1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:04,120 Welcome to Heaven Earth Church. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,040 My name is Ross Stackhouse. 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,040 I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church. 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,280 From the beginning, our heart was to be a church for people who 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,040 don't fit neatly into church. 6 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,200 Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their stories, 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:20,720 to honor their stories. 8 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,840 Because in every human story is God's story. 9 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,840 In this podcast you'll hear more about the people who now call 10 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:29,400 Heaven Earth Church home. 11 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:34,260 Their stories in many cases of misfits who are discovering or rediscovering 12 00:00:34,260 --> 00:00:34,700 faith. 13 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:38,140 If you want to know more about us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org 14 00:00:38,620 --> 00:00:41,660 Otherwise, we invite you now into the story. 15 00:00:44,060 --> 00:00:44,980 Hello good people. 16 00:00:44,980 --> 00:00:49,660 Brad Miller here, the producer of the Heaven Earth Church podcast. 17 00:00:50,140 --> 00:00:53,700 One of the main benefits of being a part of the Heaven Earth 18 00:00:53,700 --> 00:00:59,850 Church community is our Sunday morning conversations taught by founding 19 00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:02,170 pastor Ross Stackhouse. 20 00:01:03,450 --> 00:01:08,250 You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation 21 00:01:08,810 --> 00:01:17,210 this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenorthchurch. 22 00:01:18,730 --> 00:01:23,690 The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available 23 00:01:23,690 --> 00:01:28,370 here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify 24 00:01:28,770 --> 00:01:37,490 and on the website, which is heavenerthchurch.org now with a message 25 00:01:37,490 --> 00:01:39,250 from the book of Ecclesiastes. 26 00:01:40,050 --> 00:01:42,530 God is not vapor. 27 00:01:42,850 --> 00:01:47,010 His Heaven Earth Church Pastor Ross Stackhouse. 28 00:01:48,290 --> 00:01:52,320 Lord, will you help us to hear your heart, to see ourselves the 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,000 way you do, to see others the way you do. 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:02:01,000 And Lord, help us to accept the gift of your grace in Jesus Christ 31 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,840 and to live for this good news that all things will be made new 32 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:06,920 in Jesus name. 33 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:08,120 Amen. 34 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,760 So I want to take you back to. 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,200 I believe I've got it in here. 36 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:16,400 I know I definitely do. 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,260 From last week, one of the. 38 00:02:18,260 --> 00:02:18,740 We're in a. 39 00:02:18,740 --> 00:02:20,780 We're in a series called the Search for Meaning. 40 00:02:21,100 --> 00:02:23,940 We've been looking at a book of the Bible called Ecclesiastes, 41 00:02:23,940 --> 00:02:27,260 which is in the wisdom literature of the Bible. 42 00:02:27,260 --> 00:02:30,660 It's that section of the Bible in the library of scriptures is kind 43 00:02:30,660 --> 00:02:33,739 of folks who are like, we thought we knew how things worked 44 00:02:33,739 --> 00:02:35,340 in the world and now we're not so sure. 45 00:02:35,660 --> 00:02:39,380 And so Ecclesiastes, as Tim Mackey says from the Bible projects, 46 00:02:39,380 --> 00:02:43,060 like a thought experiment where he's really trying to figure 47 00:02:43,060 --> 00:02:45,730 out, like, man, what can I count on? 48 00:02:45,730 --> 00:02:47,810 Is there anything that I can count on? 49 00:02:48,930 --> 00:02:51,970 As it seems to me he uses this word all the time. 50 00:02:53,170 --> 00:02:55,890 If you remember from last week, let's try it again in case 51 00:02:55,890 --> 00:02:58,330 you're ever on Jeopardy and you need to pull this one out of 52 00:02:58,330 --> 00:03:01,890 the on the count of three, One, two, three. 53 00:03:02,290 --> 00:03:03,890 Anybody remember what that means? 54 00:03:04,530 --> 00:03:05,090 Yes. 55 00:03:06,050 --> 00:03:08,970 Last week I lit the candle back there and blew it out and the 56 00:03:08,970 --> 00:03:09,850 smoke rose up. 57 00:03:09,850 --> 00:03:14,370 Yeah, it's like a vapor that you can see it, it's there, but you 58 00:03:14,370 --> 00:03:17,210 can't grab a hold of it, and then it's gone rather quickly. 59 00:03:17,690 --> 00:03:22,610 The writer of Ecclesiastes is really frustrated that that seems 60 00:03:22,610 --> 00:03:24,890 to be how the world works. 61 00:03:25,450 --> 00:03:29,130 It's like he looks around and there's nothing that you can count 62 00:03:29,210 --> 00:03:30,330 on, nothing that's. 63 00:03:30,330 --> 00:03:33,850 That lasts, nothing that has meaning, reliable. 64 00:03:35,050 --> 00:03:37,050 But he has this feeling, though. 65 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,520 He says God has made everything fitting in its time, but 66 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,920 also has placed eternity in their hearts, our hearts, but without 67 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,200 enabling us to discover what has gone from the. 68 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,520 From beginning, has done from beginning to the end. 69 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,440 So part of where we're ending today is that in spite of all of 70 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,720 his frustration, he has this. 71 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,480 This conviction that no. 72 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,490 No matter how much I try to shake it, God's fingerprints are 73 00:04:03,490 --> 00:04:04,010 on everything. 74 00:04:04,730 --> 00:04:05,130 Everything. 75 00:04:05,450 --> 00:04:09,450 I encounter it so often that God's fingerprints are there. 76 00:04:09,450 --> 00:04:10,370 God is there. 77 00:04:10,370 --> 00:04:14,250 I. I almost wish I could quit it, but I can't. 78 00:04:15,610 --> 00:04:18,210 And so I want to ask you, if you're new to us. 79 00:04:18,210 --> 00:04:20,730 I actually want your responses on this. 80 00:04:20,730 --> 00:04:24,330 You can holler it out as we've got a fairly large group. 81 00:04:24,330 --> 00:04:26,170 Maybe don't take like 10 minutes. 82 00:04:26,330 --> 00:04:28,810 Maybe more like 10 to 20 seconds. 83 00:04:30,430 --> 00:04:34,270 What's happened in your life in the last week or two where you 84 00:04:34,270 --> 00:04:38,670 noticed God, something happened or you saw something, where 85 00:04:38,670 --> 00:04:43,350 you're like, I'm not sure, but I think God is behind that, and I'm 86 00:04:43,350 --> 00:04:44,190 grateful for it. 87 00:04:45,230 --> 00:04:46,350 Yes, yes. 88 00:04:46,670 --> 00:04:49,750 Kara was adopted and she happened to pull out all the adoption 89 00:04:49,750 --> 00:04:53,550 paperwork yesterday, and she was like, man, God's fingerprints 90 00:04:53,550 --> 00:04:54,430 are all over that. 91 00:04:54,770 --> 00:04:55,570 Can't deny it. 92 00:04:56,450 --> 00:04:57,170 What else? 93 00:04:57,970 --> 00:04:58,610 Healing. 94 00:04:58,930 --> 00:05:01,970 You just see, you feel, you've experienced healing, and you sense 95 00:05:01,970 --> 00:05:03,570 God's fingerprints are on that. 96 00:05:04,050 --> 00:05:04,770 What else? 97 00:05:05,090 --> 00:05:08,050 Something you're grateful for that you're like, man, I'm not sure. 98 00:05:08,130 --> 00:05:11,250 I might be wrong, but, boy, I feel like God is in this. 99 00:05:12,050 --> 00:05:13,170 This was from God. 100 00:05:13,410 --> 00:05:15,690 Melissa, February is a hard month. 101 00:05:15,690 --> 00:05:19,890 Anybody not you're not wanting time to go away, but anybody you'd 102 00:05:19,890 --> 00:05:21,890 be glad to see winter just move on out. 103 00:05:27,870 --> 00:05:30,870 I mean, I'm with you, but Melissa got a call from her mom, 104 00:05:30,870 --> 00:05:32,950 and she was just renewed with joy, bubbly. 105 00:05:32,950 --> 00:05:33,710 And that was just. 106 00:05:34,510 --> 00:05:35,790 You saw God in that. 107 00:05:35,950 --> 00:05:36,630 What else? 108 00:05:36,630 --> 00:05:37,230 Where do you. 109 00:05:37,230 --> 00:05:38,350 Where did you see God? 110 00:05:38,510 --> 00:05:40,990 You're not sure, but God's fingerprints were on it. 111 00:05:41,150 --> 00:05:41,630 Dina. 112 00:05:41,950 --> 00:05:43,150 Yeah, you. 113 00:05:43,950 --> 00:05:45,190 And where do you work again? 114 00:05:45,190 --> 00:05:45,630 Dina? 115 00:05:46,030 --> 00:05:46,430 Yeah. 116 00:05:46,430 --> 00:05:46,790 Okay. 117 00:05:46,790 --> 00:05:47,030 Yeah. 118 00:05:47,030 --> 00:05:50,130 Dina works over on the west side, right? 119 00:05:50,290 --> 00:05:50,850 Yeah. 120 00:05:51,330 --> 00:05:51,890 Yeah. 121 00:05:52,130 --> 00:05:54,290 What time do you have to get up in the morning to leave? 122 00:05:54,450 --> 00:05:58,970 You get up at 4 o' clock in the morning and leave at 5 to start 123 00:05:58,970 --> 00:05:59,650 work at. 124 00:06:00,210 --> 00:06:00,930 At 7. 125 00:06:01,330 --> 00:06:04,050 Dean, I'm not going to complain about my days anymore. 126 00:06:05,890 --> 00:06:06,530 Okay. 127 00:06:08,530 --> 00:06:12,570 She, but she had people at work that just said, like, hey, when 128 00:06:12,570 --> 00:06:14,940 I'm in your presence, I. I feel warm. 129 00:06:14,940 --> 00:06:16,020 There's something going on there. 130 00:06:16,020 --> 00:06:18,500 And you just feel like God's working through you or is present 131 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:18,980 in you. 132 00:06:18,980 --> 00:06:19,420 Yeah. 133 00:06:19,660 --> 00:06:20,460 Christie. 134 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:22,460 Yeah. 135 00:06:22,620 --> 00:06:23,100 Yes. 136 00:06:23,740 --> 00:06:26,700 When God puts someone on, your heart just keeps putting them there 137 00:06:26,700 --> 00:06:28,460 and it, it forges this connection. 138 00:06:28,540 --> 00:06:32,060 Like God's moving you to somebody online, people. 139 00:06:32,060 --> 00:06:32,500 Hello. 140 00:06:32,500 --> 00:06:34,140 Thank you for the answer, but let's hear more. 141 00:06:34,140 --> 00:06:35,020 There was only one. 142 00:06:35,020 --> 00:06:36,140 I know you're out there. 143 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:38,620 Okay, I'll share one, then we'll transition. 144 00:06:39,420 --> 00:06:46,770 I. I grew up with a bird watching person and so I inherited 145 00:06:46,770 --> 00:06:47,690 that nerdiness. 146 00:06:49,050 --> 00:06:52,090 So when I see a bald eagle, it's like I won a thousand dollars. 147 00:06:52,090 --> 00:06:52,530 I just. 148 00:06:52,530 --> 00:06:53,170 I don't know why. 149 00:06:53,170 --> 00:06:53,850 I love it. 150 00:06:54,090 --> 00:06:57,050 The last 30 days, I've probably seen 20 of them. 151 00:06:57,850 --> 00:07:02,050 I've seen Tuesday, I was running and one was flying over. 152 00:07:02,050 --> 00:07:03,370 I was driving on 65. 153 00:07:03,370 --> 00:07:05,130 On Thursday, there were two in a tree. 154 00:07:06,020 --> 00:07:10,060 And it just like I thought of that verse in Scripture about how 155 00:07:10,060 --> 00:07:12,020 they will soar on wings like eagles. 156 00:07:12,980 --> 00:07:16,820 I don't know what God's trying to tell me, but definitely showed 157 00:07:16,820 --> 00:07:17,060 up. 158 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:22,580 Yes, I am looking at birds while I'm driving. 159 00:07:22,580 --> 00:07:23,060 Yes. 160 00:07:23,780 --> 00:07:24,260 Yes. 161 00:07:26,180 --> 00:07:29,460 I certainly wouldn't take a picture of a bird while I'm driving. 162 00:07:33,790 --> 00:07:38,550 Anyways, what I want to share with you today is a couple things 163 00:07:38,550 --> 00:07:42,430 that as we're going to close up this little short series on Ecclesiastes 164 00:07:43,710 --> 00:07:46,190 1 this guy is struggling with man. 165 00:07:46,190 --> 00:07:47,870 Everything seems to be vapor. 166 00:07:49,230 --> 00:07:50,550 There's nothing I can count on. 167 00:07:50,550 --> 00:07:51,670 There's nothing that lasts. 168 00:07:51,670 --> 00:07:53,070 There's nothing that has meaning. 169 00:07:53,150 --> 00:07:56,590 But he does start to inch towards this one truth. 170 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,040 When it's all said and done, there is a rock upon which I can 171 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,280 stand, and he is not vapor. 172 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:08,200 Does he feel extraordinarily comforted by that idea? 173 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,760 No, because this book is about wrestling with stuff. 174 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:13,640 It's different. 175 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,440 It's not like all the, the tension goes away, but he starts 176 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,000 to go like you just demonstrated. 177 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,560 Like, there are these things that I see that I. I know God is 178 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:25,880 there. 179 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:27,560 I know God is in it. 180 00:08:28,170 --> 00:08:29,450 I cannot deny it. 181 00:08:29,850 --> 00:08:32,810 And so there are a couple things that I want to say to you 182 00:08:32,810 --> 00:08:35,610 today that are more that's the one thing. 183 00:08:35,930 --> 00:08:40,330 If you forget everything and I bore you to tears and put you to 184 00:08:40,330 --> 00:08:40,730 sleep. 185 00:08:41,130 --> 00:08:43,690 May you remember that and may it bless you this week. 186 00:08:44,170 --> 00:08:45,450 Now some more stuff. 187 00:08:46,970 --> 00:08:51,010 He starts to inch towards something that is so important in 188 00:08:51,010 --> 00:08:52,490 the field of recovery. 189 00:08:52,650 --> 00:08:54,210 There's a word in recovery. 190 00:08:54,210 --> 00:08:55,930 That's the beginning of recovery. 191 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:02,640 Step one is always the move from denial to anyone acceptance. 192 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:08,240 He starts to realize that there are some truths about our mortality 193 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,920 and how the world is not as it should be that he doesn't want to 194 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,520 accept, but there's freedom in accepting it. 195 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,280 I once had a therapist say something to me that I felt like 196 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:21,600 you. 197 00:09:22,050 --> 00:09:24,530 That's what your degree taught you it. 198 00:09:24,770 --> 00:09:29,610 But it was frustrating how obvious it was, but how it was true 199 00:09:29,610 --> 00:09:30,130 for me. 200 00:09:30,370 --> 00:09:33,330 He said to me, ross, the harder we fight against reality, 201 00:09:33,330 --> 00:09:34,770 the more anxious we will be. 202 00:09:35,010 --> 00:09:36,210 I keep thinking of that. 203 00:09:36,450 --> 00:09:37,490 That's too. 204 00:09:37,730 --> 00:09:39,970 You shouldn't have to go to school to get that insight. 205 00:09:39,970 --> 00:09:40,930 I don't think he did. 206 00:09:42,370 --> 00:09:43,970 But there's that. 207 00:09:43,970 --> 00:09:47,570 But then there's the second part, which starts to emerge. 208 00:09:47,570 --> 00:09:52,230 In Ecclesiastes, there are truths, capital T truths about God, 209 00:09:53,350 --> 00:09:57,190 about God's beauty, goodness and justice that we can count on 210 00:09:58,150 --> 00:10:00,070 and are worth giving our lives to. 211 00:10:00,390 --> 00:10:01,670 Both things are true. 212 00:10:01,910 --> 00:10:06,990 There are truths lower t that the harder we fight against them, 213 00:10:06,990 --> 00:10:10,830 the more kind of frustrated we're going to be about our mortality 214 00:10:10,830 --> 00:10:12,470 and about kind of the shape of the world. 215 00:10:12,470 --> 00:10:16,470 But then there are still these capital T truths about God's beauty, 216 00:10:16,470 --> 00:10:19,230 goodness and justice that we can count on, and they're worth giving 217 00:10:19,230 --> 00:10:19,990 our lives to. 218 00:10:20,350 --> 00:10:22,030 We will experience both in this life. 219 00:10:22,990 --> 00:10:25,150 I wanted to share a little insight from. 220 00:10:26,910 --> 00:10:27,950 That's a lot of text. 221 00:10:27,950 --> 00:10:28,870 I'll bet you can't read. 222 00:10:28,870 --> 00:10:29,710 That's going to make you. 223 00:10:29,710 --> 00:10:31,070 Your eyes start spinning. 224 00:10:31,070 --> 00:10:34,030 But there's a story in the big book, Alcoholics Anonymous. 225 00:10:35,150 --> 00:10:35,950 Love that book. 226 00:10:36,990 --> 00:10:37,790 Love that book. 227 00:10:38,750 --> 00:10:41,150 And there's a story about acceptance in it. 228 00:10:41,870 --> 00:10:44,350 Long story short, the backstory, if you want it. 229 00:10:44,590 --> 00:10:47,470 In fact, whoever gets the trivia question we have later, I'm 230 00:10:47,470 --> 00:10:48,190 going to give you a prize. 231 00:10:48,190 --> 00:10:49,390 It's a copy of the story. 232 00:10:49,820 --> 00:10:52,900 Melissa Bryant will sign it, she'll autograph it, and then you 233 00:10:52,900 --> 00:10:53,580 can have it. 234 00:10:54,940 --> 00:10:55,580 Okay. 235 00:10:56,140 --> 00:10:57,500 It'll be worth a lot of money. 236 00:10:57,900 --> 00:11:01,820 But the backstory is there's a guy that was a pharmacist, very accomplished. 237 00:11:02,620 --> 00:11:06,940 He tells the story of how he was married for 28 years and his 238 00:11:06,940 --> 00:11:07,940 marriage was eroding. 239 00:11:07,940 --> 00:11:08,180 Why? 240 00:11:08,180 --> 00:11:11,660 Because he was becoming a hopeless addict, drinking a lot. 241 00:11:12,140 --> 00:11:17,600 He was using uppers during the Day and then using downers to help 242 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:19,480 him sleep, self sleep at night. 243 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:21,000 Hopeless addict. 244 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:22,680 And he ended up in a. 245 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:28,160 In a mental institution at which he actually worked not once, 246 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:28,760 but twice. 247 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,320 And someone whispered into his ear, like, hey, have you considered 248 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:33,880 an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting? 249 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:36,800 And he's like this schmuck, I don't need it. 250 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:38,040 I'm not an alcoholic. 251 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,420 But then he stumbled into the meetings and. 252 00:11:41,490 --> 00:11:43,890 And he actually weaned off the drugs and the alcohol. 253 00:11:43,890 --> 00:11:47,210 But it wasn't till seven months of the meetings that he had 254 00:11:47,210 --> 00:11:48,690 this epiphany. 255 00:11:48,770 --> 00:11:53,170 He started looking around at the people in that room and he said, 256 00:11:53,170 --> 00:11:56,570 the people of AA had something that looked much better than what 257 00:11:56,570 --> 00:11:57,090 I had. 258 00:11:57,410 --> 00:12:02,450 But I was afraid to let go of what I had in order to try something 259 00:12:02,530 --> 00:12:02,930 new. 260 00:12:03,170 --> 00:12:07,810 Let's just mentally bold that, underline it and put it in italics. 261 00:12:09,050 --> 00:12:11,850 If I were slick, I would have actually done that on the slide, 262 00:12:12,650 --> 00:12:14,170 because you can do such a thing. 263 00:12:14,330 --> 00:12:19,410 But I was afraid to let go of what I had in order to try something 264 00:12:19,410 --> 00:12:19,650 new. 265 00:12:19,650 --> 00:12:22,650 There was a certain sense of security in the familiar. 266 00:12:22,650 --> 00:12:24,250 Do you know at all what he's talking about? 267 00:12:25,530 --> 00:12:26,970 Security in the familiar? 268 00:12:26,970 --> 00:12:29,050 I know that's foreign to all of us. 269 00:12:29,450 --> 00:12:34,970 At last, acceptance proved to be the key to my drinking problem. 270 00:12:36,010 --> 00:12:40,170 I was finally able to say, okay, God, it is true that I, of 271 00:12:40,170 --> 00:12:43,130 all people, strange as it may seem, and even though I didn't give 272 00:12:43,130 --> 00:12:47,290 my permission, really, really am an alcoholic of sorts. 273 00:12:47,530 --> 00:12:49,050 And it's all right with me. 274 00:12:49,770 --> 00:12:52,730 Now what am I going to do about it? 275 00:12:53,130 --> 00:12:58,170 When I stopped living in the problem and began living in the answer, 276 00:12:58,170 --> 00:12:59,210 the problem went away. 277 00:13:00,250 --> 00:13:03,570 From that moment on, I have not had a single compulsion to drink. 278 00:13:03,570 --> 00:13:06,490 And acceptance is the answer to all my problem. 279 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:13,360 Look, if we start practicing acceptance, all of our problems aren't 280 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:13,640 going. 281 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:14,680 Going away. 282 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,280 It doesn't work like that for drinking. 283 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:19,800 It can. 284 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,240 But what he still tells in this story is that when he first 285 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,200 got into the psychiatric institution, he was saying, I don't 286 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:29,680 want to talk about my drinking. 287 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:32,760 I want to talk about all my big problems that I actually have. 288 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,280 That's what I need to talk about. 289 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,430 And he said once he accepted he had a drinking problem, I. 290 00:13:37,580 --> 00:13:41,020 All those big problems he realized, were seen through the lens 291 00:13:41,020 --> 00:13:42,100 of his alcoholism. 292 00:13:42,100 --> 00:13:43,740 Why am I saying all this to you? 293 00:13:44,300 --> 00:13:50,980 I believe that for us there is a threshold, like a doorway, if you 294 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:56,220 will, between us and the beginning of a new life for which 295 00:13:56,220 --> 00:13:57,180 we are destined. 296 00:13:57,420 --> 00:14:04,060 And that threshold is acceptance of truths we don't want 297 00:14:04,060 --> 00:14:04,700 to accept. 298 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,960 They're distasteful to us. 299 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:08,320 They seem unfair. 300 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:10,440 They're overwhelming. 301 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,800 And nonetheless, facing them and accepting him is the beginning 302 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:15,920 of our healing and freedom. 303 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,040 Truth number one, we don't want to accept. 304 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:20,400 Are you ready for it? 305 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:22,320 Anyone want to guess what it is? 306 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:24,000 You're gonna die. 307 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:25,760 And I am too. 308 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,640 From ash we came, and to ash we shall return. 309 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:32,840 From dust we came, into dust we shall return. 310 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,880 Aren't you so glad you came to church today to be encouraged with 311 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:36,640 your winter bl. 312 00:14:37,340 --> 00:14:40,260 I have winter blues, and Ross came and reminded me that I'm going 313 00:14:40,260 --> 00:14:40,940 to be dead. 314 00:14:42,860 --> 00:14:47,020 Yeah, this is the good news of Jesus. 315 00:14:47,020 --> 00:14:50,260 No, the good news of Jesus is that he holds the keys to death in 316 00:14:50,260 --> 00:14:54,860 Hades, that he's crushed death, so we are free. 317 00:14:55,100 --> 00:14:56,780 But that's not the sermon for today. 318 00:14:57,260 --> 00:14:58,380 That's Easter Sunday. 319 00:14:59,340 --> 00:15:00,540 Hang on for that one. 320 00:15:03,110 --> 00:15:04,070 So I want to show you. 321 00:15:04,150 --> 00:15:05,390 I want to show you how. 322 00:15:05,390 --> 00:15:08,030 Like some verses in Ecclesiastes. 323 00:15:08,030 --> 00:15:12,070 Because I have a hunch about what this guy might actually be struggling 324 00:15:12,070 --> 00:15:12,310 with. 325 00:15:12,310 --> 00:15:13,750 Yes, he's struggling with that. 326 00:15:14,870 --> 00:15:16,950 He's like, I searched for wisdom. 327 00:15:17,110 --> 00:15:19,870 I got all this wisdom, and that's vapor. 328 00:15:19,870 --> 00:15:20,790 It stinks. 329 00:15:20,870 --> 00:15:23,190 I'm actually more frustrated the more that I know. 330 00:15:23,190 --> 00:15:25,790 I wish I didn't know these things, and I might be more happy 331 00:15:25,790 --> 00:15:26,710 with my ignorance. 332 00:15:27,590 --> 00:15:28,630 Ignorance is bliss. 333 00:15:28,630 --> 00:15:30,710 He doesn't say that, but he kind of suggests that. 334 00:15:31,090 --> 00:15:32,010 He's like, you know what? 335 00:15:32,010 --> 00:15:33,810 Then after that, I just tried to party. 336 00:15:34,450 --> 00:15:37,650 I went to Las Vegas with all my friends, and we spent all of our 337 00:15:37,650 --> 00:15:39,490 money and we did some bad things. 338 00:15:39,890 --> 00:15:42,130 And that too, just made me feel worthless. 339 00:15:44,370 --> 00:15:47,770 He tries all this stuff and he says, it's a vowel, it's vapor. 340 00:15:47,770 --> 00:15:48,850 It's all meaningless. 341 00:15:50,050 --> 00:15:51,810 But I think there's something deep down. 342 00:15:52,210 --> 00:15:54,450 I'm going to show you some verses and see what you think. 343 00:15:55,970 --> 00:15:57,170 This is in chapter one. 344 00:15:57,170 --> 00:15:59,970 What do people gain from all the hard work that they work so hard 345 00:15:59,970 --> 00:16:00,210 at? 346 00:16:00,210 --> 00:16:04,950 Under the sun, a generation comes goes, and a generation comes, 347 00:16:04,950 --> 00:16:07,390 but the earth's earth remains as it always has. 348 00:16:07,790 --> 00:16:10,270 Later, in verse or chapter two. 349 00:16:10,430 --> 00:16:13,870 The wise have eyes in their head, but fools walk in darkness. 350 00:16:14,110 --> 00:16:17,950 But I also realize that the same fate happens to both of them. 351 00:16:19,070 --> 00:16:22,670 So I thought to myself, what happens to the fool will also happen 352 00:16:22,670 --> 00:16:23,070 to me. 353 00:16:23,070 --> 00:16:24,670 So why have I been so very wise? 354 00:16:25,310 --> 00:16:27,790 I said to myself, this too is. 355 00:16:28,540 --> 00:16:29,340 Are you with me? 356 00:16:29,580 --> 00:16:31,100 Have I already put you to sleep? 357 00:16:31,260 --> 00:16:33,100 Oh, this too is. 358 00:16:34,300 --> 00:16:35,020 Or that. 359 00:16:35,500 --> 00:16:39,100 There is no eternal memory of the wise any more than the foolish. 360 00:16:39,100 --> 00:16:41,180 Because everyone is forgotten before long. 361 00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:43,100 How can the wise die? 362 00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:44,140 Just like the Fool. 363 00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:48,540 I hated the things I worked so hard for here under the sun. 364 00:16:48,540 --> 00:16:52,620 Because I will have to leave them to some, he says elsewhere, 365 00:16:52,620 --> 00:16:55,510 some idiot, someone who comes after me. 366 00:16:55,750 --> 00:16:56,630 Chapter six. 367 00:16:57,030 --> 00:16:59,670 Because who knows what good for human beings? 368 00:16:59,670 --> 00:17:02,630 Who knows what's good for human beings during life, during 369 00:17:02,630 --> 00:17:03,350 their brief. 370 00:17:05,350 --> 00:17:06,870 He says it like 40 times. 371 00:17:06,870 --> 00:17:11,710 He's having a rough day, rough life which will pass away like a 372 00:17:11,710 --> 00:17:12,230 shadow. 373 00:17:12,390 --> 00:17:15,430 Who can say what the future holds for people under the sun? 374 00:17:15,430 --> 00:17:16,630 Here's chapter seven. 375 00:17:17,030 --> 00:17:20,950 It's better to go to a house in mourning than to a house party. 376 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,600 Because that is everyone's destiny and the living should take 377 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:25,280 it to heart. 378 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:27,040 Chapter nine. 379 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,840 This is the sad thing about all that happens under the sun. 380 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,640 The same fate awaits everyone. 381 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,200 Moreover, the human heart is full of evil, people's minds are 382 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:37,720 full of madness while they are alive. 383 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:39,280 And afterward they die. 384 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,720 You ever heard the phrase life sucks and then you die? 385 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:44,640 Basically. 386 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:46,240 Chapter nine, verse three. 387 00:17:47,050 --> 00:17:47,930 Yeah, I know. 388 00:17:48,250 --> 00:17:49,450 This isn't my fault. 389 00:17:49,450 --> 00:17:50,410 This is his fault. 390 00:17:50,410 --> 00:17:53,770 Today I want to show you what's in the Bible, so that when 391 00:17:53,770 --> 00:17:56,410 you go read the Bible in your own time, you don't quit. 392 00:17:56,810 --> 00:17:57,850 Who is he again? 393 00:17:57,930 --> 00:17:59,210 Angela asks. 394 00:17:59,530 --> 00:18:04,410 This is attributed to a guy by the name of King Solomon, who was 395 00:18:04,410 --> 00:18:07,970 the son of King David, the most famous king in the history of 396 00:18:07,970 --> 00:18:08,570 Israel. 397 00:18:08,890 --> 00:18:09,850 Let's go there. 398 00:18:10,010 --> 00:18:13,050 Did King Solomon actually write these things? 399 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,440 Probably not, because the timing that we know this was probably 400 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:18,960 written. 401 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,440 Now, you might say this makes it unreliable, right? 402 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,640 No, in ancient history it was very common. 403 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,160 We think it would be untruthful. 404 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,960 But oftentimes in ancient history, people would write things 405 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,080 and attribute them to the voice of an author that they thought 406 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,800 the thoughts well represented. 407 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:36,240 Are you with me? 408 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,120 For people in ancient history, this made it no more. 409 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:40,880 It didn't make it any less truthful. 410 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,640 This is attributed to Solomon because Solomon was regarded as such 411 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:46,480 a wise guy. 412 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:48,080 Now let me flip the script. 413 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,480 Could Solomon have actually written these things? 414 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,880 Sure, maybe. 415 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,320 Nonetheless, as we talked about in last series, God gave us 416 00:18:58,320 --> 00:18:59,840 this library of scriptures. 417 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:01,680 God's breath is in them. 418 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,080 God has given us these words above all else to wrestle with them, 419 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,400 through which we discover God's heart. 420 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,560 And we live as God intends us to live. 421 00:19:11,010 --> 00:19:11,490 Okay? 422 00:19:11,810 --> 00:19:14,690 It's Angela's fault that that rabbit trail happened. 423 00:19:15,010 --> 00:19:17,970 Now, nine, ten. 424 00:19:18,130 --> 00:19:20,970 Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might. 425 00:19:20,970 --> 00:19:23,930 Because there's no work, thought, knowledge or wisdom in the 426 00:19:23,930 --> 00:19:25,650 grave, which is where you are headed. 427 00:19:27,090 --> 00:19:29,250 What's this guy actually struggling with? 428 00:19:34,850 --> 00:19:36,770 Of all things, what is vapor? 429 00:19:37,340 --> 00:19:37,580 Him. 430 00:19:38,780 --> 00:19:39,420 He is. 431 00:19:40,060 --> 00:19:42,780 He's wrestling with I am vapor. 432 00:19:42,860 --> 00:19:44,220 I can't escape it. 433 00:19:44,220 --> 00:19:45,900 And what am I going to do about that? 434 00:19:46,300 --> 00:19:50,220 Just like the alcoholic said in the big book, he said, okay, God, 435 00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:53,139 it is true that I have all people, strange as it may seem, even 436 00:19:53,139 --> 00:19:54,300 though I didn't give permission. 437 00:19:54,300 --> 00:19:56,220 Really, really am an alcoholic of sorts. 438 00:19:56,220 --> 00:19:57,220 And that's all right with me. 439 00:19:57,220 --> 00:19:59,300 Now, what am I going to do about it for us? 440 00:19:59,300 --> 00:20:01,180 We could switch out a couple of words there. 441 00:20:01,180 --> 00:20:03,900 Okay, God, it is true that I have all people, strange as it may 442 00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:06,140 seem, even though I didn't give my permission. 443 00:20:06,140 --> 00:20:07,820 Really, really am going to die. 444 00:20:07,980 --> 00:20:09,320 And it's with me. 445 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:09,880 Not really. 446 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:11,560 Now what am I going to do about it? 447 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,360 Did you know that in the Eastern Orthodox Church, in the really 448 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:19,840 quick, stay with me, quick history thing, I don't want to bore 449 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,120 you to tears, so just hang with me for a minute. 450 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,200 We, out here in our neck of the woods, exist in the legacy of 451 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:27,720 Western Christianity. 452 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,760 What is the main problem in Western Christianity? 453 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:32,280 Anyone take a guess? 454 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,170 Original sin. 455 00:20:35,810 --> 00:20:37,410 Well, that isn't true. 456 00:20:37,410 --> 00:20:41,010 In all the history of Christianity and everywhere in Eastern 457 00:20:41,090 --> 00:20:45,650 Christianity, the big bad problem is this great enemy, death 458 00:20:46,850 --> 00:20:48,530 and our fear of mortality. 459 00:20:49,010 --> 00:20:53,930 So much of our lives are spent running and escaping and sinning 460 00:20:53,930 --> 00:20:56,290 out of fear of our mortal condition. 461 00:20:56,610 --> 00:21:01,010 This guy is struggling with how he is mortal. 462 00:21:01,820 --> 00:21:03,260 So what's he going to do about it? 463 00:21:04,460 --> 00:21:07,100 All right, can we move towards some hope now? 464 00:21:08,140 --> 00:21:09,100 Are you up for that? 465 00:21:09,580 --> 00:21:13,180 Listen, I can only give you what he says at the end of the book, 466 00:21:13,740 --> 00:21:16,940 which is moderately hopeful, okay? 467 00:21:17,180 --> 00:21:18,220 But guess what? 468 00:21:19,020 --> 00:21:19,420 Stay. 469 00:21:19,740 --> 00:21:23,100 Come here for Lent and be here on April 5th. 470 00:21:24,060 --> 00:21:25,900 That is a wildly hopeful day. 471 00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:27,500 Do you know what April 5th is? 472 00:21:28,790 --> 00:21:29,190 Easter. 473 00:21:30,310 --> 00:21:32,110 It is the foundation of our hope. 474 00:21:32,110 --> 00:21:34,070 It is the epicenter of Christianity. 475 00:21:34,070 --> 00:21:35,430 Jesus is alive. 476 00:21:36,070 --> 00:21:37,670 He has risen from the dead. 477 00:21:38,870 --> 00:21:42,310 Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 478 00:21:42,470 --> 00:21:43,110 Amen. 479 00:21:44,070 --> 00:21:45,110 That is good news. 480 00:21:45,990 --> 00:21:50,070 We're not there yet, so I want to show you something. 481 00:21:52,550 --> 00:21:55,750 He actually starts practicing acceptance here. 482 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,600 And I know this doesn't seem hopeful, but I want to show you how 483 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:01,440 I believe it is. 484 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,280 I think he shows us there's freedom in looking mortality in the 485 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,120 face and living in courage in the. 486 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:10,160 In the midst of it. 487 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,000 He says, remember your creator in your prime. 488 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,480 Can you repeat that phrase? 489 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,520 Now say it again like it's something exciting to you. 490 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:20,080 Go ahead. 491 00:22:23,050 --> 00:22:27,290 Before the days of trouble arrive and those years about which 492 00:22:27,290 --> 00:22:29,370 you'll say, I'll take no pleasure in these. 493 00:22:30,010 --> 00:22:33,290 Before the sun and the light grow dark, the moon and the stars 494 00:22:33,290 --> 00:22:37,250 too, before the clouds return after the rain, Ross, this isn't 495 00:22:37,250 --> 00:22:37,690 hopeful. 496 00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:38,490 What's going on? 497 00:22:39,130 --> 00:22:41,650 On the day when the housekeepers tremble and the strong 498 00:22:41,650 --> 00:22:44,890 men stoop, when the woman who grinds stop working because there's 499 00:22:44,890 --> 00:22:49,070 so few and those who look through the windows grow dim when 500 00:22:49,070 --> 00:22:51,750 the doors to the street are shut, when the sound of the mill 501 00:22:51,750 --> 00:22:55,630 fades, the sound of the bird rises and all the singers come down 502 00:22:55,630 --> 00:22:55,990 low. 503 00:22:56,630 --> 00:22:59,710 When people are afraid of things above and terrors along the 504 00:22:59,710 --> 00:23:03,150 way when the almond tree blanches, the locust droops and the 505 00:23:03,150 --> 00:23:06,990 caper berry comes to nothing, when the human goes to the eternal 506 00:23:06,990 --> 00:23:11,350 abode, when the mourners all around in the street before the silver 507 00:23:11,350 --> 00:23:15,230 cord snaps and the gold bowl shatters, the jar is broken at the 508 00:23:15,230 --> 00:23:17,190 spring and the wheel is crushed at the pit. 509 00:23:17,540 --> 00:23:21,100 Before the dust returns to the earth as it was before and the life 510 00:23:21,100 --> 00:23:23,300 breath returns to God who gave it. 511 00:23:23,540 --> 00:23:26,020 Ross, where in the world is the hope in this? 512 00:23:27,140 --> 00:23:27,700 Huh? 513 00:23:29,300 --> 00:23:32,260 What word is missing in verses 1 through 7? 514 00:23:32,740 --> 00:23:35,940 Remember I told you sometimes in the Bible you look for the patterns 515 00:23:35,940 --> 00:23:37,940 and then you look for the break in the patterns. 516 00:23:38,100 --> 00:23:39,380 Well, this one's missing. 517 00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:40,740 He had every opportunity. 518 00:23:40,740 --> 00:23:42,180 He said it everywhere else. 519 00:23:42,830 --> 00:23:45,910 He could have thrown it in there a couple more times, but in 520 00:23:45,910 --> 00:23:48,470 this case he stopped. 521 00:23:48,470 --> 00:23:51,630 I believe when you're paying attention to the tone of the book, 522 00:23:52,430 --> 00:23:54,030 he's now moved past. 523 00:23:54,430 --> 00:24:00,030 He shows us what it looks like to do some spiritual wrestling and 524 00:24:00,030 --> 00:24:03,470 arrive at something of acceptance and move to deeper faith. 525 00:24:04,030 --> 00:24:06,510 He's accepting here in verse one. 526 00:24:06,910 --> 00:24:08,750 This is the way that the world is. 527 00:24:09,300 --> 00:24:11,700 This place is not as it should be. 528 00:24:11,940 --> 00:24:14,980 Things wither, trouble arrives. 529 00:24:16,420 --> 00:24:19,700 Sometimes it's winter and the sun and the light grow dark. 530 00:24:20,020 --> 00:24:21,460 This is part of our lives. 531 00:24:23,060 --> 00:24:29,860 And yet he says we can remember this creator, we can remember 532 00:24:29,860 --> 00:24:32,180 that verse 12. 533 00:24:32,260 --> 00:24:35,820 This little poem he says, starts with a thought and ends with 534 00:24:35,820 --> 00:24:36,220 a thought. 535 00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:36,580 12. 536 00:24:36,660 --> 00:24:41,870 Remember your Creator in your prime and remember the light who 537 00:24:41,870 --> 00:24:42,990 gave the life breath. 538 00:24:43,390 --> 00:24:46,990 This is not like, have you ever had this feeling? 539 00:24:47,070 --> 00:24:50,750 Or when someone comes up to you and you like, say, boy, my hip 540 00:24:50,750 --> 00:24:51,950 is really hurting today. 541 00:24:52,190 --> 00:24:55,870 And someone who's 83 says, well, it gets a lot worse from here. 542 00:25:00,190 --> 00:25:05,510 Or when you have kids, you're like, man, my two year old is really 543 00:25:05,510 --> 00:25:06,990 just being a terror right now. 544 00:25:06,990 --> 00:25:11,050 Then some of the teenager goes, it gets a lot worse from here. 545 00:25:13,610 --> 00:25:14,570 That's not this. 546 00:25:15,530 --> 00:25:18,730 It's not like, hey, you better remember God while it's good, because 547 00:25:18,730 --> 00:25:20,650 it's going to get real bad from here. 548 00:25:22,090 --> 00:25:23,850 No, this is true wisdom. 549 00:25:24,090 --> 00:25:28,250 It's like, you know, we tend to start thinking about God when 550 00:25:28,570 --> 00:25:31,490 there's a phrase that comes to mind that has a bad word in it and 551 00:25:31,490 --> 00:25:32,730 I shall not use it. 552 00:25:33,610 --> 00:25:37,720 We tend to think about God when the poop hits the fan, when 553 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:43,400 things go poorly, then, as Tim Mackey says, we realize what our 554 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,840 expectations are about God, what our expectations have been about 555 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:48,320 God. 556 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:53,480 When they're in pieces on the floor, then we go, God, where have 557 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:54,000 you been? 558 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,840 When things were going well, were we praying? 559 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,600 Were we remembering God in our prime? 560 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,900 So he's saying, hey, when things are well, turn your eyes to 561 00:26:05,900 --> 00:26:06,660 the Creator. 562 00:26:06,820 --> 00:26:08,260 Remember your origin. 563 00:26:09,380 --> 00:26:11,620 Take a big deep breath in, will ya? 564 00:26:12,820 --> 00:26:15,820 And breathe it out one more time. 565 00:26:15,820 --> 00:26:16,420 Do it again. 566 00:26:18,500 --> 00:26:21,940 It's crazy how deep breathing has the power to regulate your whole 567 00:26:21,940 --> 00:26:22,740 nervous system. 568 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:26,820 This breath you have in your lungs, remember that from the very 569 00:26:26,820 --> 00:26:28,850 beginning there was someone who gave it to you. 570 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,840 Remember that in your prime, days of trouble will come. 571 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,400 But if you can remember God in your prime, it will help you remember 572 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:36,800 God. 573 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,880 When you're not in your prime, when you have to accept that hard 574 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,400 thing that you're going to die, your life is fleeting. 575 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,080 And yet God remains. 576 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,960 See, he's kind of asking this question. 577 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,360 What he's struggling with, Ecclesiastes, is ultimately a crisis 578 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:53,720 of faith. 579 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:54,760 You ever had one of those? 580 00:26:55,210 --> 00:26:57,130 Anybody had a crisis of faith in the room? 581 00:26:57,530 --> 00:26:59,050 Anyone having one right now? 582 00:26:59,930 --> 00:27:00,490 Hmm? 583 00:27:01,930 --> 00:27:05,210 The hope in this is this writer shows us what to do with your 584 00:27:05,210 --> 00:27:06,330 crisis of faith. 585 00:27:06,650 --> 00:27:08,570 Don't just sit back on your heels. 586 00:27:09,530 --> 00:27:10,410 Write it out. 587 00:27:11,049 --> 00:27:12,010 Scream it out. 588 00:27:12,490 --> 00:27:13,690 I'm sick of this. 589 00:27:13,690 --> 00:27:15,610 I'm sick of this pointless life. 590 00:27:17,050 --> 00:27:19,370 I'm sick of how everything is vapor. 591 00:27:19,530 --> 00:27:22,810 I'm sick of how in the place of righteousness, there's wickedness. 592 00:27:23,050 --> 00:27:25,890 In the place of where there should be right things, there's wrong 593 00:27:25,890 --> 00:27:26,250 things. 594 00:27:26,250 --> 00:27:27,590 I'm s. Sick of it. 595 00:27:27,670 --> 00:27:30,710 I'm sick of how the wicked prosper and the righteous, they. 596 00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:31,670 They're cursed. 597 00:27:31,830 --> 00:27:32,670 I'm over it. 598 00:27:32,670 --> 00:27:33,990 And God, where are you? 599 00:27:35,510 --> 00:27:39,430 He shows us like, is God going to run away if you do all that? 600 00:27:39,590 --> 00:27:40,790 Is God going to run for. 601 00:27:40,790 --> 00:27:43,269 For the hills and say, I'm done with you, Mark. 602 00:27:44,870 --> 00:27:48,470 You should have had more faith when the trouble came. 603 00:27:48,790 --> 00:27:49,910 I'll repeat it again. 604 00:27:50,070 --> 00:27:55,030 40% of the Psalms, the largest book in the Bible, are expressions 605 00:27:55,030 --> 00:27:55,750 of sorrow. 606 00:27:56,410 --> 00:27:57,050 40%. 607 00:27:57,930 --> 00:27:59,210 So if you're complaining. 608 00:27:59,850 --> 00:28:02,250 Anybody been complaining a lot lately? 609 00:28:02,890 --> 00:28:03,450 Huh? 610 00:28:03,930 --> 00:28:05,050 You've been whining? 611 00:28:05,770 --> 00:28:06,970 Having a pity party? 612 00:28:07,450 --> 00:28:08,010 Anyone? 613 00:28:08,010 --> 00:28:09,050 Come on, show of hands. 614 00:28:09,050 --> 00:28:10,650 Who's been whining a lot recently? 615 00:28:11,290 --> 00:28:12,170 It's okay. 616 00:28:12,650 --> 00:28:13,770 Turn it To God. 617 00:28:14,090 --> 00:28:19,010 Turn your whining, but also your heartfelt, earnest expressions 618 00:28:19,010 --> 00:28:20,170 of sorrow to God. 619 00:28:20,490 --> 00:28:24,090 God, why are you letting all this evil happen to innocent people? 620 00:28:24,620 --> 00:28:27,020 Let God have a chance to be in the room with you. 621 00:28:27,420 --> 00:28:30,740 In the midst of your complaint, as I've told you, I heard 622 00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:34,340 Marilyn Elliott say laments are trying to stay in the room with 623 00:28:34,340 --> 00:28:36,700 God without pretending everything is okay. 624 00:28:36,780 --> 00:28:38,220 This guy shows us that. 625 00:28:38,540 --> 00:28:40,339 And so by the end, you know what? 626 00:28:40,339 --> 00:28:44,900 He's able to wholeheartedly and earnestly say he believes this. 627 00:28:44,900 --> 00:28:49,100 I don't think that this is like he's saying this because it's 628 00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:50,060 like religious duty. 629 00:28:50,060 --> 00:28:53,700 I gotta say this because I'm a religious guy and I'm writing stuff 630 00:28:53,700 --> 00:28:56,600 that they're gonna put in a book someday that are going to read. 631 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,920 So I better write something good by the end. 632 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,280 No, I think he's really worked it out. 633 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,600 I think he's asking like, can I still trust God even though I must 634 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,400 accept that I'm mortal and this world is not as it should be? 635 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,040 It's not the way I expect it to be. 636 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,080 It's not the way I thought I thought it was going to be. 637 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:14,760 Can I still trust God? 638 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,800 Is God still a rock on which I can stand? 639 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:21,120 Is it still worthwhile to fear God? 640 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,160 Is it still worthwhile to follow God? 641 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,080 His answer is by the end. 642 00:29:26,260 --> 00:29:26,980 Amen, brother. 643 00:29:26,980 --> 00:29:27,700 He sure did. 644 00:29:28,420 --> 00:29:32,140 He wrote truthful words, honestly, did not pull any punches. 645 00:29:32,140 --> 00:29:34,260 These are the last words of the of the book. 646 00:29:34,420 --> 00:29:37,700 The words of the wise are like iron tipped prods. 647 00:29:38,180 --> 00:29:41,420 The collected sayings of the masters are like nails fixed firmly 648 00:29:41,420 --> 00:29:42,340 by the shepherd. 649 00:29:44,020 --> 00:29:46,660 He says, be careful, my child, of anything beyond. 650 00:29:46,660 --> 00:29:48,180 There's no end to the exception. 651 00:29:48,420 --> 00:29:48,980 So on. 652 00:29:49,940 --> 00:29:51,620 So this is the end of the matter. 653 00:29:52,420 --> 00:29:53,460 All has been heard. 654 00:29:53,620 --> 00:29:54,900 He's done with his rant. 655 00:29:54,900 --> 00:29:58,700 You know when people post on Facebook, these are my favorite social 656 00:29:58,700 --> 00:29:59,500 media posts. 657 00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:02,380 When someone does a long thing, they do a long post and at 658 00:30:02,380 --> 00:30:03,860 the end they go, end rant. 659 00:30:04,420 --> 00:30:05,540 Have you seen those? 660 00:30:05,940 --> 00:30:07,780 I love reading those posts. 661 00:30:08,820 --> 00:30:09,620 I'm joking. 662 00:30:09,620 --> 00:30:11,540 I don't like reading those posts. 663 00:30:12,100 --> 00:30:13,820 But he's done with it. 664 00:30:13,820 --> 00:30:14,660 End rant. 665 00:30:14,900 --> 00:30:19,020 Worship God and keep God's commandments because this is what 666 00:30:19,020 --> 00:30:20,100 everyone must do. 667 00:30:20,670 --> 00:30:23,990 I don't think here by the end he's saying we just got to do it 668 00:30:23,990 --> 00:30:24,990 because we got to do it. 669 00:30:24,990 --> 00:30:28,710 I think he's saying at the end of it all, I still think it's worth 670 00:30:28,710 --> 00:30:28,990 it. 671 00:30:29,470 --> 00:30:31,150 I don't have my answers. 672 00:30:31,710 --> 00:30:35,470 I don't have like what I think, but I know this. 673 00:30:35,470 --> 00:30:37,310 God's Fingerprints are on it all. 674 00:30:38,110 --> 00:30:39,790 He says that throughout the book. 675 00:30:40,830 --> 00:30:41,670 God is there. 676 00:30:41,670 --> 00:30:43,950 I wish I could quit it, but God is there. 677 00:30:45,150 --> 00:30:48,470 So even in the midst of frustration and absurdity, God's 678 00:30:48,470 --> 00:30:49,790 presence is undeniable. 679 00:30:49,870 --> 00:30:53,970 So the teacher is not giving up on God, but the teacher is contending 680 00:30:53,970 --> 00:30:58,170 with his own mortality and his own and others assumptions about 681 00:30:58,170 --> 00:31:00,010 how things work in this mortal life. 682 00:31:01,210 --> 00:31:06,290 So sometimes I think once we have nothing left of our assumptions 683 00:31:06,290 --> 00:31:10,730 and expectations, perhaps what we'll find is God. 684 00:31:11,050 --> 00:31:14,130 He says even though what humans do will not last, what God 685 00:31:14,130 --> 00:31:15,050 does will last. 686 00:31:15,690 --> 00:31:18,330 He says God is still a rock on which I stand. 687 00:31:18,900 --> 00:31:22,540 And so I wonder if for us and I'll end it here. 688 00:31:22,540 --> 00:31:26,500 I wonder if that's what we're afraid of with our questions and 689 00:31:26,580 --> 00:31:27,060 doubts. 690 00:31:27,460 --> 00:31:30,180 If we go down that road, will we make it back? 691 00:31:30,660 --> 00:31:35,300 I wonder if some of the churches that we are a part of there 692 00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:39,460 was a collective avoidance of doubt and questioning. 693 00:31:39,620 --> 00:31:41,740 They were telling you not to doubt. 694 00:31:41,740 --> 00:31:42,100 Why? 695 00:31:42,180 --> 00:31:44,260 Because they were afraid of their own doubts. 696 00:31:44,850 --> 00:31:47,730 If I go down the road of my doubts and questions, will I make 697 00:31:47,730 --> 00:31:48,210 it back? 698 00:31:48,530 --> 00:31:51,090 Well, perhaps the goal isn't to make it back. 699 00:31:51,410 --> 00:31:52,450 Did you think of that? 700 00:31:52,930 --> 00:31:55,410 Maybe you're not supposed to make it back where you were. 701 00:31:56,530 --> 00:31:59,170 Perhaps the goal is to make it to God, right? 702 00:31:59,410 --> 00:32:01,010 Or even better, to stop. 703 00:32:01,810 --> 00:32:03,410 So God makes it to us. 704 00:32:03,490 --> 00:32:06,210 After all, God is always pursuing us, right? 705 00:32:06,530 --> 00:32:06,930 Always. 706 00:32:08,050 --> 00:32:09,650 So end rant. 707 00:32:10,220 --> 00:32:17,580 Here's the one thing God is not that as Jesus once said, the 708 00:32:17,580 --> 00:32:19,180 wise man is the guy who. 709 00:32:20,300 --> 00:32:24,220 The person who puts my teachings into practice is like what? 710 00:32:24,220 --> 00:32:27,580 Anyone know the wise man who built his house on what? 711 00:32:27,660 --> 00:32:32,300 The winds came, the storm blew hard and the house stood. 712 00:32:33,260 --> 00:32:35,500 That's basically the end of Ecclesiastes. 713 00:32:35,970 --> 00:32:39,570 I don't have my answers, I don't have it all figured out. 714 00:32:39,970 --> 00:32:42,210 But I believe what God does will last. 715 00:32:42,850 --> 00:32:47,570 And so my conclusion is I'm going to keep fearing God and I'm 716 00:32:47,570 --> 00:32:49,730 going to try to keep his instructions in my heart. 717 00:32:49,730 --> 00:32:50,450 Live it out. 718 00:32:50,450 --> 00:32:51,889 This is the end of the series. 719 00:32:53,330 --> 00:32:54,650 I turn it over to you. 720 00:32:54,650 --> 00:32:55,770 What's that stirring you? 721 00:32:55,770 --> 00:32:56,450 What do you think? 722 00:32:57,010 --> 00:32:59,410 Uh oh, that was a quick hand right over here. 723 00:33:01,930 --> 00:33:02,570 She was waiting. 724 00:33:02,570 --> 00:33:03,930 No, go ahead. 725 00:33:10,810 --> 00:33:12,890 I don't think it's like because it's a rule. 726 00:33:12,890 --> 00:33:15,330 I think it's because it's about alignment. 727 00:33:15,330 --> 00:33:19,850 Like this is how we're like what we're supposed to do with our 728 00:33:19,850 --> 00:33:20,890 lives as humans. 729 00:33:20,890 --> 00:33:23,930 To be like in the vine and aligned with what we're supposed 730 00:33:23,930 --> 00:33:24,730 to be with God. 731 00:33:24,970 --> 00:33:27,410 And when we have that alignment Then we produce the fruits 732 00:33:27,410 --> 00:33:30,030 of the spirit which are not havelifying and like. 733 00:33:30,030 --> 00:33:31,590 Which God gives to us. 734 00:33:31,590 --> 00:33:33,910 And then we can pour out into the world which is, like, lasting 735 00:33:33,910 --> 00:33:34,750 and meaningful. 736 00:33:36,830 --> 00:33:37,550 Well said. 737 00:33:38,110 --> 00:33:40,510 And I'm not just saying that because you live with me. 738 00:33:41,790 --> 00:33:43,070 I think that was a good one. 739 00:33:46,030 --> 00:33:46,550 What else? 740 00:33:46,550 --> 00:33:47,790 What's this stirring in you? 741 00:33:48,910 --> 00:33:50,030 What you thinking? 742 00:33:50,750 --> 00:33:52,030 What's your name, sir? 743 00:33:52,830 --> 00:33:53,550 Jordan. 744 00:33:53,710 --> 00:33:55,070 Welcome to heaven, earth. 745 00:33:55,820 --> 00:33:58,060 This is a great way to get baptized by fire. 746 00:33:58,460 --> 00:33:59,180 Speak up. 747 00:34:01,660 --> 00:34:04,460 Yeah, right. 748 00:34:04,860 --> 00:34:09,900 The only way out of a life of favel is following God. 749 00:34:10,060 --> 00:34:10,980 That's where he ends up. 750 00:34:10,980 --> 00:34:12,380 And I like what you said. 751 00:34:12,380 --> 00:34:13,500 It's not just for him. 752 00:34:13,900 --> 00:34:15,500 It's for all of humanity. 753 00:34:16,140 --> 00:34:17,420 This is the gospel. 754 00:34:17,740 --> 00:34:18,780 There's been too much. 755 00:34:18,780 --> 00:34:19,180 Ooh. 756 00:34:19,180 --> 00:34:19,740 Nope. 757 00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:22,300 I'm going to shut up now because you're talking. 758 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:23,000 Go ahead. 759 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,600 About started preaching again. 760 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:29,720 I've already done it today. 761 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:31,080 Go ahead. 762 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:31,760 Anyone else? 763 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:32,520 What are you thinking? 764 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:33,320 Debbie? 765 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,320 Yes, my Lord. 766 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:35,880 Debbie. 767 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,320 Jesus, that's such a great thing to say. 768 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:40,680 Debbie says we. 769 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,480 Part of what he's frustrated with is like, he wants the garden, 770 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,760 like the Garden of Eden, but we're not there anymore. 771 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:49,499 We're in the wilderness in many ways. 772 00:34:50,459 --> 00:34:53,579 But the good news is that, like, the garden is returning to 773 00:34:53,579 --> 00:34:57,019 this earth and Christ has given us a share in bringing it. 774 00:34:57,259 --> 00:34:57,539 So. 775 00:34:57,539 --> 00:35:00,179 Yeah, but there's frustration along the way, and sometimes our 776 00:35:00,179 --> 00:35:00,659 struggles. 777 00:35:00,659 --> 00:35:01,099 Not always. 778 00:35:01,899 --> 00:35:04,779 Sometimes our struggles have a way of, like, pointing us back to 779 00:35:04,779 --> 00:35:05,179 God. 780 00:35:05,819 --> 00:35:06,219 Right? 781 00:35:06,459 --> 00:35:07,179 Exactly. 782 00:35:07,419 --> 00:35:07,899 Yeah. 783 00:35:07,979 --> 00:35:08,539 Yeah. 784 00:35:09,259 --> 00:35:11,459 Sometimes we're like, God, why aren't you doing anything? 785 00:35:11,459 --> 00:35:15,350 And perhaps it's like, why aren't you doing anything? 786 00:35:15,910 --> 00:35:17,110 I gave you my spirit. 787 00:35:17,110 --> 00:35:18,310 I gave you life. 788 00:35:18,310 --> 00:35:18,790 Yeah. 789 00:35:18,790 --> 00:35:19,590 Anyone else? 790 00:35:20,070 --> 00:35:20,710 Charles? 791 00:35:28,390 --> 00:35:29,030 Yep. 792 00:35:29,350 --> 00:35:29,750 Sure. 793 00:35:30,470 --> 00:35:35,790 So Charles brings up, you know, how we help me if I don't get 794 00:35:35,790 --> 00:35:36,630 this right, Charles? 795 00:35:36,630 --> 00:35:41,440 But a lot of us are struggling with emotions that we're afraid to 796 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,560 confront, maybe give voice to. 797 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:45,240 We talked about that a lot. 798 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:47,160 In the ruthless elimination of hurry. 799 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,600 One of our best coping mechanisms, and by best, I mean worst, 800 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:51,560 is distraction. 801 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:56,039 We're trying to avoid some of those things, but also as we do that, 802 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,280 you know, trust is so helpful because it gives us a sense of security 803 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:01,800 to do some of that work. 804 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,520 Yeah, it's close. 805 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:05,320 Sorry, Charles. 806 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:06,840 I'll give you the mic next time. 807 00:36:07,010 --> 00:36:07,490 Okay? 808 00:36:07,490 --> 00:36:08,050 Okay. 809 00:36:08,050 --> 00:36:08,770 Who else? 810 00:36:11,730 --> 00:36:12,210 Yeah. 811 00:36:16,370 --> 00:36:16,770 Yeah. 812 00:36:16,770 --> 00:36:19,770 He's like, I'm not going to choose toxic positivity, but I am 813 00:36:19,770 --> 00:36:22,930 going to choose to build my house on a rock and trust that, like, 814 00:36:22,930 --> 00:36:23,770 it's going to be enough. 815 00:36:23,770 --> 00:36:28,650 And in a way like that can give us a deeper depth of peace and 816 00:36:28,650 --> 00:36:32,610 Joy that can help us to earnestly enjoy things in a different 817 00:36:32,610 --> 00:36:33,250 sort of way. 818 00:36:33,250 --> 00:36:33,730 I think. 819 00:36:35,770 --> 00:36:37,610 I always think about how Jesus says. 820 00:36:37,610 --> 00:36:38,690 It confounds me. 821 00:36:38,690 --> 00:36:41,650 He says, I said these things to you, so my joy will be in you 822 00:36:41,650 --> 00:36:43,210 and your joy will be complete. 823 00:36:43,290 --> 00:36:46,250 I'm still figuring out, like, what the heck do you mean by that? 824 00:36:46,810 --> 00:36:48,450 Anyone else over here? 825 00:36:48,450 --> 00:36:48,890 Beth. 826 00:36:50,410 --> 00:36:50,890 Yeah. 827 00:36:52,250 --> 00:36:52,650 Right. 828 00:36:54,810 --> 00:36:55,410 Yep. 829 00:36:55,410 --> 00:36:59,290 Yeah, the Beth brought up the walk by the peace monks and how. 830 00:36:59,290 --> 00:37:02,960 Or the peace walk by monks across the country and how. 831 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:03,320 There's. 832 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:04,840 There's some acceptance in that. 833 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,080 They're just putting one foot in front of the other and. 834 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:07,880 Yeah. 835 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:12,120 All right, well, I think we're done. 836 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:13,080 Are we done? 837 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,080 Okay, let's pray and then we'll have another. 838 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:19,640 Oh, yeah, daggone it. 839 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:20,480 We're gonna pray and then. 840 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:20,880 I got one. 841 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:21,920 I got an epilogue. 842 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:22,360 Sorry. 843 00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:24,920 Let's pray. 844 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:29,670 Lord, thank you for that. 845 00:37:29,830 --> 00:37:31,030 You are not vapor. 846 00:37:31,270 --> 00:37:33,430 You are a rock on which we can stand. 847 00:37:34,630 --> 00:37:36,630 You are an ever present help in trouble. 848 00:37:37,750 --> 00:37:41,110 And though we may walk through a valley, you are there with us. 849 00:37:41,590 --> 00:37:44,950 But not only that, you promise we are walking to a mountaintop with 850 00:37:44,950 --> 00:37:45,270 you. 851 00:37:45,990 --> 00:37:50,910 Because Christ has come to be with us, to save us and to restore 852 00:37:50,910 --> 00:37:51,830 all of creation. 853 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:54,160 Give you thanks in his name. 854 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:54,800 Amen. 855 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:59,600 All right, thank you for participating in the conversation 856 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,480 happening at Heaven Earth Church. 857 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:08,320 Your next opportunity to do so live is this Sunday morning, 9:30am 858 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,920 Eastern Time, either at the main campus at 309 East Main in Whiteland, 859 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,920 Indiana, or online at YouTube Live. 860 00:38:18,490 --> 00:38:23,210 That's@YouTube.com heavenerthchurch. 861 00:38:26,170 --> 00:38:32,170 The audio podcast is always available at Apple Podcast and on 862 00:38:32,330 --> 00:38:33,050 Spotify. 863 00:38:33,450 --> 00:38:37,770 You can help others find out about the Heaven Earth Church podcast 864 00:38:38,090 --> 00:38:42,890 by going to Apple Podcasts and or Spotify and leaving a five star 865 00:38:42,890 --> 00:38:44,580 rating and your review. 866 00:38:45,300 --> 00:38:49,300 Instructions on how to do just that and links are in the show notes. 867 00:38:50,260 --> 00:38:55,860 You can always find out more by going to the church website, heavenearthchurch.org 868 00:38:56,340 --> 00:38:56,660 we. 869 00:38:56,660 --> 00:38:58,820 Want to thank you for spending time with us today. 870 00:38:58,980 --> 00:39:02,340 My name is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church. 871 00:39:02,740 --> 00:39:06,060 And you may think out there that your story is over, but in fact, 872 00:39:06,060 --> 00:39:09,060 your faith story may just be beginning. 873 00:39:09,630 --> 00:39:12,310 If you want more information about our church or you're interested 874 00:39:12,310 --> 00:39:16,350 in the next step, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org Otherwise, 875 00:39:16,350 --> 00:39:19,510 we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth 876 00:39:19,510 --> 00:39:20,510 Church podcast.