Father, we ask that you would help us to understand your word.
You know, Father, the different ways that we want to quench your word, quench your Holy Spirit.
You know the different ways that we forget the gospel.
You know, Father, the different ways that we can be full of ourselves and have problems then with ourselves and others.
But, Father, you know all these things.
We are in your presence.
We know that you want to feed us through your word.
And so, Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would move in our hearts and minds that we might think upon your word, that we might be drawn to you, that we might be gripped by the gospel and live for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
My wife loves young children.
I mean, she loves older children, too, by the way.
It's not as if she says, oh, they're no longer young.
Forget about them.
She loves people.
She loves young children.
And so, if you were to come to our house with a young child, my wife has toys for those young children.
Even though our youngest is not even close to being a child, we have toys.
And one of the things that we have, which is perennially, it's always popular, is we have a red and yellow car.
Just a simple red car with a yellow roof.
It's a car that you don't need a pedal for or anything like that.
You just sort of, you know, like in the Flintstones, you just, the little kids can just use their foot to make it move.
There's a steering wheel.
There's a door that opens so you can get in and sit.
There's a trunk in the back so you can put Lego and dolls and stuffed animals and all that type of stuff.
And when a kid comes to visit, basically, as soon as they can start to move at all, you can just see they love looking at that red and yellow car.
And it's, in fact, there can be fights over it in terms of whose turn it is to get in and wheel that little thing around.
The kids just love it.
You can just see their imagination at work.
You know, they're just thinking, like, there's, like, a mom or a dad or a big person driving their car.
There's stuffed animals.
It's a wonderful time.
They love it.
They have great fun.
I was going to bring a picture of it, but I thought, no, no, this is a sermon about imagination.
So I just want you to imagine a red car with a yellow roof where kids can sit in it.
And even better, older kids or uncles or aunts or parents can push that car with the kid really, really quick and all sorts of different things.
Because all the child has to do is just lift his or her feet just an inch off the ground and off it goes.
The kid won't get hurt.
And it's a wonderful toy.
And we love to encourage imagination in our children.
Every single one of us does.
But one of the things, unfortunately, which has been true of the Christian church throughout the years and probably even true amongst many Christians today,
is that for many Christians, it's all right for kids to have an imagination.
But once they get a bit older, it becomes a little bit suspect.
In fact, for many churches, to go to a church is to go to a place where your imagination will die.
Because often we Christians are just very afraid of it.
We're afraid of the type of freedom and creativity that comes with imagination.
I remember many, many years ago, because I'm getting ancient of days, I went back to the church that I grew up in.
Good godly church.
I'm sure there are lots and lots of the people who went to that church are in high places of heaven today, those who have died.
But I remember going back and I had just started university.
And they all, with interest, asked me what I was doing about schooling.
And when I told them that I had gone to a secular university to study philosophy and sociology,
their face literally fell.
Literally fell.
And they warned me against going to such a place.
And they recommended me to go to a place which was very, very strict.
And just very, very strict.
And very, very safe.
Sort of like a ghetto.
So why is it that Christians often are very, very suspicious of the imagination?
Why is it that we encourage them with imagination with children,
but are fearful of it with adults?
And is this something that comes out of the fact that we're Christians?
Or is it something, does the Bible tell us something very, very different about the imagination?
That's what the text that we're going to look at today has some very, very powerful and interesting things to say about this question.
So if you have your Bibles, turn in them to Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14.
Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14.
And actually, for those of you who don't have your Bibles, we're going to put the text up on the screen.
There it is.
And just as you start to read it, just a little bit of context for you.
This is something that began, it was a letter originally,
and it was written by a man named Paul, maybe around the year 60.
And he's in jail in Rome.
And he's sending this letter to a place in what is now Turkey,
but at the time would have been just part of the Roman Empire.
It was the second biggest city in the Roman Empire,
a city devoted to the worship of Artemis, a goddess.
And the people that he's writing to,
almost all of them would have been pagans who would become Christians.
And here's how it goes, this little bit that we're looking at today.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
Just sort of pause there.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
Now, first of all, many of you might say,
George, I can see the problem right here.
Like, this is why imagination and creativity goes to church to die.
I mean, how on earth can you possibly begin a text on imagination
by having to bow your knee to God?
Like, surely, if there's going to be something
that's going to just stop imagination cold,
it's this odd idea of bowing your knee to God.
It's not very, very promising.
Now, I just want to explain something about this text
to see that it's actually the beginning of something
which is really important about imagination
and the many, many different aspects of imagination.
And first of all, I have to apologize for those of you who are here,
and this is your first week that you are here.
We're going through all of the book of Ephesians.
And so one of the ways to imagine what you've just heard
and what we're about to hear this morning
is imagine you're watching a series on Netflix
that has 12 episodes.
We're at episode 6.
And so you've just come to visit us,
and we're watching episode 6 with you.
I've watched the previous five episodes.
This is your first episode, and you're going,
What?
I'm like, What?
What's going on here?
So this thing here, which sounds really weird,
is coming out of a previous episode,
and it's actually something which is very, very powerful and wonderful.
You see, actually here, I'll just put up the point,
and then I'll explain a little bit about what's going on.
You bow the knee to the one who adopted you as his son,
giving you a new name and a new destiny.
You bow the knee to the one who adopted you as his son,
giving you a new name and a new destiny.
And somebody's saying, George, why it's all this guy stuff?
Like, what about girls?
Like, what about women?
So here's the thing, the wonderful thing which went on earlier on
in an earlier episode that we talked about.
In the ancient world, somebody my age could be adopted.
And in fact, in the ancient world, people my age,
somebody like me might, in fact, a very, very rich person
who didn't have an heir might look at me and say,
that's the guy I want to have.
I'm going to adopt that guy so that he can become my heir
because he has five sons who are all healthy.
This would be the perfect guy.
And he seems, like, reasonable.
He seems, you know, he knows how to brush his teeth.
And at least on Sundays, I'm vaguely color-coordinated,
although I am wearing sandals with socks,
which is a fashion faux pas.
But, you know, apart from that,
he's probably a perfectly good guy for me to adopt.
And when this rich person would have adopted me
in the ancient world, I would have given up my last name.
I would no longer be George Sinclair.
I would take on his last name.
And I would be adopted as his son to inherit all things.
And so one of the things that we looked at
is that many people make the mistake of thinking
that Christianity is just proposing a whole series of hypotheses.
And obviously, it does propose things to believe.
But at the heart of the Christian faith isn't just,
I suggest this hypothesis and this hypothesis and this hypothesis.
One of the ways to understand it is at the heart of the Bible,
the heart of the New Testament,
is that God is making a proposal to you.
Can I adopt you as my son?
And this is what's so breathtaking about this text
and it's why we keep the male language.
You see, one of the things, if you go back and study
how the Christian church grew,
in the first 50, 60 years, 100 years,
the overwhelming majority of the church,
not all, but the overwhelming majority of the church
were women and slaves.
You can't imagine in Canada
how powerful the message would be to a woman
who is lacking rights and power and property often,
that if you become a Christian,
the creator of the universe is going to adopt you
as if you are his son
with the right to inherit.
It's hard for us to imagine a slave being told
that if you give your life to Jesus,
God will adopt you as his son
with the full right of inheritance.
And that's what's going on in this text.
Paul is sort of bringing a section to a close.
He's sort of rounding up some of the things
in the previous five episodes.
He's rounding it up in the form of a prayer.
And he's saying to these people
who have given their lives to Jesus,
and when it says here that,
if you remember, I'm not,
I can go backwards, can't I?
Woo-hoo, let's see that.
Here you go.
If you go back and you look at the text again,
see, that's what's going on here.
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father.
Bowing my knees means that I'm,
it's an act of allegiance.
It's an act of gratitude.
It's an act of just acknowledging
the greatness of the one
and the greatness of the gift.
And you know,
I mean, I'm going to inherit nothing from my parents.
And I'm not losing any sleep over that,
but just to,
all of a sudden,
Bill Gates,
if this was the ancient world,
and Bill Gates said,
I'm going to be,
George, you're going to be my heir.
The billions and billions and billions of dollars.
Or if the Queen of England,
all her kids die,
and she adopted me,
and I'm going to be the next king.
And so,
for this reason,
I bow my knee before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and earth is named.
It's not saying every human being.
It's saying every single person,
whether in a family on earth,
or not,
now has a new name,
a new identity.
That's what my point is.
Has a new name,
has a new identity.
And you bow the knee to the one who adopted you as his son,
giving you a new name,
and a new destiny.
You see,
that's why he says this.
Not to quench your imagination,
not to put you down,
but for Christians,
to remind you who you are.
And his response is
completely and utterly reasonable.
Now, usually,
when we think of the imagination,
we think of being able to draw.
We think of little kids
playing in their red car
with the yellow roof.
We think of being able to write a book,
or being able to write a poem,
or something like that.
But in fact,
the matter is,
is the imagination is way more powerful and present in all of our lives than this.
Just think of this quote.
I wish I could remember where I heard it.
I heard it a long, long time ago,
and I can't remember now where I heard it from.
Worry is a waste of the imagination.
Isn't that true?
Worry is a waste of the imagination.
Louise would have vastly more stories about this than I would.
But I, you know,
there's been, you know,
times when I've been at home,
and I've expected Louise home at four o'clock,
and she's driving the vehicle,
and 4.30 comes,
and five o'clock comes,
and 5.30,
and six,
and 6.30,
and still no Louise.
And my imagination starts to go.
It's gone long before it's come to 6 or 6.30.
And my imagination isn't,
oh, she's just sitting somewhere having a coffee and a Starbucks,
and having a wonderful quiet time by herself.
No!
I picture car accidents and terrible things going on,
and that's how my imagination just automatically starts to go.
And isn't that true?
It's not just that our imagination works in terms of being able to draw something,
but we imagine success.
We imagine triumph.
Somebody says some terrible thing to us,
and we don't have the chutzpah or the guts to say something to them,
but we walk away,
and in our imagination,
are we ever putting them straight?
We're triumphing.
But then if your wife says,
you should go and say that to that person,
then our imagination instantly goes to the ruin that would happen
if we actually tried to say that to the person.
We imagine all sorts of things beyond just how to make a poem.
Imagination's a far more powerful force in our lives.
And the Bible here has something, again,
that's speaking far more deeply into imagination
than just the aspect of creativity.
Look what happens next.
And those of you who are following along in the ESV,
I've made a couple of tiny changes in the text,
not so that it fits my argument, I promise you,
but to bring up the more literal original language.
Here's what the next part of the Bible says.
It says,
that he may grant you to be strengthened with power
in accordance with the riches of his glory
through his spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and likewise to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
It's a very, very rich and powerful text.
And here's what's going on
to try to help us to just calm down and pause
and try to enter into the beauty of the text.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in a coffee shop,
and there was an older woman sitting there working.
If you go to some coffee shops,
they'll have tables where,
I think this table, you could get eight people seated.
And so there's a table for eight.
I was at one end,
and there's this woman probably close in age to me
at the other end,
and there's nobody else.
All the other six chairs were empty.
And a young woman came and sat right in front
of the older woman.
And not only did she come and sit
right in front of the older woman,
but she immediately put up a computer
and another screen
and a whole pile of things
and basically pushed the older woman back
and took away her view
by putting like a double screen in front of her
so that all of a sudden,
if the older woman's sitting there,
rather than being able to just sort of look out
or around people's shoulders,
there are two big computer screens
right in front of her,
right in front of her face,
like 18 inches away.
So a little drama unfolds
in terms of the woman saying something
to the younger woman
and getting no response
and then going to the manager.
And then,
the next thing you know,
the young woman goes to the manager
and still nothing happens
and then the manager comes
to speak to the younger woman.
And what happens next
is one of those things
that makes a public place
like a coffee shop,
everybody get quiet
and everybody get very,
very uncomfortable.
Because that young woman
with a very,
very loud voice
started claiming some disability
with light sensitivity
and with a loud,
loud voice
said that this was the only place
in the entire restaurant
that she had to,
she could sit
and so everybody else
had to get out of their way
and whenever the manager,
who's very,
very quiet and gentle
with a quiet voice,
started to try to say something to her,
she literally,
the young woman literally went,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
with a loud voice,
her fingers and ears,
la, la, la, la, la, la,
and finally the manager would pause,
she would,
the young woman takes her fingers
out of her ears
and then the manager tries
to talk to her again,
la, la, la, la, la, la,
even louder
so the whole restaurant
can hear this.
You've got to go
to more coffee shops,
it's not just having a coffee,
let me tell you,
sometimes it's quite something.
I'm sitting there thinking,
no, I'm not going
to get involved in this.
I'm just going to look at my book
and pretend that nothing
over there is happening.
You know, eventually
the manager left in defeat,
the older woman moved
and then three minutes later
she gathered her stuff up
and she left the restaurant
and eventually the restaurant
started to quieten down.
Now, what that illustrates
in a very, very powerful way,
in an extreme way,
is something that goes on
all the time in our lives, right?
It's the balance.
How do we balance
getting along with a group
and our own individualism?
Like, how do we balance
those things, right?
Like, it comes up all the time.
In our culture,
we have a very, very, very,
very high demand
of an individualism
and being able to be
authentic to yourself
and seek autonomy
and being true to yourself
and I have to be true to myself.
And in our culture,
often what that means
is if you're going to be
authentic and true to yourself,
what it means ultimately
is if that means
that your wife
or your husband
or your boyfriend
or your girlfriend
or your kids
just aren't getting
with the program,
in our culture,
often it's viewed
that it's fine
to end the marriage
or end the relationship
because individualism triumphs.
In other cultures,
as we know,
everything,
the family matters
very much more
and if you have a child
who's just not fitting in,
the child has to be squashed
to fit in with the family
and there's,
we see in different cultures
different ways
of trying to solve
the interests,
the needs,
the desires,
the plans of the individual
with the group.
And believe it or not,
what we see here,
and so it's very easy
for us to try to think
that when we come
into the Christian world,
so Jesus becomes
our Savior and our Lord
and he's going to pick
one side on this.
He's going to say,
yay, individualism!
Woohoo!
Like, you know,
all, you know,
individualism trumps
over marriage,
trumps over family,
trumps over the workplace.
It just,
it always,
you know,
and then,
or some of us
are going to say,
especially if we come
from very traditional cultures
or if we have
very traditional
type of families,
we're hoping that Jesus
says no to individualism,
boo to individualism,
up family,
up the organization,
up the big group,
and you just have
to be squashed.
And so we go
into the Bible
and we bring
this perspective with us
and then what we come
across is in this text
where Paul is summarizing
the truths
that have been unearthed
in the five previous episodes
and now he's taking
these truths
and he's turning it
into a prayer
and in this prayer
we see a different path,
a different option.
Let me try to give you
a couple of points
to try to bring it out.
You will know him
personally
and uniquely
but you know him
better with others.
You will know him
personally
and uniquely
but you know him
better
with others.
That's what we see
going throughout
this entire text.
You see,
I can't become a Christian
through my family.
I need to come
to a personal
saving faith
in Jesus Christ.
Jesus died
on the cross
for me.
He was thinking
of me
and he was thinking
of you
and he didn't just
die
for the wrongdoings
of white males
in Canada
over a certain age.
No, he died
for the things
that I have done wrong.
He died
to deal
with my debt.
He died
to deal
with my doom.
He thought
of me
as he died
and looked
for me
in his resurrection.
It's deeply
personal.
But at the same
time,
at the same time,
there's something
more.
Paul,
all the way
through the text,
has been trying
to show
how there's
this corporate
larger aspect
to the Christian
faith.
And so it is,
yes,
it is the case
that when he talks
about knowing
Christ
and the love
of Christ
that surpasses
knowledge,
there is a sense
that you will
know him
personally
and uniquely,
but you know
him better
with others.
And don't we
sometimes when
things are
going best,
don't we
experience that
all the time?
Like,
isn't it the case
that if you get
to go to a cottage
and the sun
is setting
and you just,
and it's one
of those days
where it's just
perfect and it's
the mosquito season's
ended and the
black fly season's
ended and you
have a fire
close to the shore
and the sun is
setting over the
lake and you can
hear the loon
and it's just
so beautiful
and isn't it
even more
beautiful when
you do it
with your loved
ones?
Isn't it?
It is.
And you can
have a great
time playing
a game,
but you know
what,
you can play
that game
with your loved
ones,
it's even
better.
You're listening
to music,
they can go
on and on
and on.
There are so
many times
where it's
both something
that you
personally,
uniquely know,
but at the
same time,
the pleasure
of others
is there.
And what the
Bible is saying
is this,
when I see
God face to
face,
I will begin
to know the
unsurpassed
knowledge of
the love of
Christ.
But as I
get to view
Christ,
I get to
also view
him and see
how my
brother and
sister from
Uganda,
from China,
from Iran,
from Alabama,
from Guatemala,
when I get
to see how
they also
at the same
time know
Christ and
are being
overwhelmed
with the
surpassing
knowledge of
the love
of Christ,
and we not
only get to
see that with
those of us
who live on
the earth
here at the
same time
right now,
but also
with the
saints who
were martyred
in the
Colosseum
of Rome,
in the
first century,
and the
barbarians who
became Christians
through the
ministry of
Patrick in
the 400s.
And we
will know
the love of
Christ that
surpasses
knowledge,
but to know
it in the
context of
men and
women,
young and
old,
different
cultures and
languages,
it will be
better.
And if
that is
what our
final end
is,
we should
do what
we can
now to
taste it
now.
To taste
it now.
Another
illustration.
You are
the home
where Jesus
dwells,
and you
are a
living stone
among
countless
others being
built into
a temple
where God
dwells.
I didn't,
my notes
are poor
there.
You are
the home
where Jesus
dwells,
and you
are a
living stone
among
countless
others being
built by
him into
the temple
where he
dwells.
That's what
Paul is getting
here as well,
right?
He says that
Jesus might
dwell in your
hearts with
faith, but
he says that
you will
know this
with all
the saints.
And that's
this spectacular
mystery that,
in a sense,
the Christian
life really
begins.
There's this
wonderful text
in the book
of Revelation
that it
pictures that
Jesus is
standing on
the outside.
He'll never
force his
way in,
never at
all.
He respects
your freedom
right to
the very
end,
and in
all eternity.
He respects
your freedom,
but he stands
at the door
and knocks.
And most
religion is
people talking
to Jesus
on the other
side of the
door.
Maybe they
bend down
and they
get on
the ground
and they
see Jesus'
feet,
underneath
the door.
And maybe
if it's
an old-fashioned
door with
a big lock,
they look
through the
keyhole and
they see a
little tiny
bit of a
glimpse of
Jesus.
But the
Christian life
begins when
Jesus,
who is
knocking and
knocking,
not just
content to
talk to you
through the
door,
and you
finally open
the door up
and you
say,
Jesus,
come on
in.
Be in,
come in,
as my
Savior and
as my
Lord,
and dwell
within.
See,
the Christian
faith isn't
just proposing
an hypothesis.
Here's another
proposal.
Jesus says
to you,
will you
let me
in to
dwell in
you as
Savior and
Lord?
It's a
proposal.
Will you
let me
enter in
as your
Savior and
Lord?
And he
dwells.
He dwells.
Very
personally
unique.
But you
know what?
If you go
back and
look at the
earlier episodes,
at the same
time, it's
not just that
he dwells
within me,
individualism,
but the
image is
that out of
saints who
became Christians
in Ireland
in the
fourth century
and in
France in
the year
1000 and
in China
today and
in Alabama
and in
Africa and
in Canada,
that each
one who
allows Jesus
to come in
and dwell is
also becoming
a living
stone and
God is
making this
temple out
of human
beings that
crosses the
cultures and
the races and
the languages
and the ages
and he
dwells there
at the
same time.
One final
image from
that text.
The finite
can be
filled,
the finite
can be
freshly filled
with the
infinite
forever.
The finite
can be
filled,
freshly filled
with the
infinite
forever.
You see,
that's what it
says at the
end, you
know, that
you will be
filled with
the fullness
of God
and the
image there,
it's as if
you are a
big basin
and a basin
is just
finite, but
it's as if
God pours
himself into
you as a
basin with
living water.
He pours
himself into
you and
he pours
himself into
you and
it's not as
if, oh,
he's got you
up to the
top and
now he's
just going
to leave
you.
No, it's
as if from
all eternity
I who am
finite, just
a basin, just
a bowl, but
from all
eternity God
pours himself
into me and
pours himself
into me and
pours himself
into me and
even though I
am finite and
I will always
be finite, I
will never be
a God, neither
will you, but
when the
infinite desire
is to freshly
fill you, he
will do that
for all
eternity and
it will always
be fresh and
always be new
and there
will be no
end to the
glory in
you.
Amen.
You see, why
does this
connect to the
text that I
began with,
worry is a
waste of the
imagination?
You see, Paul
wants to remind
us in the
context of a
prayer that so
many of us,
me especially,
we use our
imagination for
worry.
We use our
imagination for
our own glory.
we use our
imagination,
imagining triumph
or fearing
complete and
utter ruin,
success or
failure.
But that as
these truths
grip us to
give us a
security about
what is going
on within us
at the deepest
level of who
we are and
what our final
end will be
and the final
word about
us, it can
start to create
a security to
face the
hard times
and security
to take the
risks to
plan for
growth, to
take the
risk of
creating a
business or
creating a
beautiful cottage
or house,
like it
creates, this
begins to
create and
root your
creativity and
your imagination
in a way that
you can over
deal with
setbacks,
hope for
the future.
The Bible
does not
want you to
live in
fear,
squashed.
The Bible,
God desires
you to be
healed and
grow.
Let's look
at the
final text.
Now to
him who
is able to
accomplish far
more abundantly
than all that
we ask or
imagine.
There's the
word imagine.
Say it
again.
Now to
him who
is able to
accomplish far
more abundantly
than all that
we ask or
imagine,
according to
the power
that is at
work within
us, to
him be the
glory in
the church
and in
Christ Jesus
throughout all
generations,
forever and
ever.
Amen.
I'm going to
say it again.
Now to
him who
is able to
accomplish far
more abundantly
than all that
we can ask or
imagine,
according to
the power that
is at work
within us,
to him be the
glory in
the church
and in
Christ Jesus
throughout all
generations,
every generation
forever and
ever.
Amen.
See, the fact
of the matter
is that the
human problem
is that our
imagination is
too weak.
Every single
one of you,
your imagination
is too weak.
Sometimes we
fear success.
We fear our
imagination.
If it starts
to even get
too strong,
we fear it.
Just like in
life, in so
many businesses,
a very common
problem can be
a fear of
success.
What if I
actually get
that promotion
and then they'll
realize I am
a hopeless
loser?
I am a
12-year-old
who looks
old.
Why are they
giving me this
power?
And so we
can fear
success.
We can fear
the promotion.
We can fear
that the
dance or
the music
or the art
or the
business or
the property
or whatever
it is that we
desire, we
can be destroyed
by a fear of
success.
It can be too
much and we
can quench it.
You see, the fact
of the matter is
that stifling the
imagination is a
human problem.
It is a human
problem.
And the
gospel is this
perennial quiet
witness to
those of us
who want to
live in
ghettos and
want to live
in fear
to not be
afraid.
What's one of
the very, very
first things?
I think it's the
very, very first
thing Jesus says
to the disciples
after his
resurrection.
do not be
afraid.
Our imagination
is too weak.
When we're
gripped by the
gospel, it
will grow.
And our
imagination is
too easily
turned to our
own glory.
And from our
own glory, we
have these
artificial highs
and lows of
triumph or
ruin.
We have no
firm basis of
security.
that can go
into all of
eternity and
the gospel
desires to
give you in
Christ that
security and
knowing that
Jesus knew and
knows every
single thing
about you from
the moment of
your birth to
the moment of
your death.
He knows the
dreams you don't
remember when you
wake up.
He knows your
secret shames.
He even knows
the shames that
happened when you
were young that
you have repressed
and blocked and
someday it comes
to light.
God, but he
knew and
still knowing he
died out of
love for you and
on the cross,
every single thing
that could possibly
keep you from
God, any possible
accusation against
yourself or another
against you, he
paid for that
price.
And when you
stand before God
face to face, you
are not clothed with
your perfect
accomplishments.
No, you are
clothed with Christ's
accomplishment.
commitment.
And this is to
give us when we
receive it, when we
say, yes, I will
accept your offer
to adopt me.
Yes, I will
accept your offer.
Jesus, come in and
dwell within me and
make your home within
me and remodel it
and do whatever has
to be done.
Come and live within
me.
He really comes.
in him, through the
gospel, your
imagination will be
healed and grow and
in the light of his
many-splendored,
multicultural,
multiracial,
multigenerational,
eternal glory, it
will be healed and
grow.
It will be healed and
grow.
I invite you to
stand, please.
Let's just, just
before we go into
prayer, if you have
never even thought
about the fact that
it's not just a
matter of ideas, but
I mean, there is,
there are these very
powerful ideas of
creation and how the
world works and very
powerful ideas, but
it's not just that the
Bible is giving us a
seminar in ideas,
although there are
ideas to learn, but
that at the heart of
the Christian faith is
Jesus saying,
George, I'm knocking
at the door of your
life, and I know
what's inside there way
better than you know
what's inside yourself,
and I know the
failures you're afraid
of, I know the
successes you're afraid
of, I know the way you
quench your imagination,
I know how your
imagination is bent, I
know all that stuff, but
I died for you.
I want to enter in, just
please, George, open the
door, open the door,
open the door, and
don't just open the
door, but say to me,
Jesus, come on in,
please come in, come in
as Savior, come in as
Lord, never let me go.
If that's never
happened for you, or
you've never, a change
has happened in your
life where Jesus is
your Savior and your
Lord, but you've never
said anything, you've
never been able to put
it into words, there's
no better time, forget
the rest of my prayer,
just do some work with
him right now, and say,
and if some of you have
very good visual
imaginations, just
imagine him coming in
and dwelling within, and
he will do it.
And for all of us, let
me pray for us.
Father, we thank you
that you do not want
to squash our
imagination, you don't
want to squash our
creativity, you do not
want to squash us, that
you died to save us.
You died, Father, so
that we might know the
unsurpassable love of
Christ.
To begin to taste and
know that now in
ourselves and in the
company of others, and
that there is a sure and
certain promise and
hope that in Christ, our
destiny, that even
though we are finite, that
for all eternity, you will
freshly fill us with
yourself.
And that that is
something, Father, we
will delight in personally,
and our delight will be
multiplied many, many
times as we share that
delight with others.
We thank you, Father, you
do not want to leave us
alone, that you have died
to save us in the person
of your Son.
And we ask that you would
grip us with these truths,
grip us with the gospel,
that we might live for your
glory.
And all God's people said,
Amen.