WEBVTT - Look Forward Not Far 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.560 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.920 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:29.720 I think they'll be praising God like that in Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut, Newark, 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:31.360 New Jersey, and Washington, DC. 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.440 Elevation Nights is just a few weeks away. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:39.919 Go to Elevation Nights dot com and get your tickets. 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:42.360 It'll be good. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.839 We'll be there worshiping God together. We can't wait to 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.839 worship God with you. Also, thank you to all of 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:50.800 the amazing men and women who have signed up to 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:54.600 lead an e group over this next semester. Thank you 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:58.320 for opening your home, your heart. Thank you for saying 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.000 yes to God. Pray that God is going to bring 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.120 just the right people in those groups who can help 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:07.000 each other. I pray that God would make connections, divine connections, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:08.240 that God would be. 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.119 Like a spiritual matchmaker. 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.880 I'm not necessarily talking about a romantic match, although if 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:14.679 the Lord wants to do that. 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.040 Through an E group, he's God. Amen. 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:20.080 But just that God would help you find somebody where 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:22.479 they can say, oh, I went through that, and here's 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.760 something God gave me. When theologian said that Christianity is 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:34.480 one beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. And 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.760 sometimes God gives somebody something. 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:39.200 That you need in the season that you're in. 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:42.000 And so when you walk through those E group tents 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:43.760 today or when they come online in a little while 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.160 and say hey, sign up, don't put it off and 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.400 don't tell fifteen excuses why you're too busy. 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.320 I'm tell you that's the problem with you. You're too busy. 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.040 You're too busy, and sometimes you don't slow down enough, 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:56.520 so you spend a lot of effort, but you don't 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:57.800 get a lot of result. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:00.920 It's going to come through a line in this season 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:01.680 of your life. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.600 So this is an amazing opportunity. Holly, You've written an 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:08.280 amazing study. Brit the whole team. I'm so proud of you. 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.559 I'm so excited about the change that will be experienced. 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:12.360 That's on. 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.040 Just go to Elevisionchurch dot Org and join an negrew. 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.840 Right now, it's time for the Word of God. 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:17.680 Let's go. 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.320 The Book of Philippians, Chapter one. The Book of Philippians, 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:30.720 Chapter one, verse twenty through twenty six. No, no, no, 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:32.800 let's go all the way back to verse eighteen. I 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.640 was going to speed it up for time, but I 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:36.919 want to read from verse eighteen. 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.320 So I'm going to read from verse eighteen. And then. 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:42.840 The Lord gave me this scripture, and then he gave 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.840 me a picture. And I want to give both of 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:52.440 you today. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:53.480 But what does it matter. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.320 The important thing is that in every way, whether from 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.800 false motives or true, Christ is preached. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.160 And because of this I rejoice. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.840 Yeah, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.320 that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.079 of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:16.960 out for my deliverance. 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:18.560 Verse twenty says. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.920 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:27.640 way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:31.720 now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.960 whether by life or by death. For to me, to 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.360 live is Christ and to die is Gain. If I 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.720 am to go on living in the body this will mean. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:47.240 Fruitful labor for me. Yet, what shall I choose? 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:52.320 I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I'm torn 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.240 between the two. I'm trying to make a decision. I 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.200 don't know which to choose. I'm torn between the two. 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.840 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.440 or by far? But it's more necessary for you that 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:07.240 I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.640 that I will remain. Tell your neighbor you're gonna make it. 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.200 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. Now. 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.799 I will continue with all of you for your progress 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.039 and joy in the faith, so that through my being 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.440 with you again, you're boasting in Christ. Jesus will abound 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.039 on account of me. I know you've been standing for 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.279 a long time, but stay on your feet one more moment, 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:32.880 because the Lord told me to give you an instruction 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.160 today that will be very specific for you. 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.400 Goes like this, look forward, not far. 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:47.479 Okay, been distracted, overwhelmed, feel like you're kind of going 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:49.640 crazy sometimes coming from every direction. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.240 The Lord said, look forward, not far. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:58.880 Tell your neighbor look forward, not far, And now on 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:00.800 your way to your seat. How your neighbor one thing 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.640 you're looking forward to this week. Just go ahead and 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.400 tell them real quick, one thing you're looking forward to 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.240 this week. I'm looking forward to Pastor Steven finishing the 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:09.799 sermons so I can go to Chipotlet. 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:11.680 I know how y'all are. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.440 I'm looking forward to the sermon that the Man of 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:20.360 God is about to preach. I'm looking forward to. Put 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:21.880 it in the comments too. I'm gonna read a few 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.920 from online. Somebody shout out something appropriate that you're looking 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:30.239 forward to this week, real quick. In the room, looking 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:35.880 forward to it, looking forward to it. Everybody in the 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.800 chat put I'm looking forward to it, and then tell 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:38.520 me one thing you're. 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.760 Looking forward to forward not far. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.240 It really helped me because when I walk out to preach, 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:48.560 it's always a little unpredictable. 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.120 I never really know how it's going to go, and so. 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.000 I do a little trick. And this is a little 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.640 bit squeamish for me to tell you about. You might 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:57.240 roll your eyes. And Abby's going to cringe on the 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.160 front road because she hates when I say romantic things 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:00.520 in front of thousands of people. 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:00.839 About her mother. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.279 Bowis squeeze Holly's hand before I go back to get 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:07.080 ready to preach. 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.719 If she's not like deep and rapturous worship, if she's. 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:13.800 In the Chicaina glory, I just just walk out and 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:15.520 let her have a moment with Jesus. I want to 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.400 cut in, but if she's halfway aware, I'll just squeeze 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.599 her hand. And it's my reminder that in a few minutes, 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.520 however long it takes me to preach this sermon, in 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.680 about three and a half hours, no matter what happens 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:33.160 up here, I'm going home with her. Here's what that's 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:39.200 called psychologically anticipatory pleasure. And I don't mean what you 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.840 think I mean by that. The chances are all we're 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:44.640 going to do is eat, take a nap. If there's 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.600 something we're watching, we might watch it and probably fall 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:51.240 asleep trying to watch it, but something to look forward 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:56.800 to after it's over. It somehow fortifies me for what 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.719 I need to do up here. And reminding myself in 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.920 a role as preacher or pastor does not exist the 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.200 entire definition of who I am as a person. It 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.920 takes the performance anxiety off, because whether you love it 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:15.160 or hate it, I'm going home with her. And she 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:16.840 never told me I preached a bad sermon. 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:18.760 I know she probably thought it, but she never said 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:19.360 it out loud. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:23.840 And on the chat right now, there's all kinds of 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.760 people say and I'm looking forward to the chiefs winning today. 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.240 I'm looking forward to seek him more this week. See 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.800 you got spirit and flesh, Spirit and flesh all in 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:34.440 the comments. 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:37.880 I'm looking forward to teach my students. Well that's cool. 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:40.640 I thought that was cool. Just when I read it, 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:41.480 I thought, well, that's not. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.680 You're looking forward to somebody doing something for you as 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:45.960 you're doing something for somebody. What a cool way to think. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:47.360 I don't know if you've teln the truth or not, 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:51.440 but might as well frame it that way. Looking forward 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:55.280 to closing a door, looking forward to a few days 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.280 off work, looking forward to. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.840 My I won't say that out loud, looking forward to. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:10.559 Feeling better. I'm looking forward to. Yeah, it's going too fast. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.880 I don't know how to slow it down, but I 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.280 think it's important always in your life to have something. 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:16.720 To look forward to. 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.240 It's real dangerous if you ever get in a place 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.960 where you can't look forward to anything and feel joy, 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:23.560 you need. 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.080 To talk to somebody. That's a dangerous place for you 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:27.440 to stay. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.200 And I don't just mean for a moment where you're 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.400 tired or overwhelmed and you just want everybody leave you alone. 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:33.120 But if you ever get to a place where there 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:37.920 is a prolonged sense of the postponement of joy, do 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.800 you know what I mean by postponing joy? Where you're like, well, 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.080 I might be happy one day, but I can't see 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.920 anything in my immediate future that I look forward to. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.200 That is a dangerous way to live. Now. 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.040 It doesn't mean that everything you do every day has 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:56.200 to be something that you enjoy, Snowflake, but it does 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.000 mean that there ought to be something, even within the 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.439 most challenging seasons of your life, that you can go. 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:03.319 I look forward to that. 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.840 That's why I want every married couple doing date nights. 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.640 I want you to do it so you can look 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.440 forward to that time and you can understand that even 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.200 if we've been busy all week, I mean, and then 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.600 I'd be an expensive date night, make a sandwich. But 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.960 set aside a time that you can look forward to 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.040 that you can know, you know, especially if you have 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:23.839 kids or little kids or something like that. Set it 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.840 up where you know, Okay, we are so busy managing 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:28.640 this corporation, called our kids. 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:34.360 Excuse me, this terrorist organization called our kids. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.800 That we need a time set aside that I can 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:42.360 look forward to connecting with my girlfriend, my boyfriend, the 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.160 one that I used to spend hours on the phone with. 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.640 And I think that's really important that you put something 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.800 that you can look forward to, even if it's. 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:50.320 A little thing. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:54.240 That's why I got the fridge stock with fair Life shakes, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.880 because after I've done all my squats and all my curls, 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.360 I know there is the taste of artificial sweetener waiting, 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:03.439 just something to trigger my tongue to let me know you. 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:09.320 Did good today. Well done, now, good and faithful servant again. 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.440 I'm taking a moment to set this up because if 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.200 I don't set it up practically, if we jump straight 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.400 to what Paul said from prison, you will think that 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.240 this message only applies when you're going through the hardest 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:24.440 situation in your life. But I saw a principle this 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.439 week that was so practical that it reminded me about 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.559 something that Brendan Manning said in one of his books. 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:33.120 When a man went to. 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.439 Visit Mother Teresa at the House of the Dying in Calcutta, 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.959 and this brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to see her 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:41.800 for three months, and on the first day he met 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.600 Mother Teresa, and the report goes that he was trying 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:46.360 to figure out what to do with the rest of 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.520 his life and he felt foggy about it. Now stop 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.599 right here. You might feel the same way today. You 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:54.920 might not be going to see Mother Teresa. She came 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.559 Delevation Church, or you clicked on the link and you're 0:10:57.559 --> 0:10:59.760 feeling like, what do I do with the rest of 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:01.440 the mine life? Or what do I do in this 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.120 next week? Or what do I even do for my 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:07.360 next step? Well, Mother Teresa, upon meeting the man, said 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.120 what can I do for you? And he said, I 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.920 would love for you to pray for me. And she said, 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.720 what would you like for me to pray for you? 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.079 And he said, pray that God will give me clarity, 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.920 that God will give me clarity. And she said, I 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:30.760 won't do it. I won't do it. I've never had clarity. 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.960 And he said, but you always seem to have clarity. 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.480 And Mother Teresa said, I've never had clarity. What I've 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:44.960 had is trust. So I will pray that you will 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:54.160 trust in God. The apostle Paul, writing to the church 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.679 that he founded, which was the first church in Europe 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.400 incidentally was founded when he was in. 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:03.240 Prison an other time. Is now writing to spend eight 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.920 hundred miles from Rome, where. 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.760 He is sitting awaiting a verdict of his current imprisonment 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.559 for preaching the gospel to the church that he loves, 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:15.560 and he's worried about them and burdened for them. Yodean 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.160 SYNIKEI are arguing there seems to be within the Philippian 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.360 church a since that when the teacher left class, we 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.319 can do whatever we want. He checks in to let 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.040 them know I'm proud of you, but you need to 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:27.679 keep making progress. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.400 And in doing that, he shares with them an update 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.679 about his situation. As well. 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:38.200 As we are expecting Paul to give the exact details 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.600 of whether or not he will be released to continue 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.040 to preach the gospel or whether he will continue to 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:48.800 be restrained by his chains, he does something very interesting 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:49.559 and different. 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.160 He begins to share with them not about the conclusion. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.640 Of his trial, but about the courage that God has 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.839 given him to face it. Y'all missed your chance to 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.240 say say, amen, I've been pastoring this church almost twenty 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.440 years and y'all still know when I said something good, 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:06.520 I don't. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.200 Have to get loud for it to be good. I said. 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.720 Sometimes God won't give you the conclusion. He will just 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:17.880 give you courage. And the people like Mother Teresa and 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.600 the Apostle Paul who are really confident, it is not 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:24.000 because they have so much clarity. It's not because they 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:27.280 always know what to do next. It's just that they're 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.800 always focused on what God has called them to do now. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.120 And this is a great distinction for all of us 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.560 who are overwhelmed. From a man who had every right 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.199 to be depressed and despondent, for a man who had 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:43.360 every right to feel and communicate his sense of total 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:48.160 utter despair comes a book like Philippians, where he says, yes, 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:53.960 I will continue to rejoice. Why are you rejoicing, Paul? 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.760 Did you just get good news that they're going to 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.520 let you out in a week? Why are you rejoicing, Paul? 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.200 Did Andy Dufrain just take a rock hammer and crack 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.640 halfway through the Shawshank wall Is Morgan Freeman narrating your 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:06.760 last night in prison? 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:11.160 Why are you rejoicing? He said, because everybody say because. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.880 Now one day I want to do a whole series 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:15.760 when I get the opportunity on. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:16.800 Why you need a better? 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:22.040 Because a better because verse eighteen, Please again, he says, 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:27.800 I'll continue to rejoice because verse nineteen. Oh no, that's 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.560 not where he says it. He says in verse eighteen, yeah, yeah, 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.200 And because of this, I rejoice. 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:33.760 There it is. 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.960 I went too far. I went too far. I'm looking 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.600 for that word, but I went too far. I went 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.160 too far. I dropped down to the end of it. 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:44.920 I went too far. I meant to show you that 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.640 word because circle because back there for me, in the back, 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:54.200 justin if you can. And because of this, I rejoice. 0:14:54.880 --> 0:15:01.360 Now whatever this is controls you're rejoicing. Paul's this was 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:04.480 the purpose of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, what 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:08.240 he was sent to do. And since that was still happening, 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:12.280 and happening at an accelerated rate, Paul said, I have 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.200 a cause to rejoice because my calling is being fulfilled. 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:19.000 If your cause to rejoice is your. 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:24.680 Comfort being satisfied, then any moment you are uncomfortable, you will. 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.400 Not have the ability to rejoice. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.760 You need a better because some of us need a better, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:36.280 because when we come to worship, some of us only. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.520 Praise God on the weeks where we feel grateful. 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.160 What a small god you serve that you need a 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:47.720 feeling of gratitude to prompt an act of faith called worship. 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.640 Your worship in a god. You can't see your worship 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:51.880 in a. 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:53.680 God who's not made by human hands. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.240 You're worshiping a God who does not exist to serve you. 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:58.320 You exist to serve him. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.480 So if the reason that I worship is tied to 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.520 the work that he does on my behalf or the 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.360 wishless that he fulfilled based on my preferences, that is 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:11.120 a limited lens. 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:15.240 Through which to see the God that I worship. Sometimes 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:16.560 it's good for us to lift our. 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:21.680 Hands because he's great, because he's holy, because he's awesome, 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:28.440 because he's sovereign, because he's God all by himself, because 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.560 before Abraham was, he was, because he is the great 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.240 I am, because he is perfect in all of his ways, 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.560 because I'm created to do it, because I love him, 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:45.080 because he first loved me, because he forgave me, because 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.520 he sent his son to die for me, because he 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.560 gave me breath and my lungs, because I'm living on 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:55.320 borrowed breath, because tomorrow is not promised because God brought 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.120 me this far, and if he never does anything else, 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:07.840 he's gone enough to be worthy of the next one. 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:13.560 And Paul is playing games with the devil in this 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.160 letter because at the moment that he has every right 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.480 to be discouraged, despondent, and at the dead end of 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.119 his own despair, he turns his attention outward and begins 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:26.399 to think about that church that God has called him 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:32.000 to serve. He turns his attention outward and he begins 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:36.040 to focus on their future. And it's almost like he's 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.520 setting up an appointment. Walk slow with me here, I 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:40.600 want to meet you. In this text, you can see Paul, 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.280 who's about fifty five years old at this point in 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.120 his life, saying I don't know when, but I'll see 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:48.560 you again. 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:49.960 What's he doing. 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:56.760 He's creating a sense of anticipatory joy even though the 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:03.320 timeline is uncertain. He doesn't have clarity, but he trusts God. 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.919 And you can see in this wrestling match that is 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.560 written on the page and preserved for us through the 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:15.840 passage of time, as Paul is wrestling with his own 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.960 volition and will because there's so much about the situation 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:23.240 that he can't control. It's not as if when he says, 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.720 what shall I choose, he gets a vote in whether 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:28.919 or not he's executed. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.000 Now, just to make sure you understand. 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.040 The situation, Paul is about to be put on trial, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.560 and they have the power to decide does he live 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.879 or does he die. Paul does not have the power 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.760 to decide whether he lives or dies, but he still 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.200 has the power to choose how he lives in the meantime, 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.040 and so here he is wrestling with the decision that's 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.560 really not his to make. And I thought it was 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.160 kind of funny. And maybe there's even a little swagger 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.720 on what Paul's doing here, because he's telling the devil. 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.680 I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided. 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.000 Yet whether I'm going to let them kill me so 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:07.600 I can just be done with this and go get 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.200 all my crowns from Jesus. I hadn't decided yet whether 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:12.840 I just want to get out of here and see 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.399 his face, the one who died for me, the one 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.040 who knocked me off my horse on the Damascus Road. 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.000 I hadn't decided yet whether I want to be done 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.720 with all these trifling pharisees that I used to be 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:26.080 one of that keep running me from. 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.320 City to city. I hadn't decided yet, or do I 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.600 want to be done with the storms and the shipwrecks. 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:33.720 And the stonings and just see him and be known 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.679 as I am known. I hadn't decided yet. Do I 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.520 just want to leave? Or do I want to stay? 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.160 And he is an interesting term. He said, I'm torn 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:45.120 between the two. 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:46.760 What a picture. 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:53.520 I'm torn between the two? Recap He's in prison. But 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.320 when it came to describing his condition, he didn't say 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:57.040 I'm trapped. 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.399 He said, I'm torn. Two things could happen here, and 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:04.280 I don't know which one God's gonna do yet. 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:09.080 Either my life could be over in a matter of weeks, months, 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:13.040 even days, and I could be with Christ. Or I 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.080 could stay here and keep serving Christ longer. 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:21.320 And I'm torn. Everybody say it, I'm torn. 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:25.480 I'm torn for everybody today who is feeling torn in 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:26.600 an area of your life. 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:31.280 Let the Apostle Paul administer to you these words of encouragement. 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:33.639 He says, if I am to go on living in 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.240 the body, this will mean fruitful labor. Yet what shall 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:41.520 I choose? I do not know. And write this down 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:43.600 and put it on your mirror. It's okay to not know. 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:49.879 It's okay to not know. It's okay to not have clarity. 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:54.520 It's okay to not have a five year plan. It's 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:56.720 okay to not know how you're going to get out 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:57.440 of this exactly. 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.680 It's okay not to know. If Paul, who said. 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:04.840 And we know that in all things God works together 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:05.960 for the good of them that love him and call 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:08.760 according to his purpose, said I don't know about this one. 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:11.880 You have I don't know moments. 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.280 That you have been hiding because you think that somehow 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.439 means you don't have faith. And it is okay to 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:22.080