character of history, the one who invites us into his story of redemption. 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:58.400 So as we close, let me ask you what are you building your life on? 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:06.160 What's the foundation of your life? 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:11.920 And would you build your life on Jesus? 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:18.960 Life makes sense when we center our lives on him. 00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:25.440 When we allow him to be the designer and architect. 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:35.360 When we don't, we just got a lot of empty holes that we keep trying to fill. 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.039 And we never actually do. 00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:48.000 The fulfillment your soul is longing for can never be found looking inside. 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:51.440 It will only be found by Jesus. 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:56.480 So as we close. 00:34:57.920 --> 00:34:59.360 For some today. 00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:06.559 Would you recenter your lives on Jesus? 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:10.880 Would you go, no, you know what? 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:15.679 You actually created me, and you know how life's supposed to work best. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:18.880 So I'm going to begin to order my life on you. 00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:27.760 For others, there's some in this room. 00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:41.519 Listen, you had no idea that you had a God who loves you, who came for you, who died for you, who rose again, to bring you life and purpose and meaning to bring restoration and hope. 00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:44.079 And today's the day where you go, you know what? 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.719 I've been building my life and foundation. 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:47.920 It's not working. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:50.719 I'm going to build my life on you. 00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.159 And the invitation is to say yes to Jesus. 00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:02.400 And so, as we close, would you just pray with me? 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:25.199 And if you're in a place where you're where you do feel empty, you feel hurting, you feel hopeless, or you just feel like you're just kind of eaten out, going through the motions. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:30.079 You look happy on the front side, outside to everybody else. 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:35.519 But inside, there's this longing. 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:38.400 Today, would you say yes? 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:43.119 Don't leave this place without saying yes to Jesus. 00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:54.639 That's all prayer is, it's just a conversation with God. 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:05.039 I've been trying to build life on my own and it's not working. 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:11.440 Today I recognize that you're the center of it all. 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:17.119 And I invite you to be the center of my life. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:22.559 Jesus, I believe that you came for me. 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:24.320 You died for me. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:28.400 You rose again to new life. 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:32.559 To rebuild what's broken in my life. 00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:39.599 And so would you come into my life and make me new? 00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:43.280 Be the foundation of my life. 00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:46.639 Thank you for your love. 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:49.760 Thank you for your grace. 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:59.119 If you're here and you just prayed that prayer with me, if everybody just keep their eyes closed, would you just raise your hand so I can help you? 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:00.239 Pray over you. 00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:01.199 Just raise it high. 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:01.920 Amen. 00:38:02.559 --> 00:38:03.199 Amen. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:04.639 Amen. 00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:06.320 Amen. 00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:10.719 Amen. 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:21.440 The minute you say yes to Jesus, the Spirit of God comes in and brings new life. 00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:27.679 Jesus, I pray for my friends in this room who have said yes, yes, for the very first time. 00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:38.880 Thank you for the new life that is just starting in their.