Mission Sent
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Mission Sent
Finding Purpose in a Changing Spiritual Landscape
What if the wisdom of ancient times holds the key to navigating our modern lives? Join us as we explore the enduring significance of wisdom through the intriguing journey of the magi from the East. These often misunderstood figures bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that not only enrich the nativity story but also foreshadow pivotal events in Jesus's life. By examining the deeper meanings behind these gifts, we reflect on how wisdom should be prioritized over material wealth, echoing Solomon’s choice in Proverbs.
In our exploration, we dissect the critical differences between knowledge and wisdom, drawing upon biblical teachings and modern culture. Even the clever words of Pitbull remind us that wisdom is about knowing how to use knowledge effectively. We contrast the unwavering commitment of the magi with the sometimes tepid engagement of today’s believers, urging listeners to reassess their devotion. By looking at groups known for their fervent faith, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, we challenge everyone to reflect on their own spiritual journey.
As we consider the potential for a cultural and spiritual awakening, our conversation touches on fascinating speculation about technological illusions and how they might shape beliefs. We delve into statistics that suggest a growing spiritual curiosity among people, juxtaposing this with traditional church messages. The episode culminates in a call to action for the church to fulfill its mission, emphasizing the importance of spreading hope and embodying God's love in the world. Let's discover how each of us can become an active participant in this divine narrative.
can, but for everyone else, we are jumping back into Advent and this week's going to work a little bit different than last week did. As you notice, we didn't play the Luke 2 that we have been during our Advent series. That's because today we're going to be looking at the king is coming to the wise men, and that's actually found in Matthew 2. So I'm going to jump in and read that and then we will pray and get started. So in Matthew 2, starting in verse 1, it says this Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod, the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying when is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and we have come to worship him. Father, I ask and I pray that, as we study through your word and your coming, father, that Jesus, you just be with me and you speak through me, father, that I am just a vessel you use to speak to your people. Father, I pray that we are changed from the inside out through this and in Jesus' name, we pray Amen, all right. So the first question we should all have is this who are the wise men, like for most of us, the wise men are like these guys all right, you have the nativity scene, you got the manger, you got the baby, you got, you know, the royal family, you got some animals surrounding them and then, kind of like, usually off to the side, we have these three guys. Now the first thing is is was there only three wise men? Probably not. There were probably a couple hundred of them, because it would not have been normal for people in the ancient Near East to travel in such a small group of people. Number two they weren't at the manger. So, like, our nativity scenes for the most part are not correct, like they weren't there when Jesus was born. He was probably, it was probably way after he was even circumcised. It's probably a couple of months after Jesus is born.
Speaker 1:But, that being said, we have a picture of three of them. Why? Because there's three gifts mentioned, right. So we have gold, frankincense and myrrh. All of those are symbolic of what's going to happen throughout Jesus' lifetime, right? Gold, because Jesus is the king, hence why we're doing the king is coming. The frankincense is something that they would use, right, debbie, that witchcraft stuff to like put on wounds to heal. Myrrh is actually a spice that they would use to embalm dead bodies. All right, so all of these gifts are symbolic of what's going to happen in Jesus's life, and, in fact, even more than that. Right after this, joseph is going to have a dream about Herod coming to kill all of the children, so they're actually going to have to flee to Egypt. Well, joseph and Mary for those of us that don't know, they weren't a very well-to-do family of that nature. That is God in his providence, making sure his son is going to have a way to escape Herod and flee to Egypt, so that he has that life ahead of him, so that he can be that sacrifice.
Speaker 1:I mean, some of us we even go a bit further, right, and we can go. Oh, we know the names of the wise men, like Belshazzar is usually the one that everybody can kind of like remember. We have to understand that's conjecture on our part, though, too, because all we know about them is what we just heard that these wise men came from the east. Now let's look and see if we can figure out about these wise men, or some of us we may hear the word magi in some of our translations and see how this applies to us. To start with, I want us to understand why wise men are important.
Speaker 1:Okay, because, like, think about it, matthew could have just said hey, these important people? Right? He used the term wise men on purpose, and one of the first clues we can have to that is if we read through Proverbs 1-7, which says this that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Then, if we go into Proverbs 8, verses 10 and 11, it says this take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice. Gold for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. So, solomon, as he is writing to what we believe his son in Proverbs, he's sitting here and he's going hey, look, my instruction and my knowledge is more important than gold and silver, and all that you desire cannot compare to wisdom. Think about that, like. Think about how important wisdom must be. If Solomon, arguably one of the richest people to ever live, is sitting here going silver and gold don't compare to wisdom. I mean, this is the same guy that when God comes to him and he goes hey, ask me for anything, anything that you want.
Speaker 1:Like, we've all had that fantasy, right, we've all. Like I was flipping through the news this morning, all right, just so everybody in here is aware, mega millions didn't have a winner, so it's up to like a $750 million jackpot, 10% of $750 million. For anyone in here that's wondering about what your tithe would be, is 75 million, all right, just throwing that out to you and you tithe on the whole thing, not on what was left right, but anyway. So again, we sit here and we go. We all have those fantasies, right? Like if I won that, here's what I would do. Like, here's what I would do with all this money. Here's what I would do if I ever like, really just hit it rich and my company took off, or this took off, or God, here's everything I would do. And Solomon is sitting here and going, and you know what. That's not going to fill that inner hole inside your heart, because it really doesn't matter how much you have, because you're always going to want more.
Speaker 1:One of the hardest things and biggest arguments me and Debbie get into is over contentment, and those of you that were with us a couple of Wednesdays ago, like I, laid it all out right, that is probably one of my biggest areas of struggle. I am not a very content person. I am always wanting more and more and more, and that is, like, in some cases, really good, like if you're a business owner and you're trying to build something. That discontentment is a very good thing because it's always driving you to the next level. However, when you are a wife and you're trying to sit here and go, I want to carry the weight of my husband, and my husband is just that guy who can't be content and he's always trying to push for more, even in our marriage. That can be a very overburdening thing. But the problem with that is this God says in Ecclesiastes that he has put eternity into the heart of every man, which means this that I'm always going to want more, and what we just read in Proverbs is this is wisdom is more important than anything I could ever want and see these wise men.
Speaker 1:That is the reason we see wise, because wisdom must be supremely important. In fact, for those of you in here who are familiar with the great 21st century theologian Pitbull, all right, he has some advice that he gives us in one of his songs. At the very beginning he says this ask for money and you'll get advice. Ask for advice and you'll get money twice. Why? Because wisdom is more important.
Speaker 1:And wisdom we have to understand is not knowledge. There are plenty of people who have a lot of knowledge and have absolutely no wisdom. Wisdom is understanding what to do with the knowledge you have. See. Understand knowledge is this A tomato is a fruit, it has seeds, it's a fruit. Tomato, however, according to wisdom, does not belong in a fruit salad, like you're not going and getting cantaloupe and grapes and tomatoes mixed together. See, that's the difference between the knowledge of something and the wisdom of something. And we have to understand this because knowledge just knowing facts, really doesn't matter If you have no idea what to do with those facts.
Speaker 1:And the best example I can actually give you is from scripture. Right, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the scribes had plenty of knowledge. I mean, these are people that could literally start in Genesis and go all the way through. Malachi didn't even need a Bible. Like I got a couple of verses memorized and I'm cool with that. But if you guys know, when I go to read the Bible, I always walk back over to my iPad because I go. I don't have it memorized like that. But if you guys know, when I go to read the Bible I always walk back over to my iPad because I go. I don't have it memorized like that these people did. They knew that the Messiah was coming, they knew the king was coming, they knew the signs for the king to come, and yet when the king came, even though they had all this knowledge that God was coming to them, when the king came, without having the wisdom, they went crucify him.
Speaker 1:See, that's the difference between having knowledge and wisdom. The devil just so everyone is on the same page has the same knowledge. Like when the devil tempts Jesus. He uses the Bible to tempt Jesus. He uses the word of God to tempt the word of God. Knowledge is great and you gotta have knowledge, but knowledge pales in the hand comparison to wisdom. You can know everything about the Bible, but if you cannot apply that to yourself, if you cannot apply that to others, it does you no good. You could sit here and have the loftiest conversations and we can talk about the deepest theological things you want to understand. And here's the thing it does you no good. You can sit down and perfectly explain the doctrines of grace Amazing, that's awesome man. But if it doesn't apply to you if you don't know how to use that knowledge? What good is it? If your life isn't being transformed by the knowledge that you have? What good is your knowledge? It is useless, because if you're not looking more like Jesus, because you know what it takes to look like Jesus, then you are wasting everything. And so these wise men they come from the east, so how did they know that Jesus was born the star? Now, what does that tell us about the wise men? Though they were educated, they were very smart. What else they studied? Stars, astrology and astronomy.
Speaker 1:Now we live in this weird time nowadays where most people are trying to take a little bit of everything and put it together and create like a very unifying religion, right? So I kind of like you know karma. I like you know reaping what you sow. That way I can feel better about myself, because if I do good, then that means good things must come to me, right? That's what the philosophy of karma is. So I like that. So I'm going to take some of that.
Speaker 1:And you know, from Christian thought, you know, I like the whole idea of you need to love one another, like love is a very important thing and it makes people feel good. So I'm going to take that too. And then you know, from from like Buddhism, I like this idea that if I live a good enough life, that in my next lifetime I'm going to have a better life. So I'm going to take that and I'm going to kind of mix all of this stuff together. And that's actually. If you scroll through any kind of social media, that's actually super huge. Now you start adding in like crystals and oils, it gets even bigger and see, and what we have is this kind of just conglomeration, and I can never remember the word. It's something like synchronism or something of that nature. I can never remember the word right and I have a hard time talking to begin with, so we're just going to go with whatever word I just mumbled because it sounded theologically good. But that's what we have.
Speaker 1:These wise men would have done the same thing. Actually, they would have taken astronomy and astrology and all of these different philosophies and they would have tried to put it together. But here's the thing when they saw the star, what did they do? They followed. See, I hate to say it, but these wise men, these pagans and they were pagans. They were not God fearers, but they were way more devoted to what they believe than most Christians are.
Speaker 1:Like I say this a lot, especially in smaller groups. But you know what? I'll say it to everyone. I'm going to tell you right now Like I have a deep respect for Jehovah, witness and Mormon. Okay, they are heretics. They do not believe the same gospel that we believe. I will tell you that right now. But you know what they're not afraid to do Wake up early on a Saturday morning and just go door to door and just knock on the door and go hey, let me talk to you. Most Christians, I know you won't even talk to people that you work with every day. You won't even talk to people that you're related to. But these people will just pick a neighborhood and go hey, we're just going to go down the street, you get this side of the street, I'll get this side of the street and I ask them a couple of questions. Like they just start falling apart, but they aren't afraid to go tell people what they believe. And so I go.
Speaker 1:Imagine if we were like that, like those of you that were here yesterday, and thank you so much to everyone who showed up, because we couldn't have pulled it off without you, all right, but we literally just saw a couple thousand people yesterday. All right, but we literally just saw a couple thousand people yesterday, and I bet none of us, myself included, went hey, jesus loves you. In fact, I spent most of the night going Merry Grinchmas I couldn't even say Christmas just because of the costume. I was in Shame on me and I go, and that's where we need to look at this, these wise men. They see this star, they go. Hey, we know that that star means there's something important. That star means that the king is coming. We need to go to where that star is, and so they leave their homes and they head west. What did they depend on? Astrology and astronomy. They studied the sky, which usually means they're not looking to the one who made the stars, but they're looking to the stars themselves to get information.
Speaker 1:Now, if you are like me, though, and you're sitting here going, hold on, these aren't God fears how did they even know that star? Like, how did they know what to look for? Because that was the first question I had when I started studying this, and I'm going to go ahead and tell you this is kind of debated. Okay, this isn't like clear cut. I can't go. Oh well, in this scripture it says that the wise men were like I can't do that, but since it's a debated issue, me being me, I went, hey, let's pick a side and let's just jump into a debate, because that is fun for me. Now I'm going to lay it out like this and here's what I think that these wise men were looking for the king of the Jews. Here's why were looking for the king of the Jews. Here's why I believe the most likely reason is this these wise men are most likely Persian wise men.
Speaker 1:All right, now I'm going to start real quick with geography. Right, where is Persia in reference to Israel? It's in the east, right, so if they're coming from the east, persia makes sense. Now, another thing we could sit here and go. How would the Persians have known? Well, one we know. Hang on before I even jump to that.
Speaker 1:We know through other ancient writings that in Persia, that in Persia, they have advisors to kings. In fact, you couldn't even become king if these advisors did not confirm your kingship. Does anybody want to take a guess at what this group of advisors in Persia was called? Nope, the Magi. So in some of our translations, like I said, in the ESV, it says wise men. However, if you read through other translations, it says that the magi came. Now that word magi is the same word we get for magic and magician, and that was these, this group of advisors in Persia, that started around the sixth BC the you know and they said that they had come from the east, which we already talked about. And in that case, when would they have heard about the coming Messiah? Because there was a period in time where this overlaps, right when the Jews were in exile, because when the Jews were in exile, they get the in in.
Speaker 1:When Nebuchadnezzar comes in, he overtakes Judah. Where does he take everybody? Back to Babylon. What happens to the Babylonians, though? If we study through history, kayla, they get taken over by the Persians. In fact, if we go back and we read through Daniel, who sets the Israelites free again, who sends them back into Israel? The Persians. Now, what happened to Daniel, though, when the other Israelites went back? He stayed, he went. You know what? No, I can effect more change here where I am. I can spread this message right here, where I am, so I'm going to stay here.
Speaker 1:And when we read through Daniel, and again, if you're not into conspiracy theories, the way I am, like I get it, you might be like what difference does any of this make? However, it all kind of ties back in, because listen to what Daniel writes in Daniel chapter two, starting in verse 47, he says this the king answered and said to Daniel truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery. Then, in verse 48, then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over who? All the wise men of Babylon. All right, so we have Daniel.
Speaker 1:Here's this Israeli Nebuchadnezzar. For those of you that aren't familiar with this narrative, nebuchadnezzar has this dream and he's extremely bothered by this dream. So he comes to all of the magi, all the wise men and the Jewish noblemen and he goes I have had a dream. Someone explain this dream to me. It would be like the same if, when you guys sat came in this morning, I went hey look, I'm not preaching a message today. Here's what happened to me last night. I had this crazy dream. Someone tell me what it was. What would be the first question you would say what was your dream Like? If you could tell me what your dream is, maybe I can help you figure it out. Nebuchadnezzar doesn't do that, he just goes. Hey, you tell me what my dream means. Daniel gives him the entire dream. Here's what you dreamed and here's what it meant.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're a wise man, if you are someone who is like hey, like this is me, this is what I do for a living, and someone could do that, would this not be a person where you would be like hey, you know what I'm going to pick your brain about some stuff. Like, I belong to this organization. It's called Salt Strong, and a couple weeks ago, we went and met up with a leadership meeting as we're starting a new chapter here in Volusia County, and I'm going to tell you I'm not young. Okay, I found that out last night very quickly. All right, we get halfway done with the parade and I'm like I'm gonna die. Like I know it, jt was going to have to preach this message this morning, but anyway, I'm not young.
Speaker 1:However, as I was sitting at this table, I look around and I go outside of one other person man. I feel really young Because the median age of everyone else at this table was at least 20 years older than me. But what happens if you're a younger fisherman and you're sitting next to all of this experience? You're sitting here going oh, hold on, let me ask you about this. What about this, what about that? Hey, do you ever use this? Or why would you use this instead of that? If you're smart, that's what you would do, right, because you have way more experience than I do with this. So could you help me to understand all of this? So if you're in Daniel's position and this guy just shows up and does the miraculous and this is what you do too wouldn't you be like, hey, the king just said that your God is the God of God and the Lord of Lords. And the King of Kings, tell me about your God, because that sounds like a God I may want to worship.
Speaker 1:So then, how did the wise men know that there was a coming Messiah Outside of Isaiah? Daniel is the most messianic prophet that we have in the Old Testament. Outside of Daniel, or outside of Isaiah, daniel is the one that talks the most about. Hey, there is a coming son of man who's coming to set his people free. So how did they know? Well, I mean, they were with an Israeli prophet. They would have heard about this over and over and over again, and they would have sat here and went hey, one day, there's this guy coming, and, just like ever, just like all of us should be and we're going to get into this a lot next week just like all of us should be, we should be sitting here going there is a king coming to set us free, to give us a perfect life, a life that we can't even possibly begin to imagine. And that's how the magi knew, hey, and this will be a sign unto you, that's how they knew to even look for the star. And that's why, when they finally saw the star, they were so excited that they went we need to go worship this king and bring him gifts, because he, and he alone, is going to be worthy of that.
Speaker 1:Now, why would this matter to any of us today? Because I really want everybody in here to pay attention to actually what's going on in the world around us. So this morning I had a conversation with someone. Okay, and this isn't, it wasn't a new theory to me. It's something I've heard a lot about over the past couple of months, but I'm going to start with this before I even get into that, I'm telling you guys right now and I am not a prophet, that is not my gifting, I don't operate in the prophetic Like, that's not who I am but I'm telling you right now I really believe that over the next 365 days, god is going to do amazing things. There is going to be a shift like none of us, I think, have ever seen before. All right, it is just me. That is not a word from God. That is just my thoughts and my opinions, based on things that I see in culture.
Speaker 1:Now, that being said, I was having a conversation and I wrote this way before today. It may not sound like it, but I did, but I was having a conversation with someone this morning. They were telling me about hey, man, have you seen in the news all the stuff about these drones? And I was like no, not really. I don't watch the news a lot, like I don't watch TV a lot. If it's not the Office or Parks and Rec or some kind of fishing show, I probably didn't see it, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So he's telling me about these drones and how they're coming up out of the water and they're following these ships. And he's like, in fact, man, I watched this one video and this guy was telling me that what's going to wind up happening is they can use these drones to project holograms. And they think that what's going to wind up happening is they're going to get together and they're going to project this hologram of God in the skies. And I was like, oh cool, you know where I've already seen this. And I was like, oh cool, you know where I've already seen this Spider-Man when he fights Mysterio. That is the plot to Spider-Man Mysterio uses the drones to create illusions. And I went and you know what? This isn't even the first I've heard of this. If you follow stuff like this, like this has been going on for a couple of months now.
Speaker 1:In fact, I was like I'll take it one step further. There's all these different conspiracies that they're going to actually use these drones to fake an alien evasion and then that way, they're going to be able to set up this, because everyone's going to be so scared of aliens, hence why you need to practice your Second Amendment. Alright, but that's kind of off to the side. However, everyone's going to be so afraid of these aliens that they're going to run to this one world government Because you can offer me protection. Here's the first thing.
Speaker 1:One as a Christian. Should you ever be afraid? No, because to live is Christ. To die is gain. Like I pass away from here, if I were to drop down in front of that truck last night and Joe didn't stop in time, guess what? I'm in a better place. Y'all may be having a different kind of service this morning. Going man, we're going to miss him, but you ain't crying for me. I'm going to tell you that right now You're crying for you. I go because where I am, man y'all can't compare with, because the king came.
Speaker 1:And so, as we go through all of this, why does this matter to us? Well, listen to some of these stats, and this is from a 2022 study in Barna. It said 74% of respondents want to grow spiritually, 77% of respondents believe in a higher power, 44 percent of respondents say that they are more open to God today than they were before the pandemic, and 80 percent of Americans think that there is a spiritual or supernatural dimension in this world. See, it's very easy for us to sit here and focus on the evil of humanity and talk about how it's only going to get worse. In fact, that is the message of the church. It's never going to get better, it's only getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse, and then eventually there's going to be this seven years of trials and tribulations. But us, the church, we don't have to worry about any of that, because Jesus is going to scoop us up. I'll tell you one thing, one that's not a biblical. Look to this. Number two why is it only going to get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse? Because that's kind of the opposite of what Jesus said. In fact, jesus said I came and I put the church here, not that so when we die we can go to heaven, but so that the church can usher in the kingdom of heaven here and now. Why is it going to get worse? Then it's because the church is sitting here, going hey, we don't want to be the church, we just want to be cushy and comfortable, that's all we want. We just want to sit here and kind of run out the clock until the king comes back, and then we'll be good.
Speaker 1:I was talking to some people yesterday and we were just kind of talking about like some of the things we have going on and they're like man, I can't believe you guys do all of these different things. And I went. For what? Why not? The whole point of the church is to be here to serve others, just as jesus served us. To share the gospel, because it is the power of salvation.
Speaker 1:To live my life on mission because guess what? I only get one of these, because when this one's over, I'm done. Then I can go, enter into my rest, which I have every intention of doing, because I believe fishing is going to be a thing on the new earth. You know why? Because Jesus went to fishermen. You know why? Because he went. You guys are good at catching stuff. Some of us are better than others. Like JT can't hold a candle to me. Some of us are better than others, like JT can't hold a candle to me. And on January 4th we'll find out how good you are right, because we're going to take everyone out.
Speaker 1:But see, we got to stop looking at this and going. It's only going to get worse, because in Psalm 46, 10, we see something different. It says this be still and know that I am God. Here's what that means. When my family is scared, power goes out during the hurricane or whatever the case may be. The first thing I'm going to tell them is chill out. I got this, you don't have to worry. Daddy is here. Daddy will make sure that nothing happens to his family. So, as Christians, we need to understand that our father is sitting here, going be still and know that I'm God. I got this. You don't have to worry about this. Because I got this, I will be exalted among the nations. Here's what God's saying I will be exalted. It's not a matter of, if it's not, can we figure out something to do? What God is saying is I will be because I am God.
Speaker 1:Do you know when Moses, when they were building the tabernacle, moses was like hey, here's the things we need. We need, you know, fabric, gold, we need wood. We need these things so that we can build what God has called us to build. Do you know that it got to the point where Moses had to stand in front of Israel and go hey, stop bringing stuff to me, we have way more than we can use. Like, do we wrap our minds around that that God is sitting here, going no, no, no, no. You guys don't understand. Like Pharaoh thought he was man. Pharaoh thought he was God. What he didn't know is I raised him up so that I can show my power. That's the only reason Egypt became a superpower is so that I could show the rest of the world who I am, because I will be exalted among the nations.
Speaker 1:So what do we have to be in fear of? See these wise men, these pagans? They went hey, there is a king coming, there is a Messiah coming. Let us go worship them. A king that they wouldn't even have recognized, a king who was a king to not even their country. This king would have had no authority over them. But what did they do? They traveled from the east, brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, which was super expensive back then and if you were into oils, it's pretty expensive now. Like you don't need to do multiple orders during the year. We ain't that sick. But let us go and let us worship this king.
Speaker 1:So are we still telling others about the same king who came? Like? I am sure Daniel didn't look at the Persians and went hey, they are open to God. I'm sure Daniel wasn't looking at the Persians, who had their own gods, and went hey, you know what? They just are looking for a new God, but did that stop Daniel from telling these Persians about him? No, are we still showing that King Jesus is worthy to be worshipped?
Speaker 1:Do we understand that our friends, our family, our co-workers, people all over right now are looking for something anything greater than who they are? 80% of people are sitting here going. I know I'm not the end of it all. I know that there is something greater. They may not know what is greater, but they know that they're missing something. 80%, that's a lot of people. Think about that. That would be 80,000 people right here in Deltona that are sitting here going. I know there's something bigger than me, and that doesn't include the 15 or 20 people that live out in Osteen, but I go, we have to understand. Are we doing that? Are we sitting here going? Let me tell you what is greater. Let me tell you who is greater. Let me tell you about this king who is coming, who is greater than anything you could possibly even imagine, who could fill every area within our heart. Are we doing that?
Speaker 1:See, we just need to stop honestly doing churchy things. Churchy things don't work. No one wants to be a part of churchy things. I'm telling you this right now. You know why? Because I am a pastor and I go. I don't want to be a part of churchy things. I'm telling you this right now. You know why? Because I am a pastor and I go. I don't want to be a part of churchy things. I can't stand that. What we actually need to do is be the church.
Speaker 1:See, jesus didn't institute the church so that we could have and I hate saying this because I know one of our announcements this week so that we could have chili cook-offs after service. It is next weekend. That's not why the church was instituted, though. The church wasn't instituted so that we could feel warm and comfortable. Jesus went.
Speaker 1:I'm going to institute the church so that you may go to war against the forces of darkness and evil. That's the point of the church to bring heaven to earth. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Are we doing that? See, the Magi knew this king was important. The magi knew, without even being god fears, that this king is something bigger, better and worthy, and you know what we should be doing. The same. See, the wise men came to worship even though they had no idea who they were coming to worship, and yet, right now, god is working on the hearts of people all over the world. Understand this. Right now, there is someone that just popped into your mind and I'm telling you right now, god is already working on their heart. God is already starting to put in the work and he's just sitting here going. What you don't understand is one day, one day, you're going to have a conversation with Mandy. That's going to change your life. One day, you're going to have a conversation with Zeth, because he's going to get it and it's going to change your life.
Speaker 1:One day, you don't realize, my church is coming to get you and there's nothing you can do to run from the creator of creation. Like JT's Legos never have run away from him in his room. They have always been there right when he wanted to use them. You know why? Because he owned those Legos. We are the Legos in that metaphor. Just so you know. You ain't running away from God. You may run from him for a second, but guess what it was. Just like those of you that had little kids, you remember when they were in trouble and they would take off and they thought, if I could get to my room before you did, I would be safe. And even if they made it there, guess what? I can kick that door down. Why? Because this is my house. I don't care about breaking doors, I'm going to get to you. God is the same way with us, will he not leave the 99 to go find the one? See, our God is good, but he is not safe and we have to sit here and go.
Speaker 1:All right, as we close this, what are we doing to spread the message, just like the star showed the wise men, that the king is coming? What are we doing to share the greatest news that we have ever heard, that the king came, took our place in death, so that we may have life to bring heaven to earth? How will they believe in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear if there is no one there to preach? That's our job. Our job is to open our mouths and go hey, the king is coming.
Speaker 1:So, father, I ask and I pray as we close today, now, whatever you have going on in whoever's heart, father, that you just bring it to fruition that, father, you know what. They can't escape my church, they can't escape my light, they can't escape my love, they can't escape my grace, they can't escape my mercy because of what we were given at the cross. Father, I ask and I pray that in each and every one of us right now, god, you would just ignite that something, that we just sit here and we go. There's so much more to this and we need to bring heaven to earth that you trusted us enough to go. Hey, we are going to be the vessels you use to do that. Father, I just ask and I pray just as the wise men, we use the knowledge that we have and be wise with it to understand how to add more to your kingdom. Father, we ask and we pray all of this in Jesus' name, amen.