WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.760 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:25.179 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:31.519 us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.239 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.780 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:22.260 Just bow our heads in prayer while we stand. Father, each and every one of us needs to have 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:28.240 more hope in our lives. And each and every one of us here, Father, need to live more and more by hope 00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:37.140 and less by hopelessness or fear or depression or despair. And so, Father, whether some of us are 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:43.200 having a very good time in life right now or some are hard, we acknowledge at this time with our amen 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:48.520 that every one of us needs more hope. And we give you thanks and praise, Father, that you promise in 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:54.819 your word hope to your people. And so we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring this word of yours deep 00:01:54.819 --> 00:02:01.060 into our hearts so that more and more each of us would become a person of hope and that we as a 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:07.879 church would be a church of hope. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:02:08.379 --> 00:02:09.280 Please be seated. 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:17.340 So it was a long, long time ago that I was in school. I actually have a master's degree in 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:21.120 counseling, believe it or not. I know I say that and people wonder why I'm not nicer. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:27.039 But I actually have a master's degree in counseling. It's from like 100 million years ago. And I don't 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:31.680 know what they teach nowadays in school. I have no idea. But one of the things that they were quite 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:37.960 insistent on with us back when we were going through the training, when we had, sorry, there'd be these 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:43.340 sessions called, I mean, you'd have not only like lectures about things, but you had to be involved in 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:46.640 things. And then you'd have to give reports. And you'd have these things called practicums, 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.019 where they talk about what you do. And one of the things that they were quite insistent on when I 00:02:51.019 --> 00:02:56.519 was going through school is that you'd be very careful. In fact, you never say to somebody, 00:02:56.699 --> 00:03:01.739 you never say to somebody, it was a very relativistic school, but this was one time they 00:03:01.739 --> 00:03:07.179 weren't relativistic. They were quite absolutist. Never say to anybody, it's going to get better. 00:03:08.679 --> 00:03:13.139 I don't know if they still teach that. Why? You don't know if it's going to get better. 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:19.359 Maybe their problem will get better, but they'll get cancer, or they'll be in a car accident, or some 00:03:19.359 --> 00:03:23.379 other terrible and horrific thing will happen to them. Don't tell them it's going to get better. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:28.519 You don't know if it's going to get better. And I don't know if that's still part of the advice. 00:03:28.799 --> 00:03:34.599 I think it's wise advice, by the way. But the whole issue shows sort of a couple of things which that 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:40.599 are very interesting. The fact is that we want to tell people it's going to be better when they're 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:49.459 having a very hard time. We have a very hard time visiting somebody who's obviously consumed with 00:03:49.459 --> 00:03:59.699 hopelessness, where they just have come maybe to a position of profound apathy, a profound type of 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:06.519 deadness. Things aren't going to ever get better. They just have like a cloud over their lives, 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:13.080 depressed. I mean, we have a very hard time visiting people like that, spending time with people like 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:18.560 that. And one of the really tragic things in life is because we have a hard time even being in the 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:23.480 presence of somebody who seems to have absolutely no hope, their life is defined by hopelessness. 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:30.500 We end up spending less time with them, ending up reinforcing to the person who's feeling hopeless 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:35.300 that they're right to feel hopeless, because they don't even have friends. Their friends are leaving 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:41.839 them. And it's very hard for us to be with people who are hopeless. There is something deep within us 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:49.079 to try to say that it's going to get better to give them hope. And we know, we just know that people 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:56.480 need hope. They need hope. And even if the hopes are just very, very tiny that, you know, they're hoping 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:02.200 that they can watch, I don't know, like their favorite TV show that night or whatever. We need 00:05:02.200 --> 00:05:06.900 hope. They need hope. It's a very important part of being human. The Bible text we're going to look 00:05:06.900 --> 00:05:15.300 at today has some real wisdom about the whole question of hope. In fact, I think the way it 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:20.439 describes hope is something that is exactly the type of thing that people are looking for without 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:26.959 realizing it. And it's put in the context of a story that on its surface should not be a story 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:33.160 about hope, because it seems to be dealing with a hopeless, depressing situation that most of us, 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:37.800 if we were in, would be despairing about. So let's have a look. We're preaching through the book of Acts, 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:42.920 and it's Acts chapter 26. I encourage you to take out your Bibles and follow along. The words will be 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:48.240 on the screen, but there is something about having it in front of you. I want to be a person that is 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:52.379 open and transparent with the Word, helping you read the Word, so you can look and see if I'm taking 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:57.439 things out of context or skipping things. That's a good thing. That doesn't bother me. It pleases me. 00:05:58.579 --> 00:06:04.879 So let's look, and it's Acts chapter 26, and what's going on in the story is this. 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:12.480 Paul is having a very, it's not just a hard day, week, month, it's hard years. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:21.259 Because people tried to kill him about something that he was innocent for, rather than the people 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:27.100 trying to murder him being in trouble, he got in trouble, even though he's innocent, and even though 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:32.560 they were trying to kill him. And so he gets in trouble, and he's now been in criminal custody, 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:39.700 like criminal, like jail, in a type of a limbo, but still in jail, still under suspicion of having 00:06:39.699 --> 00:06:44.899 committed criminal offenses, which deserve death. That's the limbo he's living on. He's been living 00:06:44.899 --> 00:06:53.759 under this for over two years now. And he still has a group of people who absolutely hate him with 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:59.500 murderous hatred, and are in a sense waiting for him to get free. It's just like movies you see about 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:03.379 certain types of movies, you know, where the person gets out of jail, and the people hate the person who 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:09.219 gets out of jail, they kill him. Like, that's Paul. That's what he's looking at. And at the other hand, 00:07:09.220 --> 00:07:15.100 he's being kept in jail by these people who just should know better, and should be concerned about 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:20.260 right and wrong and innocence, and they're just keeping them there for their own particular reasons, 00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:27.260 in one case for bribe. And he's proven time and time in gain, and actually had it acknowledged. 00:07:27.260 --> 00:07:33.460 Just before this, the guy has had it acknowledged that Paul has done nothing deserving death. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:37.480 And nobody's saying, well, if he's not deserving death, why don't you just let him go? Nobody's saying 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:42.740 that. Why? Because even the way that Paul is introduced before he speaks, as we talked about last week, 00:07:42.780 --> 00:07:50.240 it's a dismissive gesture. This man. And they're all in their finest clothes, all the pomp and ceremony 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:58.280 in the world, and Paul comes in in shackles and chains, and the person who's over his fate dismisses him, 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:01.119 you know, in a sense saying, this inconvenient Jew. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:08.899 Causing me a problem. Here we are. Maybe you can help me solve it out. And it's in that context 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:14.039 that Paul has to make his defense. You see what I mean by, on one level, this is not a story where 00:08:14.039 --> 00:08:18.519 you think you would learn anything about hope. But actually, it's exactly stories like this that we 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:23.839 need to hear if we want to learn about hope. It's exactly stories like this. So let's go. It goes like 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:30.279 Acts 26, verse 1. So Agrippa, he's a king, Agrippa said to Paul, you have permission to speak for 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:36.579 yourself. Just sort of imagine Simon Cowell, and America's Got Talent, only with the worst thing. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:42.559 Okay, off you go. That's what he says. And then Paul stretched out his hand, which is like one of 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:48.379 the things that you can see in this whole talk. If you're really a nerd into this stuff, Paul follows 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:56.439 the, like, public oratory defense 101, and includes hand gestures, the whole structure. 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:01.539 If you want to geek out over it, I can tell you a commentary that'll help you geek out over it. 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:06.120 And he goes on, verse 2, I consider, this is all part of the, you know, 101, how to defend 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:11.720 yourself. Verse 2, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, king Agrippa, I am going to make 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:17.120 my defense. The word there is actually my apologetic. Those of you who are into apologetics, that's where 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:22.240 one of the places the word shows up in the Bible. Today, against all the accusations of the Jewish 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:28.419 elite, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jewish people, 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:34.220 therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. Now, just so you know, there's a subtext to this, 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:39.460 and we don't know how Paul is feeling about it, but this is the fourth time, more than four times, 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:46.700 but the fourth time one of that lineage is in the Bible. The first time, Agrippa's great 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:52.020 grandfather shows up. Agrippa's great grandfather is the guy who wanted to kill Jesus when he was a 00:09:52.020 --> 00:10:01.420 baby. Agrippa's grandfather is the guy who beheaded John the Baptist. Agrippa's dad is the guy who killed 00:10:01.420 --> 00:10:10.500 James the apostle. And now, Paul is standing before another one in that family. Once again, this is not, 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:15.740 you know, if you're looking at the odds, the odd makers would not be looking in Paul's favor. 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:20.379 And just so you know, by the way, at the end of the story, he's still in jail. Just so you know, 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:26.059 at the end of the story, he's still in jail. But he continues. Verse 4. 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:32.840 My manner of life from my youth spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:39.259 is known by all of the Jewish people, including the elite. They have known for a long time, 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:44.580 if they're willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I have lived 00:10:44.580 --> 00:10:50.080 as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial. Now, here's where the hope comes in. It's going to be 00:10:50.080 --> 00:11:00.259 said three times, usually a clue that it's important. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:12.200 in the promise made by God. To our fathers, to which our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:21.740 worship night and day. And for this hope, I am accused by the Jews. You'll notice there, there's 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:29.720 the hope is said time and time again. Why? And we'll just sort of pause there. He's on trial because 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:36.060 of a particular hope. When it says here the 12 tribes earnestly attain, and then when they worship 00:11:36.060 --> 00:11:43.680 night and day, what it's saying is that the hope that Paul has is something ancient. It's something 00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:49.879 that has endured over time. It's something that involves worship. In other words, it involves God 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:56.940 in some way. It is transcendent. It is eternal. But at the same time, it is something imminent and 00:11:56.940 --> 00:12:04.760 personal for Paul. He stands there as a prisoner of hope. And just as an aside, you know, there's many 00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:09.780 people in our culture that if you ask them, many of you, I've said it before, there's an old feminist 00:12:09.780 --> 00:12:15.780 slogan which is, I think, really funny. And it's very useful if you just replace things. But there's an 00:12:15.780 --> 00:12:22.440 old feminist slogan that says, a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. I think it's hilarious. 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:28.560 But it's a really fun phrase because, like, in many ways, our culture, they would say, I need 00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:36.980 Christianity like a fish needs a bicycle. But having said that, our culture increasingly is struggling 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:46.000 with meaninglessness. And we plug on those meaninglessnesses with a fear or with excitement. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:51.679 Like, right now, maybe there's not as much meaninglessness in Canada because, you know, 80% of Canadians 00:12:51.679 --> 00:13:02.379 are united in vengeful, angry, fantasy elbow-ups around Trump. And it might, for a while, quieten the fact 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:09.600 that there's this sense of meaninglessness. But what people in Canada really want is something not just the 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:16.279 TikTok, Instagram, Facebook meaning and hope. They want something which is ancient. And that's what Paul 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:21.899 is talking about. They want something that endures. And that's what Paul is talking about. They want 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:28.320 something that is not just for the next moment or the next day, but something big, transcendent, 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:33.540 eternal. And they want something which is very relevant and present to their life. And that's exactly 00:13:33.540 --> 00:13:38.360 the type of hope that Paul is talking about. Even though many people outside of the Christian faith, 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:43.259 if you're here or you're watching, you don't think of Christianity, this is exactly the type of hope. 00:13:43.680 --> 00:13:48.240 I mean, is it possible that this is, in fact, the hope you've been looking for? That's the question. 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:54.120 Is this the hope that you're looking for? And how is it that Paul can have hope in such a hopeless 00:13:54.120 --> 00:14:02.899 situation? Now, the very next thing he does is very surprising. I think increasingly it's being lost 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:11.279 in our culture. One of the things which is a troublesome thing in our society is that we live 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:16.419 in little silos. And so even if there are questions, they're not real questions. There's just sort of 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:21.439 talking points within our silos. But you don't grow as a person and you don't grow knowledge without 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:29.920 asking good questions. And so there's a power to a good question. And Paul now asks a profound question. 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:37.180 Look what he says in verse 8. Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:46.260 That's a great question. Why is it thought impossible that God raises the dead? Now, it might not make sense 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:52.919 for the God of Hinduism to talk about that, or maybe the gods of paganism, or the gods of the God, 00:14:53.240 --> 00:15:00.480 which is an odd phrase in Buddhism. But, you know, if you actually just take it in its own terms, the God 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:07.080 revealed or described in the Bible, why is it at all thought that that God, which I believe is the true 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:12.240 and only God, that he can't raise a person from the dead? Like, why is that thought incredible? 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:17.919 Now, you might think here now is where Paul is going to go and show you different reasons why that's, 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:22.639 in fact, a completely different, reasonable thing to believe. But while we expect Paul to go this way, 00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:28.980 all of a sudden he goes this way, and a completely unexpected direction to talk about the reasonableness 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:37.740 of this question. Look what he does, starting in verse 9. I myself was convinced that I ought to do 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:46.120 many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:51.740 of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death, 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:57.919 I cast my vote against them. Now, just sort of pause. What Paul is saying here is, 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:09.019 I was one who had a problem with this question of why can't God raise the dead, and here's the profound 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:19.319 thing about his answer. Paul isn't saying that he didn't think it could happen. What Paul is saying 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:27.740 is he didn't want it to be true. A lot of people, ask any person who's outside the Christian faith, 00:16:28.140 --> 00:16:31.720 every one of them can give you a couple of reasons why Christianity cannot be true. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:41.820 But what is the deeper truth is that you and I, before we came to Christ, did not want it to be true. 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:47.840 That's true of my life. I think it's true. I think it's what the Bible teaches. 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:51.500 So what Paul is saying is, like, what's the most reasonable question in the world? 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.360 And then he doesn't go and give you the reasons why people think it cannot happen. 00:16:56.460 --> 00:17:01.540 He deals with the deeper heart issue of why you don't want it to be true, because he says, 00:17:01.940 --> 00:17:08.200 I was one who did not want it to be true that Jesus, in fact, had died on a cross, 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:13.740 was buried in a tomb. On the third day, the grave clothes are there. The grave is empty. They never 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:19.460 find the body, and people say that he's alive. And I did not want that to be true. And I did not want 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:25.059 that to be true so much. He thought, verse 9 again, I did everything I could to oppose the name of Jesus 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:33.000 of Nazareth. And he did this in Jerusalem. He locked people in jail. And when he says they were put to 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:36.539 death, I cast my vote against them. What that means is when they were murdered, 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:42.460 murdered. When we say in the Ten Commandments, you shall not murder, another way to try, the accurate, 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:46.079 the really accurate way to understand that is you shall not take innocent human life. 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:52.440 And Paul says, I was taking human, I was part of a process of taking innocent human lives. 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:58.859 Murder. And then I punished them often in all the synagogues. He'd come into the synagogue, 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:04.319 a place of prayer, to punish people who claimed to follow, who followed Jesus. And then when it tried 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.619 to make them blasphemy, the language is good, but you need to pause on it and not jump over it. 00:18:08.779 --> 00:18:10.679 What this means is he would torture them. 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:14.299 He would torture them. 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:19.159 And he continues, 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:24.679 and in raging fury against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:37.220 Now that's not the story that we were expecting. You know, once again, I can well imagine that Paul's 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:41.779 friends, if he had any friends in there were saying, Paul, that's, you're on trial for your life, 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:45.660 and they think you might in fact be guilty of criminal things, and they just can't prove it, 00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:49.799 and you just said to them that you're actually a miserable human being, 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:53.599 that maybe you shouldn't turn your back on. 00:18:56.419 --> 00:19:02.000 In fact, maybe Festus is wondering, maybe the Jewish elite have, maybe there is something going on, 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:07.480 you know, with this. But here's the thing which is quite amazing. Paul's not in jail for any of that. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:12.379 He's not in criminal custody for any of that. Why he's in criminal custody? He said earlier, 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:19.159 he's in criminal custody because of hope. Hope in the promises of God. That's why he's in criminal custody. 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:26.060 Some of you, in fact, might even say, a guy like this doesn't deserve hope. 00:19:28.540 --> 00:19:37.840 He deserves hopelessness. He deserves punishment. That's what he deserves. He's a bad guy. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:47.420 Well, what does Paul say next? Look at verse 12. So, you know, in persecuting them even in foreign 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:52.960 cities, that's verse 11 and 12. In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:55.380 commission of the chief priest, in other words, the Jewish elite. 00:19:57.300 --> 00:20:04.580 At midday, O King, I saw on the way, that's the way to Damascus, a light from heaven brighter than 00:20:04.580 --> 00:20:08.720 the sun. Why does he think it came from heaven? Well, one of the reasons he thinks it came from 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:10.259 heaven, it was brighter than the sun. 00:20:10.259 --> 00:20:16.500 And it shone around me and those who journeyed with me. It wasn't just something that he saw alone, 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:22.019 but he was traveling with companions, and every one of them saw it. And when we had all fallen to 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:26.099 the ground, they didn't just see a light that was brighter than the star. They had what our charismatic 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:32.039 friends, they got slain in the spirit. It's not just something that charismatics talk about. It's 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:36.859 something which is a Bible idea, that God has the possibility to just knock you flat on your face. 00:20:36.859 --> 00:20:44.659 And sometimes he does it, just knocks you flat on your face. They're all driving, walking along, 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:49.879 all expecting they're going to get people that they can persecute and torture in Damascus, 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:54.539 pretty proud of themselves, even though they're filled, they think they're devout and prayerful 00:20:54.539 --> 00:20:59.419 people, but they're filled with murderous rage, consuming them. And the next thing you know, 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:04.000 they see this bright light, and they're flat, whether it's on their faces or on their back, 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:10.720 they're just completely knocked down. And then, amidst all of that, 14 continues, 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:18.259 I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, and here Saul is Paul's Jewish name. 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:26.359 Paul is his pagan name, and Saul is his Jewish name. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:33.779 Let's talk about that again in a moment. It is hard for you to kick against the goats. Really cool. 00:21:33.779 --> 00:21:44.359 Jesus quotes a Roman proverb, a pagan proverb. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:49.319 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:58.619 Now, this means that Jesus did rise from the dead. 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:04.799 That's why the grave is empty, and the body was never found. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:11.139 And it's very, very interesting here. The word goads, you know, when I said he quotes a pagan, 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:18.039 it is hard for you to kick against the goads. The goads are sticks that were used to move cattle and 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:23.159 sheep and stuff like that, very pointy sticks. And, you know, if the animal pressed against it, 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:27.879 the pointy stick would go into them, and it would make them sort of yelp or bellow or whatever and move 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:34.260 forward. And I think the implication here is that underneath the murderous rage, underneath the 00:22:34.260 --> 00:22:42.340 torture, it was bothering Paul that people would choose death over denying that Jesus had risen from 00:22:42.340 --> 00:22:48.260 the dead. And it was probably bothering him, even though it looks like he had not been in Jerusalem 00:22:48.260 --> 00:22:56.240 at the time of the crucifixion, resurrection of Jesus. The empty tomb and the grave clothes bothered him. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:03.359 The lack of finding the body bothered him. The witness and the preaching of Christians, 00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:13.960 withstanding the torture, it bothered him. But his bothering, he responded to being bothered by only 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:23.200 getting mad, more angry. Do we know people like that? Aren't we like that sometimes? The truth about us 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:29.680 doesn't make us repentant, but just makes us double down and get more angry? Profoundly human, this text, 00:23:29.740 --> 00:23:30.059 isn't it? 00:23:30.059 --> 00:24:00.039 Profoundly human, this text, isn't it? You know, just a bit of an aside. People say to me all the time, you know, you can't, they believe in science too much to believe in Christianity and all. But what they don't realize, often when people say that to me, they don't actually understand what the scientific method is all about. Because one of the main, one of the main parts of the scientific method is called abductive reasoning. And abductive reasoning, 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:06.440 just means you go from facts to come up to the best explanation. And that's how Christianity works. 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:24.220 So the question is, given all the historical information about what, how, how is it that Jesus dying on a cross, the death of a slave for Romans and a shameful death for Jews, how did that all of a sudden have an explosion of people who believe that Jesus had risen from the dead? 00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:33.779 What's the best explanation for that? And the fact is, people who've looked into this seriously come to the conclusion that the best explanation for it is that Jesus actually rose from the dead. 00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:42.319 And if you go and look at somebody like Paul, what's the best explanation for the complete and radical turning around of his life? 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:53.740 And it's interesting to say, well, maybe he was a bit still of a psychopath. No, no, you don't, you can't say that because we actually have letters that he wrote and that he's been writing for about 15 years prior to this. 00:24:53.819 --> 00:25:02.240 We have evidence of letters that show that he's not a psychopath. He's not a narcissist. He's not mentally ill. He's not controlled with rage. 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:08.359 He's a completely and radically different person than he was before. What's the best explanation for this? 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:15.679 That's called abductive reasoning. It's part of the scientific method. It's what lawyers use regularly in courts. 00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:21.319 What's the best explanation of the facts in criminal cases and certain other types of criminal cases? 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:26.319 And it's a very standard type of reasoning. And the challenge is, what's the best explanation for this? 00:25:26.919 --> 00:25:32.659 And the best explanation is Jesus really did rise from the dead. And Jesus really does appear to Paul. 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:47.819 Now, one of the things about facts is that facts, a lot of facts are just mere facts. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:53.539 You know, what is the chemical composition of water? A mere fact, although it has implications. 00:25:53.959 --> 00:25:56.699 You know, there's all sorts of things. You know, what's the capital of Ottawa? 00:25:56.879 --> 00:25:59.479 Sort of a capital of Canada. It's sort of a mere fact. 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:07.759 And sometimes we try to figure out the meanings of things because we're creatures who desire and live by meaning. 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:11.680 We feed on meaning. We live by meaning. And we live by truth. 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:13.920 And we want to have meaning and truth be all connected. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:21.640 But sometimes it's not just the fact that matters, but whether there's a meaning embedded in the fact 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:26.519 or inextricably connected to the fact. And that's what's going on here. 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:30.180 You see, another thing that you have to come up with in terms of trying to figure out Paul 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:35.099 is that Paul is on jail, as you're going to see. And as you've seen, if you go through the book of Acts and other trials, 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.000 Paul is in jail because he said Jesus rose from the dead. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:42.980 If he had just said that didn't happen, he was lying, he would be let go and he would be free. 00:26:43.400 --> 00:26:48.019 But he won't do that. And all the historical record is he never lets go of that fact. 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:54.500 He dies a horrible death refusing to say that he just made it up. 00:26:54.500 --> 00:26:57.119 He goes to the grave saying Jesus rose from the dead. 00:26:57.180 --> 00:27:03.279 And it's not just the fact that's important, but the meaning connected to the fact, which is important. 00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:07.839 I'll explain what that means. Look what happens next in verses 16 to 18. 00:27:08.779 --> 00:27:11.720 So Jesus says, I'm the one you're persecuting. 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:34.720 Now, here's why. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:28:00.440 Paul never persecuted Jesus before his death upon the cross. 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:07.460 So what does Jesus mean when he says to Paul, why are you persecuting me? 00:28:09.059 --> 00:28:15.039 Brothers and sisters, friends, the curious, this is the profound Christian hope. 00:28:15.580 --> 00:28:21.500 This is the profound Christian hope that as it grips the heart, explains why it is that Christianity, 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:28.600 as it's more and comes more and more clear to our hearts, is so profoundly emotionally satisfying. 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:34.899 It's not just intellectually satisfying, and it is, but it's also emotionally satisfying. 00:28:35.959 --> 00:28:41.359 What this text is saying is that when Paul was persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Jesus. 00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:49.539 It means that when you put your faith and trust in Christ, there are several remarkable things that happened. 00:28:49.679 --> 00:28:52.219 He came precisely for this purpose. 00:28:52.220 --> 00:29:01.480 He lived this life and died this death and rose from the dead precisely for the purpose of you putting your trust into him. 00:29:01.860 --> 00:29:08.900 And when you put your trust in him, Jesus is God's means by which you are taken out of the realm of darkness, 00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:11.880 and you enter into the realm of light. 00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:14.740 And the darkness is the darkness of shame. 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:16.140 It's the darkness of sin. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:17.420 It's the darkness of guilt. 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:18.819 It's the darkness of ignorance. 00:29:18.819 --> 00:29:21.720 It's the darkness of refusing to acknowledge the truth. 00:29:21.819 --> 00:29:26.519 All of those images of darkness, you're taking from that to the kingdom of light. 00:29:26.919 --> 00:29:34.639 You are taken from the kingdom where Satan can play you like a puppet into the one where you are now under the protection and authority 00:29:34.639 --> 00:29:40.220 and the power of the triune God, where you, every single thing that you have done that is wrong, 00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:49.200 by you putting your faith and trust in Jesus, you have forgiveness from God who is involved in every act of wrongdoing, 00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:53.200 whether that's actually doing something wrong or failing to do what is right. 00:29:53.559 --> 00:29:56.620 And in every case, God is also involved in that offense. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:02.160 And every single one of those things that you were done is completely taken away. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:10.080 And it's not just now that you are sort of, just sort of, you know, naked and clothed, clotheless and just all by yourself alone, 00:30:10.080 --> 00:30:16.580 but you are also transferred into this other place where you are now made his. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.000 You become his. 00:30:18.140 --> 00:30:18.960 You're clothed. 00:30:19.180 --> 00:30:20.160 You're made holy. 00:30:20.320 --> 00:30:22.019 You're clothed with Christ's holiness. 00:30:22.019 --> 00:30:28.019 And when you put your faith and trust in him, this becomes who you are. 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:30.440 This is why Jesus came. 00:30:31.379 --> 00:30:33.859 This is why he died and rose from the dead. 00:30:34.019 --> 00:30:35.579 This is the meaning of it. 00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:42.160 And so Paul is not only concerned about the fact, he is. 00:30:42.660 --> 00:30:44.859 And he gives you arguments in different places. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:47.599 And you can see arguments written throughout the New Testament. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:49.400 But he's also concerned with the meaning. 00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:50.079 It's both. 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:51.639 We need to have both. 00:30:52.339 --> 00:30:57.839 Just to make it very simple, if I was to tell you next Sunday, by the way, it was quite amazing. 00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:02.539 I was walking down the street and I saw Josiah dragging Morris out of the Bible house. 00:31:02.900 --> 00:31:06.740 You'd go, oh, Josiah dragged Morris out of the Bible house. 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:07.680 What a bad guy. 00:31:07.859 --> 00:31:11.559 And then I said, well, the building was on fire and Josiah saved his life. 00:31:11.779 --> 00:31:17.799 And you go from saying, what a bad guy to saying, Josiah, I want to buy you a beer or a coffee and hear all about it. 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:18.779 You're a hero, right? 00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:22.059 The meaning of the act changes everything. 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:29.220 And so Jesus' death upon the cross is the shame of you on him. 00:31:29.299 --> 00:31:31.660 The guilt of you on him. 00:31:31.660 --> 00:31:37.700 And that is the Christian hope. 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:44.059 Let's just continue and then I'll rise up a few things about hope. 00:31:44.059 --> 00:31:45.019 Verse 19. 00:31:45.019 --> 00:32:00.240 Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and then in Jerusalem and throughout the whole region of Judea and also to the pagans that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:06.180 For this reason, the Jewish elite and the Jewish mob seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 00:32:06.259 --> 00:32:07.019 What was the reason? 00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:09.680 Jesus is alive. 00:32:10.220 --> 00:32:13.099 He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:32:13.259 --> 00:32:16.140 If you put your faith and trust in him, your sins are gone. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:17.960 You're clothed with his righteousness. 00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:19.579 You're God's own forever. 00:32:19.579 --> 00:32:23.819 You are the, you, you see, this is the profound thing. 00:32:24.019 --> 00:32:27.799 When I said all those things, I missed this part and it goes back to why are you persecuting me? 00:32:27.859 --> 00:32:30.319 It is this profound truth of union with Christ. 00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:37.039 Why is it that you can believe that God will never let you go even in hard times? 00:32:37.259 --> 00:32:39.960 Corrie Ten Boom had a brilliant answer to this. 00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:43.480 The question is, somebody said to her, I think it was in a concentration gap, 00:32:43.619 --> 00:32:46.679 isn't it look obvious that God has let you slip through his fingers? 00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:51.000 You say that Jesus holds you in his hands and now he's let you slip through your fingers. 00:32:51.100 --> 00:32:53.860 And she said that it's impossible for that to ever happen. 00:32:54.220 --> 00:32:55.180 And they said, why? 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:57.980 I am his fingers. 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:09.320 I am in union with Christ in such a way that he will never let me go or abandon me. 00:33:09.360 --> 00:33:09.880 He can't. 00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:10.860 I am his. 00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:12.180 I am his. 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:15.519 I am in him, in the most profound union. 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.299 Verse 22. 00:33:17.379 --> 00:33:19.599 To this day I have had the help that comes from God. 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:24.740 And so I stand here testifying, witnessing both to the small and to the great, 00:33:24.859 --> 00:33:28.079 saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, 00:33:28.299 --> 00:33:33.059 that the Messiah must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:39.079 he would proclaim light both to our people and to the pagans. 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:43.659 And as Paul was saying these things in his defense, 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.679 Festus, that's the Roman governor, interrupts him with a loud voice, 00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:52.799 Paul, you are out of your mind and your great learning is driving you out of your mind. 00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:56.740 But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, 00:33:56.740 --> 00:34:00.339 but I am speaking true and rational words. 00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:04.420 For the king knows about these things and to him I speak boldly. 00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:09.079 For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, 00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:11.199 for this has not been done in a corner. 00:34:11.340 --> 00:34:13.920 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:15.280 I know that you believe. 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:18.820 And in the Greek, Agrippa interrupts Paul and says, 00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:24.360 In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? 00:34:25.100 --> 00:34:27.300 And Paul, a really witty response, says, 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:30.120 Whether short or long, I would to God, 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:33.860 and not only you, but also all who hear me this day, 00:34:34.160 --> 00:34:37.880 might become such as I am, except for my chains. 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.720 Now here's a couple of things just in closing about hope. 00:34:44.059 --> 00:34:45.940 Paul's hope is ancient. 00:34:45.940 --> 00:34:49.059 We can now say that it's transcultural. 00:34:49.659 --> 00:34:52.940 It's a hope that believers have, whether you're in Djibouti, 00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:56.300 whether you are in Ghana, whether you are in Singapore, 00:34:56.840 --> 00:34:59.720 whether you are in Tibet, whether you are in Taiwan, 00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:03.579 whether you are in Manhattan, whether you are in Rockcliffe, 00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:07.119 or whether you are in one of the poorest areas of this city. 00:35:07.619 --> 00:35:12.099 It is a hope that is ancient, transcultural, trans-economic. 00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:13.119 It is enduring. 00:35:13.579 --> 00:35:14.099 It is transcendent. 00:35:15.019 --> 00:35:15.700 It is eternal. 00:35:15.940 --> 00:35:18.659 And it is a present reality. 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:21.240 It is, in fact, the hope that you want. 00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:24.760 And Christians here are saying something very important. 00:35:24.940 --> 00:35:27.820 Hope is not the same as optimism. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:31.420 In fact, in many ways, people who are most optimistic 00:35:31.420 --> 00:35:33.480 can have the most problems with hope. 00:35:33.860 --> 00:35:34.679 What is the difference? 00:35:35.220 --> 00:35:37.400 Optimism is it's going to get better. 00:35:38.980 --> 00:35:42.220 And it's because we equate hope with optimism 00:35:42.220 --> 00:35:45.519 that when we go to people who are in a very hopeless situation, 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:47.500 we don't know if we have anything to say to them. 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:49.940 But hope is not optimism. 00:35:50.619 --> 00:35:54.440 Hope is that God will always keep his promise. 00:35:54.920 --> 00:35:59.139 Hope is the virtue of believing the promises that God has made. 00:35:59.139 --> 00:36:01.059 And God does not say, 00:36:01.059 --> 00:36:04.559 George, you will always have a perfect life. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:05.900 You will always have it easy. 00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:07.519 He doesn't say anything like that. 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:11.259 He does not say that to a person who becomes a Christian in Afghanistan, 00:36:11.839 --> 00:36:16.699 or Saudi Arabia, or Iran, or one of the poorest places in the world. 00:36:16.779 --> 00:36:18.639 Afghanistan is one of the poorest places in the world. 00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:22.619 It is not that if you come to me, you will become healthy, wealthy. 00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:24.659 You will be like a rock star. 00:36:24.799 --> 00:36:28.539 Your Instagram page, you'll have like 200 million followers. 00:36:28.699 --> 00:36:30.119 No, that's not the promise. 00:36:30.659 --> 00:36:32.759 The promise is that your sins are done away. 00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:35.859 The sins are that I will take you into myself, 00:36:35.980 --> 00:36:37.019 and I will dwell in you, 00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:39.539 and I will never let you go or forsake you. 00:36:39.779 --> 00:36:43.460 The promise is that when you put your faith and trust in Christ, 00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:46.220 I will change the end of your story. 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:50.860 And when the story of the end, 00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:52.679 at the end of the story is changed, 00:36:52.780 --> 00:36:54.440 the whole story is changed. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:56.360 If you watch a movie, 00:36:56.659 --> 00:37:00.440 and you get involved, invited by the director to have two different endings, 00:37:00.539 --> 00:37:02.500 and one of them is all about all of these struggles, 00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:03.480 and all of these fights, 00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:05.220 and going against injustice, 00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:06.500 and going against oppression, 00:37:06.639 --> 00:37:07.619 and making sacrifices, 00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:10.320 and having terrible, horrible things happen to you. 00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:11.780 And at the end of the story, 00:37:12.079 --> 00:37:12.800 the end of the movie, 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:15.140 one ending is that the bad guy puts a gun to your head, 00:37:15.160 --> 00:37:16.080 and puts a bullet in your head, 00:37:16.100 --> 00:37:16.700 and you die. 00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:17.920 You go, 00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:18.760 huh? 00:37:21.220 --> 00:37:22.539 If the other is, 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:26.060 you get brought out of jail, 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:27.700 the bad guys get punished, 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.440 and the people who had a part in your rescue 00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:34.940 put you on, pat you on the back, 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:35.660 and give you hugs, 00:37:35.740 --> 00:37:36.000 and say, 00:37:36.100 --> 00:37:36.740 way to go. 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:39.080 Everything you did was so worth it. 00:37:39.120 --> 00:37:40.580 We couldn't have done this without you. 00:37:40.579 --> 00:37:42.799 You change the end of the story. 00:37:42.860 --> 00:37:44.559 You change everything in this story. 00:37:45.659 --> 00:37:47.980 And that's one of the reasons why it is so important 00:37:47.980 --> 00:37:49.279 you give your life to Christ. 00:37:49.619 --> 00:37:51.360 You put your faith in Christ. 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:52.880 Is it going to mean that all of a sudden 00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:54.319 the hard things in your life are gone? 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:55.480 It will not mean that. 00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:57.300 I can't promise you that. 00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:02.920 No Christian can promise an optimistic answer to those things. 00:38:03.320 --> 00:38:04.480 What can I promise you? 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:08.119 That all of your shame has been dealt with by Christ. 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:10.559 All of your sins have been dealt with by Christ. 00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:13.300 His righteousness will now clothe you. 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:16.139 You will enter into him by faith, 00:38:16.199 --> 00:38:17.699 and you will have a union with Christ 00:38:17.699 --> 00:38:18.500 that can never, 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:18.880 ever, 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:19.240 ever, 00:38:19.240 --> 00:38:19.619 ever, 00:38:19.619 --> 00:38:20.000 ever, 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:20.340 ever, 00:38:20.340 --> 00:38:20.760 ever, 00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:21.320 ever, 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:21.680 ever, 00:38:21.680 --> 00:38:21.680 00:38:21.680 --> 00:38:21.680 00:38:21.680 --> 00:38:21.680 00:38:21.680 --> 00:38:22.160 ever, 00:38:22.160 --> 00:38:23.680 ever, 00:38:23.680 --> 00:38:25.600 and that he will bring you to the end, 00:38:25.820 --> 00:38:28.140 and when you finally come to the one person 00:38:28.140 --> 00:38:30.440 who can truly speak in judgment about you, 00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:32.640 which is the creator of all things 00:38:32.640 --> 00:38:34.240 and the sustainer of all things, 00:38:34.700 --> 00:38:35.860 he will see you, 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:37.480 and he will smile at you, 00:38:37.539 --> 00:38:38.440 and he will say, 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:41.860 I have been so looking forward to seeing you face to face. 00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:45.720 You can now see me in all my glory, 00:38:46.059 --> 00:38:47.619 and there will only be joy. 00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:58.000 And the other part of God's promise is it's not just something which is a declaration of the final end about you, 00:38:58.840 --> 00:39:02.460 but you have his own dear presence to cheer and to guide, 00:39:02.460 --> 00:39:03.159 as the hymn, 00:39:03.240 --> 00:39:04.619 Great is Thy Faithfulness Says. 00:39:04.619 --> 00:39:08.619 So one of the things just in closing, 00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:11.599 brothers and sisters, 00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:13.960 pray that we'll be a community of hope, 00:39:14.539 --> 00:39:16.759 that we will be men and women of hope. 00:39:18.339 --> 00:39:18.579 And, 00:39:18.659 --> 00:39:19.900 you know, 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:23.380 we can have a very sinful week. 00:39:24.219 --> 00:39:31.339 We can have a week where people will bring to remembrance to us the things which we are deeply ashamed of. 00:39:31.340 --> 00:39:35.460 And so one of the wonderful things about not only does Christ, 00:39:35.579 --> 00:39:39.840 not only does Christ do all of these wonderful things for us, 00:39:40.340 --> 00:39:44.980 but he has made his church to be a community of hope, 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:48.019 and to have rituals of hope, 00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:52.539 to celebrate the Lord's Supper where we remember our profound hope, 00:39:52.539 --> 00:39:56.519 and that we know that even though there are hard things in our lives, 00:39:56.519 --> 00:39:58.059 we do not feed on sin, 00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:00.039 we do not feed on shame, 00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:02.079 we do not feed on guilt, 00:40:02.460 --> 00:40:04.019 we do not feed on despair, 00:40:04.259 --> 00:40:08.179 we feed on Christ himself spiritually as we have that communion. 00:40:08.179 --> 00:40:13.719 And that we are to be a people that can cry on each other's shoulders, 00:40:14.039 --> 00:40:15.759 and uphold each other in prayer, 00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:19.759 and have high fives when things in our lives turn around. 00:40:20.819 --> 00:40:23.980 And we can share financially when needed, 00:40:24.279 --> 00:40:26.559 to help those in our midst who need help. 00:40:27.359 --> 00:40:28.699 But in all things, 00:40:28.899 --> 00:40:33.179 we are not certain whether the economy of Canada will get better or worse. 00:40:33.480 --> 00:40:34.239 We don't know. 00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:37.559 We don't know whether the fentanyl crisis will get better or worse. 00:40:38.039 --> 00:40:39.759 But we can know Jesus. 00:40:42.819 --> 00:40:45.539 And we can know that Jesus is the hope of the world. 00:40:47.279 --> 00:40:51.139 It is what the new Prime Minister needs. 00:40:51.500 --> 00:40:53.500 It is what Pierre Polyev needs. 00:40:53.819 --> 00:40:58.619 And it is what the worst fentanyl addict in Ottawa needs. 00:40:59.199 --> 00:41:00.879 And we need to be reminded. 00:41:01.500 --> 00:41:04.119 Because all of us would like to be people of hope. 00:41:05.239 --> 00:41:06.559 I invite you to stand. 00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:14.879 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:41:18.219 --> 00:41:22.239 Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring these profound, 00:41:22.459 --> 00:41:24.500 that your word deep into our lives, 00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:26.059 that your word would form us, 00:41:26.759 --> 00:41:29.939 that your word would be the basis upon which we stand. 00:41:29.940 --> 00:41:30.740 We ask, Father, 00:41:30.740 --> 00:41:34.820 that these profound hopes would so become real to our hearts, 00:41:34.940 --> 00:41:38.240 that we are freed up to acknowledge when we've done wrong, 00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:40.019 and confess, 00:41:40.380 --> 00:41:41.800 and seek amendment of life, 00:41:41.900 --> 00:41:45.179 that these promises of what our end will be, 00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:51.400 that they will sustain us on those times when we are just really having a hard time. 00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:54.639 And we ask that it won't just transform us, 00:41:54.720 --> 00:41:57.860 but it will transform us as individuals, 00:41:58.039 --> 00:41:59.079 but us as a congregation, 00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:02.039 that we will be a church of hope, 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:07.900 that we will learn to share our lives with each other in such appropriate ways, 00:42:07.900 --> 00:42:11.320 that we can be reminded of the promises of God, 00:42:11.420 --> 00:42:14.480 and encouraged and prayed for to live out of these promises, 00:42:14.900 --> 00:42:19.920 and that we will have the rituals, 00:42:20.500 --> 00:42:21.519 and the practices, 00:42:21.780 --> 00:42:22.340 and the friendships, 00:42:22.559 --> 00:42:23.300 and the mentorships, 00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:27.039 whereby we are able to remember the promises of God, 00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:29.440 and to have them form our identity, 00:42:29.980 --> 00:42:31.340 and how we see our past, 00:42:31.460 --> 00:42:32.500 and how we see our present, 00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:33.759 and how we see our future. 00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:35.239 Father, 00:42:35.779 --> 00:42:37.699 build hope within us. 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:39.840 Help us to remember Jesus. 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:42.320 Help us to remember the gospel. 00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:46.320 And help us to pray for each other in good times and bad. 00:42:46.579 --> 00:42:48.699 And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus, 00:42:48.980 --> 00:42:49.639 your Son, 00:42:49.800 --> 00:42:50.420 and our Savior. 00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:51.559 Amen. 00:42:51.559 --> 00:42:51.739 Amen.