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Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP200111S
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00:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:09 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:28 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:47 ♪♪ 02:06 >> Please bow your heads with me as we pray. Father God, I want to invite you 02:11 into this space. 02:13 I want to invite you into our hearts as we begin our worship. 02:17 Father, help us to become closer to you through this experience, 02:20 and help us to grow closer to each other. 02:22 In your name I pray, amen. 02:29 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:37 Please stand as we sing our next song. 07:41 ♪♪ >> Sing this with us. 07:51 Who am I? 08:00 I was lost. 08:09 Oh, his love. 08:23 I'm a child. 08:33 Free at last. 08:41 While I was a slave. 11:09 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:28 ♪♪ 13:40 >> I don't know about you, but right now, 13:42 I feel God in this place, and I'm so happy that we can 13:45 all come together and just praise and worship Him 13:48 authentically with so many different groups of people, 13:52 young and old, from different places, 13:55 different cultural backgrounds, students, teachers, 13:59 faculties, families that are here this morning, 14:02 so I want to ask that if you have anything that 14:06 you want to bring to the Lord for the new year. 14:09 We're just starting, and we're starting afresh, 14:13 so I ask that you come now to the front, bringing 14:16 your praises, your petitions, your requests, anything 14:19 that you have on your heart. This is the time 14:21 to come forward. 16:02 >> Well, happy Sabbath, boys and girls, on this very wet Sabbath of the new year. 16:08 Can you believe it? Where did all this water come from? 16:12 Oh, that's right. It's usually snow, but now it's rain. 16:16 Well, we're kind of soggy, but look at the sunshine in your faces, look at 16:23 the sunshine in your hearts. 16:25 Okay, so today I'm going to need some volunteers 16:27 because I have a gizmo in my pocket, yep, right here. 16:31 You may never have seen one of these in your life. 16:37 This is a gizmo that -- Lookit. This is kind of very strange, 16:42 but if you go like this, this little piece comes out. Do you know what this is? 16:48 >> Nah. >> No, you don't. >> I do! 16:50 >> What is it? >> A tape measurer! >> Measuring tape, oh, 16:53 okay, you know. Okay, so I want to measure. I want to measure somebody. 16:57 Anybody want to find out how tall you are? Okay, Ezra, 17:00 you're right here at the front. Let's start with you. Okay, let's find out -- 17:03 So we're -- Shh! We're going to see. We're going to see 17:06 how tall Ezra is. Mm-hmm, very good, it has to touch the floor just like 17:12 Ezra is touching the floor. Yeah. Wow, 55! 17:21 Wow, thank you, Ezra, 55! Did you know that? Well, you do now, 55 inches. 17:33 Oh, that's pretty good. How about another volunteer? Oh, come on, 17:37 I can't do all of you. I'll take a young lady right over here. 17:41 >> Stack them all on top of each other. >> Okay, let's just see. 17:44 Now what's your name, sissy? What? >> Aya. 17:48 >> Aya, Aya, thank you for raising your hand, Aya. Let's just find out 17:51 how tall you are, mm-hmm. Whoa, 49, 49! Aya, that's wonderful. 18:02 Okay, anybody shorter? [ Laughter ] Okay, come here, sissy, 18:08 come here, oh, sorry. >> Okay, sissy, what's your name? 18:12 >> Micole. >> Micole, okay, we're going to find out now. 18:15 We're going to find out right now. We'll put this down 18:18 on the floor, on the floor, wow, 45! >> What? 18:25 >> Forty-five, yep, no more volunteers because listen, listen, 18:33 I'm thinking. I'm thinking of somebody. Look, I wonder 18:37 where he would have come. Come on, would he come about right here? 18:40 Would he be up here? Oh, he couldn't be up here, no. I'm thinking about that. 18:45 Hey, wait a minute, we know a song about him. ♪ Zacchaeus was a wee little 18:51 man ♪ ♪ And a wee little man was he ♪ He climbed up in the sycamore 18:59 tree ♪ ♪ For the Lord he wanted to see ♪ 19:04 ♪ And as the savior walked that way ♪ ♪ He looked up in the tree 19:12 ♪ And he said, "Zacchaeus, you come down ♪ ♪ For I'm going to your house 19:19 today ♪ ♪ For I'm going to your house today" ♪ 19:25 >> Oh, every knows the story of Zacchaeus. How tall was Zacchaeus? 19:30 The Bible doesn't say. It doesn't tell -- Would he be right here? 19:32 Would he have been 55? Would he be -- No, he's probably 45. 19:37 I don't know. We don't know. It just says he couldn't see 19:39 over the people in front of him. All the big men, all the big women in the town, 19:43 they're all there standing in front of Zacchaeus, and he's going, "Excuse me, 19:46 excuse me, I can't see." Who's he looking for? >> Christ. 19:49 >> Oh, he's looking for Jesus. "Excuse me, excuse me, I can't see. I can't see!" 19:54 Shh! Nobody likes Zacchaeus. Scram, kid. 20:00 >> I do! >> Yeah, that's what they said because they hated him. 20:04 He was a tax collector, boo! So what does Zacchaeus do? He's got to see Jesus. 20:08 What did he do? Oh, there was a sycamore tree, a sycamore fig tree, 20:12 the Bible says. Up, up, up, up, up, you ever climb a tree? 20:15 Oh, I used to love to climb trees when I was a boy in Japan. Oh, I would just love -- 20:19 There was one tree that I could climb to the top of, and I could see 20:22 the beautiful Japan alps. Oh, that was so beautiful. Grown men don't climb trees! 20:28 Grown men know better. That's why, unless you're a tree-cutter, 20:32 but there is Zacchaeus, a grown man, wee little Zacchaeus, and he's 20:36 looking with his binoculars. Oh, here comes Jesus! Here comes Jesus! 20:39 Here comes Jesus! He's getting closer! He's getting closer! 20:42 And then when Jesus gets here, what's he say? "Zacchaeus, what are you 20:46 doing in that tree? Because I'm going to your house today." 20:50 Isn't that nice of Jesus? I can't believe it. Everybody hates Zacchaeus, 20:54 but Jesus wants to be Zacchaeus' friend. "Woo-hoo" is right. 20:59 Hey, wait a minute, does it matter to Jesus whether you're tall or short? 21:02 >> No. >> Call the answer out, does it matter to Jesus 21:05 whether you're tall or short? >> No. >> Does it matter to Jesus 21:08 whether you're a boy or a girl? >> No! >> Does it matter to Jesus 21:11 whether you're rich or poor? >> No! >> Does it matter to Jesus 21:15 if you're good or bad? >> No! >> Does it matter to Jesus 21:18 if you're black or white, yellow or brown? >> No! 21:21 >> No, Jesus is a friend of sinners, and because he loved 21:27 on Zacchaeus, he turned that man's life around, and he was never the same. 21:33 I'm so glad that it isn't by inches that Jesus decides whether he's going to love us. 21:37 Aren't you? Who would like to thank Jesus for being that kind of forever 21:41 friend, that forever savior? Anybody want to pray today? >> Me. 21:47 >> Okay, sissy, come on up. Come on up. What's your first name? 21:53 >> I'm Elaina. >> Elaina, okay, we're going to close our eyes 21:57 and fold our hands with Elaina as she thanks Jesus for being our savior friend. 22:01 >> Dear Jesus, thank you for this day and, dear Jesus, help us to learn and, dear 22:09 Jesus, help us to go to heaven and, dear Jesus, amen. >> Elaina, beautiful prayer, 22:19 as you go quietly and reverently back to your seats, say, "Thank you, Jesus," 22:23 just like Elaina did. Thank you for being our savior-friend, happy Sabbath. 22:33 >> Let's pray. Oh, God, that's quite a prayer to begin this new season, 22:39 steal away, steal away to Jesus. We're doing that right now. This is your house. 22:51 He's here, and for the few moments we have left, engage our minds, 23:01 but lean on our hearts. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 23:07 Got to tell you why I'm really pumped about this new year 23:11 and this new year series that begins right now. 23:16 We have a tradition. We've been doing it for years, 23:18 your pastors here at Pioneer, and that is on the first Friday 23:21 night of the new year, we get together in our place, 23:24 and we have some hot drinks, sing some leftover 23:27 Christmas carols and have some time to pray, 23:32 end the evening with that new year prayer, 23:34 but a few years ago, we started a new little ritual. 23:37 We're liking it, and here is what we do -- We put a pile of blank paper in 23:44 this middle of the living room, and we put a box of colored markers, 23:49 and we're all going to take some time in our own quiet space, spouses, children, pastors, 23:57 to wonder what should be our one-word new year resolution, 24:03 can't be more than one word. It has to be one word, one word, so we think. 24:09 Some start drawing pictures and colored pictures. Others do calligraphy. 24:13 Some just write down that one word when it comes to them, and then we hand the pages out 24:20 so that I'm holding somebody else's and, of course, we share 24:24 that one word with everybody, and then we pray for the person that wrote this. 24:31 Two Friday nights ago, here is the one word I wrote down. 24:35 I'll put it on the screen for you -- prepared, prepared. Everybody knows 24:41 the word prepared. It's based on a line in the Gospel of Luke, 24:44 chapter 1 -- "To make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 24:50 Everybody knows the story behind that one line, come on. That's when Gabriel shows up 24:53 to the rather stunned Zechariah, the priest, as he's leading out in worship that day 24:57 in the Jerusalem temple, and he says, "Yo, I know about you and your wife. 25:01 We know all about you. You're not childbearing. We understand that, 25:04 but you're going to have a baby, and you're going to name him John, 25:07 and it will be his job to prepare Israel for the coming of the messiah, 25:13 to make ready a people prepared for the Lord," so I wrote it down. 25:16 I have it because I put it on last year's resolution, on the year before, you know, 25:19 so on, so I have it all on the wall where I worship every morning 25:22 in my study, prepared. It's beginning to feel a lot like -- 25:28 Not like Christmas, that's his first coming. 25:34 Are you prepared? Am I prepared? Are we prepared? 25:40 I'm talking about Andrews. Is Andrews prepared? Is Pioneer prepared? 25:44 Prepared for what? The messiah's second coming, that's what it's beginning 25:50 to look a lot like these days, isn't it? I mean, we had house of prayer 25:53 7 o'clock in the evening, 7 o'clock in the morning. Some of our proactive 25:58 prayer warriors were sitting there talking, and I hadn't seen this lineup 26:01 before, but I said, "You know what? You're right." They said, "You know, look at 26:03 what's happened in the first hours of the new year." We've got Australia blazing, 26:09 wildfires. Have you seen those videos? Wow. 26:14 We've got Puerto Rico, a once-in-a-century earthquake that has crippled 26:18 their power grid and knocked the power out to that island. 26:24 Yo, and then on a quiet night in Baghdad, out of nowhere comes a drone missile, 26:30 and suddenly the Middle East is thrown into chaos and confusion. We've got 10 income missiles 26:36 from somewhere else in the same Middle East, and, oh, 26:40 and then there's back at home -- political deadlock. What's going on? 26:47 It's beginning to look a lot like the second coming of Jesus. That's why I'm so pumped up 26:56 about this new year and this new year series. No, this is not a new series 26:59 that's going to be on the return of Christ, although that series is going to 27:02 need to be preached pretty soon, but as I think about what we're about to plunge into together 27:07 today, I'm telling you what. This has everything to do with the return of the messiah 27:12 the second time. You see, this last fall, the church board of this 27:15 campus church, the Pioneer Memorial Church, the leadership of this church, 27:19 they're all volunteer leaders. They met, and they said, "It's time 27:23 to rebrand this church." Really? Yep, it's time to rebrand 27:26 this church. It's time to rethink our mission and our vision, 27:31 and so they voted a new moniker, a new theme, four words long. 27:35 I'm going to put it on the screen for you right now. 27:37 There it is. That's the new logo. 27:39 Every time you see that "P" with its little tail 27:43 sticking outside the circle because that's what pioneers do. 27:46 They color outside the circle. When you see that little P, 27:50 that's going to be Pioneer for the duration 27:52 of the journey, but the four words on the 27:55 bottom, that's the moniker. That's the vision. 27:58 That's what Pioneer has been called to do -- 28:01 "Love on the move." The big question is, 28:05 what does it mean? "Love on the move," 28:07 what's that mean? 28:11 Speaking of Zacchaeus, have you ever noticed how un-politically correct 28:16 that song is? ♪ Zacchaeus was a wee little man ♪ 28:23 ♪ And a wee little man was he I'm just wondering. Are we allowed to call 28:29 anybody wee anymore? I mean, you might use vertically challenged, 28:35 but you don't say "wee," please. Not even Jesus calls him wee, but you know what? 28:44 Jesus calls him something, and it's what Jesus calls him in this story that everybody 28:48 knows backwards and forwards. That is the root -- It is the secret to love on the move. 28:53 Open your Bible to a story you could recite backwards, the Gospel of Luke, 28:58 Luke chapter 19. Come on, you brought your Bible. You got your phone. 29:01 You've got your pad. Listen, you didn't bring anything? 29:04 Grab the pew Bible in front of you. It's page 707 in your pew 29:07 Bible. Let's go. I'm in the New International 29:09 version. 29:19 Now, Zacchaeus -- you hear it all. But Zacchaeus is what you and I 29:22 grew up with. 29:30 Whoa! Now I learned something very interesting this week 29:33 that I never knew before about these tax collectors. The Latin name -- 29:37 Because they were a Roman Empire phenom. The Latin name is "publicanus," 29:42 "publicanus," from this comes our word "public" and "publican," 29:46 so the King James actually gets it right. He's a publican. 29:49 Now the publicans were not just tax collectors. This is what I didn't know. 29:53 They were agents of the Roman Empire who were in charge of providing 29:59 supplies for the Roman legionnaires and the military. They were the port officials 30:05 that received duty from every incoming ship in the empire, duty that goes to Rome. 30:10 They were in charge of public building projects. I never knew all of that, 30:15 plus they collected taxes. Well, that part I knew, but did you know this? 30:19 They actually had to bid for the contract to collect those taxes, 30:24 and they had to bid to the Roman senate. The senate would say, "Okay, 30:30 you got the highest bid. You're going to have that job, buddy. 30:32 Don't forget what you owe us." So you can understand because they weren't just Jews. 30:39 If you were in Greece, you had Greek tax collectors. If you lived in Persia, 30:42 you had Persian tax collectors, but the money is all going to Rome. 30:46 You can understand if you were a Jew, that a fellow Jew of yours who 30:51 is working for the Roman Empire, is in charge of public building projects and port duty 30:57 and supplying the hated Roman army. Just that in itself, 31:01 you would not be too drawn to this individual, now would you? And then to find out he bid on 31:08 a contract to get money for you, and he's going to get commissions for that money. 31:13 Man, you know how you feel about this guy? He is hated and -- 31:18 That's what I think about you. You got a problem with that? So Zacchaeus, the chief 31:26 tax collector, when he shows up at a door, knocking, and they're giving 31:30 that little routine to him.. He says, "Hey, hey, time out, read my lips. 31:34 You pay now, or you're out. Do you understand? You see those soldiers behind me? 31:38 We're going to repossess your house just like that. You pay up, or you are out." 31:44 He was hated, and by the way, we just read. He's very wealthy. 31:48 That little commission goes a long, long way, wow. All right. 31:56 Let's read verse 3, okay? "And he" -- That would be Zacchaeus -- 32:00 "Wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was short, and he could not see 32:10 over the crowd." When I was in the eighth grade, I was the next to the shortest 32:14 guy in the class. Man, that was awful, and it was -- By the way, 32:20 it was a class of all boys, all boys, and I'm next to the shortest for boys. 32:26 [ Laughter ] It was a little missionary school, come on. 32:29 You have a problem with that? Of course not, anyway, I was next to the shortest, 32:33 and I knew because I didn't know anything about post-eighth grade growth 32:36 spurts that I was going to be next to the shortest for the rest of my life. 32:40 The parents of Zacchaeus are figuring, "You know what, honey? I think he's going to get bigger 32:45 after eighth grade." He never got bigger. No, he didn't. 32:50 He was short. 32:55 Verse 3, "He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he 32:58 could not see over the crowd." So what's going on with this wee, wealthy tax collector? 33:05 Here is what's going on. "Desire of Ages" tells us that Zacchaeus went to hear 33:12 John the Baptizer preach, and something about that preaching got to him, 33:19 got into his conscience, got into his mind. In fact, Luke himself in his 33:28 gospel actually records -- In Luke 3, we won't go there -- He actually records a dialogue 33:32 between a group of tax collectors and John the Baptist. Okay, here it is on the screen. 33:38 "Even tax collectors came to be baptized by John the Baptist, and they said to John, 33:43 'Teacher, what should we do?" And John replies to them, "Yo, you publicanus, yo, 33:52 don't collect any more than you are required to." That's it, but Zacchaeus knows 33:59 that's not how he's been living, and there's something in the back of his mind. 34:04 Oh, man, what am I going to do? "Desire of Ages" describes his troubled conscience, 34:09 put it on the screen for you. 34:11 "Zacchaeus knew the Scriptures and was convicted 34:13 that his practice was wrong. Now hearing the words 34:17 reported to have come from the Great Teacher" -- 34:19 That would be the young teacher from Nazareth -- 34:21 "He felt that he was a sinner in the sight of God, yet what 34:25 he heard of Jesus kindled hope." How could it kindle hope 34:28 when you're a crooked cheat? Keep reading, "Yet what he had 34:31 heard of Jesus kindled hope in his heart, repentance, 34:34 reformation of life was possible, even to him," 34:38 and then Zacchaeus is thinking in his mind, 34:40 "Was not one of the new teacher's most-trusted 34:43 disciples a publican?" 34:45 A tax collector? Sure, who wasn't? Matthew, hey, he has a tax 34:50 collector in his inner circle. Maybe there's hope for me, last sentence. 35:06 When your heart is under conviction -- Listen carefully now. 35:09 When your heart is under conviction, do not ignore that conviction. 35:18 You will do so to the killing of your soul. When your heart is under 35:24 conviction as Zacchaeus was, don't turn a deaf ear on how Jesus is coming to town. 35:33 This is the one who has a publican in his inner circle and so -- 35:38 Too short, I'll never get a chance to lay eyes on him, so rather unusual, 35:42 to be sure, verse 4. "So Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd, 35:47 and he climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Jesus, since Jesus 35:51 was coming that way." I've seen the actual sycamore-fig tree 35:57 outside of Jericho, purported to be the very one that Zacchaeus climbed. 36:00 I have no way to tell you if that's true or not because it looks very old to me, 36:05 and its huge boughs overstretch the road, and it's thick with foliage 36:11 branches, wow, and so here is wee wealthy Zacch in that tree, peeking 36:17 out of the bushes, saying, "He's coming! He's coming! Hey, look, look, he's coming! 36:21 He's coming! He's get closer! He's get closer! Ah, bet he won't even notice 36:23 me up here! But how -- But at least I can see him from here." 36:28 Come on, come on, come on, keep reading. Verse 5, and "When Jesus 36:31 reached the spot" -- This is amazing to me. I spent some time this week 36:36 just saying, "How could this possibly be?" "When Jesus reached the spot, he 36:40 looked up." He looked up. Now look at, how would you know 36:44 to look up? You know, sometimes you get a feel that somebody is in space 36:48 that you're not used to having somebody in that space, you know? 36:50 You can do that, but if your question to me is -- 36:53 because I kind of have this worked out, now. 36:55 If your question to me is, "Dwight, how did he know 36:57 to look up?" My answer is, 37:00 somebody told him to. And you're saying, "Oh, that's a 37:05 bunch of hokey-pokey." Oh, really? 37:08 Let's talk about the NFL. We have a few football fans 37:10 who are sitting here right now. Let's talk about the NFL. 37:12 Do you know that the quarterback in the NFL 37:15 has an earpiece in his helmet? 37:17 There's only one person on Earth that is allowed to speak into that earpiece, and that's 37:20 the offensive coordinator, not the coach, no, nobody, just the offensive coordinator, 37:25 and while the quarterback is in the middle of plays, there's somebody 37:30 that can interject a voice. You got a problem with that? Take it up with the NFL. 37:38 So if the Holy Spirit wants to do the same, shall we be upset? 37:42 Say, "Well, that's not fair. You can't do that." Forget it, look, the other day, 37:51 I went to a store. I saw a girl, and I said, "Hi." I knew the girl. 37:55 I said, "Hi." I finished my duties, and I leave the store, 37:59 and as soon as I leave that store, I hear a voice in my earpiece, 38:02 and the voice says, "Go back and talk to that girl. What were you thinking?" 38:06 So I said, "Okay, I will," and I did. I don't have a problem 38:11 with that. I recognized the voice. Jesus hears only one voice 38:21 that he loves to hear. He hears two voices because they both have access 38:28 to his earpiece, but he knows the voice that says, "Look up right now, 38:34 you'll see a man, Zacchaeus. You heard about him the other day. This is he. 38:41 Invite yourself to his house, okay?" Oh, Jesus looks up. 38:49 Well, let's finish that verse 5. "When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up." 38:54 Of course, he obviously sees Zacchaeus. He says to him, "Zacchaeus, 38:59 come down immediately. I must stay in your house today," 39:04 because the voice also said, "He's lost, but we can win him. You go." 39:13 Isn't that something? Jesus hears this voice, and he obeys, 39:18 and what does Zacchaeus do? Oh, my, Zacchaeus is up there pinching himself. 39:21 Is this a dream? Is this really -- The famous teacher 39:24 is coming to my house? He -- Oh, what am I going to do? 39:27 And he's scrambling down, and where is this, verse 6 -- "So he came down at once, 39:35 and he welcomed him gladly." They're in the house, now watch this. 39:39 The people see what's happening here. I want you to catch this, 39:42 verse 7. "And all the people saw this and began to mutter" -- 39:48 speaking to Jesus -- "'He has gone to be the guest of a" -- "of a" -- 39:56 >> Sinner. >> "Of a sinner," ladies and gentlemen, if that verse 40:00 is not marked in your Bible, then you mark your Bibles, then circle it, star it, 40:03 put the fluorescent yellow all over it because that little verse 40:08 is the quintessence of the everlasting gospel, and that is Jesus 40:14 is a friend of sinners. I don't care what you've done in your life. 40:19 I don't care what your rap record is. I don't care what your private 40:22 reputation is because only you know your private rap record. 40:27 I don't care what you've done in your life. If you're a sinner like me, 40:34 then this is very good news because he goes to be with sinners. 40:42 He majors in sinners. How about that? Wow, yep, it's the gospel and, 40:55 of course, when this happens, the Pharisees and the gossipers in that little city go -- 41:05 They go nuclear. They throw a massive hissy fit. I can't believe it! 41:11 Look, look, look, but before Jesus can say a word in defense of Zacchaeus, watch this. 41:17 Zacchaeus jumps up, so it's obviously in house. Zacchaeus jumps up in verse 8. 41:22 And by the way, in the homes of the wealthy in the time of Christ, 41:27 your home was not your home. If you had a big dinner there, the town would show up 41:32 hoping for a little something to be handed out, so there are people sticking in 41:35 through the windows. They're all listening to it, so he's making a speech to them 41:40 by saying, "Hey, Jesus, Master." 41:54 Now the Levitical code is very clear. If you have swindled somebody, 41:59 if you have cheated somebody out of their own money, you are to pay them double 42:04 back, double. Zacchaeus takes that principle, and he says, 42:08 "I'll double the double. First I'll give half of my goods to the poor." 42:13 The rich young ruler came along and said, "I can't give a penny to the poor. 42:15 I wish you hadn't made it so hard." Zacchaeus says, "I'll give half 42:18 of everything I own to the poor, no, four times, four times the law." 42:25 My, my, my, and Jesus is sitting there, and he's saying, "That's what that voice 42:32 in the earpiece was about. Look what's just happened here. The man has not only confessed 42:37 publicly, but he has now made effort toward restitution." 42:44 It's not just enough to say, "sorry," to somebody after you've messed them up. 42:48 You've taken what's theirs. Of course you give it back, unless you can't. 42:55 That's what Zacchaeus did, and Jesus said, "Excuse me, thank you 42:58 for that speech, Zacchaeus. Can I make another speech now?" And Jesus, Zacchaeus says, 43:01 "Please, my Lord, stand," so Jesus stands, and here comes Jesus' speech, 43:04 and this is something else, verse 9 -- "And Jesus said to him 43:07 with everybody leaning in through the windows. Jesus said to him, 43:10 'Today salvation has come to this household.'" He says house, but he's talking 43:15 about everybody in the house. "'Salvation has come to this household because this man, too, 43:21 is a son of Abraham.'" The Pharisees kicked him out with their leather boots. 43:31 Good riddance to bad rubbish, and don't you ever turn around! And Jesus took the hated 43:37 Zacchaeus, and in one move, he draws him into the chosen people. 43:44 This man has a table, has a seat at the table of Abraham in the kingdom to come, 43:48 and so does his wife and children, and so do all the servants, 43:51 so does everybody in his house. Wow, I mean, how could you do that? 43:57 You've got to be Jesus to do it, and he did it. Isn't that amazing? 44:04 Man, Jesus is a friend of sinners who restores them to the chosen. 44:12 Oh, I tell you, the worship team today, Vivian was absolutely right. 44:18 That was inspired singing on your part and their leading, so I grabbed this sheet 44:23 that we -- the run sheet here, and I look at those words. We just sang them 44:29 because you see, what Jesus has said to Zacchaeus, we sang about where we sang, 44:33 ♪ I am chosen, not fors-- You remember that? ♪ I am chosen, not forsaken 44:38 ♪ I am who you say I am Who'd you say I am? Jesus, would you repeat 44:41 that one more time? I need the people outside to hear that, too. 44:44 What did you say? I am a child, a son of Abraham now? 44:48 Yes, you are. ♪ Oh, I am chosen, not forsaken ♪ 44:52 ♪ I am who you say I am ♪ You are for me, not against me ♪ 44:56 ♪ I am who you say I am That's the truth about Jesus because he is 45:00 a friend of sinners. What do you say? >> Amen. 45:03 >> He's a friend of sinners. I am what you say I am, Jesus, and I say you're forgiven, 45:12 and I say you're chosen, and I say you are my friend for the rest of your life, wow. 45:23 The greatest line of all, I've left it out. I think it's one of the greatest 45:26 lines in all the Scripture. Come on, there's verse 10, Dwight, don't forget verse 10. 45:36 That's one of the greatest lines in all the Scripture. 45:45 Ladies and gentlemen, that's what those four words mean -- "love on the move." 45:51 It's all about moving out and being friends to sinners. That's what it means, 45:58 "love on the move." It means it seek and save. I mean, you think of the moving 46:03 picture of Jesus right here. Do you understand that Jesus is the incarnation? 46:07 At this moment in the story, he's the incarnation of divine love. 46:11 All the divine love in the universe is put into human flesh in Jesus, and who are you? 46:15 You are disciple of Jesus, which means that wherever you go, 46:19 he's taking all of his stuff, and he's incarnating his love into you 46:22 so that wherever you go, that love goes, too. "Love on the move" is not 46:26 just about Jesus. "Love on the move" is about you had me. 46:29 When we follow the master, his love comes in, incarnates itself in us. 46:35 Oh, my, Jesus, I mean, you think about it. Zacchaeus politically -- 46:44 Okay, politically is just a -- Some of you are into politics. Zacchaeus, who is 46:48 politically the dark opposite not only of the Jews, but the polar opposite 46:53 of the savior himself, ally to Zacchaeus is with Romans' pagan 46:57 and political values that Jesus has already publicly rejected, that Zacchaeus, 47:02 Zacchaeus who is the polar opposite of the attitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, 47:07 everything Zacchaeus stands for is diametrically opposite to what Jesus stands for, 47:12 but Jesus gets out of his own comfort zone and steps into that other world and says, 47:18 "Hey, I want to be a friend with you. Are you okay with that?" 47:25 Zacchaeus says, "Me? You're talking about me?" Yeah, Jesus had his own 47:34 rap sheet among the Pharisees. Oh, I tell you, God bless him. Do you know what the Pharisees 47:41 were saying about Jesus? Jesus one day, earlier in Luke, actually tells us 47:45 what the Pharisees were saying. He's talking to the Pharisees. I'll put it on the screen, 47:48 don't turn and look it up, but it's Luke 7:34. Jesus said, "Okay, I know what 47:53 you're saying about me, guys. I've heard it. You're saying that the Son of Man 47:56 came eating and drinking, okay? So you're talking about me socializing, 48:00 and then you say of me, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend 48:04 of tax collectors and sinners.' I know what you're saying about me and guess what? 48:10 I am guilty as charged. I am a friend of tax collectors and sinners." 48:21 Wow. What a savior, a friend of tax collectors and sinners? 48:32 I guess you and I could be friends of tax collectors and sinners too, 48:35 then, couldn't we? Because that's what "love on the move" means. 48:39 It means we must move into Zacchaeus' space. We've got to quit sitting right 48:43 here and expecting Zacchaeus to move into our space. Too much of that 48:46 has been going on around here. Well, Zacchaeus, when he shows up here, 48:49 give me a few weeks with him, and then I'll decide if that's what I want to do, 48:53 be a friend of his. No, Zacchaeus doesn't move into this space. 48:57 You move into Zacchaeus' space. We can't just sit here. We've got to mingle with 49:04 the crowd out there to find him. We may find her in the cafeteria, 49:08 by the way, oh, yeah. We may find them in the health club, the gym, oh, yeah. 49:16 We may find him in the corporate board room, yep, yep, yep. We may find them on the street, 49:23 just on the street, but that's where we find them. "Love on the move" 49:28 means we go to them." Now he may be in a rather unusual position. 49:35 She may be in a most unusual predicament. It doesn't matter. 49:40 "Love on the move" is looking for them, never mind his political persuasion, 49:46 never mind her sexual orientation, never mind their reputation 49:50 on or off campus or in this community or out of this community. 49:53 "Love on the move" means the people of Pioneer every morning wake up 49:57 and pray a prayer halfway similar to this -- Please, dear God, 50:06 live out Jesus' love on the move in me today, please, just live it out 50:11 through me today. Is that too bad a prayer to pray? 50:17 No, just live it out through me today, please. To the parents of the child 50:22 who's been dropped off for Sabbath school, the parents who never stay for church -- 50:26 If you're one of the workers in the Sabbath school, "love on the move" means 50:28 you move after those parents. Don't you wait for those parents to come back and say, 50:32 "I'm finally ready to come to church." You go to them. 50:35 They're entrusting their child to you. You go to them. 50:38 You know where they live. "Love on the move," "love on the move" 50:43 means for the stranger who enters our gates to worship, maybe sitting by you right now. 50:47 Don't -- No, don't look down there. No, you don't want 50:50 to be awkward. 50:52 The stranger who is sitting beside you right now 50:55 within our gates, "love on the move" 50:58 means you move to that stranger. You introduce yourself. 51:04 You say, "Hey, come on over, let's have a humble little lunch 51:08 together." "Love on the move" means love 51:14 to the estranged runaway child. She has run away 51:17 from her parents, and somehow she has run into you, 51:20 and you hear her dilemma, and without taking sides, 51:23 you embrace this little girl, and you say, "Listen, listen, 51:27 listen, honey, we'll be with you right now." 51:30 That's "love on the move, "wherever, whomever, just like Jesus. 51:37 You know, that never-never, he's never going to be a jock guy? I mean, when they choose up 51:41 teams, whether it's for the big Cardinals or some other team, when they choose up teams, 51:45 he never ends up on the team. He's the never jock, and you're the big jock. 51:50 "Love on the move" means you realize there's somebody that would like to be a part of 51:55 a little circle where you are, and you break out of your circle into his life, and you say, 51:59 "Hey, listen, I want to get to know you. Can we be friends?" It's just outside 52:06 of your circle. That's why it's on the move. Love on the stay is come to me, 52:10 and then I'll decide whether I love you or not. "Love on the move" means, no, 52:14 I'm headed your way just like Jesus. Wow. 52:22 Plain and simple, "love on the move." Can a whole church be like this? 52:27 Absolutely, I believe with all my heart. I will name of the story, 52:31 oh, this story. This is really a great story. It's in your Sabbath Scholastic 52:34 Quarterly, this great study what we're doing now on the Book of Daniel. 52:38 I couldn't believe it when I saw it. After the first week, you know, 52:41 they put these little stories in at the end of every lesson? And when I saw the headline -- 52:47 "Make friends, not Adventists," I said, "Is this from World Headquarters or what?" 52:54 It can't be. It can't be. "Make friends, not Adventists." 52:59 Now I'm really curious, so I read on. "Igor Gospodarets ordered 53:05 800 colorful evangelistic posters reading 'Bible Opens the Path 53:10 to a Healthy and Happy Life.'" He ordered them from Moscow. "He plastered the advertisements 53:14 around his city in a former Soviet republic where a majority of the population 53:18 is not Christian. Then an elderly visiting evangelist 53:21 told him to start over." "Yo, 'Order 800 new posters advertising the Seventh-day 53:27 Adventist Church's five-day stop smoking program,' said Arturo Schmidt, 53:32 the evangelist from Argentina. Igor couldn't believe his ears. The posters had taken 53:36 considerable money and time," to put up, " and he didn't want to start from scratch again. 53:40 'Why?' he asked, and the evangelist replied, 'Our goal is not 53:44 to make Adventists out of non-Christians. Our goal is to make friends.' 53:50 It was 1992, only a year after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 53:54 Igor, a young Adventist pastor, was eager to take advantage of newfound religious freedom 53:58 to share his love for Jesus. He didn't like Schmidt's advice. It didn't make sense to him 54:02 to not preach Jesus. He didn't see the logic of offering stop-smoking classes. 54:06 He didn't want to lose the money invested in the evangelistic posters," 54:09 so he prayed about it. "Finally, Igor decided to take a chance. 54:13 Perhaps the elderly evangelist knew something that he didn't," so he orders 800 stop-smoking 54:18 posters from Moscow and places them all over the old posters 54:22 that were already hanging. A surprise greeted Igor's eyes when he showed up for the first 54:27 stop-smoking seminar. The rented hall was packed with 1,000 people," whoa. 54:36 "Most of the visitors were not Christians." He realized that the original 54:39 posters never would have attracted so large a turnout. Five years later, now listen, 54:44 "After a Sabbath sermon, a stranger reached out to shake Igor's hand," 54:47 Pastor Igor, "in the church, 'Do you remember me?' the man asked. Igor didn't." 54:52 Well, "I was in that crowd of a thousand people that took the stop-smoking class 54:55 5 years ago,' the man said. 'I heard you and Pastor Schmidt speak.' The man explained 55:00 that he had been raised in a non-Christian home," and struggling to quit smoking, 55:04 and "The seminars had helped him stop and, realizing that the Adventists were his friends, 55:09 he had started attending church every Sabbath." Igor could not believe his ears. 55:15 "'It was at that moment that I understood the importance of friendship evangelism,'" 55:25 and Igor, now a church leader in southern Russia, goes on -- "'Our goal is not 55:30 to make Adventists out of non-Christians. Our goal is to make friends 55:36 for Jesus.'" Amen, "love on the move," that's what it's all about -- 55:42 to make friends for Jesus. You ever try? Come on, we got to get people 55:47 to join the church and become Adventists. Might that with a funny person 55:54 like you, I'm just thinking that they probably will be drawn because 55:59 of the warmth of your heart, and even if they're not, "love on the move" is not only 56:04 for people that might become. "Love on the move" is for people who are loved 56:08 by God and need to know Jesus as the friend of sinners. It's still "love on the move," 56:16 and it's still the right time to win friends for Jesus. What do you think? 56:21 What do you say? Well, that was really weak. No, I'm serious. 56:27 That was very weak. I'm asking you one more time, four words, new moniker. 56:36 Don't you think it's the right time? And that we ought to expend 56:40 our best energies winning friends for Jesus? What do you think? 56:46 >> Amen! >> Ah, me, too. 56:52 >> I want to take an extra moment to thank you for joining 56:55 us in worship today. It's by the continued support 56:57 from viewers like you that we're able to bring you this program. 57:00 Today I want to invite you, though, to share with us how 57:02 this ministry has blessed you. I get inspiring notes, e-mails 57:06 from viewers literally all over the world telling me, "Look, 57:08 Dwight, God has been blessing me this way. 57:10 He's been doing this." I would love to hear from you, 57:12 as well. Just visit our website -- you 57:14 know it -- newperceptions.tv. And click on the "contact" link 57:18 at the top of the page. Send me a note, let me know what 57:21 God has been doing right now in your life. 57:24 Once again, thank you for being with us today. 57:26 I hope you'll join us right here next time. 57:29 And until then, may the God of grace journey with you every 57:32 step of the way. 57:38 ♪♪ ♪♪ 57:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:18 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-01-22