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. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:20.640 Welcome. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:27.839 You know, um Dave introduced me, and it's true I am an author and I am a speaker. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:35.759 Um I don't always get as much credit for my art, um, but I do dabble uh in art as well. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:43.039 And so if it's okay with you, I thought I would bring some conceptual art uh into our message this morning. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:51.280 Um and we're gonna do something a little bit different as well. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:01:07.599 Um because we're actually going to be auctioning this art off um live this morning, and um, all proceeds will go to a pastor friend of mine who recently lost his car. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:36.799 I'm gonna start the bidding low, uh just to heat things up on the floor, and because I know this isn't Sullibee's, you know, we don't have a lot of fine art here often. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:41.040 So um, do I hear two million anywhere? 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:43.680 Two to no. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:51.040 Okay, so you guys, this isn't this isn't just a banana and duct tape. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.359 This is actually really important art. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:21.840 I okay, I you probab I know there were a few things going on in 2020, and in the midst of that sea of headlines when we were all scrambling to find toilet paper, you might have missed that Maurizio Catalan sold this piece of art, or one that looked remarkably like it, at auction at Sotheby's for$120,000. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:32.159 Actually, he sold two for$120,000, and then a third for a undisclosed amount was acquired by the Guggenheim Museum. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.719 Because this is art. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:49.280 And if you missed it, just recently in November of 2024, the second of those three pieces was resold for$6.2 million. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.199 So now are you seeing how two is a real bargain? 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:00.319 See me after. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.560 All right, here's the deal. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:16.639 I who we let define art matters and is up for some debate, and we can argue whether or not this is art. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:45.120 But the stakes are a lot higher for who we let define what good is, for who we let say what is good, and one of the foundations that we're gonna see in Genesis chapter one is that in the story of creation, as we're told, throughout the rhythm of the days, this phrase is repeated over and over again. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:53.680 God saw what he made, and God said that it was good. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:09.360 We see there's um in this rhythm and in this cadence, we see that God has both the authority and the character to define good. 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:26.560 And that is the foundation of his creation, is that he created the boundaries around good, and that he created good for humanity, and that he designed humanity for his good. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:42.560 But when we start letting other people define what that is, or when we attempt to define it for ourselves, things can get messy real quickly. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:48.800 We see this pattern again, this word pattern in Genesis 3.6. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:54.480 But this time, Eve has decided to take things into her own hands. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:05:09.519 Genesis 3.6 says that when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took and she ate it. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:13.600 And she also gave some to her husband who ate it with her. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:31.279 And this is the story of the fall of humanity, when all of creation began to crumble, and God had to launch his new mission to put it back together again and set it right. 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:38.639 I remember reading this story to my daughter when she was young out of a children's story Bible. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:45.519 And she said, Mom, if I was there, I would have told Eve not to eat it. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:02.879 As you read this story in detail, it's hard not to like shake your fist in the air and be like, don't do it. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.360 What are you doing? 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:10.480 You live in literally the Garden of Eden. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:16.959 Like, God has created this incredible good for you. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:19.839 He just gave it to you. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:24.319 You're in it, you're in it. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.079 You're taking walks with God in the evening. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:36.319 You have all of the creatures, all of the food, all of the peace, all of the good. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:38.000 It's all here. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:51.680 But as much as we might raise our fist and just think how crazy Eve must have been. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:07.439 Every time we see through the Bible that humans are given the choice of doing things the way that God says they should be done. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:15.439 Door A, wide open, God's good, freely available. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:22.160 And given the choice between door B, tight shut. 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:24.800 Don't peek behind it. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.000 But there's really good things back there. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.800 You actually can do it your own way, whatever way you want. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.720 You don't have to do it God's way. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.720 There are things that He is holding out on you. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:50.480 There are things that He like the good stuff that He doesn't want you to have is over here. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:08:02.399 And we might think Eve is crazy, but I think if we're real honest with ourselves, we've walked through door B a hundred times. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:13.279 And the narrative here is trying to show us how foolish it is to choose outside of God's good. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:22.240 Because God's good has boundaries around it for a reason. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:27.680 They're not to keep us out, they're to invite us in. 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:37.759 They're the boundaries of wisdom that carve out this beautiful good that God has designed for us to enjoy. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:09:05.840 In Proverbs, when wisdom is personified, and um there's there's a beautiful section in there, and wisdom says, I was with God at the creation of the earth, at the laying of the foundations, I was hovering over the waters, calling us back to this story in Genesis 1, where the Spirit of God is hovering over the deep. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:10.480 And God's goodness is infused with wisdom. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:17.279 And when we choose God's good, we are choosing the way of wisdom. 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:20.799 It's right there for us. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:26.000 Now we are reading these words here in 2025. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:38.080 But the first people who read Genesis chapter one were the Israelites in the desert, right about to enter the promised land with Joshua. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:49.279 Most people think that Moses probably with some help put together these first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, and that those were the first five books to exist. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:10:03.200 And Israel, the first, this first pages in our Bible were the first pages that they read or read, had read over them as well. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.919 And this foundation was really important to them. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:16.639 Just the way that it's important to us, but they were getting ready to go into the promised land. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:23.840 And promised land on initial branding sort of sounds like Garden of Eden, like paradise. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:37.519 But in this case, they were gonna have years of really hard battles, of really difficult decisions, of really tough times ahead of them. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:51.440 And when we look at the very beginning of this, as they're ready to enter this new season of promise as a people, in Joshua 1, 7 through 9, Joshua says to the people, be strong and very courageous. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:58.879 Be careful to obey all the law that my servant Moses gave you, which is starting with our Genesis 1. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:04.559 Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.919 Keep this book of the law always on your lips. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:13.039 Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.159 Then you will be prosperous and successful. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:18.559 Have I not commanded you? 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:21.440 Be strong and courageous. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.440 Do not be afraid. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:25.679 Do not be discouraged. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.840 For the Lord God is with you wherever you go. 00:11:32.559 --> 00:12:00.399 John Sailhammer is an Old Testament theologian who specializes in the Pentateuch, and he notes how important it was for the this story in Genesis to be on the minds of the people of Israel as they were about to go into some of the most difficult, dark battles that lay ahead of them. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:24.960 How important it was to know that the God who was going with them was good, that he had created a land that was good, and that he was a promise keeper, and that no matter how many times humanity abandoned him, he never ever abandoned humanity. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:44.799 And what kind of a truth that that goodness of God, not just the goodness he has for us, but the goodness that he is with us, how important that is for us today and then then to take with us into the dark. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.240 And he was diagnosed not long ago with leukemia. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:30.159 But just how if if a good God is with us wherever we go, how it can be so dark sometimes where we are. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:44.480 One of the things that she started doing at the encouragement of another friend of ours was keeping a journal by her bed that she called the Firefly Journal. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:50.559 Because fireflies are these little sparks of light that dart around in the night. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:14:00.480 And so every time that there was some glimpse of light in the dark, she would write it down in this journal. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:14.240 When a nurse took her own personal break to go to a different floor of the hospital and search out the popsicles that her son liked the best, she'd write it down. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:24.799 When a doctor found something so obscure that it'd be so easy to overlook, but it saved them months of pursuing the wrong drug. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:26.879 She wrote it down. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:41.039 And she experienced the goodness of God, the light of God being with her, a good God being with her, even in the dark. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:44.399 And so did Joshua. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:50.960 At the end of his life, things were not perfect, but this is what he had to say in Joshua 23, 14. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:15:06.879 It says, Now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of all of the good promises that the Lord your God gave you has failed. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.360 Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:23.600 And to this day, he has not failed anyone yet. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:45.039 I know that this is true, but I'll be honest, there are times in my life where I do believe, I truly, truly, truly do believe that God will fulfill his promise to save my soul after I die through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:50.080 But gosh, I just wish he would promise me something good. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:58.080 Like, could I just have a promise like that I'd be married by the time I'm 35? 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:05.519 Could I just have gotten a promise that I'd get pregnant the first time and my baby would be healthy? 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:15.279 Could I just have had a promise that my dream job was going to roar in success and take off? 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:22.720 Could I just have gotten a promise that the person I cared about wasn't going to be gone? 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.360 Could I just have gotten a promise? 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:30.559 And there's so much that God hasn't promised me. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:36.480 And it's hard to hang on to his goodness without that promise. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:41.039 I trust his promises, but trusting his goodness can be harder. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.679 Here's something weird. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.600 I decided to take a break a while ago. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:17:16.960 I've I've published a few books, um, all um in like Christian Bible study and theology, and I was working on my next one, and I I started to get writer's block, and I knew that I just needed to like completely switch it up and just try something new, blank blank page, and just do something super low stakes, super different, and kind of like fill up my creative bucket a little bit before I went back to the project. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:23.119 So I decided on a whim to write this super silly novel. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.359 And no one will ever read it except for me. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:35.680 But it was kind of fun to um do some research and look into how to tell a compelling story and how to craft a really great character. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:41.359 And this is something I came across in like one of the keystone writings on how to craft a great character. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.920 You might recognize it from the books and movies that you've seen. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:57.680 Um, they say that when you're making a good main character, first of all, they can't be perfect and their life can't be perfect because it's totally unrelatable and everyone will hate them. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.640 So you have to make them flawed. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:11.519 The other thing is you have to give them something that they really want, that they think if they have will make them happy. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:20.960 Whether that's getting back together with their ex or winning the hockey state championships or whatever it might be. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:26.240 There has to be a goal, the primary thing that they really want. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:40.799 And then as you craft this story and this arc, in the end, as the author, there has to be this beautiful transformation that happens. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.640 And you have to give them something that they actually need. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:19:00.240 And whether or not in their happy ending they get what they originally wanted is kind of up for grabs, but you have to give them something that they need that's tied to their brokenness and the transformation that comes out of it. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:10.799 And it just sort of occurred to me as I was writing note cards for this character that I was creating. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:16.880 I wonder if God's ever made a post-it note with my name on it. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:22.960 If he's ever seen the like deep wants and longings of my heart. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:34.319 But he's seen around those, seen the ways that I was broken and the transformation that I truly needed. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:44.960 If he saw something that he knew I needed, that would be good for him to give me, that was completely out of my view. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:20:02.960 And if maybe where I'm at in my story now isn't actually the end, could it be that the author and perfecter of our faith has an intentional story that he's writing for us? 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.599 And can we trust him to be good? 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:14.079 Can we trust him to make a good ending? 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:38.480 Because whatever darkness that we are in right now, whatever circumstances, whatever unmet want that we are holding on to, and feels like we are eating us up inside, there is nothing that we can experience here on earth that makes God's goodness untrue. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:50.000 That makes the good that he is and the good that he has done and the good that he has designed and the good that he is doing less good. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:56.240 We can count on God to be good no matter what. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:16.480 And just like Joshua, knowing that that good God is writing our story, knowing that that good promise keeper is with us even in the dark, should fill us with courage. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:24.799 Because maybe the question isn't why hasn't God like turned on the lights yet? 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:36.720 Psalm 23 says that um when I walk through the darkest valleys or the shadow of death, you are with me. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.480 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:49.680 And I think when we're when we're in that valley, it can be really tempting to be like, hello, God. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.519 Uh excuse me, what kind of shepherd are you? 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:55.440 How did we end up here? 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.359 But maybe the real miracle. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.079 Is that he's with us there? 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:14.960 Is that our good God isn't afraid of the dark and that he will never leave us, no matter where we find ourselves. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:20.319 If we need proof, that proof is Jesus Christ. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:29.599 God came himself to the dark in one of the darkest chapters in history. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:36.720 When it seemed like he had been silent for so long, God showed up in the form of Jesus Christ. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:45.279 And if we fast forward past Christmas, we get to his baptism, which was the beginning of his ministry. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:53.599 And again, we see this really fun wink back to Genesis 1. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:23:04.559 And just like Proverbs and Wisdom was hovering over the waters of creation, we see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of Jesus as he's baptized. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:09.119 And there's this nod to this new creation that's happening. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:17.039 And as he starts his earthly ministry, page one, immediately, do you know what happens? 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:19.680 He faces temptation. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:26.000 The same temptation that humanity has faced since Genesis 1. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:35.519 In Matthew 4, 8 through 10, it says, Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:47.279 After being in the wilderness for 40 days and being exhausted and hungry, and at one of his physically weakest points, the devil found him and tempted him three times. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:53.920 At this point, he said, All this I will give to you, he said, if you will bow down and worship me. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:02.000 And Jesus said, Away from me, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:09.920 And we see that God had this good plan for humanity. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.680 It involved Jesus suffering a lot. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.599 It involved him going to the cross. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:21.839 It involved betrayal. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.359 It involved the full human experience. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:32.160 And then Satan comes along and he says, hey, you know, that's good. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:33.200 I get. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.000 I get that you want to ransom humanity. 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:41.920 I get that you want to take back the people in creation from my evil clutches. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:42.960 You know what? 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:45.039 I'll give them to you. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:48.720 You don't have to do God's way. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.960 Forget the cross. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:54.400 That's a really bad idea. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.079 Who came up with that? 00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:57.680 No, no, no, no. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:02.480 You just worship me and I'll give them to you. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:04.160 Door B. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:15.440 But Jesus was ready because he knew the truth and he knew how God defined good. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:23.359 That you should worship God only, that there is one good God who's worthy of our worship. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.839 And he said, I'm choosing that. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:29.359 Get behind me. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:40.240 Look, Satan has been tempting people since the first pages of the Bible. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:44.640 And he had the guts to go up against Jesus himself. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:55.200 You think after thousands of years and millions of humans later, he's maybe learned a thing or two about human psychology? 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:14.559 You think maybe he could give us some really good excuses, some really great justifications, some really compelling reasons why this is a bad idea and he has a better one? 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:35.359 I mean, if we are not continually looking at Jesus, if we are not continually looking at God's good truth and his word, it's going to be really easy to lose sight of the good that we're invited to, or to misunderstand it as a bad idea. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:43.200 Jesus turned the whole idea of good on its head in his Sermon on the Mount. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:53.680 In in Matthew 5, just as part of this long teaching that Jesus gave, he said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:56.640 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:00.559 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:07.119 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:14.000 And Jesus preached to many, many people who were gathered. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:16.640 And do you know what all of these people thought? 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:24.559 Finally, finally, we have the Messiah, we have the Savior, we have our good God with us. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:28.160 He's going to solve all of our problems. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:32.160 He's going to get rid of these crazy Romans. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:39.519 He's going to rescue us from this terrible slavery. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:45.200 And make our lives good again. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:28:00.799 And Jesus said, Hey, no matter how hard and how rough your lives feel right now, God's goodness is going to find you right there. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:07.279 Which sounds like bad news at first. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:16.400 But if we sit with it, if we live with it, it is the best news of all. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:25.920 Because there is no circumstance of our life that makes it untrue that our good God is with us. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:36.240 Christ took that to the extreme when He did, He did follow God's good plan to the cross. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:37.039 C. 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:37.279 S. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:57.279 Lewis is one of my favorite authors, and he depicts this scene in one of his fiction novels as evil as this cackling witch who is just laughing maniacally like the best villain laugh ever, as the Son of God is killed. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:09.519 Because as Jesus' disciples watched, it looked like evil had won. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:17.119 What further proof could you have other than Jesus being dead? 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:19.839 Being dead in this way. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:25.519 But that wasn't the end. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:39.359 And in fact, in the miracle of Jesus' resurrection, somehow that victory over sin, that victory over death became something that we benefit from. 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:43.839 All of the sudden we have Christ in us. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:51.839 Galatians 2.20 says, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:59.440 The life that I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:13.359 Following Jesus doesn't always feel like success, doesn't always feel like winning, doesn't always feel like overflowing abundant blessing. 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:17.119 Sometimes it feels like the cross. 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:27.200 But the promise that we have is that the same way that we might share the cross with Jesus, we also share his resurrection. 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:35.519 We also share that victory and that ultimately good has the ultimate victory every time. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:39.119 For sure, set in stone. 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:48.960 Evil might have its laugh now, but God's good in the end is recreating the whole earth. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.319 And it will be the only thing left. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:59.200 And that goodness fills us with hope that cannot be taken away. 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:27.359 And that's why that wisdom, that courage, that hope that we find in God's goodness, that's why it matters that when we look to Genesis 1, when we look to the foundations and the origins of our story of our world, that it is God who has both the authority and the character to define good. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:40.799 And sometimes now where we are, it's hard to know exactly like the boundaries that are on this good, exactly what this good is and exactly what it looks like. 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:43.359 Because there's a lot of gray areas. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:50.960 And I'm not going to try to overly define this good for you. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:32:01.519 But what I can tell you is that the way that we have freedom in Christ is that we can make our way to that good. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:13.119 And if we spend time looking at Jesus, the life he lived, the interactions that he had with people, we can see this good in action. 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.519 We can start to copy it in our lives. 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:25.759 We can notice the way that he cared for the widows, the poor, the orphans, those who needed justice and advocacy. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:35.440 We can see the way that Jesus lived a good life and did good around him, and we can do our best to translate that to where we are. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:40.319 We have some time leading up to Easter. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:42.960 Sometimes the season is called Lent. 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:50.960 And there are a lot of free Bible reading plans online where you can read through the Gospels in 40 days. 00:32:51.279 --> 00:33:01.200 Sometimes I like to give myself 50 days for a 40-day reading plan, but if you wanted to follow the exact season of Lent, it starts the beginning of March this year. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:12.400 Maybe your next step is just to, like Joshua had the word of God that he was meditating on, like Jesus had it at the tip of his lips. 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:24.480 Maybe there's an invitation for you to just get curious about what God's look good looks like right now in your life. 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:34.160 1 Corinthians 10, 23, it says, I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything is beneficial. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:38.160 I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:42.079 And the truth is, there are a lot of gray areas in the Bible. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:59.119 They don't tell us, you know, what boundaries to put on the content we consume, what boundaries to put on our ambition, what boundaries to put around our finances, our screen time. 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.000 It doesn't tell us that. 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:19.599 And sometimes it can be frustrating how vague it is, but for the hundreds of years, um, people lived under the law, which was like 600 and something very specific rules, and that was not helpful either. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:22.079 No one was able to keep all of those. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:33.599 We now have this new freedom in Christ where, you know, we have the right to do a lot of things, but not all of them are beneficial. 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:44.079 Not all of them are constructive, not all of them are gonna lead us to the wisdom and the courage and the hope that God's good has for our lives. 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:52.639 And I think sometimes the way we think of freedom is that we can do anything that we want. 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:56.320 And that is really dorby. 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:00.400 Why do you have to do it God's way? 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.440 I mean, you can do what you want. 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:10.079 That is a 12-year-old's definition of freedom. 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:13.519 I have freedom, I can do anything I want. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:24.480 Well, 47 hours of Mario Kart later, after three packages of Oreos, like you might not be enjoying your freedom that much. 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:34.239 But have you ever experienced the freedom from addiction? 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:40.079 Have you ever experienced the freedom from generational trauma? 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:43.679 Have you ever experienced the freedom from self-hate? 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:51.679 From downward spirals and hopeless cycles? 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:03.760 That is the freedom that he has for us. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:14.239 That is the freedom that we're invited to, and we, for better or worse, have the ability to choose it or not. 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:22.480 Psalm 116, 7 says, Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. 00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:26.000 I like this verse for a couple of reasons. 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:35.519 And first of all, because it talks about God's goodness as the source of our rest and something that we can rest in. 00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:43.840 A rest as this true freedom that this wisdom and courage and hope point us towards. 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:48.400 But even more so, I love that it uses the word return. 00:36:49.360 --> 00:37:07.840 Because I know myself, the muscle I most need to work on is the one that turns back to and knows how to return to God's goodness, to the good that He designed for me and the good that He designed me for. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:17.039 Because I will always be tempted to wonder what's behind the other door, to try to make things happen on my own. 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:25.360 And I need to learn how to return my soul to the rest that his goodness invites me to. 00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:53.119 Each of those letters is the first letter of the next word in this verse. 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:59.519 So return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. 00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:01.519 Psalm 116, 7. 00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:05.280 It's a device that you can use to memorize this verse. 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:09.119 And in fact, we actually have these little temporary tattoos. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:23.360 So if you want to keep this verse on your lips and meditate on it, like Joshua and Jesus, and to just remember that there is a goodness that your soul can return to this week when you most need it. 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:28.239 We have temporary tattoos outside that you can apply yourself after service. 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:34.639 I know you didn't come to church thinking someone was gonna ask you to get matching tattoos, but here we are. 00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:36.239 Just lean in. 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:53.920 And as we close, before we leave, I just want to ask you guys, if you would sit in these questions with me, will you let the God who sees see you? 00:38:56.559 --> 00:39:00.559 Will you trust what God says is good? 00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:09.599 Psalm 139, 23, and 24 says, Search me, God, and know my anxious heart. 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:13.679 Test me and know my anxious thoughts. 00:39:14.320 --> 00:39:20.320 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me into the way everlasting. 00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:28.239 There's this rich thread that starts in Genesis 1 of God being the God who sees. 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.159 And it runs through the story of Scripture. 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:39.039 In fact, the first person to name God, Hagar calls him the one who sees me. 00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:47.679 This word for see that's used in the Hebrew, it doesn't just mean to see, it also means to provide. 00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:53.199 That God sees us and He gives us what we need. 00:39:55.199 --> 00:39:59.920 And yet so often I am afraid to be seen by God. 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:09.039 I have rooms in my internal house that are barred up and have caution tape and barriers in front of them. 00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:12.800 Because I don't want him to look in there. 00:40:16.960 --> 00:40:25.440 But what if we invited God to see us? 00:40:25.760 --> 00:40:41.920 What if we let ourselves be seen by him so that he could give us what we need, so that he could welcome us into the goodness that he has for us. 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:53.840 I'm just gonna take a moment and give us the chance to respond in prayer this morning. 00:40:54.719 --> 00:41:07.039 I want you to think if there is an area in your life where maybe you need some courage, some wisdom for a decision, a lot of hope for something that feels hopeless. 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:22.079 And could we make this prayer our own in whatever area of your life that you are feeling separated from the goodness of God? 00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:27.840 Would you pray with me, Jesus? 00:41:28.159 --> 00:41:33.599 Will you lead me to the good that you have for that? 00:41:36.400 --> 00:41:38.719 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:43.280 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:41:43.440 --> 00:41:45.599 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:51.679 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.