WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.740 Well, here we are, lifelong trust. We're at the end of our sermon series, Growing Older and Wiser. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.460 I don't know about you, I hope you feel older and wiser, probably just wiser, probably. And 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:25.240 hope is a crucial element of what we've been talking about through the last few weeks in our 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:30.459 teaching, in our home groups, wherever we've been listening, maybe on our podcasts. And this 00:00:30.459 --> 00:00:39.859 morning's psalm reminds us, as for me, I will always have hope. I will praise you more and more. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:46.739 I will always have hope. And through that, I will praise you more and more. And during this service, 00:00:46.739 --> 00:00:54.539 I think, again, I've been reflecting on those two things, hope and trust, two important elements 00:00:54.539 --> 00:01:04.359 of our discipleship. Because life, as Russ said, tends to speed up as we get older. And as it speeds up, 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:14.480 I need to learn who to trust in wisdom, because I find there's not much time there to reflect. 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:24.400 Trust. Trust is high on my character list. It's high on my character must for teams. You know, 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:30.160 I want to know the people that I can trust. I want to know the people that can trust me. It's an 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:36.180 important element in not only our working partnerships, but in our life as well. Trust 00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:45.600 is so important. And we hope together, we trust together. And we all know, we all know what broken 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:54.339 trust is like. We know how hard that is for us to bear. And there is this lifelong trust that we're 00:01:54.339 --> 00:02:02.479 talking about in this series. So what does that look like? What does lifelong trust look like for each 00:02:02.479 --> 00:02:11.159 of us in our own settings, in our relationships, in our everyday, most importantly, with God? 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:20.979 If you throw into Google, lifelong trust, the one that resonated with me that came out is, 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:30.539 trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair. I'm not really sure I agree with 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:38.019 that. But it's an interesting take that somebody's had. And as I thought about that quote, it took me 00:02:38.020 --> 00:02:45.360 back, when I was a custody sergeant in Central Police Station in Bristol. The one thing you hoped you 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:54.340 weren't working a two to ten shift in Advent and Christmas, because all the young people would come 00:02:54.340 --> 00:03:01.760 out sadly, and your custody officer office would be swamped with young people who had gone shoplifting 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:10.319 on the broadmead on a Saturday afternoon. It was a real sadness, because a lot of the young people 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:17.359 that came in or were brought in were from very, very kind and loving families. They were wealthy, 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:26.579 they had things they didn't need to go out stealing. And yet, they would come, maybe they'd done it for a 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:31.600 dare, maybe they'd done it just for kicks or whatever. But you'd be confronted by this person. 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:39.320 But then, you would be confronted by a parent or parents or carers. And the first question that 00:03:39.320 --> 00:03:50.220 they would say in their upset and their distress would be to say to their child, however can I trust you 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:58.199 again? How can I trust you to go out without knowing that you're going to do this? Trust is such an 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:05.159 important element of our life. Some said trust is a gift, don't try to exchange it for something else. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:11.840 Lifelong trust, I guess, has been the constant, I hope, for many of us in our discipleship journey, 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:18.160 in different forms and different shapes. And so, I have to ask myself at this sermon series, 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:26.240 where am I now? Where am I now? Where are many of us? Halfway home, thought I'd get a plug there, 00:04:26.580 --> 00:04:33.720 for sale at a manse near you, on the podcast. And who is there? 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.960 Francis, Henry Francis Light wrote a great hymn that we know well, and maybe sums it up really well. 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:51.680 He said, abide with me. Abide with me. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:00.419 oh, abide with me. And that sense of God being with us, Corrie Ten Boone said, when a train goes 00:05:00.419 --> 00:05:09.919 through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and you 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:20.060 trust the engineer. That's trust. And so, as we think about this, we think about that issue of when 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:27.439 you stop trusting. Because my experience, and maybe the same as yours, is when I stop trusting, 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:38.060 the door is left wide open, way, way wide open, for anger, doubt, frustration, suspicious, 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:48.240 bitterness to walk in. And as we said, as life accelerates, that too can accelerate if we don't 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:56.360 trust. Trust in the one. And sadly, if you're not careful, cynicism, frustration, bitterness and anger 00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:06.519 takes over, and we become like Victor Meldry. If you're listening on the podcast, we've just watched 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:16.839 Victor Meldry and the toilet scene. I hope this series, as I said, has challenged us. Because it 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:25.120 says, even when I am old and grey, says the psalm. And maybe that's got to be Russ's next book, 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:32.579 really? Three quarters or seven eighths home towards home. You know, when I am old and grey, 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:41.459 but it's psalmist continues and says, do not forsake me, my God. Do not forsake me till I declare 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:51.240 your power to the next generation, your mighty axe for all of those who are to come. And there's an 00:06:51.240 --> 00:07:00.319 imperative in this about growing older and wiser of how we reflect that trust that we have in God 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:06.920 for those who are following us, for those who look to us, for those who come to us. And that's where I 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:12.680 think I am at the end of this sermon series. I think that's where I am. People will let us down, 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:23.379 trust gets knocked, we slip, yet God is constant. And in him, we trust. And in him, we trust. In his 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:32.139 strength, we carry on. And often, it is in his strength alone, as we will know that we carry on 00:07:32.139 --> 00:07:42.219 in his strength. Joel Alston said, I believe if you keep your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the 00:07:42.219 --> 00:07:52.300 right attitude. If you're grateful, you'll see God open up new doors. And that's really interesting, 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:57.900 because I sensed this morning before I came walking up here, I sensed that thing of God wanting to open 00:07:57.900 --> 00:08:05.500 new doors. I sensed that thing of maybe the Lord speaking about new doors for us. And that may be 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:10.580 not just new doors in the way in which we think, but maybe new doors in our character, 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:19.720 to actually have a deeper faith and trust as we move towards this exciting Advent season. 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:28.540 Perhaps this series has already opened the door for you. Fresh possibilities, fresh wisdom. Do people 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:36.860 see age and kingdom wisdom in us? Is that what they look for us, to us? Is that what they see? Is our 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:44.899 godly character coming out through what we say and we do in the everyday? Do they see us growing older 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:54.559 and wiser with Jesus? Because there's a beauty in that. And we all know those saints that have grown 00:08:54.559 --> 00:09:02.699 beautifully older and wiser with Jesus, who we know and we love, we admire and we go to. 00:09:04.199 --> 00:09:12.100 Have we declared his greatness to the next generation? Have we done that? Have we actively done that? 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:21.580 Have we focused our all towards those which are coming, which we long to reach? And surely that's 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:27.580 our hope, isn't it? This thing that we call church, God's kingdom increases and multiplies in us and 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:35.540 through us, and it doesn't stop. We trust, we hope, we choose Jesus because he chose us first. 00:09:35.539 --> 00:09:46.360 And he trusts, even when we let him down. If God puts his trust in me again and again, then he is worthy 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:58.240 of my trust, which he so richly deserves. We have a choice, grow older and wiser with Jesus or grow older 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:07.159 and cynical without. And we trust. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, sovereign Lord. I will 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:15.620 proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me and to this day, 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:25.480 I declare your marvellous deeds. Where did it stop? There is no full stop. It continues. It never stops, 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:34.620 but increases. Because the psalm is about you and me. And we express our hope and trust in what we do. 00:10:35.300 --> 00:10:42.779 We praise God and thank him. Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens and who has done great 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:51.560 things. Who is like you, God? As I was writing this, I thought, the number of people that have let me down. 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:58.139 You know, we can all do the list. And I'm sure I'm on other people's lists as well. 00:10:59.239 --> 00:11:08.919 But who is like you, God, that would never, ever, ever let me down? Because you are not on that list. 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:19.339 And you never will be. It's true. Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:26.160 you will restore my life again. And there isn't one of us here that have seen troubles, 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:37.120 many and bitter, as the psalmist says. Enough to destroy me over and over and over again. Do I 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:46.340 allow them to define me? Does God allow them to define me? No. Because my trust is in him. He will 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:55.080 restore my soul. All is well with my soul. There is hope. 00:11:55.080 --> 00:12:08.139 We were talking in our prayers. I think people need the message now. I really think people need 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:16.440 the message now of hope and trust. If there are two things that we need and the people that we are 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:23.120 seeking to reach and we know is hope and trust. They need to hear the experience, that trust, 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:29.679 through us and the power of the Holy Spirit, so they don't miss the message, so that they don't see a 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:36.019 church that's dying. So rather than a church of people who are full of life on their way to glory, 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:45.120 full of hope and trust, who express a trust and hope that the world cannot give. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:53.480 And I love that prayer when it's prayed over you, that thing of trust and hope, that sense of God's 00:12:53.480 --> 00:13:02.460 peace that the world cannot give. Just like to invite the team back up if we could and noodle along. 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:09.299 That would be brilliant. So where does that leave us? At the end as we enter into Advent where we talk 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:17.819 about trees coming up where we've got this huge opportunity, when it's time to give people the 00:13:17.819 --> 00:13:28.639 gifts. And it's our time to give people the gift of Jesus. What a great gift of hope and trust. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:32.299 Then it says, 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:41.299 my lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you, I whom you have delivered. It doesn't say again and 00:13:41.299 --> 00:13:48.620 again, but I think it should. My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all the day long. 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:57.519 There's trust and hope in that, for us to do that. We are older and wiser to know that the greatest gift 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:01.860 we received, we received, that we have received, for those of us who have been through there, 00:14:02.079 --> 00:14:10.519 is the greatest gift ever and is there for everybody else. Emmanuel, God with us. 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:20.100 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:27.620 I just sense the Lord wants to empower us afresh this morning. 00:14:29.540 --> 00:14:35.879 Empower us afresh with hope and with love as we enter this Advent season. 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:39.379 To talk about him. 00:14:41.540 --> 00:14:47.600 To live our Advent as though we truly, truly know him and trust him. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:54.080 So that people will not be just drawn to us, but be drawn to him. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:54.139 Amen. 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:54.200 Amen. 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:54.220 Amen. 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:54.259 Amen. 00:14:54.259 --> 00:14:54.320 Amen. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:55.259 Amen. 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:56.259 Amen. 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:56.320 Amen. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:57.259 Amen. 00:14:57.259 --> 00:14:58.259 Amen. 00:14:58.259 --> 00:14:58.320 Amen. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:14:59.259 Amen. 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:00.259 Amen. 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:01.259 Amen. 00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:02.259 Amen. 00:15:02.259 --> 00:15:03.259 Amen.