0:01

Welcome to Life Church. We're so glad you're here.

0:03

Be sure to stick around until the end because

0:05

we have some great resources for you. Now,

0:08

here's this week's message. I

0:12

don't know about you,

0:14

but these are the most exciting times to

0:17

be alive as a follower of Jesus on

0:19

the earth. There is more opportunity to see

0:21

people say, because the world has lost its

0:23

ever-loving mind. So people are desperate for hope

0:26

and people are desperate for answers and how

0:28

many know that there is an answer

0:30

and His name is Jesus and He

0:32

continues to give us life and hope.

0:34

I want you to turn with me to

0:36

the Gospel of Luke chapter 17, verse

0:41

20. If you're wondering about my accent, this is

0:43

how King Charles wishes he could speak English.

0:46

This is what happens. They put us on a

0:49

ship as convicts, sent us down into the colonies

0:51

and we refine the language. This is exactly how

0:54

it happens. So we are in

0:56

Luke 17, verse 20. It says, being asked

0:58

by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God

1:00

would come. He answered that the

1:02

kingdom of God is not coming with something observable.

1:04

No one will say, see here

1:07

or there, for you see the

1:09

kingdom of God is in your midst. Then

1:11

He told the disciples the days are coming when you

1:14

were long to see one of the days of the

1:16

Son of Man, but you won't see it. They will

1:18

say to you, see there or see here, don't

1:20

follow or run after them. For

1:23

as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and

1:25

lights up the sky, so the Son of Man

1:27

will be in his day. But

1:29

first, everyone say, but first. That

1:33

sounded very American on every campus,

1:35

but first. Say

1:38

with an Australian accent, but first.

1:42

It is necessary that He suffer many things and

1:44

be rejected by this generation. Just as it was

1:46

in the days of Noah, so will be in

1:48

the days of the Son of Man. People went

1:51

on eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until

1:53

the day Noah boarded the Ark and the flood

1:55

came and destroyed them all. It will be the

1:57

same as it was in the days of Lot.

2:00

When on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building

2:02

spend the day lot less saddam farming. How's

2:04

the reins of evidence that So the more

2:06

I bet you are so glad you come

2:09

to church today like this is absurd I'm

2:11

so glad I brought my i go to

2:13

church on this day. This is just getting

2:15

better. It will be like that on the

2:17

dataset have been is revealed on that day

2:20

and then on the house of his belongings

2:22

are in the house must not come down

2:24

to get some like was the man who

2:26

is in the field months not in that.

2:29

Remember last was whoever tries to

2:31

make is a secure movies and

2:33

whoever loses his and will preserve

2:36

i tell you another to will.

2:38

Be amended one will be taken.

2:41

And the other would be list. And until my. Husband's

2:43

regularly. I am not the one

2:45

that's gonna be left behind. You

2:47

do you have a like provides

2:49

to women. Will be grinding rain together, one

2:51

will be taken and the other lift. What

2:54

they asked him he said to them with a

2:56

corpse is. There. Also. The.

2:59

Vultures, Will. Be has. One

3:02

of the lord and you're wishing I had another

3:04

Would have the Lord's eyes and say. That we

3:06

have a Texas is Gold and

3:08

eschatological. Sixty Woods is leading six

3:11

about the end times and you're

3:13

like precise. Of course you're gonna

3:15

pull that out. We are living

3:17

in such crazy times and I

3:19

mean it has just been a

3:21

very crazy. Last really four years

3:23

we've we've had been damaged with

3:25

a natural disasters. That we've heard. A

3:27

rumor has it. Seems to

3:30

be some. Tips:

3:39

And you to have. everything

3:59

because in days like today

4:01

is people who like to

4:03

go on social media or down on

4:05

Facebook and they go down rabbit trails

4:07

and you know basically predicting when the

4:10

end of the times will be because the world is

4:12

in such a mess. I'm about to save

4:14

you a lot of hours going down

4:16

rabbit trails. You can actually now binge

4:18

watch that Netflix series that you wanted

4:20

to binge watch because I'm going to save

4:22

you a lot of time. I just finished my

4:25

master's degree at Wheaton and I studied all

4:27

the different theories about the end times and

4:29

I'm going to save you a lot of

4:31

money and a lot of time after four

4:33

years of studying. This is my entire

4:35

end time theology. Get ready. This is it.

4:37

Hold on to the seeds. This is it.

4:39

Me and theirs. That's it. I'll

4:41

save you a lot of money. Don't buy the book. Don't

4:43

go down the rabbit trails. This is how we should be

4:45

living. We live as if it's going to happen tomorrow and

4:47

we prepare as if it's not going to happen for

4:56

generations. Every follower of Jesus should

4:59

be living like that all the

5:01

time. I know we are in the

5:03

midst of so much instability. There is

5:05

so much fear and heartache and

5:08

pain and so much instability all

5:10

over the world but you and

5:12

I as followers of Jesus do not

5:14

need to lose our mind just because everyone

5:16

around us is. So

5:19

in this text Jesus

5:21

is talking about really the

5:23

two-fold nature of the kingdom of God. The fact

5:25

that what theologians would call

5:27

the already and not yet. That

5:29

Jesus when he came here on earth

5:32

in the flesh the kingdom had come but

5:34

it is not yet fully realized. How

5:36

do I know it's not yet fully realized?

5:39

Because there's still human trafficking in the world.

5:41

There's still injustice. The people still die.

5:43

There is still sickness. There is war. There

5:45

is famine. There is disease. But a day

5:48

is coming where he will return and

5:50

all things will be made new and

5:52

there will be no more pain and

5:54

no more suffering and no more sickness

5:56

and no more disease and no more

5:58

injustice and we long for that day.

6:00

But that's not really what I'm

6:02

here to talk to you about in Book Club today. In

6:06

this text about the

6:08

end times, Jesus

6:11

drops these three seemingly

6:15

insignificant random words. I

6:17

mean, he is talking about Sodom and Gomorrah and

6:19

Noah and the flat. And then the second shortest

6:21

verse in the Bible, he just drops it in

6:23

there just randomly. All of a sudden, all he's

6:26

talking about all this stuff, he just goes, remember

6:28

us twice. I

6:31

love alcohol. That's random.

6:34

I've been doing chicks ministry for decades. There's

6:38

170 women that

6:40

are either alluded to or mentioned

6:42

in Scripture, 170. And

6:45

yet there is only one woman that

6:48

Jesus ever tells us to remember. He

6:51

tells us the woman that poured the perfume, her

6:54

deed will be remembered. But

6:56

there's only one woman he ever tells us

6:58

to remember. And that's Lot's wife.

7:02

And he tells us to remember Lot's wife

7:04

within the context of

7:07

speaking about the end times. I

7:10

wonder whether 2024 would

7:12

be a really good year to

7:15

remember the one woman that Jesus told us to remember.

7:18

I wonder in the context of a world that is

7:20

unraveling, whether perhaps now might be a moment for the

7:22

Church of Jesus Christ to go, maybe

7:24

we'll remember that one woman that

7:27

Jesus talks about. Now listen, if

7:29

I was Eve, I would be ticked off.

7:33

Because I'm like, what do you mean, remember

7:35

Lot's wife? I was first. I

7:38

came out of a ribbon. I've been blamed for all

7:40

the problems of humanity ever since it all started. I

7:44

mean, if I was Sarah, I'd be

7:46

missing. I popped out a kid at 90 without

7:49

an epidural. Come on. Why

7:52

not remember me? I

7:54

mean, if I was Mary, I'd be like, what do you mean,

7:56

remember Lot's wife? I'd burst you. Why

7:58

did you not remember me? But

8:02

Jesus says, remember Lot's wife, this nameless woman that

8:04

appears on the pages of Scripture only quick

8:06

enough to disappear. We don't

8:09

even know her name. We don't

8:11

even know her name. I mean, imagine what's your name,

8:13

Lot's wife. Honey, that ain't going to cut it in

8:15

2024. That's not going to go

8:17

well. So

8:20

she doesn't even have a name. And

8:23

of course, I start going

8:26

back and start thinking, what is it

8:28

that we know about this woman? So

8:31

of course, in Genesis 13, verses 12 to 15, we

8:34

read the text, Abram settled in the land

8:36

of Canaan while Lot settled among the cities

8:38

of the valley and moved his tent as

8:41

far as Sodom. Now the men

8:43

of Sodom were wicked and great

8:45

sinners against the Lord. So

8:48

all we know is that Lot set

8:50

up camp at

8:52

Sodom when him and Abram separated. I

8:55

don't know. Is that where he met his

8:58

wife? I don't know. Or

9:00

did he meet her in Sodom? And

9:03

then of course, it says Sodom was very,

9:06

very wicked. The men of Sodom were

9:08

really, really wicked. And in

9:10

Genesis 18, we see that God had

9:13

given them so much mercy, so

9:15

many opportunities to repent and basically

9:17

because of their sin and iniquity,

9:20

the Lord was like, okay, I'm done

9:22

with that. Now most

9:24

of us, whether we're church goers or

9:26

not today, when we hear kind of

9:28

the word Sodom and Gomorrah, we normally

9:31

associate immorality with that and we normally

9:33

think of immorality and iniquity and sexual

9:35

sin. And of course, the sexual sin we most focus

9:37

on is whichever one we're not committing that day. That's

9:40

the one we love to highlight as the greatest one.

9:43

But I do want you to see from Scripture what

9:46

the prophet Ezekiel says is

9:49

the greatest sin of

9:51

Sodom because sometimes we miss this in the

9:53

church. It says in Ezekiel 1649 to 50. Now

9:57

this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. She

10:00

and her daughters had pride, plenty

10:03

of food, and comfortable

10:06

security, but didn't

10:08

support the poor and the needy. They

10:11

were haughty, and here we go with what we

10:13

normally know, and did detestable acts

10:15

before me, so I removed

10:17

them. You

10:20

see, when God says I'm about done, normally

10:24

you can understand that

10:26

pride, arrogance, comfortable security.

10:29

When you have a church that kind of just thinks,

10:31

well, you know, we're all that, we're the only ones

10:33

that are right, and there's this arrogance of like,

10:35

well, I'm just the one that God likes,

10:37

and nobody else, and this sense of security

10:40

that we no longer care about a lost

10:42

world, we no longer care about injustice, we

10:44

no longer care about the poor and the needy,

10:46

it's just us four and no more, and we're great,

10:48

the Lord's like, you know what, I'm about done with

10:50

it. That's really

10:53

not my design for

10:55

church, which is why I think he loves life

10:57

church so much, because you are

10:59

obsessed, not by how many come

11:02

here, but how many are still out there waiting to

11:04

hear the good news of the Lord Jesus

11:06

Christ. I'm obsessed with that.

11:11

Not how many are following you, but how many are not

11:13

following Jesus, that's what gets us out of

11:15

bed every day. And

11:17

so God cares about

11:19

the poor and the needy, God cares

11:21

about us living a life on mission,

11:24

and he cares about our personal holiness and

11:26

righteousness as well, it all matters to

11:28

God. But the Lord was like, you

11:30

know what, I'm done with

11:33

that. And then what

11:36

he decides to do is, although

11:38

he was done with Sodom and Gomorrah, he

11:41

wasn't done with Lot or his wife

11:43

or their two daughters, he

11:45

still had a plan for them, but the plan

11:47

was in the future, he still had a purpose

11:49

for them, the purpose for them was still in

11:52

the future, he still had a promise for them,

11:54

and a promise for them was still in the

11:56

future. See, there are times when certain things in

11:58

our life are over, when they're finished. But

12:00

the purpose of God is never over, the promise

12:02

of God is never over, the provision of God

12:05

is never over, it's always in

12:07

the future. So he says

12:11

in Genesis 19-17, he sends two angels

12:13

of the Lord and they grab them

12:15

by the hand, they pull them out

12:17

of everything. Life as they knew it

12:19

is now burning down. And

12:22

he says, and as they brought them out, one said, escape for

12:24

your life, do not look back. Or

12:28

stop anywhere in the valley, escape

12:30

to the hills lest you be swept away. Listen, if

12:32

life as I knew it was burning down

12:35

and I was literally being touched by

12:37

an angel and being taken out of

12:39

what was burning up to go into the

12:41

promise of God in the future, I

12:43

would do the one thing that I was

12:45

told to do. But

12:47

this is the only thing we

12:49

know, remember Luke 17-32, Jesus

12:52

in the context of talking about the end times says, I

12:54

need you to remember life. This

12:56

is the only thing we know about

12:59

Lot's wife and we see

13:01

it in Genesis 19-26, it says, but

13:03

Lot's wife behind him looks

13:06

back and became

13:08

a pillar of self. And

13:12

that phrase looked back in

13:14

the original language, she looked back

13:16

with longing, lingering.

13:19

It wasn't just what she was looking back at

13:21

with her eyes, her heart wanted

13:24

to go back to

13:26

the thing that God was done with.

13:30

And what happened

13:32

was she got

13:34

calcified and stuck in a place she

13:36

was only meant to be passing through.

13:40

She prioritized her past over

13:42

her future, she

13:45

wanted what she was leaving more than what

13:47

God had for her in the future. And

13:50

she ended up getting stuck,

13:54

she ended up stopping, she

13:57

ended up not only destroying her life,

14:00

But if you go on and read this chapter,

14:02

it's deeply disturbing because what happened to her

14:04

daughters with

14:07

their father, because

14:09

their mother got stuck. Can

14:11

I just tell you when you get stuck,

14:13

it has implications for the generations that are

14:15

to come after you. It does not just

14:17

affect your life. And right now on the

14:19

earth, we have

14:22

a generation of Jesus followers that

14:24

are feeling stuck because

14:26

life has changed so much and we're looking

14:28

back going, I want what was. I've

14:31

just come back from doing another lap of

14:33

the globe ministering on every continent. And

14:36

everywhere I go, I hear some version

14:38

of the same thing. And

14:40

that same thing would be this. Christine,

14:44

I just wish things would go back to normal. And

14:48

I would have conversations with people and

14:50

all the conversations. And especially if

14:52

you're talking maybe around church life

14:54

or talking about their businesses or

14:56

talking even about family or schooling.

14:58

The phrase, I can't stop the

15:00

whole sentence and conversation I'm obsessed

15:02

with. Well, before COVID. Do

15:06

you know church, there was a

15:08

time when BC stood for before

15:10

Christ. There

15:14

was a time when we

15:17

thought Jesus is what split time.

15:20

And we've given over that power

15:22

to something that happened years ago. And

15:25

we have a before and after.

15:27

Well, before COVID and many of

15:29

us have been stuck because of

15:31

all of the instability, the political,

15:34

the social, the emotional, the moral,

15:36

the ethical confusion that is happening

15:38

on the earth. We all feel like

15:40

we've got with us. Things have

15:42

changed. Technology's changed. Morality's changed.

15:44

And so many of us

15:47

are paralyzed and stuck. Yet

15:49

the scripture says that Jesus is this

15:52

hope we have as an anchor for

15:54

our soul, both firm and secure. That

15:57

Jesus is the same. Today

16:00

and forever and

16:02

although everything around

16:04

us has changed. I'm

16:06

not minimizing it. I'm not denying

16:09

it. I'm not dismissing it.

16:12

But what I am saying is

16:14

although everything's changed ultimately for us

16:16

as Jesus followers, nothing's changed. Because

16:19

our hope is in Jesus and

16:21

all the promises of God are

16:24

in Christ Jesus. Yes and Amen

16:26

and Jesus is our hope.

16:29

He's come and He's go.

16:31

Empires rise and empires fall.

16:33

He's changed but Jesus is

16:36

His hope we have. And

16:39

yet so many of us are just stuck. Stuck

16:42

in the trauma of the last eight years. Stuck

16:45

in the economic instability. Stuck

16:49

in so many of the divisiveness

16:51

and chaos that's happening all over

16:53

the world. Stuck in

16:55

our offenses. Stuck in our

16:58

unforgiveness. Stuck in our

17:00

bitterness. Stuck in our

17:02

disappointment. Stuck in our

17:04

discouragement. Stuck in

17:06

our disillusionment. And

17:08

we're stuck in a place we were only

17:10

meant to pass through. The

17:13

reality of the world and the shifts

17:15

and the changes it's real. But

17:19

what is more true than real

17:22

is that Jesus is this hope

17:24

we have. We were born for

17:26

this moment in history. God chooses the

17:28

times and the places and the seasons

17:30

that He puts us in. You and

17:32

I are not a product of time.

17:34

We are a product of eternity. God

17:36

has plucked us out of eternity. Positioned

17:38

us in time. Filled us

17:41

with His Holy Spirit and said go into

17:43

all the world and make disciples of all

17:45

nations baptizing them in the name of the

17:47

Father and of the Son and of the

17:49

Holy Spirit. That is our job profile. You

17:53

mean with so much political instability? Yes.

17:57

You mean with so much economic instability?

17:59

Yes. giving Christine with

18:01

wars and chaos and division and

18:03

changing morality and changing ethical systems.

18:06

Our job profile hasn't changed. The

18:10

same power. The race Jesus

18:12

Christ from the dead lives on the inside of you

18:14

and me. Therefore we can

18:16

do all things through Christ Jesus

18:18

who strengthens us. We have that

18:21

same power. We

18:23

don't have to get stuck

18:25

looking back. How

18:28

much are we looking back with a

18:30

longing than I wish things would go back to the good old days.

18:33

I wish we could just have church how we used to have it. I

18:36

wish our family would just go back to what it was.

18:40

I just wish. You know what I think the

18:42

last few years have revealed to us church? Do

18:44

you remember the two disciples going

18:46

back to Emmaus? They

18:48

were so disappointed because

18:50

they thought Jesus was the

18:53

one. And remember

18:55

that after Jesus was crucified and buried

18:57

they didn't know that he was resurrected.

19:00

And so what happened was they were going

19:03

back to Emmaus because what

19:05

happens is often when you're disappointed with God you'll go

19:07

back to the thing that he rescued you from. They're

19:10

going back. And there's a lot of

19:12

people on the earth right now going back. A

19:15

lot of Christians thinking you know what this thing's just and

19:17

they're going back. A lot

19:19

of people just walking away and going back. Jesus

19:22

turns up on the road to Emmaus

19:24

with them and they're walking with him

19:26

and they don't even recognize them because

19:28

what happens is when

19:30

you are disappointed or offended or

19:32

disillusioned or discouraged you will lose

19:35

sight of the fact that God is

19:37

with you because he will never leave us

19:39

and never forsake us that he is with

19:41

us at all times. But so many of

19:43

us have lost sight of God in the last

19:46

few years because we're just so focused on what's

19:48

happening in the media or in social media or

19:50

what our friends are saying or what we are

19:52

saying to ourselves and we've lost sight of the

19:54

fact that Jesus is with us.

20:00

I think remember when they said in Luke 24 21, they

20:02

said, but we had hoped

20:05

that he was the one. I wonder over the last few years,

20:08

if those words have come out of your mouth, but I

20:10

had hoped that business was gonna make it. I

20:14

hoped that marriage was gonna make it. I

20:17

had hoped those kids were going

20:20

to be living for the Lord by now.

20:23

I had hoped that ministry

20:25

opportunity was gonna open up. I had

20:27

hoped that God was going

20:29

to give me this opportunity.

20:33

And I think what's been revealed in the last few

20:35

years and the Lord's allowed some of that to happen

20:38

is to reveal to us where our

20:40

misplaced hopes were. Because

20:43

that person and those things could never

20:45

give you what only God

20:47

can give you. We've been trying to

20:49

get from people and things, what we can only

20:51

get from God, and then we get disappointed when

20:54

they don't deliver, but idols never deliver. And

20:57

idols will always disappoint. So there's

20:59

been a shaking, but the scripture

21:01

says only those things that can be shaken will be

21:03

shaken so that those things that cannot be shaken will

21:05

remain. And what

21:07

has remained is

21:09

that Jesus Christ is sovereign, that

21:12

Jesus Christ is the way, the truth,

21:14

the life, that there is no other

21:16

way, but through the way of Jesus Christ,

21:18

that he is kind, he is

21:20

gracious, he is compassionate, he is

21:22

loving. And

21:26

Jesus is like, am I enough for you, church? Stop

21:30

looking back at what you wish it was and

21:33

start fixing your eyes on Jesus.

21:36

Faith is always future focused. The

21:39

promise of God still prevails, the provision of

21:41

God still prevails, the purpose of

21:43

God still prevails, but we had to fix our

21:45

eyes on Jesus. He is the author and

21:47

he is the finisher. And if you are

21:49

here in church today and there is not

21:51

a white chalk mark around your body, honey,

21:53

it means you're alive. Him, he's got to

21:55

got a plan, God still got a purpose,

21:58

God still Got a destiny. Hi.

22:05

I'm. Not. Minimizing the pain or the

22:08

hot eight or the suffering of the

22:10

last few years. But.

22:12

Her: I'm for You Don't buy into the narrative

22:14

of this age. That. says.

22:17

That. You are a victim of your past. What?

22:20

We have to learn to do. Is

22:22

to make what Jesus did for us because

22:24

of what anyone has done to us. We

22:27

have some nice most of. These

22:31

are the most anyone else has. Said about

22:33

us. Yes it's been difficult but on

22:35

the kids that was lifted a hospital

22:37

and names and unwanted on the kid.

22:39

That was sexually abused. Who use

22:41

Grew Up as a poor zip code

22:44

in most states is I believe the

22:46

narrative of this age? I would not

22:48

be doing anything that isn't doing today.

22:50

Spit in a relationship with Jesus. Christ.

22:54

You know your destiny. What

22:56

happened of how. About

22:59

anybody. Who

23:04

had a better. Thought. You

23:07

had a different education. That

23:09

are things that happen to. Use. My

23:13

minimizing. The. Trauma of A I end

23:16

to say that there is still. A

23:18

false on the planet that is greater than any

23:20

of that. Can I just say to use them

23:22

as powerful force on. A platter always was

23:24

and always will be. The Blood of

23:27

Jesus Christ. Or How. Crazy.

23:31

Are. Do today.

23:35

I don't know what you have

23:37

host. But. I am here

23:40

to say to you. Is

23:42

Echo Ryan nones is twelve. The.

23:45

Children of Israel had been a

23:47

Babylonian Captivity full seventies and the

23:49

came back to Israel and a

23:51

host. The. Jerusalem was

23:53

going to be very

23:55

surprising. But. Exerts, it

23:57

was decimated. estimated

24:01

Jerusalem was in a mess. The temple

24:04

was in ruins. The city walls were

24:07

just all fragmented and they were surrounded by enemies

24:09

and the Prophet said to them you were physical

24:12

Exiles in Babylon you were physical

24:15

prisoners now you've gone back home

24:18

you need to be prisoners of hope

24:20

and What

24:22

we the church need to be in this hour. We

24:25

need to chain ourselves to Jesus and

24:28

say oh we are becoming Of

24:30

our own volition with our own

24:33

agency I'm

24:35

handcuffing myself To Jesus.

24:38

I'm putting myself. It doesn't matter ultimately what

24:40

happens politically or economically or socially or

24:42

morally or ethically or environmentally

24:45

Ultimately, that is not gonna affect

24:47

my disposition my faith my hope

24:49

the way I parent the way

24:51

I'm a wife the way I

24:53

leave my organization I'm

25:00

not a prison I'm

25:03

a prisoner of hope and That's

25:16

why you and I don't need to look back

25:19

But we fix our eyes and

25:21

she does We know our

25:24

tell us this is a great message of

25:26

the gospel We basically live

25:28

here from there not from back

25:30

there God is drawing

25:32

us into a future In

25:36

this day now Christians ought to

25:38

be the weirdest people on the earth. Not super

25:40

fruit loops just super weird There

25:43

ought to be a glint in our eye a little spring

25:45

in our step We ought to

25:47

be a little bit naughty not illegal

25:49

not immoral not heretical just naughty There

25:52

ought to be something about us that says

25:54

you know what people look at us and go what

25:56

are you on? What have you

25:58

been smoking? How can you be? of

26:00

hope that we go because of Jesus.

26:02

I know what the world is like,

26:04

but Jesus is this hope I have

26:08

in this day and in this hour. Let

26:13

me finish. Because you're

26:15

all too excited. This church is too excitable. You

26:17

think you believe in Jesus or something. We're

26:20

not denying the reality. Listen, I

26:22

rescue the victims of human trafficking. In

26:25

the last 24 hours we had a three year old

26:27

brought into our care. You don't even want to know what

26:31

they did to that child. So

26:33

I will tell you I'm not ignorant of evil

26:35

and injustice on this earth.

26:37

I'm not ignorant of the reality of pain

26:40

and suffering on this earth. But

26:43

there's a longing inside of me not for what

26:45

lasts but for what will be. That

26:47

all things will be made new. That sky is going to

26:49

split here. It's going to come back.

26:51

All things will be made new

26:54

and all wrong things will be

26:56

made right. This is what does Paul

26:58

say from a prison cell as

27:01

he writes to his beloved Philippian church. Well,

27:05

the world isn't necessarily going to get any

27:07

better, but his revelation of Jesus is just getting

27:09

greater. It's what I pray for the church in

27:11

this hour. Paul says, brothers, I do

27:14

not consider that I've made it my own, but one

27:16

thing I do, everyone say one thing. One

27:18

thing, forgetting what lies behind.

27:20

Don't get stuck, church. Forgetting

27:23

what lies behind both good and bad. Because

27:25

sometimes we can get so stuck in our

27:27

own success that we miss what God has

27:29

for us in the future. He

27:31

says forgetting what lies behind and

27:33

straining forward to what lies ahead,

27:35

I press on toward the goal

27:37

for the prize of the upward

27:39

call of God in Christ Jesus.

27:41

That is what we are doing

27:44

right now. Paul says forgetting. For

27:47

some of you today, this is going to be a defining moment

27:50

for you. You've been stuck for years. When

27:52

I say forgetting, Paul's not saying that the

27:55

blood of Jesus gives you amnesia. My

27:57

past happens. It's a reality. I

28:00

don't have amnesia. I was abandoned,

28:02

I was abused, I was adopted.

28:04

It's a reality. But

28:06

what the blood of Jesus does is it gives me a life

28:08

beyond my path. You don't

28:11

have to be defined by your greatest failure, your

28:13

greatest mistake, or what was done to

28:15

you. Paul says, my history doesn't define

28:17

my destiny. This one thing I do,

28:20

forgetting for some of you today, that's

28:23

the most powerful thing. You gotta let some things go. You're

28:26

hanging onto that offense, that unforgiveness, that

28:29

disappointment, it's not ever gonna come round,

28:31

and it's not, you can't go back.

28:34

But what God's got for your head is

28:36

so much greater, and you're gonna miss it

28:38

if you stay calcified in a moment you

28:40

should only be passing through. And

28:44

so what happened was, he's

28:46

just forgetting, and straining. I

28:49

think the church has forgotten to strain. That's

28:52

exerting a steady force. You've

28:54

gotta exert force. Of

28:57

course, your pastor is the greatest in the world

28:59

for knowing how to lift heavier weights, you

29:01

gotta strain. But

29:04

what we did is we all got lazy. Some of you,

29:06

it's 2024, and you have still

29:08

not worn hard pants. You're still in your

29:10

sweat pants from 2020. Church,

29:16

it's time to strain. It's gonna hurt

29:18

a bit. It's time to

29:20

exercise those face muscles again. We've

29:23

been just sitting paralyzed for too long.

29:26

It's time to get moving. It's gonna take

29:28

some straining, and finally, he says, I press on.

29:31

And that word in the Greek is

29:33

to exert a steady force again. Some

29:37

of you, it's time to get up and get some backbone again.

29:40

You've been sitting out in the bleachers for

29:42

too long, stuck in

29:44

that moment, and I'm not minimizing what was done to

29:46

you or said about you, but I am saying what Jesus

29:48

did for you is bigger than anything that happened to you.

29:51

And so we can move beyond it into the

29:53

future that God has, and it's just time to

29:55

press on. Exert a steady

29:57

force against complacency or apathy. exert

30:04

a steady force against offense, abidness,

30:06

or unforgiveness, or rage, or anger.

30:09

Exert a steady force against lust, or greed,

30:11

or envy, or gossip, or slander. Exert a

30:14

steady force, it's time for

30:16

us to start pressing. Nick and I were coming

30:18

down from our hotel to come to church and

30:21

there was someone standing in, you

30:23

know, at the elevator ready to go down

30:25

from the sixth floor to the lobby. And

30:28

this person was having a very

30:30

loud, unsanctified conversation with the elevator.

30:34

And they were using many four-letter words that none of them

30:36

will love. And they

30:38

were obviously very frustrated because the elevator

30:40

was not coming down quickly enough. And

30:42

then I kind of looked and I

30:44

thought, there's no light. And

30:46

I just sort of stepped around the person very

30:48

politely and pressed the button. Let

30:52

me leave you with this today, Life Church. It's

30:54

time for some of you to

30:57

press the button and get moving

30:59

into the purpose and the promise that

31:01

God has for you in Jesus' name,

31:03

in Jesus' name. Amen

31:05

and amen and amen. Alright,

31:11

church. Alright,

31:17

somebody said press the button. Oh,

31:22

Christine, thank you for an amazing word. One

31:24

more time, all of our Life Church locations

31:26

are just all of course thank you. Nick,

31:31

we love you. Chris, we love you. Hey,

31:35

some of you, this is a defining moment. So

31:37

let's just keep our heads up, eyes open right

31:39

now. Some of you might be a little bit

31:41

stuck and you realize it's time

31:43

to move forward. I want

31:45

to tell you the way is through, not out. If

31:48

there's something holding you back, something

31:50

holding you down. You've been discouraged, you've

31:52

been stuck for a long time, discouraged.

31:55

Maybe it's time to let go and to forgive. Maybe

31:58

it's time to believe that you can do it. do all things

32:00

through Christ who gives you strength today at all of

32:02

our churches if there's a weight,

32:05

if there's something holding you back, if

32:07

you've lost hope, if you feel

32:09

stuck, if you feel discouraged,

32:11

if you know there is something that is holding you

32:14

away from what God is calling you to, let's just

32:16

be bold right now as an act of faith in

32:18

front of everybody. Let's say it's not gonna hold me

32:20

back anymore by the power of

32:22

God I'm moving forward. Would you lift up

32:24

your hands right now all over the place?

32:26

Lift them up man. Praise God for breakthroughs

32:28

even now at this place online type in

32:30

the comment section with God's help I'm moving

32:32

forward with God's help I'm moving forward and

32:35

so Father right now we believe that this

32:37

was a prophetic word to build

32:40

our faith that

32:42

what someone did to us pales

32:46

in comparison to what Jesus did for us.

32:49

God that what happened in our past would

32:51

never rob us from the future the

32:54

plans that you've created and called us to

32:56

live out. So by faith Jesus

32:59

be our strength by faith Jesus be our

33:02

hope. God when we're weak would you

33:06

be strong in us? Give

33:08

us the power the faith to let go to

33:12

step forward. Believe that

33:14

you are with us that

33:16

you are for us that you have spoken to us

33:19

and because of your word your presence your power

33:22

we're not looking back by faith

33:24

we're stepping forward. As

33:26

you keep praying today in all of our churches there are those

33:29

of you that if we sat down

33:31

and just had a conversation and I ask you where

33:33

you stand with God you might kind of hesitate you

33:35

might not know where where you are spiritually

33:38

you might kind of be stuck you

33:40

have some questions you might

33:42

be like I was years ago and there were things

33:44

in your life that you were really ashamed of and

33:46

I think after what I did how

33:50

would God ever love me and I

33:52

want to be very very clear right now and tell you that

33:54

there are those of you that God brought here for this

33:57

moment it's time to get spiritually unstuck

33:59

in that you were not expecting. And I wanna tell

34:01

you, our God loves you. He's

34:04

here with you right now, and he loves you

34:06

so much that he sent his

34:08

one and only son, Jesus. Jesus,

34:10

the sinless son of God who

34:13

died in our place. He

34:16

paid the price for our sins. And

34:19

the good news is by the power of

34:21

the Holy Spirit, God raised him from the

34:23

dead, defeating death, hell, sin, and

34:25

the grave. If there

34:27

is anything holding you back, today we're giving it

34:30

to Jesus. We're stepping away from

34:32

our sin. We're repenting from any sin,

34:34

and we're grabbing ahold of Jesus. We believe that he

34:37

is enough, that he is the son

34:39

of God, that he will be our savior. Scripture

34:41

says, when you call on his name, God

34:44

will hear your prayer, forgive all of your

34:46

sins. If you confess your sins to God,

34:48

he is faithful and just to forgive all

34:50

of your sins and cleanse you from all

34:52

unrighteousness. There are those of you God brought

34:54

here for this moment, today, to step away

34:57

from your past, to let go of your

34:59

sin, to cling to Jesus. All of our

35:01

churches, those who say, that's me, I want

35:03

his forgiveness, I want his grace. I need

35:05

his power. I'm stepping away from my sin.

35:07

I'm surrendering my life to Jesus, that's your

35:09

prayer. Would you lift your hands high right

35:11

now? All of the place say, yes, that's

35:13

my prayer. Lift up your hands as we

35:15

have people today at all of our churches.

35:17

Calling on the name of Jesus, lift up

35:19

your hands and say, yes, Jesus, I surrender

35:21

online. Type in the comment section, I am

35:24

surrendering my life to Jesus. And as we

35:26

have people all over the world trusting

35:29

Jesus to save them, would you pray aloud with

35:31

those around you? Pray, heavenly father, forgive

35:34

me of my sins, save

35:36

me. Jesus, be

35:38

my Lord. First

35:41

in my life, fill

35:43

me with your spirit so

35:45

I could know you and serve

35:47

you and follow you. My

35:51

life is no longer my own. I

35:53

give it all to you. Thank

35:56

you for new life. Now I'm kind

35:58

of weird. I'm full. of joy.

36:00

I belong to Jesus.

36:03

You're my Savior. You're my

36:05

Lord. In Jesus' name I pray.

36:08

Could somebody celebrate? Welcome those born into

36:10

the family of God. Come on, coach. We're

36:15

celebrating with those of you who just made the

36:18

decision to follow Jesus. Make sure you

36:20

check out the show notes for helpful resources and

36:22

next notes. No matter what you're

36:24

facing, we'd love to play with you.

36:26

To submit a prayer request, go

36:28

to life.church.prayer. Or you can

36:31

find the link in the show notes. We'll see

36:33

you back here next week for another encouraging message.