WEBVTT 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:04.879 See, we we have hope. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:12.640 That's just because we believe Jesus is going to come again, but because Jesus is doing something about the world we live in, and by extension, so am I. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:20.719 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:25.760 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:30.800 Let's pray together. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:34.640 Lord, we rejoice today because you've done exactly what you said you would do. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:37.439 What were the prophets foretold, you fulfilled? 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:42.399 And so anytime we read in the Old Testament a promise that God makes, we know that that's going to come to fruition. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:46.159 Either it has or it is going to, because you're not a man that you would lie. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:50.079 You're a God who keeps your word because you're truth. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.320 Jesus, you said, I am the way to the truth about life. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.479 And so we look to you for the truth today. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:58.799 Illuminate our head and our heart, God. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.799 We've not come just to just to sustain a feeling or an emotion. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:05.040 We've come to be set free by the truth today. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:08.400 And so we look to you and your word because your word is truth. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:15.120 We agree, Jesus, with what you said in your high priestly prayer in John's gospel, that thy word is truth. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.760 And so, Lord, fill us with truth today. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:22.959 Affect what we believe so that we have this hope that surpasses all understanding. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:25.120 This hope that's an anchor for our soul. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:31.920 When we look around and our culture and our world feels hopeless, and it feels like it's dog eat dog, and it's every man for himself. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:33.519 We are people of hope. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.760 And so, Lord, remind us today of the beliefs that instill this hope in us. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:39.200 This is our prayer, God. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:41.040 Make it our experience we ask for. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.079 In Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:44.560 Amen. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:45.599 You can have a seat. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.319 Uh uh, if you're our guest today, let me say welcome. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:52.640 Uh uh This is the first Sunday of Advent, and every Sunday has a theme. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:56.159 And the theme of today's uh first Sunday of Advent is hope. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.400 And so I want to talk to you today about being hopeful in a world that isn't. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:02.879 Being hopeful in a world that isn't. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.840 And let me just confess, I realize that sounds idealistic. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:14.159 And uh as a friend, uh not a friend, an acquaintance said to me recently, we were talking, and he said, uh, you're a good guy, McClendon, except you're a little too religious. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:17.759 And I said, I want to hurt your feelings, and I said, You can't hurt my feelings. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:23.360 But anyway, uh the more we talked, and I said, What is it about hope that makes that you're bothered by? 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.759 And he said, Well, uh, I just think that you look around the world as messed up as it is. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:32.159 I think you're stupid and childish and foolish to be hopeful. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:45.039 And I said, actually, those are the exact words that I think about when I listen to your worldview, because if I wasn't hopeful, I didn't believe the things that I believed that I would feel stupid and childish and all these things that you accuse me of. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:46.560 And he's like, Well, I guess that's fair. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:48.080 You believe your thing, you believe my thing. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:48.879 And I said, No. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:55.840 Here's the thing: I don't believe that in this, you know, there's six billion people in the world, there's six billion different definitions of truth. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:58.240 One of us is right and one of us is wrong. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:06.080 Not that it has its origin in us, but for me, it's God is either right or and truth, or he's not and shouldn't be believed at all. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:06.800 And I'm okay. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.120 I don't mind thinking that deeply about it. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:11.120 He's like, well, I said, let me ask you something. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.560 When you look around, you see that the world is just messed up, what brings you hope? 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:16.000 He said, I'm not hopeful. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:18.240 The past two weeks I've had two funerals. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:25.680 Yesterday, a friend of mine had a stroke, uh, and we're not sure that she will cover the ramifications of that, may be with her for the rest of her life. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.960 Uh, her name is Helen Brown, she's 91 years old. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.000 Um, and and and and and Helen had a stroke yesterday. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.599 And I got back, I went to the hospital and spent some time with her and her daughter and her granddaughter. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:37.199 Got back, my wife said, How you feeling? 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:38.400 I said, I'm hopeful. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:44.960 One of my kids overheard that and they were like, Dad, mom said you've had like two funerals, and and then Miss Helen, yeah, this is Miss Helen. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:50.080 I took my kids, we take my get my girls over there because I want my girls to be around people who've lived some life. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:53.360 And I said to them one time, this is Helen Brown, my favorite Helen Brown thing. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.400 I said, Helen, give my girls some advice when it comes to dealing with guys. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:00.960 And she sat up in bed and pumped her fist and said, Give them hell and make them like it. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:06.479 And I thought to myself, I think you discipled my wife as well. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.479 And so, and I why do I tell you that? 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:15.520 I tell you that to say, I'm just kind of like, come on, man, this woman's been through enough, okay? 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.120 She broke her leg, she can't get out of bed, she's bedridden, and now we got a stroke. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:20.879 I mean, come on, God, be merciful. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:24.240 God is merciful, and I'm still hopeful, okay? 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.480 And so you can go through a lot of darkness. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:29.920 You can be surrounded by a lot of bad things happening and still hold on to hope. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.120 Not as an emotion, but as a byproduct of what you believe. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:40.800 So when I talk about, when I say I want to talk to you about being hopeful in a world that isn't, I don't have tips and pointers and four things to be more hopeful. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:50.079 I have three things that I want to put before you to say, hey, you the hope that we're of Advent is found as a byproduct of believing these three things. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.319 Here's the first thing I want to ask you to believe this morning that Jesus is coming again. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.000 Jesus is coming again. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.879 Advent is a time we recognize we're stuck between his first and his second coming. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.120 We live in the delta in between. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:06.160 The Bible talks about this in 2 Peter chapter 3. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:11.519 Now, when I talk about Jesus coming again, I'm not talking about some left-behind escapism. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:13.040 I'm talking about engagement. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.680 I'm talking about perspective more than fear. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:17.120 Here's the way the Bible talks about it. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.439 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 1. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.639 He says, This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:39.120 In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:40.240 Let me stop right there. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:44.639 I love that the Bible says scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.519 What do you expect scoffers to bring but scoffing? 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:49.600 It's like someone coming to your house for Thanksgiving. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:51.199 Hey, Dolores, what'd you bring? 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:52.720 I brought scoffing, okay? 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:56.319 Uh if you're a scoffer, now a scoffer is not a word that we use very often. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.040 We're such a PC culture, politically correct. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:04.639 We don't tell people what they're really like because we might get sued or something, but the Bible's not afraid of that. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:07.199 The Bible says in the last days, scoffers. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:17.120 People that scoff are people that disbelieve Christianity, people that mock Christianity, people that think this is for weak-willed, anti-intellectual people who need to feel something. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.360 And so if that works for you, great. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.160 But here's the thing: scoffers will come and they will bring scoffing with them, okay? 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.079 But it's not, their problem is not. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.399 Here's why you should just read the Bible. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:38.480 You should find a church that has the courage in this day and age to just read the Bible because it will invite you, it will shape the way you think about the world in which you live. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:44.399 He says, scoffers will come with scoffing, and then he says this, following their own sinful desires. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.720 Here's the real motivation of a scoffer. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:51.759 A person scoffs at Christianity, they doubt Christianity, they attack it, they ridicule it. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:54.560 You may be in this room right now, by the way, and that's okay. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:55.920 I'm glad you're here today. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:00.079 No one's mad at you, no one's gonna try to get into a debate and want to debate with you. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:01.600 Uh, none of that kind of stuff. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:06.160 But but I will love you enough to tell you this your issue is not with Christianity. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.560 That's the behavior, that's where it manifests. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:13.439 Your real issue is you have a sinful desire that you do not want to give up. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:21.040 And if the Bible speaks against that, then you are obligated to attack the Bible because the Bible says that's sinful, that's wrong. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:26.959 And so you attack the Bible, not because you're smarter than the Bible, it's because you don't want to be told no. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:38.959 And so when the Bible says that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires, what the Bible is telling us is the reason they scoff is because that they're gonna follow this sinful desire. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:40.240 They're not gonna give this up. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.399 He goes on and says in verse 4, they will say, Where is the promise of his coming? 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:50.079 For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:08:07.360 For they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these, word and water, these, by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished, the flood. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:17.759 Verse 7, he says, But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:24.879 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:34.000 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but it's patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:48.320 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies, that's talking about the planets and the stars, the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.799 Now that sounds kind of depressing, doesn't it? 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:53.039 You're kind of like, dang, dude, it's advent. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:54.559 I thought you were talking about hope. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.679 Now you're talking about the world going down in flames. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:02.080 And then the Bible comes along and asks this really whimsome and whimsical question. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:10.000 It's kind of like this little beautiful plant that just springs out of dry ground after he says, all this Debbie Downer, won't, won't, won't. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:16.799 Verse 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be? 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:23.679 In the midst of this dearth, of this apocalyptic kind of stuff, the Bible has this really wholesome question. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:28.639 Hey, in light of all this, what sort of people ought you to be? 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:41.200 In lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:47.360 But according to his promise, we are waiting for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:51.600 Again, when I say Jesus is coming again, that is not emotional escapism. 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:57.200 I'm gonna become some doomsday prepper and I'm gonna have canned food in the pantry, all that kind of nonsense. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:57.919 No, no, no. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.039 This is not, this is more about engagement than escape. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:03.279 Here's what I mean by engagement versus escape. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:10.000 It's you and I living a life and speak it in such a way that we remind everybody this is not all there is. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:11.759 This is not all there is. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:21.440 Because if you look around and you think this is all there is, this life, I'm gonna live to be 70, 80, 90 years old, and after that I die, so eat, drink, and be merry because this is all there is. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:22.879 It's flat, okay? 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:24.960 Nothing happens after this. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:31.360 Then if that's you, you are the most fatalistic, deterministic, self-reliant person in the world. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:36.000 And the issue for you is not, hey, when things are going really bad, who do I blame? 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:40.480 The issue for you is when things are really good, who do I thank? 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:43.759 Who do I thank? 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:49.840 Because there will be moments in life where it's so good, you know yourself, this didn't come from me. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:11:02.960 I didn't make good investment decisions, but you've so built your worldview, you've so followed your sinful desires in other areas of your life, typically around morality, that you've backed yourself into a corner. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:04.559 There's no one to thank but you. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:08.480 And here's what happens: that person can't really enjoy all that they have. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:14.000 Because they realize it's just kind of there's a shadow of ingratitude over them. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:21.440 They're like, uh somebody, if there is a higher power up there, he, she, or it has been really good to me. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:23.440 You can't even say that. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:26.000 So you just kind of muddle through. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:34.159 I just say being hopeful in a world that isn't is it's a byproduct of believing, first of all, that Jesus is coming again. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:40.320 And when he asks the question, what kind of what sort of people ought you to be, he gives us four words I want to draw your attention to. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:44.639 He says, in holiness and godliness, waiting and hastening. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:48.559 Now, those are four puritanical sounding words that we don't use a whole lot. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:49.759 Holiness. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:50.559 Holiness. 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:55.360 The Bible says, Be holy as I am holy, for that holiness no one will see the Lord. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:59.759 It's not about, hey, here's the standard of perfection, good luck, do your best. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:00.639 No, no, no. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:04.960 It's just I want to be Christ-like in my character, godliness, same thing. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.960 Then he uses this very great Advent word, waiting. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:11.440 Waiting, waiting. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:15.279 Everybody in this room right now is waiting for something, whether you realize it or not. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:19.039 Some of you are waiting for clarity, some of you are waiting for a relationship. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:23.519 Some of you ladies are 26 years old, you're not married yet, and you're kind of like, hello. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.639 When you were 17, you had a list of 15 things, you know. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:34.240 He's got to be a Christian and love Jesus and pray out loud and sound like he really understands what he's saying, and blah, blah, blah. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:38.159 When you're 26, the one thing on the list, he's got to have a pulse. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:40.399 Yes. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:41.919 And so you're waiting. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:42.799 You're waiting. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:44.240 Some of you are waiting to be rescued. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.159 Some of you are waiting to discover what you're going to do with your life. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:49.279 You're getting ready to graduate, and everyone's like, oh, isn't that awesome? 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:50.240 Isn't that awesome? 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.159 You're graduating college, and in your mind, you're like, Yeah, it's awesome. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:57.039 I don't really know what I'm gonna do, but it's awesome. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:04.799 And you get in bed at night in your apartment, and you're just kind of laying there, kind of like, hello, this is not as happy on the inside as people made me think it was gonna be. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:07.120 Matter of fact, it kind of scares me. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:09.120 Yeah, you're waiting as well. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:10.399 You're waiting for clarity. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:11.759 Everyone's waiting for something. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.639 When the Bible says waiting, it's not this just kind of setting like people wait in the emergency room. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.080 I went to the emergency room, that's why I took my friend Helen yesterday, and I walked in. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:23.200 There were people just asleep in the emergency room, just waiting to be called. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:24.799 And I was like, hey, what's that guy? 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.000 Oh, that they don't have insurance. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:28.240 Well, excuse me, they say they're indigent. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.159 Uh, and so we'll get to them when we can. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.720 But they just show up and they got snacks and they're just sleeping, waiting for someone to nudge them and kind of go. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:36.639 That's not the kind of waiting the Bible talks about. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:42.080 When the Bible says waiting, it's more this eager anticipation that I'm looking for. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.799 This eager anticipation that I'm looking for. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:50.080 And then he says this he says, uh, hastening. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.480 Hastening means to desire earnestly. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:53.519 Here's my fear. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:54.879 I just lay my cards on the table. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:02.000 My fear is that most of the things that we have this kind of intense desire for can all be found in this world and in this life. 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:08.080 If I'm gonna hasten for anything, I mean Black Friday's already come, you've already bought it for yourself. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:10.320 It's like, dude, I don't need anything. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.000 I don't I don't get Christmas presents because I just it's Christmas all year round. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:20.320 Being hopeful in a world that isn't involves, number one, believing this simple thing that Jesus Christ is coming again. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:25.200 Secondly, it's believing that Jesus is doing something about the world that we live in. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:27.840 Jesus is doing something about the world that we live in. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:29.039 Let me just draw your attention. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:35.120 Have you noticed that every product, not every product, but a lot of products that people sell have a cause attached to them? 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:47.039 Like if you buy a Subaru vehicle here in Houston, you go to a certain dealership, they'll donate$250 to the SPCA or some organizations, or you can get a puppy with your Subaru, and don't tell my kids because they want a puppy. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.639 And I'm like, I tell my youngest, you're leaving home in a year and a half. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.039 Then whose puppy is that dog gonna be? 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:54.159 It's gonna be mine. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.720 So I'm not all jazzed up about getting you a puppy. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.279 And my wife's like, they want a puppy. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.799 Like, I don't want a puppy. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:05.120 They want a puppy. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.240 I said last night, what do you guys want for supper? 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:10.320 My 16-year-old, a puppy. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:18.399 They were on the couch, all the three women in my life last night, conspiring for my downfall, talking about the kind of dog they want. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:19.679 And I'm like, hello. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.120 I'm 18 months away from empty nest. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.000 I don't want a dog in my nest. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.080 So I don't want y'all coming up and going, oh, our dog had puppies. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:31.039 You want a puppy? 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:31.679 No. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:34.480 Anyway, don't tell my wife I said that. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:36.720 But everything's got a cause attached to it. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.879 You buy a Subaru, they'll make a donation to this. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:42.559 There's a guy cold called me about eight, well, about two years ago. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:44.879 He stopped by and he said, I'd like to get your coffee vendor business. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:46.000 I'm a coffee vendor, I have this. 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:47.200 And I said, Tell them about your coffee. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.759 He said, Well, uh, it it's fair trade, ethically sourced, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:52.720 I said, What does it taste like? 00:15:52.799 --> 00:16:00.559 He said, Well, 2% of our profits are donated to a charity that helps reforest the help repopulate the rainforest. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.240 And I said, This may surprise you. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.600 I don't care about the rainforest. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.679 I think somebody else is doing that and they're better at that. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:09.200 I I think you ought to replant when you cut trees, all that good stuff. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.480 What does the coffee taste like? 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.240 Well, did I tell you it's ethically sourced? 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:15.120 I said, dude, this is gonna be a short conversation. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:16.960 What does the coffee bring? 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.759 Some, let's brew it up right here and let's taste it. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.159 Well, I get okay, but I want you to understand that we have, see, here's the thing. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:25.039 Here's what I think. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.879 If your product is really good, you don't need a cause to sell it. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:31.279 Everything's got a cause. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:37.840 But to pan the camera back a little wider angle, one of my concerns is the reason everything has a cause and we're so cause-driven. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:46.320 We have an activist culture where they're like, ah, is that the the the non-believers have looked around and Christians aren't engaged in anything. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:56.799 And so they've filled the space, and it looks like activism when it really should look biblically and from creation's perspective, from the creator's perspective, it shouldn't be activism. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.320 It should be believers engaged in a ministry of reconciliation. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:03.679 Hear it this way from the Bible, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:06.960 Again, Jesus is doing something about the world we live in. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:11.759 Because if you're here today and you don't believe that, then where do you find hope? 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:19.359 You just think that, oh, I became a Christian and it's going to be really hard and it's just going to be flat, and then I get to go to heaven when I die. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.200 That is not biblical Christianity. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:22.559 Hear the way the Bible says that. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:25.039 In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.640 He says, Therefore, if anyone's in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.759 The old has passed away, and behold, the new has come. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:38.480 All this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:39.200 Hear that. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:44.240 You didn't just get reconciled to God, he gave you the ministry of reconciliation. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:53.839 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses, their sins against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:03.599 The Bible says that God trusts us and entrusts us to remind people that Jesus didn't come just to establish the fact that we've all sinned and messed up. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.119 Jesus came because he already knew that. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.279 And I'll demonstrate that in just a minute. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.559 Therefore, verse 20, we are ambassadors for Christ. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:14.559 God making his appeal through us. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.559 We implore you on behalf of Christ. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:34.240 When the Bible says, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, that means whatever you do, you in that realm, if it's science or politics or education or finances or whatever, you do that in that, you are in that genre of business as an ambassador for Christ. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:39.359 That doesn't mean you put a Bible on your desk and hand out religious literature to the VP of marketing. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:50.720 No, it means that you live your life in such a way that people see, as Philippians says, you shine like stars in the universe in the midst of this twisted and perverse, crooked generation. 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:55.359 You shine like stars in the universe as you hold forth the word of life. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.119 That's what it means. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.319 Paul says, We are, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.319 God making his appeal through us. 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:05.519 We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:11.519 For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:16.319 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you to not receive the grace of God in vain. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:21.759 Now, you're smart people, when you hear that, you should think, oh, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:26.000 It makes me wonder what does it mean to receive the grace of God in vain? 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:31.680 It means this, it means that you profess to be reconciled to God, but you do not have a ministry of reconciliation. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:41.359 The gospel you believe in got you into heaven, but left everyone else around you just to settle for hell because your life is not marked by understanding or intentionality. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:45.519 It's just like, hey, you know, it's just me and my family, and that's it. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:56.880 And one of the problems in America is that we can't get Christians outside of their own home and being besieged by all the issues of their kids and their job and their life and their wife and their husband and blah, blah, blah. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:59.440 And so we don't, we're not God's ambassadors. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:07.440 We don't have a ministry and a message of reconciliation because we're just trying to get the dysfunction tamped down in our own house. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:18.319 And so American Christianity has become just this self-absorbed, therapeutic kind of, let's just get everybody out of the house so we can get a puppy. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:25.759 And I'm not against, yeah, yeah, yes, yes, the church, we want to help your family. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:29.839 We want to help you be a better husband and a better wife and a better student. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.240 But all those things are aided by uh an authentic relationship with Christ. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:43.920 Paul continues and he says in verse uh chapter 6, verse 1, after he says, uh, working together with him, then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:45.200 Listen to what he says. 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.240 For he says, In a favorable time, I listen to you. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.480 In a day of salvation, I have helped you. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.319 That's God saying to these people. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:57.200 Behold, now is a favorable time, he says to the Corinthians, Behold, now is a day of salvation. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:02.079 We put no obstacle in anyone's way so that no fault may be found with our ministry. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:07.359 He makes a statement and then he demonstrates, hey, this is what it looks like to be an ambassador. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:26.240 He says, But as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance and afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.880 See, you you don't have to be the super apostle. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.759 You just have to be a man or woman who demonstrates these things. 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:36.319 And you know, patience, kindness, beatings, imprisonments, riots. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:40.400 He goes through all these things, genuine love about truthful speech. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.640 That would be a revival in America if we all just started telling the truth. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:47.680 Just stop lying. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:50.400 I know it's hard. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:55.119 Just it's just start with no, that's that that dress is not your best idea for tonight. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.640 Let's try something else. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.759 Yes, yes, we've all been. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:00.640 There? 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.599 Does this make me don't ask me that question? 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.200 But he goes on. 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:06.880 What I want you to see is the Bible. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:07.759 Look at me, beloved. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.000 The Bible doesn't call you to do something you can't do. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:19.359 It just says, Hey, in truthful speech, and the power of God with weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left, through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:32.559 We are treated as impostors and yet are true, as unknown and yet well known, as dying, and behold, we live, as punished and yet not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:33.519 Think about that. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:38.400 How can you be poor and yet when people get around you, you make them rich? 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.119 As having nothing, yet possessing everything. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:45.279 Read all that to get to this part. 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:46.319 Don't miss this. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:48.559 We've spoken freely to you, Corinthians. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.480 Our heart is wide open. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:54.640 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:56.799 In return, I speak as to children. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:58.720 Widen your hearts also. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:00.799 That's the part I wanted you to hear. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:10.160 He says, in return, and as a result of this, as a consequence of this, widen your hearts also because our hearts are wide open towards you. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.440 We're not holding back. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:16.559 What I want you to hear today is that you were created by God to have these wide-hearted relationships. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:17.599 You say, I don't know what you mean. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:19.119 You ever been in a relationship with somebody? 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.359 I don't mean dating, uh, but that too. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:28.400 But just friendship, where you feel like, hey, I do more in this friendship than the other person does. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:30.640 I think they get more out of this than I do. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.640 Have you ever had a friendship like that? 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.000 If so, say amen. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:35.119 Yes. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:41.519 And so what you should learn to do is to say to that person, this is how you kind of get to more balance in that friendship. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:48.160 You say what Paul said, hey, I feel like my heart is wide open towards you, and I feel like your heart is barely cracked towards me. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.319 Can you just widen your heart? 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:55.839 Or, like the Corinthians and the Grinch, can your heart grow three sizes in one day? 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.920 Because Paul's not apologetic. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.720 He's not, hey, you know, could we get some time together? 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.240 Because I'd really like to get to know you. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.039 He says, No, no, no, we have spoken freely to you. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:06.720 Just hear that. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.839 You were created to have friendships in which people speak freely to you. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:15.519 They don't have to measure their words. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:24.799 Uh, well, you know, it's Thanksgiving, and don't say that because, you know, Uncle Harry, you know, we all know he's got a drinking problem. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:29.279 Let's just hope he's kind of sober for the meal and then we'll let him pass out on the couch. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:31.599 No, no, open the door. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.279 Hey, Harry, good to see you. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.480 I hope you're not still drinking like you were last year and make a fool of yourself. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:37.599 Come on in. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:42.160 Wouldn't that be a much more enjoyable Thanksgiving? 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:43.759 Yes. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:49.440 He says, Hey, we've spoken freely to you, and our heart is wide open, but yours isn't. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:52.000 So widen your hearts also. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:55.599 Let me ask you a question I want you to think about this week. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.240 What is your plan for widening your heart? 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:03.359 You got any relationships you're in right now, that friendships you just need to widen your heart? 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:09.200 Men, when you get home today, is your wife gonna say to you, I need you to widen your heart towards me? 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:13.920 See, we we have hope. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:21.759 Not just because we believe Jesus is gonna come again, but because Jesus is doing something about the world we live in, and by extension, so am I. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:22.799 So am I. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:25.119 I'm doing something about the world that I live in. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:25.519 Why? 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:26.559 Because I'm a pastor? 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:33.200 No, because I'm a Christian and I was reconciled, and as a responsibility of that, he gave me the ministry of reconciliation. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:39.039 So I get to say to people consistently, God created you to be a part of what he's doing to change the world. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:44.480 We don't have to sell overpriced bad coffee and say, but we're planting trees in the rainforest. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:46.079 Too small. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:54.400 A cause will always pale in comparison to a biblical understanding of reconciliation and redemption. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:57.359 Thirdly, where do we get this hope? 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.480 How can we have this hope? 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.759 And thirdly, you have to believe that Jesus came in the first place. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:05.759 Now, I know you're probably thinking, dude, we know that, okay? 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:06.880 We're at church. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.599 Uh, let me just build the case for what I'm saying, okay? 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:10.720 Just suffer with me. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:19.279 I want you to understand how God set it up in the very beginning because it is my contention uh that we've made it harder than it has to be. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:19.759 Okay? 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:21.039 Let me say this again. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:24.880 I'm gonna read from Exodus chapter 23, uh, and then we'll be done. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:25.680 Amen? 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:29.519 Uh y'all are like, we're not answering anything, okay? 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:30.720 These are all trick questions. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.000 Don't fall for that, Margaret. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:34.400 Uh, this is the way God set it up, okay? 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:35.920 I just want to read from the Bible. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:39.039 This is Exodus chapter 23, starting in verse 20. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:44.480