WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.540 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:10.620 Join us. 00:00:13.700 --> 00:00:17.460 I am thankful to you for leading us. 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:20.000 Decide this doubt for me. 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:23.699 Powerful, powerful song. 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:24.760 Thank you, worship team. 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:25.740 Thank you, Will. 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:42.420 I said to Will after the introduction, he put together an incredible worship service of all the songs and shepherding us along the way to Jesus. 00:00:44.379 --> 00:00:53.859 So I am very thankful to Will and to the worship team for where we are and where they have brought us to this point. 00:00:53.859 --> 00:00:55.839 As he mentioned, my name is Brian Oaks. 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:59.820 I am a member of the Metro Atlanta Presbytery. 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:05.959 My wife and family are seated over here and we are headed that way in the near future. 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:13.939 And last weekend, we went down to Mobile to get as close as we could to the ocean. 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:25.039 And a friend of ours has a house on Rabbit Creek, which is a branch of Dog River, which feeds into Mobile Bay. 00:01:25.679 --> 00:01:31.319 And that water is black and murky and you can't see down below it at all. 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:37.079 And my children wanted to swim in that black murky water. 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:40.879 All this seaweed kind of near the edge and everything. 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:42.879 And I said, no. 00:01:43.259 --> 00:01:46.359 You cannot jump in because we don't know what's below the surface. 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:50.359 I don't know what's going to happen if you jump into this water. 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:59.519 And that is, unfortunately, the way we approach a lot of relationships, a lot of life. 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:05.500 I can't see below the surface of the water, so I will not leave the pier. 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:11.579 I will stay up here in safety because of what might be beyond my sight. 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:21.200 And we feel that way because experience is often an excellent and painful tutor. 00:02:23.480 --> 00:02:26.860 Experience is often an excellent and painful tutor. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:35.240 And it causes us to distrust human intentions, the purposes behind people's actions. 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:37.040 And that's what we would call cynicism. 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:41.320 Title of the passage here, as you see in your worship guide, Grace for the Cynic. 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.180 Those who are doubtful of the intentions of others. 00:02:44.739 --> 00:02:47.000 And that is certainly difficult in human relationships. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:56.159 But it's far more difficult in divine relationships when this approaches how we relate to God. 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:06.319 And cynicism flourishes when God's kindness is measured by our experiences in a broken world. 00:03:06.959 --> 00:03:08.639 By the murky waters. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.679 And we're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:15.979 What's around the corner? 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:17.979 God, you've given us leaders. 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:18.859 You've given us a church. 00:03:18.959 --> 00:03:19.879 You've given us a government. 00:03:20.059 --> 00:03:26.139 And we're riddled in the news and in every single corner of this broken and fallen world. 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:28.419 And cynicism creeps in. 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:30.060 And it grabs a hold of our hearts. 00:03:30.399 --> 00:03:32.859 And it makes us doubt. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:35.680 Help my unbelief. 00:03:36.320 --> 00:03:42.220 So the message that I have for you today, whatever brokenness comes out of me or however we move forward, 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.020 I want you to hear one thing. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:49.800 And that is that God's love is bigger than your doubt. 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:58.920 God's love is bigger than your doubt. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.020 That's the burden that's been on my heart. 00:04:01.140 --> 00:04:06.420 The calling on my life is to be here today and to say this to you and to say this to myself. 00:04:07.140 --> 00:04:16.800 And what the worship team has been leading us to that ultimately the Holy Spirit is saying to all of us is that God's love is bigger than our doubt. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:17.400 Doubt. 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:26.759 So, with that having been said, we'll move forward into the passage from John, the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 43 through 51. 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:28.560 It's pretty early in the Gospel. 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:33.480 Jesus, not a lot of narrative has come in. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:37.220 And so we have here on the next day. 00:04:37.460 --> 00:04:39.100 We're going to read from the ESV. 00:04:39.960 --> 00:04:42.180 And then later on I'm going to go to the NIV. 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:43.319 And they do different things. 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.959 The NIV brings in more of the passion of what's going on. 00:04:47.219 --> 00:04:49.639 And the ESV gives us a more direct approach. 00:04:49.740 --> 00:04:51.240 So we'll start off with the ESV. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:58.800 The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 43. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:08.000 The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.240 He found Philip and said to him, follow me. 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:16.819 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:24.580 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, we have found him of whom the Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:28.779 Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:05:29.919 --> 00:05:33.939 Nathanael said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? 00:05:34.740 --> 00:05:37.759 Philip said to him, come and see. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:48.579 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said to him, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. 00:05:49.299 --> 00:05:49.959 Verse 48. 00:05:50.299 --> 00:05:52.680 Nathanael said to him, how do you know me? 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:59.300 Jesus answered him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:03.420 And Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the son of God. 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:04.960 You are the king of Israel. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:10.519 And Jesus answered him, because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree. 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:12.699 Do you believe? 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.860 You will see greater things than these. 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:32.280 And he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.040 Let's pray. 00:06:34.040 --> 00:06:42.460 Our great heavenly father, we come before you. 00:06:43.700 --> 00:06:47.920 Broken and wounded by the fall. 00:06:49.320 --> 00:06:52.500 Would you grant us your grace? 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:59.779 Even when we judge you as ungracious. 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:04.300 Would you do this work in our heart? 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:10.220 In this space, this morning, would we see you as greater than our doubt? 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.720 We pray this in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:16.440 Amen. 00:07:20.440 --> 00:07:25.460 Well, I have a confession to make, one that my wife does not know. 00:07:27.640 --> 00:07:30.680 I've registered for the HGTV Urban Oasis. 00:07:33.260 --> 00:07:36.880 The house is in Asheville, and the prize is over half a million dollars. 00:07:36.960 --> 00:07:38.680 It's a house, it's a car, it's a lot of stuff. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.300 And all you have to do is enter in your email address. 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:44.980 And this just sounds like a really, really, like, wow, why not? 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:45.840 It would be a cool place. 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:50.020 And I've done it multiple times. 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:52.040 I can enter in twice a day. 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:56.580 But I know what's going to happen. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:01.420 If on the outside chance that I get this phone call, 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:09.319 Brian, congratulations, you've won, I'm going to say, right, right. 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:10.980 This is a trick. 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:12.860 Someone's playing a joke with me. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:17.259 Because even though I entered it in, and even though I know that the prize is real, 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:23.100 I'm very doubtful that anything would ever actually come of this. 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.719 And if I get a phone call, my cynicism is going to come to the surface, 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:31.600 and I'm going to sound an awful lot like Nathaniel. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.319 Yeah, right. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.740 That's where we meet Nathaniel. 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:42.000 And he has this expectation of this coming hope. 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:47.379 And it comes, and the NIV gives us such a good look into this. 00:08:48.040 --> 00:08:49.720 He's like, really? 00:08:50.760 --> 00:08:51.240 Really? 00:08:52.180 --> 00:08:59.820 So I want to look here at verses 43 through 46 of John chapter 1 00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:03.140 to get a sense of Nathaniel's cynicism. 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.420 And then I'll give you some more context of what's going on. 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:08.379 The next day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. 00:09:08.920 --> 00:09:12.460 Finding Philip, he said to him, follow me. 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:16.040 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.120 Philip found Nathaniel. 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:21.140 Now, Philip's obviously looking for him, right, because he finds Nathaniel. 00:09:21.420 --> 00:09:22.200 So Philip's out there. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:23.400 He's looking for Nathaniel. 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:29.699 And he says to him, we've found the one Moses wrote about in the law 00:09:29.699 --> 00:09:32.879 and about whom the prophets also wrote. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:34.579 That's a big statement. 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:40.659 The one in whom Moses was talking about hundreds of years ago. 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:42.459 The prophets wrote about. 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:44.059 We found him. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:45.240 We woke up today. 00:09:45.459 --> 00:09:46.639 We woke up yesterday. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:50.840 All of our festivals, every single year, everything we've been hoping for. 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:53.639 Our calendars set around this thing. 00:09:53.800 --> 00:09:55.120 We found him. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:03.920 And it's Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.259 God came near. 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:09.540 You can sense the excitement in Philip's voice. 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:12.300 And then you have Nathaniel. 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:21.179 Nazareth, can anything good come from there? 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:22.759 And you can almost picture him. 00:10:22.839 --> 00:10:26.699 Because here is, as we discover later, Nathaniel's sitting down, right? 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:28.299 Philip's running around. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:30.120 Nathaniel's sitting down. 00:10:30.859 --> 00:10:31.879 And he's just tired. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:34.419 And the Gospel of John does this a lot. 00:10:34.479 --> 00:10:38.839 It gives us sort of a poetic imagery of what's going on in their life. 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:41.420 And you get the sense that Nathaniel's just discouraged. 00:10:42.060 --> 00:10:43.160 And he's just sitting down. 00:10:43.220 --> 00:10:47.160 And we know from this passage that Nathaniel knows the Word of God. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:48.700 He's studied it well. 00:10:48.820 --> 00:10:51.580 Jesus says, behold, an Israelite indeed. 00:10:51.800 --> 00:10:57.540 And this whole passage is driving us back to Genesis 28 of God's promise to Jacob. 00:10:57.720 --> 00:10:59.019 Everything's wrapped up. 00:10:59.379 --> 00:11:03.580 The whole Gospel of John is an unpacking of the Old Testament. 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:05.980 And here it is. 00:11:06.060 --> 00:11:09.879 It's saying, you, Nathaniel, know the Word of God. 00:11:10.300 --> 00:11:15.560 You live in a culture that is hanging on the fulfillment of this promise. 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:16.960 Nathaniel's not ignorant. 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:18.840 He's not like, Nazareth, really? 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.040 Can anything good come out of there? 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:21.400 This isn't ignorance. 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:24.000 This is doubt. 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:26.680 This is cynicism. 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:32.099 This is the distrust of God's promises. 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:35.919 I don't believe the prophecies anymore. 00:11:36.059 --> 00:11:46.000 Because we read in Matthew chapter 2 that the prophets said that the coming Messiah would come from Nazareth. 00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:48.979 Now, Nathaniel knows this. 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:57.019 And so his proclamation, really, anything good coming out of there is a testimony to his unbelief. 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:01.820 And we touch the boundary of Nathaniel's life. 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:04.259 Help my unbelief. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:10.759 I suspect that maybe one of you does not know this kind of pain. 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:14.460 This kind of sitting down underneath the fig tree saying, 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:16.899 Man, it's hard. 00:12:16.899 --> 00:12:23.519 It's the perceived abandonment of God. 00:12:23.819 --> 00:12:27.340 I've got millennia of promises that I'm hanging on. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:32.939 And I have to put that in context with my experiences with a broken world. 00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:36.079 And somebody comes up to me and says, 00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:37.519 Hope is on its way. 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:38.579 Hope has arrived. 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:39.959 And you say, Really? 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.139 This is a theme throughout all of Scripture. 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:47.419 There's lots of themes in Scripture that you can hang on. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:55.779 This is one that is a theme not only in Scripture, but also a theme in the modern church. 00:12:56.059 --> 00:12:59.039 And it may be one of the most rampant things that we have. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:05.220 People fleeing from the church because of their perceptions of what they see in leadership, 00:13:06.059 --> 00:13:09.720 their experiences in a broken world. 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:11.779 Psalm 137, God's people. 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:14.300 I'm going to give you about three references here. 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:19.259 And they're all clinging to the same promise that we will find that Nathaniel's clinging to as well. 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:25.540 Psalm 137, God's people now in a foreign land, held captive. 00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:28.220 They were promised the promised land. 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:29.560 They were sent there. 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:30.600 And now they're back. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:31.399 And they're in Babylon. 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:33.940 Back where the whole thing started, where Abraham was. 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:36.440 And they sit on the side of the river. 00:13:37.920 --> 00:13:42.180 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:44.580 We remembered Zion. 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:47.140 On the willows there, we hung up our lyres. 00:13:48.180 --> 00:13:50.840 For there our captors required of us songs. 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:54.400 And our tormentors mirth, saying, Sing us a song of Zion. 00:13:54.780 --> 00:13:59.640 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:10.100 And sometimes the pain of a broken world is so overwhelming that singing is just too big of an effort. 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:13.639 Or Judges chapter 6 with Gideon. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.379 The forces of Midian have invaded their land. 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:19.539 They're stealing all of their food, their provisions of the day. 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:22.100 Give us our daily bread, O Lord, we pray. 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:26.460 And then the angel of the Lord comes into his presence and he says, 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:27.420 Redemption is coming. 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:28.580 Deliverance is coming. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:30.720 And Gideon's response to him is this. 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:31.740 Please, sir. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:40.399 If the Lord is with us, then why has all of this happened to us? 00:14:41.560 --> 00:14:44.759 Come on and explain it to me, O messenger from God. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:49.420 Where are all of his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us? 00:14:49.560 --> 00:14:50.460 I know the promises. 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:52.600 I'm trying to cling to him. 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:58.840 Or Luke 24 on the road to Emmaus. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:10.980 There they stood, looking sad, having experienced the death of their hope. 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:14.600 The perceived death of their Savior. 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:19.100 Our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:23.139 We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 00:15:23.560 --> 00:15:28.300 Yes, and besides all of this, it is now the third day since these things have happened. 00:15:28.420 --> 00:15:30.700 And there is Jesus in their midst. 00:15:30.940 --> 00:15:36.019 In the midst of their brokenness, their pain, and their doubt. 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:41.879 They all feel probably like the little Dutch boy. 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:46.139 If you're familiar with the parable, here is Hans. 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:48.860 And he's just walking along in his day. 00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:53.159 And then there's the levee and a spew of waters coming out of the levee. 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:58.939 And he knows that this little tiny spew will get bigger and bigger and bigger. 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:01.939 And eventually it will rupture and it will flood the whole town. 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:03.379 The whole town will be destroyed. 00:16:04.059 --> 00:16:11.019 So the little Dutch boy in a noble effort sticks his thumb in to stop this, to save the town. 00:16:11.379 --> 00:16:13.100 He sacrifices himself. 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:16.659 And it's supposed to be a story about perseverance. 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:24.139 But our modern culture has mutated this story to where it actually becomes a parable of cynicism. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.920 Because as you've seen it, if you've seen it in Hollywood, the way Hollywood treats it, 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.720 he sticks his thumb in and then another spout comes. 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:31.920 And he sticks his thumb in there. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:40.279 And people pass by while Hans, while Nathaniel, while you are stuck there sacrificing yourself, 00:16:40.479 --> 00:16:45.659 turning the other cheek, trying to do the good deed, and nobody cares. 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:47.839 The levee's going to break. 00:16:49.419 --> 00:16:50.879 Everybody's indifferent towards it. 00:16:51.579 --> 00:16:56.199 And it's the perception that God is indifferent towards it also. 00:16:57.319 --> 00:17:01.459 It's the perceived irrelevance of perseverance. 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:04.579 It's a broken world that I'm trying to deal with this. 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:05.700 I'm trying to cling to the promise. 00:17:05.940 --> 00:17:07.200 But what's the point of perseverance? 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:10.240 Why should I continue to turn the other cheek? 00:17:13.120 --> 00:17:17.740 And it's like Habakkuk as well, who says, 00:17:17.860 --> 00:17:21.019 God, everybody is having such a good time. 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:23.059 And I am clinging to your promises. 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.120 It feels like your failure. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:30.420 And on and on and on, the testimony of Scripture gives this to us. 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:38.920 It's important to notice that in the midst of Nathaniel's doubt, 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.759 in the very moment of his brokenness, 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:47.920 hope is being consummated. 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:50.960 He does not see it. 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.019 And Jesus is there. 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:59.480 The promise that he is longing for is being fulfilled. 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:02.700 And God's love is bigger than your doubt. 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:07.259 God's love is bigger than your doubt. 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:08.299 And I mentioned it earlier. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.039 We give thanks to Will for putting together a good worship service. 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:17.680 If you saw it on the screen at the beginning, the meditation from John Bunyan, 00:18:17.899 --> 00:18:23.220 Oh, let the saints know that unless the devil can pluck Christ out of heaven, 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:28.619 he cannot pull a true believer out of Christ. 00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:35.739 If I were to read that, I would feel a little bit heavy on my heart because I would think, 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:37.179 well, am I a true believer? 00:18:38.879 --> 00:18:42.059 I mean, I know being secured in Christ is great. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:46.579 And Satan can't pull someone who truly trusts in Christ, 00:18:46.679 --> 00:18:47.379 but is that me? 00:18:47.439 --> 00:18:49.739 Because I feel the weight of my cynicism and my doubt. 00:18:50.619 --> 00:18:52.239 Really, are his promises true? 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:59.880 But, as we move forward to verses 47 through 48, 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:03.680 Jesus proclaims Nathanael in the midst of his cynicism, 00:19:04.620 --> 00:19:06.120 a true believer. 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:10.799 All right, so we've got a painting we're going to look at. 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:14.720 We'll come up on the screen momentarily. 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:19.380 Big things come in empty boxes. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:21.339 There it is. 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:25.699 This painting, this painting is actually about our passage that we're looking at here. 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:27.659 John chapter 1, 43 through 51. 00:19:28.879 --> 00:19:30.679 On cynicism and doubt. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:34.259 And these two trees here have no leaves on them. 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:40.439 They're blown and bruised by weather and wind. 00:19:41.919 --> 00:19:45.559 And not one person in here would raise your hand if you were to say, 00:19:45.679 --> 00:19:48.439 would you like your life to look like one of these trees? 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:53.400 Would you like your life to look without leaves and to look cold and icy? 00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:57.759 We want our lives to look full and vibrant. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.320 But the reality is, is that we're all struggling. 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.360 We're all living in the tension of the ages. 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:12.819 And so we do just like our first parents and we cover ourselves in order to look not naked and ashamed, 00:20:12.979 --> 00:20:16.179 but to look radiant and alive. 00:20:16.180 --> 00:20:24.600 The gospel of Mark, as Jesus is about to go cleanse the temple, 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:32.779 and he's going to deal with the church that is not being a good steward, 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:39.839 sandwiches this parable with a tree that is lying. 00:20:40.159 --> 00:20:41.059 It is a fig tree. 00:20:41.139 --> 00:20:43.399 The fig tree represents the covenant community of God. 00:20:43.459 --> 00:20:44.279 It represents the church. 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:47.259 And this fig tree is giving off the message to everyone, 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:49.920 hey, I've got something good to eat. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.660 And Jesus does not find anything delightful on it. 00:20:52.700 --> 00:20:54.000 And it's representing the church. 00:20:54.059 --> 00:20:55.000 That's why he goes in the temple. 00:20:55.339 --> 00:20:56.519 And he tears it apart. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.859 And so Jesus curses it. 00:21:02.759 --> 00:21:08.779 And immediately the tree withers because it had no root. 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:14.139 This is the culture that Nathaniel is living in. 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.980 It fosters all the cynicism that all the government leaders, 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:20.980 that all the religious leaders are saying, 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:25.519 hey, I'm alive and well. 00:21:26.099 --> 00:21:28.740 And there's no root in Jesus. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:30.160 And it is a lie. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.200 And it's apparent to everybody. 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:38.759 And it causes immense doubt when we experience this broken world. 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:41.899 And then in contrast to this is Nathaniel, 00:21:42.099 --> 00:21:46.119 who's actually being very honest about his brokenness. 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:48.720 Here's Nathaniel, and he looks like one of these trees. 00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:50.319 He's not saying, hey, I got it all together. 00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:51.799 I'm a complete man. 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:54.420 He's actually pretty broken. 00:21:55.339 --> 00:21:59.980 And Jesus says, behold, an Israelite indeed. 00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:03.279 So verses 47 through 48. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:09.639 When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, 00:22:10.399 --> 00:22:17.200 here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.299 How do you know me? 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:21.380 Nathaniel asked. 00:22:22.259 --> 00:22:30.559 Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Nathaniel called you. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.900 Before Philip called you. 00:22:35.620 --> 00:22:40.319 Before Philip came and said, the Messiah is here. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:41.859 The fulfillment of the promises. 00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:44.359 The fulfillment of the prophets is here. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:50.059 In that moment, in his dark hour, Jesus says, I saw you. 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:54.939 It's when you felt most like this withered branch. 00:22:56.179 --> 00:22:59.139 When unbelief felt so overwhelming. 00:22:59.339 --> 00:23:01.559 That you felt like Psalm 137. 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:03.639 How can I sing again? 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:13.160 And Jesus says to Nathaniel, he says to you, he says to me, I've got my eye right on you. 00:23:16.540 --> 00:23:21.940 So the title of this second section is Big Things Come in Empty Boxes. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:28.259 And that's because the quality of faith is not measured by its size. 00:23:28.259 --> 00:23:35.240 The quality of faith is not measured by its size, but by its object. 00:23:36.619 --> 00:23:43.839 And this is the difficulty of the broken world is it wants to turn your gaze away from the kingdom, 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.099 away from the coming of Jesus. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:53.339 It wants to turn you to all these objects and all these idols. 00:23:53.339 --> 00:23:59.859 And ironically, faith flourishes when we suffer the fallen world. 00:24:00.439 --> 00:24:04.319 It turns our gaze, all the difficulties, all the cynicism, 00:24:04.879 --> 00:24:11.519 the gift of cynicism is that it can turn your gaze away from the things of this world towards heaven. 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:14.339 All this doubt is saying, you know what? 00:24:14.379 --> 00:24:20.379 I've come to realize that really this wasn't going to deliver for me at all. 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:33.560 You know, I thought that heaven would be found in this object, this vacation, this iPhone, 00:24:34.120 --> 00:24:40.860 this relationship, this promotion, this some object, and it fell apart. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:42.660 And I'm struggling with it. 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:47.600 And that's God's gift because he's turning your gaze away. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.579 He's giving you a new object to look at. 00:24:52.919 --> 00:24:58.319 This is why on the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.439 blessed are the poor. 00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:06.419 Blessed are the hungry. 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:10.079 Blessed are those who weep. 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:15.179 Blessed are you who feel like this. 00:25:15.179 --> 00:25:15.219 Blessed are you who feel like this. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:18.059 Blessed are you who are. 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:23.639 Big things come in empty boxes when you open it up 00:25:23.639 --> 00:25:25.519 and you're expecting something to be inside 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:27.480 and your life feels very hollow. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.240 That may be God's greatest gift to you. 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:36.179 And that you are now no longer to cling to anything but him. 00:25:38.419 --> 00:25:40.119 Woe to you who say, 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.059 I am full. 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:44.480 Woe to you who laugh now. 00:25:45.259 --> 00:25:51.039 Woe to you who revel and say God's favor is found in indoor plumbing and clean sheets. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:59.039 I'm not knocking going to Six Flags or having fun and, you know, we're in an air-conditioned 00:25:59.039 --> 00:25:59.660 room right now. 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:00.660 I'm not knocking these things. 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:09.019 But if this is your litmus test for God's favor upon you, then you're missing. 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:14.639 You've got your eyes focused on the wrong thing. 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:24.559 And when pain comes in, that may be Jesus' greatest gift to you because he's pulling 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.279 your gaze off of the things of this world and redirecting them to him. 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:32.720 David Wilcox says, prosperity will have its seasons. 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:37.099 And even when it's here, it's going by. 00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:42.079 And when it's gone, we pretend we know the reasons. 00:26:43.199 --> 00:26:48.039 And all the roots grow deeper when it's dry. 00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:53.500 The roots is what you want. 00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:00.319 You experience what's above the ground and the cold and the wind and the difficulties, 00:27:00.839 --> 00:27:05.799 but it drives your roots deeper saying, God, give me something more. 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:14.439 Because you know, the cynic knows in his heart that we are part of a bigger story and that 00:27:14.439 --> 00:27:16.199 this world is just not enough. 00:27:16.539 --> 00:27:19.419 He is inviting you into his story. 00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:22.599 You're not inviting Jesus into your story. 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:26.279 He is inviting you into his. 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:31.740 We'll end here moving towards verses 49 through 51. 00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:33.859 Grace for the cynic. 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:39.839 So if we looked at the first part, the first part being verses 43 through 46, the little 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:42.180 Dutch boy, that's our encounters with a broken world. 00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:46.700 It's our encounters with clinging to the promises. 00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:56.840 And then the second one is really experiencing a transformation of the gaze from this world 00:27:56.840 --> 00:27:58.660 to the coming kingdom. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:07.860 But the grace for the cynic is a view of the kingdom to come and finding true satisfaction 00:28:07.860 --> 00:28:11.319 and rest there. 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:14.879 A couple questions for you. 00:28:18.879 --> 00:28:23.339 How do you respond to broken promises? 00:28:26.619 --> 00:28:32.460 How do you respond to chaos and disorder? 00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:39.079 For me, anger swells up within me. 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:45.059 A fuel, feels like rocket fuel of what I thought was my order. 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:48.440 This is my kingdom of how it's supposed to be ordered. 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:50.480 And you're attempting to pull it off stage. 00:28:50.579 --> 00:28:51.480 Maybe that's traffic. 00:28:51.620 --> 00:28:52.380 Maybe that's family. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:53.660 Maybe it's somebody in the workplace. 00:28:54.019 --> 00:28:57.600 Whatever it is, you've stolen from what I perceive was my kingdom. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.919 And I'm experiencing disorder. 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:04.099 But that's my experience. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:06.639 Yours may be different. 00:29:10.379 --> 00:29:18.639 And how do the past experiences of your life, the woundedness that you've caused, 00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:23.599 that others caused, that you observe on television or in other people's lives, 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.159 how do those inform your ability to move forward? 00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:35.359 How does trauma change the actions that you take? 00:29:35.419 --> 00:29:39.179 Maybe you feel like Nietzsche's madman who said, 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:40.519 whither is it moving now? 00:29:40.619 --> 00:29:41.559 Whither are we moving? 00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:42.779 Away from all suns? 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:44.439 Are we not plunging continually? 00:29:44.699 --> 00:29:46.759 Backwards, sideward, forward in all directions? 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:48.699 Is there still any up or down? 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:51.959 Are we straying as through an infinite nothing? 00:29:51.959 --> 00:29:54.819 Do we not feel the breadth of empty space? 00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:57.779 Has it all not become colder? 00:29:58.879 --> 00:30:02.319 Is not night continually closing in on us? 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:06.559 This is the lie of cynicism that comes in. 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:09.299 It's to cling just to the doubt. 00:30:10.460 --> 00:30:13.279 And if you stay there, that's its fruit. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:21.740 Cynicism can be a gift when it becomes the cynic saint. 00:30:23.139 --> 00:30:27.619 When you become like Nathanael, as Jesus says to him, 00:30:28.899 --> 00:30:32.200 I know that you're experiencing the fallen world. 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:34.200 I know it's touched you. 00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:38.720 And you're perceiving a broken promise. 00:30:40.140 --> 00:30:43.840 But soon, Nathanael, coming very soon, 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:50.360 you will see God in triumphant defeat of all your fears. 00:30:50.860 --> 00:30:53.539 Hear it here in verses 49 through 51. 00:30:53.539 --> 00:30:59.859 Then Nathanael declared, 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:03.879 Rabbi, you are the son of God. 00:31:03.940 --> 00:31:06.139 A complete shift in his mindset, right? 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:08.980 He was broken and now he's completely trustworthy. 00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:10.740 Rabbi, you are the son of God. 00:31:10.839 --> 00:31:11.839 You are the king of Israel. 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:14.299 Jesus said, you believe because I told you, 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:16.500 I saw you under the fig tree. 00:31:17.399 --> 00:31:20.539 You will see greater things than that. 00:31:20.539 --> 00:31:23.659 Very truly, I tell you, 00:31:24.099 --> 00:31:26.180 you will see heaven open 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:30.139 and the angels of God ascending and descending 00:31:30.139 --> 00:31:31.379 on the son of man. 00:31:32.379 --> 00:31:33.619 Let me read that again. 00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:37.420 Very truly, Jesus' words, 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:39.359 his promise to Nathanael, 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:43.399 I tell you, you will see heaven open 00:31:43.399 --> 00:31:47.519 and the angels of God ascending and descending 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:50.019 on the son of man. 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:53.940 What Jesus is doing is revealing 00:31:53.940 --> 00:32:00.319 the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 28. 00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:03.680 This is what Nathanael is struggling with, right? 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:04.519 Because he's saying, look, 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:06.019 I know you're struggling with the promises. 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:08.940 So in Psalm 137, 00:32:09.019 --> 00:32:10.379 when they sat on the rivers of Babylon, 00:32:10.579 --> 00:32:12.660 they're saying, okay, this promise was for Jacob. 00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:13.740 We were supposed to be back there. 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:14.460 Was it true? 00:32:14.859 --> 00:32:16.539 Judges chapter six, God, 00:32:16.619 --> 00:32:18.359 your promise of never leaving us 00:32:18.359 --> 00:32:19.419 and never forsaking it. 00:32:19.419 --> 00:32:21.159 Is it true? 00:32:22.199 --> 00:32:24.179 Luke 24, and here again, 00:32:24.459 --> 00:32:25.819 are these promises true? 00:32:25.939 --> 00:32:29.279 And Jesus is saying, yes, it is true. 00:32:29.459 --> 00:32:31.619 Here is what Genesis 28 is saying. 00:32:32.919 --> 00:32:35.599 Jacob dreams a dream, 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:37.240 and behold, 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:42.459 there was a ladder set up on the earth 00:32:42.459 --> 00:32:45.259 and the top of it reached to heaven 00:32:45.259 --> 00:32:45.899 and behold, 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:48.079 the angels of God were ascending 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.740 and descending upon it. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:52.639 A promise made to Jacob, 00:32:52.740 --> 00:32:54.659 a promise cling to by Nathanael 00:32:54.659 --> 00:32:56.539 and Jesus is saying, 00:32:56.759 --> 00:32:58.599 it has come and it is being fulfilled 00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:00.319 and it will be fulfilled in my life. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:02.619 You will see this happen. 00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:05.879 The promise made to Jacob 00:33:05.879 --> 00:33:07.879 was that I will be with you 00:33:07.879 --> 00:33:10.740 and I will keep you wherever you go. 00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:12.019 Cynicism says, 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:13.099 I don't think that's true. 00:33:13.639 --> 00:33:15.500 I don't think God will stay with me 00:33:15.500 --> 00:33:16.299 wherever I go. 00:33:16.379 --> 00:33:17.139 And Jesus is saying, 00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:19.279 God promised that he would fulfill this 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:22.639 and it is being fulfilled right now. 00:33:23.299 --> 00:33:25.279 And the beauty of this is 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:29.279 that in the next verse to Jacob, 00:33:30.379 --> 00:33:31.180 Jacob says, 00:33:32.259 --> 00:33:34.599 God is in this place 00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:37.700 and I did not know it. 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:42.379 Doubt says God is not here. 00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:44.399 He is not present. 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:48.319 My circumstances are bigger than his promise. 00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:51.299 And Jesus is saying to Nathanael, 00:33:51.299 --> 00:33:56.940 I will defeat all of your fears 00:33:56.940 --> 00:33:57.740 and your doubts. 00:33:57.859 --> 00:33:58.919 And he says to us, 00:33:59.079 --> 00:34:01.839 I have perfected everything 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:04.539 that you need. 00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:08.279 God's promise 00:34:08.279 --> 00:34:12.039 to never leave and abandon us. 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:19.880 Why am I here? 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:25.000 I think I'm here to say 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:26.300 this one message to you. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:29.579 And someone asked me 00:34:29.579 --> 00:34:30.440 not too long ago, 00:34:30.579 --> 00:34:32.720 what does Southwood need to hear right now? 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:36.240 And Southwood needs to hear 00:34:36.240 --> 00:34:37.559 and I need to hear, 00:34:37.700 --> 00:34:39.200 I need to say this to you 00:34:39.200 --> 00:34:40.220 to my own heart, 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:43.980 is that Jesus knows 00:34:43.980 --> 00:34:45.579 what it likes to suffer 00:34:45.579 --> 00:34:47.460 the perceived abandonment of God. 00:34:47.460 --> 00:34:50.780 He knows what it's like 00:34:50.780 --> 00:34:52.740 to feel the cold, 00:34:53.639 --> 00:34:54.720 suffering wind. 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.760 He knows when he quotes Psalm 22, 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:00.199 my God, my God, 00:35:00.539 --> 00:35:03.840 why have you forsaken me? 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:05.360 The fullness of the weight 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:06.420 of all doubt, 00:35:06.720 --> 00:35:08.940 of any loneliness 00:35:08.940 --> 00:35:10.420 you could possibly fulfill 00:35:10.420 --> 00:35:12.240 has been dealt with with Jesus 00:35:12.240 --> 00:35:13.400 when he consummated 00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:14.240 the fulfillment 00:35:14.240 --> 00:35:15.440 of all the promises 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:18.559 of God's covenant love 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:20.160 on the cross. 00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:24.059 It is the life, 00:35:24.899 --> 00:35:25.619 the death, 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:27.159 and the resurrection 00:35:27.159 --> 00:35:28.460 of Christ 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:31.039 that becomes our hope 00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:32.839 in the depths 00:35:32.839 --> 00:35:34.279 of cynicism. 00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:37.199 That's the object 00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:38.019 that we are supposed 00:35:38.019 --> 00:35:40.279 to turn our gaze toward. 00:35:40.539 --> 00:35:41.960 What do we need to see? 00:35:42.839 --> 00:35:43.739 We need to see 00:35:43.739 --> 00:35:46.679 Jesus defeating death. 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:46.739 death. 00:35:49.739 --> 00:35:50.779 My friend, 00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:53.199 Andy Byers, 00:35:53.279 --> 00:35:54.139 puts it this way. 00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:58.940 Christ has punctured 00:35:58.940 --> 00:35:59.719 a hole 00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:01.139 in death's 00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:02.960 impenetrable ramparts 00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:04.440 and then walked through. 00:36:06.199 --> 00:36:08.239 It signals that something 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:09.759 freakishly amazing 00:36:09.759 --> 00:36:10.519 is underway. 00:36:10.919 --> 00:36:12.239 The system of evil 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:13.299 has a virus. 00:36:13.300 --> 00:36:13.380 Christ, 00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:15.460 not only is our world 00:36:15.460 --> 00:36:17.300 ex-Eden 00:36:17.300 --> 00:36:19.800 and pre-second coming, 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:21.680 but it is invaded 00:36:21.680 --> 00:36:22.640 by the powers 00:36:22.640 --> 00:36:23.740 of new creation. 00:36:24.380 --> 00:36:25.960 The hopeful realist, 00:36:26.039 --> 00:36:27.220 and what he means here 00:36:27.220 --> 00:36:29.340 is the cynic 00:36:29.340 --> 00:36:30.800 who has his hope 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:31.840 rest on Christ, 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:35.920 has ground for hope 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:37.860 not only because 00:36:37.860 --> 00:36:38.420 of Jesus' 00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:40.640 coming return, 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:42.579 but because 00:36:42.579 --> 00:36:44.099 mysterious 00:36:44.099 --> 00:36:45.920 resurrection powers 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:47.500 are at work 00:36:47.500 --> 00:36:48.519 even 00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:49.940 now. 00:36:51.799 --> 00:36:53.900 God is in this place 00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:55.159 even when I don't 00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:56.179 perceive him 00:36:56.179 --> 00:36:57.359 to be so. 00:36:58.819 --> 00:37:00.319 There is no 00:37:00.319 --> 00:37:01.400 empty box 00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:02.299 of cynical doubt 00:37:02.299 --> 00:37:03.199 that can 00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:04.839 overpass 00:37:04.839 --> 00:37:05.679 the power 00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:07.440 of the resurrection. 00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:09.840 The gift 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:10.460 of cynicism 00:37:10.460 --> 00:37:11.119 is the tension 00:37:11.119 --> 00:37:11.720 of the ages. 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:12.960 We live in the already 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:13.780 and the not yet 00:37:13.780 --> 00:37:15.420 to mourn the fallen world 00:37:15.420 --> 00:37:16.800 and to rejoice 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:18.420 for the kingdom 00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:19.420 come. 00:37:19.700 --> 00:37:21.679 And only the cynic saint, 00:37:21.860 --> 00:37:22.639 only those 00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:23.460 who encounter 00:37:23.460 --> 00:37:24.000 the fullness 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:25.059 of the broken world 00:37:25.059 --> 00:37:26.360 can say 00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:28.300 with broken tears, 00:37:29.500 --> 00:37:31.260 joyfully, 00:37:32.260 --> 00:37:33.300 come Jesus. 00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:35.800 we trust 00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:38.180 that your love 00:37:38.180 --> 00:37:39.720 is bigger 00:37:39.720 --> 00:37:41.460 than my doubt. 00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:45.460 Pray with me. 00:37:55.640 --> 00:37:57.120 Father, we cast 00:37:57.120 --> 00:37:58.140 ourselves upon you. 00:37:58.740 --> 00:37:59.980 We cast ourselves 00:37:59.980 --> 00:38:01.640 upon nothing 00:38:01.639 --> 00:38:02.199 but you. 00:38:02.279 --> 00:38:03.319 We have nowhere 00:38:03.319 --> 00:38:04.079 to go 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:04.779 but you. 00:38:05.319 --> 00:38:05.819 Forgive us, 00:38:06.019 --> 00:38:06.079 Father, 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:06.619 for clinging 00:38:06.619 --> 00:38:07.259 to the things 00:38:07.259 --> 00:38:07.759 of this world, 00:38:07.859 --> 00:38:08.679 for trying to find 00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:09.719 satisfaction here, 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:11.019 for trying to 00:38:11.019 --> 00:38:12.480 create 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:15.159 sanctuary 00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:16.319 apart from you. 00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:17.159 Jesus, 00:38:17.279 --> 00:38:17.980 we rejoice 00:38:17.980 --> 00:38:20.599 that your love 00:38:20.599 --> 00:38:21.059 is bigger 00:38:21.059 --> 00:38:21.900 than our doubt, 00:38:22.900 --> 00:38:24.059 that you have 00:38:24.059 --> 00:38:24.619 defeated 00:38:24.619 --> 00:38:27.279 all of our fears 00:38:27.279 --> 00:38:29.199 and all of our enemies, 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:30.460 and that you reign 00:38:30.460 --> 00:38:31.199 today, 00:38:31.740 --> 00:38:32.599 the resurrected 00:38:32.599 --> 00:38:34.220 God. 00:38:35.579 --> 00:38:36.179 Amen. 00:38:36.179 --> 00:38:36.300 Amen. 00:38:40.720 --> 00:38:42.159 For more information, 00:38:42.539 --> 00:38:43.460 visit us online 00:38:43.460 --> 00:38:44.760 at southwood.org.