1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,500 2 00:00:05,583 --> 00:00:20,583 [music] 3 00:00:32,042 --> 00:00:36,500 I want to invite you to start making your way to Luke 22, 4 00:00:36,542 --> 00:00:40,125 as we begin our 89th installment through the Gospel of Luke-- 5 00:00:40,167 --> 00:00:43,792 we've just got a few more to go before we're finished. 6 00:00:43,833 --> 00:00:45,833 And so, very excited about that. 7 00:00:45,875 --> 00:00:48,708 My name is Dave and I wanted to introduce you 8 00:00:48,792 --> 00:00:50,333 to my family this morning. 9 00:00:50,375 --> 00:00:52,833 And the easiest way to do that is by photo. 10 00:00:52,875 --> 00:00:55,583 So let me show you a picture of the Bruskas clan. 11 00:00:55,667 --> 00:00:58,833 As it's been said many times, I am truly a minority living 12 00:00:58,875 --> 00:01:02,417 in a sorority; never a dull moment, always drama, 13 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:04,000 and always wonderful. 14 00:01:04,042 --> 00:01:08,208 This beautiful young lady on the far left is my wife, Kara. 15 00:01:08,292 --> 00:01:11,500 She's not one of the five sisters; there's only four. 16 00:01:11,583 --> 00:01:14,375 So just know if you bring that to my attention that, 17 00:01:14,458 --> 00:01:16,375 oh, this was another one of my daughters, 18 00:01:16,458 --> 00:01:18,208 that may be incredibly flattering to her, 19 00:01:18,292 --> 00:01:20,208 but it's deeply insulting to me. 20 00:01:20,292 --> 00:01:22,083 Jillian is 13. 21 00:01:22,167 --> 00:01:24,917 Each girl had a very special birthday this year, so Jillian, 22 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:26,833 next to Kara, is 13. 23 00:01:26,875 --> 00:01:28,667 Jennifer is 16. 24 00:01:28,750 --> 00:01:31,000 Then Lisa is 21. 25 00:01:31,042 --> 00:01:32,625 And Lauren is 18. 26 00:01:32,667 --> 00:01:35,917 And it doesn't matter what age that guy is on the end. 27 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,625 We recently relocated here to Seattle from Albuquerque, 28 00:01:39,667 --> 00:01:42,500 and this is an amazingly beautiful city. 29 00:01:42,542 --> 00:01:44,000 Gorgeous city. 30 00:01:44,042 --> 00:01:47,208 And every day I have one of those "wow" moments where 31 00:01:47,292 --> 00:01:50,417 I pull out my iPhone to take a picture of something I can't 32 00:01:50,500 --> 00:01:54,083 imagine anybody from New Mexico having seen before, 33 00:01:54,167 --> 00:01:56,708 and take a picture to send back to those folks. 34 00:01:56,792 --> 00:01:59,917 And I want to show you recently a photo I attempted to take 35 00:02:00,042 --> 00:02:03,000 of Mount Rainier on a sunny day when the mountain came out, 36 00:02:03,042 --> 00:02:04,375 so let's show that. 37 00:02:04,458 --> 00:02:09,167 Alright, here's the problem--here's the problem 38 00:02:09,250 --> 00:02:10,875 with my iPhone. 39 00:02:10,958 --> 00:02:14,708 My default mode is the front focus camera, 40 00:02:14,792 --> 00:02:18,208 which means all my pictures, at least the first take, 41 00:02:18,292 --> 00:02:20,417 end up looking like this. 42 00:02:20,500 --> 00:02:27,333 They are self-portraits, self-images, self-centered. 43 00:02:29,333 --> 00:02:32,625 And that's exactly the problem that we face today as we look at 44 00:02:32,667 --> 00:02:36,292 this text of Scripture where we see the origin of Communion, 45 00:02:36,333 --> 00:02:39,792 as we look at Jesus celebrating his Last Supper with 46 00:02:39,833 --> 00:02:44,875 the disciples, and we see the advent of Communion 47 00:02:44,958 --> 00:02:47,917 in something that we celebrate every Sunday 48 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,417 at Mars Hill Church as one of the two sacraments 49 00:02:50,500 --> 00:02:53,292 of the church that we celebrate and honor Jesus. 50 00:02:53,333 --> 00:02:57,000 My fear is that we first ask the question, 51 00:02:57,083 --> 00:02:59,375 "What does Communion mean to me?" 52 00:02:59,458 --> 00:03:01,417 instead of asking a more appropriate question, 53 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:04,333 "What does Communion mean to Jesus?" 54 00:03:04,375 --> 00:03:07,500 And we're going to see clearly in the text today that we study, 55 00:03:07,583 --> 00:03:09,333 that Communion means a lot to Jesus, 56 00:03:09,375 --> 00:03:11,125 and I want you to see why. 57 00:03:11,167 --> 00:03:13,125 One objective I have today, one simple objective, 58 00:03:13,167 --> 00:03:16,792 and that is that you would reverse focus in your 59 00:03:16,833 --> 00:03:20,333 understanding of Communion; that Communion would no longer be, 60 00:03:20,375 --> 00:03:25,583 Christian, about you and your failings and your struggles 61 00:03:25,667 --> 00:03:27,625 and your weaknesses. 62 00:03:27,667 --> 00:03:30,208 But instead it would be about Jesus. 63 00:03:30,292 --> 00:03:34,125 And for you, non-Christian, really glad you're here today. 64 00:03:34,167 --> 00:03:36,208 My hope is that you would see Communion 65 00:03:36,292 --> 00:03:38,125 in a totally different light. 66 00:03:38,167 --> 00:03:41,417 That Communion isn't something you do to be right with Jesus, 67 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:44,375 but it reflects the fact that he loves you 68 00:03:44,458 --> 00:03:46,667 and that he's able to forgive you. 69 00:03:46,750 --> 00:03:50,500 And that today, as we celebrate Communion after we hear 70 00:03:50,583 --> 00:03:52,125 the words of Jesus, 71 00:03:52,167 --> 00:03:54,625 that you would celebrate your first Communion 72 00:03:54,667 --> 00:03:56,625 as a new Christian today. 73 00:03:56,667 --> 00:03:59,958 Let's pray, and we'll jump into the Bible together. 74 00:04:00,083 --> 00:04:04,875 Father, you are a good and kind Father. 75 00:04:04,958 --> 00:04:09,500 In a country where today fatherlessness is having 76 00:04:09,583 --> 00:04:14,167 all sorts of impact, in a room today where many of the people 77 00:04:14,250 --> 00:04:18,000 are afflicted and hurting because of a bad earthly father, 78 00:04:18,083 --> 00:04:20,000 you are a great Father. 79 00:04:20,083 --> 00:04:23,500 You're a Father who loves his children with all the affection 80 00:04:23,583 --> 00:04:25,708 you have for your Son, Jesus. 81 00:04:25,792 --> 00:04:28,375 Jesus, thank you that you being Eternal God, 82 00:04:28,458 --> 00:04:32,500 you humbled yourself, you took on the form of a baby, 83 00:04:32,583 --> 00:04:35,708 you became fully man, and you lived the life 84 00:04:35,792 --> 00:04:37,833 that we could never live. 85 00:04:37,875 --> 00:04:43,083 You went to the cross and there you died a brutal, shameful, 86 00:04:43,167 --> 00:04:47,208 God-forsaken death, absorbing the penalty that's ours 87 00:04:47,292 --> 00:04:50,000 for our sin, and you've risen from the grave, 88 00:04:50,083 --> 00:04:52,625 and you're at the right hand of the Father, 89 00:04:52,667 --> 00:04:54,167 and you are worthy of worship. 90 00:04:54,250 --> 00:04:57,833 And we want our time together today to be all about you, Jesus, 91 00:04:57,875 --> 00:04:59,292 and worshiping you. 92 00:04:59,333 --> 00:05:01,708 Father and Son, thank you for the Holy Spirit. 93 00:05:01,792 --> 00:05:05,125 Holy Spirit, thank you that you don't live in ornate buildings 94 00:05:05,167 --> 00:05:07,125 constructed by human hands. 95 00:05:07,167 --> 00:05:09,583 You don't live in panoramic vistas, 96 00:05:09,667 --> 00:05:13,000 but you choose to indwell the people who belong to Jesus. 97 00:05:13,083 --> 00:05:15,500 Holy Spirit, we pray you would do heart surgery 98 00:05:15,542 --> 00:05:17,333 on us this morning. 99 00:05:17,375 --> 00:05:21,000 That you would take the truths of this Bible that we're 100 00:05:21,083 --> 00:05:23,917 about to look at, and you would help us to understand 101 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,292 at the deepest level, Jesus loves us. 102 00:05:26,333 --> 00:05:29,708 Holy Spirit, I pray for those who are here today who don't 103 00:05:29,792 --> 00:05:32,708 know Jesus, that in our next few moments together they would meet 104 00:05:32,792 --> 00:05:35,917 Jesus, they would experience the forgiveness of sin, 105 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,625 they would experience a freedom they've never known before, 106 00:05:38,667 --> 00:05:41,667 and their life from this day forward would be transformed. 107 00:05:41,750 --> 00:05:46,500 All this we ask that you do in the good name of Jesus, amen. 108 00:05:46,583 --> 00:05:49,417 I want to invite you to turn to Luke 22. 109 00:05:49,500 --> 00:05:52,917 If you're new with us today, let me give you some backdrop. 110 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,125 As a matter of fact, the text that we're about to jump into 111 00:05:56,167 --> 00:05:58,417 does that, it sets the scene for us today. 112 00:05:58,500 --> 00:06:01,083 So let's just go right to Luke 22:1, 113 00:06:01,167 --> 00:06:04,208 "Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, 114 00:06:04,292 --> 00:06:06,000 "which is called the Passover. 115 00:06:06,083 --> 00:06:08,875 "And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking 116 00:06:08,958 --> 00:06:10,625 "how to put him," Jesus, 117 00:06:10,667 --> 00:06:12,500 "to death, for they feared the people." 118 00:06:12,583 --> 00:06:14,208 Here's what's going on. 119 00:06:14,292 --> 00:06:17,208 One of the three required festivals or feasts that would 120 00:06:17,292 --> 00:06:21,625 happen in Jerusalem every year, that all males throughout Israel 121 00:06:21,667 --> 00:06:23,708 were required to attend. 122 00:06:23,792 --> 00:06:25,167 It's the Passover. 123 00:06:25,250 --> 00:06:28,625 So if you're older like me, you've seen the imagery of 124 00:06:28,667 --> 00:06:32,000 the Passover, best depicted by Charlton Heston as Moses. 125 00:06:32,042 --> 00:06:34,125 Remember every Easter we got to see that? 126 00:06:34,167 --> 00:06:36,833 If you're younger, you probably saw "The Prince of Egypt" 127 00:06:36,875 --> 00:06:38,208 by DreamWorks. 128 00:06:38,292 --> 00:06:39,708 It's that story from the Bible. 129 00:06:39,792 --> 00:06:44,333 This idea that God's people were suffering oppressive slavery 130 00:06:44,375 --> 00:06:46,875 at the hands of the Egyptians, 131 00:06:46,958 --> 00:06:49,333 and God delivered them miraculously, 132 00:06:49,375 --> 00:06:51,208 lovingly, perfectly. 133 00:06:51,292 --> 00:06:56,917 And as God's judgment of death came upon all the firstborns 134 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,208 in Egypt, that God's people were spared, they weren't innocent, 135 00:07:00,292 --> 00:07:04,208 but they were spared through the death of a lamb-- 136 00:07:04,292 --> 00:07:06,708 they would kill a lamb, they would wipe the blood, 137 00:07:06,792 --> 00:07:08,625 and God in his mercy made provision. 138 00:07:08,667 --> 00:07:11,333 And so we see that this is a picture of Jesus, 139 00:07:11,375 --> 00:07:13,625 and we'll get into that in just a moment. 140 00:07:13,667 --> 00:07:16,625 And so all people are gathering into Jerusalem. 141 00:07:16,667 --> 00:07:21,500 Jerusalem is rocking--think in terms of a religious Woodstock. 142 00:07:21,542 --> 00:07:25,000 And so, religious Woodstock is descending on Jerusalem, 143 00:07:25,042 --> 00:07:27,333 and Jesus is rocking center stage. 144 00:07:27,375 --> 00:07:29,917 Jesus is drawing enormous crowds. 145 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,625 He's incredibly popular with the people 146 00:07:32,667 --> 00:07:35,333 because he teaches them like they've never been taught, 147 00:07:35,375 --> 00:07:38,000 he loves them like they've never been loved, 148 00:07:38,042 --> 00:07:40,292 he leads them like they've never been led, 149 00:07:40,333 --> 00:07:42,125 he heals them, he cares for them, 150 00:07:42,167 --> 00:07:45,417 and he's an immensely popular figure in Jerusalem 151 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:47,417 during the Passover. 152 00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:49,292 And the religious leaders, 153 00:07:49,333 --> 00:07:51,708 as we've seen in the last few chapters 154 00:07:51,792 --> 00:07:54,000 in the Gospel of Luke, are beginning to lose 155 00:07:54,083 --> 00:07:56,083 their war of words with Jesus. 156 00:07:56,167 --> 00:07:59,500 Every chapter we see Jesus engaging them in a new debate, 157 00:07:59,583 --> 00:08:01,417 and they walk away silent. 158 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:03,708 So people are leaving them en masse; 159 00:08:03,792 --> 00:08:07,208 there's an exodus away from the religious establishment. 160 00:08:07,292 --> 00:08:10,333 They're losing adherents, they're losing influence, 161 00:08:10,375 --> 00:08:12,500 they're losing money, and they've come to the point 162 00:08:12,583 --> 00:08:14,792 where they're going to do something about it. 163 00:08:14,833 --> 00:08:16,417 They're going to kill Jesus. 164 00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:18,375 But here's their PR nightmare. 165 00:08:18,458 --> 00:08:21,208 If they go after Jesus in the midst of the crowd 166 00:08:21,292 --> 00:08:25,000 at the height of Passover, then a riot will ensue. 167 00:08:25,083 --> 00:08:26,708 The people will rally around Jesus, 168 00:08:26,792 --> 00:08:30,625 so they have to figure out a way to apprehend and arrest Jesus 169 00:08:30,667 --> 00:08:32,417 when he's secluded from the crowd. 170 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:36,208 They need an in, and they find it in a guy named Judas. 171 00:08:36,292 --> 00:08:39,167 Here's what I want to do today. 172 00:08:39,250 --> 00:08:42,375 I want you to change your perspective of how you look 173 00:08:42,458 --> 00:08:44,333 at your relationship with Jesus. 174 00:08:44,375 --> 00:08:47,083 I want you to begin to see things more pronounced 175 00:08:47,167 --> 00:08:48,833 from Jesus' perspective, 176 00:08:48,875 --> 00:08:51,667 and Jesus' idea, and Jesus' heart, 177 00:08:51,750 --> 00:08:54,208 and I want that to shift the way you think. 178 00:08:54,292 --> 00:08:57,667 So I want you to reverse your role in understanding 179 00:08:57,750 --> 00:08:59,500 your relationship with Jesus. 180 00:08:59,583 --> 00:09:02,125 I want to give you three incentives to do so 181 00:09:02,167 --> 00:09:04,125 that come right out of our text today. 182 00:09:04,167 --> 00:09:07,125 And then I want to walk you through, from my own experience, 183 00:09:07,167 --> 00:09:09,792 the most difficult thing I've ever experienced in my own life, 184 00:09:09,833 --> 00:09:12,500 that you might be able to see how these truths work. 185 00:09:12,583 --> 00:09:16,292 So, first thing I want you to see today as we continue in Luke 186 00:09:16,333 --> 00:09:20,875 is this: His plan, Jesus' plan, is better than yours. 187 00:09:20,958 --> 00:09:22,500 It's better than yours. 188 00:09:22,583 --> 00:09:24,500 Let's look at the story as it continues. 189 00:09:24,583 --> 00:09:28,125 "Then Satan entered Judas called Iscariot, 190 00:09:28,167 --> 00:09:30,833 "who was one of the number of the twelve. 191 00:09:30,875 --> 00:09:34,708 "He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers 192 00:09:34,792 --> 00:09:37,833 "how he might betray him to them. 193 00:09:37,875 --> 00:09:40,417 "And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 194 00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:44,125 "So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him 195 00:09:44,167 --> 00:09:46,500 to them in the absence of a crowd." 196 00:09:46,583 --> 00:09:48,167 There's their in. 197 00:09:48,250 --> 00:09:49,833 They now have a mole. 198 00:09:49,875 --> 00:09:51,292 They have an insider, 199 00:09:51,333 --> 00:09:53,875 one of the key figures on Jesus' senior leadership team, 200 00:09:53,958 --> 00:09:56,833 one of the twelve disciples who's going to betray Jesus 201 00:09:56,875 --> 00:09:59,208 so the religious leaders can come and they can take 202 00:09:59,292 --> 00:10:01,708 him apart from the crowd so they don't create 203 00:10:01,792 --> 00:10:03,708 an enormous stir. 204 00:10:03,792 --> 00:10:07,125 And if you are one of the other disciples, 205 00:10:07,167 --> 00:10:10,292 if you're one of the other eleven that's closely connected 206 00:10:10,333 --> 00:10:13,500 to Jesus, that's anticipating the coming of his kingdom, 207 00:10:13,583 --> 00:10:16,083 this is a really bad day. 208 00:10:16,167 --> 00:10:19,292 Things aren't going according to plan. 209 00:10:19,333 --> 00:10:23,083 What could be worse than one of the guys closest to Jesus 210 00:10:23,167 --> 00:10:28,292 selling him out so that he might be murdered for money? 211 00:10:28,333 --> 00:10:31,625 Peter looked at it this way in an earlier experience. 212 00:10:31,667 --> 00:10:34,625 In Luke 9 we get a picture of Peter, 213 00:10:34,667 --> 00:10:38,125 also recorded in Matthew 16. 214 00:10:38,167 --> 00:10:42,125 And Jesus asked his guys, "Who do people say that I am?" 215 00:10:42,167 --> 00:10:44,833 That's the biggest issue when we come to Jesus, isn't it? 216 00:10:44,875 --> 00:10:46,208 "Who is he? 217 00:10:46,292 --> 00:10:48,000 Who is he?" 218 00:10:48,083 --> 00:10:53,333 And the guys begin to recite and tally off common opinion. 219 00:10:53,375 --> 00:10:57,292 And so some said, "You're John the Baptizer re-birthed." 220 00:10:57,333 --> 00:11:01,000 Or, "You're a prophet of old." 221 00:11:01,083 --> 00:11:04,833 And Jesus said to his guys, "Who do you say that I am?" 222 00:11:04,875 --> 00:11:08,208 And Peter, through the work of the Holy Spirit, 223 00:11:08,292 --> 00:11:12,125 revealed to him by the Father, says, "You're the Christ!" 224 00:11:12,167 --> 00:11:14,375 Peter gets it, Peter nails it. 225 00:11:14,458 --> 00:11:17,625 And then Jesus, with this new understanding of who he is 226 00:11:17,667 --> 00:11:20,917 among his followers, begins to let them know of his plan-- 227 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,500 that he has to go to Jerusalem and die. 228 00:11:23,542 --> 00:11:26,417 And in the very next breath, Peter tries to apprehend him 229 00:11:26,500 --> 00:11:28,417 and say, "No, no, no, don't do that. 230 00:11:28,500 --> 00:11:29,833 That should never happen." 231 00:11:29,875 --> 00:11:32,583 Then Jesus turns to Peter and says, "Away from me Satan." 232 00:11:32,667 --> 00:11:35,125 That's a bad day when you're a follower of Jesus 233 00:11:35,167 --> 00:11:36,792 and Jesus directly calls you "Satan." 234 00:11:36,833 --> 00:11:40,083 Not a good day. 235 00:11:40,167 --> 00:11:43,333 And this is the problem we see with Jesus over and over 236 00:11:43,375 --> 00:11:45,917 and over again in the biblical narrative, 237 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,708 and I believe it's the same problem we see with Jesus 238 00:11:48,792 --> 00:11:51,208 over and over and over again in our own life. 239 00:11:51,292 --> 00:11:55,083 Everybody's got a plan for Jesus. 240 00:11:55,167 --> 00:11:59,083 Everyone wants to co-op the agenda of Jesus. 241 00:11:59,167 --> 00:12:02,125 And we all have plans for what Jesus should do, 242 00:12:02,167 --> 00:12:05,417 but it's not necessarily the plan according to Jesus. 243 00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:08,708 And one of the points that Luke is going to make through 244 00:12:08,792 --> 00:12:11,625 the rest of the narrative that culminates in the death 245 00:12:11,667 --> 00:12:15,208 and resurrection of Jesus is that Jesus is in control. 246 00:12:15,292 --> 00:12:16,833 Jesus is in charge. 247 00:12:16,875 --> 00:12:20,083 Nothing is happening that's a surprise to Jesus. 248 00:12:20,167 --> 00:12:23,375 Even Peter, who had an alternative agenda for Jesus, 249 00:12:23,458 --> 00:12:27,167 gets that after Jesus dies and is resurrected 250 00:12:27,250 --> 00:12:31,292 and the Holy Spirit descends upon the church in Acts 2. 251 00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:34,417 Peter gives the first sermon, and this is what he says, 252 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:38,792 from Acts 2, "Men of Israel, hear these words: 253 00:12:38,833 --> 00:12:42,333 "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you 254 00:12:42,375 --> 00:12:46,000 "by God with mighty works and wonders and signs 255 00:12:46,083 --> 00:12:49,208 "that God did through him in your midst, 256 00:12:49,292 --> 00:12:51,833 as you yourselves know--this Jesus," 257 00:12:51,875 --> 00:12:56,833 listen to this, "delivered up according to the definite plan 258 00:12:56,875 --> 00:13:00,125 "and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed 259 00:13:00,167 --> 00:13:02,000 "by the hands of lawless men. 260 00:13:02,042 --> 00:13:04,833 "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, 261 00:13:04,875 --> 00:13:08,833 because it was not possible for him to be held by it." 262 00:13:08,875 --> 00:13:11,500 You see the shift in Peter's thinking? 263 00:13:11,583 --> 00:13:14,167 Where before Jesus goes to the cross and dies 264 00:13:14,250 --> 00:13:16,625 and is raised again, he said, "You can never die." 265 00:13:16,667 --> 00:13:19,708 Afterwards, he gets the sense of God's plan and the whole thing 266 00:13:19,792 --> 00:13:24,000 and says, "It was by God's divine plan." 267 00:13:24,083 --> 00:13:27,833 His plan is better than yours, quite simply, that's it. 268 00:13:27,875 --> 00:13:33,000 His plan is better than yours. 269 00:13:33,083 --> 00:13:37,667 What's your plan for Jesus today? 270 00:13:40,375 --> 00:13:46,833 Maybe you're hurting because your plan hasn't worked out. 271 00:13:46,875 --> 00:13:49,583 I came from a home that I think is pretty typical 272 00:13:49,667 --> 00:13:52,083 in our country today. 273 00:13:52,167 --> 00:13:54,708 Great parents, loving parents. 274 00:13:54,792 --> 00:13:58,417 My mom was Christian in name; she grew up in a religious home 275 00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:02,292 and thought that because of that she was a Christian. 276 00:14:02,333 --> 00:14:07,208 My dad was raised by a Greek Orthodox father, 277 00:14:07,292 --> 00:14:10,417 and his mother was an atheist, and so he was agnostic. 278 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:13,625 And we would go to church twice a year, Christmas and Easter, 279 00:14:13,667 --> 00:14:15,208 because my grandma would bribe us. 280 00:14:15,292 --> 00:14:18,708 She thought it was important and so we were in it for the food 281 00:14:18,792 --> 00:14:20,625 and we would go. 282 00:14:20,667 --> 00:14:23,792 My mom was an alcoholic. 283 00:14:23,833 --> 00:14:26,208 She was a binge drinker. 284 00:14:26,292 --> 00:14:29,708 And it was New Year's Eve and she was going to another party 285 00:14:29,792 --> 00:14:32,917 and she knew how the night would end, that it would end badly, 286 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,625 that she would be sloppy drunk before the night was over. 287 00:14:35,667 --> 00:14:37,375 And she began to cry and weep 288 00:14:37,458 --> 00:14:39,000 before she even entered the party. 289 00:14:39,083 --> 00:14:42,500 A woman met her at the door, took her by the hand, and said, 290 00:14:42,542 --> 00:14:45,208 "Betty, I want you to join me and some other ladies. 291 00:14:45,292 --> 00:14:46,708 We're studying Jesus in the Bible." 292 00:14:46,792 --> 00:14:49,500 My mom went to the Bible study with them, met Jesus, 293 00:14:49,583 --> 00:14:52,500 and then began to drag me and my little brother to church-- 294 00:14:52,583 --> 00:14:54,708 it wasn't our favorite thing to do early on. 295 00:14:54,792 --> 00:14:56,708 And if that's where you're coming from today, 296 00:14:56,792 --> 00:14:58,708 you're here because someone made you be here, 297 00:14:58,792 --> 00:15:00,583 church grows on you, alright? 298 00:15:00,667 --> 00:15:03,792 So just give it some time; I think it'll work out for you. 299 00:15:03,833 --> 00:15:08,208 We went for several weeks, and one day my dad showed up 300 00:15:08,292 --> 00:15:10,500 at the front door ready to go to church. 301 00:15:10,583 --> 00:15:12,792 He was never going to go to church, 302 00:15:12,833 --> 00:15:15,500 and it was the late '70s, so think of John Travolta, 303 00:15:15,583 --> 00:15:18,000 "Saturday Night Fever," but without any hair. 304 00:15:18,083 --> 00:15:19,500 That was my dad. 305 00:15:19,583 --> 00:15:21,500 He showed up at the door and said, 306 00:15:21,583 --> 00:15:24,708 "If this is the only way I can spend time with my family, 307 00:15:24,792 --> 00:15:27,208 I will go to church but I will never believe." 308 00:15:27,292 --> 00:15:30,208 He lasted 3 weeks and he believed. 309 00:15:30,292 --> 00:15:35,083 And as a 13-year-old boy, 7th grade at the time, 310 00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:39,833 St. Patrick's Day, 1979, I met Jesus. 311 00:15:39,875 --> 00:15:42,125 I'd always thought--and if you're not a Christian today, 312 00:15:42,167 --> 00:15:44,417 maybe this is what you're thinking--I always thought that 313 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:47,667 what it meant to be a Christian was you didn't do certain things 314 00:15:47,750 --> 00:15:50,375 that everyone else did, and you did other things 315 00:15:50,458 --> 00:15:52,000 that no one else did. 316 00:15:52,083 --> 00:15:54,208 And if you did enough of the right things 317 00:15:54,292 --> 00:15:56,208 and you avoided enough of the wrong things, 318 00:15:56,292 --> 00:15:58,000 that at the end of the day 319 00:15:58,042 --> 00:15:59,500 God would tally up your points. 320 00:15:59,583 --> 00:16:02,333 If you had enough points, if you had enough gold stars 321 00:16:02,375 --> 00:16:04,833 on the chart, he would love you and accept you. 322 00:16:04,875 --> 00:16:07,500 And someone sat down with a Bible and explained to me 323 00:16:07,542 --> 00:16:08,875 that's not Christianity. 324 00:16:08,958 --> 00:16:11,375 Christianity's about you could never have enough points to earn 325 00:16:11,458 --> 00:16:14,583 God's favor, but God in love and mercy has sent his Son, Jesus, 326 00:16:14,667 --> 00:16:16,917 that we might be righteous through him. 327 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,917 And I began to pray a prayer that I don't think most 328 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,500 7th grade boys pray, the day after I met Jesus. 329 00:16:23,583 --> 00:16:25,625 And I really thought it was from God. 330 00:16:25,667 --> 00:16:27,500 I began to pray on that day, 331 00:16:27,583 --> 00:16:31,500 "Jesus, give me a son that would change the world." 332 00:16:31,542 --> 00:16:34,125 And I prayed that prayer up until I was 25. 333 00:16:34,167 --> 00:16:37,125 Now, I knew as a 7th-grade boy, some things had to happen 334 00:16:37,167 --> 00:16:38,625 for that prayer to come true. 335 00:16:38,667 --> 00:16:41,125 First of all, I needed to age a little bit, 336 00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:43,625 and then I needed to find a woman, get married, 337 00:16:43,667 --> 00:16:45,000 and have children. 338 00:16:45,083 --> 00:16:47,792 And those things did work out. I was married to Kara. 339 00:16:47,833 --> 00:16:49,417 My oldest daughter, Lisa, was born. 340 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:52,833 She got pregnant again, we found out through the ultrasound 341 00:16:52,875 --> 00:16:55,333 it was going to be a little boy. 342 00:16:55,375 --> 00:16:57,917 Our little boy, David Michael, was born, 343 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,083 a non-eventful delivery. 344 00:17:02,167 --> 00:17:06,000 He came late at night and so after he was born he went into 345 00:17:06,042 --> 00:17:09,417 the newborn nursery and Kara and I retired to 346 00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:10,833 a semi-private room. 347 00:17:10,875 --> 00:17:14,000 I slept on the floor, fell asleep for a few hours. 348 00:17:14,083 --> 00:17:17,000 She woke me in the night and said, "David's not here yet, 349 00:17:17,083 --> 00:17:19,708 "would you go down to the nursery and check on him, 350 00:17:19,792 --> 00:17:21,917 and just make sure everything's okay?" 351 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,500 So I went down to the nursery, he wasn't there. 352 00:17:25,583 --> 00:17:27,833 The nurse there said, "Come with me, Mr. Bruskas, 353 00:17:27,875 --> 00:17:29,417 I've got some bad news." 354 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:33,500 We walked into the NICU, and there he was. 355 00:17:33,583 --> 00:17:36,708 And the poor little guy was just trying to catch his breath. 356 00:17:36,792 --> 00:17:38,625 He was laboring in his breathing, 357 00:17:38,667 --> 00:17:41,167 he was grayish-blue colored, and they said, 358 00:17:41,250 --> 00:17:43,417 "We're not sure what's going on with your boy, 359 00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:47,125 "but something's happening in a pulmonary way with his heart, 360 00:17:47,167 --> 00:17:50,292 "with his lungs, that he's not getting oxygenated blood 361 00:17:50,333 --> 00:17:52,625 "throughout his system, and we need to transport him 362 00:17:52,667 --> 00:17:55,500 to the nearest children's hospital." 363 00:17:55,583 --> 00:17:58,875 And so my father-in-law gave me a ride behind the ambulance 364 00:17:58,958 --> 00:18:02,500 transporting him, and I'll never forget the conversation I had 365 00:18:02,583 --> 00:18:05,333 with Jesus during that ride. 366 00:18:05,375 --> 00:18:09,125 For 13 years I've been praying for this moment. 367 00:18:09,167 --> 00:18:11,167 This was Jesus' plan for my life, 368 00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:14,583 that he would give me a son, and through that son the world 369 00:18:14,667 --> 00:18:18,208 would be different, the world would be changed for him. 370 00:18:18,292 --> 00:18:22,292 And as we made that drive to the children's hospital, 371 00:18:22,333 --> 00:18:25,000 I was hurt and I was angry and I said, 372 00:18:25,042 --> 00:18:26,917 "Jesus, you must have the wrong plan. 373 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,333 "Remember, we had a plan! 374 00:18:31,375 --> 00:18:34,833 "Jesus, you must have the wrong guy. 375 00:18:34,875 --> 00:18:37,417 "We're not on the same page anymore. 376 00:18:37,500 --> 00:18:41,875 "What's happening here? 377 00:18:41,958 --> 00:18:43,500 "God, I don't understand this. 378 00:18:43,542 --> 00:18:48,208 Father, I don't get what's going on." 379 00:18:48,292 --> 00:18:50,500 And I remember in the quietness of my heart, 380 00:18:50,542 --> 00:18:53,875 the way the Father spoke, he said, 381 00:18:53,958 --> 00:18:57,833 "My plan is to change the world through my Son. 382 00:18:57,875 --> 00:18:59,958 "Will you be a part of my plan? 383 00:19:00,083 --> 00:19:04,292 It's a good plan." 384 00:19:04,333 --> 00:19:07,125 Don't know where you're coming from today. 385 00:19:07,167 --> 00:19:09,333 For some of you, you're hurting terribly because life 386 00:19:09,375 --> 00:19:12,167 hasn't worked out according to plan. 387 00:19:12,250 --> 00:19:14,208 Somewhere the script got changed. 388 00:19:14,292 --> 00:19:17,208 Maybe you desired a family with lots of kids, 389 00:19:17,292 --> 00:19:22,500 and the kids are there, but there's no dad, or there's no mom, 390 00:19:22,583 --> 00:19:24,667 you're a single parent. 391 00:19:24,750 --> 00:19:28,208 It's all you can do to summon the energy to get your kids 392 00:19:28,292 --> 00:19:31,333 taken care of and truth be told, 393 00:19:31,375 --> 00:19:35,333 Jesus seems distant and you feel let down by Jesus. 394 00:19:35,375 --> 00:19:38,417 Maybe you always wanted to be married. 395 00:19:38,500 --> 00:19:42,583 Maybe you're single and it's beyond the timeline that you 396 00:19:42,667 --> 00:19:44,833 laid out for yourself to be single. 397 00:19:44,875 --> 00:19:48,500 Maybe you're single, but you once were married to a person 398 00:19:48,583 --> 00:19:52,000 that you thought would be along your side the rest of your life, 399 00:19:52,083 --> 00:19:54,833 and that person was unfaithful, and that person betrayed you, 400 00:19:54,875 --> 00:19:56,625 and that person is now gone. 401 00:19:56,667 --> 00:19:58,292 And you're hurting because Jesus 402 00:19:58,333 --> 00:20:01,500 really hasn't followed your script. 403 00:20:01,583 --> 00:20:04,792 And the result is there's a strain in your relationship 404 00:20:04,833 --> 00:20:08,083 with Jesus. 405 00:20:08,167 --> 00:20:11,167 Maybe you had a good financial plan in place, 406 00:20:11,250 --> 00:20:12,708 and that plan's a wreck. 407 00:20:12,792 --> 00:20:15,292 That's about true of all of us now, isn't it? 408 00:20:15,333 --> 00:20:18,417 Money set aside so that you could be generous and you could have 409 00:20:18,500 --> 00:20:21,625 margin in your life so you can give to the cause of Jesus, 410 00:20:21,667 --> 00:20:23,625 some money set aside for retirement and you've 411 00:20:23,667 --> 00:20:26,375 lost everything in this great recession and you're 412 00:20:26,458 --> 00:20:32,000 back to zero and now you don't have a job, 413 00:20:32,083 --> 00:20:34,083 and you feel that somewhere along the line 414 00:20:34,167 --> 00:20:35,833 Jesus sold you out. 415 00:20:35,875 --> 00:20:37,917 Maybe it's a health issue. 416 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,208 Maybe you did everything right according to the books 417 00:20:40,292 --> 00:20:43,833 to be healthy, and you have cancer, you're not well, 418 00:20:43,875 --> 00:20:47,375 it's a struggle for you just to have energy to do basic things 419 00:20:47,458 --> 00:20:51,708 day in and day out, and you feel let down by Jesus. 420 00:20:51,792 --> 00:20:55,625 Maybe you're not a Christian. 421 00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:59,792 And I love to talk to people who aren't Christians yet. 422 00:20:59,833 --> 00:21:03,667 The people who aren't Christians yet, as it pertains to God, 423 00:21:03,750 --> 00:21:06,917 always have action plans, "I'm going to do this. 424 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:08,708 "I'm going to get my life together. 425 00:21:08,792 --> 00:21:10,500 "I'm going to start going to church. 426 00:21:10,542 --> 00:21:14,125 "I'm going to read my Bible and if I stick with it and stay with 427 00:21:14,167 --> 00:21:17,333 it long enough, eventually I'll come to know Jesus." 428 00:21:17,375 --> 00:21:20,333 It's not an effective plan, according to Jesus. 429 00:21:20,375 --> 00:21:22,917 It's really a plan that will lead you to hell 430 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,208 and separation from Jesus. 431 00:21:26,292 --> 00:21:29,833 There's good news today: He has a plan! 432 00:21:29,875 --> 00:21:33,417 And his plan is good and his plan isn't one-dimensional and 433 00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:36,500 finite like yours because all you can really do with your plan 434 00:21:36,542 --> 00:21:38,917 is figure out your best days. 435 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,167 You can only control the things you can control. 436 00:21:41,250 --> 00:21:43,917 So not only can you not control outside influences, 437 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,208 you can't have any sort of capacity for evil. 438 00:21:47,292 --> 00:21:51,125 But God's plan is a good plan. 439 00:21:51,167 --> 00:21:56,208 God's plan takes the best shot from his archenemy, Satan, 440 00:21:56,292 --> 00:21:58,500 infiltrating the inner circle of Jesus, 441 00:21:58,583 --> 00:22:02,500 having Judas betray Jesus and hand him over for the purpose 442 00:22:02,583 --> 00:22:04,917 of the King being assassinated. 443 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,625 And God doesn't do evil, as Pastor Mark said. 444 00:22:09,667 --> 00:22:12,625 He uses evil. 445 00:22:12,667 --> 00:22:14,833 God has a plan. 446 00:22:14,875 --> 00:22:16,833 Jesus has a plan. 447 00:22:16,875 --> 00:22:21,000 And my hope today is that you'll change your perspective, 448 00:22:21,083 --> 00:22:24,417 you'll reverse your default mode of looking at your plan, 449 00:22:24,500 --> 00:22:27,500 and you'll begin to understand who you are in Jesus' plan 450 00:22:27,583 --> 00:22:30,208 because he loves you. 451 00:22:30,292 --> 00:22:31,875 And his plan is good. 452 00:22:31,958 --> 00:22:34,375 Second thing I want you to see today is this. 453 00:22:34,458 --> 00:22:36,833 Jesus' Word is more reliable than yours. 454 00:22:36,875 --> 00:22:40,833 Let's continue with our story in Luke, verse 7, 455 00:22:40,875 --> 00:22:43,208 "Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, 456 00:22:43,292 --> 00:22:46,500 "on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 457 00:22:46,583 --> 00:22:48,500 "So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, 458 00:22:48,542 --> 00:22:53,000 "'Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.' 459 00:22:53,083 --> 00:22:56,500 "They said to him, 'Where will you have us prepare it?' 460 00:22:56,583 --> 00:22:59,292 "He said to them, 'Behold, when you have entered the city, 461 00:22:59,333 --> 00:23:01,833 "'a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. 462 00:23:01,875 --> 00:23:03,833 "'Follow him into the house that he enters 463 00:23:03,875 --> 00:23:05,625 "'and tell the master of the house, 464 00:23:05,667 --> 00:23:08,125 "'"The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, 465 00:23:08,167 --> 00:23:10,375 "'"where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" 466 00:23:10,458 --> 00:23:12,875 "'And he will show you a large upper room furnished; 467 00:23:12,958 --> 00:23:14,583 "'prepare it there.' 468 00:23:14,667 --> 00:23:17,667 "And they went--" And I want you to focus on this phrase, 469 00:23:17,750 --> 00:23:20,125 'cause you're going to see this over and over again 470 00:23:20,167 --> 00:23:21,500 in the Gospel of Luke, 471 00:23:21,583 --> 00:23:26,000 "And they went and found it just as he had told them, 472 00:23:26,042 --> 00:23:28,875 and they prepared the Passover." 473 00:23:28,958 --> 00:23:30,833 Isn't that a great story? 474 00:23:30,875 --> 00:23:32,708 It's like a spy novel, right? 475 00:23:32,792 --> 00:23:34,500 "Bourne Identity: First Century," 476 00:23:34,583 --> 00:23:39,167 or "Mission Impossible: Jerusalem, Passover File." 477 00:23:39,250 --> 00:23:43,000 Clandestine. Not quite sure what exactly happened before this, 478 00:23:43,042 --> 00:23:45,208 don't know if Jesus just made these arrangements. 479 00:23:45,292 --> 00:23:48,083 I also know that he's God and he can know everything 480 00:23:48,167 --> 00:23:50,917 and do everything without planning like you and I do. 481 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,792 It was very common for all the pilgrims coming to Jerusalem, 482 00:23:54,833 --> 00:23:57,208 who didn't live there, if they were going to celebrate 483 00:23:57,292 --> 00:24:00,417 the Passover meals that they had to find a banquet room. 484 00:24:00,500 --> 00:24:03,583 And so the people in Jerusalem oftentimes made a little money 485 00:24:03,667 --> 00:24:06,875 on the side by renting out rooms. 486 00:24:06,958 --> 00:24:10,000 I want you to focus in on that phrase. 487 00:24:10,083 --> 00:24:13,208 Jesus says something that's predictive. 488 00:24:13,292 --> 00:24:16,792 Jesus says something that we think, "Are you sure?" 489 00:24:16,833 --> 00:24:20,708 And over and over and over again this pattern unfolds 490 00:24:20,792 --> 00:24:25,875 that we find out it's just as Jesus had told them. 491 00:24:25,958 --> 00:24:29,125 And this is an absolute contradiction to the way 492 00:24:29,167 --> 00:24:32,208 the disciples deal with Jesus, 'cause they're saying 493 00:24:32,292 --> 00:24:34,417 crazy things all the time. 494 00:24:34,500 --> 00:24:37,125 They're making commitments to Jesus all the time, 495 00:24:37,167 --> 00:24:39,292 and they rarely follow up on their commitments. 496 00:24:39,333 --> 00:24:41,625 But every time Jesus speaks, 497 00:24:41,667 --> 00:24:44,417 they find out that his Word is true. 498 00:24:44,500 --> 00:24:46,833 His Word is reliable. 499 00:24:46,875 --> 00:24:49,917 His Word is dependable. 500 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,917 Peter, himself, will say in the verses that follow, 501 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,208 during the Last Supper, "Lord, I will never leave you. 502 00:24:57,292 --> 00:24:58,625 "I'll be by your side. 503 00:24:58,667 --> 00:25:00,167 "I'll go to jail with you. 504 00:25:00,250 --> 00:25:02,000 If need be, I'll die with you." 505 00:25:02,083 --> 00:25:04,333 Jesus lets him know, "You're going to betray me 506 00:25:04,375 --> 00:25:05,708 before the sun rises." 507 00:25:05,792 --> 00:25:08,125 And confronted by a teenage girl at a campfire, 508 00:25:08,167 --> 00:25:12,875 Peter gives in and denies Jesus. 509 00:25:12,958 --> 00:25:14,500 But we contrast that with Jesus. 510 00:25:14,583 --> 00:25:18,500 Every time he speaks, it's true. 511 00:25:18,542 --> 00:25:20,500 That's good news. 512 00:25:20,583 --> 00:25:24,000 That's very good news because my word isn't reliable. 513 00:25:24,042 --> 00:25:27,208 Your word, despite your best intentions, not reliable, 514 00:25:27,292 --> 00:25:31,208 no guarantees, not a sure thing, not always certain. 515 00:25:31,292 --> 00:25:33,125 Not so with Jesus. 516 00:25:33,167 --> 00:25:36,833 Whatever Jesus says comes true, and this is critically important 517 00:25:36,875 --> 00:25:39,208 'cause Jesus says a lot of things like this 518 00:25:39,292 --> 00:25:42,833 that aren't overly important, but he says crazy things like, 519 00:25:42,875 --> 00:25:44,292 "I'm going to die," 520 00:25:44,333 --> 00:25:47,000 and "I'm going to raise from the dead in 3 days." 521 00:25:47,042 --> 00:25:49,625 And he sets up the reliability of those bigger things 522 00:25:49,667 --> 00:25:54,792 by being true in the details, in these smaller things. 523 00:25:54,833 --> 00:25:56,833 My word's not reliable. 524 00:25:56,875 --> 00:25:59,125 We have this tradition in the Bruskas home-- 525 00:25:59,167 --> 00:26:01,917 I'm not going to follow through on it during this relocation-- 526 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,125 but every time we move, I make the mistake of telling my kids 527 00:26:05,167 --> 00:26:06,833 we're going to get a new pet. 528 00:26:06,875 --> 00:26:09,125 Kind of like I'm going to cushion the blow, 529 00:26:09,167 --> 00:26:10,625 and you can get a pet. 530 00:26:10,667 --> 00:26:13,125 We had moved from one house in Albuquerque to another, 531 00:26:13,167 --> 00:26:15,125 it was Saturday morning, it was Dad-make-waffle day, 532 00:26:15,167 --> 00:26:17,625 Mom get a break and get outside of the house. 533 00:26:17,667 --> 00:26:20,125 And so we're gathered around waffles, and Jillian looked across 534 00:26:20,167 --> 00:26:22,667 the table and said, "Dad, you're a liar." 535 00:26:22,750 --> 00:26:25,333 Okay, that was a little stern. 536 00:26:25,375 --> 00:26:27,792 Pet was there, we moved, pet wasn't there yet. 537 00:26:27,833 --> 00:26:30,667 I said, "Technically, my dear daughter, I'm not a liar. 538 00:26:30,750 --> 00:26:34,125 "A liar, from the dictionary, from a semantical basis, 539 00:26:34,167 --> 00:26:36,125 "means that you have an intention to deceive. 540 00:26:36,167 --> 00:26:38,625 "Truthfully I'm just unreliable because I said I was going 541 00:26:38,667 --> 00:26:42,417 to do something, and didn't follow through with it." 542 00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:44,708 And she responded, "Quite right, dear father. 543 00:26:44,792 --> 00:26:49,667 That's correct." 544 00:26:49,750 --> 00:26:53,792 Some of you are laboring under the misconception today that 545 00:26:53,833 --> 00:26:56,000 your relationship with Jesus is secured 546 00:26:56,042 --> 00:26:59,125 by a pronouncement you've made. 547 00:26:59,167 --> 00:27:05,917 You make commitments, you've made vows, 548 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:11,125 you've pledged your obedience, and somehow you think that 549 00:27:11,167 --> 00:27:15,083 it's your word that governs your relationship with Jesus, 550 00:27:15,167 --> 00:27:17,208 when the absolute opposite is true. 551 00:27:17,292 --> 00:27:20,167 It's the Word of Jesus that sustains you. 552 00:27:20,250 --> 00:27:25,208 It's the reliability of Jesus that keeps us going. 553 00:27:25,292 --> 00:27:28,583 It's Jesus being true and dependable and reliable 554 00:27:28,667 --> 00:27:31,833 without flaw, without error, without fail, 555 00:27:31,875 --> 00:27:38,000 that keeps us in his good graces and love. 556 00:27:38,083 --> 00:27:41,083 So we got to the hospital, there was a panel of doctors 557 00:27:41,167 --> 00:27:43,792 that began to evaluate our son's case. 558 00:27:43,833 --> 00:27:46,917 Pediatricians, cardiologists, surgeons. 559 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,708 And they got together, and this was the prognosis that they gave 560 00:27:50,792 --> 00:27:52,917 Kara and I about our little boy. 561 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,292 They said, "He's got a congenital heart defect, 562 00:27:55,333 --> 00:27:57,000 "but we think we can fix it. 563 00:27:57,083 --> 00:27:59,708 "At least we can shunt blood around so that he gets 564 00:27:59,792 --> 00:28:01,208 "oxygenated blood to his body. 565 00:28:01,292 --> 00:28:03,708 So here's what we think his life will look like." 566 00:28:03,792 --> 00:28:05,708 And they gave us a very specific analogy. 567 00:28:05,792 --> 00:28:08,875 They said, "He will be the kid that when he's a teenage boy, 568 00:28:08,958 --> 00:28:10,625 "he'll be jumping in the swimming pool, 569 00:28:10,667 --> 00:28:12,000 "diving off the board, 570 00:28:12,083 --> 00:28:14,417 "you know, doing the things that kids do, 571 00:28:14,500 --> 00:28:16,292 "that teenage kids do in swimming pools. 572 00:28:16,333 --> 00:28:19,792 He just won't ever be the kid that can be on the swim team." 573 00:28:19,833 --> 00:28:21,500 That sounded pretty hopeful to me. 574 00:28:21,583 --> 00:28:24,667 As a matter of fact, that wasn't all bad because the last thing 575 00:28:24,750 --> 00:28:27,167 the world needs is another man in a Speedo, right? 576 00:28:27,250 --> 00:28:28,625 So that's okay. 577 00:28:28,667 --> 00:28:31,333 May I have an "amen," sisters today? 578 00:28:31,375 --> 00:28:32,833 Guys, did you hear that? 579 00:28:32,875 --> 00:28:34,833 You wear board shorts to the pool, right? 580 00:28:34,875 --> 00:28:39,333 No one in their right mind wears a Speedo. 581 00:28:39,375 --> 00:28:42,000 And I remember in that moment, getting that good news, 582 00:28:42,083 --> 00:28:45,333 I made this vow, "Jesus, I know it's going to be rough, 583 00:28:45,375 --> 00:28:47,833 "I know there are going to be surgeries that follow, 584 00:28:47,875 --> 00:28:49,833 "I know there will be uncertainty at times, 585 00:28:49,875 --> 00:28:51,875 "but I will not back away. 586 00:28:51,958 --> 00:28:53,500 "I will not waiver. 587 00:28:53,583 --> 00:28:55,875 "I'm going to be, not only strong with you, 588 00:28:55,958 --> 00:28:58,875 "I'm going to be the man my family needs me to be. 589 00:28:58,958 --> 00:29:00,333 "I'm going to lead. 590 00:29:00,375 --> 00:29:03,417 I will never back down." 591 00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:06,208 Several surgeries and several weeks later, 592 00:29:06,292 --> 00:29:08,292 things hadn't gotten any better. 593 00:29:08,333 --> 00:29:12,583 Quite frankly, they were a lot worse. 594 00:29:12,667 --> 00:29:14,792 During the major surgeries, after he was finished, 595 00:29:14,833 --> 00:29:17,583 we would try to extubate him with the doctor's help, 596 00:29:17,667 --> 00:29:20,417 and remove the tube that helped him breathe. 597 00:29:20,500 --> 00:29:22,417 And it was brutal. 598 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:25,500 Poor little guy would just heave and cry, 599 00:29:25,542 --> 00:29:29,708 like a fish out of water, 600 00:29:29,792 --> 00:29:32,917 couldn't get any oxygen in his lungs. 601 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,167 We would have to re-intubate him. 602 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,500 And one complication led to another; now there were ulcers, 603 00:29:42,583 --> 00:29:45,417 now there were infections. 604 00:29:45,500 --> 00:29:49,417 And on one Saturday night I was reading a book by his bed, 605 00:29:49,500 --> 00:29:52,792 Kara was at home with Lisa, and I just happened to look up, 606 00:29:52,833 --> 00:29:55,083 and blood began to drip through his NG tube 607 00:29:55,167 --> 00:29:57,000 that was feeding him. 608 00:29:57,083 --> 00:30:00,000 And I called the nurse in and the nurse then summoned doctors. 609 00:30:00,083 --> 00:30:02,000 Doctors came into the room, they said, 610 00:30:02,083 --> 00:30:04,375 "We're going to have to ask you to leave. 611 00:30:04,458 --> 00:30:06,667 We'll get back to you in a minute." 612 00:30:06,750 --> 00:30:08,500 And I was done. 613 00:30:08,583 --> 00:30:10,083 I was finished. 614 00:30:10,167 --> 00:30:13,625 I had nothing left, especially as it related to Jesus. 615 00:30:13,667 --> 00:30:16,083 I had made the vows, I had made the promises, 616 00:30:16,167 --> 00:30:18,500 but I couldn't keep them. 617 00:30:18,583 --> 00:30:21,292 And it was in a day before cell phones were prevalent. 618 00:30:21,333 --> 00:30:24,292 I remember making my way to the pay phone, picking it up, 619 00:30:24,333 --> 00:30:27,000 calling my mom, and saying, "You've got to pray to Jesus 620 00:30:27,083 --> 00:30:28,417 "because I can't anymore. 621 00:30:28,500 --> 00:30:31,208 "I'm not sure where I'm coming from or what I believe, 622 00:30:31,292 --> 00:30:35,292 but I don't have strength." 623 00:30:39,292 --> 00:30:43,667 You need to understand. 624 00:30:43,750 --> 00:30:49,875 It's the quality and reliability of his Word that sustains us. 625 00:30:49,958 --> 00:30:53,625 And over and over again throughout this Gospel, 626 00:30:53,667 --> 00:30:57,708 we find Jesus saying things that we tend to be dismissive of or 627 00:30:57,792 --> 00:31:00,500 doubtful towards, and again and again and again, guess what? 628 00:31:00,583 --> 00:31:04,000 They prove to be true. 629 00:31:04,083 --> 00:31:07,000 Non-Christian, listen to me. 630 00:31:07,042 --> 00:31:10,917 Don't think just because you've made a vow to Jesus 631 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,708 in a tight spot that you're in right relationship with him. 632 00:31:15,792 --> 00:31:18,625 I met a guy named Jimmy when I was in college 633 00:31:18,667 --> 00:31:20,583 who served in Vietnam. 634 00:31:20,667 --> 00:31:22,125 He was a tunnel rat. 635 00:31:22,167 --> 00:31:24,625 His job was to go in and extricate the enemy 636 00:31:24,667 --> 00:31:26,708 from their tunnel system. 637 00:31:26,792 --> 00:31:29,500 And he was in so many tight spots that he had, 638 00:31:29,583 --> 00:31:32,000 in the midst of one of those very tight spots, 639 00:31:32,083 --> 00:31:35,500 made a vow to Jesus, saying, "If you will just let me get through 640 00:31:35,583 --> 00:31:38,167 this war, I will serve you the rest of my life." 641 00:31:38,250 --> 00:31:41,167 I met Jimmy 20 years later and he was a washed-up drunk. 642 00:31:41,250 --> 00:31:44,583 And his life was totally disconnected from Jesus. 643 00:31:44,667 --> 00:31:48,083 You need to understand, his Word is reliable. 644 00:31:48,167 --> 00:31:49,625 His Word is true. 645 00:31:49,667 --> 00:31:51,417 His Word is effective. 646 00:31:51,500 --> 00:31:53,167 His Word is sustaining. 647 00:31:53,250 --> 00:31:56,583 Your word, not so much. 648 00:31:56,667 --> 00:31:59,417 Will you turn your perspective? 649 00:31:59,500 --> 00:32:02,500 Will you change your outlook today? 650 00:32:02,583 --> 00:32:06,125 Will you repent and not let your relationship with Jesus be about 651 00:32:06,167 --> 00:32:08,708 your vows, your commitments, your pronouncements, 652 00:32:08,792 --> 00:32:12,000 but instead trust in his promises because they're true 653 00:32:12,042 --> 00:32:16,583 and they're reliable and they're good? 654 00:32:19,167 --> 00:32:22,083 Last point and we're done. 655 00:32:22,167 --> 00:32:25,125 Let's get to the heart of Communion. 656 00:32:25,167 --> 00:32:27,375 His love is bigger than yours. 657 00:32:27,458 --> 00:32:34,000 Luke 22:14, "And when the hour came, he reclined at table, 658 00:32:34,042 --> 00:32:36,500 "and the apostles with him. 659 00:32:36,542 --> 00:32:41,917 "And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired-- 660 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,333 "'I have earnestly desired-- I have earnestly desired 661 00:32:46,375 --> 00:32:49,833 "'to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 662 00:32:49,875 --> 00:32:54,083 "'For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled 663 00:32:54,167 --> 00:32:56,125 in the kingdom of God.'" 664 00:32:56,167 --> 00:32:58,792 I want you to understand something that's going on there 665 00:32:58,833 --> 00:33:01,375 in the original language of the Bible. 666 00:33:01,458 --> 00:33:03,875 Jesus likely spoke in Aramaic. 667 00:33:03,958 --> 00:33:06,208 The Bible was written in Koine Greek, 668 00:33:06,292 --> 00:33:09,833 an ancient Greek language, and that phrase that's translated 669 00:33:09,875 --> 00:33:14,000 "earnestly desire" is the same word twice. 670 00:33:14,042 --> 00:33:17,833 It means Jesus is emotionally charged up. 671 00:33:17,875 --> 00:33:21,500 Jesus is passionate. 672 00:33:21,583 --> 00:33:25,000 Jesus is having a big time come-to-Jesus moment 673 00:33:25,083 --> 00:33:29,417 with his disciples. 674 00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:32,500 I think John captures it best, another disciple that was 675 00:33:32,583 --> 00:33:35,708 at this meal, when he says in his Gospel account that Jesus 676 00:33:35,792 --> 00:33:41,208 loved his disciples to the end. 677 00:33:41,292 --> 00:33:45,125 Why would Jesus be so excited about this? 678 00:33:45,167 --> 00:33:48,500 I can think of two reasons for sure that it wouldn't be. 679 00:33:48,583 --> 00:33:50,792 One, perhaps, Jesus is just a traditionalist 680 00:33:50,833 --> 00:33:53,333 and the Passover is such a sentimental thing. 681 00:33:53,375 --> 00:33:59,708 He'd been celebrating it now for probably 32 years. 682 00:33:59,792 --> 00:34:02,500 But he's about to change the meaning of it forever. 683 00:34:02,542 --> 00:34:04,583 He's about to fulfill Passover. 684 00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:08,917 He is about to become, as John the Baptizer proclaimed, 685 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,583 "And behold, the Lamb of God, 686 00:34:10,667 --> 00:34:13,000 who takes away the sin of the world." 687 00:34:13,083 --> 00:34:16,625 So I don't think it's that. 688 00:34:16,667 --> 00:34:19,708 I can't imagine that it was the food that Jesus liked, 689 00:34:19,792 --> 00:34:23,708 that it was the unleavened bread and the bitter cups to drink 690 00:34:23,792 --> 00:34:28,500 and the roasted lamb. 691 00:34:28,542 --> 00:34:31,500 Isn't this the same Jesus who said, 692 00:34:31,583 --> 00:34:33,333 "Man does not live by bread alone, 693 00:34:33,375 --> 00:34:38,500 but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God"? 694 00:34:41,583 --> 00:34:45,208 I think Jesus is fully aware of what he's about to accomplish. 695 00:34:45,292 --> 00:34:49,917 That he is going to redeem his disciples. 696 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,833 That their relationship will forever be changed 697 00:34:52,875 --> 00:34:55,917 because he's going to go to the cross, die for their sin. 698 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,500 He's going to become their sin, that they might become 699 00:34:58,583 --> 00:35:01,417 the righteousness of God, and they are going to have 700 00:35:01,500 --> 00:35:03,583 a new relationship going forward 701 00:35:03,667 --> 00:35:06,333 that ultimately will be perfected in the kingdom of God 702 00:35:06,375 --> 00:35:09,125 where they will live in perfect relationship with him 703 00:35:09,167 --> 00:35:11,125 and worship him all the time. 704 00:35:11,167 --> 00:35:17,917 And he is passionate about that end. 705 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,333 Don't forget when you take Communion today, 706 00:35:21,375 --> 00:35:25,500 it means a lot to Jesus. 707 00:35:25,583 --> 00:35:28,417 That he earnestly desires to have this family meal 708 00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:29,833 with us today. 709 00:35:29,875 --> 00:35:32,500 That he loves you. 710 00:35:32,542 --> 00:35:35,667 Let's look at the text. 711 00:35:35,750 --> 00:35:38,708 He gives more meaning, "He took a cup, 712 00:35:38,792 --> 00:35:40,833 "and when he had given thanks he said, 713 00:35:40,875 --> 00:35:42,625 "'Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 714 00:35:42,667 --> 00:35:46,333 "'For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit 715 00:35:46,375 --> 00:35:49,875 "'of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' 716 00:35:49,958 --> 00:35:52,792 "And he took the bread, and when he had given thanks, 717 00:35:52,833 --> 00:35:56,500 "he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, 718 00:35:56,583 --> 00:35:58,792 "'which is given for you. 719 00:35:58,833 --> 00:36:01,708 "'Do this in remembrance of me.' 720 00:36:01,792 --> 00:36:05,125 "And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 721 00:36:05,167 --> 00:36:11,208 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant.'" 722 00:36:11,292 --> 00:36:14,167 Underline that, highlight that, circle that. 723 00:36:14,250 --> 00:36:15,875 We'll come back to that. 724 00:36:15,958 --> 00:36:18,417 "'This is the new covenant in my blood. 725 00:36:18,500 --> 00:36:21,708 "'But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me 726 00:36:21,792 --> 00:36:23,125 "'on the table. 727 00:36:23,167 --> 00:36:25,875 "'For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, 728 00:36:25,958 --> 00:36:28,625 "'but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!' 729 00:36:28,667 --> 00:36:31,000 "And they began to question one another, 730 00:36:31,083 --> 00:36:36,167 which of them it could be who was going to do this." 731 00:36:36,250 --> 00:36:39,125 Understand what Jesus is saying. 732 00:36:39,167 --> 00:36:41,125 You really have to have a panoramic view 733 00:36:41,167 --> 00:36:43,625 of the whole Bible to understand the significance of what 734 00:36:43,667 --> 00:36:45,417 he just told his disciples. 735 00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:48,500 That this meal they're having is about to be forever changed 736 00:36:48,583 --> 00:36:51,083 through his body and his blood, and through his work 737 00:36:51,167 --> 00:36:53,375 on the cross on our behalf. 738 00:36:53,458 --> 00:36:56,167 And he says something that's absolutely profound 739 00:36:56,250 --> 00:36:58,292 that you can't move past quickly. 740 00:36:58,333 --> 00:37:02,083 And that is, "It's the blood of the new covenant." 741 00:37:05,333 --> 00:37:08,500 The Bible provides us this concept, start to finish, 742 00:37:08,583 --> 00:37:14,208 that God pursues sinful, undeserving people 743 00:37:14,292 --> 00:37:16,333 through covenant. 744 00:37:16,375 --> 00:37:20,417 And God makes a promise to a man named Abram in Genesis 12, 745 00:37:20,500 --> 00:37:23,417 that from Abram he will produce a great nation, 746 00:37:23,500 --> 00:37:26,500 that Abram's name will be great, and through his descendants 747 00:37:26,542 --> 00:37:28,125 and the nation that forms, 748 00:37:28,167 --> 00:37:31,417 he will bless all the families of the earth. 749 00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:35,000 Then God defines the covenant a little bit further when he 750 00:37:35,083 --> 00:37:39,875 ransoms his people out of Egypt, and that's known in the Bible 751 00:37:39,958 --> 00:37:41,917 as the old covenant. 752 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,625 And because God loves them, because God has forgiven them, 753 00:37:44,667 --> 00:37:46,500 because God's mercy is upon them, 754 00:37:46,542 --> 00:37:50,917 he gives them--plays out to be 613 commandments that they keep, 755 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,375 not so that he will love them, but because that 756 00:37:53,458 --> 00:37:56,333 they have--because that he has, rather, 757 00:37:56,375 --> 00:37:59,000 and that they can now live in right relationship, 758 00:37:59,042 --> 00:38:01,333 worshiping him. 759 00:38:01,375 --> 00:38:03,792 But as the Old Testament begins to unfold, 760 00:38:03,833 --> 00:38:06,625 there's this problem: God's people don't really love him 761 00:38:06,667 --> 00:38:10,625 very well, and they don't obey him. 762 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:13,500 And God makes an amazing promise in the book of Jeremiah 763 00:38:13,542 --> 00:38:15,500 that I want to read for you. 764 00:38:15,542 --> 00:38:20,667 Jeremiah 31:31, "Behold--" and I want you to pay attention 765 00:38:20,750 --> 00:38:23,500 to a repetitive phrase over and over again here. 766 00:38:23,583 --> 00:38:26,375 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, 767 00:38:26,458 --> 00:38:29,417 "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel 768 00:38:29,500 --> 00:38:30,917 "and the house of Judah, 769 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,583 "not like the covenant that I made with their fathers 770 00:38:33,667 --> 00:38:36,708 "on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them 771 00:38:36,792 --> 00:38:39,417 "out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, 772 00:38:39,500 --> 00:38:41,500 "though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 773 00:38:41,583 --> 00:38:44,583 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house 774 00:38:44,667 --> 00:38:48,125 "of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: 775 00:38:48,167 --> 00:38:53,083 "I will put my law within them, 776 00:38:53,167 --> 00:38:55,208 "and I will write it on their hearts. 777 00:38:55,292 --> 00:38:58,792 "I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 778 00:38:58,833 --> 00:39:01,625 "And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor 779 00:39:01,667 --> 00:39:03,708 "and each other, saying, 'Know the Lord,' 780 00:39:03,792 --> 00:39:06,625 "for they shall all know me, from the least of them 781 00:39:06,667 --> 00:39:08,875 "to the greatest, declares the Lord. 782 00:39:08,958 --> 00:39:11,167 "For I will forgive their iniquity, 783 00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:13,667 and I will remember their sin no more." 784 00:39:13,750 --> 00:39:17,625 What phrase, Mars Hill, do you see over and over again? 785 00:39:17,667 --> 00:39:20,708 "I will. I will. 786 00:39:20,792 --> 00:39:22,417 I will." 787 00:39:22,500 --> 00:39:28,667 God the Father says to his people, "I will do this. 788 00:39:28,750 --> 00:39:30,667 "I will rectify this. 789 00:39:30,750 --> 00:39:32,792 "I will change this. 790 00:39:32,833 --> 00:39:34,708 I will fix this." 791 00:39:34,792 --> 00:39:38,875 Jesus comes, and during the Passover meal, he says, 792 00:39:38,958 --> 00:39:42,500 "It's my blood," and blood was necessary for the execution 793 00:39:42,583 --> 00:39:43,917 of a covenant. 794 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,833 "It's my blood by all these--by which all these 'I will' 795 00:39:46,875 --> 00:39:49,000 promises will come good." 796 00:39:49,083 --> 00:39:52,333 So Jesus is saying to his disciples, God, 797 00:39:52,375 --> 00:39:56,125 out of his love for his people, is bringing forgiveness, 798 00:39:56,167 --> 00:39:59,708 bringing reconciliation, giving them his Spirit that they 799 00:39:59,792 --> 00:40:02,875 might live in a free life, in a transformed life, 800 00:40:02,958 --> 00:40:05,167 being obedient from the inside out. 801 00:40:05,250 --> 00:40:07,917 And he's doing it perfectly through the shed blood 802 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,208 of Jesus Christ. 803 00:40:10,292 --> 00:40:14,167 That's good news. 804 00:40:14,250 --> 00:40:16,125 That's good news! 805 00:40:16,167 --> 00:40:18,208 That's the best news. 806 00:40:18,292 --> 00:40:21,375 It means that there's a way now, through Jesus, 807 00:40:21,458 --> 00:40:24,417 through his perfect life, through his sacrificial death, 808 00:40:24,500 --> 00:40:26,417 through his victorious resurrection, 809 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:29,417 that you and I might have a relationship with God, 810 00:40:29,500 --> 00:40:35,333 one that's without sin, both positionally and practically. 811 00:40:35,375 --> 00:40:39,500 I want you to see that his love his bigger than yours. 812 00:40:39,583 --> 00:40:43,125 And I want you to stop looking at your relationship with Jesus 813 00:40:43,167 --> 00:40:48,083 based upon how you love him, and instead see that he loves you. 814 00:40:48,167 --> 00:40:50,708 And not just an abstract, conceptual love, 815 00:40:50,792 --> 00:40:55,750 but a love that's spelled out in his own blood. 816 00:40:58,375 --> 00:41:01,125 That's what this meal's all about that we're going to share 817 00:41:01,167 --> 00:41:04,083 together today. 818 00:41:04,167 --> 00:41:08,667 It's about his love for you. 819 00:41:12,667 --> 00:41:16,167 Our son died on December 15. 820 00:41:16,250 --> 00:41:18,708 Things got really bad in the last couple days. 821 00:41:18,792 --> 00:41:22,333 The doctors, on the 15th, summoned Kara and I 822 00:41:22,375 --> 00:41:27,792 into the room and said, "There's nothing more we can do." 823 00:41:27,833 --> 00:41:30,667 They said, "As a matter of fact, he's only breathing through 824 00:41:30,750 --> 00:41:32,333 "the mechanism of a life support. 825 00:41:32,375 --> 00:41:36,000 We think you need to remove it now." 826 00:41:36,042 --> 00:41:38,917 So we prayed and we discussed it and we talked about it. 827 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:42,000 And it became evident that he had declined rapidly 828 00:41:42,083 --> 00:41:45,667 and there didn't appear to be any life left. 829 00:41:45,750 --> 00:41:49,333 And so we signed the paper that you have to sign to absolve 830 00:41:49,375 --> 00:41:52,000 the hospital and the doctors from any liability. 831 00:41:52,083 --> 00:41:55,292 And then they let me take him in my arms, 832 00:41:55,333 --> 00:42:01,792 and they disconnected his tubes, and he was gone in an instant. 833 00:42:01,833 --> 00:42:05,000 And then Kara and I held him, 'cause we couldn't hold him 834 00:42:05,083 --> 00:42:07,125 very often when he was constrained by tubes. 835 00:42:07,167 --> 00:42:09,667 And we had Lisa, his older sister, come in, 836 00:42:09,750 --> 00:42:12,000 and she got to kiss him on the cheek. 837 00:42:12,083 --> 00:42:16,625 And family members came and cried over him and held him. 838 00:42:16,667 --> 00:42:19,917 They allowed us to have as much time with him as we wanted 839 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,333 to have, and we stayed for quite awhile. 840 00:42:22,375 --> 00:42:24,917 And we put him back on his little hospital bed. 841 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,875 And as we were leaving the room, I remember looking back 842 00:42:27,958 --> 00:42:30,125 one more time, saying, "Jesus, it's not too late. 843 00:42:30,167 --> 00:42:32,833 "If you want to raise him right here, right now, 844 00:42:32,875 --> 00:42:34,333 I'll gladly receive him." 845 00:42:34,375 --> 00:42:37,125 Nothing. 846 00:42:37,167 --> 00:42:39,792 All of a sudden, my mind was filled with fog. 847 00:42:39,833 --> 00:42:41,500 You ever have a foggy mind? 848 00:42:41,583 --> 00:42:43,167 Ever been depressed? 849 00:42:43,250 --> 00:42:45,333 Everything's foggy. 850 00:42:45,375 --> 00:42:49,708 My heart was cold, particularly towards Jesus. 851 00:42:49,792 --> 00:42:52,417 Went home and didn't sleep well that night. 852 00:42:52,500 --> 00:42:55,208 Got up the next day and just started raking leaves; 853 00:42:55,292 --> 00:42:57,833 just had to do something. 854 00:42:57,875 --> 00:43:00,417 Fall had happened, we were living in Texas. 855 00:43:00,500 --> 00:43:03,375 Fall had happened in the months that I was in the hospital, 856 00:43:03,458 --> 00:43:06,333 there was a lot of yard work to keep up with, 857 00:43:06,375 --> 00:43:08,125 and raked leaves for a day. 858 00:43:08,167 --> 00:43:10,708 Next day, went to the funeral home, made arrangements. 859 00:43:10,792 --> 00:43:13,333 Mind was still foggy. 860 00:43:13,375 --> 00:43:16,667 Heart was still cold. 861 00:43:16,750 --> 00:43:21,875 The day of the funeral came and for some close friends 862 00:43:21,958 --> 00:43:24,000 and family members, we had a viewing, 863 00:43:24,042 --> 00:43:28,083 and so people came in and could say their goodbyes and closed 864 00:43:28,167 --> 00:43:33,000 the casket and wheeled it into the funeral home 865 00:43:33,042 --> 00:43:37,417 where we were having a service. 866 00:43:37,500 --> 00:43:39,292 Still cold towards Jesus. 867 00:43:39,333 --> 00:43:41,083 Totally cold. 868 00:43:41,167 --> 00:43:43,375 Didn't know what I was going to do. 869 00:43:43,458 --> 00:43:45,208 Didn't know what the future held. 870 00:43:45,292 --> 00:43:49,708 Didn't even know, honestly, what I felt or thought about Jesus. 871 00:43:49,792 --> 00:43:54,833 Then the service began. 872 00:43:54,875 --> 00:43:57,667 The most amazing thing I've ever experienced in my life. 873 00:43:57,750 --> 00:44:00,333 I was sitting there with Kara, I had her, 874 00:44:00,375 --> 00:44:04,833 holding her on one side and she was crying and I was cold. 875 00:44:04,875 --> 00:44:07,792 And it was as if Jesus came in on the other side, 876 00:44:07,833 --> 00:44:09,667 like my big brother. 877 00:44:09,750 --> 00:44:11,208 Put his arm around me. 878 00:44:11,292 --> 00:44:13,833 Not just my cool big brother, but my big brother 879 00:44:13,875 --> 00:44:16,583 who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. 880 00:44:16,667 --> 00:44:22,333 Pulled me close, and as if he said, "I got this. 881 00:44:22,375 --> 00:44:23,833 "I got this. 882 00:44:23,875 --> 00:44:25,625 "This is what I came for. 883 00:44:25,667 --> 00:44:28,333 "And I'm not letting you go. 884 00:44:28,375 --> 00:44:31,333 "Don't worry about your heart because it's my heart 885 00:44:31,375 --> 00:44:33,833 that keeps this thing going." 886 00:44:33,875 --> 00:44:37,375 And after the funeral was done, we had a graveside service. 887 00:44:37,458 --> 00:44:40,917 We put the casket in the ground, and after the first couple 888 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,583 of shovelfuls of dirt were thrown in, 889 00:44:43,667 --> 00:44:47,417 a guy played a trumpet solo of "Amazing Grace," 890 00:44:47,500 --> 00:44:49,667 and those words, even though no one was singing, 891 00:44:49,750 --> 00:44:54,417 just caught me. 892 00:44:54,500 --> 00:44:57,833 And in that moment, I knew the presence of Jesus like 893 00:44:57,875 --> 00:45:01,500 I've never known before or since. 894 00:45:01,583 --> 00:45:05,083 He was there and he loved me. 895 00:45:05,167 --> 00:45:08,708 He warmed my heart, he restored my heart, 896 00:45:08,792 --> 00:45:11,417 and it wasn't through my effort, and it wasn't through 897 00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:13,833 my ability, 'cause I had nothing left to give 898 00:45:13,875 --> 00:45:18,125 and I didn't know that I wanted to. 899 00:45:18,167 --> 00:45:20,792 See, that's what this meal really is all about. 900 00:45:20,833 --> 00:45:24,000 You know what is going to happen in our story that Pastor Mark 901 00:45:24,083 --> 00:45:25,417 will pick up on next? 902 00:45:25,500 --> 00:45:27,792 You know what the disciples do after this amazing 903 00:45:27,833 --> 00:45:29,167 intimate moment with Jesus? 904 00:45:29,250 --> 00:45:31,500 They start arguing about who's the greatest. 905 00:45:31,583 --> 00:45:33,417 Isn't that just like them? 906 00:45:33,500 --> 00:45:35,125 It's just like us, isn't it? 907 00:45:35,167 --> 00:45:38,125 You know what Jesus does in light of that? 908 00:45:38,167 --> 00:45:41,417 He goes to the cross. 909 00:45:41,500 --> 00:45:44,500 He pays for their sins. 910 00:45:44,583 --> 00:45:46,917 According to Scripture, he rises from the dead 911 00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:49,708 for their justification. 912 00:45:49,792 --> 00:45:54,292 And he transforms them and they change the world. 913 00:45:58,500 --> 00:46:02,583 I want you to take Communion differently today. 914 00:46:06,375 --> 00:46:12,667 Christian, it's not a time to be morose and morbid. 915 00:46:16,667 --> 00:46:19,500 It's time to realize that your Creator, 916 00:46:19,583 --> 00:46:21,917 according to Colossians 1, the Lord Jesus, 917 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,625 through whom every one and every thing was created, 918 00:46:24,667 --> 00:46:28,125 until ultimately everything returns, he loves you. 919 00:46:28,167 --> 00:46:32,333 He's eager to have this meal with us together today, family. 920 00:46:32,375 --> 00:46:35,583 'Cause he loves us and his love isn't abstract. 921 00:46:35,667 --> 00:46:37,708 It's an efficacious type of love. 922 00:46:37,792 --> 00:46:39,708 It's a thick love. 923 00:46:39,792 --> 00:46:42,208 It's a transforming love. 924 00:46:42,292 --> 00:46:45,083 It's a love that's spelled out in blood. 925 00:46:45,167 --> 00:46:48,292 It's a love that we remember with bread and wine. 926 00:46:48,333 --> 00:46:53,500 Will you change your focus today and focus on what this meal 927 00:46:53,583 --> 00:46:55,875 means to Jesus? 928 00:46:55,958 --> 00:47:02,000 Non-Christian, how about today--how about today you take 929 00:47:02,083 --> 00:47:06,125 your first Communion as a new Christian? 930 00:47:06,167 --> 00:47:08,833 I have non-Christians ask me this all the time, 931 00:47:08,875 --> 00:47:11,208 "Pastor Dave, I understand intellectually what it means 932 00:47:11,292 --> 00:47:12,833 "to become a Christian, 933 00:47:12,875 --> 00:47:16,208 "that you turn from your sin and you trust in Jesus alone. 934 00:47:16,292 --> 00:47:18,208 But I don't understand what it feels like." 935 00:47:18,292 --> 00:47:20,208 Let me tell you what it feels like. 936 00:47:20,292 --> 00:47:22,208 Two things are going on simultaneously right now 937 00:47:22,292 --> 00:47:23,625 in your heart. 938 00:47:23,667 --> 00:47:25,500 One is much greater than the other. 939 00:47:25,542 --> 00:47:28,208 The first thing that's happening there is you begin to feel 940 00:47:28,292 --> 00:47:31,000 a sense of guilt and brokenness and legitimate shame 941 00:47:31,083 --> 00:47:33,917 over the fact that this very Jesus, who has loved you, 942 00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:36,500 who has pursued you, who has died for your sin, 943 00:47:36,583 --> 00:47:38,500 you've rebelled against and you've resisted, 944 00:47:38,542 --> 00:47:41,625 and you feel legitimately bad about that. 945 00:47:41,667 --> 00:47:43,375 But there's a second feeling 946 00:47:43,458 --> 00:47:45,708 that overcomes the first feeling, 947 00:47:45,792 --> 00:47:48,208 and that's the realization that you're loved 948 00:47:48,292 --> 00:47:50,292 and that you're pursued. 949 00:47:50,333 --> 00:47:53,000 And it's through his perfect life, his substitutionary death, 950 00:47:53,042 --> 00:47:57,208 his subsequent resurrection that you might be forgiven of sin 951 00:47:57,292 --> 00:48:01,292 and freed to walk in a new life, revolving around him, 952 00:48:01,333 --> 00:48:03,208 worshiping him. 953 00:48:03,292 --> 00:48:05,833 Will you respond to him today? 954 00:48:05,875 --> 00:48:08,417 Let's pray. 955 00:48:08,500 --> 00:48:15,375 Lord Jesus, thank you that it's your love that changes. 956 00:48:15,458 --> 00:48:18,292 Thank you that your disciple, John, later says, 957 00:48:18,333 --> 00:48:20,833 "And this is love, not that we have loved God, 958 00:48:20,875 --> 00:48:24,875 but that he loved us." 959 00:48:24,958 --> 00:48:28,292 And that his Son, you Jesus, are our propitiation for sin. 960 00:48:28,333 --> 00:48:31,000 You are the answer to the sin-issue 961 00:48:31,083 --> 00:48:32,917 that separates us from you. 962 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:34,625 Thank you that you love us. 963 00:48:34,667 --> 00:48:36,333 Thank you that you sustain us. 964 00:48:36,375 --> 00:48:38,917 Thank you that you free us. 965 00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:42,500 Pray that as we share this meal together today as a family, 966 00:48:42,583 --> 00:48:44,333 we would see it differently. 967 00:48:44,375 --> 00:48:47,500 I pray for those in the room who are not yet Christians, 968 00:48:47,583 --> 00:48:49,708 that they would meet you in this very moment, 969 00:48:49,792 --> 00:48:52,417 that they would turn from sin, that they would trust you, 970 00:48:52,500 --> 00:48:55,208 not just with a head knowledge, but with an affected heart. 971 00:48:55,292 --> 00:48:57,917 And that together we would walk out of this place 972 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:01,375 radically transformed, on mission with you, 973 00:49:01,458 --> 00:49:05,792 to tell the whole world about this great love. 974 00:49:05,833 --> 00:49:08,333 In your good name we pray, amen.