Remembering the Future | Judah Smith

Turn your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews. I'd like to pick up a little bit where we left off last weekend. Go with me to Hebrews chapter 13 and we'll begin reading in verse 7. In fact, I'm going to change my mind. Let's go back to Hebrews 12 and verse 28.

We'll start reading in chapter 12:28 and then we'll read all the way to verse 9 in Hebrews chapter 13. Therefore, see that word therefore. It's a connecting word. And um that word is is basically therefore. Okay, rough crowd here this morning. That word is is there to say, okay, having established in the last 12 chapters, which is basically the the work of Jesus, the doctrine of the gospel and grace.

He says, "Therefore, since we're receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. Let brotherly love continue." Now, you'll notice once we get into Hebrews 13, the the passage, the text gets incredibly practical.

And you'll notice Hebrews 13 is one of the more practical chapters in all of the Bible. Hebrews is an innately doctrinal theological book. Of course, the whole Bible is theological, but it's very doctrinal, very much the teaching of the gospel and Christ and the finished work. It's powerful.

But by the end of the book, it gets very practical. Start talking about, okay, this is how you live this beautiful teaching. Doctrine is just a sophisticated word for teaching. So, we have a lot of teaching in Hebrews, but by the end, he says, okay, here's how you implement it.

Monday through Sunday. So notice verse one again. Let bre brother brother brotherly love continue. Verse two. Do not forget to entertain strangers for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners if chained with them those who are mistreated since you yourselves are in the body.

Also powerful verses we could spend a lot of time on today. Marriage is honorable among all. speaking. Now, notice it talking about relationships, brotherly love, remembering the persecuted believers, all these people we have relationship with. Notice in the context of relationship, the scripture says marriage, by the way, is the most important relationship other than your relationship with God.

Marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled. Fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. If they don't ask for forgiveness and put their faith in Jesus, there there's judgment that remains for them. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Okay. The love of money. Money is not bad. But the love of money is sin. >> Are you hearing me?

Money is neither good nor bad. People think we could Christians shouldn't talk about money. If anybody should talk about money, it's Christians because we take money and we redeem it because we put it into the purpose of the kingdom and making Jesus famous. Somebody said, "Amen." Let your conduct be without covetousness.

So don't love money. be content with such things as you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So, we we we relate to money differently than anybody else on the planet. Can I hear an amen? We're not anxious about our finances because God will never leave us nor forsake us.

In other words, he's our provider. He's our source. He's our strength. Not a job, not a boss, >> not a crazy investment. Jesus is our source. And we fix our gaze on him. That's why we've set up the whole school of generosity. That's why more than 900 people in our church have signed up for this school to get a proper perspective of King Jesus.

He's even king over our money. And he empowers us to earn more, save more. So ultimately, we can give more to make him famous. >> Now, that's not in my notes, but that's some pretty good preaching. >> Verse six, so we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper.

I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Is that an awesome confession? You might want to take that one tomorrow morning and just confess that over your life. Let's go back to that. The Lord is my helper. I will not fear what command do to me.

And Hebrews says boldly. This is what we say. >> We should say that. We should say that boldly. >> Amen. >> We're just getting warmed up. Remember those who rule over you. Now verse seven. Remember those who rule over you who have spoken the word of God to you. whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct.

Now key verse today, key verse. This is the verse that we will spend a few minutes here unpacking. Jesus Christ is the same. That's quite a statement right there. >> Jesus Christ is the same. You can't say that about anybody else that has ever walked this planet. Jesus.

And how many know, aren't you glad >> you don't say that about your spouse? I'm glad Chelsea is glad I have not stayed the same. I have improved. Thank you, Jesus. But Jesus Christ is the same. Of course, this reveals his deity for he is God. So, he changes not.

He is the same yesterday, today. And actually in the original language, there is a massive emphasis. Jesus Christ yesterday. This is how it literally goes in the original language. Jesus Christ yesterday and today is the same and forever. So here in this verse, it covers the fact that in time and space, he's the same.

But also into the future and all the way into eternity, our God remains the same. >> Man, that's some good stuff right there. That's why I don't do drugs. I do scripture verse 9. Hebrews 13:9. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. Again, that's the word teaching.

Do not be carried about with various and strange teachings. For it is good, listen to this statement. Wow. For it is good that the heart be established by grace. That is the essence of who God is. That is the message of the gospel. It is good that the heart be confirmed, that the heart be founded, that the heart be grounded by grace, not with foods with which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. foods, not only speaking practically, but even metaphorically, teachings that have been fed to people that have not profited those who have become preoccupied even mentally and emotionally with them.

Let your heart be established in the gospel. Romans 10:10 says, "For with the heart man believes unto salvation." Let your believer be established in grace. I want to speak to you from the subject. Here's my title. Remembering the future. Write that down. Remembering the future. Bit of a brain teaser.

Remembering the future. That is key in your life to understand that actually the believer is called to remember the future. If you don't like that title, we could call it back to the future. All right, let's pray. Father, we love you. We love your spirit. We thank you for the word.

It's so beautiful. It's so wonderful. Above all else today, help us to see Jesus. Help everything to revolve around Jesus. Lord, you know every person and where they are today under the sound of my voice, where they are in their journey with you. We ask today they would have a true, genuine, radical encounter >> with who you are.

We thank you for it, Lord, in Jesus name. And everybody said, >> "Amen." >> Everybody said, >> "Amen." >> I grew up um with all kinds of toys and trinkets and that sort of thing. But uh one of my favorite toys that I ever got, and it my parents would have never bought this for me.

It was a next-door neighbor who shouldn't have given it to me, and I didn't reveal it to my parents for quite some time, but they gave me a a modern slingshot. And it was one of those that you hold in your arm, and it has that rubber piece. and and needless to say, I might have put a few rocks in there and shot them at friends.

But um because I'm an American, but um you know what the Bible is? Let me give you a metaphor for the Bible. The Bible is a slingshot. Maybe you've never thought about this. It really is. That's what this book is. It is a spiritual, emotional, daily slingshot. How a slingshot works, I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but I'm sure you need to know this information.

How slingshots work is you put something in there, hopefully soft, but when you're 10, it's very hard. You put something in the slingshot and the slingshot is designed that the further you pull it backwards, the more you propel it, the object that is within the slingshot forward. That is such a critical understanding for believers.

Our history is so critical to our today and our future. That's why Hebrews 13:8 makes this magnanimous statement about our Lord and Savior, King Jesus. He is the same. I'm telling you, in a moment, you you you you're going to see what I've been seeing and what I've been I'm this verse is so amazing.

The stability and the sustainability that this verse will give you every day of your life will save you a lot of money with a shrink. The Bible is a slingshot. Our life is to go in it and it pulls us back in time. It pulls us back thousands of years.

And the further we go back and we look even from the beginning of time and space in Genesis where it is stated in the beginning. God, that same God that was before the beginning, that was the beginning of the beginning >> and was right there AT THE BEGINNING.

THAT God has never changed. You get pulled back that far and before you know it, you've gone back to the future. >> It propels you forward into your future. >> There are so many people today, even Christians, who are paralyzed, who are petrified of their future, PETRIFIED EVEN OF TODAY, OR SIMPLY PUT, THEY'RE JUST NOT HAVING A GOOD TIME.

TODAY IS JUST ANOTHER DAY. TOMORROW IS LIKE I SAID LAST WEEK 5050. WHO KNOWS? And yet THE SCRIPTURE EXISTS. GOD GAVE US A BOOK LIKE A SLINGSHOT TO TAKE US BACK IN TIME THROUGH THE CENTURIES OF TIME. TO TAKE US BACK TO TO REVEAL his faithfulness to reveal how faithful and true and unchanging OUR GOD IS.

And then Hebrews 13:8 drops a bomb. Something hopefully by the time we got to Hebrews 13, we already figured out. So just in case you hadn't, he's the same. >> In other words, who Jesus was, Jesus is. >> And who Jesus is, Jesus will always be. Yeah. >> All of a sudden, this man I read about in the Gospels, I can be sure that SAME GOD MAN WHO CAME in the flesh and walked the planet, that same Jesus is the Jesus in this building today.

He's the same healer. >> He's the same lover of sinners. He's the same man that ate with tax collectors and spoke words of life over prostitutes. That same Jesus has not changed the criteria, has not changed his ways, has not CHANGED HIS WORDS, HAS NOT CHANGED HIS COMPASSION and his love.

HE IS THE SAME. >> And if he has remained the same for thousands of years, he will not change now. >> Don't call a comeback. Jesus has been here for years. LL CoolJ had it right. He l CoolJ got a revelation of Hebrews 13:8. God doesn't do comebacks.

God doesn't do doovers. God doesn't do oops. [snorts] God doesn't do Let me try that again. >> Let's come at this again. >> He's perfect and he is the same. Thank you, Jesus. I really want this to sink into your spirit because it is imperative for us as a community of faith, as brothers and sisters, to approach our past appropriately, to approach our present rightly, and to look into the future with great expectation.

I think to myself, what would happen if we could get thousands of people in Seattle in one church living every day with great expectation, >> THINKING RIGHT AROUND THIS CORNER, SOMETHING GOOD is about to happen. >> EVEN WHEN THE CHALLENGES CAME, WE'D SAY, "IT'S just momentary. Something good is on its way."

Friends, it's so much more than optimism. It's anchored in the teachings of Jesus. If his character has not changed, then what comes from his character has also not changed. And Jesus does what he does because he is who he is. And who he is never changes. Therefore, what he does never changes. >> So the same miracle worker is amongst us today.

No matter what your emotions say or your circumstances say, circumstances change, emotions change, they come and they go. They're as fickle as the weather in Seattle, which is fickle. Jesus is the same. >> What concerns me personally and then even in in your in your life pastorally, I I think about it and I think about you and I pray for you and I pray for all of our different locations around the city and I think about the thousands of believers that call this church their home.

Hebrews 13:9 speaks of this emotional state, speaks of this spiritual state that is tossed. Wind tossed. There's a lot of wind today. Wind being a metaphor for concepts and ideas and teachings, principles. We live in the information age. There's so many people that say this or that or and then sometimes even fellow believers come up with crazy concepts and they filter Jesus through their experiences and their challenges and their pain and they come up with kind of uh uh uh not so accurate concepts of God and we shout them from the rooftops or maybe you've been in Bible study and before you know it emotionally and spiritually internally you become wind tossed in the New King James says Do not be carried about.

About is literally a way. DON'T BE CARRIED AWAY WITH various and strange teachings. And that's what happens. That's why a lot some people don't they haven't even landed on the person of Jesus and realizing that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Realizing that he is the only God and all others are pretenders. >> God is God all by himself.

No one even comes close. God is number one, number two, number three, number four, number five. In the ranking system, they don't insult the God of the ages by giving anyone else the second ranking, the third ranking, the fourth ranking. He's he's God. Even Christians, we get various concepts and they're usually um additive, supplements, non-essentials, nonfunddamentals, crazy concepts, but they they they affect us dramatically in our practical everyday life.

So we we just we we we get excessive about certain aspects of God. And what we do is we give room then for bad things happen because you know bad things happen to good people. And so therefore we've got to just prepare. And I don't know where we came up this concept but somehow we're supposed to like it's godly to expect.

The Bible gives us the only biblical precedence it gives us to expect bad things is to expect persecution. That is the one bad thing as Christians we are told you might as well expect it. >> You might as well you might as well wake up tomorrow morning and say somebody's not going to like me because I love Jesus. >> Do you know that is the only New Testament biblical precedent you have to expect something bad in your life. >> That's it.

That's the only one you can make a case right now and say, "Well, well, the Bible says, what does it say? Does it say that you should expect sickness and disease and death?" It doesn't say that. It may happen, but we are not to anticipate it AND EXPECT IT.

WE'RE TO ANTICIPATE and expect THAT WHICH FLOWS FROM THE UNCHANGING character of our savior, King Jesus. It's the only way to live. I'm excited. If you don't mind, I'm going to live on the fact that Jesus, who he is, who he was is who he is. And who he is IS WHO HE'LL ALWAYS BE.

That's the way I'm going to live my life. This is the scripture. This is the theology. This is the teaching I'm going to anchor my everyday life to. And by the way, that's exactly the context of Hebrews 13. In fact, the two verses surrounding Hebrews 13:8, the first verse speaks of this idea of changing leadership, practical human leadership.

We've experienced this. A death of a leader, a death of a pastor. One of the healing ointments is Hebrews 13:8. When you lose a leader or you lose some of your leaders and teachers are loved ones, fathers and mothers, when you lose them, it should be noted Jesus remains >> and he's at the center of it all should be noted too in what Hebrews 13:7 is saying that I I if there's a loss of leader or if there's an abuse of leadership, it's amazing how many Christians talking to believers for a moment here this morning, It's amazing how many believers superimpose the hurt and pain that a human leader has put on them and they superimpose it on King Jesus and they assume that somehow King Jesus has done this.

No, there is leadership and leadership can be great. Leadership can also fail you on this planet. Chances are very likely that I might do something that rubs you the wrong way. Some of you thinking, "Are you kidding me?" Absolutely. It's been quite a few times already, Judah. But wait a minute.

No scripture says your pastor's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And somebody should shout, "Amen." Cuz I am a work in progress. But Jesus, he's the anchor of our faith. He's the anchor of my faith. And every elder and leader and pastor, Jesus at the center of it all.

Jesus remains the same. Jesus is the healing ointment. If you've been hurt by leadership or you've lost leadership, or maybe some of you are here today and you're thinking, man, I don't know if I can do organized religion. I don't know if I can do this church thing.

I don't know if I can do this personalitydriven kind of community. And you've been you've been you've been uh marred and and you've been tainted in your perspective of church because you're like, man, leadership fails you and leadership gets abusive and leadership gets dictatorship and man, I I can't do this.

I'm just going to do Jesus. Well, the scripture is clearly telling us that we ought to have leaders and we ought to we ought to trust the leaders and we ought to yield to their teaching and their leadership. But it should be noted that if there is failure or if there is loss or is there if there is weakness or if there is insufficient insufficiency in your leadership that HEY REMEMBER IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS CHRIST who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Now, I'm not setting you up so that I can hurt you. I'm not setting you up so I can take off, but I'm setting you up for a long, flourishing, fruitful life in the house of God. As long as we make Jesus the center, as long as we focus on the sameness of Jesus, even when a leader or someone lets us down or hurts us or leaves or we lose, our eyes are on Jesus.

That's been the testimony of this church for 19 years. That's why y'all are still here. Pastor Wendle's gone, but we're still here because Jesus remains. >> Can I hear an amen? Amen. >> And like I said in verse 9, notice that the answer to this win tossed spiritual, moral, emotional dilemma is also the sameness of of Jesus.

Specifically, in the next few moments, I really want to land on and stand in today and pray for and preach to people who feel a bit wind tossed. I'm not even talking just about crazy preaching. Some of you are smarter than that. You, you know, you hear kind of crazy out there preaching.

You think, man, I, you know, that's, we got, we got to keep it, keep, keep keep it simple. Keep it the gospel. And you get that. But I think this also applies to just crazy concepts that float through this crazy world that we're part of. Sometimes you start believing them.

I know. Oh, I I I mean, I I've struggled with this. I've got people that I have the privilege of discipling who are young in the Lord, and their testimony is, you know, I'm I'm a I'm I'm afraid. I'm afraid. What if something goes wrong? What if something goes bad?

Some of you, the truth is, you've been raised to think like this. Your parents taught you you better prepare for the worst. Trust nobody. People hurt you and abuse you. Only person you can trust is yourself. Tough stuff's going to happen. Bad things are going to happen. Life's not fair.

It's your lot. Be a man. Suck it up. Deal with it. And so you've you've been indoctrinated. taught over and over that this is. And now here you are in your 30s or 40s or even 60s and 70s and you still battle with this lingering concepts and mentalities that something bad might happen at any moment.

Some of you it really surfaces when you've got a string of good things. You got a streak of good days all a sudden are connected and and you've been taught well you be careful things get too good you know something bad's going to happen knock on wood you know I mean you never can know it's just life this is to be honest if we're all really honest this is how most of us were probably raised and some of you in a god-fearing home, but this is just kind of everyday life.

And now we're trying to fight it off with just being positive. And if you've been in city church for any length of time, if there's probably no more positive person on the planet than Pastor Wendle and he gets up every week and he's smiling and then the last six years he's fighting off cancer and we're believing in faith and he's still up here smiling and you're thinking, man, if he can smile, what's wrong with me?

So then you're kind of getting condemned but also kind of encouraged and it's this weird swirling kind of what is wrong with me and gosh I guess I should suck it up. You know I'm upset because I got the flu and Pastor Wendle's up there preaching and what what geez but here you are to be honest you're still in this place of kind of I'm trying to be positive and you're constantly catching yourself and well you know it's going to be a tough week.

I mean no it's going to be great. It's going to be awesome. It's got to be more than that. >> I appreciate your faith confession. I really do. And I think it's important in their scripture to back that up. But it's got to be more than just catching yourself.

Oh man. Oh, I mean, just kidding. I'm a one of those city church people. It's going to be good. I don't know how. I don't know when. I don't know where, but I guess it's supposed to be good. That's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about saying something that you don't even sure you believe, but you've just been taught to say it before you all know it.

We're just robots. It's going to be good. But your eyes are like, "It ain't going to be good." It's like, "Is it going to be good?" Yeah, totally. It's going to be awesome. Yeah. God's going to really bless us. That's not what we're after. >> This has got TO BE IN YOUR HEART. >> It's good that the heart, NOT JUST THE MOUTH, >> BE ESTABLISHED BY GRACE. >> BE ESTABLISHED IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD. >> NOTICE IT DOES NOT SAY IT'S GOOD THAT THE HEART BE ESTABLISHED BY JUDGMENT. >> It's good that THE HEART BE ESTABLISHED BY JUSTICE.

IT'S GOOD THAT the heart be established by grace, which by definition is the character and content of God, which speaks of the scandalous love of God, where you get what you don't deserve. >> IT IS GOOD. The scripture says at the end of one of the most doctrinal, beautiful Hebrews is like kissing cousins with Romans.

That is the weirdest thing I've ever said. But nonetheless, Hebrews is like the PS to Romans. There are these two beautiful works of doctrine and scripture and yet at the end of this amazing doctrinal book, powerful book. It gets so practical and it says by the way in the inside the the where you believe that place needs to be rooted and grounded confidently assured by grace >> because if if if where you believe is established in grace, you have this daily outlook.

Let them call it optimism. Whatever. Who cares? We know what it is. It's called good doctrine and good theology. I'm firmly rooted in grace. That's why people think we're crazy. Go, man. How's it going? Heard you guys been sick. Yeah, you know, it's it's hurt, man. Back's been hurting a little bit.

Well, sorry to hear that. Oh, God's good. He's my healer. >> He's healing me. You know, it's going to be a good week. Well, I mean, don't you just feel horrible? I mean, it hurts. Yeah, it really does hurt. But God works everything together for good. I mean, I look at my life and I read the book and I know something good's on the way.

And you know, by the way, my chiropractor doesn't know Jesus, but I've been talking to him and he's open. He's going to come to church with me next Sunday. And I'm telling you, God's just, man, you're one of them positive people, one of those pumped people. one of those optimists.

No, it's way deeper than that. Friends, you you don't need Jesus just to be positive. I've met a lot of positive people and like I said, they're like, "Yeah, it's going to be a good day." But I met a lot of people that they're not overtly like, "OH, IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT.

GOD'S GOOD, but deep inside they know that he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And they may not be the most outspoken, positive, happy, golucky, life of the party, bubbling out external personality kind of person. That is not what we're after. We're not after personality tailoring. Everybody's got to be this kind of personality.

You be who God has called you to be, but you make sure that you get your heart deep inside established by grace. So get in the slingshot. Get in the word of God. Let God pull you back through the annals of time, through the decades and through the through the centuries and let him pull you back.

And as you look at all the faithfulness and the sameness and the tress of our God, his enduring love and passion and compassion for humanity, it will propel you. You will not be able to stop the propulsion of this slingshot. >> You'll be so pumped internally about your future and what God has in store for you and for those around you and for your family.

This is the way God intended for us to live. It is a confidence. No matter what happens, listen to me. Circumstances change. Thank God. >> Yeah. >> Let's just throw that out there. Okay. >> Sometimes we're always thinking, you know, circumstances change. When it's going good, it's going to go bad.

Why don't we think the other way? When things are going bad, the storms won't last. This valley is going to turn into a mountaintop real soon. I'm just going to keep going. I'm going to keep moving forward. Circumstances changes, but Jesus never changes. It's imperative, by the way, that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Let me just practically explain this. I've got carried away. That was supposed to be kind of my introduction, but it turned into my whole message. Jesus is the same yesterday. Why is that important? It's absolutely critical because it was yesterday that Jesus revealed who he was by coming on planet Earth, taking on the form of a body, and revealing the character of God.

So it's critical that Jesus is the same yesterday for yesterday is where we have the most profound revelation of who he is. It's also critical that Jesus is the same today. For today is when we relate to the God based on who he revealed himself to be yesterday.

So it's critical that he's the same today. But it's also critical that he's the same tomorrow. For all of our hopes and dreams and aspirations hinge on him, King Jesus being the same, the same person he was today and the same person he was yesterday. Friends, you change any one of these yesterday, today, or tomorrow, and all hope is lost.

I'm telling you, we should fundamentally, practically, and profoundly be the most hopeful people on the planet >> in such a hopeless society and generation and era. I was talking to a person yesterday who is not a believer and he is even keenly aware of the depravity of certain particularly certain regions of our world.

He says what do you believe about the Middle East? What do you believe about what does this mean about the end times? What do you think is going on? It's crazy. There's so much stuff going on. And here he is. He's hopeless. He's groping for meaning. Where's it all ending up?

I don't know about you, BUT MAN, THE OLDER I GET, EVEN AT 33, I'm thinking, "This is about to be over real quick. >> I'm 33. I'M LOOKING AT PICTURES OF MY DAD WHEN I WAS A KID. I'M LIKE, "WOW, OH MY GOD, he's 33." In that photo, my dad, I'M AS OLD AS MY DAD.

YOU KNOW, I MEAN, IT'S JUST a it's amazing HOW QUICKLY THE BATON IS PASSED AND YOU'RE LIKE, "OKAY, I'm the MAN OF THE HOUSE. THIS IS WEIRD. >> It's vapor. >> God put eternity in the heart of humanity. Something tells them there's more than this. But if we don't get the message out, if we live hopeless, ultimately ultimately our hopelessness suffocates the world's understanding of Jesus.

We walk around as Jesus people, hopeless. Of all people, we should be the most hopeful. What I'm practically saying is we actually at the end of the day what I literally am saying and what I literally believe is we should be the most positive people on the planet.

It's very difficult to be hopeful and cynical and negative. I mean how many how many people have you met in your life who are truly hopeful? I mean they I mean they got hope, man. And they're constantly just negative and ugly and wrinkling in their face. And I What are you?

I'm full of hope, pumped about the future, and I'm I'm angry about it. No, hopeful people are happy people. >> They're positive people. They're optimistic people. Where else? Where else is it going to is the world going to go to find these people? >> Where are they going to go? >> I was around people yesterday.

It was the biggest party I've ever seen. There was more drinking than I've seen in four years of high school. I'm smelling all kind of unique smells, if you know what I mean. Very familiar smells from back in the day. And I feel like I'm getting secondary highs.

And I'm looking around. I'm going, "Where are they going to find hope?" >> Tomorrow morning when they wake up at the crack at 10:30 with a throbbing headache, it's not fun unless it's fun in the morning. That's my motto. Where are they going to go? They're going to find Christians, you know, just running along, kicking the dirt.

Well, you know, I'm going to suffer. I'm a Christian. It's what it is. Just bear the sufferings of Jesus. Someday in heaven, God will work it all out. But in the meantime, I'm a martyr. You know, true martyrs don't think like martyrs. You know that? >> That's the irony.

A real martyr is hopeful. >> That's why they're a good martyr. ((applause)) >> Hebrews 13:8 gives us two things. Two things practically two things. Stability and sustainability. Amen. >> I got stability. Even in the instability of life, the uncertainty of the future, the uncertainty of the next few hours, I HAVE STABILITY BECAUSE I'M anchored to the sameness of Jesus, not the unchanging surroundings of society. >> So, I DO NOT FEAR THE NEWS.

We do not fear pestilence and disease and wars and rumors of wars and dictators and politicians. WE DO NOT FEAR. >> WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT OUR GOD REIGNS FOREVER AND EVER WITHOUT END. ((applause)) I have stability in life. That's what's so amazing about us believers, man. If you're not a believer today, you can become a believer. >> Christians are the most stable people on the planet.

Maybe you've not met a stable Christian. Just stick around. There's a few here. >> We're stable. >> Emotionally, we have stability. Spiritually we have stability for our heart has been established in who Jesus is. Grace so much more I could say. But lastly, this gives us sustainability. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

I can have enduring joy, ((music playing)) >> sustained joy. Yesterday I'm at this crazy place ((music playing)) and party and I'm looking. It's there's momentary joy. If anybody ever tells you sin isn't fun, that's ridiculous. Where we wouldn't sin. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Sin's not fun. It's like eating a diaper.

No, that's not fun. That's why no one does it. Of course, sin is fun. That's why we do it. Feels good to punch someone in the face sometimes. But afterwards, most of the time, we feel bad. Sin is the essence of ((music playing)) momentary joy, isn't it? Momentary excitement. Stolen water is sweet.

Solomon said, "The strange woman, not your spouse." Oh, this is exciting. But Solomon goes on to say, "But you do not know that her house descends to hell. In the morning, you wake up tortured. Morning, you wake up emotionally wrecked in bed with a strange woman thinking, "What have I done?" for believers.

We don't Oh, we got high highs, but our life doesn't look like this anymore. It's not supposed to. It looks like this. So, some will say, "Man, it doesn't seem like you have any those anymore." Yeah, because oftentimes those ended with those. But I got a lot every day.

Glory to glory, grace to grace, faith to faith. I got sustained joy now. I got sustain. Not momentary laughter, but true joy. For even in laughter, the heart can still grieve. Solomon said sustainability. Now, I love Eugene Peterson. quotes he he he he he rewrites or or or summarizes Romans in one particular passage ((music playing)) and he sp talks about the rhythms of grace.

Now I live life in a rhythm that is ((music playing)) sustainable. I I don't get so worked up. I don't get carried away with some crazy concept and crazy idea. A trainer ((music playing)) recently told me he said you do you know what your problem is? I said no. He says you binge and then you purge.

I don't have an eating disorder. Okay, don't misunderstand me. He says, "But you just you eat a bunch of sugar and then you stop and you eat really good and then you eat a bunch." He goes, "You got to stop this." I'm like, "I'm trying. It's my personality."

But that's no longer how we live spiritually, ((music playing)) emotionally. Binging, purging, bing. Now we have a sustainable life because of righteousness and grace. Now every day I can trust Jesus. I know I can endure to the end. I'm not traveling at a speed that is unsustainable. But every single day I'm trusting Jesus, worshiping Jesus, loving Jesus because he's loving me. and I'm going to make it through every circumstance and every situation cuz Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

((music playing)) So, if you're here today or you're there at Alderwood or your belt and you feel wind tossed concepts and ideas and ((music playing)) mentalities and perspectives and philosophies and you're thinking, man, what is wrong with me today? The Holy Spirit is here. The Holy Spirit ((music playing)) is available to us to help us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually ((music playing)) fix our focus on Jesus.

The same yesterday, today, and forever. You know what I want us to do? I want us to remember the future every day. I want us to wiggle our way into that slingshot and let us take us back. Man, the Old Testament is so fun. We live in a new era and a new do new dispensation.

But you go back and you even in that ((music playing)) time you see his faithfulness, his sameness. He's a good God. And all of a sudden, you get up from that moment. Even if it's five minutes, ((music playing)) even if it's come on, even if it's on your Bible app and it's reading the Bible to you.

I love that even if you're in the car, but you're getting in ((music playing)) the slingshot of God and it pulls you back and all of a sudden you're propelled into your Wednesday or your Thursday. All a sudden, man, something good is about to happen today. Come on, church. The future's bright.

It's never been brighter. God is ((music playing)) faithful. God is true. The same God that saw you through in the 60s or the 70s or the same God that saved you in high school is the same God that sustained you as a young married couple. He's the same and that gives us confidence and assurance as we approach our future.

Can I hear an amen?