SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Jonathan Ben Gilson.
SPEAKER_00: I'm on staff here at Redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: And we are continuing on in our series Friends of Redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: And today we get to hear from the uh pretty cool and its team Pastor Paul Cross.
SPEAKER_00: So very excited about that.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul has a rich history here at Redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: And in the first service, I said I was like, hey, Paul was an intern here back in 1987.
SPEAKER_00: I was born in 1986.
SPEAKER_00: So he has a lot of history.
SPEAKER_00: So he's an intern here.
SPEAKER_00: He served through all sorts of varying capacities at Redeemer.
SPEAKER_00: And um two years ago, he was also our interim pastor, which was uh firstly a wonderful time to get to know him, uh be able to benefit from his wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: And uh Paul, if you uh want to get him going, just start talking about uh Ford Mustangs or National Parks.
SPEAKER_00: He loves those, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: So uh but with that, we're so thankful to have him here with us today.
SPEAKER_00: Uh bottom line, Paul loved for people to experience the word, and that is so evident in the way that he digs into God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And so with that, thank you, Paul Cross, for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for the intro, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that I've ever been called cool, though.
SPEAKER_01: That's uh that's terrible.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh and and and and and and the tech team was was sort of mocking me, wondering where my sweater was uh uh today.
SPEAKER_01: But nevertheless, it is it's green.
SPEAKER_01: See, it's green, it's it's for the season of Pentecost, so we're we're still on board.
SPEAKER_01: See, I have been uh uh crazy busy since uh we've last uh encountered.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh I you know last year I got a chance to do uh the the inaugural series of this.
SPEAKER_01: That was a real blessing, and I'm so grateful to Pastor Ben for inviting me back.
SPEAKER_01: I truly am blessed by that, so thanks for that.
SPEAKER_01: I really do appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01: Um but since then I've been hitting the throttle doing the national park thing quite a bit.
SPEAKER_01: Uh all kinds of different trips that I've taken.
SPEAKER_01: But this year I did uh an insane trip.
SPEAKER_01: I I went from um from April to June, uh 12,675 miles, uh mostly out east, mostly doing semi-quincentennial stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you impressed that I know what the word semi-quintennial?
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't be.
SPEAKER_01: It's been a it's the two 250th anniversary of uh signing a Declaration of Independence.
SPEAKER_01: That's that was really cool for me.
SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed doing that.
SPEAKER_01: When a lot of the parks related to uh the American Revolution and the founding of our country, really cool, had a great time doing that.
SPEAKER_01: So I've been busy doing that.
SPEAKER_01: The other thing I've been doing that's been busy for me is that I've been promoting another celebration of this year, and that is this year is the 500th anniversary of the printing of the New Testament in English, and I've been teaching on that in a lot of places, and so I've really been grateful for that.
SPEAKER_01: Just got back from two weeks, back to back at family camps, teaching on a teaching called a biography of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Uh not the Bible as biography, but a biography of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And some of the stuff we're gonna be talking about today was was in that.
SPEAKER_01: But uh nevertheless, I'm just again, 500 years since William Tyndale first printed the Bible into English.
SPEAKER_01: Uh amazing year to be talking about that.
SPEAKER_01: But uh, I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm delighted to see you all.
SPEAKER_01: And I see in the back, Brian, I I saw you sneak in, you kind of slip by, and I didn't think I'd see you back there.
SPEAKER_01: But uh at the early service, I saw a whole bunch of folks that I'd not seen in 35, 36 years.
SPEAKER_01: It's just been crazy.
SPEAKER_01: So it was great.
SPEAKER_01: So it's good to be here.
SPEAKER_01: But before we go any further, let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love.
SPEAKER_01: Send forth your spirit, and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful.
SPEAKER_01: Grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy his consolations through Christ Jesus our Lord, and all God's saints said.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Gather friends, may grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God who is our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is the Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: As I said, it's the 500th anniversary of printing the New Testament into English.
SPEAKER_01: Pretty cool story.
SPEAKER_01: Got too much stuff to go into.
SPEAKER_01: We won't uh go into all of that right now.
SPEAKER_01: But it's interesting because I started out by talking about that uh where I'm from, this is called the good book.
SPEAKER_01: The good book.
SPEAKER_01: And it's generally, there are five things, real quickly, that people fit into the category of the good book.
SPEAKER_01: Um, number one, people think it's good for nothing.
SPEAKER_01: You got friends that think that because you think it's just crazy, all kinds of stories in there, and they think it's mythological.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't happen to fall in that category, but you got friends, and maybe you are one of those people, you got drugged here by somebody, and you just think this is just it's crazy stuff.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's good it's good for nothing.
SPEAKER_01: It's crazy.
SPEAKER_01: Uh others might think, well, you know, you don't think that about it, but you avoid it because you see it as a good guilt trip.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a good whipping.
SPEAKER_01: I know we don't whip people anymore much, like as I said when I was growing up.
SPEAKER_01: I I had I had to go to the principal's office for corporal punishment.
SPEAKER_01: Seriously, a true story.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's how crazy.
SPEAKER_01: But a true story.
SPEAKER_01: Uh but it's some people think it's a good whipping, you know, it makes you feel guilty and all that sort of stuff, and there's just nothing but you know you how you don't measure up.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, maybe you're one of those people that's just uh built for guilt, but uh I'm not, but so that's why I went to the principal's office so much.
SPEAKER_01: But um nevertheless, uh uh uh not just uh uh good for nothing, but some people think it's a good whipping.
SPEAKER_01: But then other people who have a little bit more urbane attitude towards the Bible, they don't necessarily believe in it, but but they appreciate all the the stories and the stuff that is found a that's a foundation for our culture, and they think it's good literature.
SPEAKER_01: It's a good read.
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, there's some really great stories in there, and there's uh some absolutely fabulous literature, but that's all some people think it is.
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot more than that.
SPEAKER_01: And then there's the place that I think most people sort of light.
SPEAKER_01: People, and maybe you're some of those people, but whether consciously or unconsciously, some people think that it's good advice.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you're one of those people that looks to the Bible as good advice to how you lead your life.
SPEAKER_01: And there is a lot of good advice in there, and it is, and the advice that it has is good.
SPEAKER_01: But um I'm here to tell you it's a lot more than good advice.
SPEAKER_01: See, the gospel is not good advice.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is good news, it's good news.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is good news.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna what we're gonna talk about this morning, briefly, is the whole idea of how God transforms good advice into good news.
SPEAKER_01: And God's amazing at this.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, good advice is is good advice and it will help you out in life.
SPEAKER_01: And my dad, uh my dad was amazing at dispensing good advice.
SPEAKER_01: His children were not amazing at receiving it, but uh he was amazing at dispensing it.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell I can still tell you the good advice that my dad gave.
SPEAKER_01: My dad was a sergeant, uh, uh career, uh 20 years active duty, uh, 16 uh as a civilian for the Department of Defense and 10 years in the reserves.
SPEAKER_01: You should go into my parents' house, shout attention, and every stick of furniture snap too.
SPEAKER_01: But as a sergeant, my dad knew how to give good advice.
SPEAKER_01: And and these are some of the things that I learned about the good advice, and also I want you to see the good advice, but how God transforms that good advice.
SPEAKER_01: Good advice number one.
SPEAKER_01: Half of life is showing up.
SPEAKER_01: The other half is showing up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Half of life is showing up, and the other half is showing up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I I would strongly encourage each and every one of you, particularly if you're looking, if you're if you're young, and I see lots of young faces here.
SPEAKER_01: If you're young, my advice to you is you know, as you're out looking and considering your field, one of the most important things you can do is show up.
SPEAKER_01: There's so many employers that are desperate for employees, but they're really cheering.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they'll take you whether if you're alive and breathing, but they will cheer if you show up.
SPEAKER_01: They will think this is the greatest thing in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And if you show up on time, they won't know, they'll give you a raise for crying out loud.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you show up on time, they'll give you a raise and you'll give them a heart attack.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they won't know what to do with you if you show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: But needless to say, you know, I've I've I've done this long enough to know that there's no magic in that.
SPEAKER_01: And besides, also, uh it's it's kind of harder and harder to show up on time, and people have their little idiosyncrasies about, you know, this is kind of my schedule and not yours and whatever.
SPEAKER_01: So showing up is uh uh a big challenge.
SPEAKER_01: But it's really good advice, believe me, as someone who has been a supervisor, as someone who's been an employer.
SPEAKER_01: I know that sounds kind of funny as a pastor, but I've had to employ people.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I cannot tell you how great it is to have employees that show up and show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Fantastic stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
SPEAKER_01: But it's only good advice.
SPEAKER_01: God, on the other hand, has transformed that to the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you were to get your Bibles out, you don't need to do this right now, but if you were to a familiar passage in Scripture is the passage of uh uh uh right where the New Testament starts, Matthew chapter 1, verse 23, uh the angel has visited Joseph showed up and um just in the right time, because goodness gracious, he was about ready to divorce his wife, um, or his fiance, I should say.
SPEAKER_01: Uh so just in the nick of time, the angel of the Lord shows up and kind of gives Joseph a pep talk, but it's not just a pep talk, not just good advice.
SPEAKER_01: It's good news.
SPEAKER_01: He says uh the child that your betrothed is going to bear, his name will be Emmanuel, which means God with us.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the whole story of the gospel, I mean, not just the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but the whole story of the good news of the gospel is that God showed up.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't stay distant, he's not far off, God showed up, and that's good news for us.
SPEAKER_01: That is good news for those of us who are in who are suffering from the condition of sin and death and coming under the influence of the power of the devil in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And it's so good that God shows up to bring us victory over that.
SPEAKER_01: And God showed up in at the right time.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just God shows up, but God shows up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, Paul in Galatians chapter 4, verse 4, says, in the fullness of time, God shows up.
SPEAKER_01: Just at the right time, God showed up to do what was necessary for us.
SPEAKER_01: That's good news.
SPEAKER_01: Not good advice.
SPEAKER_01: You can't replicate that, but you can manifest that in your lives by thanking God, saying, God, thank you that you have shown up.
SPEAKER_01: And thank you that you show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: And that's one thing you can count on about God.
SPEAKER_01: God will show up, and God will show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Not necessarily the time that you think, but the time that he knows which is the right time.
SPEAKER_01: But it is good news, and that's the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: My dad would say showing up and showing up what time is good advice, but God takes that through the gospel and transforms it into good news.
SPEAKER_01: Second thing.
SPEAKER_01: Remember who's writing the check.
SPEAKER_01: The next uh the next bit of good advice, and I think this is remarkably good advice, is it's always a good idea to remember who's actually the writing the check.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but uh I I I've been known to be, in my youth, I was known to be pretty Malvi.
SPEAKER_01: Now there are people that I said that say I talk a lot, that's true.
SPEAKER_01: I mean that part is true.
SPEAKER_01: I I I do I have that affliction.
SPEAKER_01: I think I share with you the 12-step group I go to.
SPEAKER_01: I have, I I do.
SPEAKER_01: I have this 12-step group uh that I go to.
SPEAKER_01: It's for people who talk too much.
SPEAKER_01: It's called On and On and On.
SPEAKER_01: Just saying, just saying.
SPEAKER_01: Um but um I used to run my mouth off and and I used to work in a in a in a Buick shop many years ago before the uh continent separated and and so forth.
SPEAKER_01: And and uh it is just a fact.
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh I was there when it happened.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you, I can testify to that.
SPEAKER_01: But nevertheless, uh you know, I I thought I was all that and the bag of chips.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I really did.
SPEAKER_01: I thought I was pretty special.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I would let people one day I took my boss aside and told him just how special I was and how much this company relied upon me.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what he told me?
SPEAKER_01: He said, you know, Paul, stick your hand in a bucket of water, pull your hand out, and see what happens to where your hand used to be.
SPEAKER_01: It fills in pretty quickly.
SPEAKER_01: I was running my mouth.
SPEAKER_01: I was I was running my mouth to the guy that essentially was telling his boss, sign a check to this guy, because there was a transaction going for forth there.
SPEAKER_01: The check was this, it's called a paycheck.
SPEAKER_01: And in this paycheck, I I'm supposed to do this, and they do this, and they'll write the paycheck, and it's great.
SPEAKER_01: So it's good advice to keep your yap shut, accept the check, and remember who wrote the check.
SPEAKER_01: There's another story in the gospel that that pertains to that, that transforms that piece of good advice.
SPEAKER_01: It's the story of the workers in the vineyard.
SPEAKER_01: The workers in the vineyard, uh, you may have heard it's in Matthew chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, those of you who are paying attention, you might want to write that down.
SPEAKER_01: That's good advice, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: Um, not the gospel, that's good advice.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Matthew chapter 20, one of my favorites, it's it's about the people that go out, and uh guy's got a uh a field and he's he he wants people to get the harvest in.
SPEAKER_01: So he hires a bunch of folks and and then not enough people, he says, I need more people.
SPEAKER_01: Sees people standing around and says, Uh, why don't you come on and I'll pay you a day's wage?
SPEAKER_01: And he pays a day's wage and uh sees more people standing around and says, I'll pay you a day's wage.
SPEAKER_01: And still we don't have enough.
SPEAKER_01: And and time goes on, even to the like the 11th hour.
SPEAKER_01: There's 12 hours in a working day back then, and and and all of a sudden he sees people standing around and says, I still got work to be done.
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you a day's wage for an hour's work.
SPEAKER_01: Great deal.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when it comes time to pay everybody, the the the steward, the foreman, is paying everybody, and finally the the people who are working the full day see that the people who work just a part of the day, even a fraction of the day, are getting the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: And they get real mouthy.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing's changed.
SPEAKER_01: People start getting mouthy and saying, you know, hey, that's not fair.
SPEAKER_01: You know, I I worked so hard and I'm only getting this.
SPEAKER_01: What's up with that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, didn't we agree to a day's wage, no matter how when you work?
SPEAKER_01: Or, and I love the line, I remember it from my youth, remembering reading it in the revised standard version of this book.
SPEAKER_01: Or do you beg begrudge my generosity?
SPEAKER_01: See, here's here's here's the truth, friends, and here's the good news.
SPEAKER_01: The good news is that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
SPEAKER_01: The malvi and the obedient, the good and the bad.
SPEAKER_01: God is a God of abundance, and God is a God of generosity, and we should thank God for his abundance and generosity.
SPEAKER_01: And we shouldn't be whining about fairness.
SPEAKER_01: You know, when at the labor and delivery ward where you were born, there was no extra person standing there employed by the hospital telling you and your parents that life would be fair.
SPEAKER_01: But life is filled with all kinds of challenges and so forth that are not fair.
SPEAKER_01: Even so, God chooses to be a God of abundance and blesses.
SPEAKER_01: I believe that if you're in the sound of my voice in this room, you have been blessed abundantly by God.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't need to have to talk you into it, but I could if you want to.
SPEAKER_01: God has blessed you abundantly, and that's good news.
SPEAKER_01: That God is the one writing the check.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's good to remember that.
SPEAKER_01: That's not just good advice, that's good news.
SPEAKER_01: Because what we remember then is how generous, how abundant God's blessings are in our lives, and why?
SPEAKER_01: Because of his undying love for you and his creation and his desire to see you blessed.
SPEAKER_01: That's uh the second thing that God has transformed to the gospel in terms of good advice.
SPEAKER_01: So it's first uh uh show up and show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, remember who wrote the check.
SPEAKER_01: Next.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember my dad saying this to me all the time.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Paul, it'll always be a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: Always be a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: There's a certain blessing that comes with being industrious.
SPEAKER_01: Working hard, doing your best, there there really is, no matter what the circumstances, that no matter what the vocation is, no matter what you're calling it, uh being a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: One of the prouder moments of my life as a father is is that how often my one of my sons would come home uh and and very casually mention that he was employee of the month.
SPEAKER_01: And that was at several different places that he would do that.
SPEAKER_01: And it was that was pretty cool as a as a dad to hear that your son's employee of the month.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that that shows that you're being a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: That somebody's recognizing the industry that goes in to what you're doing, to showing that you are that.
SPEAKER_01: I I remember uh when I was teaching Sunday school, I mentioned the sixth grade over there, but that wasn't sixth grade.
SPEAKER_01: Actually, it was the high school.
SPEAKER_01: When I was 25 years old, I was teaching uh high school, uh Sunday school uh because no one else would, and uh and I didn't know any better.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and uh but I did.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and uh but we had Mr.
SPEAKER_01: Gibbs come in and he uh was teaching about um how the uh uh the the the third commandment about remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy isn't just that.
SPEAKER_01: And if you read Exodus chapter 20, you'll see that it's not just that, it is also about six days you shall work hard.
SPEAKER_01: Get out there and get it done, man.
SPEAKER_01: There's work to be done.
SPEAKER_01: Go out and be industrious.
SPEAKER_01: And he was right.
SPEAKER_01: I looked it up, and sure enough, it's in there, it's in the book.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't write that.
SPEAKER_01: Moses wrote that down at God's dictation.
SPEAKER_01: That is good advice.
SPEAKER_01: But God, again, imagine this, it's the theme.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna catch on, you're gonna figure this out as I keep going forward.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's the gospel that transforms that.
SPEAKER_01: You see, also in Matthew's gospel, in Matthew chapter 16, uh, Jesus uh tells uh his his crew to come in and take any.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, we're we're gonna have some, we're gonna have a conversation, we're gonna get this done, we got some stuff to talk about.
SPEAKER_01: And uh Jesus asks him, um, uh, who do people say that I am?
SPEAKER_01: You know that one, don't you?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, Matthew 16, 13 through whenever.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and um they all uh want to show, uh pick me, teacher.
SPEAKER_01: I think I don't know the answer, pick me.
SPEAKER_01: And uh they say some people say that you're uh John the Baptist, some people say that you're uh uh Jeremiah, some people say you're one of the prophets, some people say a lot of things, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Um but then Jesus says, I love this.
SPEAKER_01: He sort of breaks the fourth plane here of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: The evangelist pretty much says, you know, okay, but who do you say that I am?
SPEAKER_01: And then Peter says, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
SPEAKER_01: Now that is true, and it's exciting, and it's also good news that Jesus is the Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
SPEAKER_01: God did show up, and God showed up on time, and somebody recognized it.
SPEAKER_01: But he's kind of a hard act to follow because just shortly after this in chapter 16 of Matthew's gospel, Jesus will explain them what being the Christ means.
SPEAKER_01: It means that he's going to uh serve, not be served.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to give his life as a ransom for many, and he's going to s suffer unjustly.
SPEAKER_01: In making the great exchange.
SPEAKER_01: Your sins for his righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, that is the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That is good news because the fact of the matter is, we don't have to pay the penalty that God has put a substitute there for us.
SPEAKER_01: Our goal is not to keep saying, I need to follow that good advice, so one day I won't have to worry.
SPEAKER_01: That's not it at all.
SPEAKER_01: The good news is that Christ has done this for us.
SPEAKER_01: And that He's done this for us is indeed good news.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes we have to think, well, well, how do I appropriate that?
SPEAKER_01: It's by faith, but God's done it for you.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to know that God has done that for you.
SPEAKER_01: He has transformed all the effort, all the things that you know, your in, your whatever might be holding you back from recognizing the blessing of God in your life, he's already transformed that in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Not only is he Emmanuel, not only is he that um that householder that is a master that pours out abundance, but he is the Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The one that is anointed by God to take our place on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: So show up, show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: Remember who's writing the check.
SPEAKER_01: And being a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: Once you're done.
SPEAKER_01: He does tell us, though.
SPEAKER_01: Again, he says, take up your cross and follow me.
SPEAKER_01: But why does he tell us that?
SPEAKER_01: He tells us to take up our cross, and part of taking up our cross, and a big part of that, is to tell others.
SPEAKER_01: To tell others of what God has done for us and God for them.
SPEAKER_01: To bring the good news.
SPEAKER_01: That a lot of the that, well, he's going to tell another parable in Matthew's gospel.
SPEAKER_01: He also tells it in Mark.
SPEAKER_01: It's the parable of the sower of the seed.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not about what type of soil are you.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how many sermons have I ever heard preached?
SPEAKER_01: And I maybe have sinned by preaching one that way, that it's you need to tend to the soil and you need to fix the soil that you're in.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what it's about.
SPEAKER_01: It's about taking that word, the seed of, the word of God, which is the seed, and broadcasting it in the world, letting people know the good news.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what it is to be that follower of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Is to, in every part of your life, in every way, conscious or unconscious, be letting people know of that good news.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it is to follow, and that's what it is to be a hard act to follow.
SPEAKER_01: To share and spread that good news.
SPEAKER_01: Um another thing that my dad would say, my dad would say, uh, not only be a hard act to follow, is uh uh leave them wanting more.
SPEAKER_01: I I've I've left places before.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've I've been a lot of different places.
SPEAKER_01: I've moved around a lot, I've been to different places, worked for different situations, and every time I've left, I've been reminded of that advice of my dad, leave them wanting more.
SPEAKER_01: And that's a hard thing for me to think about, you know.
SPEAKER_01: What have I left out?
SPEAKER_01: What have I left undone?
SPEAKER_01: Uh what do I need to do that?
SPEAKER_01: And again, I could beat myself up to oblivion, but uh uh as my wife has told, will tell you, that God forgot to put a guilt trip and a guilt chip in my mind, and so I it doesn't seem to work that way.
SPEAKER_01: But I still think about it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm more duty bound than guilt-bound.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, what is it that needs left to be done?
SPEAKER_01: Well, again, God has transformed this.
SPEAKER_01: In in I love you guys, I want you to know that I really do love you.
SPEAKER_01: I love the service.
SPEAKER_01: I I was pretty much handed by my boss uh at the time, Gene Hermeyer, he said, Here, we're gonna have a contemporary service, and guess what, Paul?
SPEAKER_01: You get to start it.
SPEAKER_01: And that was in 1991.
SPEAKER_01: And it was in this building, in this place.
SPEAKER_01: And so uh, you know, I I I know what what needs to be done and what needed to be done in a place like this.
SPEAKER_01: But one thing is we don't have liturgy in here much.
SPEAKER_01: Much.
SPEAKER_01: One of the great things I love about liturgy is that when we read the gospel lesson in liturgical services, there's a passage from John's gospel, John chapter 6, verses uh 68 through 69, and Jesus looks at Peter and says, Are you gonna leave too?
SPEAKER_01: And then Peter responds, Lord, to whom shall we go?
SPEAKER_01: You have the words of eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: That's the part I love about the liturgical service.
SPEAKER_01: It's just as we're reading the gospel, Lord, to whom shall we go?
SPEAKER_01: You have the words of eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: There is the expectation that there's something more that's gonna happen, that God isn't finished with us, that there's something more that the word of God can teach us, there's something more that the word of God can bless us with, there's more abundance yet to come.
SPEAKER_01: There's more abundance.
SPEAKER_01: Indeed, leave them wanting more.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus certainly has left that in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes we don't necessarily want it, but God gives it to us.
SPEAKER_01: There's so much more to this life in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I I promise you, that's the one thing.
SPEAKER_01: I I've been been doing this for a few years, a long time.
SPEAKER_01: I I've been reading the Bible since I was 14.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the cool, this morning, when I was reading my daily devotions this morning, uh, a passage I've seen many times, God taught me something new there.
SPEAKER_01: There's so much more.
SPEAKER_01: There's a passage in Lamentations that says, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.
SPEAKER_01: They're new every morning, great is your faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's true about reading God's word, too.
SPEAKER_01: Not only is the steadfast love, but the steadfast grace of God that comes through the scriptures are new every morning.
SPEAKER_01: And I cannot tell you how many times I've read the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And I cannot tell you I've read the Psalms many, many times, and yet there was something new that morning for me.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, wow, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01: Leave them wanting more.
SPEAKER_01: And last.
SPEAKER_01: So not only show up on time, not only uh remember who's writing the check, not only be a hard act to follow, not only leave them wanting more.
SPEAKER_01: But a good boss makes all a difference.
SPEAKER_01: I've had a lot of bosses in my life, a lot of bosses in my life, and uh uh many of them good, some of them not so good, and some of them pretty awful.
SPEAKER_01: But my dad used to tell me that uh, Paul, you know, uh, you can work for the devil and make$2,500 a week, or you can work for God making$50 a week.
SPEAKER_01: But a good boss makes all the difference.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe some of you have experienced that.
SPEAKER_01: That somehow some of you might think, well, you know, there there's a lot that I can endure for that much money.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: You become bitter, you'll become disillusioned, you'll become cynical if you have that attitude, thinking somehow you're gonna endure this.
SPEAKER_01: Um friends, a good boss makes all the difference, and that's true.
SPEAKER_01: In um 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 25.
SPEAKER_01: Peter, this guy that you know he was face to face with Jesus, reminds the church that we have returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
SPEAKER_01: The shepherd and the guardian.
SPEAKER_01: That's the kind of boss I want to have.
SPEAKER_01: I want to have a boss like that, that is that will shepherd me and and and care for me and direct me and guard my soul.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my soul.
SPEAKER_01: Because like like sheep, I I wander, I go astray.
SPEAKER_01: And I need a boss like that who will be merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, compassionate, gracious, understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Understanding because he showed up in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: I need a boss like that.
SPEAKER_01: And the good news is I have a boss like that.
SPEAKER_01: I have a boss who is the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: I have a boss who is the guardian of my soul.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, that's not simply good advice.
SPEAKER_01: That's good news.
SPEAKER_01: Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that you have put people in our lives, whoever they might be, to offer us good advice on how to go through life.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you for the people that have told me to show up and show up on time.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you for the people that have told me to uh uh to recognize who's writing the check.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you for the people who have uh uh who have pointed to me that um be a hard act to follow and to leave them wanting more.
SPEAKER_01: And I thank you for the people that have pointed me to the truth of that good boss.
SPEAKER_01: And I thank you that you've fulfilled all those things in your gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That in Christ Jesus I can have the truth of all of that.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that for these my friends that have gathered together today, that these simple words that they probably heard as good advice would be transformed into good news.
SPEAKER_01: Pray, ask it in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: And all God Saints said, Amen.