Uncanny Hope

Transcript

To the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 21. Gospel according to Luke, chapter 21. And when you found Luke 21, go ahead and stand for our gospel reading this morning.

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Now, if you've been with us for a few weeks, these words may sound familiar, okay? So notice these words. This is the word of God. This morning for us, Jesus said there will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, and on the earth, distress among nations. Confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.

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People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Then he told them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees.

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As soon as they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness.

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And the worries of this life and that day catch you unexpectedly like a trap, for it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of man. Jesus, thank you for your words right here to us, given 2,000 years ago and yet. And yet, Lord, pregnant with meaning for us today. So help us to see.

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Help us to hear your voice. We pray in your name. Amen. And you can be seated.

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Well, Advent is upon us, and ready or not, here it comes kind of thing, you know, And I'm kind of one of these or not, right at this point in my life. It's came quick. But you know what? Comings are like that, aren't they? Arrivals are like that sometimes.

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We've had a case where we all of a sudden got a phone call and somebody was coming to the house. And you know what we all were doing within the minutes before they got there? We were scrambling to clean the house. You know what I mean? Does anybody else do that?

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Oh, your house is perfectly pristine, right? All the time. Yes, I'm sure it is. Okay. But Jessica will begin to direct everyone in that house to Start cleaning up and throwing things in closets, right?

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In other words, we're clearing the way, okay? It might not be cleaned up properly, but it's going to be gone, okay? We're preparing a way for those guests to come in there and be like, oh, man, how'd your house look so nice? You know, it's like, well, it didn't 15 minutes ago, but it does now, you know? Okay, listen, Advent is a little bit like that.

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We're probably not ready, okay, to meet the main. The Savior in a manger, all right? But we're gonna. We have four Sundays to get ready, all right? So he's given us a little time.

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And this is the church. This is the church's way, okay? In our liturgical year, in our. In our worshipful year, remember, liturgy just means the work of the people. That's literally what the term means.

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The work of the people for what? The work of worship. That's what it is. Worship is work. That's why our services are responsive.

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And so the. There's four Sundays where we get an opportunity to clean house. Think about that real quick. To clean our house, to make a way for Christ to come into our soul. Maybe last year and maybe this year has been just busy and crazy and you know how it goes.

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Just like your garage, perhaps, right? It's like, I just cleaned out the garage this week. I think this week is crazy. So this week, I think I cleaned out the garage, right? But I can guarantee you within a couple weeks, that thing's going to be dirty, it's going to be nasty again, and I'm going to be like, how'd there be so many boxes out here, you know?

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Well, this one, thanks to this one, Amazon, you know, but also, it's like all of a sudden now dirt is everywhere and things are not in the order that I put them in. That's life, isn't it? Things get rearranged and we need to pause. Advent gives us a chance to pause, to purposely listen, to purposely prepare our souls for the coming of Jesus again, we're almost retelling the story year after year, because here's why. It's a story worth retelling, isn't it?

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We tell the old, old story until we see him face to face. And guess what? Even after that, we'll still be telling the old, old story, because this is the greatest story that has ever been told. It is the greatest story that has ever been introduced into human history. All right?

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And not only that, all stories, I would argue all stories actually follow A pattern that Christ Himself set forward with his very life. In other words, all stories, right? They have a beginning, they have an end and a middle, and that's what God has given to us. And Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for his coming. And so we have.

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We have four Sundays. If you look back there, you can see hope, love, joy, peace. These are the four, actually, I think it should be hope, peace, joy and love. Maybe some versions rearrange. So.

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And that's fine. There's not a set thing in the Bible. This is really a man made thing to help us remember. Okay? The Church has given it to.

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And remember, the church is made of what people, Right. And so there's not a protocol for sure. Oh, yeah, don't do this. No, no, listen. We're doing this on purpose because the Church is asking us to prepare our souls.

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And so we're giving a framework over the next few weeks to be able to do that. And so we have four Sundays and then we hit Christmas, which is 12 days, as you know. And so we're in year C, which focuses on Luke. And so our reading today comes from Luke. And you may be surprised that this would be an Advent reading here in Luke because it has to do with what, the end of time, doesn't it?

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It's the final judgment. It seems as if, at least it includes the final judgment, if not also the work of Christ on earth that he completed. And so what we need to understand, I think at the beginning of Advent here is this. There's three Advents that we want to have in mind as we go through this season. All right?

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And you know this, we've talked about this before. There's three Advents, aren't there? There's the past Advent, his coming, his coming to Earth 2000 years ago when he appeared. Okay? And then you have the present moment where Christ is reigning now, and then his future Advent, which is called the second Advent, you remember, okay?

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His second coming to us. And this term Advent, remember, just means coming in Latin or arrival. And so this year in our devotion, we actually have. Bruce and I titled it the Arrival, okay? Because that's what we're really celebrating.

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It's Christ's arrival. When he came into the world, then he has arrived right in the manger, you remember? Okay? But it sets off a different arrival that is yet to come. And a third one where he comes to our own hearts.

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And so let's just briefly this morning, using this scripture here in Luke 21, run through this. The past coming is a Historical coming, all right? And we need to be. Other generations didn't have this issue, but today it seems like some people have an issue with Jesus and whether or not he even existed, right? It's like, oh, well, Jesus is just like Zeus, right?

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I mean, he's a God and Jesus is a God. And they're both mythical creatures, right? No, wrong. Jesus enters time and space. Zeus never does.

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Zeus stays in the mythological realm, okay? And that's a whole different realm that I won't go into. But it is different than time and space. It's different than our. Which we all get that kind of in our Western understanding of mythology and then history and the differences between the two.

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Jesus is a historical figure, just like Socrates, okay. Just like, say, Confucius, right? But there's a big difference. Socrates never had anyone to predict his birth. So when he comes on the scene about 400 and something years before Jesus does, no one predicts his coming.

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He just shows up and, you know, super smart dude, whatever. And there he is, right? And we're still kind of wrestling with some of the things that he did and learning from him, actually. All right, Confucius, okay. He also appears, all right, in the Axial age, as we call it, which is a very unique time that then kind of prepares the way for Western civilization to emerge with Rome and Jesus both as participants.

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And Jesus, the main one of how we understand our world today. There's a whole history there, okay. That we don't have to go into, but we just need to say it, because here's why. When Jesus appears, he's appearing in an ongoing story. That's the real point here.

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He's appearing. In other words, when he shows up, it's not completely unexpected. In fact, he gave us a warning call, just like we got before. Hey, one is coming and he's gonna appear. The virgin will give birth, right?

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And we have the prophecies. This is why during Advent, the Old Testament readings typically are prophetic because we're matching that to Christ. So he is the fulfillment then of these promises that are made. And of course, he becomes. Or when he comes, he then is promising.

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And he's actually saying that he is the fulfillment of all of these prophecies, starting back all the way to Abraham. So we have, remember in the Old Testament, God is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, right? Now, if you're God, would you identify with humans? And yet God does notice. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and what is he saying?

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I am a God that is grounded in Human history. We're not talking myth, we're not talking legend, right? We're talking history. A particular history, by the way, and that is the history of the Jews, the history of Israel. This is why he is the God of Israel, the Holy One of Israel.

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This is why even just a moment ago when we sang several of the songs, I was just, I was noticing because I knew where I was going with this. Israel, Zion. Why, why these names? Why these particular places, by the way, that you can go visit today? You can go see them.

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They're still a people known as the Jews, are there not. They're in the news right now kind of all the time. In fact, they kind of always are in the news, which is kind of interesting, isn't it? Even though they're a small group of people, they've always been persecuted. Listen, this is not some made up story.

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That's the point I want to make here. This is a historical coming that is verified just as much as your own birth, if not more, because, well, not many people know about my birth, but Jesus birth is quite well known, isn't it? It absolutely is. And so this historical coming, where he splits for us, time and space. The God who is not in time or, sorry, past, present and future, the God who holds time in his hands, okay, is held as a baby at a particular time.

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Do you see what's happening here? It's an unbelievable coming. It's an unbelievable arrival again. And so unlike the Buddha who no one ever predicted his birth accurately and then also didn't tell us when he was gonna sit under the tree, okay? Cause he's got a Bodhi tree in his life, that's a big deal.

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No, no, Christ, the tree here, the cross was predicted and Jesus predicted it three times even in his earthly life, didn't he, before he ever went to the cross. The Old Testament says, I have written you in the palm of my hands. Did you know when that was written? Crucifixion wasn't even an execution method. How is this possible?

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How is this possible? Okay, well, because God is not limited like we are to the present to time and space. He sees it all. Which means, brothers and sisters, that we are called, we are called to trust in his providence. Now, his providence means that he can provide because he can see what we don't see.

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We can know that he came 2,000 years ago because, well, your birthday and my birthday are dated to Jesus birth. He splits time for us. I understand people want to get rid of the, you know, B.C. or B.C. and A.D.

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and go BCE before the common era. And the Common Era, right. I just always ask him, I mean, honestly, because, you know, I teach. I teach at that place. I ask him, I say, but what era Jesus before what common era, right?

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Or what is the common era now? Why do we choose this point? It's because of Jesus very birth. So it's a historical coming. And we, because of that arrival, we now can trust the God who is not limited to time and yet shows up in time and space, right?

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Unbelievable providential, you know, prophesied sort of thing going on there. All right? Now secondly, the coming judgment, okay? So when we look back, the first coming, which is what we're preparing for, right? The empty manger and all this, okay, he's gonna come.

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Just like all good things, they take time. Just like pregnancy, right? Jessica's sister, right now, pregnant. And so it's like we're waiting. We're waiting, right?

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She's preparing. You get prepared. Nesting is a real thing, you know. And I remember when Jessica, five different times, you know, all of a sudden nesting, and it's like, why are you up this late at night? Well, I'm preparing and we're preparing.

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Okay, so that's the historical part. Now the second one is this, the coming Judge, we're going to skip ahead to the future. Now, again, without getting too crazy here, the future. Think about what the future actually is. It's the not yet.

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Right? Again, it hasn't happened. And yet for us Christians, we're told not just to have some abstract idea of the future, but rather hope. Let's ground it in a virtue. Think about this.

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In a virtue that we can actually practice a habit. And that is to say this. That is to say this, the coming judgment. And judgment's a tough word for us, but just think of this justice being done. Now, again, if you're on the wrong side of that, that's kind of still a bad thing, right?

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Like all of a sudden, if I'm scooting down the road and I see a cop, sometimes my heart sinks, you know? Why? Well, judgment might be coming, you know, in fact, I just saw somebody that happened to them this morning. You know, I was thinking, man, Sunday morning, beautiful, cool morning, and gotta get pulled over. Ugh, terrible.

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Judgment's coming, right? But if you're on the good side, if you're actually one of those who under the speed limit or ride around it, you know, then you have nothing to worry about, right? We have nothing. It's like, hey, good, I'm glad somebody Else is gonna learn to drive better, perhaps, you know, I don't know. But that's the kind of idea of judgment here is not, oh, foreboding, but rather, yes, come, Lord Jesus.

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We can't wait for you to make all things that are wrong. Right? That's the kind of judgment here. So it creates hope. Now, what is hope?

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What is hope? Well, right across this is. It's this anticipation of a better present, if you will. So it's actually, you know, again, pastor and future all tied together inextricably. Right?

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So it's anticipating a present time that is better than right now.

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Now, I can get on board with that. Can't you? Like, think about it? Even if your life is going really well right now, that's still a hopeful thing, isn't it? Like, it can get better.

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Do you believe that? I mean, just maybe you're riding high right now. Things are going well. You know, you got everything you wanted. Probably rare, but maybe you did okay.

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Right now you just can't think of anything for Thanksgiving. You're like, I don't know of anything I need. I'm just super thankful, right? But it can get better. That is what hope does.

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And then maybe. Maybe things are really not well. Maybe things have really gone awry for you and sideways, and you're down, and then we all get there. Okay? You know, the wheel of fortune, okay, the wheel of fortune turns always.

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And you're either on your way up or you're on your way down, okay? It's always turning. Trust me. It really does. And just bank on that.

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Just literally bank on that in your life. But here's the thing that doesn't turn is the middle, which is Christ. He's the one that holds it all together so that. Get this, get this, hear this. That our hope is not based on circumstances.

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Now just seriously, just stop and think about this real quick. Your hope as a Christian is not based on circumstance. In other words, when you read the book of Psalms, what is it filled with? Anticipation and waiting. Just to be honest with you, we even heard it there.

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Our psalm today was about waiting for a day, okay? When you read all the way through the Bible, even Abraham, did he see the promises that he was given come about? No. Moses. Think about you, David.

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List all of them, okay? None of them saw all of the promises fulfilled.

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Now, what does that tell us? Oh, my goodness. We're just always anticipating without any. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There's moments of fulfillment.

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O is yet to come. The best is yet to come. Just say that with me. Because. But really, just think about what you're saying.

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Because of Jesus Christ. The second. Remember, we're talking about the second coming. First coming. Yes, great.

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It's already started. Like, we're already on our way. He's already come, but he's coming again. The best is yet to come. Say that with me.

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The best is yet to come. And I believe that. Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to believe that this year you lost a loved one. You lost something in your life. You lost money.

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I don't know what it is. We all lose stuff year to year, don't we? I lost hair. For what? You know, I was looking today, I was like, my goodness, you know, Goodness.

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Couple more years, I'm not gonna have any at all. I don't think. Truly. I actually did think that this morning, you know, I was like, man. Cause I put some product in my hair, you know, as you can tell.

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And it's like, man, it's getting less and less, which saves me money, I guess, but it's like I'm losing stuff, right? And every year, we're losing stuff, aren't we? I remember my pappy. My pappy, he. When he was.

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When he was older and not many years away from death, he used to always say. And I lived with him for a little while, he used to always say to me, I'd say. I said, all right, Pap, you know, And I'd pat him on the. On the shoulder. And, I mean, you could feel bones, you know, just bones there.

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And he said, not much left of you, Pap, son. And I said, no, no, no. There's a lot left of you. Of you, Pap. Not physically, but in here, in your heart.

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And you know what? You know what? For Pappy, he died thinking and believing that the best was yet to come. And, you know, when we've lost loved ones here at Harvest Point, and when I lose loved ones, we all do along the way. Every time that I go to a Christian funeral, I go up to the casket.

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Just did it this year, couple different times. And I say the same thing to the one lying there. Their body. I say the same thing. I'll see you soon.

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I'll see you soon. Because we will. That's the hope we have. They go into the ground. But no, no, no.

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That's their body. Their body goes into the ground. They are with the Lord. And that is hope. The best is yet to come.

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We can lose it all in this life. This is what the cross shows to us. And yet the best is yet to come. The worst day in human history was when we killed God. And yet it was the best day for us simultaneously.

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Why? Because he sacrificed himself. He allowed it to happen. And that's actually the way we speak about it. And it is a, trust me, it is a paradox of paradoxes.

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And yet we came out better. Sinners like us who mess up our lives, who tie our lives up in all kinds of things and wicked ways and whatever else, he can untie that. That's what the future judgment looks like. He can make it right. The best is yet to come.

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Still, that's why the psalms which teach us to pray are filled with expectation and awaiting hope, anticipation of a better day. Think about that. Lock yourselves into that kind of hope this year. I know we can look around and we can say, I wish this or I wish that, but let's wish for the person of Jesus Christ. It's not.

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Circumost of us already ought to know by now that our circumstances, they're not as important as people, the people around us, right? I mean, my circumstances, we come into a lot of money, or you have a windfall or you get a new thing or whatever else. Listen, if you don't have the right people, what is it worth? Think about that. I've literally watched people work and labor, okay, to get more things, built a pool, got the house, got the car, all of these things.

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And their marriage falls apart. And within six months, nobody's even living in any of that stuff. Nobody's swimming in it. Nobody cares. Why?

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Because people matter, not things. And we get. So trust me, Black Friday, all that. Just look at the things. Look at the things.

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You need this. You need this. And I mean advertisement is ultimately from Satan. I'm convinced it's temptation, you know, really, truly, it's based on our selfishness. And look to here.

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Listen, stop for just a second and look at the ones around you, even in this room, and love them, serve them. I promise you, in good times and bad, I want the same people around me. I want my people. You know what I'm talking about. I want my people.

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And in my life, I've been so blessed to have those people. I'm not worthy of it. And some of you are those people for me. You're praying for me? I don't even know it.

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You're praying.

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You know, last night we had a family time, you know, Thanksgiving, whatever. And I was. It just sort of struck me. I never really thought about it. Like my two best friends are at Almost everything that I do.

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Because they're in this room right now. My brother and my wife, like my two best friends.

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People matter. Which is why. Which is why our hope is not based on circumstances or getting another thing, but a person. It's based on a person. You say, what are we waiting for, Pastor?

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We're waiting for a person. That's who. We're waiting for Christ to bust open the eastern sky. He's already sent his spirit. Trust me.

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Listen. He's already sent his spirit. His spirit is going to bring us all the way to that final day when he breaks open the sky. And every eye will see, every ear will hear, and every knee will bow and we'll cry our last tear. Wouldn't that be good?

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Yes. Jesus, his historical appearing is a foretaste. It's a foretaste of what is to come. Now, this final. This final Advent, this final arrival of the present, the now, if we will, is the third Advent.

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So past, future, now, the present, what is the present? Right? I mean, it's such an interesting thing to think about, actually, you know, because as soon as you think about the present, it's gone, right? Like, it's past. Boom.

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We say it, it's gone. We're just moving through existence in this way. All right? But for us Christians, us Christians, it's not a thing here for us to think of the present and the past and the future as something that's just moving abstractly. Remember what we said the other week was, it's bound to Jesus Christ.

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This is why. Notice in our text there will be signs. The sun, moon, stars, they fall. What does that mean? It means that we can't tell time anymore.

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It's the end of time, in fact. And who is at the end of time? Who's at the end of time? Jesus. Who is the beginning and what the end?

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The Alpha, the Omega, the A and the Z. And so our present reality right now is maybe, maybe, practically speaking, the most important Advent. Here's why I would say this, right? Is because if he doesn't come to your life now, if you're not living in Christ now, what does his past advent or the future one mean for you? Not much.

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Not much. But if he is reigning in your heart now, if he's king of your world. I know. He's king of the world, right? He's king of the universe, right?

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But what about your world? What about your universe? Are you sitting in his seat? What have we received that isn't a gift from God? Our whole life is a Gift from Him.

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He is the first cause of all good things.

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And so what does Jesus himself tell us to do? Well, he actually tells us to look, to look and see. Look, look back. In fact, look back at what I've done. You know, this is why our liturgy, even in a moment with Communion, is going to look back at what he did.

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Right? But then it's gonna look forward, and then it's gonna turn right around and ask us to look at our life right now. Because here's the thing about the present, is if I don't love Jessica today, what does my love in the past and all of our memories and all this stuff actually mean anymore? You know, exactly like I do. Love can die.

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And we've all seen it. No, today is the day of salvation. Today we walk with him. I'm so glad you prayed a prayer back in the past. What about this morning?

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Do you trust him today? Do you trust him right now, this hour? That's what he's calling us to. He's calling us now to put our faith in him, to put our hope in him, and to allow him to fill us with charity, with love.

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And so Jesus says, I've got a parable for you. The fig tree, Right. Look at the signs when it has leaves, you know, Right. Kind of interesting parable here. But the kingdom of God is near.

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That's the sign. That's the sign. And you know what? Jesus comes preaching. What?

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The kingdom of God is near. So the kingdom is already near. And he says, my words will not pass away. Therefore, be on guard. Now this.

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Be on guard, be alert. This is what he says in that final paragraph that we read. Here's the way I think about it. As one of my professors always says, Matt Friedman, he says, here's what we need to do now is get in ready position, getting ready. You know, everybody's probably watched sports at some point this week, even if you weren't really watching, but other people were.

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You saw it, right? What do you do right before the play like this? No, no. We talked last night about Justin. He would actually be playing in the dirt while he's playing baseball.

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You know, that's not what you really are supposed to be doing. Okay, before the play went off, what are you supposed to do? Get in ready position. Right. They teach you this.

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Get in ready, ready position is something like this. Why? Because this, you can't really like. It's going to take me a second to respond to that. Right this.

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I can just about go any way you want to be kind of just like, you know, pickleball, right? I started playing pickleball. So this is my ready position, right? Because I can move just any way I need to move, right? I'm ready to go.

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What is our ready position? As Christians, our ready position is to practice every single day. To practice the habits of faith, hope, and love. That's the three theological virtues. What are virtues but habits?

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Even the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, they were big on the virtues. Why? Because they understood that to be happy, one has to practice. Practice the habits of virtue that then shape the character of your soul. When somebody hits the ball to me now, I just hit.

00:32:02

I don't even think about it. Like when I'm up there at the kitchen, I just pop my foot. I don't even have to think about it. It's just like a golf swing. Many of you might have practiced.

00:32:09

Somebody tried to teach me how to do a golf swing one time. They're like, now do this, now do that, to do that. Hundred things, right? Now if you get up there and you get in front of that ball, right, Go up there to. What's that place called?

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Topgolf, and try this. It's like if you try to think about all hundred of those things, how good is your swing gonna be? Not good at all. You have to keep practicing and practicing until you don't think about it. You do it.

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That's what virtue is. You see, I'm not a very giving person. Practice it, then. Do it against your will until it comes naturally for you. Cause it will.

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It'd be like a. We call it. Think about this. Second nature. Isn't that what Christ does to us when he comes in to save us?

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Is give us a second nature. In other words, the heart of stone is gone now. A heart of flesh. We're now born of the spirit, not of man. A second chance again for us this morning.

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The best is yet to come. Because he has already come, and he will come again. And therefore we can get in ready position, patiently waiting, right? Patiently. Ready, if you will, for whatever may come.

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So that when it comes to us, we respond from a faith position of total trust in God's providence, hoping for that final day. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. That's where the Bible ends. Come, Lord Jesus.

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And then recognizing the love that was in that manger, the love that went to the cross. Isn't it interesting that we're going to eat today? The body and blood. Eat and drink the body and blood of Christ. What did he come to again?

00:34:08

A manger. You know what a manger is? Kind of funky word. You probably haven't said that in the last two months. Maybe a whole year's been.

00:34:14

It's a trough. It's a feeding trough. Even in his birth, he was telling us, I want you to consume me and then I will be in you and you in me. It's a great mystery, but he makes it possible by His Holy Spirit today. And he's asking us today, you say, I just don't know if I believe.

00:34:41

Listen, just look to him today. Call his name out today. And when you come around here, believe in faith as we take these physical elements into our body that we're taking in Christ Jesus. He was born in a trough to be the bread of life.

00:35:06

And it's why I love just to come to church every single Sunday with you guys. Or even if we're on vacation to do church. Because here's why I gotta eat. I gotta eat. And so does your soul, just as much as when you're hungry.

00:35:22

It's about all you can think about. I wish we were hungry enough for Christ. And listen, our soul is longing, longing for that drink, for that food that is eternal life for us. So do you know him today? Do you know him?

00:35:40

Has he come to your heart? Has he come to your heart? Yes, he came 2,000 years ago. Yes, he's coming again. Has he come to your heart?

00:35:46

Has he arrived here? If not, today is the day. And may it be so. May you come, Lord Jesus Christ has come. Christ is risen.

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And Christ will come again. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May it be so. Amen.

Total Duration 00:36:09