1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,580 [upbeat music] 2 00:00:02,580 --> 00:00:11,600 >> By definition, a testimony is normally 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:13,660 a spoken narrative. 4 00:00:13,660 --> 00:00:17,980 On the other hand, a testimonial 5 00:00:17,980 --> 00:00:20,540 is normally a written narrative. 6 00:00:20,540 --> 00:00:25,160 I've written a testimonial today 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,360 and I'm going to vocally share it. 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,920 So I'm giving you a testimony of my testimonial. 9 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,920 [audience laughing] 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:43,760 46 years ago today, 11 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,520 my life as a prodigal came to an end 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,620 and I returned to the fellowship of believers. 13 00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:54,560 I'm standing here now because of the mercy 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,080 and the grace of the Father, 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,040 the redemptive reconciliation of the Son, 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,540 and the comfort, correction, and guidance of the Holy Ghost. 17 00:01:05,540 --> 00:01:08,440 That's my testimony to God's blessedness 18 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,560 and his loving kindness toward me. 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:16,440 Now I have a word of encouragement for you. 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,400 I'll use the words that Jesus gave to his disciples, 21 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,120 those who considered themselves his followers. 22 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,160 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 23 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,640 Matthew 6, 33. 24 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:30,440 That quest should be the very top 25 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,380 of your personal to-do list. 26 00:01:33,380 --> 00:01:37,780 If it's not, perhaps a spiritual adjustment 27 00:01:37,780 --> 00:01:39,320 would be worth considering. 28 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:41,560 Is Pastor Ronnie up next? 29 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:42,400 Yeah. 30 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,560 [audience applauding] 31 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:51,600 >> Oh, what a day. 32 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,160 I mean, I never thought I would see Wayne Berry 33 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,320 looking at an electronic thing in front. 34 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,320 [audience laughing] 35 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:06,600 Okay, give me a moment to compose myself. 36 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,800 [audience laughing] 37 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:09,620 Yeah. 38 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:15,960 Almost 30 years ago, I met Father Ray Kasch. 39 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,560 We met at a community Thanksgiving service. 40 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,240 He was the rookie in town, 41 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,240 and so he was speaking at that service. 42 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,520 We bonded over a little joke about who, 43 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,840 it's more appropriate to have wearing a robe, 44 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:34,540 the choir or the guest speaker. 45 00:02:34,540 --> 00:02:36,920 And in case you're wondering, they both were. 46 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:40,640 But he missed his opportunity today 47 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:41,980 'cause we don't have a choir. 48 00:02:41,980 --> 00:02:43,440 You'd have it all to yourself. 49 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:48,000 You'd just be able to come out of that. 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,000 Over the years, the Lord has really knitted us together, 51 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:53,960 I would say. 52 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:59,540 Of all of my acquaintances and friends in the ministry, 53 00:02:59,540 --> 00:03:05,520 Ray is the only one who walked this building with me 54 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:11,880 over 20 years ago when it was just steel beams sticking up. 55 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,240 He spoke at the dedication of this building. 56 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,880 He spoke at my retirement service. 57 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,340 I've walked through a couple of building projects with him. 58 00:03:22,340 --> 00:03:29,080 We don't share a common worship style. 59 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:35,040 There's a lot of theology that we don't share. 60 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,560 When we get together, 61 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,180 when you get together with people in your own camp, 62 00:03:41,180 --> 00:03:43,880 you tend to talk about your camp, 63 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,000 and you tend to talk about the people in the camp 64 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:47,760 and what's going on and stuff. 65 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,680 But when you get together with somebody from another camp, 66 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:52,980 you've really only got one thing to talk about, 67 00:03:52,980 --> 00:03:55,640 and that's him. 68 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,840 And that's enough. 69 00:03:57,840 --> 00:03:59,120 That's all that you need. 70 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,120 The Lord has bonded our hearts together, 71 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,540 and it's a great privilege to introduce to you 72 00:04:05,540 --> 00:04:08,440 my dear friend and my dear brother. 73 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,360 Would you welcome Father Ray Kasch. 74 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,520 [audience applauding] 75 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:18,520 - Good afternoon. 76 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,020 Thank you, it's such an honor to be with you. 77 00:04:22,020 --> 00:04:24,600 Thank you, Pastor Kevin, for the invite. 78 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,760 I love that you do the sacrament here every week, 79 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:29,760 that he may dwell in us and we in him. 80 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:34,640 In 1951, Richard Niebuhr wrote a book 81 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,960 called Christ and Culture, 82 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,660 and I think it holds up very well today. 83 00:04:39,660 --> 00:04:42,440 In it he says essentially there are three views 84 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,300 that the church can have when connecting to the culture. 85 00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:49,620 The first one is Christ against culture. 86 00:04:49,620 --> 00:04:51,920 So whatever they're doing out there in the culture, 87 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,460 we're not supposed to do, and we're supposed to be a gamut. 88 00:04:55,460 --> 00:04:56,520 Why? 89 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:58,520 'Cause it could lead to dancing, right? 90 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,280 [audience laughing] 91 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,480 The second view is Christ of culture, 92 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,680 and that view is that whatever the culture is doing, 93 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,660 that's God doing a new thing and we should embrace it. 94 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,160 And it's okay if what the culture's doing 95 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,720 goes past scripture because in process theology, 96 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:20,600 God is evolving, and so our understanding 97 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,440 of scripture is evolving, and so it's okay 98 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,520 if the Spirit moves us beyond and even contradictory 99 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,880 to Holy Scripture, to which John Calvin would say, 100 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:30,940 "The Holy Ghost doth not stutter." 101 00:05:30,940 --> 00:05:35,160 What he said, he said, and what he meant, he meant. 102 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,580 The other, and I witness this in your community, 103 00:05:40,580 --> 00:05:44,080 is Christ above or Christ transforming culture, 104 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,200 and that is bringing everything in life, 105 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,400 everything in life, including the arts, 106 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,260 under the lordship of Jesus Christ. 107 00:05:51,260 --> 00:05:52,820 That's why this building is built 108 00:05:52,820 --> 00:05:54,420 this way this building is built. 109 00:05:54,420 --> 00:05:58,200 I'll never forget the first time Pastor Ronnie asked me 110 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,560 to come to a play in Smyrna Assembly of God Church. 111 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,960 [audience laughing] 112 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,360 And old judgey me, I'm thinking, oh, good grief, 113 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:09,960 we're gonna watch paint dry, this is gonna be, 114 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,480 but I love Pastor Ronnie, so I'll go to support him. 115 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,440 The level of professionalism blew me away. 116 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,100 My wife and I had walked out of Murfreesboro 117 00:06:18,100 --> 00:06:20,160 a little theater a couple times, it was so bad, 118 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,940 and this was unbelievable. 119 00:06:22,940 --> 00:06:25,340 Another time I doubted you, Pastor, 120 00:06:25,340 --> 00:06:27,200 I've never told you this, but I thought, 121 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:28,780 Ronnie, I love you, but there ain't no way 122 00:06:28,780 --> 00:06:30,780 you're gonna hit that note in the impossible dream, 123 00:06:30,780 --> 00:06:32,200 it's just not gonna happen. 124 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:34,880 [audience laughing] 125 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,880 And you nailed it, you nailed it. 126 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,440 It was just unbelievable. 127 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,320 So in 1996, my wife and I moved here 128 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,400 to plant an Episcopal church, 129 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,860 and first time I met Pastor Ronnie, 130 00:06:47,860 --> 00:06:49,460 I knew he was the real deal. 131 00:06:49,460 --> 00:06:51,640 I had been around enough clergy 132 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:53,440 that were building their own little kingdoms 133 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,400 that I could recognize a man of God 134 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,160 who was only interested in the kingdom of God, 135 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,260 and we became friends and started meeting weekly, 136 00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:03,640 and he was a great source of encouragement to me. 137 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,880 Planting a church from scratch is a really lonely business, 138 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,000 and to have a friend like him was just unbelievable. 139 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,200 Well, God blessed the work, and in about five years, 140 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,460 we had a parish that was self-supporting. 141 00:07:16,460 --> 00:07:19,120 We had built All Saints Church over on Lee Victory Parkway, 142 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,660 and things were going well for us as a parish, 143 00:07:21,660 --> 00:07:23,860 but not for our denomination, 144 00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:25,600 because unfortunately, the Episcopal church 145 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,760 had embraced the Christ of culture model, 146 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,320 so whatever new thing came down the pike, 147 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,980 they embraced and called it the work of the Holy Spirit. 148 00:07:34,980 --> 00:07:36,700 It included process theology, 149 00:07:36,700 --> 00:07:38,700 it included feminist theology, 150 00:07:38,700 --> 00:07:41,160 it included every kind of radical view you could think of, 151 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,840 promoting, revising marriage, 152 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,680 promoting unbiblical views on human sexuality. 153 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,380 We held on as a parish as long as we could. 154 00:07:49,380 --> 00:07:51,580 We were waiting for the bigger communion 155 00:07:51,580 --> 00:07:54,360 to come and rebuke the American church and change it, 156 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,540 but they didn't, and so the breaking point for me 157 00:07:57,540 --> 00:08:00,680 and for the parish was they elected as presiding bishop 158 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,980 a woman who was interviewed by Time Magazine. 159 00:08:02,980 --> 00:08:05,640 Her name was Schori, and Time Magazine 160 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:07,720 asked her this question. 161 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:09,860 Jesus said, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life. 162 00:08:09,860 --> 00:08:11,580 "No one comes to the Father but by me. 163 00:08:11,580 --> 00:08:12,480 "Do you believe that?" 164 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:14,260 And she said, "No, I don't." 165 00:08:14,260 --> 00:08:17,860 That would put God in an awful small box. 166 00:08:17,860 --> 00:08:21,680 So not willing to be under the authority of a heretic, 167 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,720 we pulled out of the Episcopal church 168 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,720 and came under the Archbishop of Nigeria, 169 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,000 who at the time was over about 25 million Anglicans. 170 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,660 He reached out to American Anglicans and said, 171 00:08:32,660 --> 00:08:34,540 "If you can't stay Episcopalian, 172 00:08:34,540 --> 00:08:36,920 "but you wanna be Anglican, I'm your man." 173 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:37,760 So we did that. 174 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,600 The local bishop had retired, 175 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,840 and so there was no real authority over us locally. 176 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,240 The head of the standing committee called me and said, 177 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,220 "Hey, you can keep your building. 178 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:48,380 "We don't want your mortgage." 179 00:08:48,380 --> 00:08:51,700 And so we thought we were just gonna go on business as usual. 180 00:08:51,700 --> 00:08:53,480 But the retired bishop was so angry 181 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:54,880 that we had left the Episcopal church, 182 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:56,240 he came out of retirement, 183 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:57,860 demanded the keys and the checkbook, 184 00:08:57,860 --> 00:08:59,460 and kicked us out of our church. 185 00:08:59,460 --> 00:09:01,860 I hadn't made any plans. 186 00:09:01,860 --> 00:09:03,240 I had no plan B 187 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,000 'cause I didn't think I had to have a plan B. 188 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,140 I was devastated. 189 00:09:06,140 --> 00:09:08,480 Five years of work just gone. 190 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,220 I call Pastor Ronnie, what do I do? 191 00:09:10,220 --> 00:09:12,680 He said, "Our building's empty Sunday afternoons. 192 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:13,660 "Come here." 193 00:09:13,660 --> 00:09:16,520 And unbelievable gratitude. 194 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:21,080 We came and met in your old sanctuary on Sunday afternoons. 195 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:22,800 In fact, Fox News showed up one day 196 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,860 and videoed the thing, which was very interesting. 197 00:09:25,860 --> 00:09:31,620 So we did that, but as summer was coming, 198 00:09:31,620 --> 00:09:33,660 we knew meeting in the afternoons was gonna be hard 199 00:09:33,660 --> 00:09:36,460 to attract new people, so we had to find a new space, 200 00:09:36,460 --> 00:09:38,680 and we found a new space. 201 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:39,660 You might have heard of it. 202 00:09:39,660 --> 00:09:42,520 It's called Lancaster Christian Academy. 203 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:46,340 And we met in their cafeteria for about five years 204 00:09:46,340 --> 00:09:48,740 until we built St. Patrick's Anglican Church 205 00:09:48,740 --> 00:09:49,580 in Murfreesboro. 206 00:09:49,580 --> 00:09:52,500 And it was a wonderful time. 207 00:09:52,500 --> 00:09:54,360 It was really a wonderful time for us. 208 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,040 We would meet on Saturday afternoons and set up, 209 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,080 and then Sunday after church, break it all down 210 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,440 and put it into a little U-Haul, 211 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:02,860 and drive away from it. 212 00:10:02,860 --> 00:10:05,440 It really bonded us as a parish. 213 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:06,620 We called it the wilderness, 214 00:10:06,620 --> 00:10:08,280 but it was a really great time. 215 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:12,100 My biggest challenge was I chant the mass, 216 00:10:12,100 --> 00:10:13,960 and so we were in the cafeteria, 217 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:15,920 so I had to listen for the pitch of the Coke machine 218 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,180 when it kicked on to be here. 219 00:10:18,180 --> 00:10:19,020 Was that an F sharp? 220 00:10:19,020 --> 00:10:20,240 What was that? 221 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:21,080 So. 222 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,440 But it was wonderful. 223 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:25,040 It was just wonderful. 224 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:26,060 Okay, that's not my sermon. 225 00:10:26,060 --> 00:10:26,900 That was for free. 226 00:10:26,900 --> 00:10:27,720 Here's my sermon. 227 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,280 I really said all that to say thank you. 228 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,340 We are forever in your debt, 229 00:10:33,340 --> 00:10:35,180 and the way your pastors and this church 230 00:10:35,180 --> 00:10:38,860 has woven into the tapestry of St. Patrick's, 231 00:10:38,860 --> 00:10:39,980 it's a God thing. 232 00:10:39,980 --> 00:10:43,100 It's a God thing, and we're so deeply grateful to you, 233 00:10:43,100 --> 00:10:43,940 so thank you. 234 00:10:43,940 --> 00:10:48,920 My text today is Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. 235 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,320 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 236 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,500 and do not lean on your own understanding. 237 00:10:53,500 --> 00:10:55,980 In all your ways acknowledge him, 238 00:10:55,980 --> 00:10:58,040 and he will make your past straight. 239 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,220 Beautiful passage. 240 00:11:01,220 --> 00:11:02,400 But think about it for a minute. 241 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,280 That's a very tall order, isn't it? 242 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,040 And think also, there are three imperatives 243 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:09,960 and one promise here. 244 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,600 This is not a suggestion from God. 245 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:13,880 This is a command. 246 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:15,760 Listen to it again. 247 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,720 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 248 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,080 and do not lean on your own understanding. 249 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,660 In all your ways acknowledge him, 250 00:11:23,660 --> 00:11:26,280 and he will make straight your past. 251 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,300 One biblical scholar said this about the verse. 252 00:11:29,300 --> 00:11:31,600 "With all your heart indicates that trust 253 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,280 goes beyond intellectual assent 254 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,860 to a deep reliance on the Lord, 255 00:11:36,860 --> 00:11:39,660 a settled confidence in his care, 256 00:11:39,660 --> 00:11:41,980 and his faithfulness to his word." 257 00:11:41,980 --> 00:11:46,240 Settled confidence does not just drop out of the air. 258 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:47,840 That's not a gift you receive one day 259 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:49,480 and then you've arrived. 260 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,420 This kind of trust, this level of trust, 261 00:11:51,420 --> 00:11:55,000 must be cultivated over a lifetime. 262 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,540 It will deepen as the relationship deepens. 263 00:11:58,540 --> 00:12:02,040 We're called to make that trust a commitment, 264 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,320 and gratefully, Holy Scripture shows us how. 265 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,760 My first point is going to sound like 266 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:09,200 I'm insulting your intelligence, 267 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:10,480 and I don't want it to do that, 268 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,380 but honestly, I have made this mistake, 269 00:12:12,380 --> 00:12:14,840 and I've seen other people make it. 270 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,840 We are not called to trust in our trust, 271 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,280 or to put it another way, 272 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,040 to believe we have enough faith, 273 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,200 or to trust in the consequences 274 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,200 of what will happen after we pray. 275 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,260 Our trust is in the Lord. 276 00:12:31,260 --> 00:12:34,780 You've probably run across this 277 00:12:34,780 --> 00:12:36,500 in the so-called health and wealth gospel. 278 00:12:36,500 --> 00:12:38,020 You see a job you want, 279 00:12:38,020 --> 00:12:39,640 you claim the job in the name of the Lord, 280 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,300 and if you have enough faith, 281 00:12:41,300 --> 00:12:42,600 then you'll get your job. 282 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:43,780 That sounds very spiritual, 283 00:12:43,780 --> 00:12:46,180 but it misses the mark by a mile. 284 00:12:46,180 --> 00:12:49,840 On the surface, it sounds good, 285 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:51,780 but that's not the way this works. 286 00:12:51,780 --> 00:12:54,060 When Jesus rebuked them for having little faith, 287 00:12:54,060 --> 00:12:56,680 he wasn't rebuking them for their amount of faith. 288 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:57,700 He had already told them, 289 00:12:57,700 --> 00:12:59,840 all you need is the faith of a mustard seed. 290 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:01,380 What he was rebuking them about 291 00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:02,880 was their misplaced faith. 292 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,960 That's why it was little faith. 293 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,080 And he said, what you need to do 294 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:08,640 is trust your heavenly Father 295 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,720 who feeds the birds of the air, 296 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,440 and clothes the lilies of the field. 297 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,120 If you who are evil know how to give good gifts 298 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,800 to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father 299 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:19,540 gives to him who asks? 300 00:13:19,540 --> 00:13:22,120 Don't mistrust your place. 301 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,720 And it's particularly misguided 302 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,640 when we focus our faith on the results that we want. 303 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,100 This paints a picture of our heavenly Father 304 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:31,760 as if he's some celestial genie 305 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:33,940 who's up there to grant us our wishes. 306 00:13:33,940 --> 00:13:36,360 That's not the way the kingdom works. 307 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:37,940 We don't trust the outcome. 308 00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:40,340 We trust him, and then we let the outcome be 309 00:13:40,340 --> 00:13:41,400 whatever it's gonna be, 310 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,260 because a good Father is only gonna do good for us. 311 00:13:44,260 --> 00:13:50,080 I love this from Habakkuk, this view from Habakkuk. 312 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,800 Though the fig tree should not blossom 313 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:53,280 nor the fruit be on the vines, 314 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,280 the produce and the olive fail, 315 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,000 the fields yield no food, 316 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,840 the flock be cut off from the fold, 317 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:00,640 and there be no herd in the stalls, 318 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:02,080 yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 319 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,360 I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 320 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,920 God, the Lord is my strength. 321 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,040 Don't trust the results. 322 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:10,120 Trust him. 323 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:16,920 Second, we cultivate trust through prayer, Psalm 62a. 324 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:18,660 Trust in him at all times, O people. 325 00:14:18,660 --> 00:14:20,320 Pour your heart before him. 326 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,320 God is a refuge for us. 327 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:27,240 In all my years, I've never had one person come up to me 328 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:28,720 and say, "Okay, Father Cash, 329 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,120 "I've got that prayer thing down, what's next?" 330 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,440 Are you happy with your prayer life right now? 331 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,220 Probably not, 'cause I don't know anybody that is. 332 00:14:37,220 --> 00:14:39,040 How do we get there? 333 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,380 We learn to pray by praying. 334 00:14:41,380 --> 00:14:43,000 That's how we learn. 335 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,680 And we just keep doing it, and we keep doing it, 336 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:46,520 and we keep doing it. 337 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:47,860 I had a priest friend of mine once say to me, 338 00:14:47,860 --> 00:14:48,700 I had to think about this, 339 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:52,380 and he said, "God even likes it when we pray badly." 340 00:14:52,380 --> 00:14:54,620 And I thought, "What?" 341 00:14:54,620 --> 00:14:58,140 And then I thought about it, and I think he's right. 342 00:14:58,140 --> 00:14:59,940 Because I can remember when my children 343 00:14:59,940 --> 00:15:01,140 were little tiny babies, 344 00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:04,340 and they started babbling, trying to communicate. 345 00:15:04,340 --> 00:15:06,480 My ears didn't get it, but my heart did. 346 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,540 And I think that's how our Heavenly Father sees us, 347 00:15:09,540 --> 00:15:10,980 even when we pray badly. 348 00:15:10,980 --> 00:15:15,940 Years ago, I had a plan called the 29-59 Plan. 349 00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:17,380 It was a prayer plan. 350 00:15:17,380 --> 00:15:18,460 If you need to know about prayer, 351 00:15:18,460 --> 00:15:19,300 please talk to me. 352 00:15:19,300 --> 00:15:20,780 I have failed at every prayer plan 353 00:15:20,780 --> 00:15:21,900 that has been in Christendom, 354 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:24,300 so I can guide you on this one. 355 00:15:24,300 --> 00:15:25,820 So there's another one I failed at, 356 00:15:25,820 --> 00:15:27,500 but I kept it for a while. 357 00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:29,860 And the neat part about this plan was 358 00:15:29,860 --> 00:15:31,100 you would write out your prayer, 359 00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:33,060 and you'd date it when you started praying it, 360 00:15:33,060 --> 00:15:36,100 and then you'd put a date when that prayer was answered. 361 00:15:36,100 --> 00:15:37,340 I did it for a few years, 362 00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:39,460 and then I moved on to what we Anglicans call 363 00:15:39,460 --> 00:15:41,460 morning and evening prayer from the daily office. 364 00:15:41,460 --> 00:15:45,360 And so I packed up that prayer plan. 365 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,180 I moved several times, and so several years later, 366 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:50,540 after several moves, I'm unpacking boxes, 367 00:15:50,540 --> 00:15:52,900 and I come across the old 29-59 Plan, 368 00:15:52,900 --> 00:15:55,200 and I thought, I wonder what's going on here. 369 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,820 And I opened it up, and every prayer had been answered, 370 00:15:59,820 --> 00:16:02,380 even the ones I had quit praying. 371 00:16:02,380 --> 00:16:05,780 The Bible says He is faithful, 372 00:16:05,780 --> 00:16:08,460 even when we are faithless. 373 00:16:08,460 --> 00:16:09,560 He's that faithful. 374 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,900 Let me tell you about the most astonishing 375 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:14,700 answer to prayer that had happened to me. 376 00:16:14,700 --> 00:16:17,500 I was pastoring a church in Florida, 377 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,780 and had a fellow in my church who's part of a ministry 378 00:16:20,780 --> 00:16:22,940 that would smuggle Bibles into Communist China. 379 00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:24,300 This is in the 1980s, 380 00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:26,700 well, actually all the Communist countries. 381 00:16:26,700 --> 00:16:29,300 So I was to do a teaching mission in the Philippines, 382 00:16:29,300 --> 00:16:30,120 and he came to me and said, 383 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,100 "Ray, you're gonna be on that side of the world. 384 00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:34,100 "Why don't you smuggle some Bibles into China?" 385 00:16:34,100 --> 00:16:35,640 And I thought, ooh. 386 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,020 (congregation laughing) 387 00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:39,220 Mission impossible. 388 00:16:39,220 --> 00:16:41,140 Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. 389 00:16:41,140 --> 00:16:42,780 This is gonna be the coolest thing ever, right? 390 00:16:42,780 --> 00:16:44,320 He said, "Go to Hong Kong. 391 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:45,480 "There's gonna be a facility there. 392 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:46,320 "They'll train you. 393 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,540 "They'll give you everything you need. 394 00:16:47,540 --> 00:16:49,140 "It'll be okay." 395 00:16:49,140 --> 00:16:50,860 So I finished up in the Philippines, 396 00:16:50,860 --> 00:16:54,380 flew into Hong Kong, went to this secret place, 397 00:16:54,380 --> 00:16:55,680 and here was the training. 398 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,080 Blend in and don't get caught. 399 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:01,520 (congregation laughing) 400 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,460 Do I look like I'm going to blend in China? 401 00:17:04,460 --> 00:17:07,780 So they gave me 50 Bibles in a suitcase. 402 00:17:07,780 --> 00:17:09,120 I'm nervous as I can be now, 403 00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:10,300 'cause I don't know what I'm doing. 404 00:17:10,300 --> 00:17:12,520 I get on the train, go to China. 405 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:13,600 It's Chinese New Year's. 406 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:15,900 That's why we're allowed to get into the country. 407 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,160 First thing that happens is two red guard 408 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,320 with automatic weapons come running up to me 409 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:22,320 and start yelling at me. 410 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:23,640 And I don't speak Mandarin. 411 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:25,260 I don't know what they're talking about. 412 00:17:25,260 --> 00:17:27,000 But I'd seen enough World War II movies. 413 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,040 The Nazis always wanted to see your papers, right? 414 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:30,460 So I pulled my papers out and thought, 415 00:17:30,460 --> 00:17:32,000 well, maybe this is it. 416 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:33,360 And they went through that. 417 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:35,200 And then they gave me some paperwork to fill out, 418 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:36,040 and they're yelling at me 419 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:37,560 while I'm filling out the paperwork. 420 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,640 And by this time, I'm not even sure I spelled my name right. 421 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,880 I'm just totally rattled. 422 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,160 I look over, and everybody's putting their suitcase 423 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:46,140 on this conveyor belt. 424 00:17:46,140 --> 00:17:47,680 I thought blend in, blend in, blend in. 425 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,160 So I go over and put my suitcase on the conveyor belt. 426 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:52,260 And I'm walking along thinking, 427 00:17:52,260 --> 00:17:54,200 oh, this is good so far, good so far. 428 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,600 And then to my horror, I realized the conveyor belt 429 00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:59,780 is leading to an X-ray machine 430 00:17:59,780 --> 00:18:02,480 of the type I had never seen before in my life. 431 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,640 And as the psalmist says, pour out your heart. 432 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,160 Boy, did I pour out my heart. 433 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,200 I actually had, I had two prayers going at the same time. 434 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,960 One was forgive me for being such a knucklehead. 435 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:14,840 I'm gonna get caught. 436 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:16,440 And the people aren't gonna get their Bibles. 437 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:17,880 And I don't know what's gonna happen to me. 438 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:18,800 In the other was, God, 439 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,960 maybe you could do something miraculous. 440 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,440 Maybe make a seeing guy blind. 441 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:24,280 Let's do that. 442 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,940 Let's just, you know, something. 443 00:18:26,940 --> 00:18:30,640 I'm just melting down. 444 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:32,780 And all of a sudden, the machine stops, 445 00:18:32,780 --> 00:18:34,760 conveyor belt stops, and the guy in front of me, 446 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:36,640 his suitcase is at the X-ray machine. 447 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,040 And this official sticks his head out of a curtain, 448 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,220 points at him, and two red guard come up 449 00:18:41,220 --> 00:18:43,040 and grab this guy and arrest him, 450 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,780 and drag him out, kicking and screaming, and I'm next. 451 00:18:46,780 --> 00:18:49,640 They turn on the machine. 452 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,340 The machine does a hiccup and shoots my suitcase 453 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:53,980 past the X-ray machine, 454 00:18:53,980 --> 00:18:56,720 and the suitcase behind me was being X-rayed. 455 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,760 I couldn't believe my, I couldn't believe my, 456 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:00,080 I just, I froze for a second. 457 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:01,520 Thought, what just happened? 458 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,360 Oh, that's what happened. 459 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:06,320 So I made it to the taxi, and we did the trade-off, 460 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:07,480 and they got their Bibles. 461 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:08,820 But here's the point. 462 00:19:08,820 --> 00:19:11,000 I had managed to turn Mission Impossible 463 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,180 into Mr. Bean Goes to China. 464 00:19:13,180 --> 00:19:17,040 (congregation laughing) 465 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,840 But God in his faithfulness was gonna have his way. 466 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,880 We trust him. 467 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,080 We also cultivate our trust 468 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,200 by finishing up what the psalmist says, 469 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,640 "And do not lean on your own understanding. 470 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,360 "In all your ways acknowledge him." 471 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,560 Some translations say, "In all your ways submit to him." 472 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:40,980 One reason that we're not to lean on our own understanding 473 00:19:40,980 --> 00:19:42,920 is because the Scriptures are clear 474 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,860 that our hearts are deceitful. 475 00:19:44,860 --> 00:19:48,380 The truth, the sad truth of me is, 476 00:19:48,380 --> 00:19:50,260 if you give me enough time, 477 00:19:50,260 --> 00:19:52,700 I can convince you about anything that I wanna do 478 00:19:52,700 --> 00:19:54,440 is not only right, it's probably God's will. 479 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,020 And that scares me. 480 00:19:56,020 --> 00:19:58,920 But I think that's true of most of us. 481 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,060 But we're also not supposed to lean on our own understanding 482 00:20:01,060 --> 00:20:04,520 because, as a 19th century Scottish preacher put it, 483 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,860 "Leaning on our own understanding 484 00:20:06,860 --> 00:20:09,720 "is a kind of practical atheism." 485 00:20:10,660 --> 00:20:14,040 That sounds harsh, but if you think about it, it's true. 486 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,700 Because the more I'm leaning on my own understanding, 487 00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:19,740 the less and less I'm leaning on the Lord's understanding. 488 00:20:19,740 --> 00:20:22,900 And so I do have practical atheism going on in my life. 489 00:20:22,900 --> 00:20:27,720 Practical atheism starts the day this way. 490 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,720 It's okay, God, I gotta cover today, I'm good. 491 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,140 That's practical atheism. 492 00:20:33,140 --> 00:20:38,700 Let me give you a great prayer to start your morning. 493 00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:43,080 (audience laughing) 494 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,740 The sheep looking for the shepherd. 495 00:20:44,740 --> 00:20:47,180 That's how you start your morning. 496 00:20:47,180 --> 00:20:48,140 I need my shepherd. 497 00:20:48,140 --> 00:20:52,220 And this, of course, is not to say 498 00:20:52,220 --> 00:20:55,100 that our understanding is all wrong. 499 00:20:55,100 --> 00:20:56,300 The Scripture doesn't forbid us 500 00:20:56,300 --> 00:20:57,980 from using our understanding at all. 501 00:20:57,980 --> 00:21:00,420 It's just that we're not to lean on it. 502 00:21:00,420 --> 00:21:02,720 I heard one country preacher once say, 503 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,200 "Well, when God breathes in the Holy Ghost, 504 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:05,800 "he doesn't blow out your brains." 505 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,260 So God's given them to you to use, 506 00:21:08,260 --> 00:21:11,900 but they are tools to apprehend the will 507 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:14,420 and the Word of God, not to replace 508 00:21:14,420 --> 00:21:16,360 the work of the Holy Spirit. 509 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,700 Back to this Scottish preacher. 510 00:21:18,700 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaking of our understanding, 511 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,420 while we use it, we're to depend on God for success, 512 00:21:24,420 --> 00:21:26,820 trust in the promises of his Word, 513 00:21:26,820 --> 00:21:29,340 and trust in the care and overruling direction 514 00:21:29,340 --> 00:21:30,640 of his providence. 515 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,100 Trusting in his promises. 516 00:21:33,100 --> 00:21:36,900 That's another way to cultivate trust in the Lord. 517 00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:39,100 The more familiar we are with Holy Scripture 518 00:21:39,100 --> 00:21:42,020 and his promises, the deeper our trust goes, 519 00:21:42,020 --> 00:21:44,100 and the converse happens as well. 520 00:21:44,100 --> 00:21:47,540 The less we understand and know of Holy Scripture, 521 00:21:47,540 --> 00:21:49,240 the less we know of his promises, 522 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,340 and the less we have reason to trust him. 523 00:21:51,340 --> 00:21:54,580 That's key to our spiritual growth. 524 00:21:54,580 --> 00:21:57,820 You remember how our first parents fell. 525 00:21:57,820 --> 00:22:00,300 He was doubting what God said. 526 00:22:00,300 --> 00:22:03,440 Did God really say? 527 00:22:04,780 --> 00:22:06,900 You need to know the Scripture so well 528 00:22:06,900 --> 00:22:08,620 when the enemy comes to you and say, 529 00:22:08,620 --> 00:22:10,200 did God really say? 530 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,900 You say back to him, as a matter of fact, he did. 531 00:22:12,900 --> 00:22:13,740 Be gone. 532 00:22:13,740 --> 00:22:17,580 That's just the way Jesus handled the temptation, right? 533 00:22:17,580 --> 00:22:19,980 Isn't that what Jesus did? 534 00:22:19,980 --> 00:22:22,300 He quoted the Scripture back. 535 00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:26,420 Now, what's wonderful about trusting in God 536 00:22:26,420 --> 00:22:29,260 is the fruit that'll produce in your life 537 00:22:29,260 --> 00:22:30,940 is an unbelievable blessing. 538 00:22:30,940 --> 00:22:32,860 Let me just mention a few. 539 00:22:32,860 --> 00:22:35,120 First, trusting in him fills your life 540 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:36,620 with joy and gratitude. 541 00:22:36,620 --> 00:22:38,300 Listen to Psalm 28, seven. 542 00:22:38,300 --> 00:22:39,920 The Lord is my strength and shield. 543 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:41,700 I trust him with all my heart. 544 00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:44,180 He helps me and my heart is filled with joy. 545 00:22:44,180 --> 00:22:46,540 I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. 546 00:22:46,540 --> 00:22:50,420 I have read so many times about the benefit 547 00:22:50,420 --> 00:22:53,620 to our whole being that happens when we live lives 548 00:22:53,620 --> 00:22:56,260 of gratitude and thankfulness. 549 00:22:56,260 --> 00:22:58,520 Better mental health, better physical health. 550 00:22:58,520 --> 00:22:59,580 We live longer. 551 00:22:59,580 --> 00:23:01,540 It strengthens our marriages. 552 00:23:01,540 --> 00:23:03,000 People want to be around somebody 553 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:04,100 that's filled with gratitude. 554 00:23:04,100 --> 00:23:06,020 Nobody wants to hang out with Eeyore. 555 00:23:06,020 --> 00:23:10,500 Life is meant to be lived in joy and gratitude. 556 00:23:10,500 --> 00:23:12,300 That's how God has wired us, 557 00:23:12,300 --> 00:23:14,060 and that happens when we trust him. 558 00:23:14,060 --> 00:23:16,820 I would never the wonderful benefit 559 00:23:16,820 --> 00:23:20,740 as trust is the antidote to fear, Psalm 112, seven. 560 00:23:20,740 --> 00:23:22,300 He is not afraid of bad news. 561 00:23:22,300 --> 00:23:24,740 His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. 562 00:23:24,740 --> 00:23:27,660 I've known so many people who live their lives 563 00:23:27,660 --> 00:23:29,740 like they're always waiting for the other shoe to drop, 564 00:23:29,740 --> 00:23:31,420 waiting for the next disaster. 565 00:23:31,420 --> 00:23:35,940 I really believe that there is a force in this world 566 00:23:35,940 --> 00:23:40,260 that wants us to live in fear because fear enslaves you, 567 00:23:40,260 --> 00:23:44,240 and God does not want us to live in fear. 568 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:48,820 Pastor Ronnie can testify, we're about the same age. 569 00:23:48,820 --> 00:23:51,480 I cannot remember a time in my life 570 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,140 that Chicken Little hadn't been saying 571 00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:54,780 the sky is falling, right Ronnie? 572 00:23:54,780 --> 00:23:57,700 In the '50s, I was in grammar school in the '50s, 573 00:23:57,700 --> 00:24:00,420 we would get under our desk, our wooden desk, 574 00:24:00,420 --> 00:24:02,700 'cause the Russians are fixing the bomb-its. 575 00:24:02,700 --> 00:24:06,700 Isn't that a joyful thing to do a grammar school kid? 576 00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:08,700 The other side of that, I was in Cub Scouts. 577 00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:10,940 I'm thinking, all right, bombs means fire, 578 00:24:10,940 --> 00:24:13,980 I'm under a wooden desk, I'm kindling. 579 00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:16,740 I mean, can the adults not come up with a better plan? 580 00:24:16,740 --> 00:24:19,300 (audience laughing) 581 00:24:19,300 --> 00:24:21,280 In the '60s, the world was gonna end 582 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,080 because of overpopulation, we were gonna run out of food. 583 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:29,080 In the '70s, scientists told us there's an ice age coming. 584 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,880 In the '80s, acid rain was gonna kill all the crops, 585 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,720 we were gonna starve to death again. 586 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,600 So in the '90s, it was the ozone layer. 587 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,520 Y'all using your spray deodorants, 588 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:40,680 we're gonna end the world 589 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,160 because we're killing the ozone layer 590 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:43,720 and we're all gonna burn like a bunch of ants 591 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,040 under a magnifying glass. 592 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:46,520 And then the turn of the century, 593 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,160 the polar ice caps were gonna melt, 594 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,000 the levels of the sea were gonna rise, 595 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,720 and Florida and California would be underwater right now. 596 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,720 There's never been a time in my life 597 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,360 that Chicken Little had been running around saying, 598 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:58,860 "The sky is falling, the sky is falling." 599 00:24:58,860 --> 00:25:01,160 When they come to you and tell you the sky's falling, 600 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,200 tell them whose sky it is. 601 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,440 (audience cheering) 602 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,320 He doesn't lose control, he's got a plan, 603 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,640 he's bringing all things so they're appointed in. 604 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,520 We do not live in fear. 605 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:16,960 2 Timothy 1.7, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, 606 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,600 "but of power and love and a sound mind." 607 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,600 Listen to that again, power and love and a sound, 608 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,160 kinda like the work of the Trinity, doesn't it sound a bit? 609 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,120 Power from the Father, love from the Son, 610 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,860 and a sound mind from the Holy Spirit. 611 00:25:30,860 --> 00:25:33,620 That's why our inheritance, that's how we're to walk, 612 00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:34,880 that's how we're to live. 613 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:39,560 Listen to this promise, Psalm 37.5, 614 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,880 "Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, 615 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:43,800 "and He will act." 616 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,320 And we also know the opposite, true, 617 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,480 because the gospels tells us of Jesus, 618 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,080 and He did not do many miracles there 619 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,440 because of their unbelief. 620 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,440 But the theme of God acting when we trust in Him 621 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,820 runs through the entire length of the Bible. 622 00:25:57,820 --> 00:25:59,840 I mean from Genesis to the maps, 623 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:03,120 it's a story of people in all their failings 624 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:05,700 trusting in the Lord and seeing Him act. 625 00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:07,920 Abraham, willing to sacrifice his son, 626 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:09,420 and God steps in and acts. 627 00:26:09,420 --> 00:26:13,300 Moses is in front of the Red Sea, God steps in and acts. 628 00:26:13,300 --> 00:26:16,520 Think of the prophets, think of David facing Goliath, 629 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:18,320 think of Daniel in the lion's den, 630 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,040 think of Mary saying yes to the angel, 631 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:22,800 think of all the prophets went through, 632 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:24,240 God kept acting and acting, 633 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,640 the apostles are singing in prison 634 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,220 and God gives them an angelic jailbreak. 635 00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:33,060 The stories are there for our edification, 636 00:26:33,060 --> 00:26:35,780 the stories are there over and over and over again saying, 637 00:26:35,780 --> 00:26:39,040 you can trust Him, you can trust Him, you can trust Him, 638 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,360 and when you do, He will act. 639 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:47,700 One last point about this, cultivating trust, 640 00:26:47,700 --> 00:26:49,720 and it's not one you're gonna welcome, 641 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:51,520 but it's one that I have to tell you. 642 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,800 Trust is not trust until it's been tested. 643 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:02,420 Trust is not trust until it's been tested. 644 00:27:02,420 --> 00:27:06,360 In his book, Ruthless Trust, Brendan Manning says this, 645 00:27:06,360 --> 00:27:08,800 "The story of salvation history indicates 646 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,760 "that without exception, trust must be purified 647 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,180 "in the crucible of trial. 648 00:27:14,180 --> 00:27:16,440 "David, the most beloved figure of Jewish history, 649 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,780 "was no stranger to terror, loneliness, failure, 650 00:27:19,780 --> 00:27:22,080 "and even sinister plots to destroy him. 651 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:27,080 "Yet, he ravished the heart of God with his unwavering trust." 652 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,440 And as the great hymn tells us, 653 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,640 that fire is not there to hurt you, 654 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,760 that fire is there to purify you, to consume the dross. 655 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:40,280 My freshman year at Florida State University, 656 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,220 I heard Josh McDowell give a lecture 657 00:27:43,220 --> 00:27:45,580 on evidence of the resurrection of Christ. 658 00:27:46,540 --> 00:27:48,860 And that was my motion, put me in motion 659 00:27:48,860 --> 00:27:51,820 to make a commitment to follow Jesus as my Lord. 660 00:27:51,820 --> 00:27:54,900 I wanted with everything in my being at 18 years old 661 00:27:54,900 --> 00:27:56,320 to be his disciple. 662 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,420 And I can remember standing in the quad 663 00:27:59,420 --> 00:28:01,740 with these incredible buildings 664 00:28:01,740 --> 00:28:05,740 that represent the consummation of human wisdom 665 00:28:05,740 --> 00:28:08,860 and knowledge, and I'm standing there at 18 years old 666 00:28:08,860 --> 00:28:12,440 and I'm thinking, I'm 18 years old, 667 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,400 and I know the key to life. 668 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:20,400 The truth is not found in these buildings. 669 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,960 The truth is a person who is the fountain of all truth. 670 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:29,120 I was blown away. 671 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:32,760 I'm 72 now. 672 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:37,860 It's been a long journey, and it's not been an easy one. 673 00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:43,240 I've had years of my life sorely tested. 674 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,880 It was either seven or eight years 675 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,000 of what the ancients called the dark night of the soul. 676 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,480 Really hard time. 677 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,280 Like many of you, all you have to do 678 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,680 is live long enough for this to happen to you. 679 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,040 I've had things happen in my life 680 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,840 I would not wish on my worst friend, enemy, 681 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:01,900 on my worst enemy. 682 00:29:01,900 --> 00:29:05,840 There's been times when I was hanging on 683 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:08,080 only by the skin of my teeth, 684 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,040 only to find out later, no, Ray, 685 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,400 you weren't holding on to me. 686 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:15,720 I was holding on to you. 687 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:24,200 Nevertheless, nevertheless, my wholehearted testimony 688 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,480 before you and before God today 689 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,240 is He has been utterly, utterly, 690 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,040 utterly trustworthy and faithful in it all, 691 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,920 above it all, under it all, and through it all. 692 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,680 He has never failed me once, 693 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,960 even when I have failed Him over and over and over again. 694 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,740 He remains faithful even when we are faithless. 695 00:29:46,740 --> 00:29:48,560 So above all, hear this. 696 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,480 We are called to trust in Him with all of our hearts 697 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,760 because no one and nothing else even comes close 698 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,000 to deserving our trust as He does. 699 00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:59,620 Nothing comes close. 700 00:29:59,620 --> 00:30:03,680 After chapters of glorious theology, 701 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,400 Saint Paul brings an altar crescendo 702 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,360 asking the most important rhetorical question 703 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:11,400 that's ever been put to mankind. 704 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:16,400 If God is for us, then who can be against us? 705 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,560 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, 706 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:23,640 how will He not also with Him generously give us all things? 707 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,240 Who shall bring a charge against God, 708 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,500 let it be this God who justifies? 709 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:28,480 Who is to condemn? 710 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:30,100 Christ Jesus is the one who died. 711 00:30:30,100 --> 00:30:31,920 More than that, who was raised, 712 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,680 who is the right hand of God, 713 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,180 who indeed is interceding for us. 714 00:30:36,860 --> 00:30:38,580 What shall separate us from the love of God 715 00:30:38,580 --> 00:30:42,080 shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine 716 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:43,620 or nakedness or danger or sword? 717 00:30:43,620 --> 00:30:48,300 No, in all these things, in all these things, 718 00:30:48,300 --> 00:30:50,900 we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 719 00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:53,800 For I am sure that neither life nor death nor angels 720 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,660 nor rulers nor things present nor things to come 721 00:30:56,660 --> 00:30:58,260 nor powers nor height nor depth 722 00:30:58,260 --> 00:31:01,420 nor anything in all of creation will be able to separate us 723 00:31:01,420 --> 00:31:03,100 from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 724 00:31:03,100 --> 00:31:07,300 Here, Saint Paul, nothing, nothing, nothing 725 00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:09,500 can separate you from His love. 726 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:13,980 Therefore, make a commitment to trust Him 727 00:31:13,980 --> 00:31:17,380 with all your heart and spend the rest of your days 728 00:31:17,380 --> 00:31:19,200 cultivating that trust. 729 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,980 Make a decision that you're going to trust Him. 730 00:31:22,980 --> 00:31:27,700 Enter into that room, shut the door behind you, and lock it. 731 00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:31,620 And He will make your path straight. 732 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:34,480 And He will make your path straight. 733 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,280 May the God of peace who brought again from the dead 734 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,500 our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, 735 00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:42,700 by the blood of the everlasting covenant, 736 00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:44,700 make you perfect in every good work to do as well, 737 00:31:44,700 --> 00:31:47,580 working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight. 738 00:31:47,580 --> 00:31:49,240 And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, 739 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,340 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit be among you 740 00:31:52,340 --> 00:31:54,200 and remain with you always. 741 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:55,040 Amen. 742 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,380 (audience applauding) 743 00:31:59,380 --> 00:32:04,380 - Would you stand with me with those who are going to pray 744 00:32:04,380 --> 00:32:09,000 with folks, come forward. 745 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,960 Maybe today is a day where you need to evaluate 746 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,700 your trust level in the situations and circumstances 747 00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:17,660 that you're walking through. 748 00:32:17,660 --> 00:32:21,180 And you can meet this Almighty God today, right now, 749 00:32:21,180 --> 00:32:23,920 in the altar space agreeing with folks down here. 750 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:28,680 So if you need prayer for anything, come, let's worship. 751 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,260 (gentle music) 752 00:32:31,260 --> 00:32:34,620 [MUSIC PLAYING]