Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP210109S
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00:13 [ "I Will Follow" begins ] ♪♪ 00:25 ♪♪ ♪♪ 00:42 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:17 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:52 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:27 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:45 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ 03:37 ♪♪ >> Amen and amen. 03:49 I will follow You, Lord Jesus. I will follow You. 03:55 This has been a crazy week, right? It's been a crazy week here in 03:58 America. And... our eyes have been on the news. 04:03 Our eyes have been on the Capitol. Our eyes have been on social 04:06 media. But today, in this hour, you're here. 04:12 You're here to put your eyes on God. And I think the songs of that 04:18 word, right? That song -- the words of that song -- "I will follow You." 04:23 I'll follow You, Jesus. I'll serve like You, Jesus. I'll love like You, Jesus. 04:30 Is there a better thing that we need to say today than "I will follow You"? 04:36 Earlier this week, I was preparing, looking for music, and thinking about this theme, 04:43 even before the chaos that ensued. I was thinking about this theme, 04:48 and I came across the words of a well-known hymn. Maybe you know it. 04:52 It goes like this. ♪ Trust and obey ♪ For there's no other way 04:57 to be happy ♪ ♪ In Jesus ♪ But to trust and obey 05:03 And -- And that reminded me something of -- of a sentimental note in my life because, see, my 05:09 dad, he also loved those words. He loved that song, that hymn. And he went so far as to write 05:16 his own -- his own tune, his own -- his own version. So I was sharing it with the 05:22 praise team in our rehearsal, and they -- they encouraged me to share it with you. 05:29 So open your hearts. Open your hearts. Like, pull these words, pull 05:35 this pledge deep into your heart today. Not just for this hour, not for 05:42 the day, not for the week, not for the month, not the year -- it's for eternity. 05:50 Pull these words into your heart. 05:52 [ "I Will Follow" music begins ] ♪♪ 06:04 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:23 ♪♪ ♪♪ 06:41 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:18 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:37 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:14 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:32 ♪♪ ♪♪ 08:51 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:09 ♪♪ 09:21 [ "Lead Me Lord" begins ] ♪♪ 09:26 Prepare your hearts for it. Prayer, open your hearts for 09:30 service. ♪♪ 09:39 ♪♪ ♪♪ 09:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:11 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:27 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:43 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:31 ♪♪ ♪♪ 11:47 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:03 ♪♪ 12:14 [ Organ playing ] ♪♪ 12:23 [ Playing trombone ] ♪♪ 12:32 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:21 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:46 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 14:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 14:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:00 [ Applause ] 15:07 >> Thank you, Tyler Ronto and Kenneth Logan. That was -- That was powerful. 15:12 The German title translated into English is "Exult in the Lord." We're gonna praise somebody 15:21 today, and we're losing -- we're losing reasons to praise seems like every time we turn on 15:30 the news. But there is someone who is utterly trustworthy. 15:34 He sits on the throne of the universe. Exult in the Lord, and we've 15:37 come to do that. Man, have you been blessed so far? 15:41 This has been a great worship. And put your hands up if you're glad that the sunshine finally 15:48 has come to southwestern Michigan. Come on. Double hands today. 15:52 Thank you, Lord. 15:55 Alright, let's pray. Dear God, we need that reminder. Exult in the Lord. 16:06 Everybody said it, I'll just echo it -- it's been a crazy week. 16:11 But here we are in worship. You've swept our hearts Heaven-ward to Your throne room 16:16 again and again this morning. Do it again one more time, please, from Holy Scripture. 16:21 We humbly pray, in Jesus' name, amen. 16:27 I don't suppose any of us will ever forget those images this 16:33 week on live television or live screen. 16:40 Unbelievable. I'm having a meeting, and I'm 16:44 talking with one of our church leaders. 16:48 And I put my phone -- it's right here in my office, so the 16:52 phone's sitting on my desk. I always push it away so I don't 16:55 get distracted from it, but all of a sudden, "bing, bing, bing." 16:58 I said, "Who in the world is texting me at this time in the afternoon?" 17:02 I'm trying to ignore it, but I see they're text messages. And I see of them -- you can't 17:07 see it from this far -- but they have little pictures in them. "What is going on?" 17:12 And then I saw the words on one of them -- "Are you watching this?" 17:15 I'm saying, "Watching what?" Finally, our meeting ended. Pulled that phone out, click on 17:22 one of those pictures. I cannot believe my eyes. I sit behind the laptop -- chhk, 17:26 chhk, chhk -- and now I'm watching it live as you were. 17:36 A mob of Americans crashing the barricades, scaling the walls, smashing in the windows and 17:46 doors of the US Capitol Building. I mean, look, I'm a kid. 17:54 I was born in Tokyo. Grew up in Japan. But every time we came home, as 17:59 we would call it "come home," on what my mom and dad called "furlough," we would always go 18:04 to Washington, DC, because my grandparents lived just outside of the District of Columbia. 18:10 I've been in that marble edifice I don't know how many times. And every time, even to this 18:17 day, when I step into that what feels to me like a cathedral, I almost start automatically 18:23 whispering like I'm in church now. These are the hallowed hallways 18:29 where the heroes of history once trod. Mercy. 18:35 Now overrun by a mob of frenzied Americans incited into insurrection. 18:44 And I don't know how to describe that concoction of emotions. You had them. 18:52 I know you did. Shocked, stunned. Tears. 18:57 Anger. Fear. What's coming next? 19:04 And the rest is history. A tragic and troubling history now for every American, no 19:12 matter who you voted for or where you live. And because I'm not Black, I 19:19 didn't see it at first like my Black friends and my Black parishioners saw it. 19:28 But that mob, had it not been a dominantly white, middle-class sort of mob, of people with 19:35 plane tickets flying in from all over the country for the event, had the tables been reversed, as 19:42 they were last summer, no doubt how quickly and forcefully that insurrection in the nation's 19:49 capital would have been subdued. Instead, the trespassing mob, for hours, just wanders around. 19:59 The next morning, I'm having worship, and I'm reading the book of Isaiah. 20:06 Thanks to my friend Roy Gaines' masterful treatment of Isaiah, I decided for the new year, I'm 20:12 gonna just read the book through, you know, just slowly through on my own. 20:17 I'm reading Robert Alter's English translation of the Hebrew, three volumes for that 20:22 Old Testament. And as I'm reading, that morning, it's Isaiah 3. 20:28 And I come to these words in verse 4 -- no need to look it up. 20:32 I come to these words in verse 4, and I'm gonna put them on the screen for you right now. 20:36 Robert Alter, Isaiah 3:4, renders it this way, "And I shall make lads their commanders 20:43 and babes shall rule over them." What's happening here in Isaiah 3 is that the government 20:50 of Jerusalem and Judah is melting down. Chaos reigns. 20:57 My eyes dropped down to the commentary, because I read the commentary as well. 21:02 I saw this provocative line, and I'll put it on the screen for you here. 21:08 Robert Alter writing, "In the political chaos that God will trigger, with all the leaders 21:14 taken away" -- ostensibly, every able-bodied man has been taken to war, they're surrounded by 21:20 the enemy -- "mere lads and babes will be left to lead the people." 21:28 And when I saw that word "lads," immediately images from the day before -- and you saw this image 21:34 as well -- the august Congressional Chamber where men and women -- I mean, they're 21:40 dressed to the nines with suits and dresses, they're lying on the floor. 21:45 They're hiding from the young rebels pounding on the Chamber door. 21:48 You can see the shadows of the mob on the other side of the frosted glass, and between that 21:53 mob and that window, and the lying politicians lying on the ground, there's a handful of 21:59 security also dressed to the nines, but they've all pulled out their handguns and they're 22:03 standing in case the door is breached, last defense. I reread, and I did then, early 22:13 that morning. I reread this line from Robert Alter, "In the political 22:20 chaos that God will trigger." [ Chuckles ] I'm saying to myself, "God triggering 22:27 political chaos? Come on." How can it be? 22:33 And then they started my head, "Wait a minute, wait a minute." What do you think happened 22:39 there? When it came down to the Tower of Babel, and here are the 22:43 rebels, communication back and forth, "We're gonna build a Confederacy that will wipe out 22:48 the faithful." God says, "No, you won't." Steps into that picture -- 22:52 psssht -- scrambles communication and the threat is eliminated. 22:57 Political chaos. And the threat is gone. I think of that little queen, 23:03 young Queen Esther with that deadly plot of a politician named Haman, a plot 23:11 to destroy the chosen of God. God says, "Oh, no, you're not gonna touch my chosen people." 23:17 Political chaos in the Capitol, and that's what happens. I even think of the time that 23:23 Paul, the mighty Apostle, he's in the chambers of the courtroom, the Sanhedrin, and 23:28 suddenly the place erupts in political chaos just long enough for the Roman guard to extricate 23:34 the prisoner before he's lynched like Stephen had been. I'm just thinking to myself, 23:40 "Wait a minute. Apparently God is well able to trigger political chaos, as 23:45 Alter suggests, for the sake of delivering His people and/or advancing His mission." 23:51 "Yo, Dwight, what in the world does that have to do with this Sabbath the day after?" 23:57 Here's the deal -- you and I, in the midst of headlines that will continue, I am sure, must 24:03 trust God to be so thoroughly immersed in the life of this planet, the life of this nation, 24:09 that, no matter what the outcome, He can turn it for the sake of His mission. 24:16 In America, through political chaos, in your life, through personal chaos, He can take that 24:22 chaos you're experiencing right now and turn it. May even trigger it 24:29 for the sake of your mission, for the sake of my mission. And it's that mission that 24:34 suddenly becomes even more critical now that America, in the midst of this pandemic, has 24:39 now plunged into chaos once again. For the mission, let's go to a 24:44 story. Come on, open your Bible to John 20. 24:46 I know it's not Easter. I know, but John 20, let's do it. 24:50 This is one of my favorite stories. Don't you just love this story? 24:52 John 20. Early in the morning, at the beginning of the chapter, 24:55 Mary Magdalene -- she's a woman that's been forgiven by Jesus over and over and over again. 25:03 She even took some expensive perfume in an alabaster box, broke it just a few days ago, 25:09 and with mixed -- mingled with her tears, has wept over the feet of Jesus. 25:15 She's going early to the tomb. It's Sunday morning, predawn. It's dark. 25:19 She's moving along. When she comes to that garden, the stone is rolled away. 25:27 Aghast, she steps up. Where are the guards? There's nobody there. 25:30 Even in the gathering dim light, as she peers into the sepulcher, there's no body on that rock 25:38 slab. They have stolen His body. Blind with tears, she races 25:47 through the empty alleyways of Jerusalem, up those stairs. She pounds with two fists on the 25:51 wooden door, "Let me in. It's Mary. Let me in." 25:55 Peter and John comes. She says, "They have stolen our Lord's body." 26:00 "Move aside, girl," chhk. They start running, Peter and John. 26:04 It's John who will tell the story in the end. And one thing I don't like about 26:09 John, he really pushes his youth right up to the end because he tells that -- "Listen, we 26:14 started running, but I beat Peter to the tomb." Three times in that simple 26:20 story, he has to remind us, "I beat him." That's the way the young are. 26:25 They're just always rubbing it in, "I'm faster than you, I'm better than you, I'm smarter 26:28 than you." Peter never forgot it. John wouldn't let him. 26:32 Those boys grew up together. Peter's a little older, of course. 26:34 They were fishermen together. John gets there first. He's a little more timid than 26:39 Peter. He's about 20, 21, 22. That's all. 26:41 He won't go in that. He looks in, he can tell it's empty. 26:44 "I'm not going in there." Peter, "[Panting] Hey, move aside, let me go 26:49 look." Pssh! Peter's in the dark. 26:52 There's nothing there. But the grave robes are folded, as if someone had the time to 27:00 put his pajamas away. Can't be grave robbers. Nobody would fold their PJs. 27:10 John says, "I believed. I believed." Peter's still not sure. 27:15 Mary's somewhere, crosses the boys. She doesn't see them, she's back 27:20 to the tomb. She's sobbing now. Her heart is broken. 27:23 It's not because of that alabaster that she spilled all over His feet. 27:27 She is so glad now she did, but He's gone. The body. 27:33 Now it's growing lighter. She steps up to the mouth of that empty sepulcher, and she 27:38 looks in, and there are two young men in white. One at the head, one at the foot 27:43 of the slab. And they speak together, "Lady, why are you weeping?" 27:49 She said, "If you've -- If you've taken His body, tell me." She turns around just in time to 27:58 see there's a shadow. It's still dawn. There's a shadow of someone 28:02 standing. She doesn't bother to look at him. 28:05 He asks the same question. He says, "Lady, why are you crying?" 28:10 "Oh, sir." She thinks it's the gardener. "Oh, sir. 28:14 If you have taken His body, let me take Him off your hands, please." 28:20 And then he speaks. "Mary, I tell you what, the day is coming when I will hear my 28:33 mother call my name again. The day is coming when I'll hear my dad, after all these years, 28:39 call my name again. I won't have to look around. I'll know in that instant to 28:45 whom that voice belongs." She...whirs! Of course it's Jesus. 28:52 She's on the ground. She's grabbing His feet. "You're not getting away from me 28:55 this time. No, no, no." And Jesus speaks. 28:59 Here's where I want to pick it up. Come on, John 20. 29:02 You got your Bible here. Open your Bible to John 20, please. 29:06 John 20, drop down to verse 17. Jesus is gonna talk now. Jesus is speaking to me. 29:12 The dawn light is growing as a new day begins. Jesus said to Mary, "Do not 29:18 hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." Now, look, I'm putting this 29:24 clicker down. That is an amazing revelation of who this Lord Jesus is. 29:28 He is the King of the Universe. He has proved it beyond the shadow of universal doubt. 29:34 Those scars belong to the Messiah and I must -- because God is big on ritual. 29:40 "Come on up here, Son, when you're done, and we'll do the big celebration." 29:45 He does not go. You know why? 'Cause he has a heartbroken 29:53 friend who's been sobbing in the early dawn and He can't go until He has a moment with her. 30:03 Isn't that beautiful? "I could be in Heaven right now to get the seal of approval on 30:08 what just took place at Calvary on that Good Friday. No, no, no, Mary, I knew you 30:12 were coming. I knew you wouldn't forget. Mary, Mary, Mary. 30:19 Don't hold on to me. Don't hold on to me. I haven't yet ascended to the 30:23 Father." "Go" -- the first commission, mission commission in the 30:27 history of Christianity has now been spoken by the resurrected King. 30:31 "Go," He'll say it again. "Go," He'll say it again. "Go," before He leaves, He'll 30:36 say it again. "Go instead to my brothers and you tell them, 'I am ascending 30:42 to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' And Mary Magdalene went." 30:49 This is the first post-resurrection evangelist moving into action. 30:55 She has heard the word "Go," and she is obeying. And by the way, she is a she. 31:03 The first evangelist of Christianity was a she. I thought I'd get an "Amen" from 31:10 maybe half the audience, but... [ Laughter ] "Mary Magdalene went --" 31:17 You know what? She only has one message. She "went to the disciples with 31:21 the news, 'I have seen the Lord!'" That's all you do when you go 31:24 for Jesus. You just tell them, "I saw Him. He's alive." 31:27 That's the word. "He's alive." It's okay. 31:31 The world is in chaos today. This nation doesn't know what is happening next. 31:36 That's okay. I got good news for you -- Jesus is alive. 31:41 He's alive. Wow. "And she told them that He had 31:46 said these things to her." But keep reading, 'cause the whole point of going to this 31:50 story is just about to happen. "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the 31:54 disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders" -- hit the pause 32:00 button right there. I just want you to know that's not a praise service. 32:03 Thank you, Chuck and Dan and Debbie for the praise service we had here. 32:07 This is -- That is -- This is not a praise service going on. This is not a prayer meeting 32:12 going on. They're not sitting in a circle singing "Kumbaya." 32:15 They're there for one reason. They're scared spitless that the authorities that have murdered 32:21 their leader are soon to murder them all. "For fear of the Jewish leaders, 32:25 they have locked that door." This is no worship service. 32:29 It was Sunday night. Suddenly, shoop! 32:35 There He is. "Jesus came and stood among them 32:39 and said, 'Shalom. Shalom. 32:42 Peace be to you.' And after He said this," because 32:46 they go berserk, Luke tells us that they think He's an 32:49 apparition, a spirit. So Jesus says, "Hey, yo, yo, yo, 32:54 yo, stop, stop. Look, look. 32:56 He shows them, "Look, it's me. This is me." "The disciples were 33:04 overjoyed" -- now -- "when they saw" -- finally -- they see who this is. 33:10 It's the Lord Himself. "Again Jesus says, 'Shalom be with you!'" 33:15 And here it comes, the line that we will return to often in the few weeks of winter. 33:20 "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." That's one of the most profound 33:30 summaries of mission in all of Holy Scripture. "As the Father has sent me, I am 33:37 sending you." That's what it means to be on a mission. 33:40 You know, they have these -- NASA has these missions to space, where eventually we're 33:44 gonna put together, God willing, time should last, we're gonna put a mission together to Mars. 33:48 I don't know how many years, and I don't want to be on that trip. But somebody wants to be on it. 33:54 A mission to Mars. We call that a mission. We have what we call diplomatic 33:58 missions. That's when the government of one country sends 34:01 representatives -- they're sent front the government -- to another country. 34:06 Jesus has a mission. That means he gets ahold of you and He says, "Girl," He says, 34:11 "Boy, I'm sending you. You're on my mission now. As the Father has sent me, I'm 34:19 gonna send you." Is this good news or bad news? Are you kidding? 34:24 It's good news. The big question is, "What -- Why did the Father send the 34:29 Son?" Because if we can find out why the Father sent the Son, could 34:33 it be it's the same reason why the Son sends you and me? And then, of course, we have to 34:40 go to the greatest text in all of Scripture. The whole world knows that this 34:44 is the numéro uno favorite of Christians, John 3:16. We could do it right now from 34:49 memory, but let's not. John 3:16. Listen, you just say it through 34:55 your mask. God and the person sitting next to you will hear you. 34:59 "For God so loved the world" -- come on, let's read it together. "For God so loved the world that 35:05 he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have 35:12 eternal life." The whole world knows John 3:16, and all of Christiandom knows 35:17 John 3:16, but nobody knows John 3:17. We memorize 16 and forget there 35:24 was ever a 17. I want to show you 17 because 17 now...opens up, reveals the good 35:34 news. Of course this is wonderful news in 3:16, but look at 17. 35:38 Why did He come? "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the 35:42 world" -- no, no, no, no -- but to what? "To save the world through Him." 35:51 Jesus did not the first time to condemn the world. He came the first time to save 35:55 the world, and I have great news for you. When He comes a second time 35:59 soon, when He comes a second time soon, He is not coming to condemn this planet, He is 36:04 coming to save the world. Do you understand that? It is very good news. 36:12 He's coming to save the human race. Now, if you don't want to be 36:17 saved, that's your call. But He'll save every man, woman, and child that says, "You know 36:22 what? I'd love to be saved. Would You please save me?" 36:26 That's it. The problem with many of us, if we're honest, is that when we 36:35 think of mission, alright, the word "mission," we think of bad news. 36:41 Because, you see, mission is the message. "The world is coming to an end." 36:45 No. Yes, it is. In fact, if you don't turn your 36:51 life around, you're dead meat. No. Yes, that's true. 36:55 In fact, may I tell you, there's a judgment going on right now, and you ought to see that judge. 36:59 Ohh. That's what we think mission is. And that's craziness. 37:07 We are our own worst enemies. The good news, we just read it. The good news is the truth about 37:18 God. And we just read it. Let's read it again. 37:22 "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him 37:26 shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son 37:30 into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." 37:36 Ont the authority of what we have just read and the authority of this good news, guess what -- 37:41 your mission is a winning mission, which means right after church, you can sit down at 37:47 your -- at your social media keyboard and you can start typing. 37:51 [ Imitates typing ] "You got to hear what the good news really is. 37:55 I'm tell you what. John 3:16. Oh, and by the way, don't just 37:59 read 16, please read verse 17 because the good news is God is not somebody to be afraid of, 38:04 He's somebody to be a friend of. The good news is Jesus didn't come to condemn, He came to save 38:10 the world, and guess what -- Jesus is coming soon. And when He comes, it's not to 38:13 condemn the world. He's coming to save the world." That's the good news, and that's 38:18 how fast you can fulfill this call. "As the Father has sent me, I've 38:22 sent you." "You take the same message that I brought to this planet, you 38:26 take it to the planet again for me. Be on mission for me." 38:30 Isn't that great? We got all this -- "Oh, man, mission is such bad news. 38:35 I hate mission." What? It's the greatest news there is. 38:41 Jesus is coming again, not to condemn the world. He's coming to save the world. 38:46 I'm telling you, I don't think I need to say this, but I'm gonna reinforce it anyway. 38:51 If ever there were a moment for this very good news to be understood in America, it's 38:57 right now. This good news, on the planet, it has to be right now. 39:05 In fact, I'll tell you this, thanks to this pandemic, in the most recent insurrection chaos 39:11 election crisis, we need no more evidence to be reminded, listen, that the good old days are gone 39:17 forever. I know there are people even around here thinking, "Well, one 39:22 of these days, the good old days of education will return." Wrong, wrong, wrong. 39:26 No, the pandemic has rewritten everything. And you are naive and so am I if 39:30 I think the golden years will come back. They will not come back. 39:35 The golden years of education are past. The golden years of church and 39:42 worship are past. They're not coming back. I don't care when this pandemic 39:47 lifts, and if they say, "Take your masks off," they'll not all come back. 39:52 To a pastor across this land, and I've talked to many during this pandemic. 39:57 [ Stammers ] The one concern is the question, "Will they come back at all?" 40:11 The golden years are behind us. This church used to be packed to the gills. 40:16 We'll never see that again, ever. The golden years are behind us. 40:25 Well, let's just call them what they are -- the good old days. The good old days of politics, 40:34 guess what -- gone. The good old days of the economy, guess what -- gone. 40:43 Ah, don't foo-- Don't be fooled by the stock market. 40:47 That market that goes like a Roman candle into the air comes down like a bomb. 40:52 And it'll go drop lower. Yeah. No, the golden days, the good 40:59 old days of government... back there. So we need to join this young 41:06 damsel and raise our hands and say, "Good-bye, good ole days." Because we're not going back. 41:16 Sorry for a little bit of doom and gloom in the midst of all this good news. 41:22 [ Chuckles ] I heard what that sounded like. The truth of the matter is there 41:30 is one stunning exception, and I got to slip this in. There's one stunning exception. 41:34 There's something where the good old days for this one stunning exception are yet ahead, and do 41:39 you know what that stunning exception is? It's called mission. 41:43 Because the darker it gets, the stronger mission becomes. You got to believe, you got to 41:50 know that's the case. Why does the church grow in Communist China? 41:53 Because it went dark. And when it went dark, boom, that church exploded. 41:59 Why did it do that in the first century in the Roman Empire? Because when it went dark, that 42:05 light burst into existence. The good old days for mission are still ahead. 42:11 In fact, let me illustrate it this way. So let's say we have -- 42:15 A lot of your houses have basements in them. So we're going to the door of 42:19 your basement, and the top -- the top landing right here, we'll call this the good old 42:22 days right here, okay? There's a stairway going down to the dark, right? 42:26 So we'll call this -- we'll call this the good old days. Okay, that's the good old days. 42:30 Not now. Because about 10 months ago right now -- shoop -- the 42:34 country and the world dropped, and now we're on a level called pandemic, COVID-19. 42:39 God bless our frontline workers, keeping us alive, but that's where we are right now. 42:45 And then we run in to a little thing called "election crisis." Boom. 42:49 Took another step down. Every step down is darker. That's where we were until this 42:55 week when we ran into insurrection crisis. Chhk, down. 43:00 And now we're down here. I don't know what the next step will bring. 43:07 I just know this. That a writer I place a lot of faith in put it this way a 43:13 century ago. "These calamities will increase more and more, one disaster will 43:22 follow close on the heels of another." Boom. 43:28 Boom. Boom. Boom. 43:31 Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. All the way down to darkness. But the good news -- and here's 43:42 what you got to get -- the good news is that the farther down the stairs go, the brighter 43:48 grows the mission, and it's good news. Come on, you're gonna have to 43:54 trust me on this one. The farther we go -- in fact, let's just put it on the screen. 44:02 "The darker the night, the brighter the light." We have social scientists now -- 44:08 listen to this -- social scientists -- you say, "Dwight, what's so good news about the 44:12 bad news?" Listen to this social scientist, Michael Barkin, he's done some 44:16 research, and he's discovered people's reactions to disasters and crises, which we just went 44:21 through this week and we have more coming -- disasters and crises -- I'm quoting now -- 44:26 "create conditions peculiarly fitted to the rapid alteration of belief systems." 44:33 Do you know what that means? That means this. When we go into crisis, as we 44:37 do -- and we were feeling like it was a big crisis Wednesday afternoon, we kind of tempered 44:43 down -- but when crisis happens, what happens is my security that I was counting on like a rug 44:51 is -- whoosh -- pulled out. And when the foundation that we're on is pulled out, we're 44:58 now grasping for anything to make me secure again. What was that? 45:04 "Disasters create -- are particularly fitted to the rapid alteration of belief systems." 45:09 Listen, here's the good news -- because of crises, people open up wider and wider to what they 45:16 kept saying no to before. We're in a land dominantly of non-believers. 45:25 Crises, they say there are no atheists in a foxhole. What's that mean? 45:29 That mean a crisis -- that means a crisis immediately creates a paradigm shift, and you're 45:35 suddenly confronted with a new reality you had not counted on. Now what do I believe? 45:42 That's great news for the good news. God doesn't even have to create 45:47 the crisis. He may trigger political crises to get His mission going, but He 45:51 doesn't have to. And that's why -- that's why -- now, listen -- that's why the 45:59 message of mission needs to be very simple. You don't roll out 28 different 46:06 subjects. As important as those subjects are, you're gonna have to get 46:10 this down to one little -- one little word. I'm here on social media, come 46:14 on, don't give me a lot, just give me something to tell. Once you get down to that one 46:18 word, you can be set ablaze with the one word, and I'm gonna give you one sentence now that I hope 46:24 you will memorize by the end of this short winter series. And here it is. 46:28 It's that wonderful book on the parables of Jesus Christ, "Object Lessons." 46:31 I'm gonna read the one sentence to you. Don't you ever forget this 46:34 sentence. "The last rays of merciful light" -- on this planet, before 46:39 the return of Jesus. "The last rays of merciful light, the last message" -- here 46:43 it is. Okay, I want to know, what's the one message I need to have on 46:48 the tip of my tongue. Here it is. "The last message of mercy to be 46:53 given to the world, is a revelation of His -- God's -- character of love." 46:59 End quote. One sentence, that's it. For God sent not His Son into 47:06 the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 47:12 One sentence. The love of God. "For God so loved the world." 47:16 "For God so loved the world." This was all done because the human race is loved by God. 47:21 This was all done because the human race is still loved by God, and He's coming back. 47:26 He's coming back. One sentence. The darker the hour, the further 47:34 down the staircase we descend, the more critical our mission and message need to be 47:39 laser-focused on a revelation of God's love. Uncomplicated. 47:44 We have complicated it. We have to uncomplicate it, get down to one truth 47:50 and ride that truth as the greatest news the universe has ever heard. 47:57 Wednesday, in all the images coming out of that riot and insurrection and tragedy, one 48:06 sticks quite obliquely in my mind. It was a yellow banner. 48:10 I don't know if you saw this. It's a yellow banner waving in the breeze near the Capitol 48:16 building Wednesday afternoon, 2021. A yellow banner, and emblazoned 48:22 on it, two words, "Jesus saves." I'm looking at that and I'm watching -- I'm watching this 48:35 mob moving to take down the building, and I'm saying, "You know what, Dwight? 48:43 There's something incongruent about 'Jesus saves' from a mob that is doing what it's doing." 48:54 Somebody's very confused about Jesus' role in all of this. 49:01 Somebody's terribly confused. "Jesus saves"? 49:06 Is that what you think this is about? 49:09 Right above the sentence that we are memorizing are these words, 49:13 and I'm gonna put them on the screen. 49:15 "It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is 49:18 enshrouding the world." People don't know diddly-squat 49:22 about Jesus and God. You can carry all the yellow 49:26 banners you want. "Men and women are losing their 49:29 knowledge of His character. 49:31 It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from god 49:38 is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. 49:44 His character is to be made known." "As the Father has sent me, I'm 49:50 sending you." What's the message you're sending me with, Lord Jesus? 49:54 Here it is -- "The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the 50:01 world, is to be a revelation of [God's] character of love." Period, end of sentence. 50:09 That's it. We're not talking about a complicated message. 50:16 Just look at it. We're not talking about a difficult mission. 50:21 Just tell the people that you've discovered the love of God. Tell the people what Mary said. 50:25 "Hey, I found out Jesus is alive, thought you ought to know. 50:29 He's alive." Just let them see it in you. 50:36 "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." "Yeah, but come on, come on, 50:44 come on, boy. Have you forgotten we're in a pandemic? 50:47 We can't do anything in a pandemic." No, I haven't forgotten 50:50 actually. That's the precise reason for this new series that begins 50:55 right now. We're gonna share with you strategies in the midst of the 51:00 pandemic that you can exercise without going door-to-door. Strategies that will enable you 51:06 to be the sent one that Jesus has said you are. "As the Father sent me, I'm 51:11 sending you." What can I do? Watch. 51:17 We've made this a mountain to climb when it's a glorious opportunity to embrace. 51:25 Don't miss next week. The truth of God's character -- you know, we just touched on it 51:30 here, but we're gonna just zero in on the truth of that character, and it's gonna shine. 51:34 Title of next week -- "Love Story for a Dark Winter." And by the way, I want to invite 51:38 you to bring your friends. Say, "Why? We got to physical distance here, there's not a lot 51:44 of space." No, we still have some. We've got a youth chapel. 51:50 Bring your friends. You want to be sent? Your first act as the sent one, 51:56 just say, "Hey, there's something you need to figure out." 52:01 I was kind of intrigued with it, and why don't you come and join me? 52:05 We got room. Tell your friends. Why not? 52:11 Winter's short. Fill some of these gray days with what we can be doing now. 52:21 "The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a 52:28 revelation of [God's] character of love." Wow. 52:38 I want you to respond to this. Do you mind? Just -- Just you're sitting 52:44 here, just type this in, you know, on your little -- your, uh...Internet -- 52:53 pmchurch.org/connect. You're watching right now, you're already at that site. 52:57 But when you put the /connect, here's the deal. It takes us to a page that looks 53:02 like this -- "My next step today is..." Box one -- "I want to be on 53:07 mission, just like Jesus was. I want to share the truth about God's character of love." 53:11 Guess what, me too. Box number two, it's a little prayer -- "God -- open my eyes 53:15 to someone this week who needs to see the love of God in me." I don't know what's gonna happen 53:20 this week. We're all locked down on campus now. 53:22 We're locked down in the community still. Well, we're kind of moving 53:25 around, kind of halfway. Open my eyes if there's somebody who needs to see the love of 53:29 God. And then box number three -- "I want to be baptized and become a 53:33 follower of Jesus with a mission and purpose for my life this New Year." 53:38 Because when you're not following Jesus, you may have a purpose, but it's not the most 53:42 fulfilling purpose yet. Dream and envision for you. If you haven't been baptized, 53:51 just put a checkmark there. We're gonna have some beautiful baptisms coming up this new 53:56 year. But yeah, you're not gonna be baptized when you put a 53:59 checkmark there. Gives us just a chance -- electronically, come on, 54:02 electronically -- we'll be in touch with you. Why not? 54:06 Why go through life without a life mission? Jesus is the greatest life 54:10 mission you'll ever find in your life. Bring your friend next week. 54:14 Give your friend a chance to begin to respond. Oh, God. 54:24 It really is that simple, isn't it? Sorry we've complicated it so. 54:32 Jesus, we hear You -- "As the Father sent me, I'm sending you. 54:35 He sent me to bring the good tidings of great love. I haven't come to condemn, I've 54:42 come to save. I need you to take those same great tidings to whomever." 54:49 Dear Father, turn this moment into a quiet commitment to become the sent ones for Jesus, 54:59 wherever You lead us this new year. In Jesus' name, we pray. 55:07 Amen. 55:28 >> Keeping it simple. [ Singing "This Little Light of 55:37 Mine" ] ♪♪ 55:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:09 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:27 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:46 ♪♪ 56:58 >> Before you go, let me take an extra moment to share with you 57:01 an opportunity to get into the Bible in a fresh, new way. 57:04 All across the world, more and more people are hearing the call 57:07 to examine Scriptures for themselves. 57:09 If you've felt drawn to learn more about God's Word, but you 57:12 don't know where to start or you're just looking for a more 57:15 in-depth examination of Bible truths, then I have something 57:17 right here that I believe you're gonna enjoy. 57:20 I want to send a series of guides to get you started. 57:22 This one's entitled "Why Does God Allow Suffering?" 57:25 Each guide begins with a story, an introduction of the subject. 57:28 Then, through a series of focus questions, you'll be learning 57:31 portions of the Bible you may never have known before. 57:33 And when you're through, you'll be able to share with others 57:36 some of these inspiring Bible truths. 57:38 Just call our toll-free number. It's on the screen. 57:40 877 the two words, His will. Friendly operators are standing 57:44 by to send these study guides to you. 57:46 Once again, that's 877-His-Will. Call that number, and then 57:51 again, join me next week right here at this same time. 57:55 New Perceptions. 58:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:19 ♪♪ |
Revised 2021-01-21