WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.940 it have a happy ending? Or for those of us who are in our working stage of life, looking at 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:12.560 retirement, looking at inflation, what are we asking? Does it have a happy ending, right? 00:00:14.620 --> 00:00:20.780 Will I get the job that I need? Will I be able to retire? Will it all mean something? Or am I 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:29.580 condemned to a rat race of a meaningless life and a meaningless job? In our world, in our hearts, 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.840 there is a deep intuition of what a happy ending could be like, what it would feel like, 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:41.640 what it would look like. And everybody has a vision for that. Everybody has in their mind, 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:48.100 as they look into the future, what a happy ending would be. A sense of completion, 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:55.900 of arrival, of peace. And you're non-Christian, you have it, and your non-Christian friends have 00:00:55.899 --> 00:01:04.179 that feeling. It's deeply aware. And in the midst of that, in our world today, in 2025, people are 00:01:04.179 --> 00:01:10.120 feeling a lot of tension around that. It's not a guarantee like it has been in other parts of our 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:16.219 world, of our lives, of our American history. The reality is there are a lot of question marks around 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:22.939 a happy ending. Politically, economically, socially, there's no doubt about it. We're in a lot of upheaval. 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:31.679 You listen to the news on any news site, and there's questions, right? And this leaves people 00:01:31.679 --> 00:01:38.359 with a massive chasm between their intuitions and their hopes, and what they look like are the 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:43.459 realities, what they look like when they check their bank accounts or when they look at their jobs. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:50.840 There's a lot of expectation and not a lot of hope a lot of the time. Generation Z, in particular, 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:55.219 which is the generation that I'm pastoring currently, is one of the most pessimistic 00:01:55.219 --> 00:02:04.340 generations that's ever been recorded. Deeply, deeply cynical about the economic potential of our 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:09.400 world right now. Most of them are pretty much resigned to the reality that they won't be able to 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:18.219 afford a home, that they will rent for years, decades. And out of that will come the realities of 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:23.680 building generational wealth. Now, there's hope in things like generational wealth transfer, but most 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:29.120 of them say, I don't think I'll own a home. So they've got this sense of, I want to own a home. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.939 I was talking with a student the other day. He said, I just want to have a middle-class home 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:38.120 and a wife and kids, and I can't find a woman who's a Christian, and I don't know if I'll be able to 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:44.640 afford a home. There's this deep sense of, will it have a happy ending? And here's the exciting thing. 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:54.340 Into that feeling that all of us have and that your friends have, this is where evangelism is really 00:02:54.340 --> 00:03:01.180 powerful and really fun, because there's this great need that all of us have and that our non-Christian 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:09.360 friends deeply have, and we get to come and say, there is a happy ending. There is a happy ending. 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:19.400 The opportunity for the gospel to present the happy ending that every person longs for, desires, 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:27.080 is at a level that I don't think we've seen in, I mean, at least 70 years, maybe longer in our world. 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:32.000 So my hope today, the big takeaway that I would hope you all would take away with this is that each 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:40.540 person has a longing for peace. Each person has a longing for peace, and the gospel alone can satisfy 00:03:40.540 --> 00:03:45.180 that. It's very simple. Each person has a longing for peace, and the gospel alone can satisfy that. 00:03:45.220 --> 00:03:49.380 And so we'll look at this in three ways, as per usual, that we'll look at the broken heart that 00:03:49.380 --> 00:03:54.300 longs for happy endings. Second, the gospel gives the happy endings. And third, how do we evangelize with it? 00:03:54.300 --> 00:03:59.860 Very simple. The broken heart longs for happy endings. Second, the gospel gives us a happy ending. 00:04:00.200 --> 00:04:04.420 And how do we do evangelism in that? To look at this, I want us to turn to the very end of the 00:04:04.420 --> 00:04:10.140 Bible, which shows us the happy ending, Revelation chapter 21. I'm just going to read five verses 00:04:10.140 --> 00:04:18.879 from Revelation chapter 21, and we will begin. So this is Revelation, John's vision of the end of the 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:22.759 world and the end of the universe or the beginning, as it were. And this is what he says, 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:31.240 Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:38.879 and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 00:04:39.539 --> 00:04:45.180 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:52.740 Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. 00:04:53.100 --> 00:05:00.300 And God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, 00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:07.460 and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the 00:05:07.460 --> 00:05:11.139 former things have passed away. This is God's word. Would you pray with me? 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:18.459 Father in heaven, as we are gathered here today to worship you, we pray that you would now use your 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:24.219 spirit, send your spirit and use your word to shape us into faithful followers of Jesus. 00:05:25.159 --> 00:05:32.079 Chip away at the sin that would entangle us, strengthen our hands, lift our drooping heads, 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:40.219 and may we run with endurance the race set before us for your glory and for the good of our world that 00:05:40.219 --> 00:05:46.339 you are and will redeem. It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen. Okay, so first thing to see in this is 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:52.259 the broken hearts desire a happy ending. Broken hearts desire a happy ending. There's a famous quote 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:57.299 from C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. If you've read it, you know that this, you underlined this quote. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:02.060 If you've been a Christian or in Christian circles for more than a couple of years, you've heard this 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:07.939 quote, but it's a famous quote for good reason. He says this, creatures are not born with desires 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:15.339 unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger. Well, there is such a thing as food. 00:06:16.019 --> 00:06:22.139 A duckling wants to swim. Well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire. Well, 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:29.399 there is such a thing as sex. Now pay attention here. He says, if I find in myself a desire which no 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:34.339 experience in this world can satisfy, no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:42.719 explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does 00:06:42.719 --> 00:06:50.459 not prove that the universe is a fraud. It just means that there are pleasures that nothing, that only a 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:58.099 world beyond can satisfy. What is he saying here? He says, if I find in myself a desire which no, 00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:03.820 nothing in this world can satisfy. Ecclesiastes, we read this in our Old Testament reading, hints at 00:07:03.820 --> 00:07:09.860 that. He says, you have placed eternity in the hearts of man. There's something within the human 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:15.700 heart that longs for something that nothing in this world can fully satisfy. And yes, there are many 00:07:15.700 --> 00:07:21.860 wonderful, satisfying things that this world can provide. This is what Ecclesiastes talks about. It's 00:07:21.860 --> 00:07:28.600 good to work and eat and drink. But at the end of the day, there's something that we go, there's this 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:35.819 itch that I just can't seem to scratch. There's this itch that I can't seem to scratch. There's something 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:41.120 in this world, there's something that I feel that this world cannot satisfy. And here's the amazing 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:48.980 thing, is your non-Christian friends feel that acutely at their most vulnerable moments. They feel that 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:54.800 acutely. They are full of desires that they are aware that nothing in this world can satisfy. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:01.400 Their hearts, our hearts, long for it. And what is it? They long for a happy ending, right? 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:11.240 Two examples. At the root of our whole world of confusion around sexuality and gender, 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:19.199 gender dysphoria, all of these things, is a sense of wishing to belong in the body that I'm in. 00:08:20.340 --> 00:08:25.519 Now, we can take issue with this and debate it as we can debate it a million different ways. 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:31.019 But for a myriad of reasons, myriad of million reasons, young people can feel like they don't 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:36.919 belong in the right body, which is tragic. Perhaps they were abused. Perhaps they were shamed. 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:42.199 Perhaps they don't fit cultural stereotypes. But whatever it is, they look within themselves and 00:08:42.199 --> 00:08:48.279 say, something is deeply wrong with me and I need to fix it. I need a happy ending for my body and my 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:55.899 life. And they think, deeply wrongly, deeply misguided, that if I was just someone else, 00:08:56.039 --> 00:09:03.360 then I would have the happy ending. Do you see that? On the same level, think about politics. Another 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:10.800 deeply hot topic. I'm trying to pick the hot ones for you all today. A deep hot topic is that both of 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:16.840 our major political parties have tapped into this deep feeling of estrangement, this deep sense of 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:22.480 this country is not what it should be. Something is deeply wrong with our society. 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:27.560 Some people would say, this country isn't what I thought it was. Or some people would say, 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:31.940 this country isn't what I think it should be. But everyone, all the political parties, 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:36.380 all the candidates, have this vision for what a happy ending would be like in our nation. And they 00:09:36.380 --> 00:09:44.700 say, if you vote for us, we'll give you the happy ending. They have tapped into this deep feeling that 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:49.940 every person has, that if only we could do this with our nation, then it would be a successful, 00:09:50.180 --> 00:09:53.760 prosperous nation of equality, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:10:04.600 What our sinful hearts do is they ask something, anything less than God, anything less than Jesus 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:10.819 and his kingdom. And they warp that and say, if I can have that, if we can pull that off, 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:20.000 then I will have the happy ending that I intuitively know has to be there. And this is at its core, 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:27.960 idolatry, right? Idolatry is when we look to something other than God and ask it to be God, 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:36.320 ask it to satisfy that desire that only God can satisfy. It's asking anything other than God, 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:42.419 anything other than Jesus to be the happy ending that we want. But here's where evangelism gets to 00:10:42.419 --> 00:10:48.519 come in. And this is so exciting. What we get to do, what you get to do is to tap into that feeling, 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:57.019 tap into that intuition they have and say, yes, that desire for belonging or for peace or for stability 00:10:57.019 --> 00:11:07.799 is legitimate and real and good. God placed that desire in you. You are a human being created in the image 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:17.840 of God. What you intuitively recognize, the Christian message, the gospel, 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:28.080 provides more satisfyingly, more beautifully than anything else in this world can possibly imagine. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:36.620 The evangelism move is to harness that feeling for the happy ending and rather than say, well, no, 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:41.540 don't desire that. No, you get to say, yes, what you desire. This is again, C.S. Lewis, he says 00:11:41.539 --> 00:11:48.419 that your desires are not strong enough. Your desires are not in the right place. It's for God 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:54.799 and his kingdom that you yearn. It is for God and intimacy with Christ that you yearn. 00:11:56.860 --> 00:12:03.279 Behind all of this is a major goal for evangelism in 2025. This is one of the core things that I want 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:08.899 you all to come away with as you're thinking through this. For the last 150 years, Christians have rightly 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:16.139 sought to prove that Christianity is true. We have sought to prove that Christianity is the true faith, 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:23.500 and it is. I will defend it to my dying breath. Christianity is true. And our non-Christian friends 00:12:23.500 --> 00:12:28.500 are not asking that question. Our non-Christian friends are asking, is Christianity good? 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:38.840 That is what they are asking. They are asking, is it good? Is Christianity good for black people? Is 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:46.399 Christianity good for women? Is Christianity good for politics? Is it good for men? I've had students 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:53.820 will say, I don't really care if it's true or not. I just think it's bad for humans. And so I could 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:59.940 slam them over the face as many times as I want with the factual proof, the truthfulness of Christianity. 00:13:00.160 --> 00:13:05.879 But if I don't present, if we don't present a case that the Christian life following Jesus 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:12.060 is the best and most satisfying and most fulfilling way to be a human being in this life and the next, 00:13:12.060 --> 00:13:20.340 we will not persuade them. The suspicion today is that Christianity is all about power 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:29.180 and oppression. Power and oppression. That's not good. And our goal is less trying to prove that 00:13:29.180 --> 00:13:36.060 Christianity is true, which of course it is, and more seeking to prove that it is good for their world, 00:13:36.340 --> 00:13:42.519 for our lives, for our relationships with ourselves, with others, with our neighbors. 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:50.620 Do you see that? So you get to tap into the desires that they intuitively have and say, 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:58.500 Christianity offers good news, satisfaction for what you legitimately and truly long for. 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:04.840 So the first thing is, is that broken people have desires. The second part then is that the gospel 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:11.620 offers that happy ending. My daughters cry, is there a happy ending? Christianity says, oh, is there? 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:18.899 Oh, is there a happy ending? And this is our text. Look down at the text with me. There's three things 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:26.600 that we see here. Three things. We see a new city, a new relationship with God, and a new absence. 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:33.120 A new city, a new relationship with God, and a new absence. First, a new city. The gospel arc 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:40.600 is from a city of rebellion to a city of peace. This spans the whole story of the Bible. What happens in 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:47.060 Genesis 3? Human beings reject God and say, we would have nothing to do with you, and that leads to a 00:14:47.060 --> 00:14:51.040 brother killing his brother. Well, what does the brother who killed his brother go and do? He makes 00:14:51.040 --> 00:14:57.879 a city. He makes a city. And what does that city do? That city says, we reject God, and out of our spite 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:04.980 and our rebellion, we are going to build a tower up to God. We, in our rebellion and our city, are going 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:12.139 to try to get ourselves, raise ourselves up to God in an act of rebellion. They seek to reach up into 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:19.879 heaven, and God, of course, confuses their language and, you know, makes the whole thing fall apart. But 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:26.639 then at the end of history, this is the very last image of the Bible, what do we see? God brings a city 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:36.939 down, and it is a city of peace, a city not of rebellion, but a city that is peaceful, a holy city, 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:44.960 the new Jerusalem, where Jerusalem means city of peace, coming down out of heaven from God, 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:53.700 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. What does this mean? It means that all of our goals and our 00:15:53.700 --> 00:16:01.640 aims of culture and politics and social strategies and civilizational goals, God will bring all of 00:16:01.640 --> 00:16:09.879 those to us at the end of history as a gift, not us raising ourselves up, but God bringing the peace 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:19.460 that we all desire to us. Augustine, in his City of God, says the great goal of every human being is peace, 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:28.180 contentment, being in harmony with one another and with self and with God, and at the end of history, 00:16:28.300 --> 00:16:35.800 God comes and brings that city of peace to us. The first earth had passed away, the sea was no more, 00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:45.300 and I saw a holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God as a gift, as a mercy. 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:52.539 The second thing we see in this text is a new relationship with God, a new relationship with God. 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:59.699 Then I heard, verse 3, a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with 00:16:59.699 --> 00:17:06.480 men, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God will be with them as their God. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:13.420 We could do a whole sermon series on that phrase, but the great promise of the Christian faith, 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:21.420 the high point of the Christian faith is the promise that I will be your God, and you will be my people. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:29.240 I will be your God, and you will be my people. Genesis 3 enters a giant separation between God's 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:35.620 world and his people. It alienates and brings shame and guilt to God's people and between God and his 00:17:35.619 --> 00:17:42.479 people. And then in Genesis 12 through 17, God comes to Abraham and says, I will be your God, 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:48.879 and you will be my people. And then in Exodus 3, he comes to a people who are oppressed in slavery to 00:17:48.879 --> 00:17:54.379 Egypt, and he says, I will be your God, and you will be my people. And then in Exodus 19, he comes to 00:17:54.379 --> 00:17:59.919 them on the mountain of Horeb and gives them the Ten Commandments and says, I will be your God, 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:06.519 and you will be my people. Over and over and over again, God comes to his people and says, I will 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:13.380 establish a new relationship with you, one that you intuitively know, which is at peace, harmony, 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:21.980 goodwill towards men, everything that we long for. I will be your God, and you will be my people. 00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:31.900 Revelation 21 promises that God himself will be with them. And what's the last and final picture of 00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:43.680 this? John 1. God comes down, the word became flesh and dwells among us and says, I will be your God, 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:49.460 and you will be my people. Jesus is the embodiment, the final picture of that. And he says, I go to 00:18:49.460 --> 00:18:57.500 prepare a place for you, and I will come back and get you. In my Father's house, there are many rooms. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:02.620 If it were not so, I would have said it, but I will come back to bring you to myself. 00:19:04.600 --> 00:19:12.579 Revelation 21 promises that. That's good news. Think about our friends who are estranged from their 00:19:12.579 --> 00:19:19.220 families, who can't go home for the holidays because it's just toxic and abusive. Think about our friends 00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:25.160 who are so desperately lonely that they just turn to drinking or gaming or something like this. 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:28.240 Those of you who are soldiers, you know soldiers who are like this. 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:36.380 This is the promise that Christianity offers, a happy ending to relationships. 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:49.260 Lastly, it offers us a new absence. Verse 4. He, God, will wipe away every tear from their eyes, 00:19:49.320 --> 00:19:55.980 and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, 00:19:56.060 --> 00:20:01.880 for the former things have passed away. Isn't that what we long for? 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:12.560 No more death. No more crying. No more sickness. No more people missing church because of the flu. 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:25.140 No more babies dying in mother's wombs. No more parents getting that terminal diagnosis. No more death. 00:20:25.140 --> 00:20:37.480 No more death. The former things have passed away. This means that all of the traumas and the abuses and the pains and the miseries of this life, 00:20:37.620 --> 00:20:47.580 all of the effects of sin will be gone forever. That's the happy ending. That's the happy ending that our faith offers. 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:57.000 The theological doctrine that I'm describing here is called glorification. Glorification. We read it in our confession of faith. 00:20:57.139 --> 00:21:00.619 Turn with me, if you would, to that again in your bulletin. 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:08.259 How does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? 00:21:09.179 --> 00:21:13.319 Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, 00:21:13.419 --> 00:21:16.639 so after this life I will have perfect blessedness, 00:21:16.919 --> 00:21:20.500 such that no eye has ever seen, no ear has heard, 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:26.199 no human heart has ever imagined a blessedness in which to praise God forever. 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:28.460 That's a happy ending, friends. 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:34.680 That is the satisfaction that we find nothing on this world can satisfy. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:36.860 That is what your friends are looking for. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:39.160 And that is what we get to offer them. 00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:47.059 Glorification. Final, forever, perfect, full, blissful union with Christ and with one another. 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:53.580 And Revelation 21 promises the happy ending that we all intuitively know is out there. 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:56.619 Your friends know it's out there. 00:21:56.699 --> 00:22:00.319 They're just desperately looking for something to satisfy it on earth, and it can't. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:01.939 It won't measure up. 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:05.039 And you get to say, I know how it's coming. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:09.000 It's by following and trusting this living God, Jesus Christ. 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:13.119 Go to the slide, the next slide. 00:22:13.399 --> 00:22:14.279 Oh, the slides are down. 00:22:14.419 --> 00:22:15.599 Okay, it's okay. I'll do it anyways. 00:22:15.859 --> 00:22:16.319 Oh, there it is. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:22.059 So, one of the best ways I know this is from the play Les Miserables, right? 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:23.579 The very end of the play. 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:28.659 The people are standing on the barricade, and they're singing about heaven. 00:22:29.419 --> 00:22:30.279 Listen to these lyrics. 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.899 Do you hear the people sing? 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:42.379 Lost in the valley of the night, it is the music of a people who are climbing toward the light. 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:47.920 For the wretched of the earth, there is a flame that never dies. 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:51.940 Even the darkest night will end, the sun will rise. 00:22:51.940 --> 00:22:57.299 We will live again in freedom, in the garden of the Lord. 00:22:57.640 --> 00:22:59.779 We will walk behind the plowshare. 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:01.600 We will put away the sword. 00:23:02.100 --> 00:23:05.480 The chain will be broken, and all men will have their reward. 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.620 Will you join in our crusade? 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:11.840 Will you be strong and stand with me? 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:15.860 Somewhere beyond the barricade is a world we long to see. 00:23:16.580 --> 00:23:18.539 Do you hear the people sing? 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:21.480 Say, do you hear the distant drums? 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:25.940 It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes. 00:23:28.420 --> 00:23:29.539 That's a happy ending. 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:32.820 That's a happy ending. 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:35.100 That is glorification. 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:38.880 That is the hope that the gospel offers, and it is good news. 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:45.420 And our non-Christian friends know it's out there, and all we have to do is tap into it and offer it to them. 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:47.960 Now, how do we do it? 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:48.840 How do we get there? 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:51.039 I have two thoughts on this. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.420 One is an active way, and one is a more passive way. 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:55.119 The active way is this. 00:23:55.200 --> 00:24:07.559 When you're meeting with your friends, when you have them over for dinner, as you're talking about life with them over a glass of beer or over the water cooler, whatever it is, just ask these. 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:09.720 This is more active, so it's a little more awkward. 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:13.159 But just ask them, hey, if I promise to shut up, you know I'm a Christian. 00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:16.579 If I promise to shut up, can I just ask you some questions, and I'll just listen? 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:18.980 And you're going to ask them these four questions. 00:24:19.179 --> 00:24:19.919 Go to the slide. 00:24:21.460 --> 00:24:22.539 Where did everything come from? 00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:24.759 Where did everything in our world come from? 00:24:25.099 --> 00:24:26.740 And just ask them that and let them talk. 00:24:26.899 --> 00:24:27.940 Don't say anything. 00:24:28.980 --> 00:24:29.819 Just let them talk. 00:24:29.819 --> 00:24:31.419 And then you ask, well, what went wrong? 00:24:32.139 --> 00:24:34.399 Because they know something went wrong in our world. 00:24:35.899 --> 00:24:36.980 Explain what went wrong. 00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:40.819 Then ask, how is it going to get fixed? 00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:43.359 How is it going to be fixed? 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:45.819 And they'll start to stutter a little bit. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:48.839 And they'll maybe offer a political solution. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:52.099 Or they'll offer, maybe we try harder. 00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:56.480 And, you know, they might be really confident. 00:24:56.579 --> 00:24:57.519 They might not be as confident. 00:24:58.139 --> 00:24:59.319 But then here's the real one. 00:24:59.699 --> 00:25:02.819 If you could write the rest of your story and the world's story, how would it go? 00:25:04.199 --> 00:25:08.240 If you could write the rest of your story and the world's story, how would it go? 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:14.119 And I promise you that in that sentence, you will find a desire for a happy ending. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:16.519 It is going to be there. 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:17.559 They know it's there. 00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:23.339 And that's where you get to tap into it and say, how are we going to pull that off? 00:25:23.639 --> 00:25:29.059 That desire that you have for the rest of your story, the rest of our world's story, it's really good. 00:25:29.379 --> 00:25:33.960 And so far, I haven't seen anything being able close to tap into that, to be capable of that. 00:25:35.679 --> 00:25:38.839 And then the bonus question is, if you could ask God one question, what would it be? 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:43.359 And it'll be something, as you build trust with them, very vulnerable. 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:45.399 Why did he let X happen? 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:48.840 Where was God when so-and-so died in my life? 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:57.420 That's more active, and it is an opportunity for preaching the good news of the happy ending of Revelation 21. 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:02.140 That is an awesome opportunity. 00:26:02.380 --> 00:26:05.860 It's an intimate moment to tell them about glorification. 00:26:06.420 --> 00:26:08.200 The kingdom of God is at hand. 00:26:09.220 --> 00:26:12.180 There is a day coming when every tear will be wiped away. 00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:15.320 Would you follow the one who brings it with me? 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:24.580 You use your unbelieving friends' intuitions and hopes for this world, for peace, for meaning, for belonging, and joy. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:26.780 And you say, you are right to desire that. 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:28.759 And I think Christianity offers it. 00:26:28.840 --> 00:26:30.420 Can I show you Revelation 21? 00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:34.500 Total peace, total joy, total belonging. 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:38.400 God invites you into that city and into a relationship with him. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:42.980 What you long for, the newness that you need, he offers. 00:26:43.780 --> 00:26:50.340 And you can springboard off of their intuitions the eternity placed within their hearts and show them the kingdom of God. 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:51.920 You see that? 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:54.660 So that's the active one. 00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:55.780 Here's the more passive one. 00:26:56.040 --> 00:26:57.500 You listen for their longings. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:26:58.640 You just listen. 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:00.340 You pay attention to what they say. 00:27:00.339 --> 00:27:03.359 And as you pay attention, people will give you these things. 00:27:04.179 --> 00:27:10.039 So a couple weeks ago, I met with a student in RUF who's working incredibly with hard in school. 00:27:10.159 --> 00:27:11.539 I told you, he's running his own company. 00:27:11.659 --> 00:27:13.179 He's trying to figure out what to do with his life. 00:27:14.179 --> 00:27:16.299 And finally, eventually, he said a throwaway comment. 00:27:17.319 --> 00:27:18.419 And I said this at the beginning. 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:20.519 He said, I just want a middle class life. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:22.399 And I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get it. 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.980 I don't know if it's possible. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.700 And I said, it may not be. 00:27:28.300 --> 00:27:29.660 But that's not the end of your story. 00:27:31.620 --> 00:27:33.160 God is throwing and hurtling. 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:33.720 He's a Christian. 00:27:33.840 --> 00:27:42.400 I said, God is hurtling your life towards the happy ending of belonging with God and with others in a way that you and I don't understand. 00:27:43.100 --> 00:27:45.360 What the catechism says is beyond what we can imagine. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:47.420 Hold on. 00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:48.480 Dig deep. 00:27:48.660 --> 00:27:49.340 Trust anew. 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:54.259 He gave me this throwaway, and I got to use that to preach the gospel to him. 00:27:54.879 --> 00:27:58.579 Another example, a few weeks ago, I was meeting with a student who has bounced around. 00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:00.199 She's just, it's tragic. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:03.980 She moves from one romantic sexual relationship to the other. 00:28:04.059 --> 00:28:05.119 She just slams through them. 00:28:05.199 --> 00:28:08.799 She grew up in the church and has now hard rejected the faith. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:10.619 One's absolutely nothing to do with it. 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:19.059 And we've met for several weeks, several months now, and we talk about family and her, these serial sexual romantic relationships. 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:21.440 And as I listened, I started to notice a trend in it. 00:28:21.859 --> 00:28:28.659 And eventually I asked, hey, if I can, I'm hearing you say that what you really want out of all these relationships is stability. 00:28:28.660 --> 00:28:40.820 You know, you're just moving from person to person to person, hoping that the next person will provide a sense of stability that you never really had when you were growing up. 00:28:41.900 --> 00:28:48.320 From what I'm hearing, you know, you never really had a stable life, and you're asking this next romantic relationship to do it. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:51.079 And she stopped and she said, yeah, that might be it. 00:28:51.399 --> 00:28:52.720 I've never thought of it that way before. 00:28:53.539 --> 00:29:00.159 And I said, look, you know that no romantic relationship is going to give you that stability because you've had a lot of them. 00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:02.439 And it's not going to work. 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:04.439 That's not going to give you the happy ending. 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:06.840 And I said, but what if Jesus could? 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:19.440 What if Jesus's whole project was to bring a time and a place, a city that was stable, that actually offers you what you most deeply need? 00:29:21.840 --> 00:29:25.200 And she said, I've never heard that version of Christianity before. 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:27.320 I need to think about that one. 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:30.379 Because all she's heard is, you're a sinner. 00:29:30.899 --> 00:29:31.359 Repent. 00:29:32.259 --> 00:29:33.399 And she's rejected that. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:42.879 But I'm trying to show her that Christianity is good news, that her deepest intuitions for stability in her life are satisfied in following Jesus. 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:47.899 And if she, as she repents to follow him, she'll get what she most deeply needs. 00:29:48.220 --> 00:29:49.419 All I had to do is listen. 00:29:50.039 --> 00:29:51.139 All you have to do is listen. 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:53.399 They will give you the longings. 00:29:53.740 --> 00:29:56.899 If you're a non-Christian here, I would challenge you. 00:29:56.900 --> 00:29:58.820 What are you longing for in this world? 00:30:00.600 --> 00:30:03.560 What's the thing that you are looking for to be your happy ending? 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:07.320 The challenge is it's not going to satisfy you. 00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:08.300 It can't. 00:30:08.420 --> 00:30:11.500 Your heart was made for something beyond this world. 00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:16.680 And the good news is something beyond this world will come into this world. 00:30:17.900 --> 00:30:24.700 A city, a God, a relationship with that God, no more tears will come. 00:30:24.700 --> 00:30:28.100 And you are invited to join that story. 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:32.120 This is true, but it's good. 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:36.120 And so would you consider following Jesus with me? 00:30:36.119 --> 00:30:42.519 That's what we get to invite our friends into, and it is the happy ending that we desperately need. 00:30:43.059 --> 00:30:43.559 Would you pray with me? 00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:53.459 Lord in heaven, thank you that you have done everything necessary to restore and heal all things. 00:30:53.579 --> 00:30:58.179 That is, Colossians says, you will reconcile all things to yourself through Jesus Christ. 00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:00.660 Give us faith in that. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:14.960 When all of us feel doubt, when we feel despair, would we return to the end of history, which is the beginning, that you are bringing your city to us. 00:31:15.299 --> 00:31:18.440 Give us courage and wisdom to how to bring that to our friends. 00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:23.840 And would you be glorified, and would your church be gathered and perfected through it. 00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:24.880 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:31:25.059 --> 00:31:25.240 Amen.