Back to the Future | Joakim Lundqvist

Gateway family. >> Well, what an incredible honor it's been [snorts] for Maria and myself to walk this road with you. Spend these 18 months as your interim teaching pastor. We have in the process fallen head over heels in love with this house. And you have just proven to be the most loving and the most appreciative group of people we've ever met in our lives.

So, thank you. Right back to you. Right at the end of today's message, uh I want to bring Maria back up again. We just want to say a few words to you and also pray God's blessing upon this house. And even though like Pastor Mark said, uh a certain chapter comes to an end, I will be back because because uh every time we're not here, we just miss you guys so much.

But just never ever call me a guest speaker. That will be horrible. I want to be a family speaker for life at Gateway Church. That's But you know, I was thinking about what to share with you on this last day of our our sort of our journey together.

And I want to do a bit of time traveling. Actually, I found many times in my life that God has inspired me to go back in time and look to what he has done and what he has said in the past in my yesterday to gain direction for my today and for my tomorrow.

So, I'm just going to call this message Back to the Future [laughter] because I was a teenager in the 1980s, the decades of amazing movies. And one of my favorite ones was called Back to the Future. And if you haven't seen this epic piece of cinematic excellence, shame on you.

No, just kidding. But if you haven't, it's all about teenage boy Marty McFly whose friend Doc Emmett Brown is building a time machine out of a Delorean sports car. Now, accidentally, Marty McFly is sent back in time to the 1950s when he meets his mom to be and his dad to be.

Now, they are not yet in love with one another. And all of a sudden now Marty's mom to be falls in love with Marty, not knowing that he is actually her son to be. Now this jeopardizes Marty's entire existence. So he now has to make sure that his mom to be and dad to be fall in love so he will actually exist and then find his way back to the 1980s.

It's just amazing. It's so good. It's so good. but actually carries also a spiritual principle because repeatedly throughout the word of God we are told to not forget the great things God has done. >> We are basically told to go back in time and relive and revisit and remind ourselves of the goodness and the faithfulness of God.

And as we do, we build faith that he who was faithful yesterday will be faithful today and will be faithful tomorrow. >> Amen. >> Amen. >> I mean, actually, Paul even writes in Ephesians chapter 2, remember that once you were without God and without hope in this world.

And we might ask ourselves, why would we need to remember such a negative piece of information? Because if you don't remember who you were without Christ, you will not fully appreciate who you are in Christ. And today, I just want to take the opportunity to look back on these 18 months that we have spent together and ask ourselves just what has God what has brought us through?

What has God spoken? What has he done throughout this time? And what is he doing today? And where are we heading tomorrow? Amen. Now, before we get into the word of God, I just have to tell you one more Back to the Future related anecdote. There is no way I can let this one go.

Okay, so last year I took my beautiful wife Maria on a surprise date weekend in New York and we I secretly bought tickets to see Back to the Future the musical on Broadway because we both love the movie so much. So, because I bought the tickets online, all of a sudden the algorithms kicked in and my social media was flooded with all these Back to the Future related stuff.

Now, one of the things that popped up was a commercial for a certain wristwatch. Now, what happened was that Delorean, the company who made the sports car that became iconic through the movie, had decided that they would take the number one Delorean ever made, the first ever sports car of that model, and they would take it apart and they will make wrist watches out of the Delorean.

So all the metal and rubber and everything, all the material from the cars would go into making 456 unique wrist watches to celebrate the design of the Delorean and also also becoming like a homage to the movie. And call me a nerd, but I absolutely loved it. That was right up my alley.

I thought this is amazing. What a brilliant idea. And I was so excited. And then I saw the price of the watch and I wasn't excited anymore because Maria could tell you I like watches. It's just that I've never bought a watch in my life. I have a few.

I've been given them as presents and stuff, but I've never spent a dollar on a watch. And I wasn't going to start now. So, I just thought this was a great idea. And then he said, "Oh, we're actually giving one watch away. So, if you're interested, leave your contact details." blah blah blah.

So I did and I forgot all about it. Fast forward a few months, a box is delivered to my doorstep. And initially WHEN THE WATCH SHOWED UP, I WAS LIKE, THERE MUST have been a mistake. THEY'VE SOLD ME. THEY'VE CHARGED MY CARD. OH, DEAR LORD. SO, I called the company said, "What do I do?

This is wrong. Should I send it back?" And they said, "Oh, we didn't inform you. So, sorry. Congratulations. You won the free watch." And at Gateway, I can only interpreted this in one way. God loves me very, very, very much. So, wearing the Back to the Future watch, we're now going into the Back to the Future message.

Would you turn with me in your Bibles to Psalms 84? Psalms 84. We're going to read verse 5-7 for your notes. Psalm 87, sorry, 84. 84, verse 5-7. says, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Baka, they make it a spring.

The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God in Zion. as they pass through the valley of Baka. Baka is Hebrew for weeping or tears. As they walk through the valley of weeping. As they walk through the season of tears.

As I look back on our 18 months, it started out in the valley of Baka. It started out in the valley of weeping, the valley of tears. And I'm sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but there will be new valleys of Baka in your life. There will be individual valleys of Baka you need to pass through.

There will be family related valleys of Baka. Maybe when we lose someone we love. There will be another other church related valleys of Baka. They might be deep, they might be shallow, but they will be there. There is not a single promise in the word of God that we will escape the valleys of Baka of life.

But there are countless promises that as we pass through our valleys of Baka, our seasons of weeping, he will be with us. And actually that his presence will intensify as we go through the valleys of Baka. If you read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3, you see that there were three men cast into the fiery furnace.

And three men came out of the fiery furnace a bit later, but in the flames there were four and the fourth one looked as though he was the son of God. As you pass through the valley of Baka, as we have together been walking through a valley of Baka, we have invited Jesus and Jesus has walked with us.

Amen. >> Still many people in life struggle in the valley of Baka. They forget that they're called to pass through it, not run through it in denial because that will come back to bite you later, but not stay and build a house in the valley of Baka. Because if you do, chances are the risks are that your grief will grow into bitterness and your disappointment will grow into distrust and your pain will grow into resentment and it will do damage to your soul and affect your future journey through life.

But Psalms speak about people who pass through the Baka Valley in a different way. It says, "As they," these people pass through the valley of Baka, they make it a spring. Other translations say they constantly dig up new wells, which is beautiful because if you make the valley of Baka spring, that means that not only are you surviving yourself, but you're actually leaving a heritage of refreshment behind you so that future people who will pass through the same valley can be refreshed because we passed through it too and we left the spring behind us to say, "I was here too, but God brought me through and so he will with you."

And you know what gateway? Mostly, sadly, mostly when churches walk through a valley of Baka season of the magnitude that this church did 18 months ago, most churches disintegrates, fades away, and shuts down or they split up in a number of different fractions. And I'm sure the devil's mind was to bring death to the church of Gateway.

But he forgot that we serve a Lord who is the resurrection and the life. Praise God. And I know in my heart, I know in my heart that our valley of Baka will leave springs behind us. And that this church and the process we've been through will be a beacon of hope for hundreds and thousands of churches and leaders and pastors who will experience similar things but need to be reminded that this does not mean the end.

After death there is resurrection. After ashes there is beauty. And after night there is a new dawn, a new morning, a new day, a new season, a new chapter. ((applause)) So, as I look back on these 18 months that Maria and I have been been honored to walk with you alongside you through this valley of Baka, what are some elements that God has done that God has said that God has pointed at that has meant so much for us in our journey through this valley of Baka?

I'm glad you asked. I was just coming to that. Three things. Number one, the number one thing I think about as I relive these 18 months is the presence of God. The presence of God. And I want to honor the interim leadership of this church for immediately when news broke and all hell broke loose, expending extending our time in prayer, extending our time in praise, realizing that we cannot figure this out in our minds.

We need the presence of God. We need to invite the genuine true presence of God which is the only thing that can bring us through. I love the passage in Acts chapter 16 verse 25 when Paul and Silas are in jail because of the fact that they have preached Jesus.

And it says in verse 25 of Acts 16 about midnight about midnight right there in the valley of Baka Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. Friends, anyone can worship at about midday, but God is looking for the people who will worship and pray at about midnight because that is what's going to make the difference.

And says, "Suddenly, there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison was were shaken. At once, all the prison doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose." Can we say everyone's? >> Everyone. Meaning the freedom that they brought down by inviting the presence of God into their jail cell into their valley of Baka affected not only them.

They dug a well in the valley of Baka. They dug a spring so that every one of the prison doors open and all the chains came loose. Praise God. Next time you walk through your individual valley of Baka, never forget the presence of God is all you need.

The presence of God is all you need. I remember the very first time I spoke to this church after everything had at had felt like it was falling down. I reminded you about the the story in in uh uh Joshua chapter chapter 6 when Joshua is just about to walk up to Jericho and to take on this fortified city and a commander of the army of the Lord appears before him.

And immediately Joshua bursts out and says, "What is the message of the Lord to me?" And I I recognize myself in that comment. So many times you have all these lists. You have you need to know the one two threes and the ABCs. You have so many problems to solve, so much stuff to figure out.

What is the message? What is the solution? What is the path? I need the details. But the commander of the army of the Lord instead just says, "Take your sandals off your feet." This is holy ground. Basically saying, "You don't need the one two3s and the ABCs. All you need right now is the presence of God.

And by the presence of God, we came through and this church is what it is today. The second thing that I see God emphasizing and bringing into this journey through this valley of tears has been the element of the new generation. The new generation. I will never ever forget Gateway when I came to to this house that first weekend and and we all were in shock and obviously I was invited to speak months in advance and no no one of us knew where we would be at that point.

But I was invited to speak at the youth conference and then at the weekend services of Gateway that weekend. And I will never ever forget that cuz obviously in the weekend services there was so many question marks. There were grief, there was pain, there was confusion and we were just on our face seeking the Lord.

But right before that, there was the youth conference and thousands of young people were jumping up and down, encountering the presence of God, praising at the top of their lungs and just going wild and crazy for Jesus. And that image have stayed with me ever since. gateway. What happened there was God gave this church a prophetic glimpse in the middle of the darkest night on a brand new chapter that would follow this one.

A chapter where he would choose this church and give it a mandate and an anointing to raise up a new generation in a powerful way to include and involve and trust in and encourage and pray for the next generation. And I've seen this this work of the Lord throughout my time with you and it's been absolutely beautiful.

You know what? A few years ago, I did a Bible study on the prophet Elijah. I just wanted to study him in detail and and think about what his life and ministry could could mean to me and could teach me. And as I approached this Bible study, I remember I thought to myself, what would have been the peak moment like the key moment of the ministry of the prophet Elijah?

And spontaneously I thought it must have been Mount Carmel when he was confronting the prophets of Baal and fire came down from heaven and all of Israel fell to to the ground and proclaimed the Lord is God. The Lord is God. But you know what? At the end of my Bible study, I had changed my mind and I realized that the most important, the most crucial moment in the life of the prophet Elijah was not the most spectacular one because many times the most spectacular moments are not necessarily the most important moments.

And I've come to realize that the most important moment was a far less spectacular one. It was one that could have been mistaken for a tiny insignificant detail. And we read it in first kings 19 verse 19. So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shafat.

He was plowing with 12 yolk of oxen and he himself was driving the 12 pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Just two people present. an older man taking his cloak off and throwing it on the next generation, the new generation. Why would this seemingly insignificant moment be the most important one?

Because here it was secured that whatever was born with Elijah would not die with Elijah, but it would pass on to a new generation who would take it even further. Because when Elijah's time was up and it was time for him to be brought up up to heaven, that new generation, the Elisha generation, asks for a double portion of whatever was found in Elijah's generation, and they receive it.

Elijah performs eight miracles in the Bible. Elisha, the next generation, goes on to perform 16 miracles in the Bible. And that's the church I want to see. That's the Christianity I want to build. One where we constantly releases and trusts in and encourages and pray for the next generation so that the move of God will not be a roller coaster going up and down but will be something that goes from glory to glory to glory to glory to glory to glory until he comes back.

Sometimes when I make statements like that, I I get very rarely I get people coming up to me, old people like in their 40s, like like myself and and they and they come up to me and they say something like [clears throat] um well, okay, so so now it's all about the young people, is it?

Now they're the only ones that are important, are there? What about me? Am I not important anymore? And I'm always smiling because I'm a pastor as try to be gentle, but in my mind I'm thinking, you stupid person. Because honestly, that line of thinking is as stupid as if a couple would have their very first baby and then they would look at this baby and think, "Oh, so now we're not important anymore, are we?"

Guys, you just became 10 times more important than you ever been in your life? >> BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE NOT JUST PEOPLE, YOU'RE PARENTS. AND now you have a brand new calling to train and raise and feed and pay for this child and make sure that this child grows up to become everything God has planned.

And it's the same way in church generations is not about replacements. It's about reinforcements. >> It's not about competing. It's about completing one another and building a multigenerational church. And I pray in Jesus' name that gateway will always be a greenhouse where the new generation can grow strong and secure and powerful and bold in Jesus.

And the third theme I I I've seen throughout these 18 months, one that is actually been strengthened and emphasized even more as Pastor Daniel came in and took the steering wheel of this heart uh of this church is God's heart for the lost. God's heart for the lost.

I love what Jesus says in Luke 15:E4 displaying the heart of God for those who are not in the family of God. Suppose one of you had a hund sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

I'm so glad I've said it many times. I'm so glad this was not a Swedish shepherd because I know exactly how a Swedish shepherd would have thought about the situation. He would have said, "Well, you lose some and you win some, don't you?" You know, it's 67. It's okay.

And u and you know, at least I got 99 and and you know, wouldn't really have cared for that one lost sheep because it's only one out of a 100. But this shepherd's heart is different. This shepherd's heart cannot stand the reality that even one single sheep that is his initially is lost.

So he leaves the 99 and goes to seek and save that which is lost. You know, one of the most important things you can do as you walk through the valley of Baka is to get your eyes off of yourself for a while because eventually in the end, it's not about what you're going through, it's where you're going to. >> And regardless of the depth of your value of weeping right now, you are going to heaven, my friend. you are on your way to glory.

And and the beauty of that is that even the worst day of your life brought you one step closer to the day where you will see him face to face and start an eternity of beauty and glory and freedom. But there are so many people in this city, so many people in this state, in this country, all over the world that are heading ((music playing)) for a different destination right now.

If you believe in Jesus, time is your friend. It's only going to get better because we will end up in heaven. But if you don't believe in Jesus, time is your enemy because every single day brings you one step closer ((music playing)) to an eternity of separation, eternal separation from God.

And I just want to close with a story. How can I not close with a story? A few years ago, the spirit of God actually very specifically told me to study the Titanic ((music playing)) disaster in 1912. I did not know why. And and like most in this room, I I knew the basics of the story, but I just felt this urge on the inside.

There was something that the spirit of God wanted to show me in and through this story. So I started doing deep research. I read endless amounts of books just searching, searching, trying to find my way, praying, asking God, what do you want to say to me? And obviously many of us knows the we know the basics.

This big ship set out from Southampton ((music playing)) in in uh the United Kingdom and and aimed for the US then hit an iceberg. It went down. Hundreds of people perished. But in the process of studying and researching, I found something that I did not know about this disaster. And it had to do with the lifeboats on the Titanic.

Now, in between the initial impact with the iceberg and the ship sinking, it it was like 3 hours. So, there was quite a lot of time to get the lifeboats launched. And through the lifeboats on the Titanic, hundreds and hundreds of people were saved. However, as I did my research, I realized that the first lifeboats, actually the first half of all the life boats that were that was launched into the water were only half full or less.

They all had a capacity to save 70 people each, 70. But the first lifeboat that was launched only contained 34. The second only contained 36. The third only contained 12 people. Why? Because at that stage, too many people were still in their cabins, not understanding the danger that they were in.

They heard the alarm, but they had also been told, ((music playing)) "This ship is unsinkable. We're going to be okay." And they were way too late getting out of their cabin and understanding the grave danger that they were in. That meant that when the ship finally went down all across the ocean, there were all these half full lifeboats with a capacity to save so many more out of the hundreds of people that were now struggling in the freezing cold water.

But here's where something happened that would later sometimes be described as the second disaster of the Titanic. And that was the fact that even though all these lifeboats had seats to spare, instead of turning around and rowing back to the scene of the disaster to rescue as many as possible, almost every single one of them rode away, ((music playing)) away from the people in the water.

Now, they would have seen them struggling. They would have heard their screams of anguish. They would have heard their cries for help. But somehow the people in the half full lifeboats of the Titanic thought to themselves, "Well, at least I am saved. At least I'm secure." And they rode away and managed to somehow block their eyes and their ears.

And as I came upon this piece of information, the spirit started speaking to me. And he said, "This is one version of endtime Christianity. This is one version of end time Christianity. Believers and churches who would ((music playing)) just be confident with the fact that they have it made and couldn't care less about the people outside who are on their way to destruction.

People who would use Jesus as a bellboy to carry their bags as they walk through life, but not as the Lord and Savior who would leave the 99 and go seek for that lost sheep. And when I heard that voice of the spirit, I was devastated. I was heartbroken.

And I thought to myself, there has to be another there has to be another version in here. There has to be another alternative in this story somehow. And I started looking and finding and re kept researching and and all of a sudden I came across that alternative, that true genuine story of how Christianity should all be.

And I found it in one of the passengers on the on the Titanic. His name was John Harper. Now, John Harper was a 42year-old pastor and preacher from Scotland, and he was on the Titanic ((music playing)) on his way to Chicago where he would preach for in a crusade to reach lost people with the gospel of Jesus.

Sadly, John's wife had passed away a few years before. And now he was traveling with his daughter, the apple of his eye, little Annie Jesse, who was six years old at this time. And at the moment of impact in the middle of the night, John woke immediately and he took as his daughter Annie in his arms and he walked outside and and got out on the deck and quickly realized this is this is a serious situation. were in grave danger.

So he runs up to the first lifeboat he sees and Annie Jesse would later testify that he put her down on the deck, hugged her and held her for a long time and then looked into her eyes and said, "I will see you later one day, darling." ((music playing)) and he lifted his six-year-old daughter into the into the lifeboat, made sure she was saved, taken ((music playing)) care of by the other passengers, and then he turned around and he started running up and down the ship, pounding on cabin doors, calling out at the top of his voice, ((music playing)) "Women, children, and people who don't know Jesus, get to the lifeboats now. women, children, and people who don't know Jesus get to the lifeboats now.

((music playing)) He ran for hours and all around him, lifeboats were being launched into the water. He could have gotten into any one of those lifeboats. And we would not have blamed him, but he chose not to because his whole mind was focused on one thing. ((music playing)) I need to find that lost sheep.

And I need to find it now. Because if I die tonight, I know where I'm going. But if you die tonight without the saving grace of God, ((music playing)) then you're lost forever. So when the ship finally went down, John Harper ended up in the water. And looking around him, realizing all the lifeboats were heading away, realizing that we will all perish here tonight in the freezing cold water, he changed his battle cry.

And he started shouting at the top of his voice, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." And so many people testified that night, survivors, that above all the cries of anguish and and and pain and and and grief.

There were this voice who constantly repeated those words. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. And God alone only knows how many ((music playing)) people heard those words at the very end of their life and gave their heart to Jesus in the very last few minutes. And when I read this story, I had to just take a deep breath and and realize that I just looked into the original version of Christianity, ((music playing)) that shepherd who leaves everything to go and find that lost sheep.

And I pray that we all will live the John Harper version of Christianity. And that gateway forever will be a John Harper version of a church that is all about rescuing one more sheep, one more soul. And I want to give you an opportunity if you're here today and you haven't yet fully committed your heart to Jesus.

There's a lifeboat right ahead of you right now and his name is Jesus. And I want to give you that opportunity. If you're not sure if you're a child of God or not, then I want to invite you to just pray a prayer with me. Surrender your life.

Open up your heart and invite Jesus into your life. step into that lifeboat and know when you walk out of this building that you're on your way to eternity together with God. Can I have every eye closed and every head bowed for just a a minute? I don't want to embarrass you in any way, but I want to invite you just like somebody invited me when I was 16 years old to pray this prayer.

The only thing I want you to do basically is if you need Jesus or if you need to reconnect and recommmit to a relationship with him that you once have but do not have anymore and you would say, "Pastor, would ((music playing)) you include me in a prayer?" If that's you, would you just lift up your hand right now all across this auditorium?

Just lift up your hand. That will be your silent sign. There's so many hands going up. I see hands in almost every single section right now. ((music playing)) Thank you. More importantly, God sees that hand and that is your statement saying yes to the offer of salvation. We're going to pray a prayer.

Uh you can pray after me. We can all pray this prayer together. But if you pray this prayer for ((music playing)) the very first time, pray it from the bottom of your heart and dare to believe that as you pray, God will listen. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me. >> Thank you for loving me.

I confess you as my Lord. I confess you. I'm leaving my own life behind and I choose to follow you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for forgiving me and for accepting ((music playing)) me for the rest of my life. I will serve you. I will love you and I will walk with you in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. ((music playing)) Can we give it up for all of our new brothers and sisters of the house?