WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.839 Let me ask you a question about asking a question. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.880 If you could sit down with Jesus for lunch, what would you ask him? 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.919 I had that opportunity and it blew my mind. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:18.239 And I'm going to get into the very specific details of that this morning. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:20.000 It's not just a tease. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:24.640 It was a reality totally different than what I expected. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.839 If you were not here last week, I shared about a trip that my family took. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:40.719 We went as a family to Costa Rico to stay with some friends of ours who cashed out of our society and decided to go be missionaries for an undetermined amount of time in Costa Rica. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.439 And we spent some time down there and it was incredible. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:56.000 Last week I shared about one of the life-changing focal points that God hit me with that if I really want to experience this life to the full, there were three decisions I had to make. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.079 And it really was during my time down in Costa Rica that we came across these verses. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:04.239 And it was James chapter 4, verses 7 through 10. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:13.439 And I have to submit, submit to seek him, and I have to draw near to God, and that I have to humble myself. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:23.120 Well, today what I want to really talk about is how do we seek those answers to the questions we would ask Jesus if we got to sit down with him at lunch? 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:28.239 What does it mean to physically draw near to God and Jesus? 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:31.200 And can we physically draw near to Jesus? 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:40.879 And in that same sense, I'm convinced now more than ever, it is through humility and saying, God, it's all yours. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:50.799 To lead up to there, let me draw a little picture of what we were experiencing to lead up to that moment, that time of lunch. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:56.079 We were in Costa Rica, an unbelievably naturally beautiful country. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.519 We were in the rainforest. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.239 Costa Rica is a huge part of it, is the rainforest, and we were staying in the rainforest. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.959 Up one of the steepest, muddiest hills. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:06.000 It was a mile up. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.800 You had to have four-wheel drive just to get to where we were staying. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:19.280 But it was on the side of the mountain, and you could sit, and I did every day, and I would just look over, and you looked over the rainforest, and there were clouds above sometimes, and clouds below sometimes. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:20.960 It was stunning. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.879 And about a mile plus in the distance, you could see the Pacific Ocean. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:26.719 It was beautiful. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:28.800 The rainforest is amazing. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:30.319 And the country. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:44.479 A mile walk down the hill, and we were at a waterfall that was about 30 feet high, and the pool of water and a rope swing off of a tree, and me and my boys just spent about an hour and a half there just having a blast. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.639 It was beautiful. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:55.599 The human side of it, though, in the reality is that as great as the view was, the roads were inversely horrible. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:01.280 They have pavement in some places, but no lines and no real rules for driving. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:05.520 So it leaves for a little bit of interesting moving around. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:10.560 On top of that, it's the rainforest, so it's always kind of damp everywhere. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:11.840 It's the rainforest. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:12.800 Go figure. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:25.039 But then there was the day where after we had spent some time with our friends and after we had kind of figured out what the week's going to look like, we had gone over to kind of serve in some orphanages, and those details didn't work out the way we thought. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:26.879 But Donald Christie said, you know what? 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:32.319 We're hooked up with a lady named Beth, and she does a ministry to this group of people in San Isidro. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:36.080 And we're thinking about being a part of that on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.319 And the first opportunity is going to be today. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:38.960 Do you want to go? 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:40.479 We're like, yes, we want to go. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:41.520 What does it entail? 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:47.280 I said, well, there's some down-and-out people that she just takes lunch to. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:04:07.840 So we meet, we drive up this unbelievably windy road, one of those roads that you see in the movies where you're looking over and there's a thousand-foot drop and there's no guardrail, and I'm white-knuckled driving on this road, and it's like, oh, we finally get over the hill and we go to their version of a grocery store, which is not like our version of a grocery store. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:09.280 But we met them. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:18.000 And I've discovered the idea of serving is oftentimes a lot more exciting than actually serving. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:21.920 And I discovered that at a new level. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:30.240 One of our core beliefs at his hands is that we serve because it's part of what God made us to do, but it's where we see Jesus. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:32.560 And I'll go into more detail in a second. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:37.680 But we we get to the grocery store, and I was excited because I'm like, you know what? 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:38.959 Let's, what do we do? 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:40.560 And she goes, Well, we're just going to make some sandwiches. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:42.240 And I said, Well, let's get sandwiched stuff. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:49.839 So we bought ham and turkey and lettuce and cheese and bread, and we got a table, and we put it out there in this little parking lot. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.480 And there were two dogs over fighting, waiting for us to throw something. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:56.240 And we're we're gathered around this table, about 12 of us, making sandwiches. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:57.839 And it was like, we're making sandwiches. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:04:58.800 This is awesome. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:06.240 And we pack them up and we put them in a cooler and we get the drinks and we get some cups and we get some napkins and we head off. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.759 We head off to feed the people. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.800 And I gotta describe the people in the place. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:20.720 She told us as we're making the sandwiches, yeah, they've kicked them out a few times, but I'm pretty sure they're back at their home. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:22.800 And we're like, well, where's their home? 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.680 They live in the landfill. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:27.120 Huh? 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:29.120 They live in the dump. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:36.720 And this is an emerging country, a third world previous country, now emerging, doing better, but it's the landfill. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:42.240 And now, as we're driving there, I'm trying to prepare my boys and my daughter and my wife. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:44.959 I said, now it's a landfill, it's a dump. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:47.360 How do you think that's going to smell? 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:49.360 They're like, bad? 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:50.480 Very good. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:51.120 I agree. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:52.399 I think it's going to smell bad. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:54.480 Now, the reality is, here's what I want you to do. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.160 I want you to engage for just a second. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:00.720 Think of the three worst smells you've ever smelled. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.519 Put them together. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:06.240 Multiply them by ten. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:11.680 Driving in with the windows up, it made us nauseous. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:13.120 You can imagine. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:20.720 As we pull up, it was funny because we're in three cars, a truck and two cars, and they were SUVs. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:30.959 But the lady who kind of organized it, she's in the first car, and there's a gentleman of this little hut at the mud road that goes into the dump, and he's saying, No, no, no, no. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:33.920 And he he she rolls down the window and he's explaining in Spanish. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:35.839 I couldn't hear it, but I could see his face. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.399 He's explaining, no, you you've taken a wrong turn. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:39.680 This is a dump. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:41.199 This is the dump. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.480 And then you could tell that she was explaining, no. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:46.160 We have lunch. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:49.600 Somebody ordered lunch here, and we're bringing lunch. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.480 And he's looking and he and he's like, No, it's the dump. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.720 And she goes, No, my friends live here. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:00.639 And I'm here to bring lunch. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.519 And he kind of did this, okay. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.079 And she said, the two cars behind me are with me. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.040 And he looked and he was like, okay. 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:11.759 And he led us past and as we went by. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.319 He had this look on his face like, you people are out of your mind. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.800 And we drove by and we drove into the landfill. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.839 It was immediate mounds of garbage. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.319 Go figure, this is where they take their garbage, and there were vultures everywhere. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:32.720 The stench was unbelievable, and it hit us hard. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:36.319 And as we pulled up, it's Costa Rica. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:37.759 It's the rainforest. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:44.480 During the rainy season, we pull up into the middle where we could stop to set up a table. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.680 And as I opened my door, the reality really hit. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:51.839 There is mud about that deep. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.720 And my mind just started to evaluate. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.000 How do I get out? 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:01.199 And then how do I get back in? 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.480 And what do we do? 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:15.920 And as we got out and began to walk and smell and experience, we realized that this was not just mud, this was a special mud. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:24.480 It's in the dump with oozingness into the mud and stuff. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:27.680 We affectionately named it moop. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:39.039 Partly because the sound it made, but partly because the smell it emitted, and it was it was shocking. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:46.879 And we're standing in moop and trying to figure out where do we put a table and how do we do this? 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:54.480 And the and the people in lean twos on the on the mountain of garbage looking at us like you people are out of your mind. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.360 What are you doing? 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:57.519 What what are you what is happening here? 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:01.519 Nobody comes to the dump that doesn't dump dump. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:03.440 Why are you here? 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:10.159 And then we started setting out the sandwiches, and a few came up out of curiosity, and we're like, hello. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:14.799 And they're they're like, hola, and we're like, Buenos días. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.759 They're like And we're like, would you like a sandwich? 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:19.919 And we had one or two people who spoke some Spanish. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:20.960 They said, Would you like a sandwich? 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:21.759 Like, yes. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.360 We're like, they're free, here it is. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:24.639 Would you like a drink? 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:27.919 And and we started to feed them, and more and more would start to come. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.120 There's about 30 or 40 people spread out. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.080 Let me describe the people that lived in the landfill. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:38.799 None of them were pretty. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:43.039 They were not pretty, they were not well dressed. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:53.519 Nothing about them from a physical sense made me desire to be around them or to be them from a physical sense. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:54.559 Nothing. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:56.720 Imagine them. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:02.000 This is a choice or the result of a bunch of choices. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:12.399 The neighborhoods leading up to the dump despise these people because they live in a dump and they make their houses, which are near the dump, even worse. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:17.919 These people are literally, I I don't know what all they're suffering from. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:23.600 Again, I didn't get into the details of the decisions or why they were there, we never asked. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.159 But they're living in a landfill. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:27.679 They're suffering. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:36.720 These these are people who an entire community, an emerging world, pretends don't exist. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:41.440 We asked, what happened what happens if something happens to them? 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.480 And they're like, the pe the police will not even respond. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:46.159 Nobody will respond. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:48.159 They pretend they don't exist. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.720 And these are the people who live there. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.799 And we brought them lunch. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:56.000 And we had lunch with these folks. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:07.279 We didn't eat, but they ate, and we got to speak with them, we got to give them some pieces, and I if I could sit down with Jesus, I would have asked a few questions. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.080 Am I doing life right? 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:13.519 Am I where I'm supposed to be? 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:15.519 What do I need to change? 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:17.759 What would you want me to do? 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:22.639 Give me perspective of of this life of that you've given me. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.519 Give me what you want me to do. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.240 And I I didn't realize it at the time. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:37.279 As I was having lunch and serving lunch that Jesus would show me later, I was there. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:39.120 I was right there. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:41.200 Look at this prophecy. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:46.799 Not look, listen to this prophecy of who how Jesus is described. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:56.159 You can write the reference down, and if you want to open your Bibles, I want you to open to Matthew chapter 25, because we're going to look at some verses in just a second. 00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:02.480 But look at how God describes his physical son Jesus. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:12.240 He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:23.039 He was despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrow, familiar, well familiar with suffering. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:31.279 Like one whom made men hid their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.559 I saw Jesus. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.519 I didn't realize it, but I did. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:43.440 And I realized as I saw this particular prophecy about Jesus, I said, Well, figuratively, Lord, I get it. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:46.159 I saw you in them. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:47.519 I get that. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:51.919 But then God nailed me between the eyes, and he's like, Ken, you're missing it. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.879 And this is unfolded as I've processed this. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:59.919 We left the dump that day, and you can tell there was a lot of processing. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.519 What did we just see? 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:02.639 What did we just do? 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:07.039 I told my boys, you will never forget this day. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:08.000 Ever. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:14.799 And I said, let God speak to your heart over the next weeks with what we just went through. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.519 And there's some amazing pieces that came out of it. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:25.440 But before we get there, I want you to look with me in Matthew chapter 25, verses 35 through 40. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:31.600 Because this is where God really got real with me and is teaching me through this. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:36.720 In chapter 25, verse 35, he says, This is Jesus. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:42.559 Now you have to have some theological training to know that this is Jesus speaking, or just realize it's in red. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:51.279 So Jesus is speaking and he said, For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.879 I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:57.759 I was a stranger and you invited me in. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.159 I needed clothes and you clothed me. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.080 I was sick and you looked after me. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.879 I was in prison and you came and visited me. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.440 And then the righteous will answer him. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:13.919 Lord, what when did we see you hungry and feed you? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.120 Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:21.039 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in? 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.200 Or needing clothes and clothe you? 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:27.679 When did we see you sick and in prison and go visit you? 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:30.720 Jesus, we've seen the pictures in Sunday school. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:33.279 You got brown hair, blue eyes. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:34.799 We know what you look like. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.240 You wear a bathrobe all the time. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.879 We haven't figured it out, but we know what you look like. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:43.440 You look like a middle class Protestant, Anglo-Saxon, Republican. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:45.039 That's what you look like. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:46.879 We get it. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:52.480 And and we didn't see you. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.240 And look what he says. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:03.519 He says, the king will reply, I tell you the truth. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:11.279 Whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine, underline these last four words. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.799 You did for me. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.399 Not did for those like me. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:20.960 You did for me. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:23.759 Now here's the astounding part. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:36.320 As I saw these two verses, Isaiah 53, 3 and Matthew 25, and they began to come together, as I began to process this, I realized that was Jesus. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:37.919 That was Jesus. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:40.000 He didn't look like I expected. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.960 He didn't smell like I expected. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.919 He didn't act like I expected. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:55.840 I can tell you this: those who were there, some of these people, for whatever their condition, whatever their sorrow, here is a table full of food. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.440 Many of them we have been told eat five, six times a week. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:02.480 We put it out with freedom, and here it is. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.559 It is yours as much as you want. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:09.600 They would not walk 10 feet off of a trash pile to come get a sandwich. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.559 I don't know what that issue is. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:14.320 But they wouldn't do it. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:19.679 There were those who began to yell us at the end: move, get out of the way. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:23.120 Another dump truck is coming in. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.320 Move, get out of the way. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:29.919 We need some more trash to dig through. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:31.679 And that was the attitude. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.840 It wasn't the attitude I expected. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:40.240 But here's the stunning part that I got from this meeting with Jesus for lunch. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:54.799 If I had the opportunity to sit down and ask Jesus a set of questions, and he were to answer me verbally, it would not have been as clear as what I walked away with. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:02.480 Because I walked away with a perspective and a clarity about my life that I have never had. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:06.160 Of going, God, I see. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:09.119 I see my life. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:18.319 And as I processed this over the last week and a half, I saw where I needed to change and where I was doing really well. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.119 And I had the answers. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.079 And it blew my mind and continues to blow my mind today. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:35.440 I'm convinced after that experience that I am not the answer to their problems. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:38.480 Neither is America. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.680 Neither is capitalism. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:47.519 Jesus is the answer to their problems. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:53.039 Jesus is the answer to my problems. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.960 I realized a depth of God's love that I had never seen before. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:16.079 I'm standing there with these people at the state and condition they are, the lowest of the low I've ever personally met, and realized that Jesus died for them and loves them as much as he loves me. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:18.480 Not less, not more. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:22.079 That's a perspective I wouldn't have had. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.319 I had these realizations. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.920 And then I also realized some amazing wonders that we're involved with. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:34.480 That the core part of what we do here is part of Jesus. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:38.880 That in serving is when we will hear and see Jesus. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:45.519 It's not just an idea, it's not something we ask everybody to please find a place to serve because we need it. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.240 It's where we see Jesus. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.720 It's where we experience Jesus. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.319 It's where we get our answers and clarity from. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:59.359 It's also an amazing, a side effect I never expected. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:07.119 We finished up, we got the table together, we wrapped up the two amazing parts as we're sitting there at the end. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:08.240 The sandwiches are gone. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:14.079 We've handed out some of the stuff, and and we realized, wait a minute, where do we put the trash? 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:28.240 And and we thought, do we and it was one of those mental weirdnesses, because we do do we put it in the in the truck to take it to a trash can to get it in, to bring it back here? 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.680 Or do we just throw it down? 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:32.960 Wow. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:38.160 And it was a confusion for a minute, and then it was like, wow, and then we then we got to the reality. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.640 Like, how do we get back in the cars? 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:43.839 We got moop all over our shoes. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.440 And I'm in a rental, and I don't know how to explain that smell to the rental car company. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:51.119 And how do we do this? 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:55.680 And it was such an incredible moment because my friend Donald says, You know what? 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:56.960 I got a pickup truck. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:01.519 I said, Donald, can we take the shoes and just throw them in the back of your truck? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:02.880 And he said, Absolutely. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.519 And then we'll rinse them off when we get to a gas station or back home. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:06.480 And I'm like, that's great. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:07.759 He said, but how are we going to do that? 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:08.880 We got to get in the cars. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:14.559 And through a beautiful moment of submission and humility, he says, You know what? 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.720 Why don't all of you get in your doors? 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:18.880 Let me take off your shoes. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:20.799 I'll carry them to the truck. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:22.319 And that way you don't have to have it. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.039 And I'm sitting there going, Yeah. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.960 And even with that, there was a little bit of moop left on us. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:32.880 And it was one of we're driving back. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:41.039 We're driving back, and and I look in the rearview mirror, and there's my son Graham and my wife in the back of the car, and they're just kind of laughing. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.559 And I'm like, do tell, what are you laughing at? 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:51.680 And he said, you know, I just I'm still processing, but I got some moop on me. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:56.160 And he said, I just couldn't help but think of the song Moop. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:57.359 There it is. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.920 Moop, there it is. 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:12.079 And we laughed. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:13.680 Oh my goodness. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:20.960 I can tell you that I began to have some realizations. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:30.480 I realized that when I get home, and I got home that my circumstances were the exact same as when I left. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:35.039 But my worry and my view of them changed dramatically. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:42.640 I got home with a level of thankfulness that no Thanksgiving before has ever provided. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:47.759 I experienced a genuine thankfulness, not a guilt. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.599 God, you've given me here, and I'm still processing some. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:53.039 I look at two little boys. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:55.519 I have a picture on my iPhone of these two boys. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.599 We gave them some silly bands, and they were playful, and they were happy. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.000 They live in a landfill. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:03.759 And they were just boys. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:09.759 And to this day, I'm like, God, I don't know why you let me be born here. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.200 But you did. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:13.759 I'm thankful for it. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.759 I'm not gonna feel guilty for what you've given me. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:25.599 But Lord, I pray for those two little boys who were born in a country, the parents who live in a landfill. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:27.200 What did they do wrong? 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:28.559 Nothing. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.000 They did nothing wrong. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.720 God, I get it. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:35.519 Their only hope is you. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.359 Their only hope. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:48.319 And dare I say that in our country we are so distracted that we miss the fact that our only hope is Him. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:50.640 God thank you. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.119 That you can draw their eyes to that. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:55.200 That's one. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:05.839 And it I'm convinced more than ever that it is in giving and in serving where we will encounter Jesus literally. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:15.359 We will hear his voice, we will see with his clarity, and we will experience God when we humble and submit to serve and give. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:16.400 That's where it is. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:19.279 That's why it is a core value of what we do here. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:22.640 And it's not always going to look the way we expect it to look. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.759 And we won't always hear it and see it when we expect to see it, but that perspective is over time. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:33.759 I want to give you one other big picture that I experienced that was amazing to me. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:43.279 The next day, I look back and it was life in one day. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:44.400 It was Thanksgiving. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:47.119 I will never forget that Thanksgiving day. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.000 We decided that we would go for a hike. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:56.160 And I'd seen waterfall pictures in Costa Rica, and we went to Nayaka. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:09.119 And you pull up, and there's a little place you can pay to either spend$60 to ride a horse for six kilometers up and down these hills and mountains to get to the waterfall. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.000 Or you can pay$3 and hike it. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:16.240 And we thought, six kilometers? 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:18.000 I've run 10Ks. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:18.960 We can do this. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:20.720 We don't need no stinking horse. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:22.319 Let's just hike it. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:38.720 And so we all got our$3, our one and a half,$1,500 colognes, and we paid it and we pulled in as far as we could get because the roads were very steep and then got narrow and then you couldn't pass, so we parked, and we're going to walk the four kilometers. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:41.519 Did I mention it was in the rainforest? 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:47.599 Have I mentioned the concept that it rains in the rainforest? 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:50.559 The trails were mud. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:53.039 Thick mud. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:58.240 Uphill, down, uphill, down, down, uphill, up and down. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:24:59.279 Mud. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:10.400 And we had defined the least muddy place for four kilometers, sliding and gushing, and you just resolve, I'm gonna be wet, I'm gonna be muddy, and we're just gonna get through it. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:11.119 And we start. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:17.119 And then you realize horses have gone before you to muddy it up even more. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:21.839 I don't know what they fed these horses, but they were very regular. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:25.359 More moop. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.799 And so you got to dodge this and get up, and and it's frustrating. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:35.279 And then it's together. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:41.599 And the boys ran up ahead with Kennedy, and the kids ran, and I'm with Heather, and we're walking, and we're like, okay, over here. 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:43.680 I think this way, I think this, oh, I'm gonna beat you there. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:48.400 And we're walking on the sides, and we're dirty, and we're sweaty, and we're hot, and we're wet. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:53.599 And halfway through, we're like, if there's a horse that comes by, I'll knock the guy off. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.440 You steal the horse, and we're gonna go the rest of the way off. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:02.240 And we made it. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:07.759 And we made it up, and we caught up with the kids, and I saw something that touched my heart. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:18.240 My son, who is about to turn 14, has his eight-year-old sister on his back, and he'd been carrying her through the mud up the mountain, and I just went, oh, wow. 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:23.599 They fight like dogs and they love each other deeply, and then we get there, and then we get to the waterfall. 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:24.480 And here's the place. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:36.960 We're up and down through the mud over an hour and a half, closer to two hours, to get to this waterfall, and then we walk down over a hundred feet. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:48.240 There's a waterfall into a pool, and then to another 40 to 50 feet into another pool of the purest water I've ever seen. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:54.640 It's rain off of leaves, over rocks, over a waterfall. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:27:01.839 I've been in lakes, I've been in the ocean, I've been in pools, I've been in streams, I've been in rivers, I have never been in water where you get in. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:08.559 Now we were we were filthy, sweaty, but we get in, and it was just the cleanest water ever. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:15.519 I went from feeling groaty and muddy and gross to the cleanest I've ever felt in my life. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:25.759 And it was amazing because there were rocks next to the waterfalls you could climb up on and you could jump into the base of the waterfall. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.880 And then it would, the current was so strong it would just push you. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.799 You didn't even have to swim, push you to the other side of the pool where it was shallow. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:40.960 And we did that three or four times, and we're swimming across, and you forget about everything to get there. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:43.200 It was amazing. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:47.920 And as I processed that trip, I'm like, God, this is incredible. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.960 Don't let me miss the importance of this. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:55.039 As I got back, there was a verse that came to my mind over and over. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:57.359 It was John 16, 33. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:04.720 I have told you these things, so that in me, this is Jesus speaking, you may have peace. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:10.400 In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:13.599 I have overcome the world. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:16.880 Hear that verse, I want you to think about this. 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:18.160 Underline the word will. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:21.920 In this world you will have trouble. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.599 You will have it. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:24.960 It's coming. 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:26.160 It's there. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:27.359 There's moop. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:28.720 You're gonna walk uphill. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:30.079 You're in the rainforest. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:31.599 It's gonna rain. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:33.519 There's gonna be trouble. 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:36.000 It rains on the righteous and the unrighteous. 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:37.119 It happens. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:38.480 But be of good cheer. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:39.599 I've overcome the world. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:44.000