How you guys doing? That's awesome. So if you've been here for the last six months or seven months,
my name is Tobin. I've got a little fan up here, so I've got a little work on that.
My name is Tobin, and I'm one of the pastors here. About five and a half years ago, God allowed us
to some crazy people, and Christina and I, and about 35 other people, to go on a journey
to help become a new family in this part of Hong Kong. And so God allowed us to plant a
Watermark Community Church. And so this is my last sermon here for a while. If this is your first
time, you're probably going, that's great. And if you're there for a long time, you're probably going,
that's awesome also, which is good. And so to finish this journey we've been on, or at least to
finish this leg of this journey, to think about what the next step will be and just how God's been
working in our life, I was praying about what to share, and I felt like I needed to start with a
confession, and I needed to confess to all of you something that I've been struggling with for like
43 years as a Christian. And if you have been listening to the sermons, the series on Psalms,
if you've been listening to just the worship today, after the music's team up there, I felt like I could
just shut up, come up, and do communion, and that was an awesome thing. But they told me I have to do a
sermon, and it can't be more than an hour long. So, but I wanted to confess something to you guys,
you know, and I'll share it in a story. It was September 1st, 1999, and Christina and I had
just come back from China. We'd been ministering in China, a big Asian country above us, which you
would say the most foreigners, and they usually say, oh, you're in Japan. Yeah, no, that's not the
big Asian country we've been in. And we came back to have our first kiddo, Rachel. So Rachel and
Christina was pregnant with Rachel, and you know, we came back, and we just thought we were so with it,
you know. Some of you are about to have kids, some of you who have had kids, some of you don't want
to have kids. You know, there's all these books you can read, and all these classes you can take,
and all these things that just make you feel like you are so confident, and you can do it,
and you can have the baby in the taxi, you can have the baby in the kitchen, you can do anything,
you know. And so I thought that we were just really in control of our lives, and it was going to be an
awesome, smooth delivery. And so we went in on the September 1st, but it didn't turn out so smooth.
After about 16 hours of labor, I mean, Christina's pushing for hours, and she's just exhausted.
And I still don't understand why she wouldn't let me video this birth. I mean, I tried to get her to
video the birth forever, and I showed her the camera angle, and it was going to be very modest,
but it was going to be awesome, right? And so instead of me talking about it, I could be showing it to
you right now. But for some reason, she said, no videoing in the birth room. So I just have to
explain it. And after about 16 hours, she just was not doing good, and we didn't understand what
was going on. And the doctors came in, and he said, you know, the baby's in distress. And the minute he
said that, he picked up a phone, and he called, and it went from the doctor and the nurse, and
Christine and I, about four of us, to like 20 people. And we had these teams in there, and they
were ready to come in and do a c-section and get rid of the distress and trying to get Rachel out.
And it was just crazy. The guy was saying, you know, if she doesn't come this time,
if she doesn't come this push, we have to take your wife, and we have to just do the surgery
right here, because the kid's heart rate is not looking good. And all this learning that I did,
all this studies, and all these classes, and all these things that gave me such confidence,
in the middle of this craziness, you just felt helpless, right? I mean, you're just like,
oh man, that's out of control. You felt like this weak. You know, I went in feeling like,
oh, I could do it. And you're in it, and it's like, you're like that small. You're insignificant
to what's happening, you know, because you were at the forefront of it with your wife, and then
everybody comes in, and you're pushed off to the side, and you're out of control, where you thought
you were in control, but you realize you weren't really in control. But you had this illusion that
we're in control, and then you're just watching these things happen, and praying, and you know,
those last push came, and Rachel popped out, and man, I was exhausted, and I was just watching
Christina, you know, and I know she was just like, worn out, and we both just, we just started crying.
I mean, literally, we just started, just overwhelmingly, we felt like this kind of sense of God, and God
was present, that God was active, that God was in control, that God was doing something amazing,
and we just felt this sense of wonder, and this sense of awe of who God is, and what He's done.
And you know, I thought about that for my whole Christian life, but not really until that moment.
And I realized then, and many, many, many times afterwards, that you know, that God is always
present. God is always at work. That God is never resting in your life. That God is always
pursuing you. I don't know if you know that. I mean, I know that sometimes here, but I don't
really know it here. But then I come into those holy moments, and births, and when people who love
the Lord die, and you realize that God is doing His thing, and that me, I should be in wonder,
and I should be in awe of Him all the time. Because there's never a time that He's not working.
There's never a time that He's not loving. There's never a time that He's not active. There's never
a time that He turns His back on His children. And I have this confession to make, and the confession
is this, that in this crazy world, in my craziness, sometimes I lose focus of Him. I forget God.
You know, I've been keenly aware of it over the last couple years, and in my life, what I realize
happens, when this happens, this void kind of happens in my heart, and in my life, and I've been
reading a lot of C.S. Lewis over the years, and Paul Tripp has helped me kind of explain or understand
what's going on in my spiritual life, and they talk about that we have this void, but it's a void
of wonder, that we've lost our wonder of God. That we've replaced this awesome, powerful, wonderful God
with something else in our life. And the truth is, what I am learning, that I want us to learn as a church,
and I want you to know, that whatever you put in there, whatever you put into your wonder vacuum,
whatever you put into your, this place of emptiness, whatever you do, that you, you're going to start
to become like that thing. That whatever you fill your heart with, if it's anything but God,
you're going to become like that. So if you're filling it up with your work, if you're filling
it up with your relationships, if you're filling it up with your studies, if you're filling it
up with your future, if you're filling it up with your, your health, if you're filling it
up with anything but the Creator, that we're just saying about, you're going to become like
that 28,000 28 hundred years ago it's a psalm that the girls read no I'm not
crying it's just allergies David had the same struggle that I have David has the
same struggle that you had most Hebrew historians say that he wrote this psalm
either after or during the night that he was about to face Goliath and so you can
think of this night that he's about to face his champion of Gath in the valley
of Elah the armies of God are here the armies of the Philistines are here they've
been calling out God's people for months and months and no one comes no one
changes and also this little 16 year old boy comes in and he says hey this is not
right and he's going to fight this giant for God and I just wonder what he was
thinking of that night before he went into that fight I mean I wonder where
his focus was I wonder what were the things that were concerning him because
it was a winner-take-all battle whoever won was going to take everything and
everybody else was going to be killed and the psalmist as our daughter and Abby
read it says that David came out in the midst of his crazy world he looked up into the stars and God
spoke to him and he said these words oh Lord our Lord Yahweh Adonai it's God's holy name I mean
God's name is so holy and powerful to God's people that they wouldn't even speak it
outwardly because they didn't want to be disrespectful to him they had reverence for him
Yahweh Adonai it means the God who was the God who is the God who is to come it's the word it means I am
one when God spoke to his people in captivity in Egypt he said it meant that he's the God who sees
that he's the God who hears that he's the God who cares for you that he's the God who is always
at work in your life and in my life.
How majestic the words mean wonderful, awesome, intimidating is your name.
It's your character.
The most important thing to a Hebrew person was your name.
It meant your reputation.
It meant who you are.
It meant everything about you.
Okay, so like before we left for our sabbatical, I was downtown.
I was meeting somebody, and I ran into this guy from Nigeria.
And we were talking.
And we're giving our names.
And I said, so what's, I'm Tobin.
What's your name?
And he said, my name is Runny Poo.
Runny Poo.
R-U-N-N-Y-P-O-O.
So that kind of took me back a little, right?
Because I never ran into a guy named Runny Poo.
And he's Nigerian, and we're talking.
And I didn't know, I didn't want to call him Mr. Poo.
Because that was just too weird, right?
And I didn't want to call him, hey, Runny.
So I was just calling him R-R-P, you know.
Hey, R-P, what do you think about this?
But in David's day, amongst the people of God, the name meant everything.
It was who you were.
It was what you did.
It was who you worshipped.
It was what you didn't do.
It was how you did your family.
He says, how majestic is your name and all there are.
If you have displayed, in the Hebrew it means to give gifts, put on display for all to see your splendor,
which means his awesomeness, his character.
It goes on in verse 1, and it says, above the heavens.
And circle that, because in Hebrew that's a really important word.
Whenever you see above the heavens throughout God's word, it means that the author or the poet,
they're trying to describe something so big, something so awesome, something so vast,
something so numerous, so wonderful to count, like Texas.
They would say, above the heavens, Texas.
Because that's a joke, okay?
I know I've not been around for a while, but that's a joke, okay?
But he would say these words because that's how Hebrew people would describe something so awesome.
And he was saying, God is so awesome.
Because all the other gods lived in a little territory, or they lived in a little temple.
But our God is everywhere.
And there's nowhere that you are right now, and there's nowhere that you're going to go next week,
and there's nowhere that you're going to go four years from now.
And there's nowhere that you're going to go for eternity if you're God's people.
But he's not there.
And that he's going to take care of you.
So his name was massive.
Verse 2, he says, from the mouth of infants and nursing babes.
He meant from the weak, from those who have no ability to save themselves.
And David is thinking about himself before he goes to Goliath.
You have established strength.
You've made things great.
You've given glory because of our enemies, because you want the enemies to cease.
You want their mouths to be shut for all those who oppose God.
Verse 3, when I consider, when I look along, when I'm aware, when I look at the heavens,
when I look at everything that you've made, the moon and the stars which you have fitted together.
Verse 4, what is man?
And the Hebrew word is a very interesting word there.
It means weakness.
It means broken.
It means dark.
It means fallen.
It means weak.
It means frail.
And David, as he looks up into the sky and he sees awesome, awesome things, he's thinking about what's going to happen.
He's thinking about God's creation.
And then he's thinking about himself.
And he said, what am I that you take thought of me?
And that word basically just means remember.
The passage says that God remembers you.
In the Son of Man, anyone who's born of man, that you care for him.
The Hebrew word means to not forget.
I know there's a lot of people in here who feel like God's forgotten them or never even met them.
But the passage says that God never forgets you, that he's always caring for you, that he's never leaving you alone.
He's never neglecting you.
The Hebrew actually means that God's thoughts are always on you.
Think about that.
You're going to work tomorrow or you're going to class or you're going someplace where it's going to be difficult, where it's going to be hard.
You don't know what's going to happen.
You're unsure of what it's going to look like when you come out of there.
God's word says, the psalm says, that God's thoughts are always on you.
There's never a time that God is not thinking about you.
There's never a time that God is not going before you.
There's never a time that he's not ordering your life.
So in my final sermon, I want to share three things.
I know we do that all the time, but it just seems to work that way.
Three things that I have been struggling with.
Three things that I've been trying to cling to in the craziness of our world.
The craziness of our light.
Our life.
And my prayer is that it watermarked that you guys, that we would continue to cling through these things.
And the first one is just found in verses 1 and 9.
And it's just basically our focus.
What is your focus?
And as I've been trying to think through this in my life for 43 years as a Christian, this is the way I understand it.
So I'm going to write it down in Tobin words.
It might not make sense, but this is what I think.
It says, the Bible says that your life is only going to make sense.
That you can only measure or evaluate who you are and what you've done and where you're going.
You can only truly do that if you begin with God.
Maybe another way for me to say it or as I've been thinking about it is if you're in here right now and you're looking for meaning,
you're looking for love, you're looking for purpose, you're looking for a relationship or experience,
if you're looking for anything else and it doesn't have God at the beginning of it,
this passage says, and the Bible says that you and I are going to be disappointed.
That we might feel good for a little while, but we will not ultimately feel good
because the Bible says that you and I were made to filter and to focus everything in our world,
everything in Hong Kong, everything that comes through us,
everything that we experience when we step out this door, when we're living right now,
when we're in our family.
You and I, everything we sense, we were made to filter through God.
God made you, and you are to filter everything through Him.
God made you, and you are to filter everything in our world.
How quick you get things done.
If somebody really wants you, that's the only way you're valued.
In America?
And in Hong Kong?
I mean, I know I'm going to step on some toes, but it just blows me away, guys.
Man, America, we kill more babies than any country in the world before they're born,
and yet we give billions of dollars
to help people with a Zika virus
to protect their baby inside of them.
And that just blows me away.
What is going on there?
But what's going on there is the truth of this passage
that your worth, your value in the world
is only determined by what you can do
and if somebody wants you.
But in this psalm, what it says is that God made everyone.
That everyone in here has God's fingerprint upon them.
That everyone is special.
Every one of us was made like a mirror
to reflect God's glory, to reflect God's majesty.
That he's given everyone in here,
everyone outside, everywhere you go,
he's giving every person ultimate worth and ultimate value.
Not because of what you've done.
Not because of what you haven't done.
Not because of what you can do.
The psalmist says that God does this based on nothing in us,
but only because he is massive
and we are finite.
And in Hebrew, the words actually say that God
steps and kneels down to you and I.
So think about that.
Wherever you go today,
wherever you go tomorrow,
whatever you've done,
whatever you haven't done,
whatever you don't do,
whether you're dirty,
whether you're clean,
or whether you're rich,
or whether you're poor,
or whether you're broken,
the passage says,
in Hebrew says,
that God's fingerprints are on you,
that God's watermark is on you,
and that there is never a time
that God is not thinking about you.
So this week,
when you leave here,
and you start to freak out about something,
like what's going to happen tomorrow?
How am I going to do that?
What's going to happen in this situation?
This week, when you leave here,
and you start to fear about something,
like your kid's health,
or your finances,
or your job,
or whether you're going to get married,
and all these things are incredibly important,
this psalm,
and all the rest of the Bible,
says that Yahweh, Adonai,
the creator of all things,
never stops thinking about you,
and that he will never give up on you.
I don't know how you feel when you hear that,
but to me,
coming from a family,
that my worth was only determined
by how good I was,
how well I made in sports,
how good my grades were,
at 10 years old,
when I heard this message,
it changed my life.
The passage says that you and I
are made in God's image,
that we were made to reflect his glory,
and that is our position in life.
Now the problem is,
and the problem that I have,
and the problem that Tobin has,
is that I forget this,
and I turn away from God,
and instead of just reflecting God's glory,
and when you reflect God's glory,
you start to look like Christ,
but instead of that,
I get my identity from other things.
I look around at creation,
I look at things that have stuff,
and things that are going to give me meaning,
and things that are going to give me purpose,
and I start to reflect those things in my life.
I look at the things in Hong Kong.
I think of things of the world.
I start by putting Tobin in the center of your life.
No, putting Tobin in the center of my life.
You put yourself in the center of your life,
and you start saying things like this.
What about my life?
What about my happiness?
What about my story?
What about my stuff?
What about my future?
What about my reputation?
And if you live in this void of awe and wonder long enough,
you start to say things like,
Oh, Tobin, our Tobin,
how majestic is your name in all the world?
Now, hopefully you're not saying my name in there,
but I'm pretty sure that you have people in your work
and in your home
who put their name there.
And that's what happens when we forget.
That's what happens when we change our focus off of God.
That's what happens when we forget that we're made in His image.
I start thinking about my needs and my feelings
and my comforts and my wants.
And you know what?
Sometimes I even demand that God does stuff for me.
I know that you guys probably never struggle with that.
But there are times in my life when I have lost focus on God.
I demand that God does stuff for me.
And in this craziness, in this world,
you know, sometimes I just,
I don't put God at the center.
God's not the hero.
God's not the beginning of my story.
I put myself in the beginning of that story.
And what I find, and maybe this isn't true to you,
but it's true for me that when I do that,
I realize that I start getting angry with people.
You ever been angry with somebody?
I realize if I don't have God at the center of my life,
if I don't begin with God,
if I don't say that God is my hero,
I start to get angry with people.
Sometimes I get angry with God.
I'm just confessing to you guys
because we wanted to be a church that is,
you know, sometimes,
sometimes when I don't start with God
at the center of my world,
sometimes when I don't make God my hero,
and sometimes when I don't begin with God,
I start to fear.
And I start to worry.
Anybody in here ever worried?
Anybody in here ever fearful?
How about what's going to happen next?
You know, what I'm learning in my life is
if God isn't my focus,
if he's not my beginning,
that sometimes I even get jealous.
And I get envious.
I look at the stuff people have around me.
I look at things my colleagues have.
I look at things my competitors have.
And I get jealous
because I want those things
because God isn't at the center of my life.
God isn't there to satisfy me
and to love me
and to take care of me.
So I'm looking for all these other things.
And you know, sometimes,
sometimes if I let that void go for a long time,
God becomes distant to me.
Has God ever been distant to you?
You're praying
and you're praying.
You're waiting for him to speak.
You're waiting for him to move.
You're waiting for him to do something.
It's silence.
Coldness.
And I realize it's because on my journey,
I've changed my focus.
And I put things in place instead of God.
And I start to depend on people instead of God.
And I get angry.
I get envious.
I get fearful.
I get jealous.
Anybody in here like that?
So how are we doing?
I want to just,
I always say that, right?
Really, how are you doing?
Anybody in here fearful lately?
Anybody in here gotten angry lately?
Anybody in here ever complained lately?
Anybody in here ever been disappointed lately?
Anybody been jealous?
Guys,
the passage says,
and the Bible says,
that you and I
are on this constant journey
to find meaning,
purpose,
identity,
order,
to validate our lives,
to make sense of everything going on.
We're on this constant journey
with all these things going on in our world,
our circumstances.
And it says in this passage in Hebrews,
and it says in this passage in Psalms,
and it says in this passage in all of the Bible,
that unless we start with God,
unless we put God at the center,
unless we focus on Him,
if we don't put God at the center of our studies,
we don't put God at the center of our week,
we don't put God at the center of our work,
our lives,
our emotions,
our feelings,
our identity,
our singleness,
our money, our kiddos
unless we start with our focus on God
the passage says
what's going to happen is that we're going to end up lost
in his creation
because we're going to look for other things
for meaning
we're going to realize that when we open our fist
they disappear like
a vapor
so what are your eyes turned towards today?
what are the things
that you're focusing on
right now in your life?
the Bible says
that whatever that is
you're going to become
like that thing
or you're going to become
like that person
and I don't need to tell you that
because you live around people like that all day
they live for money
they become like that
they live for their company
they become like that
they live for sex
they become like that
they live for power
they become like that
in the Bible
in the Psalm
God is trying to draw us back to Him
and to show us that without Him
nothing means anything
anything
it's a really simple message
but it's still taking me 43 years
to learn it
does that make sense?
we have a picture here
hopefully
we have a slide
so this is
anybody tell me what this is?
kids
what is that?
come on
it's terrible
okay
so this is
from Apollo 8
the first manned mission
to the moon
on our first morning
they look out their window
and they
see the earth rising
now think about this
this event
1968
December 24th
no
I didn't watch it
I was only 5 years old
most of us probably weren't born
Franklin was probably there
and a couple other people
Mike was probably there
Franklin was working at McDonald's
and Mike was working for Harvard
or something like that
but not many of us were there
but the awesome thing about this
is the guys
Mike's were on
and as we're looking back to space
and this is the pinnacle of manhood
this is the pinnacle of us
man's creation
this is the event
that has defined us
this would be like you making
the head of the university
or you becoming
the guy who's in charge of Morgan Stanley
or Credit Suisse
or Citibank
or HSBC
is there anybody in charge of HSBC
I'm not sure
but this would be like
this would be like the pinnacle
of your career
your whole life
but this is for 2,000 years
mankind has gotten to this point
and there's three guys
in this lunar land
that look out of the earth
and their words are
I feel lonely
I feel lost
it's dark
it's scary
can you imagine that
you've made head of your bank
Credit Suisse
and they come and interview you
you've done all these things
everybody wants this done
and say
well how do you feel
you go
I feel lonely
I feel lost
I feel like life
has no meaning
and then there was silence
and the three astronauts
started to read
in the beginning
God
God created the heavens
and the earth
the earth was formless
and void
darkness was over
the surface of the deep
and the spirit of God
was moving on the surface
of the waters
and God said
let there be light
and there was light
and God saw that
the light was good
and God separated the light
from the darkness
and God called the light
day
and the darkness
he called night
and there was evening
and there was morning
and one day
then God said
let there be an expanse
in the midst of the seas
of the water
and those three astronauts
at the pinnacle
of mankind's achievement
read all of the book
of Genesis
over the air
and you realize
that without God
at the center
without God
at the beginning
without God
as our focus
nothing else
makes sense
and you're going
to be able
to accomplish
whatever you're going
to be accomplished
and you're going
to be able
to do whatever
you want to do
because we have
very capable
very with it
very smart people
at Watermark
and I'm always amazed
at how smart people are
and how capable they are
and what they can do
but what this passage says
and what these astronauts
knew at the pinnacle
of mankind's experience
is that it's meaningless
unless you begin with God
does that make sense
to me
I'm always
in awe of that
especially as I meet guys
who want to become
the head of this
or the head of that
and they're doing it
on their own
so here's the last question
how do we change
we know our focus
we know Tobin's problem
how do we change that
how do we center our lives
on the right things
how do we like the psalmist
focus on God
how do we like David
put God in the right place
how do we frame our journey
as a person
as a church
as whoever we are
as a family
how do we frame our journey
with God
for some of us here
I believe
and I realize
you've never had
your focus on God
probably for many of us
in here
we've probably never really
focused on God
God has not been
the center of our story
I mean if you're honest
you have to say
that you
have been
the center of your story
for many of us in here
our hope has only been
on us
and I'm just keeping it real
because I was
in the exact
same
place
I focused on myself
and my focus
on my
and what I could do
and who I was
and what I knew
and the passage says
that we have to get right
with the Lord
and so for many of us here
what I would pray for you
what the elders
would pray for you
what the staff
would pray for you
is that you would just
look at this passage
right here
that you would read it
tonight
before you went to bed
that you would
look at Jesus Christ
that you would realize
that he's God
that you realize
he became man
that you realize
as the psalmist says
that he stoops down
for you
to serve you
that you'd realize
that he lived
a perfect life
that you realize
that Jesus had
a perfect
intense focus
that you realize
that Christ
lost everything
that he died
a perfect death
so that you
and I
could gain
everything
my hope for you
if you've never had God
at the beginning
that you've never had God
at the center
if God's never been your hero
that you would just
come real with that
and confess that to God
because he knows that
and that you would think
about all that Christ
has done for you
that he's done
everything perfectly
so that you don't
have to be perfect
and that all that
he's asking of you
is to trust him
to place your faith
in him
and allow him
to be God
in your life
and to take care of you
there's some of us
in here
who call ourselves
God's people
already
and my prayer
for us
and for me
is that we would just
continue to ponder
this passage
that we would continue
to think of God
we'd continue to think
of his love for us
we'd realize
how each one of us
is fearsome
and awesome
and wonderfully made
in God's eyes
that we'd realize
that every person
we bump into
whether it's at IFC
or in our home
or in our work
or in our eating place
that everyone there
has ultimate value
and ultimate worth
and they're made
in God's image
and God has placed
us in their lives
to speak
and to reflect
God's glory
God's mercy
and God's grace
and I think
that some of us
we need to repent
and we need to confess
as God's people
that we've had
our mirrors
turn too long
at something else
besides Jesus Christ
if you're like me
that's something
you probably have to do
many times
every day
and my prayer for you
is that you would do that
that you would allow God
to be God
in your life
that you would trust him
on this journey
that he has you in
and that you would focus
on the beauty of Christ
and realize
how awesome
and how wonderful
he is
does that make sense
I'm trying to keep it
as simple as I can
understand it
so the next time
you start to worry
about
your job
or you're not making
managing director
or you're not getting
the grades
that you want to get
or your professor
you have Samson
and he's really hard
on you
in psychology class
and you're like
I don't even know
if I'm going to get
a C in this class
and you're just
really struggling
with those things
what my prayer for you
is that you would
open up Psalm 8
and that you would read
that the God
of all things
has called himself
into a relationship
with you
that the God
who made the stars
the God
who put the stars
in the sky
the God
who takes care
of the stars
in the sky
the God
who gave
his only son
for you
surely
if he did
all those things
you can trust him
with your work
you can trust him
with your singleness
you can trust him
with your grades
you can trust him
with your kids
health
you can trust him
the next time
you get angry
it's going to happen
once you leave here
because you're not
going to get
that right parking space
or you're not
going to get that food
or you're not
going to get
something happening
and that guy's
not going to propose
to you
like you want him to
because he's
just really slow
because he's
an Australian
but he needs
to get on the ball
soda
the next time
that happens
and you get
a little frustrated
you come to Psalm 8
and you read it
and you realize
that the God
who hung the stars
the God
who knows
every hair
on your head
the God
who sees
who hears
who knows
every thought
every concern
every bad thing
every good thing
that you've done
with wrong motives
that God
gave his son
for you
if he can do
all those things
he can take care
of you
the question is
are you going
to let him
are you going
to let him
go to ..
whereflat
who hears
how to
coming
is
how to
are you
....