1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,980 Let's pray. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:59,980 Let's pray. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:29,980 Let's pray. 4 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:59,980 Good morning. We are glad to be able to worship this morning. One of the things that we're going to focus on as we read Scripture together, as we sing, as we gather together around the table, as we open the Word of God, we're going to focus on the hope that God brings us, especially in the midst of those 5 00:03:59,980 --> 00:04:29,960 times where it may seem that life is off track, or that life is difficult, or that we are facing struggles. And so that's our goal this morning, is to be encouraged with certainty in the goodness and greatness of God. So I'm going to pray, and then we will stand and read from the 40th Psalm together. Father in heaven, be with our hearts this morning as we worship, that we would be reminded 6 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:59,940 that you are our hope. And no matter what it is we find ourselves in or doing or planning in these moments, I just ask that you would direct us to your goodness, that you would comfort our hearts that are filled with sorrow, that you would strengthen us and give us life and energy where we're tired and weary, that you would encourage the discouraged, that you would help. 7 00:04:59,940 --> 00:05:20,940 Jesus, help us with your goodness. Be with us as we worship together this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would be standing with me, we're going to read from the 40th Psalm about how God changes and transforms. So if you would, read together with me. 8 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:59,900 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." This is the word of the Lord. We're going to start by singing "This is Amazing Grace." 9 00:05:59,900 --> 00:06:29,880 "Who breaks the power of sin and darkness, whose love is mighty and so much stronger, the King of glory, the King above all kings?" 10 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:59,860 This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. 11 00:06:59,860 --> 00:07:29,840 That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? 12 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:59,820 Who brings the nations with truth and justice? Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance. The King of glory. The King above all kings. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. 13 00:07:59,820 --> 00:08:29,800 That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. Lay down your life. That I would be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. This is amazing grace. 14 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:59,780 This is unfailing love. That you would take my place. That you would bear my cross. You would lay down your life. That I would be set free. 15 00:08:59,780 --> 00:09:29,760 That you would be done for me. 16 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:45,760 You were with us, kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much you've done, knowing every victory, it's your power in us. 17 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:59,740 Scars and struggles all the way, but with joy our hearts can say, yes, our hearts can say. 18 00:09:59,740 --> 00:10:29,720 Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, you are faithful. 19 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:49,720 Every victory holds your power in us. Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can save. Yes, our hearts can save. 20 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:59,700 Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. 21 00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:16,700 You are faithful, God. You are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. 22 00:11:16,700 --> 00:11:29,680 Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can save. Never once did we ever walk alone. 23 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:46,680 Carried by your constant grace, held within your perfect peace. Never once, though we never walk alone. 24 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:59,660 Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave this song. 25 00:11:59,660 --> 00:12:29,640 Never once did we ever walk alone. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. Every step we are breathing in your grace. Evermore we'll be breathing out your praise. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. 26 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:50,420 You are faithful, God. You are faithful. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. 27 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:07,440 you are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful. You are faithful. 28 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:59,620 Thank you. 29 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:01,640 Thank you. 30 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,640 Thank you. 31 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:31,640 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 32 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:01,640 Thank you. 33 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:31,640 Thank you. 34 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,640 Thank you. 35 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:31,640 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 36 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:29,620 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 37 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:59,620 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 38 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:29,620 As we prepare to come and gather around the church, let's pray for us. 39 00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:59,600 Let's pray for us on the table, remembering our hope that is in Jesus. We're going to sing, "Christ our hope in life and death." 40 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:29,580 Let's pray. 41 00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:59,560 Hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 42 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:29,540 God is good. God is good. Where is His grace and goodness known? In our grave, Redeemer's blood. Who holds our faith when fears arise? Who stands above the stormy trial? Who sends the waves that bring us nigh? 43 00:30:29,540 --> 00:30:59,520 Unto the shore, the rock of Christ. Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now whenever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 44 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:29,500 Unto the grave, what will we sing? Christ, He lives. Christ, He lives. And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with Him. There we will rise to meet the Lord. 45 00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:43,480 We will be destroyed. And we will feast in endless joy. When Christ is ours forevermore. 46 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:59,480 Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. 47 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:20,480 Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. Oh, sing hallelujah. Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. 48 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:29,460 Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 49 00:32:29,460 --> 00:32:59,440 Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. 50 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:29,420 It has been described that is a picture of uncertainty, of change, of fear. And it says this, "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, and though the mountains tremble at its swelling." 51 00:33:29,420 --> 00:33:49,420 In verse two and three, pictures the earth falling apart, the waves crashing, the mountains shrinking into the ocean. It's a picture of chaos and uncertainty. It's a picture of fear and brokenness. 52 00:33:49,420 --> 00:34:13,420 And he begins this picture with storms and mountains and the earth giving way with these words, "Therefore we will not fear." And the question that I have when I hear things like this and think about those storms of life is how is it that I cannot fear? 53 00:34:13,420 --> 00:34:25,420 And what I love is the psalmist answers that in verse one, simply like this. God is our refuge, and he is our strength, and he is a very present help in times of trouble. 54 00:34:25,420 --> 00:34:41,420 And so what do we do when it seems like everything is in chaos? What do we do when it feels like the mountains are falling into the sea and the waves foam and roar? 55 00:34:41,420 --> 00:35:09,420 We remember with the psalmist that God is our refuge and our strength. He is our very present help in times of trouble. And as we come to this bread and this cup, we are reminded of the reality of the cross, the power of the resurrection, that through Jesus, 56 00:35:09,420 --> 00:35:37,420 He stepped into the storm of our brokenness and our sin, and He paid the price and He rose again for our victory, that in Him we have hope. And one of the ways in which we are able to take refuge is to come near to the cross of Christ, to eat this bread and to drink this cup and remind ourselves that our refuge and our strength comes not from ourselves 57 00:35:37,420 --> 00:36:05,420 or our abilities, but it comes from God who is a very present help in times of trouble. Father in heaven, remind us of these truths this morning, not just in our minds, but in the depths of our heart, that you would remind us that Jesus has come near to save us, that He has stepped into our storms so that we can be brought into peace, that He has stepped into our darkness, that we can be brought 58 00:36:05,420 --> 00:36:31,420 into the light, that He has stepped into our hopelessness so that we could be brought to a new and living hope. Thank you for Jesus and for grace. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would, take the bread with me as we're reminded of Jesus giving this to His disciples saying, "Do this in remembrance of me." 59 00:36:31,420 --> 00:36:44,420 And in the same way, let's take the cup that points us to the new covenant that is found in the blood of Jesus. Let's remember Jesus together. 60 00:36:44,420 --> 00:36:58,420 And as we remember Jesus, remember we are called to proclaim His goodness. And so, in just a minute, we're going to spend just a few short minutes in the Gospel of Luke. 61 00:36:58,420 --> 00:37:08,420 And before we do that, we want to work on learning a new song, trying to learn kind of in time for Easter and some things that follow that. 62 00:37:08,420 --> 00:37:17,420 This song is just entitled "I Set My Hope." So we'll watch. It's about four minutes long. We'll listen to it. You're welcome to sing along if you want. 63 00:37:17,420 --> 00:37:23,420 It sort of fits with our theme this morning of fixing our eyes and our hope on Jesus. 64 00:37:23,420 --> 00:37:28,420 And as you hear these words, I want to just kind of give you a little bit of an outline. 65 00:37:28,420 --> 00:37:35,420 That in the first part of this, we're going to hear and sing about setting our hope on Jesus in the midst of trials. 66 00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:43,420 And in the second part, we'll hear about setting our hope on Jesus in the midst of the temptation to sin that we face. 67 00:37:43,420 --> 00:37:53,420 And then in the third part, we'll hear and sing about this setting our hope on Jesus as we persevere through this life. 68 00:37:53,420 --> 00:37:56,420 So we're just going to listen to it. You're welcome to sing along if you want. 69 00:37:56,420 --> 00:38:02,420 We'll kind of introduce it before we dive into singing it as a congregational song next week. 70 00:38:02,420 --> 00:38:04,420 So, if you want to go ahead and... 71 00:38:04,420 --> 00:38:31,420 When this life of trials tests my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. 72 00:38:31,420 --> 00:38:56,420 I set my hope on Jesus. For the deepest ones the time won't heal. There's a joy that runs still deeper. There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus. 73 00:38:56,420 --> 00:39:22,420 I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first? I set my hope on Jesus. 74 00:39:22,420 --> 00:39:42,420 Though I falter in this war with sin, I set my hope on Jesus. When I feel the fight and sink within, I set my hope on Jesus. 75 00:39:42,420 --> 00:40:07,420 Though the shame will drown me in its sea, and I dread the wave of justice, I will cast my life on Calvary. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. 76 00:40:07,420 --> 00:40:22,420 My God, my only trust. You set His heart upon you first. I set my hope on Jesus. 77 00:40:37,420 --> 00:40:58,420 Though the world call me to leave my Lord, I set my hope on Jesus. Though it offer all its vain rewards, I set my hope on Jesus. 78 00:40:58,420 --> 00:41:19,420 Though this heart of mine is prone to stray, give me grace enough to finish. Until I worship on my name, I set my hope on Jesus. 79 00:41:19,420 --> 00:41:48,420 I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. 80 00:41:48,420 --> 00:42:01,420 Who set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. 81 00:42:15,420 --> 00:42:42,420 And that is our goal for the next several weeks. Well, it should be our goal. It is our goal all the time, but as we move closer to Easter, it is what we will be reinforcing over the next several weeks that setting our hope on Jesus, not just for us, but as we seek as a church to reach out to those who are in desperate need of that hope as well. 82 00:42:42,420 --> 00:43:09,420 So let's pray, and then we'll dive into it this morning. Father in heaven, be with us as we look at John and Jesus and the struggles of those unexpected turns in life. We just ask that you would help us to fix our hope on your son, that he would be our rock and our stability for our church and for those that we share the gospel 83 00:43:09,420 --> 00:43:23,420 with, that you would help us to seek not just to hold on to this good news for ourselves, but to share it with those we encounter. So be with us this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 84 00:43:23,420 --> 00:43:36,420 I love the Gospel of Luke. It was back in 2012 that I think I spent two and a half years preaching through the Gospel of Luke, and I love how he begins because I'm a person who loves little sort 85 00:43:36,420 --> 00:43:51,420 of random tidbits of knowledge. And so if we spend very much time together, I will probably share with you at some point an unrelated fact about life that I should have no business knowing just because I love random bits of information. 86 00:43:51,420 --> 00:44:03,420 And I love how Luke, as he writes, organizes the information about Jesus. He organizes it in a way that he has thought it out and he has studied it. But more than that, and 87 00:44:03,420 --> 00:44:14,420 more importantly, Luke's purpose is not just that we would have a bunch of facts about Jesus. Luke's purpose is that we would have certainty. 88 00:44:14,420 --> 00:44:30,420 And he's writing to a man by the name of Theophilus, and he says, "I'm writing so that you may have certainty about Jesus." And so as we move into the Easter season, I want us to see how 89 00:44:30,420 --> 00:44:57,420 Luke calls us to certainty. And so this week, we're going to take a look at John and Jesus, Jesus' cousin, as he's in jail and struggling with the darkness of that moment, how Jesus brings certainty in those dark, doubting, difficult moments of life. And next week, we're going to talk about how Jesus brings us certainty through hearing our prayers. We're going to talk about how Jesus on Palm Sunday, as he comes into Jericho, 90 00:44:57,420 --> 00:45:14,420 gives to us, without any way of mistaking it, that he wants us. That the blind beggar that nobody cares about, Jesus wants. The tax collector hiding in a tree, Jesus wants. And as we come to Easter Sunday, we have this certainty about the good news of the gospel. 91 00:45:14,420 --> 00:45:25,420 And so we're going to pick up in just a moment with the story of John, the baptizer, and a little bit of his life and ministry. And probably most of us, at some point or another, 92 00:45:25,420 --> 00:45:37,420 have taken a detour. And probably the worst detour, I think, that I have ever taken. I was driving across the northern part of Missouri, and it was the middle of the night. 93 00:45:37,420 --> 00:45:45,420 I don't remember where I was going or why I was going there. I just remember driving, and it's just this road that is as straight as can be. 94 00:45:45,420 --> 00:45:53,420 And if you've been in the Midwest, especially the rural parts at night where there is no moon, there's also no street lights and no town. 95 00:45:53,420 --> 00:46:03,420 So it is very, very dark. You feel very dark, very alone, and very uncertain. And I was driving along, and all of a sudden, in front of me on this road, 96 00:46:03,420 --> 00:46:10,420 there's the big orange sign with an arrow that just says, "Detour." There's no police car with flashy lights. 97 00:46:10,420 --> 00:46:17,420 There's no guy with a sign pointing me in the right direction. It's just pointing down this tiny road off into the middle of nowhere. 98 00:46:17,420 --> 00:46:22,420 And I'm going, "Well, should I just go straight? There's no cars. I see no lights. I see no obstruction." 99 00:46:22,420 --> 00:46:27,420 And there, I decided, "Well, I don't know. I guess I'll take the detour." 100 00:46:27,420 --> 00:46:33,420 This was before cell phones that were prevalent, at least in that part of Missouri, so I had no phone. 101 00:46:33,420 --> 00:46:39,420 It was before GPS, and the roads were all too small to be on my atlas that I had in the back of the car. 102 00:46:39,420 --> 00:46:44,420 And so there, on faith, I just pulled to the right and just followed this detour sign. 103 00:46:44,420 --> 00:46:51,420 And then here's the thing. There was no more detour signs for like the next five or six miles. 104 00:46:51,420 --> 00:46:57,420 And if you want to feel uncertain, go to the darkest place on the smallest road you can think of 105 00:46:57,420 --> 00:47:06,420 with no way to find or navigate yourself and just find yourself driving into the dark. 106 00:47:06,420 --> 00:47:16,420 It's not a very good feeling to find ourselves detoured into a place where we're uncertain about what lies ahead. 107 00:47:16,420 --> 00:47:26,420 And I think all of us have in moments experienced this, and if you have not experienced this in your life, you will experience this. 108 00:47:26,420 --> 00:47:38,420 Where our life seems to be on track, things seem to be going well, and all of a sudden there is that orange detour sign taking us off into the unknown darkness. 109 00:47:38,420 --> 00:47:43,420 This is where we find John the baptizer this morning. 110 00:47:43,420 --> 00:47:47,420 And just a little bit about John's background. 111 00:47:47,420 --> 00:47:56,420 John has a remarkable story. His family testifies to the goodness and faithfulness of God. 112 00:47:56,420 --> 00:48:00,420 His dad is a priest. His mom is from the daughters of Aaron. 113 00:48:00,420 --> 00:48:08,420 These are people who can trace their lineage all the way back to Moses' brother Aaron. 114 00:48:08,420 --> 00:48:26,420 And they have served God faithfully, not just in their lifetime, but their family can trace their roots and their service to God all the way back to Moses and Aaron and coming out of Egypt. 115 00:48:26,420 --> 00:48:32,420 And so John the baptizer has this remarkable, godly family. 116 00:48:32,420 --> 00:48:40,420 In fact, Luke will say that they have walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 117 00:48:40,420 --> 00:48:47,420 And so John's life as he grew up would have been centered around knowing and serving God. 118 00:48:47,420 --> 00:48:51,420 And his very existence in this life is a miracle. 119 00:48:51,420 --> 00:48:58,420 His mom and dad had prayed for a child their entire lives, and by the time that this prayer is answered by the angel, 120 00:48:58,420 --> 00:49:05,420 his dad is so far past the time that this would be possible that his dad doubts that this can even happen. 121 00:49:05,420 --> 00:49:12,420 So not only does John have this amazing story of ministry faithfulness throughout generations, 122 00:49:12,420 --> 00:49:16,420 he has the power of God that brought him into this world. 123 00:49:16,420 --> 00:49:26,420 And he is commissioned for ministry before he is even conceived as the angel explains to Zechariah what he would do. 124 00:49:26,420 --> 00:49:31,420 He will go before him, that's the Messiah and the spirit and power of Elijah, 125 00:49:31,420 --> 00:49:37,420 to turn the hearts of their fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just 126 00:49:37,420 --> 00:49:40,420 and to make ready for the people, for the Lord, a people prepared. 127 00:49:40,420 --> 00:49:45,420 John goes before the Messiah to proclaim and to prepare. 128 00:49:45,420 --> 00:49:52,420 So not only does John have this sort of remarkable biography of a family dedicated to ministry, 129 00:49:52,420 --> 00:49:58,420 learned the Word of God, knows the Word of God, this wonderful example of his mom and dad, 130 00:49:58,420 --> 00:50:03,420 this miraculous birth, this commission by God. 131 00:50:03,420 --> 00:50:11,420 John, as he begins his ministry, sees his cousin coming down to be baptized in the Jordan River, his cousin Jesus. 132 00:50:11,420 --> 00:50:17,420 And as Jesus is baptized, the heavens were opened, 133 00:50:17,420 --> 00:50:21,420 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a bodily form like a dove, 134 00:50:21,420 --> 00:50:29,420 and a voice from heaven said, "You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased." 135 00:50:29,420 --> 00:50:33,420 So, quick summary. John's from a family that knows and serves God. 136 00:50:33,420 --> 00:50:36,420 He's from a family that knows and loves the Word of God. 137 00:50:36,420 --> 00:50:42,420 He's commissioned by God to proclaim the way for the Messiah, 138 00:50:42,420 --> 00:50:47,420 and he has seen who Jesus is, revealed by both God the Father, 139 00:50:47,420 --> 00:50:52,420 declaring in God the Holy Spirit, descending on God the Son. 140 00:50:52,420 --> 00:50:56,420 And so you have this man who is remarkably rooted in the faith, 141 00:50:56,420 --> 00:51:00,420 given a mission by God to proclaim and prepare for the Messiah. 142 00:51:00,420 --> 00:51:07,420 And where we find John this morning, John's situation is not good. 143 00:51:07,420 --> 00:51:14,420 He's in jail, and in Luke 3, Luke recounts a little bit of the story of the ministry of John the baptizer. 144 00:51:14,420 --> 00:51:19,420 And at the end of the story, he kind of gives a little bit of foreshadowing of what's going to happen, 145 00:51:19,420 --> 00:51:22,420 and summarizes John like this: 146 00:51:22,420 --> 00:51:28,420 "But Herod the Tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, 147 00:51:28,420 --> 00:51:35,420 and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, and he locked John in prison." 148 00:51:35,420 --> 00:51:41,420 So here's John's story: a young man from a righteous family with a history of serving God, 149 00:51:41,420 --> 00:51:44,420 commissioned by God for the work, 150 00:51:44,420 --> 00:51:49,420 sees and hears this miraculous testimony about Jesus, 151 00:51:49,420 --> 00:51:55,420 then proclaims the truth to the government of his day, and is thrown in jail for it. 152 00:51:55,420 --> 00:52:00,420 It's probably not where he saw his life going. 153 00:52:00,420 --> 00:52:04,420 In fact, John's ministry is incredibly short. I don't think we realize 154 00:52:04,420 --> 00:52:10,420 that John's ministry may have been even less than a year long. 155 00:52:10,420 --> 00:52:15,420 From the time he begins proclaiming to the time he is thrown in jail, depending. 156 00:52:15,420 --> 00:52:20,420 It can be eight months to twelve months, maybe as long as a year and a half. 157 00:52:20,420 --> 00:52:27,420 But John has not had much time to proclaim and prepare for the Messiah. 158 00:52:27,420 --> 00:52:32,420 And now he is locked in jail. 159 00:52:32,420 --> 00:52:37,420 John, however, is following the ministry of Jesus, and in Luke 7:18, 160 00:52:37,420 --> 00:52:43,420 John's disciples are going to hear and see Jesus, and it will say in John 7:18, 161 00:52:43,420 --> 00:52:47,420 the disciples of John reported all of these things to him, 162 00:52:47,420 --> 00:52:52,420 and then John will talk to the disciples, but the things they reported to him 163 00:52:52,420 --> 00:52:57,420 are, first of all, that Jesus teaches in an amazing way. 164 00:52:57,420 --> 00:53:04,420 That Jesus heals in an amazing way. That Jesus can raise people from the dead. 165 00:53:04,420 --> 00:53:11,420 And so John, who is commissioned to expect and prepare for the Messiah, hears about Jesus, 166 00:53:11,420 --> 00:53:17,420 who has been testified to by the voice of God the Father, by the presence of the Holy Spirit. 167 00:53:17,420 --> 00:53:21,420 He now hears him teaching, healing, and raising people from the dead. 168 00:53:21,420 --> 00:53:30,420 What's John's expectation? His expectation is, is that this is what the Messiah does. 169 00:53:30,420 --> 00:53:35,420 In Isaiah 61, Jesus uses this in his first sermon. 170 00:53:35,420 --> 00:53:45,420 Jesus will say that the Messiah comes to bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind, liberty to those who are oppressed, 171 00:53:45,420 --> 00:53:53,420 but also, and probably most importantly for John the baptizer, liberty for the captives. 172 00:53:53,420 --> 00:54:02,420 And so if I'm John, and I hear about Jesus teaching, and I hear about him healing, and I hear about him raising people for the dead, 173 00:54:02,420 --> 00:54:07,420 I would be thinking, maybe there could be a little bit more liberty for the captives. 174 00:54:07,420 --> 00:54:13,420 Yes, you're teaching really well. Yes, you've healed this young daughter of a Roman official. 175 00:54:13,420 --> 00:54:22,420 Yes, you've raised this young man from the dead, but your cousin is in jail, and I could do with a little bit more liberty for the captives. 176 00:54:22,420 --> 00:54:30,420 And in fact, that's what John does next. 177 00:54:30,420 --> 00:54:37,420 In the darkness and difficulty of his imprisonment, John has some questions. 178 00:54:37,420 --> 00:54:46,420 And I think we understand that because oftentimes in the darkness and difficulty of life, we too begin to have some questions. 179 00:54:46,420 --> 00:54:57,420 And I think John's questions are, if Jesus, you're really the Messiah, I see that you're healing, I see that you're lifting burdens, I see that you can raise the dead, I see that you teach. 180 00:54:57,420 --> 00:55:04,420 But here I am sitting in jail. What about the captives in jail? What about me, Jesus? 181 00:55:04,420 --> 00:55:13,420 And so in Luke 7:19, John will call his disciples to him. Two of them specifically, that's important. 182 00:55:13,420 --> 00:55:19,420 He's going to send them to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one to come, or should we look for another?" 183 00:55:19,420 --> 00:55:26,420 John has come to this moment that I think many of us experience, this moment of uncertainty. Am I in the right spot? 184 00:55:26,420 --> 00:55:37,420 Have I put my hope in the right thing? This detour into the darkness, John is not certain what is happening, and so he sends two messengers to Jesus. 185 00:55:37,420 --> 00:55:47,420 Just for a moment, let's leave John in prison and spend a few moments talking about our doubts and our difficulties. 186 00:55:47,420 --> 00:55:55,420 I think in general, and historically, the church has not done very well in dealing with doubts or with doubters. 187 00:55:55,420 --> 00:56:03,420 So a quick example of this is Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, who doesn't always understand, but he seeks to obey. 188 00:56:03,420 --> 00:56:09,420 In John chapter 11, he will say, "Jesus is getting ready to go to Bethany near Jerusalem." 189 00:56:09,420 --> 00:56:13,420 And Thomas will say, "Well, he's going to go die. We might as well go die with him." 190 00:56:13,420 --> 00:56:17,420 He doesn't understand, but he's going to follow Jesus to the end. 191 00:56:17,420 --> 00:56:25,420 And after Jesus is raised, and after the resurrection, Thomas wants to see Jesus, wants to confirm it's him. 192 00:56:25,420 --> 00:56:31,420 And so how for the last 2,000 years has the church referred to Thomas, right? 193 00:56:31,420 --> 00:56:37,420 We've got Doubting Thomas. Here's a guy who was willing to follow Jesus to his death with a lot of uncertainty. 194 00:56:37,420 --> 00:56:39,420 But we know him as Doubting Thomas. 195 00:56:39,420 --> 00:56:47,420 The church has not often dealt well or dealt rightly with those who struggle with their faith. 196 00:56:47,420 --> 00:56:53,420 And in fact, if you read the commentaries on this passage in Luke chapter 7, they're a prime example. 197 00:56:53,420 --> 00:57:01,420 You'll have writers who are seeking to sort of do some sort of mental gymnastics to say, "John is not doubting Jesus." 198 00:57:01,420 --> 00:57:10,420 John, he's not having a difficulty. He's not discouraged, despite every evidence to the contrary. 199 00:57:10,420 --> 00:57:16,420 Right? We've struggled with doubt. 200 00:57:16,420 --> 00:57:21,420 And maybe you've seen this happen to yourself or someone you know in church. 201 00:57:21,420 --> 00:57:25,420 Maybe you've heard somebody say about doubts or questions, just get over it. 202 00:57:25,420 --> 00:57:28,420 Don't let people know that you feel that way. 203 00:57:28,420 --> 00:57:35,420 Maybe you've seen the church judge the hearts of those who doubt or treat doubt as sin or a disease. 204 00:57:35,420 --> 00:57:39,420 Don't question, don't share it, because others might catch it. 205 00:57:39,420 --> 00:57:50,420 And I think the reason that we struggle to even talk about doubt, let alone deal with it, is because we haven't defined doubt well. 206 00:57:50,420 --> 00:57:55,420 We use this term to mean a whole lot of different things, and we've experienced this in life. 207 00:57:55,420 --> 00:58:00,420 There are terms that can be different depending upon the context. 208 00:58:00,420 --> 00:58:04,420 And one of my favorites is there was a little ice cream place growing up. 209 00:58:04,420 --> 00:58:11,420 It was out by the lake, and you would go, and just like every other ice cream place, they have like the child size. 210 00:58:11,420 --> 00:58:15,420 They have the small, the medium, the large, the extra large. 211 00:58:15,420 --> 00:58:22,420 The difference was, even though they used the same terms, their child size was literally like the size of a child. 212 00:58:22,420 --> 00:58:25,420 So you would go there with people, and they would say, "Hey, I'm going to get a large ice cream." 213 00:58:25,420 --> 00:58:27,420 You're like, "No, no. Get a small." 214 00:58:27,420 --> 00:58:30,420 And they're like, "Oh, I don't need a small. I can eat a large." 215 00:58:30,420 --> 00:58:37,420 And then they have to bring the large out the side door of the place because they can't fit it through the ice cream window. 216 00:58:37,420 --> 00:58:40,420 There's large, and then there is large. 217 00:58:40,420 --> 00:58:45,420 And when it comes to doubt, what we do is we take this word that can be used in a lot of different ways, 218 00:58:45,420 --> 00:58:51,420 and we just make it mean everything, and then we struggle with all of it. 219 00:58:51,420 --> 00:58:56,420 And what you find is, biblically, there's a bunch of different kinds of doubts. 220 00:58:56,420 --> 00:59:04,420 And there are different reactions to different kinds of doubts, and God deals with different doubts in a different manner. 221 00:59:04,420 --> 00:59:10,420 And what we tend to do is just put everything into the same bucket and treat it the same way. 222 00:59:10,420 --> 00:59:20,420 And so what I want to do is just share with you, just for a moment, these pictures we have in Scripture of different kinds of doubts. 223 00:59:20,420 --> 00:59:25,420 And we'll talk about how Jesus and John both deal with this doubt. 224 00:59:25,420 --> 00:59:39,420 So sometimes we come to the doubt of uncertainty, right, where maybe we don't know, or we don't understand, or we don't feel like we have a very firm grip on the situation. 225 00:59:39,420 --> 00:59:44,420 Maybe it's like, "I'm not sure. I have some questions about what's going on." 226 00:59:44,420 --> 00:59:49,420 And then there's times where our doubts can be more of a struggle, a lack of strength. 227 00:59:49,420 --> 00:59:58,420 Right? I'm not sure that I'm able to believe this, or I'm able to hold on to it, or I don't know that I can do that. 228 00:59:58,420 --> 01:00:07,420 And so doubts in Scripture can be just simply uncertainty, "I'm not sure," or it can be, "I'm not sure that I am able to do this." 229 01:00:07,420 --> 01:00:15,420 You think about the man who brings his son to Jesus, and he cries out to Jesus as Jesus tells him to believe. He says, "I believe. Help my unbelief." 230 01:00:15,420 --> 01:00:23,420 He says, "I'm strong enough, Jesus." And then there is the faith that I think is small. 231 01:00:23,420 --> 01:00:28,420 And this might be faith that hasn't grown up or hasn't matured yet. 232 01:00:28,420 --> 01:00:36,420 And just like little plants, when we put them out in the springtime and the frost comes, we bring them inside or we cover them to protect them. 233 01:00:36,420 --> 01:00:44,420 There is a faith that is small but growing, that in times needs to be covered and to protect them. 234 01:00:44,420 --> 01:00:52,420 See the disciples in Mark chapter 8. Jesus is talking about bread, and they think that Jesus is upset because they didn't bring lunch. 235 01:00:52,420 --> 01:00:59,420 And so what Jesus will do is sit down with the disciples and say, "Remember when I fed 5,000? How many baskets did you pick up afterwards?" 236 01:00:59,420 --> 01:01:04,420 And they would say, "12." He said, "Remember when I fed the 4,000? How many baskets did we pick up afterwards?" 237 01:01:04,420 --> 01:01:09,420 And they'll say, "7." And Jesus is like, "It's not about bread. I can give you all the bread that you want." 238 01:01:09,420 --> 01:01:15,420 And so Jesus takes people who are struggling because their faith is small. 239 01:01:15,420 --> 01:01:21,420 And what he does is he seeks to grow that and to cover it and to protect it. 240 01:01:21,420 --> 01:01:28,420 This picture of calling them to maturity. And so our doubts can be uncertainty. 241 01:01:28,420 --> 01:01:35,420 They can be a struggle because we lack the strength. They can be because we're small and growing or delicate and fragile. 242 01:01:35,420 --> 01:01:41,420 But then there's the kind of doubt that is selfish and self-centered. 243 01:01:41,420 --> 01:01:47,420 The kind of doubt that says that may be true, but I know what I want and I know how I feel, 244 01:01:47,420 --> 01:01:52,420 and I will ignore all empirical evidence to chase my own desires. 245 01:01:52,420 --> 01:01:57,420 Small picture of that. Was it two weeks ago or last week? 246 01:01:57,420 --> 01:02:01,420 I guess two weeks ago. Woke up Wednesday feeling sick. 247 01:02:01,420 --> 01:02:04,420 Spent most of the day in denial that I was sick. 248 01:02:04,420 --> 01:02:06,420 Finally, Rachel says, "Go to the doctor." 249 01:02:06,420 --> 01:02:08,420 I get to the doctor. They said, "What are you here for?" 250 01:02:08,420 --> 01:02:10,420 I said, "I'm not sick, but my wife made me come." 251 01:02:10,420 --> 01:02:12,420 And then guess who was sick, right? 252 01:02:12,420 --> 01:02:16,420 It didn't matter what I thought or what I wanted or what reality said. 253 01:02:16,420 --> 01:02:20,420 I had my mind set on the fact that I wasn't going to be sick. 254 01:02:20,420 --> 01:02:26,420 And some people bring this attitude to the spiritual reality that surrounds them. 255 01:02:26,420 --> 01:02:33,420 That all the evidence, all the goodness of God can be pointing to one thing, and I'm just going to ignore it 256 01:02:33,420 --> 01:02:36,420 because I want something else. 257 01:02:36,420 --> 01:02:48,420 And so Jesus, what you find, is he deals with the doubt of uncertainty or the smallness of strength or the littleness of faith very gently. 258 01:02:48,420 --> 01:02:55,420 But he deals with the doubts of pride and selfishness very harshly. 259 01:02:55,420 --> 01:03:02,420 So I want to talk to you just a little bit about how Jesus and John deal with doubt. 260 01:03:02,420 --> 01:03:13,420 As Jesus comes to John or John comes to Jesus, the real question I want to try to answer is not, is it wrong to have doubts? 261 01:03:13,420 --> 01:03:19,420 Because all of us are going to have struggles and doubts. It's what do we do with them when we have them? 262 01:03:19,420 --> 01:03:31,420 In Luke chapter 7 and verse 20, these men had come to him and they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you saying, are you the one to come or should we look for another?" 263 01:03:31,420 --> 01:03:39,420 And Jesus doesn't answer them. He takes an hour, it says, "In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits. 264 01:03:39,420 --> 01:03:45,420 And on many who were blind he bestowed sight and he answered them." And he said, "Go tell John what you have seen and heard. 265 01:03:45,420 --> 01:03:51,420 The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, 266 01:03:51,420 --> 01:04:00,420 the poor have the good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me." Jesus answers the questions 267 01:04:00,420 --> 01:04:08,420 questions of uncertainty and doubt. When you bring your honest struggles, your honest uncertainties, 268 01:04:08,420 --> 01:04:19,420 when you come to Jesus with your smallness and your littleness and inhumility, Jesus answers your questions. 269 01:04:19,420 --> 01:04:23,420 That's what Jesus does. Do you know why John sends two messengers? 270 01:04:23,420 --> 01:04:29,420 According to the Old Testament law, in order for a witness to be reliable, you had to have two of them. 271 01:04:29,420 --> 01:04:35,420 John sends two men, not just so that his friend will have a buddy when he asks Jesus a question, 272 01:04:35,420 --> 01:04:48,420 so that this would be a legally binding witness. It's like sending a notary public with his disciple to ask Jesus these questions. 273 01:04:48,420 --> 01:04:58,420 And notice Jesus, to these two messengers, he doesn't say, "I've done these things." He actually does them. And what Jesus does here is deal gently 274 01:04:58,420 --> 01:05:05,420 with the uncertainty and the doubting. Think about how he could have responded. He could have said, "Tell John he's born through a miracle. 275 01:05:05,420 --> 01:05:14,420 Remind him that my dad, God the Father, has testified to the reality of me by saying, "This is my son at my baptism." 276 01:05:14,420 --> 01:05:27,420 Jesus doesn't berate John. He doesn't belittle him. He simply calls him to courageous faithfulness by saying, "Blessed is the one who is not offended by me." 277 01:05:27,420 --> 01:05:39,420 Jesus isn't belittling John. He's telling him to stay strong, to take what you have heard from these reliable witnesses, and to put your hope in me. 278 01:05:39,420 --> 01:05:47,420 Jesus answers, and Jesus encourages. We see it throughout Scripture with Gideon as he struggles with his smallness. 279 01:05:47,420 --> 01:05:56,420 The man with the son in Mark 9. Thomas. Jude, as he writes to the church in Jude verse 22, "Have mercy on those who doubt." 280 01:05:56,420 --> 01:06:07,420 The way that Jesus deals with us is the way in which we need. If we're proud, he humbles us. If we're falling down, he lifts us up. 281 01:06:07,420 --> 01:06:14,420 If we're uncertain, he calls us to follow him and to trust in his certainty. 282 01:06:14,420 --> 01:06:19,420 So the question is, Jesus deals gently with our doubts. How do we deal with our doubts? 283 01:06:19,420 --> 01:06:25,420 Three quick things. First of all, I would encourage you with this: Doubt boldly. 284 01:06:25,420 --> 01:06:31,420 Look at how John expresses his uncertainties. He doesn't hide them. He doesn't pretend that he's okay. 285 01:06:31,420 --> 01:06:38,420 He asks Jesus by sending witnesses. That's bold. John doesn't push this feeling down. 286 01:06:38,420 --> 01:06:44,420 He pours it out to Jesus. He doesn't avoid it. He doesn't hide it. He doesn't pretend. 287 01:06:44,420 --> 01:06:53,420 And the best thing that you and I can do with our struggles and our hurts and our uncertainties and our doubts is to do it boldly. 288 01:06:53,420 --> 01:06:59,420 To say simply that I'm struggling, and Jesus, I need help. 289 01:06:59,420 --> 01:07:03,420 John doubts boldly. 290 01:07:03,420 --> 01:07:08,420 The second thing I would say is doubt honestly. 291 01:07:08,420 --> 01:07:14,420 The pastor by the name of Tim Keller, who has written a lot on this subject, will say that we need to doubt our doubts. 292 01:07:14,420 --> 01:07:22,420 And what that means is to look at how we are feeling and say, "Why am I feeling this way? What is underneath all of this?" 293 01:07:22,420 --> 01:07:30,420 Like John, am I doubting because my circumstances took me somewhere that I wasn't expecting? 294 01:07:30,420 --> 01:07:34,420 Am I doubting because I just don't understand? 295 01:07:34,420 --> 01:07:45,420 Right, there's times where we are young in our faith and we don't understand something completely, and we find ourselves struggling simply because we don't understand, not because it's not true. 296 01:07:45,420 --> 01:07:51,420 I remember one of the most embarrassing moments for me as a young driver. I was driving my siblings to school. 297 01:07:51,420 --> 01:08:07,420 And we were running late, which was probably my siblings fault, definitely not mine, jump in the car, drive as fast as we can, the 40 or so minutes to school, like slide into the parking lot, shut the car off, dive out the doors, try to get to class in time. 298 01:08:07,420 --> 01:08:10,420 Didn't think much about it other than I was in a hurry. 299 01:08:10,420 --> 01:08:20,420 Went back out at the end of the school day, everybody's in the car, and I go to start the car, and it doesn't start. In fact, I can't take my keys out. 300 01:08:20,420 --> 01:08:27,420 They won't turn all the way back, and I'm sitting there, and I remember in the morning that I couldn't take the keys out, but I was in such a hurry, I just left them. 301 01:08:27,420 --> 01:08:32,420 And so I go to start, you know, foot on the brake, and I start there, and nothing. 302 01:08:32,420 --> 01:08:38,420 And I tried, and a buddy tried, and one of our farm buddies who knew how engines worked at the time tried, and nothing. 303 01:08:38,420 --> 01:08:46,420 And I said, "Oh, I'm going to have to call my dad, who's going to be real thrilled about this, because he has to drive 45 minutes one way, because I just broke the car." 304 01:08:46,420 --> 01:09:04,420 So I called him. He says, "Well, try this." And so Dad drives, and we're sitting out there. It's like 4 o'clock in the afternoon, 45 minutes from home. Dad shows up, walks to the car, sits down on it, puts his foot on the brake, shifts it into park, takes my keys out, and hands it to me, right? 305 01:09:04,420 --> 01:09:12,420 Because I was in such a hurry to leave, I just shut it off in drive, and then I went, "Why can't I start it?" Right? 306 01:09:12,420 --> 01:09:28,420 So many times, I think, our doubts are like that. We rush immediately to the problem, without digging into what lies under my... Why am I doubting? Is it because of my circumstances? 307 01:09:28,420 --> 01:09:38,420 Is it because I don't understand fully, because I haven't looked at what is actually helping? John believes that Jesus is an earthly king. 308 01:09:38,420 --> 01:09:47,420 And so Jesus, as he seeks to help him, seeks to gently correct his understanding. 309 01:09:47,420 --> 01:09:55,420 Or am I doubting because of my own ideas and my own expectations? This is pretty closely related to the one above, right? 310 01:09:55,420 --> 01:10:06,420 To doubt because of my own ideas, rather than who God really is. To assume what I think is right, rather than looking at the truth. 311 01:10:06,420 --> 01:10:13,420 I want to tell you this morning that when we struggle in doubt, first of all, we've got to doubt boldly. 312 01:10:13,420 --> 01:10:21,420 And what I mean by that is that Jesus is big enough and strong enough that when we pour out our hearts and our hurts and our questions to him, 313 01:10:21,420 --> 01:10:27,420 he is the one who can help us, but also, as we do so, dive into our own hearts. 314 01:10:27,420 --> 01:10:34,420 Why am I feeling this? Why am I thinking like this? Am I mistaken? Do I need to learn more? 315 01:10:34,420 --> 01:10:41,420 But here's the most important out of all of them. Take your doubts to Jesus. This is what John does. 316 01:10:41,420 --> 01:10:50,420 He doesn't sit and talk in a group. He doesn't gossip back and forth. He goes through these messengers to Jesus. 317 01:10:50,420 --> 01:11:00,420 It's the same as the Father in Mark 9:24, where Jesus says, "If you believe," and he says, "I believe, help my unbelief." 318 01:11:00,420 --> 01:11:07,420 That Father doesn't stop doubting, doesn't try to exert his own will. He runs to Jesus. 319 01:11:07,420 --> 01:11:15,420 Right? This is the call of this text for us, is in those moments where life takes that detour, like John, 320 01:11:15,420 --> 01:11:22,420 from where we thought we were going to go to where we are right now. Take our hurts to Jesus. 321 01:11:22,420 --> 01:11:28,420 Take our questions and our struggles to Jesus, because he is the one who has our answer. 322 01:11:28,420 --> 01:11:39,420 This is what Jesus is calling us to, but it's also the call that God has put on our lives for those who surround us. 323 01:11:39,420 --> 01:11:45,420 To seek to take those who are near us, maybe the struggling brother or sister in Christ, 324 01:11:45,420 --> 01:11:55,420 maybe the friend or neighbor who doesn't believe, to seek to bring them to Jesus. Let's pray. 325 01:11:55,420 --> 01:12:05,420 Father in heaven, help us in our moments of weakness. Help us to have certainty through your Son. 326 01:12:05,420 --> 01:12:13,420 Help us to run to you with all of our difficulties and all of our hurts and all of our sorrows. 327 01:12:13,420 --> 01:12:17,420 Be with us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 328 01:12:17,420 --> 01:12:22,420 We're going to stand and sing by the grace of God. 329 01:12:22,420 --> 01:12:49,420 I rest my soul on Jesus. When the mountains shake, I put my trust in Jesus. 330 01:12:49,420 --> 01:13:14,420 The moment I awake. And when my soul is lost at sea, He will be my rock. My vision be in Christ. 331 01:13:14,420 --> 01:13:39,420 My vision be in Christ alone. This grace is all we've got. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. 332 01:13:39,420 --> 01:14:06,420 Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. So I, upon His shoulders, safely brought this far. 333 01:14:06,420 --> 01:14:33,420 Helper of my helpless soul, the King of broken hearts. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. 334 01:14:33,420 --> 01:15:00,420 Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. When breath grows still and night draws near, I will not be afraid. 335 01:15:00,420 --> 01:15:27,420 I know the plans He has for me don't finish at my grave. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. 336 01:15:27,420 --> 01:15:42,420 Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God.