WEBVTT 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:04.240 Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:12.880 If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.320 And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.839 If it's your first time here, thank you for being at His Hands. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:20.800 We we love you. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:21.679 God loves you. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:27.920 We're just a big family of people that love each other, love Jesus, and we want to worship and serve and grow alongside each other. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.359 So we're really glad you're here this morning. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.920 Got some announcements before we jump into what we're gonna talk about. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:33.759 A lot of exciting stuff's going on right now. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:35.280 Just a lot of exciting stuff. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:42.479 And so I want to start by saying if you got baptized or if your family got baptized a few weeks back, we had 62 people get baptized three weeks ago. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:44.399 Just still exciting to hear. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.560 We uh we have we have some DVDs available for you at the source. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:50.159 That's where you can get CDs and stuff like that. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:52.399 Just go to the source afterwards, those are free of charge. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.840 For anyone that got baptized, or if that was someone in your family, just ask for one. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:57.679 Uh, and if we run out, we'll just make more. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.039 So that way you can have that. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:00.880 You can have that memory and have it captured. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:03.280 Uh, want to talk a little bit about Christmas angels. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:04.560 We uh we said this last week. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.359 We had 245 kids adopted this year. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:11.200 So that's 245 kids having Christmas because of your generosity. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:12.719 And that is exciting. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:14.000 It really is. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:22.560 Um, few little details with that is this Sunday, so now, uh, and then next Sunday, that's when we need you to bring those gifts back. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:30.640 So if you adopted a star, if you took a star, bring those back by next Sunday, because we're gonna need about a week to get them all organized so we can get them ready for delivery day. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:32.560 That will be on December 15th. 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:33.280 Delivery day. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:39.280 Even if you didn't take a star, you can stay after, and we all you know load up our cars with gifts and drive out and deliver those to the families. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:43.280 And it's just a huge way to bless this community, bless a lot of a lot of families. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:47.680 So that'll be the 15th, but we need the stars and everything with them back by next Sunday. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.000 If you can do that at all, that would be great. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:57.200 Um, I want to say a quick thank you as always to everyone who's supporting us financially, and just thank you for what you're doing because it's needed, and God is doing so much with it. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:03.040 We talked a little bit about what God's doing with our young people last week and just how worthwhile of an investment this is. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:08.879 And I mentioned that every single Sunday we give 15% of what we get back to this community. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:14.479 And uh and it's not because we just had 15% extra laying around one day and we were like, hey, what should we throw at this? 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.800 No, it's uh it's us doing the same thing all of us are doing. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:18.960 We're giving and we're trusting God with that. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:34.000 And uh and so what happens is every Sunday we give 5% to the Hope Center, 5% to Papa's Pantry, and 5% to the Cherokee Family Violence Center so far this year, because of because of you guys, because of what we're doing, we've been able to give$91,000 to those three places. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.400 So that's that's exciting. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:38.960 So keep it up and just keep trusting God. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:47.360 You know, that's something that that he teaches my wife and I all the time is the more we trust him, and if he asks us to give and we give, even if it feels like a stretch, he's always blessed that. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:49.280 And we can we can trust him with that. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.400 Um got a a lot of big stuff coming up really soon. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.000 I mentioned Christmas Angels. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:55.759 We have another another event coming up. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:57.280 This is something we've been a part of for a few years. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.159 Tom Meleshko is a photographer here at his hands. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:09.759 He's really passionate about photography, and he is really passionate about this one sort of uh sort of movement in photography, and he's brought it to us here at his hands for the last few years. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:11.840 It's something called a help portrait. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:12.960 Really cool thing. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:17.280 It's very simple, but also really powerful in its simplicity. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:21.199 And the whole point really is this is the holidays we want to be able to bring joy to people. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:23.039 We want to be able to bring a smile to people's face. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:24.800 And there's a lot of different ways you can do that. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:28.879 You help someone financially, you feed someone, you can definitely accomplish it that way. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.080 But sometimes it is the most simple things that bless people. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:36.800 And so a lot of photographers kind of created this movement and they said, hey, we're just gonna we're gonna donate our services. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:41.439 We're gonna donate our professional photographic services to whoever wants, you know, their picture. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:04:00.639 Maybe it's a single mom who uh who has a couple kids and they can't afford to go get a professional, you know, family portrait, but they can do that through Hell Portrait free of charge, or it's a family or husband and wife, you name it, just anyone that wants that, those treasured memories that bring smiles to our faces, the kind of things that, you know, if something ever happens to your house, those are the things that that you're looking for, those are the things you're searching for. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:04.400 And so that's gonna be on December 14th, it's a Saturday, from 10 a.m. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:05.199 to 3 p.m. 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.199 here over in the high school side of our building. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:14.400 We'll have a couple of sign-up tables in the lobby that you can sign up for if you want to sign up for an appointment to get one of those pictures, or if you want to help out. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:20.160 If you're a photographer, even an amateur photographer, if you are, you know, a stylist or you just want to say, hey, I'll do whatever. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.439 I just want to help some people, help some people have some joy this holiday season. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.959 Uh, sign up this morning right outside in the lobby, and we'll get you all the information you need. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.160 Tom will be out there, he'll tell you everything that you need to know. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:33.920 Uh, and on that note, you know, Christmas is coming very, very quickly. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.360 It's December officially now. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:39.439 We have trees with lights on them, and so that's that's how you know. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:40.399 It's it's time. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:41.040 It's time. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.199 And Christmas Eve, every single year, Christmas Eve here. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.199 It's like it's one of the highlights of my year. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:46.959 Bar, it's one of the highlights of my year. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:56.160 It's it's a it's amazing seeing so many people come in, so many people experiencing you know, Jesus and his love for the first time every Sunday morning, should be a taste of God's love for us. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.879 And a reminder of how how passionate he is about us. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.360 And if it's your first time here, we hope that's what this morning is for you. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:04.480 We know that's what December 24th is gonna be for a lot of people. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.519 And so there's a way that you can really help us out, help us spread the word. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.959 I talked about this a little bit last week. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:09.600 It's really simple. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.079 If you go to our website, that's what the homepage looks like. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.240 You click the Christmas Eve at His Hands link, and it's gonna take you to this little event page, really simple. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:17.839 It has some details, some information. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.800 But in the top left corner of that page, there's a few things you can click. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:30.959 And so there's an invite others link that you can click, and it'll let you put email addresses in and you can evite as many people as you can think of to come here and spend Christmas Eve here to either of our services. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:35.439 You can use Twitter, which is lagging way behind Facebook, um, and you can use Facebook. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.600 And this is what's really cool about like the Facebook link. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:41.199 If you click that, it'll post a link to our event on your Facebook page. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.600 And you can put any comments you want in there or anything like that. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:53.360 But if if a thousand of us, for example, if a thousand of us shared that, if that number got to a thousand, that would be the equivalent of about a hundred thousand people being notified and being told about this event. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:54.720 And so it's a really simple thing. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:01.439 This week, if you're just sort of you know on Facebook or you're just thinking about Christmas, just get on there really quick and click that link and it'll uh it'll spread the word. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:02.480 It'll be exciting. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:07.839 Let's go ahead and pray, and uh, we'll talk a little bit about what God's uh what God wants to share this morning. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:09.439 Jesus, thank you so much. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.639 Thank you so much for blessing us with such a great family. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:14.160 Thank you for your love. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:16.000 I just pray that you would speak this morning. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:24.399 I pray that, you know, in the busyness of this time of the year, I pray that you would you would just simplify our thoughts and our minds and our hearts and speak. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:32.480 And you'd speak your word, you would speak your love, and you would challenge us in love, God, to just have more of you in our lives. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.079 We pray all this in your name, Jesus. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:34.959 Amen. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.399 Well, I know this is a busy time of the year for all of us. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:42.160 My wife and I are about to have an exceptionally busy week. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.000 We're moving on Thursday, moving to a new house, which is uh an event. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.800 I'm glad no one's clapping because you guys have obviously moved before. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.160 You know what that entails. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:53.199 Uh, you know, it's only a few miles away from where we live now. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:57.680 And it's funny, it doesn't matter if you've moved 50 times or if it's your first time ever moving. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:06:59.040 It is it is an event. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:06:59.920 It is an event. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.839 It is so busy, it is so stressful. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.160 The amount of paperwork, it's incredible. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.279 My wife's family has lived in one house since before she was born. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:08.399 They've never moved. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.519 My family has lived in 18 houses since I was born. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:17.120 So we are both on very opposite ends of the moving into different houses spectrum. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:18.319 But it does not matter. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:26.480 Every time you move from the paperwork to the moving, and just as a side note, my wife has been pregnant both times we've moved, so she's like, I can't lift boxes and all this stuff. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.000 And you know, it's it's it's a convenient excuse or something. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:30.480 I don't know. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.959 So, ladies, you can use that if you ever want to. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.560 You get pray, hey, it's a good time to move, you know, I'll just tell you where to put things. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.480 Um, but it's it's a stressful, exciting event. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:46.720 And it's interesting because uh you would think with so many houses on the market, it would be so easy to find the one. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:48.639 That one house that you know is home. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.680 Our our real estate agents, Lisa Walsh, I see her sitting back there with her husband Chuck. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:52.240 They're great. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:55.120 And she she did such an incredible job of showing us all these homes. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:00.399 It got to the point where I was just apologizing every time we go to a house, like, I'm so sorry you're still showing us houses. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.319 I promise, I promise we're not faking you out. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:02.959 We're gonna pick one. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:03.680 We have to. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.319 Um, and that happened about two weeks ago. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.959 Two weeks ago, we walked into the house. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:10.079 I mean, it was it. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:14.720 We had seen maybe 30, 40 houses, but we walked into this one, and this was our house. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:18.720 The second we pulled up to it, I'm looking at the outside, I'm like, okay, I like this. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.120 It was this little blue house, this beautiful little house. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.000 We we walked on the inside, it had been recently renovated. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.160 You know, it looked like something on HD TV. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:26.959 I mean, it was beautiful. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:28.959 You could take a picture of it, put it in a magazine. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:32.000 So we're we're looking at it, we're falling in love with this house. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:34.799 We're already picturing, you know, where our son's room's gonna be. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:39.600 We're having another baby in January, we're picturing where her room's gonna be, and we're even thinking about when they're teenagers. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:44.159 We'll shove them in the basement and we'll close them off and we'll we'll live, we'll live. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.559 It's gonna be so great. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.879 And so we got so excited, we got home from seeing that house. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:55.840 We sent pictures to my mom in Missouri, and she was you know emailing us back and saying, Oh, it's beautiful, I love it. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:58.080 Uh, we took a couple of my friends over, you know, to see it. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:02.320 I was driving with them, having fun, and we just went by and I said, This is our house, you guys gotta see this place, it's awesome. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:09.360 And then we went to see it one more time with Megan's mom, who only lives like a mile away from that house, and so we were like, Oh, she's gonna need to see this. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:12.000 She's gonna be so excited to have us so close. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:16.159 And the second time we went to see it, Lisa brought Chuck with her, her husband, who's a contractor. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:19.360 He helped us a lot with our house before we put it up for sale. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.559 And when Chuck came and saw it, he started to notice things that we hadn't noticed. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:26.159 Things that we couldn't notice. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.480 We just don't know that much about houses. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.720 I am not very handy, and so things I would never notice, and they were pretty serious things. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:36.639 In fact, Chuck noticed one thing, for example, he said, Hey, just I want you to know this. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:41.039 This is a pretty serious issue, and it's probably gonna take like$12,000 just to fix it. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.320 If you don't want water in your basement or something like that. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.120 Needless to say, this is not the house we're moving into on Thursday. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.360 But that day, man, when we walked in that day, it was the house. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:54.799 I mean, it was the one. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:00.720 But those new details, that new information completely changed our minds. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.679 And I'm glad because the house we found, we love, and it's gonna be great. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.360 But it's amazing how that happens, right? 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:09.120 How we can have our minds made up, we can have a decision made. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:11.840 And in our minds, nothing could change it. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:16.799 But then we get some new information, something new happens, and everything changes. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:18.320 That happens all the time. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.759 I've I found in my life it happens a lot when I discover something is free. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:24.879 Free is good. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.519 So, for example, Lowe's across the street will occasionally have free barbecue. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:31.200 Let that sink in for a second. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:32.000 Okay? 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.399 I love barbecue, so free and barbecue combined. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.200 I've lived in Memphis, I've lived in Kansas City, I like barbecue. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:37.600 Okay? 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:39.039 So free barbecue. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:41.440 That's like the lottery to me. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:42.960 I mean, I I love barbecue. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:44.480 So free barbecue, it's incredible. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.600 You know, you guys aren't wrapping your minds around this concept, but it's okay, we'll move on. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.879 So Lowe's will have free barbecue. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:58.399 And what's strange is the last few times they've they've done that, just to thank their customers, I haven't found out about it until after I've eaten lunch. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.000 After. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.799 And I and I am I tend to eat till I'm full. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:03.759 And so I'm full. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:09.279 If you were to ask me, hey Justin, a bunch of us are going out, we're going to Taco Mac, we're going to Moe's, I love those restaurants, they're great. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:10.399 You want to go with us? 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.399 I would say, No, I just ate lunch, I'm full, I can't eat another bite. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:22.559 But that said, when someone says, hey, Lowe's is having free barbecue, miraculously, room is made in my stomach. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.480 And it's immediate, it's strange. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:29.360 I go from being full to having enough room for two, maybe three pulled pork sandwiches, no problem. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:31.120 And it it makes no sense. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.600 It's a game changer, free barbecue. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:38.320 And that might not be a good thing to do for yourself, but you can't really blame me because it's free. 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:40.240 It's just it's free. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.360 I'll give you another example. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.320 I fell in love with my wife when I was a senior in high school. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:49.039 I actually had a thing for her when I was a sophomore, but she had no interest whatsoever. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:55.120 So I waited it out a few years and then made another pass, you know, in my last year of high school, and that time it worked. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:12:01.519 And so it was right at the end of my senior year that we started to date, and I had already decided on where I was going to college. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:07.039 I was going to college a thousand miles away in Kansas City, Missouri, and her father seemed okay with that. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:15.200 And so immediately, immediately, Megan started looking into going to that college. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:20.240 And again, strangely, I don't know why, her father was not excited about that. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:32.799 It was if for some reason, for some reason, the the thought of his firstborn child, his beautiful daughter, going to college a thousand miles away from his supervision, where the only person he knew or she knew was a teenage boy, extremely attracted to her, made him uncomfortable. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:33.679 I don't know. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:34.960 But it did. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:39.360 And so he was at first resistant to the idea. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:47.279 It was a pretty expensive college, and uh, and he was, you know, hey, God, he actually said this: God's gonna have to give me undeniable proof. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.720 Undeniable proof that this is where you're supposed to go to college. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.000 That's what she told me. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:56.799 And Lewis, if you're here this morning, she was a teenage girl, so she may have exaggerated, but that's just that's what I heard. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.159 Undeniable proof. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:59.039 That's what we needed. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:00.000 So we prayed for that. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.840 Six months later, Megan got a full ride scholarship to the college. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.799 Room and board, tuition, everything. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:08.399 Free college. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:10.639 And his mind changed. 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:12.480 Totally different. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:15.679 All of a sudden, yeah, sure, go. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:16.159 Go. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:17.440 Free college. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.919 And you can't really blame him because it was free. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:27.840 Sometimes one thing, one thing can change everything. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:30.320 One new discovery, one new detail. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:35.679 And this morning we're finally at the point in the story that we've been going through, been going through the entire story of the Bible. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.600 We're at the point where one thing is going to change everything. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:42.399 The whole picture is going to change. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:50.080 And if you haven't been here for a while, God gave Ben Sykes this really incredible picture of the entire story of the Bible. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:51.919 And it's very unique, it's very cool. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:59.759 It's a timeline, really, except it doesn't look like a timeline that you would ever see in a history book or something like that. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:01.759 And in fact, guys, I think we have a picture. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:02.240 There you go. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:03.679 So it that is the timeline. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.399 That is the timeline laying out the entire history of the Bible. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.639 It's a little strange if you're looking at it for the first time. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:12.720 It doesn't look like a timeline, it looks like a tree, and that's actually really fitting. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.960 That's really fitting because we at his hands have a thing for trees. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:18.559 We call our nursery the garden. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:24.399 We say our kids are the mustard seeds that are going to grow into these huge trees as they grow in their relationship with God. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:29.840 If you ever walk around the hallways, you'll see all these pictures of the tree of life that Marlon Yoders painted. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:35.519 Marlon goes here and he gets inspired to paint these pictures of the tree of life, which are kind of like our symbol of what we want to be as a church. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:37.519 We want to be about love and relationship. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:38.799 And so Marlon paints those. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:46.000 And just in case you're looking for something holiday-wise, just so you know, Marlon's got some of those for sale in the source, and he's got them at different sizes, different prices. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.159 So if you know someone that loves those, grab one in the source because Marlon, he'll be blessed by that. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:51.279 And uh I love his stuff. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:53.039 Liam has a little tiny one. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:53.919 He keeps it by his bed. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:54.639 It's awesome. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:55.840 Um, what was I saying? 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:56.799 Okay, yeah, timeline. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:57.279 There we go. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.360 So, anyway, I get off track sometimes. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:00.559 That's okay. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:05.039 All of this started, though, this whole picture, it all started with a single dot. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:06.240 Just one dot. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:07.679 That's where it started. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:08.240 Okay? 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:12.159 And so we're gonna kind of start from the beginning, we're gonna start from that one dot. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.159 And each dot that we're gonna see represents a different tree. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.759 It all represents a different tree. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:21.039 So it's not just a coincidence that this whole picture becomes a tree. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:30.799 One of the things that God showed Ben was that every single major kind of promise that God makes us in the Bible, there's a tree nearby, or there's a figurative tree that's talked about. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:37.039 And so all these promises God makes us that create these new chapters in our relationship with Him, they're like landmarks. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:38.720 And each tree is significant to us. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.360 And so we've gone chapter by chapter, we've looked at each tree. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.679 So the first dot, that's the tree of life. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:48.080 That's where God created us, and he created us to live, to have life with him. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.320 But we chose a different tree. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:56.639 We chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and when we made that choice, everything sort of spiraled out of control. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:00.399 And so the picture doesn't look like it's supposed to look. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:01.840 It gets off track. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.000 And death enters the world. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.840 Cain and Abel, that's your first instance of death, the flood. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:09.120 There's just a lot of death. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:14.639 And what God originally intended for life seems like everything's gone wrong. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:17.279 Well, there's still hope because God made a promise. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:22.000 He promised that one day death would be defeated, but at this point in time it hasn't been. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:30.559 So God shows up at another tree to a man named Abraham, and happened to be at the trees that were called the oaks at Mamre, and he makes another promise. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:38.720 He tells Abraham, I'm going to create a nation, and through this nation that you're going to be the father of, all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.279 All the nations of the earth. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:42.960 He makes that promise. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:45.679 And sure enough, Abraham has a child. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:53.039 And his children have children, they grow into a nation, but they they seem like the least likely group of people to bless the world. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:54.799 They fight amongst themselves. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:17:00.960 By the time we get to the third tree in our story, they're in the midst of 400 years of slavery in Egypt. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.640 It doesn't look like this promise is going to be fulfilled. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:09.279 And that third tree is what we call the burning bush, as Bill Thrasher talked about a few weeks ago. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.279 It was very likely an acacia tree. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.119 And God shows up and he makes a new promise. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.960 This time to Moses, he says, Hey, I'm going to free the people of Israel from slavery. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:21.200 I'm going to set them up in their own land, and they're going to be a people set apart. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:26.160 In other words, they're going to be a people that can live rightly. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:28.960 They can live rightly by my standards. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.240 They're going to be set apart. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.039 And so God gives Israel the law. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.720 But again, things spiral out of control. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.480 Things go horribly wrong. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.480 Israel has no ability to keep the law. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:42.240 They end up worshiping other gods. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.880 They end up saying, we don't even want God to rule us anymore. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:45.440 We want a king. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.559 We want an earthly king. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.920 God gives them what they want, and it doesn't go very well. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:54.160 So he shows up and he makes a fourth promise. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.440 And this promise is for a perfect king. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.519 They've had King David. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.400 And King David wrote Psalm 1, and there's a tree in Psalm 1. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:10.240 It says that if we live our lives, if we live our lives connected to God, we're like a tree planted by a stream that's flowing full of living water. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.240 And God promises there'll be a king like that. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:18.160 And it'll actually be from David's family tree. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.200 But again, things go terribly wrong. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:26.160 Everything spirals out of control because none of the kings have the ability to be that man. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:30.079 There's a few bright spots here and there, but king after king fails. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:33.759 They're corrupt, they're selfish, they're sinful. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.519 And things get so bad that Israel ends up splitting into two nations. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.400 You've got Israel to the south and Judah in the north. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.000 Judah lasts a little bit longer. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.359 Israel gets conquered really soon, but eventually both nations are conquered. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:46.960 Now they don't even have a nation. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.599 How can you have a king with no nation? 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.440 All these promises seem just hopeless. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:00.400 We get a lot of the interesting perspectives on that through the books of the wisdom and the prophets that kind of weave in and out through this story. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:02.799 And that's what Ben talked about last week. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:09.920 But up to this point, we've had all these promises, and none of them have been fulfilled, and it looks like everything is going wrong. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:15.759 But like I said this morning, we have one thing that changes everything. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:18.400 And that one thing is Jesus. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.720 I'm sure none of us saw that coming. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:22.079 It's Jesus. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:27.119 Jesus shows up and he changes everything. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:36.000 He completely encompasses, you'll see this, he completely encompasses all of the promises that God's made, all of the failures that mankind has made. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.039 He fulfills every single one of those promises. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:41.440 And as you can tell, the picture changes. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.279 Everything changes. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.240 So God promised that death would be defeated. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:49.039 Well, Jesus defeated death when he rose again on the third day. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:50.799 Death has no claim on Jesus. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.559 It tried and it failed, but Jesus did not keep that victory to himself. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.079 He passed it on to us. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.039 And now we don't have to live afraid of death. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:01.039 Because we know what's waiting on the other side. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.480 There's a verse in Job when Job's going through this horrible ordeal. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:06.960 And he's, you know, he's years and years before Jesus. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:11.519 He says, If only I knew that there was life after death, I would be a man of hope. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.200 He didn't know, but we know because Jesus died and he got back up. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:19.839 So when he promises us, when he promises eternal life, he can deliver on that promise. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.759 Jesus defeated death, so that promise is fulfilled. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:28.880 God promised that the whole world would be blessed through Israel. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:35.839 And for centuries, the Israelites falsely believed that salvation was for them alone, that the Messiah was for them alone. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:43.119 But Jesus made it clear his last charge to his disciples was to go tell the world who he was, to baptize all nations. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:45.440 So that promise has been fulfilled. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:55.440 God promised us that we would have a right relationship with him, that eventually his law would be written on our hearts, that it wouldn't be this list of rules we have to keep, that it would be something we would desire. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:59.359 And Jesus came and lived that life, and he lived it for us. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:05.279 And the Bible says that his righteousness becomes our righteousness, and our sin became his sin. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:09.920 So we get the righteousness that Jesus earned. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:16.960 And he becomes a part of us, the Holy Spirit becomes a part of us, and we can actually grow to desire to live right by God. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:26.799 Now we're in a new covenant where our right standing with God is not based on what we do and what we don't do, it's based on accepting that we are his children and just loving him. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:28.319 That's it. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:30.480 Promise fulfilled. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.960 He promised so many things, and he's delivered on those promises. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:38.880 He promised a perfect king. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:40.960 You can't get more perfect than Jesus. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:42.079 And he is our king. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.039 He came and he said, The kingdom of heaven is here. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.599 And the reason it's the kingdom of heaven is not because it's a place. 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:50.640 When we think of the word kingdom, we might think of England. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:52.480 We might think of some kingdom we can think of. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.000 But a kingdom is only a kingdom if there's a king, and we have a king. 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:58.480 The Bible says he is the name above all names. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:21:59.599 God has given him all authority. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.119 So he is that perfect king, promise fulfilled. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.920 Jesus has fulfilled every single promise. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.720 When we get to Jesus, everything changes. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:18.400 That's one of the things I love so much about this picture that Ben drew is that when you get to Jesus, it's just different. 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:20.960 There's purpose in it. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:21.440 There's a plan. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:25.759 All of a sudden you look at it and you say, hey, maybe things weren't spiraling out of control like we thought. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.559 Maybe, maybe God knew what he was doing. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.079 Maybe there was a plan. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.559 The first time Ben showed me this was over a year ago. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.480 He was wanting to teach it with the junior high kids. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:35.680 I talked about that a few weeks ago. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:37.759 And up until this point, I mean, I thought it was cool. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:39.119 I was looking at it, it was spiraling. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:40.799 I was like, all right, this is this is interesting. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:43.680 But it's when it got to this point that I got excited. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:47.359 There were so many verses that I had heard growing up as a kid. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:54.079 And I believe in those verses, I believe those statements, but it wasn't until I saw this that it all kind of clicked for me, that it really made sense. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:58.319