WEBVTT 00:00:00.750 --> 00:00:03.930 Uh, well, welcome Central Family. 00:00:03.930 --> 00:00:05.040 Good to see you this morning. 00:00:05.309 --> 00:00:07.589 Uh, that's a lot of shade from your senior leader right there. 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:13.330 Uh, you know, I, uh, Coronado, they have a Coronado High School people. 00:00:13.333 --> 00:00:15.070 They have, they really take that stuff seriously. 00:00:15.070 --> 00:00:22.658 I had the opportunity and honor actually, just, uh, a month or so ago to do a funeral for somebody who graduated from, uh, Coronado High School. 00:00:22.658 --> 00:00:23.978 And her family all went there. 00:00:23.978 --> 00:00:25.030 She was raised in Scottsdale. 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:29.170 And when I said that it's just an honor to be here as somebody from Saguaro, uh, they booed. 00:00:30.143 --> 00:00:32.664 Uh, so they take that stuff seriously. 00:00:32.875 --> 00:00:37.554 I've never been booed at a funeral before, and so, uh, that's going on my LinkedIn profile. 00:00:37.674 --> 00:00:40.253 That's, that's gonna be something I'm gonna hold onto for some time. 00:00:40.613 --> 00:00:42.384 Uh oh, there you go. 00:00:42.390 --> 00:00:42.924 That's what I need. 00:00:42.924 --> 00:00:44.514 One's, one Saguaro fan in room. 00:00:44.904 --> 00:00:50.543 Uh, so, uh, we've been in a series about something better, something better. 00:00:50.543 --> 00:00:54.984 And, uh, people are, may ask you, they may ask me, they say, why do you follow Jesus? 00:00:54.984 --> 00:00:56.543 Why do you teach about Jesus? 00:00:56.604 --> 00:01:03.573 Uh, why is the gospel so, Well, to me it's that Jesus provides something better for mankind. 00:01:04.704 --> 00:01:09.144 And I believe God is always drawing humanity closer to him for something better. 00:01:09.144 --> 00:01:12.924 This series about is about the better that Jesus provides. 00:01:13.375 --> 00:01:17.694 So we're gonna be in the book Hebrews, and if you have your Bibles, you can turn to Hebrews chapter seven. 00:01:17.905 --> 00:01:19.254 Uh, we're gonna get there in a little bit. 00:01:19.465 --> 00:01:21.234 Uh, this is, uh, a story about. 00:01:21.709 --> 00:01:23.030 Uh, I love the epistles. 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:27.259 I love the writer of the Hebrews and the way they talk about what they're engaging the church in. 00:01:27.259 --> 00:01:30.918 Cuz really what they're doing is they're telling us how to live out our Christian faith. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:37.039 Uh, all these writers do this and, and one of the, specifically the writer of Hebrews is calling something out of us. 00:01:37.039 --> 00:01:38.120 I like what Seth Godin is. 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:43.640 He's a marketer and author and he says, people like us do things like this when he talks about tribes and the importance of. 00:01:44.754 --> 00:01:46.944 And in the church, this is what the writers are saying. 00:01:46.944 --> 00:01:48.894 People like us do things like this. 00:01:48.894 --> 00:01:50.064 We believe things like this. 00:01:50.064 --> 00:01:51.114 We live out things like this. 00:01:51.114 --> 00:01:52.405 We love things like this. 00:01:53.004 --> 00:01:55.555 So I believe that there is a huge difference. 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:58.269 In your life when you have confidence. 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:01.150 Now, everybody, I believe, has struggled with confidence. 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:04.478 At some point when you were little, you definitely struggled with confidence. 00:02:04.478 --> 00:02:08.139 You think back to the first time you drove a car by yourself. 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:15.099 You know, you may brag about how confident you were to drive, but when you got in that car on the road by yourself, you're like, I am going to die today. 00:02:16.134 --> 00:02:25.134 You think about the, the first time you went to school or the first time you had your first job, just the lack of confidence you had on that first day thinking, I don't know what I'm doing. 00:02:25.284 --> 00:02:26.544 I don't know how to get there. 00:02:26.683 --> 00:02:30.594 Or, or even the first time you played sports with somebody, this even happened biblically. 00:02:30.594 --> 00:02:33.834 We see Peter, he was walking on the water, seemingly confident. 00:02:33.834 --> 00:02:35.754 Then he saw waves and he lost all of his. 00:02:37.284 --> 00:02:45.564 Moses was going to lead God's people to freedom, and he was so lack confidence in his ability to communicate and to speak. 00:02:45.564 --> 00:02:47.365 He said, I just, I can't do it. 00:02:47.485 --> 00:02:53.335 Even a guy named Gideon who was considered a great warrior at the end of his life when he was found in the Angels said, I want to do something with you. 00:02:53.335 --> 00:02:54.055 He was hiding. 00:02:55.465 --> 00:03:03.655 We all struggle with confidence, and for the first time in our life doing anything, we struggle with confidence, and this is, this is just how that goes. 00:03:04.074 --> 00:03:11.764 I had a, the first time I ever spoke at a church, uh, I was a student pastor and they asked me to speak in worship service, so I, I struggled with confidence. 00:03:12.250 --> 00:03:15.729 On the day of, but before, man, I'm telling you, I was a roaring lion. 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:19.389 I knew I was gonna bring the heat to that church. 00:03:19.750 --> 00:03:21.639 They were gonna have revival start from this. 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:23.618 I had like 45 minutes of material. 00:03:23.709 --> 00:03:30.759 I was waiting for God to do something spectacular and amazing and when I preached it at home, I'm like, this, this is how preaching should be done. 00:03:31.419 --> 00:03:33.129 Then the day of was different. 00:03:33.729 --> 00:03:47.259 Uh, I, uh, I was shaking so bad when I was up at the pulpit and then, uh, I remember turning the pages and it's, it was so quiet in the room, you could hear the rustling of the pages, like it was a book, you know, shelf falling over in a library. 00:03:47.349 --> 00:03:48.308 It was terrible. 00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:55.659 And I, I preached fire and I preached passionately and I took my 45 minutes and I crammed it into 15. 00:03:57.519 --> 00:04:00.399 I'm pretty sure the church was super excited about that, that day. 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:02.558 Uh, that's not gonna happen today by the. 00:04:04.164 --> 00:04:08.004 But I just had no confidence in what I was doing. 00:04:09.115 --> 00:04:10.794 But confidence rarely comes right away. 00:04:11.724 --> 00:04:14.564 It comes through relationship, it comes through practice. 00:04:14.995 --> 00:04:17.963 It even comes when you watch other people accomplish something, right? 00:04:17.968 --> 00:04:19.723 Because you see that it's possible. 00:04:21.324 --> 00:04:26.843 And I believe that writer of Hebrews challenges us to live out confidence, and he calls it hope. 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:37.569 And it's one of the greatest gifts I think the church gets to give to the world because it's the great, one of the greatest gifts that God gave the church to be hopeful. 00:04:37.809 --> 00:04:42.009 And we got to witness the beginning of hope last week at our church with our baptism weekend. 00:04:42.369 --> 00:04:46.358 Over 150 people got baptized on all of our campuses. 00:04:46.809 --> 00:04:48.879 This, yes, this is a big thing. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.399 This is a changing of culture for somebody. 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.798 This is a changing of life for somebody they're stepping into. 00:04:56.904 --> 00:05:01.165 So if you have your Bibles in your, at Hebrews chapter seven, we're gonna look at verse 19. 00:05:01.225 --> 00:05:10.555 And this is what the writer says, for the law made nothing perfect and better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God. 00:05:11.545 --> 00:05:13.735 The law made nothing perfect. 00:05:13.764 --> 00:05:17.485 This is a big statement that he's saying to the Jewish community because the law was. 00:05:18.834 --> 00:05:21.254 Well, he says, A better hope is introduced. 00:05:21.259 --> 00:05:22.314 This is not Star Wars. 00:05:22.314 --> 00:05:23.514 This is not a new hope. 00:05:23.514 --> 00:05:25.884 This is not some whiny kid on a desert planet. 00:05:26.154 --> 00:05:27.625 This is a better hope. 00:05:27.625 --> 00:05:33.115 This is a significant, this has actually been a hope that's been around, that's being brought forward and will be eternal. 00:05:33.415 --> 00:05:38.514 The word here, hope is used to describe expectation, trust, and confidence. 00:05:39.595 --> 00:05:42.925 The dictionary says that hope is an expectation of what is. 00:05:44.365 --> 00:05:48.204 Now, the reason this is impactful to me is I think I've gotten hope wrong my whole life. 00:05:49.254 --> 00:05:53.064 I couldn't hope, but feel like hope has always been wishful thinking to me. 00:05:55.464 --> 00:05:57.625 You know, I hope it happens. 00:05:57.685 --> 00:05:59.394 I hope I get that gift. 00:05:59.394 --> 00:06:01.105 I hope this relationship works out. 00:06:01.105 --> 00:06:03.055 I hope I get this job or this promotion. 00:06:03.144 --> 00:06:06.144 I'm wishing something happened because we like wishing. 00:06:06.144 --> 00:06:16.089 I like wishing cuz it's easy confidence takes work and effort and it's not as, But we live in a world I think that uses hope against us. 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:17.589 They market to us. 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:26.439 They say, if you get this new house, this new bike, this new car, this new thing, you get new workout equipment, your life will be full and you will have hope. 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:35.899 But the problem is, even if we attain this, we're left filling hopeless because it doesn't satisfied and we're looking for something else to follow. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:41.529 I was looking up the, uh, amount of money that gets spent by AD campaigns in our country. 00:06:41.529 --> 00:06:47.860 And in 2020 they spent 160 billion on TV advertisement. 00:06:48.430 --> 00:06:57.250 In 2020, they spent 152 billion on digital marketing through streaming services in your internet and everything else. 00:06:57.490 --> 00:07:02.439 It's over $300 billion pointed at our country to tell us what to hope in. 00:07:02.649 --> 00:07:05.589 They are selling it and we are buying. 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:08.829 We're buying it without even questioning it. 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:20.139 Now, here's what I want you to know, that blending hope of Jesus with wishful, sorry, blending hope of Jesus with wishing, creates an inaccurate depiction of God and his movement on this earth. 00:07:20.649 --> 00:07:24.430 We make God a kind of Santa clause when we turn him into somebody we wish to. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:28.689 And then if we don't get what we want, we feel like our name is on the naughty list. 00:07:28.689 --> 00:07:35.649 So we've been bad, so I didn't go to church enough, or I, I didn't act right in a certain way, so therefore I'm bad and God doesn't love. 00:07:36.834 --> 00:07:49.824 Or if we don't allow the circumstances of our life to shape us and to God to move in those things, we feel like God is bad cuz he doesn't give us what we want because we're a good person and he should just do what we ask whenever we ask it. 00:07:51.475 --> 00:07:53.093 And yet, we are desperate for hope. 00:07:54.115 --> 00:07:55.225 We're longing for hope. 00:07:55.225 --> 00:07:59.365 And as a result, I think we take the easy way out, the immediate way out, the short term way out. 00:07:59.365 --> 00:08:01.014 And that means we take less. 00:08:02.394 --> 00:08:03.264 It sounds good. 00:08:03.774 --> 00:08:04.524 It looks good. 00:08:05.154 --> 00:08:09.084 Things can even be good, but it's still less than what Jesus is offering us. 00:08:10.464 --> 00:08:12.384 It rarely draws us closer to God. 00:08:12.384 --> 00:08:17.754 It only draws us close enough to come back to him right away when we are wishing for something else. 00:08:18.894 --> 00:08:22.975 But the scripture says in the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is a better priest. 00:08:23.035 --> 00:08:25.375 That provides better hope. 00:08:25.975 --> 00:08:29.904 Now, Cal just talked a couple of weeks ago about the better high priest. 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:34.360 And a better high priest came and there are two orders of priests. 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:37.570 There is the order of Aaron, which is from the Mosaic law. 00:08:38.350 --> 00:08:43.840 It is meant he is an incomplete, continually offering sacrifice for himself and for the nation. 00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:45.909 It's imperfect, it's temporary. 00:08:46.149 --> 00:08:51.340 It's meant to continually to point to God, but it's meant to be repeated over and over again. 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:54.100 These sacrifices until Messiah comes. 00:08:55.299 --> 00:09:01.299 But what often happens when we get into an environment, A human becomes our hope. 00:09:01.989 --> 00:09:08.469 They become the focus and they begin to receive the hope, and they stop pointing to God with hope. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:10.568 You know what happens? 00:09:10.568 --> 00:09:15.039 They gain position, they gain power, and then what often happens is they begin to be exploitive. 00:09:15.938 --> 00:09:20.139 Or if our just hope is in that person, we become disappointed. 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:21.369 We get our heartbroken. 00:09:22.479 --> 00:09:24.249 We can even become diminished. 00:09:27.264 --> 00:09:32.364 And what always happens when this takes place in our life, we seek it wrong. 00:09:32.453 --> 00:09:33.684 We seek the wrong hope. 00:09:33.833 --> 00:09:35.245 We trust in the wrong source. 00:09:35.333 --> 00:09:38.004 And somehow, once again, God gets blamed. 00:09:38.724 --> 00:09:40.193 Look at Hebrews seven 17. 00:09:40.703 --> 00:09:44.813 This is a quote from Psalm one 10, verse four, which is a prophecy about the Messiah. 00:09:44.813 --> 00:09:45.563 That's to come. 00:09:45.594 --> 00:09:48.774 And it says, as Ford is declared, you are the priest forever. 00:09:49.134 --> 00:09:55.284 In the order of Mel Isek, this is a prophet about, or this is a, a prophecy about the second priest. 00:09:56.154 --> 00:10:04.524 In the order of Melek, Melek is a form of a foreshadowing of every great story, every great writing has foreshadowing telling of something that will come in the future. 00:10:05.154 --> 00:10:09.384 Now, he was not eternal this priest, but he represented eternal and unknowable. 00:10:09.389 --> 00:10:14.063 So if you jump all the way to the first part of the chapter in verses one through three, he describes it here. 00:10:14.453 --> 00:10:17.604 This melek was king of Salem and priest of God most high. 00:10:17.693 --> 00:10:23.884 He met Abraham returning from defeat of the kings, and he blessed him and Abraham gave him a 10th of everyth. 00:10:24.384 --> 00:10:26.965 First, the name Melek means king of righteousness. 00:10:26.965 --> 00:10:32.573 Then also king of Salem means king of peace without beginning of days or end of life. 00:10:32.725 --> 00:10:34.583 Resembling the son of God. 00:10:34.674 --> 00:10:36.563 He remains a priest forever. 00:10:37.375 --> 00:10:39.144 No beginning, no end. 00:10:39.443 --> 00:10:42.144 He was eternal and he was complete. 00:10:43.884 --> 00:10:46.943 He was the foreshadow of who Jesus was gonna be. 00:10:46.943 --> 00:10:48.625 Now Abraham was the patriarch. 00:10:48.625 --> 00:10:50.063 He came back from winning a victory. 00:10:51.009 --> 00:10:53.919 He gave 10% to milk, EK of his plunder. 00:10:54.700 --> 00:10:56.679 Now, this is before the law was given. 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:59.169 That makes the law under Abraham. 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:01.539 Abraham submitted to milk. 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:04.960 Isek making milk ek more important than Abraham. 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:06.429 This is a big deal. 00:11:06.434 --> 00:11:07.720 This is a big deal in scripture. 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:09.879 This is a big deal in the Jewish culture. 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:16.000 Abraham and the ironic priesthood is imperfect and complete, and it is temporary. 00:11:16.629 --> 00:11:17.710 The foreshadow. 00:11:18.114 --> 00:11:20.364 Of what was to come is the Messiah. 00:11:20.394 --> 00:11:22.374 He would be higher than the law. 00:11:23.214 --> 00:11:27.144 Jesus came as a better priest to bring a better hope. 00:11:27.984 --> 00:11:32.994 But hope is a battle we all battle with self-confidence, don't we? 00:11:33.894 --> 00:11:36.534 At some point in your life, you have battled with self-confidence. 00:11:36.534 --> 00:11:38.874 You may start out or, and you gain confidence. 00:11:38.874 --> 00:11:41.154 You know it rises up, but then you get crushed down by. 00:11:42.203 --> 00:11:44.813 You get beat down by something where you lose your confidence. 00:11:44.964 --> 00:11:46.044 You were great at a sport. 00:11:46.044 --> 00:11:49.193 You changed schools and you weren't great at that sport in that school anymore. 00:11:49.854 --> 00:11:51.443 You've been driving for 10 years. 00:11:51.443 --> 00:11:53.994 You get in a car accident, you don't want to get in your car again. 00:11:55.044 --> 00:11:57.384 It happened for me with dirt bikes over and over again. 00:11:57.894 --> 00:11:59.154 You get hurt in a relationship. 00:11:59.154 --> 00:12:02.333 You don't want to get back into a relationship again because you'll get hurt again. 00:12:02.333 --> 00:12:04.784 You lose your confidence in how to be in a relat. 00:12:05.664 --> 00:12:07.284 This takes place for all of us. 00:12:07.494 --> 00:12:09.924 I wanna point you to a story that's in John chapter 11. 00:12:10.134 --> 00:12:15.744 One of the most interesting stories to me as Jesus was going around the communities and he was teaching in different cities. 00:12:15.744 --> 00:12:20.634 He was, he was off teaching away from some friends and Jesus had a number of friends and one of his friends name was Lazarus. 00:12:20.634 --> 00:12:24.744 And Lazarus had two sisters, Maryn, Martha and Lazarus got sick. 00:12:25.164 --> 00:12:27.443 Martha sent word to Jesus saying, your friend is sick. 00:12:27.443 --> 00:12:28.284 Can you come? 00:12:28.284 --> 00:12:29.784 Because they know Jesus heals. 00:12:29.904 --> 00:12:31.524 So can you come and take care of this? 00:12:32.094 --> 00:12:32.573 But Jesus. 00:12:33.865 --> 00:12:36.054 They weren't quite sure why he was delaying, but he delayed. 00:12:36.715 --> 00:12:38.904 And then eventually Jesus said he was going back. 00:12:38.904 --> 00:12:40.674 Now there was some heat in the city at the time. 00:12:40.674 --> 00:12:44.154 There were some people that wanted, uh, to harm Jesus, but Jesus said, I'm going back. 00:12:44.335 --> 00:12:45.985 He went back and he met Martha. 00:12:47.304 --> 00:12:52.014 Martha said that Lazarus had died, so I wanted to jump in here at verses 21 through 25. 00:12:52.014 --> 00:13:00.235 In this chapter it says, this simple exchange, Lord Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have. 00:13:01.164 --> 00:13:03.774 But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. 00:13:03.774 --> 00:13:06.684 Jesus said to her, your your brother will rise again. 00:13:06.684 --> 00:13:07.464 Martha answered. 00:13:07.583 --> 00:13:09.894 I know he will rise again on the resurrection. 00:13:10.134 --> 00:13:15.744 At the last day, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:19.208 The one who believes in me will live even though they die. 00:13:19.328 --> 00:13:22.359 And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:24.099 Do you believe this? 00:13:24.339 --> 00:13:25.958 Do you see what Jesus is saying here? 00:13:25.989 --> 00:13:30.099 He's not saying that resurrection is a far off time in history. 00:13:30.099 --> 00:13:33.068 He's saying I am resurrection when I am here. 00:13:33.068 --> 00:13:35.948 Life can begin and be restored and may hold. 00:13:35.948 --> 00:13:36.789 I am healing. 00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.609 I am hope you can almost hear him telling. 00:13:39.818 --> 00:13:42.719 You can almost hear Martha wishing just if you were just. 00:13:43.570 --> 00:13:45.820 If you would just heal my, my pain would go away. 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:51.549 If you were just around, I, I wish you would've done what I asked, and you can almost hear Jesus calling out to her. 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:55.690 You gotta have hope in me, confidence in me. 00:13:57.190 --> 00:13:57.309 Now. 00:13:57.315 --> 00:14:00.490 I know if you're sitting in his room, you have your own battles. 00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:01.840 You have sorrow. 00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:07.809 You have broken dreams, you have loss, loss of loved ones, loss of time, loss of resources. 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:16.719 You've made bad decisions, and, and you look back on those bad decisions and you think if I could just go back to that time and fix that, my hope would be renewed. 00:14:16.724 --> 00:14:21.399 My life would be better if that person was just healed. 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:24.759 If, if I just had things my way, things would be better. 00:14:26.109 --> 00:14:27.369 But you see, Jesus is. 00:14:29.754 --> 00:14:32.154 He redeems even in the loss. 00:14:34.104 --> 00:14:39.865 But the problem is we can't see what he sees, and that's where our battle is. 00:14:40.313 --> 00:14:42.984 It's where faith and where hope collide. 00:14:44.094 --> 00:14:47.063 And what often happens is we step into a lesser hope. 00:14:47.063 --> 00:14:48.234 Look at verse 18. 00:14:49.044 --> 00:14:53.784 It says, the former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless. 00:14:53.784 --> 00:14:55.083 That is some hard language. 00:14:55.823 --> 00:14:58.615 That's saying the law was weak and useless. 00:14:59.845 --> 00:15:04.434 I think we spend so much time putting hope in wrong places, in weak places. 00:15:05.034 --> 00:15:08.544 We're bombarded with the marketing, like I said, telling you where to place your hope. 00:15:08.549 --> 00:15:10.434 Companies say, Hey, continue to have hope. 00:15:10.434 --> 00:15:21.714 Inness, they called it brand loyalty every year in our nation teams, from football, to soccer, to basketball, to hockey, all draft with the hope. 00:15:22.629 --> 00:15:24.068 That we will have a better season. 00:15:24.458 --> 00:15:26.828 How many years of Cardinal Hope has been out there? 00:15:27.938 --> 00:15:29.109 I am a Cowboy fan. 00:15:29.109 --> 00:15:32.649 It has long been since we've had hope, not since. 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:36.609 The great prophet Emmett Smith led our people to the Promise Land in the nineties. 00:15:36.609 --> 00:15:38.019 Did we have any hope? 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.519 We get glimmers of it, but once the playoffs come, it's over. 00:15:44.589 --> 00:15:50.198 Just as ridiculous as that, every two to four years in our country, we will put our hope in an elected. 00:15:51.549 --> 00:15:54.159 Thinking that they will restore things and make it new. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.629 When are we gonna learn that lesson that Jesus is our king? 00:15:58.629 --> 00:15:58.779 Come on. 00:15:59.068 --> 00:15:59.669 Come on. 00:16:00.339 --> 00:16:01.719 He is our hope. 00:16:01.989 --> 00:16:02.078 Yes. 00:16:03.099 --> 00:16:05.318 Where we get locked in the tyranny of the past. 00:16:05.499 --> 00:16:16.208 There are churches all over our country that sit empty and they talk about the good old days when God used to do things for them or with them or move in their city. 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:18.159 They've lost their. 00:16:19.568 --> 00:16:28.599 They've lost their confidence, and yet we continue to listen to the wrong voices, and we believe those voices because they sound so convincing. 00:16:29.589 --> 00:16:32.589 Lesser hope can sound like it's for you even when it's not. 00:16:33.774 --> 00:16:46.825 A couple of months ago, probably four or five months ago, I was having just one of those days when you get home from work where you're just like, you've thought about like your bed for like a couple of hours and you just want to go to sleep and, and everything kept getting me up. 00:16:46.825 --> 00:16:49.644 I, I got into bed and then I saw the lights were out in the backyard. 00:16:49.644 --> 00:16:55.615 So I, I get back, I get back into bed and, and then I, I'm just, just in that groggy about to days off. 00:16:57.129 --> 00:17:01.539 And then I hear something and I hear Eric kill, hell, it sounded like a bullhorn. 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:04.359 I'm like, man, is something weird happening in my neighborhood? 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:05.380 I don't need this. 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:06.369 I'm sleepy. 00:17:07.150 --> 00:17:10.569 And, and then I hear what I think is, Eric, come out of the house. 00:17:12.394 --> 00:17:20.710 And my first thought is the staff in Queen Creek is playing a practical joke on me, and it is plausible for this to happen if you know them at all. 00:17:20.890 --> 00:17:24.430 And so I, I get about, I'm like, I'm gonna kill Pastor Gill Nele tonight. 00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:25.779 This is when that's gonna happen. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:32.650 So I get up and I get outta bed and, and I get into my family room and I, two things become evidently clear when I get my family room. 00:17:32.650 --> 00:17:34.990 I hear Eric come out of the house. 00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:37.509 We're not leaving until you come out of the house. 00:17:38.230 --> 00:17:40.180 And I also realize I'm not wearing any pants. 00:17:41.454 --> 00:17:46.704 And so, but, but I, I start moving toward the door, even though my mind says, go put some pants on. 00:17:46.704 --> 00:17:54.624 I might, but I just keep moving toward the door and then I start to have a lot of empathy for people who've been caught on cops, and they're always in a t-shirt and, and underwear and it's just like, they're just groggy. 00:17:54.683 --> 00:17:55.433 They're just groggy. 00:17:55.584 --> 00:18:04.344 And, and, and so I keep moving into the living room and once I get into the living room, I see lights, red and blue lights flashing, and I hear Eric come out of the house. 00:18:04.344 --> 00:18:05.844 We're not leaving until you come out of the. 00:18:07.614 --> 00:18:08.574 That makes me nervous. 00:18:08.574 --> 00:18:13.374 And then what really makes me nervous is a statement is made that you don't want to hear cuz it makes you nervous. 00:18:13.374 --> 00:18:15.473 It says, we're not going to hurt you. 00:18:17.513 --> 00:18:19.794 All of a sudden I thought, why do they wanna hurt me in the first place? 00:18:20.814 --> 00:18:26.544 I haven't been in my car recently and I may drive fast, but I didn't think it's fast enough to get squad cars at my house. 00:18:26.723 --> 00:18:31.253 And so I, I, I go to peek out the window cuz I don't want to expose my face. 00:18:31.253 --> 00:18:33.503 And, and the whole time I was thinking, doesn't anybody just ring a doorbell? 00:18:33.564 --> 00:18:34.673 Doesn't anybody just ring a doorbell? 00:18:34.673 --> 00:18:39.023 So I, I see these lights and I look out and there are four squad cars parked out in front of my house. 00:18:39.594 --> 00:18:42.233 Lights going, Eric, come out of the house. 00:18:42.233 --> 00:18:43.973 We're not leaving until you come out of the. 00:18:45.233 --> 00:18:51.713 Then I noticed more clearly there were officers behind each one of the cars with their shotguns out pointed at the house across the street. 00:18:51.713 --> 00:18:53.844 I met my neighbor earlier and his name is Eric. 00:18:56.814 --> 00:18:58.403 This is what Lesser Hope does. 00:18:58.403 --> 00:18:59.544 It says your name. 00:18:59.544 --> 00:19:01.733 It sounds like it's for you, but it's not. 00:19:02.874 --> 00:19:09.413 See, God is for you constantly, for you drawing you to you, and we will get sucked into this thing cuz I heard my name. 00:19:09.419 --> 00:19:10.493 It sounded like it was. 00:19:12.414 --> 00:19:19.013 It creates doubt and it doesn't create confidence and we keep chasing it, but it's always incomplete, whether it's a job or money or help in the moment. 00:19:19.013 --> 00:19:22.644 Or even like Martha saying, if you just healed him, then life would be good. 00:19:23.304 --> 00:19:26.003 But Jesus is not saying, it's not healing Lazarus that makes life good. 00:19:26.003 --> 00:19:26.994 I make life good. 00:19:26.994 --> 00:19:27.773 I am your hope. 00:19:27.804 --> 00:19:28.794 I am your future. 00:19:31.164 --> 00:19:35.034 The problem of a lesser hope is we're still trying to redo the sacrifice of Aaron. 00:19:35.753 --> 00:19:36.474 We just keep going. 00:19:38.304 --> 00:19:42.084 Because we put our hope in good behavior or church services. 00:19:45.324 --> 00:19:52.763 Jesus tells a story as he, you know, often would he, he called disciples to them and, and sometimes some people approached him to be a disciple. 00:19:52.974 --> 00:19:56.374 And there's a story in Luke chapter 18 about the rich young ruler. 00:19:56.844 --> 00:20:02.304 He actually approached Jesus said, Hey, I'd like to follow you, but I just really wanna, I want to know something from you. 00:20:02.304 --> 00:20:03.294 How do I get to heaven? 00:20:04.554 --> 00:20:07.989 And he says, well obey the, Jesus knows what he's saying. 00:20:07.994 --> 00:20:10.298 He knows the law was imperfect, but he says, obey the law. 00:20:10.298 --> 00:20:14.528 He says, this, I've done, but Jesus knew where his hope really was. 00:20:15.578 --> 00:20:18.519 He said, sell everything you have and follow me. 00:20:20.138 --> 00:20:32.679 And the Bible says that the ruler went away sad because all of his hope was in his position, was in his power, was in his resources, and he left hopeless. 00:20:35.164 --> 00:20:37.494 Your hope is not in the religious tasks. 00:20:38.124 --> 00:20:39.503 Your hope is in Jesus. 00:20:41.064 --> 00:20:43.884 The church often lives as Aaron is still our priest. 00:20:44.753 --> 00:20:50.874 If your hope is not drawing you too closer to God or deepening your faith, it is not a better hope. 00:20:51.354 --> 00:20:53.124 That's the question you can ask yourself. 00:20:53.814 --> 00:20:56.034 But we as the church, were called to live in a better hope. 00:20:57.338 --> 00:21:01.568 We draw near to God is what the verse 19 says, we draw near to God. 00:21:01.568 --> 00:21:05.169 There's no need for this imperfect priest that we have to be close to, to be close to God. 00:21:05.288 --> 00:21:07.449 We draw near to God with a perfect priest. 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:11.558 The priesthood of a different order is talked about in verse 16. 00:21:11.588 --> 00:21:13.028 Look at this, uh, passage. 00:21:13.034 --> 00:21:14.949 I love this cuz this also brings some real good heat. 00:21:15.578 --> 00:21:25.298 One who has become a priest not on the basis of regulation as to his ancestry, Aaron, but on the basis of the power of an indestructible. 00:21:26.423 --> 00:21:27.084 Jesus. 00:21:28.044 --> 00:21:29.663 Where would you rather place your hope? 00:21:30.384 --> 00:21:32.273 A better priest brings a better hope. 00:21:33.294 --> 00:21:36.503 A better hope is core to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:21:38.753 --> 00:21:42.324 We can be confident that he still changes lives. 00:21:43.374 --> 00:21:45.324 He knows what he can do through you. 00:21:45.324 --> 00:21:46.973 He knows what you're going through. 00:21:47.183 --> 00:21:52.554 There have been times in all of our lives when we've missed out on the confidence of real hope, of good hope. 00:21:53.334 --> 00:21:54.263 When have you settled for? 00:21:55.930 --> 00:21:57.789 When have you known that you've settled for less? 00:21:57.789 --> 00:22:05.200 You've stepped into, maybe some of you are settling for less right now because it's easy and it's right there and I just need to grab it because it makes me feel better. 00:22:06.490 --> 00:22:08.378 Maybe it was a rush decision in your past. 00:22:08.378 --> 00:22:11.680 Maybe it was a selfish action, or maybe as simple, simple as fear. 00:22:13.269 --> 00:22:16.720 Confident hope requires you to participate in your journey of faith. 00:22:17.828 --> 00:22:19.719 Let's look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22. 00:22:19.719 --> 00:22:20.648 It'll be up on the screen. 00:22:20.798 --> 00:22:32.048 Let us draw near to God with sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings having a heart sprinkle to cleanse us from guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 00:22:32.588 --> 00:22:41.378 Let us hold un swerving to the hope we profess for He Who Promise is faithful and let us consider how we may spur one another on Toward Love and Good. 00:22:43.059 --> 00:22:49.000 We could no longer watch from the sidelines as a church, but we need to step into the life of hope with Jesus Christ. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:51.878 You, you need to be a part of your own story. 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:55.000 We can't just come and sit in a worship center. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:56.980 We have to be a part of our own story. 00:22:57.220 --> 00:23:00.789 And when you take part of what's going on, you actually draw closer to God. 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:02.319 That's actually what the passage says. 00:23:02.439 --> 00:23:03.638 And you might say, well, how do you do it? 00:23:03.638 --> 00:23:08.589 At the end of that verse, it says it, do love, do good deeds and spur others on to do the. 00:23:09.849 --> 00:23:13.329 And you will find yourself drawing closer to Jesus. 00:23:13.329 --> 00:23:15.099 Understanding the depth of the hope. 00:23:15.849 --> 00:23:20.349 See, I believe we were made for more than seeking something just because it asks less of us. 00:23:22.419 --> 00:23:31.809 God has a purpose for you and a calling for you, and God does ask more of you, but he also offers something so much richer and deeper and. 00:23:33.338 --> 00:23:39.699 Even in the strain and the pain of life, and even as we see in scripture in the history of Christianity, people are literally thrown to the lions. 00:23:40.449 --> 00:23:49.328 They were burned, they were stoned to death, but they left a legacy of faith, a path to follow, and a dignity of life. 00:23:49.598 --> 00:23:55.689 God is telling a much bigger story than the one you see right now or in this moment. 00:23:57.009 --> 00:24:00.489 Remember that first message I gave that crushed it in 15 minutes? 00:24:02.628 --> 00:24:11.829 I remember three weeks afterward, um, I was walking outta church one day and this lady came up to me and she said, uh, remember that little server, that message you gave the other day? 00:24:11.829 --> 00:24:13.028 I'm like, thanks for calling it Little. 00:24:13.059 --> 00:24:13.689 That's awesome. 00:24:14.199 --> 00:24:29.349 Uh, she said, um, uh, it had been a long time since I really felt like God loved me or I had value to him, so, You don't know what's God's doing in your scenario, and that is part of the struggle of hope. 00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:33.789 But God is moving in and through you and will do it even when you don't see it. 00:24:34.929 --> 00:24:35.949 There's such a difference. 00:24:35.949 --> 00:24:43.148 That confidence makes better hope, makes us better followers of Jesus, and when we're better followers of Jesus, we become a better church. 00:24:44.214 --> 00:24:47.064 Hope moves the church to bring kingdom to the world. 00:24:47.244 --> 00:24:50.664 We bring life to listless live, small thinking and spiritual dullness. 00:24:50.904 --> 00:24:51.984 We bring better hope. 00:24:52.013 --> 00:24:57.174 Better hope compels us to be bold, selfless, and engaged in our faith, seeking unexpected possibilities. 00:24:57.384 --> 00:25:07.794 We stop trifling with temporary things like social media impact or self-medicating online profiles, or who's in office or church prestige, or keeping up with the Jones. 00:25:09.983 --> 00:25:14.903 Church with Hope has exponential growth and ability to grow in their confidence. 00:25:15.263 --> 00:25:19.973 The church with hope will heal the sick, restore the broken, and raise the dead spiritually and physically. 00:25:20.153 --> 00:25:21.624 Revival will shape our culture. 00:25:21.628 --> 00:25:22.913 We'll witness life change. 00:25:23.064 --> 00:25:26.273 We'll see redemption take place and we'll watch families be restored. 00:25:26.634 --> 00:25:30.263 That's what real hope in a real Jesus in real life takes place. 00:25:33.624 --> 00:25:35.933 Unfortunately, I see this trend in our age. 00:25:37.479 --> 00:25:42.099 I feel like people are waiting for the end of time so that God can wipe out humanity. 00:25:42.909 --> 00:25:53.169 Our hope is that he comes again to save us from this myth, but if we have a hope and a confidence in Jesus that he restores and changes lives. 00:25:53.558 --> 00:26:00.219 We step into others' lives, love them unconditionally, and lead them to a better hope so they can have it too. 00:26:00.489 --> 00:26:02.499 That's why we're evangelists. 00:26:02.499 --> 00:26:06.459 That's why we engage in telling people about Jesus because they need it too. 00:26:06.548 --> 00:26:08.019 They're hopeless as well. 00:26:10.959 --> 00:26:14.199 The danger we face, I believe, is not in some big. 00:26:16.104 --> 00:26:18.653 Dragon coming to fly down and to destroy us. 00:26:18.653 --> 00:26:20.874 Some big epic thing that's coming our way. 00:26:21.114 --> 00:26:25.523 My concern for the church is that we surrender to lesser hope and wishful thinking. 00:26:27.984 --> 00:26:29.544 I love what CS Lewis had to say. 00:26:29.544 --> 00:26:37.194 He said, we are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. 00:26:37.884 --> 00:26:45.684 Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. 00:26:46.404 --> 00:26:48.773 We are far too easily pleased. 00:26:50.064 --> 00:26:55.314 I believe we are far too easily pleased with lesser hope that gives lesser life. 00:26:58.404 --> 00:27:01.974 That's what's being sold to us and we're buying. 00:27:03.744 --> 00:27:05.094 So I'm gonna leave you with the big idea. 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:08.500 Hope in Jesus is not wishful thinking. 00:27:09.069 --> 00:27:13.569 It is confidence in a living God has something better for you. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:21.490 Confidence, a living God has something better for you even if you can't see it now. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:30.069 Now some of you in this room might be in your darkest season of all time and you're just looking to reach out to anything to hold onto. 00:27:31.314 --> 00:27:32.213 Antonio, I've been there. 00:27:32.213 --> 00:27:40.284 I spent five years there aching, wanting to grasp whatever might come my way because I thought it would just sustain me for just a little bit, just to get me down the road a little bit. 00:27:42.683 --> 00:27:46.134 We're tempted to settle for lesser hope, but God has more for you. 00:27:47.213 --> 00:27:49.884 You are not abandoned, you're not adrift, you're not alone. 00:27:51.324 --> 00:27:56.153 God is for you and church that that is something to hope in. 00:27:57.114 --> 00:27:57.564 Would you pray? 00:27:59.134 --> 00:28:15.159 Father in heaven as we take this time as your church today, to sit before you, to humble ourselves before you, Lord, I pray that your church turns its hope to you. 00:28:17.769 --> 00:28:18.969 Not in anything else. 00:28:19.808 --> 00:28:25.659 You may use a lot of other things that are good things as tools, as resources, as opportunities, Lord, but our hope is in. 00:28:26.933 --> 00:28:28.074 You restore, you redeem. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:28.763 You make whole. 00:28:28.763 --> 00:28:29.724 You give life. 00:28:31.013 --> 00:28:32.214 You are the source. 00:28:32.903 --> 00:28:34.374 You are the strength of our church. 00:28:34.378 --> 00:28:35.784 You are the purpose of the church. 00:28:35.788 --> 00:28:37.433 We are the bride of Christ. 00:28:39.084 --> 00:28:50.064 Lord, I pray that your church rises up to live as you've called us to live, that we can be bears of hope for the world that is so desperately in need of it. 00:28:50.903 --> 00:28:52.074 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:28:52.704 --> 00:28:53.064 Amen.