WEBVTT 00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:03.820 Lord, open the eyes of our hearts. We want to see you. 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:07.459 So I want to start by asking a question. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:09.960 What are you all doing here? 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.419 That made all your heads look up, and that was the point. 00:00:13.540 --> 00:00:18.179 Maybe a better way of phrasing it is, why are you here? 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:22.740 But I like the first phrasing because I'd hoped everybody would look up the way you did, so that's good. 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:27.500 I've given a lot of thought about this over the years, about why I come to church, 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:29.440 even before I wore a collar. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.719 And some of my answers over the years have included to be spiritually fed. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.619 I like the preaching. The worship's good. 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:41.640 I'm here for the fellowship. My friends come here. 00:00:42.340 --> 00:00:45.000 I'm looking for community, maybe to be plugged in. 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:47.340 I want to find someone to marry. 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:51.679 I should pause for Jen. This is an old list. It's not a current list. 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:56.820 Other options might be, it's my duty, or it's good to me. 00:00:56.820 --> 00:01:00.179 It's good for me. Maybe it's good for my kids. Maybe I want to serve. 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:05.939 I've never heard anybody say they come to church for the coffee, but that's not the point of church, so it's good. 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:08.400 I did not grow up in church. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:13.760 But all of these and other reasons have been my reasons for why I went to church over the years. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:17.460 If I'm honest, I have a funny relationship with church. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:24.640 I've experienced it as the mystical body of Christ here on earth, and as a dysfunctional institution that wounds people. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:33.280 I love the body of Christ, but I often keep the church at a bit of an arm's length at times, which is weird because I'm ordained. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.760 But I was called to ministry, to the priesthood. 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:46.000 It was clear this was a call to consecration to the Lord, to service, but it would never be my identity, and I'm very thankful to the Lord for that realization. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.579 The church, then, is a people I love. 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:51.379 You are the people I love. 00:01:51.379 --> 00:01:55.979 But it's an institution that needs to be questioned and held accountable at times. 00:01:57.219 --> 00:01:59.179 So what does it look like in practice? 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:08.379 When I reach out to love people like you, often it's me coming up to you in person or emailing you or texting you saying, how are you doing? 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:10.219 And it's probably often awkward. 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:15.560 But church is one of those few places in D.C. where you can come up to someone and say, how are you doing? 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:19.859 And everybody suppresses that inner urge to say, what do you want from me? 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:21.340 So it's good. 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:26.500 So I will keep asking you because your connection to the Lord matters to me very deeply. 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:28.080 So why are we here? 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:30.880 I want to offer one of my answers. 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:39.260 And as I was putting these thoughts down, I realized that these answers, my answers to this question, are probably way more personal than I thought. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.300 They are a much deeper reflection of what's going on inside of me than I realized. 00:02:44.720 --> 00:02:47.340 So a couple starting points to this question. 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:51.719 My starting point is my consecration through ordination. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.080 So there are two things that are very meaningful to me. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:55.420 One is a ring. 00:02:56.340 --> 00:02:58.620 So on my left hand, I wear a wedding ring. 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:02.840 And on my right, I wear a ring that Jen gave me when I was made a priest. 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:07.000 This one has a crown of thorns embossed around it. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:12.599 The wedding ring reminds me that I'm in a covenant with Jen wherever I am no matter what. 00:03:13.319 --> 00:03:21.620 And this other ring reminds me of the journey I had on my way to ordination where I came to know Christ crucified and resurrected. 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:25.580 And that I'm one who said yes to Jesus long before ordination. 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:29.240 That I would be found in him alone, crucified and raised. 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.240 And this I carry with me as a reminder wherever I am no matter what. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:38.400 And the second is a stole that Jen had made for my ordination of the diaconate. 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:39.180 I'm wearing it. 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:44.719 So this was made from a scarf that was given to me on a trip to India. 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:52.740 I was participating in an event that marked the 100th anniversary of the first baptism of the first 12 converts in that district. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:57.140 And those baptisms were the start of the church in that part of the world. 00:03:57.180 --> 00:03:58.080 And the church grew. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:03.760 But in the 24 months leading up to this celebration event, the church was heavily persecuted. 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:09.320 So I received this scarf as a gift that all foreigners who came to this event received. 00:04:09.860 --> 00:04:10.880 My name was called. 00:04:11.040 --> 00:04:12.420 People started clapping politely. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.480 And a person walked over to me to give the scarf. 00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:21.879 And when the person came close, I saw that this person was someone who had survived the hatred and violence against the church. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:27.480 They were marked with scars, cuts and burn marks from what she'd suffered. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:30.079 She smiled and gave me this scarf. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.800 And at that moment, as I held my hands out, everything seemed to go quiet. 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:37.359 I felt the presence of the Lord. 00:04:37.699 --> 00:04:39.939 I felt like I was in the presence of a saint. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:45.680 Not quite would say maybe I should take my shoes off, but it felt like one of those moments. 00:04:46.159 --> 00:04:50.379 I was before someone who was faithful to the Lord in the face of actual suffering. 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:51.939 And she was giving me a gift. 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:53.860 And I felt unworthy. 00:04:53.860 --> 00:05:07.280 So Jen took this scarf and had it sewn into a stole to remind me that my consecration is one to the suffering and faithful lamb who holds us all together. 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:12.060 And it reminds me of my connection to the faithful and witnessing church around the world. 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:17.560 So from that starting place, I keep asking, why are we here? 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:23.839 These experiences, why we're the ring and the stole, were moments of encounter with the Lord for me. 00:05:24.660 --> 00:05:28.240 And it's that word encounter specifically with the Lord Jesus I want to talk about. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:33.400 So the passages we read today are bookends to an entire biblical narrative. 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:41.060 It starts in a garden where everything is new and it ends in this global cosmic scene when everything is made new again. 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:46.620 The Lord is fully seen in that moment and everyone and everything gathers around to give him praise. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.579 And in between these bookends, we read in the gospel a statement by Jesus. 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:59.419 He made them before an absolutely astounding statement about himself made in an ordinary setting to an ordinary person. 00:06:00.659 --> 00:06:06.599 The reason I come to church is to align myself with what Jesus and his father were after. 00:06:07.139 --> 00:06:16.899 From the garden in the beginning to the grand scene at the end and everything in between, God is in pursuit of us to restore us to relationship and connection with him. 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:24.699 To restore us to a place of intimacy as sons and daughters in relationship to the father so that we would know him and his love for us. 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:30.699 You and I are the treasure, the hidden treasure in a field for which God would pay any price to have. 00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:33.299 I come here to encounter the Lord. 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:34.579 So what does that mean? 00:06:34.659 --> 00:06:35.419 What does it look like? 00:06:36.479 --> 00:06:38.699 So there are different approaches Christianity can take. 00:06:38.859 --> 00:06:39.979 Two popular ones. 00:06:40.659 --> 00:06:41.179 Intellectual. 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:49.500 An intellectual approach gives us a deep reflective knowledge about God and spiritual things, sin, salvation, about how to live as a Christian. 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:57.379 And an intellectual approach to Christianity has given us a foundation to support our pursuit of truth and holiness and engagement with culture. 00:06:58.699 --> 00:07:04.160 And here in Advent, I've seen the fruits of that approach in the form of solid theology, piety and service. 00:07:04.280 --> 00:07:06.019 And I love that about the Advent family. 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:08.759 Another approach is the liturgical. 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:15.920 Liturgy is the embodiment of intentionality and purpose, of being deliberate about how we respond to God. 00:07:16.620 --> 00:07:23.459 Thomas Cranmer, when he was writing the first book of Common Prayer, had this image in mind from his love of falconry. 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:31.219 In that sport, when the falcon's flying around, the falconer puts a glove on and lays a strip of meat on the glove. 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:35.220 And the falcon is enticed back to the falconer. 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:41.320 And in his mind, the liturgy was meant to be that thing which entices and draws us to the love of God. 00:07:41.880 --> 00:07:44.540 I love that intentionality about Anglican liturgy. 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.040 And this family does that well, too. 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:54.540 The downside to intellectualism and liturgy is legalism, aridness, rigidity, lifeless talk. 00:07:54.540 --> 00:08:01.560 It offers us the promise of safe control over the mystery of God, anxiety about screwing up the liturgy. 00:08:02.780 --> 00:08:07.000 But I don't need the church to feed my intellectual interest in God. 00:08:07.320 --> 00:08:11.140 And I'm probably the last one to worry about whether we nail the liturgy every time. 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:17.699 What I sense among you, what I have in myself, is a desire for more. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.180 To encounter the Lord experientially. 00:08:21.219 --> 00:08:32.039 And as I've come to know you over the last couple years, I hear in you this desire that coexists with a wariness of experience, emotional excess, and being cuckoo. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:33.819 And I get that. 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:45.120 But I want to encourage you to consider an encounter with the Lord as the difference between me giving Jen a book called The Mystery of Marriage versus going out with her on a date night. 00:08:45.900 --> 00:08:54.000 Or my kids watching a YouTube cartoon about dads versus me spending time with them so they know me as their dad and as the dad who loves them. 00:08:54.800 --> 00:08:55.580 Books are good. 00:08:55.680 --> 00:08:56.480 Videos are great. 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.480 It's not the same as knowing a person in real life. 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:04.740 Encountering the Lord for me has been about knowing the presence of God. 00:09:05.300 --> 00:09:06.659 It's been very profound for me. 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:09.740 I think we've all heard this expression, the presence of God. 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:12.100 I want to define it this way. 00:09:12.379 --> 00:09:21.120 The presence of God is our experience of when God, who is transcendent and omnipresent, draws near to us in a way that's manifest. 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:22.659 Let me say it again. 00:09:22.659 --> 00:09:38.000 The presence of God is our experience of when God, who is transcendent, in other words, something other from our creation, and omnipresent, present to us everywhere all the time, draws near to us in a way that is manifest. 00:09:38.339 --> 00:09:42.019 It's a unique, special experience of God drawing close. 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:45.559 Scripture describes these moments of God's presence. 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:53.799 The Garden of Eden, what Adam and Eve enjoyed before the fall was that unfiltered experience of God drawing close. 00:09:54.819 --> 00:10:00.019 And on the other side of the cross at the very end, that's restored when everyone gathers around the throne of God. 00:10:00.839 --> 00:10:07.779 It's what Israel experienced when God came down on top of Mount Sinai, when Moses spent time with God in the tent of meeting. 00:10:08.359 --> 00:10:12.559 When the first temple was dedicated, God's glory filled the temple like a cloud. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.739 David had a regular experience of this in his place of praise in Jerusalem. 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:22.879 And of course, when the Holy Spirit came on the 120 in Acts 2, and it goes on. 00:10:23.579 --> 00:10:25.479 Paul talks about these things in his letters. 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:34.819 Jesus coming to live among us was, of course, the greatest manifest presence of God among his people, of God drawing near to us. 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:41.799 But also remember, in his humanity, he had this mountaintop experience of God's glory in an audible voice. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:45.199 This is something God wants for us. 00:10:45.979 --> 00:10:49.239 Think of the presence of God as existing on a continuum. 00:10:49.839 --> 00:10:58.899 One end is God's intention to form a people for himself and dwell among them, to bring us back into his presence by removing the barrier of sin. 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:03.639 The other end of the spectrum is actually a place that has no end. 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:10.360 What starts for us with our salvation is a journey of encounter and knowing and experiencing God's presence. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:15.019 From God's perspective, this is a journey of him drawing ever nearer to us. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:25.039 And him drawing us closer to himself until he brings us home finally to himself where we see him face to face, standing among saints and angels. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:26.779 This is God's idea. 00:11:27.199 --> 00:11:29.699 I remind you, his initiative because he loves us. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.579 But it's not enough for me to just read this scripturally. 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:35.480 I had to find out, is this common? 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:42.839 So I started reading about accounts from others in Christian literature from roughly the post-biblical era onwards. 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:51.240 I read Catholic mystics from the Middle Ages who described encountering the presence of the Lord in ways that echoed biblical accounts. 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:54.240 I read the accounts of the Wesleys. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.240 The Wesleys were not people given to emotionalism. 00:11:57.680 --> 00:12:03.220 They documented what happened in their meetings, including their own uncertainty about what to make of it all sometimes. 00:12:04.060 --> 00:12:12.379 I read Jonathan Edwards, Brother Lawrence, John Wimber, lots of other people who talked about their experiences here and in other parts of the world. 00:12:12.379 --> 00:12:16.600 I read biographies of people like Smith Wigglesworth, Leanne Payne. 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.879 I read accounts of revivals of the last 100 years from all over the world. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:26.919 I wanted to know all the ways that God draws close to us and what happens when he does. 00:12:27.939 --> 00:12:35.580 There's a consistency in all these accounts of what it looks like when the Lord draws close with his manifest presence and what happens. 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:38.100 Well, let's talk about what happens. 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:43.360 Everything that God does is meant to be transformational or catalytic. 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:48.240 The more intense the presence of God in a place, the more powerful the transformation. 00:12:49.340 --> 00:12:53.420 What God does when he draws close is to save, heal, and deliver. 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:59.600 He softens hearts, changes minds, convicts of sin, moves us to repentance and forgiveness. 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:01.080 You get the idea. 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:07.740 There's a story a guy called Todd Smith tells about what can happen in the presence of God. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:09.660 This was during a church service. 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:12.720 A group of inmates came under a lot of supervision. 00:13:13.420 --> 00:13:17.220 As part of the service, people were invited to come up to get baptized. 00:13:18.420 --> 00:13:21.860 Now, let me pause and say, as an Anglican priest, I have questions. 00:13:22.580 --> 00:13:23.420 Who's getting baptized? 00:13:23.660 --> 00:13:23.980 Why? 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:24.860 How many times? 00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:25.400 What for? 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:25.759 Right? 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:29.139 We say every week, one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.700 So, it's not a drive-through. 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:32.439 But anyway, this is his story. 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.580 And so, this guy came up, nervous, hesitatingly. 00:13:36.700 --> 00:13:37.759 He's huge, right? 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:39.379 It's always like a huge guy, right? 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:41.740 He comes up to be baptized. 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:44.679 And this is how this guy Todd Smith describes it. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.240 The guy who came up to be baptized was called Robert. 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:47.980 I don't know. 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:48.740 I didn't pick this. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:51.200 Well, I did pick it, but not because of the name. 00:13:51.900 --> 00:13:55.520 So, Robert was a very bad man, a very bad, angry man. 00:13:56.060 --> 00:13:57.540 Violence was a way of life for him. 00:13:58.100 --> 00:13:59.259 He had hurt a lot of people. 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:01.940 He was also a member of the Aryan Nations, 00:14:02.520 --> 00:14:06.220 this anti-Semitic, white supremacist, terrorist organization, 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:07.500 and he hated black people. 00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:10.940 And while in prison, he had proved his trustworthiness 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:14.480 to the Aryan Nations hierarchy so that he advanced through the ranks. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.020 He was given more and more authority and responsibility. 00:14:17.660 --> 00:14:21.100 And his authority was so great that even when he was in solitary confinement, 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.060 he could control the activities of the Aryan Nations 00:14:24.060 --> 00:14:27.500 in four different prisons, his and three others. 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:29.740 One of them was more than 1,000 miles away. 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:31.220 This guy had reach. 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:37.560 But he's at this service, and he comes up to the baptistry, 00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:40.780 and he comes up, and he takes a step forward. 00:14:40.780 --> 00:14:43.160 And when his foot contacted the water, 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.100 he looked up with tears running down his face, 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.220 and he said, I've always wanted something like this. 00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:53.160 And he gets into the water, and he stands there. 00:14:53.620 --> 00:14:55.160 This guy, Todd, who's telling the story, 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:59.700 watches God begin melting this guy, Robert, right before his eyes. 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:01.460 God's, Todd writes, 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:05.480 God's overwhelming love, conviction, and power settled on him. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:10.240 We watched heaven in all of its glory come upon a very wicked man. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.080 It took two grown men to help submerge Robert to be baptized, 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:18.340 and Todd didn't think the tank would hold him. 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:19.639 It displaced a lot of water. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:20.600 It went all over the floor. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.980 But while this guy was under the water, 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:28.680 the Lord met him with a ferociousness that was completely unexpected. 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:33.460 Robert had an experience, an intense experience, 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:35.800 with the presence of God, and it rocked him to the core. 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:38.060 This guy came up out of the water, 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.060 and he placed his hands on his face, 00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:42.320 and he began to cry and to weep. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.800 And people who were standing nearby heard him whisper, 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.600 precious, precious, precious. 00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:50.519 And so Todd comes over to Robert and says, 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:51.620 why are you saying precious? 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:54.759 And Robert turns and says, 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.100 when I was in the water, when I was submerged, 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.639 I saw Jesus' face, and it was so precious. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:04.779 There was an immediate transformation right there in the tank, 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:05.840 as Todd writes. 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:08.399 Jesus met this guy, and he became a new man. 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.299 God turned him from a violent, hate-filled man in one moment 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:15.580 and took away all the anger, hatred, and drugs. 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:17.960 And Robert went back to prison. 00:16:18.220 --> 00:16:19.820 He didn't get off from his time. 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:23.800 But he started pastoring the jail that he was in. 00:16:24.260 --> 00:16:26.500 Instead of running Aryan Nations gangs, 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:30.060 he started pastoring the jail with another inmate called Melroy, 00:16:30.420 --> 00:16:31.680 an African-American man. 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:33.980 The two of them became co-pastors 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:35.660 and loved each other like flesh and blood. 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:38.980 We all know testimonies like this. 00:16:39.040 --> 00:16:39.960 It's not once and done. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:43.760 Powerful encounters with the Lord are real and true, 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:48.439 but Robert would have had to walk out further repentance, 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:49.659 healing, and deliverance. 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:52.840 But what happened to him when he encountered the presence of God 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:54.419 in baptism was real. 00:16:56.179 --> 00:16:58.439 How do we experience the presence of God? 00:16:59.319 --> 00:16:59.799 Baptism. 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:01.860 The Eucharist. 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.720 Tommy and I had some stories about people who'd come up for Eucharist 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:06.960 and experienced the Lord. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:08.279 We talk about the real presence. 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:10.680 We both have stories of people who came up 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:11.839 and took the bread and the wine 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:13.299 and experienced physical healing. 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:16.119 Reading Scripture. 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:18.740 Have you ever had those moments when you're reading the Word 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:20.700 and it seems to jump off the page at you? 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.420 Where you feel the Lord's presence when you're reading, 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:26.539 when you feel like the Lord is speaking those verses to you 00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:27.359 right in that moment? 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:29.259 That's the presence of God. 00:17:30.220 --> 00:17:31.299 Prayers when it happens. 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:34.980 In your quiet times, in small groups, during church, 00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:37.799 definitely in moments of inner healing prayer. 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:40.900 Prayers also when we hear the Lord's voice. 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:42.920 And worship. 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:45.400 There's something really unique about worship 00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:47.599 as a place to experience the presence of God 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:49.059 and I want to say a little bit more about that. 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:51.640 So it's not about the music. 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:55.220 I went back and listened to some vineyard music from the 1980s. 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:57.220 People, it's not great. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:17:59.279 Right? 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:00.559 It's like it's tinny. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.519 It's not like, you know, you wouldn't put it on and listen to it. 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:06.559 But it's what people were singing 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.900 when they were encountering the Lord in that time and place. 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:11.720 And that music was powerful and real. 00:18:12.379 --> 00:18:14.359 And when you go back to older revivals and you read, 00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:15.180 what were they singing? 00:18:15.379 --> 00:18:16.079 It was hymns. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:17.019 It was organs. 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:20.440 It's not about high production value, guitars, 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:22.039 or the style of music. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.500 King David knew this. 00:18:25.420 --> 00:18:26.559 And I've been indebted, 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:27.940 I've said this to some of you before, 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:31.400 I'm indebted to this stiff Presbyterian minister 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:33.000 with a PhD from Cambridge, 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:35.640 who wrote about how David discovered 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:38.519 that he could offer sacrifice of praise 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:41.300 distinct from the sacrifice of animals, 00:18:42.360 --> 00:18:45.000 and that in those moments of worship and praise, 00:18:45.120 --> 00:18:46.440 he could know the Lord's presence. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:47.400 It's just amazing, 00:18:48.140 --> 00:18:49.500 if you're an academic out there 00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:51.180 and you want to kind of drill down 00:18:51.180 --> 00:18:53.920 and, you know, sink your intellectual teeth in something, 00:18:54.060 --> 00:18:54.980 I got the book for you. 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:56.759 This was so amazing. 00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:01.000 It was out of this that David wrote in Psalm 22 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:03.119 that the Lord is enthroned on our praise 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:04.319 or inhabits our praise. 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:06.359 It's why you see in his Psalms, 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.680 he writes about being in the presence of the Lord, 00:19:08.879 --> 00:19:11.420 hungering and thirsting for the Lord's presence, 00:19:12.019 --> 00:19:13.740 and why he cries out in Psalm 51, 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:16.099 don't cast me away from your presence. 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:18.759 King David had a keen understanding 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:20.220 of the Lord's presence. 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:23.700 He knew when he worshiped and praised, 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:25.180 he was, as the Irish say, 00:19:25.180 --> 00:19:26.640 in a thin place. 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:28.620 And when we worship, 00:19:29.380 --> 00:19:30.720 Dan alluded to this earlier, 00:19:31.120 --> 00:19:32.680 we are also in a thin place. 00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:35.220 We are before the throne of God, 00:19:35.600 --> 00:19:36.900 joined with saints and angels 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:38.460 who cry out day and night holy. 00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:41.660 And as we worship before the throne in those moments, 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:42.640 we are kneeling there, 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:45.820 kneeling in that river of living water 00:19:45.820 --> 00:19:47.539 that flows from under the threshold. 00:19:48.039 --> 00:19:49.600 We are refreshed and renewed. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:51.519 When we worship, 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:52.680 we are transformed 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:55.140 because we become what we behold. 00:19:55.940 --> 00:19:57.580 We become more like what we fix 00:19:57.580 --> 00:19:59.060 the gaze of our hearts upon, 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:00.720 what we adore and admire. 00:20:01.620 --> 00:20:02.480 When we worship, 00:20:03.060 --> 00:20:04.480 the Lord fights for us, 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:05.860 intervenes for us, 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:06.799 and does for us 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:08.580 what we can't do ourselves. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:11.940 Worship postures my heart in faith. 00:20:12.600 --> 00:20:14.400 It helps me let go of all my conditions 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.820 and preferences for outcomes. 00:20:16.539 --> 00:20:17.060 In other words, 00:20:17.380 --> 00:20:18.840 worship brings me to this place 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:20.140 of surrender and trust. 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:21.820 Lord, have your way. 00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:24.600 And when we worship, 00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:25.960 the Lord grows our faith. 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:27.700 The things unseen 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:29.580 are more readily apprehended and known. 00:20:30.280 --> 00:20:31.240 The person of Jesus 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:32.600 comes into clear view. 00:20:34.300 --> 00:20:35.580 This may be one of the final things 00:20:35.580 --> 00:20:36.240 I want to say. 00:20:36.520 --> 00:20:37.460 At the heart of worship, 00:20:37.840 --> 00:20:39.380 of experiencing God's presence, 00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:41.060 of encountering the Lord 00:20:41.060 --> 00:20:42.259 as the person of Jesus, 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.280 it's not about encounter for its own sake 00:20:45.280 --> 00:20:46.820 or experiencing the presence 00:20:46.820 --> 00:20:48.340 for its own sake. 00:20:48.339 --> 00:20:49.899 It's about encountering 00:20:49.899 --> 00:20:50.980 and experiencing the Lord. 00:20:51.699 --> 00:20:52.859 Under all the hunger, 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:53.699 all the surrender, 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:54.559 the trust, 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:56.879 the cry for more and for change 00:20:56.879 --> 00:20:58.059 is about having Jesus 00:20:58.059 --> 00:20:59.379 and Jesus having us 00:20:59.379 --> 00:21:01.459 in a way that Christian mystics 00:21:01.459 --> 00:21:03.199 described with words like 00:21:03.199 --> 00:21:04.240 being consumed. 00:21:05.459 --> 00:21:06.459 Do we want this? 00:21:07.619 --> 00:21:08.519 If I'm honest, 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:09.959 I'm not sure I always do, 00:21:10.199 --> 00:21:10.740 but I need it. 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:12.980 I don't have it all together. 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:15.579 I face many tough things in life 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:16.660 and I carry the weight 00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:17.680 of knowing that family, 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:18.400 my kids, 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:19.200 and people I love 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:20.920 are also going to face hard things. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.339 I can't solve it all. 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:25.579 So I need to be 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:26.700 in the presence of Jesus 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:27.460 who is, 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:28.519 as we read in the Gospels, 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:29.700 the resurrection and life, 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:30.900 through whom 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:31.660 and for whom 00:21:31.660 --> 00:21:32.640 are all things, 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:34.140 who loves us. 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:36.180 Things change 00:21:36.180 --> 00:21:37.720 when the Lord draws close, 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:40.039 in part because of things he does 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:41.420 and because of what he speaks, 00:21:41.859 --> 00:21:43.039 but in part simply 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.059 because he's there. 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:45.240 I don't know how 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:46.139 to explain it further. 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:48.859 It's like everything, 00:21:49.059 --> 00:21:49.920 all of reality, 00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:51.200 just somehow bends 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:52.859 and yields to Jesus 00:21:52.859 --> 00:21:54.019 and I need that. 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:54.680 I need Jesus. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.819 Paul spoke obliquely 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:00.779 about his experiences 00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:01.639 of his encounters 00:22:01.639 --> 00:22:02.220 with the Lord 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:03.019 and I've taken that 00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:04.079 as my guiding principle, 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:04.940 but I will say 00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:06.259 that encounters with the Lord, 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:06.619 again, 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:07.399 are his idea, 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:09.039 his desire for you and me. 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:10.799 They have come 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:11.700 when I've been 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:12.579 at my most broken, 00:22:13.079 --> 00:22:13.799 most hungry, 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:14.539 most surrendered 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:15.700 and honestly, 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:16.440 most desperate. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:17.680 They come when 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:18.720 what I've wanted most 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:19.559 was more of Jesus. 00:22:20.879 --> 00:22:22.299 God's presence is a gift, 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:23.579 something he shares. 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:24.659 It can't be triggered, 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:25.299 forced. 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:27.139 It can't be guaranteed 00:22:27.139 --> 00:22:28.740 if you follow the right steps 00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:29.839 or meet the right conditions, 00:22:30.420 --> 00:22:31.359 but it is something 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:33.240 to want and seek, 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:34.680 something to ask for 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:36.240 and wait upon the Lord for it. 00:22:37.579 --> 00:22:37.899 So, 00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:39.200 a final answer, 00:22:39.340 --> 00:22:40.240 simply put then, 00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:41.460 I come to church 00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:42.540 to encounter the Lord, 00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:43.800 to know him, 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:44.620 even intimately, 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:46.860 and not just know about him, 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:49.259 but to know him 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:50.780 and be transformed by him 00:22:50.780 --> 00:22:52.100 into his likeness 00:22:52.100 --> 00:22:54.540 and hopefully to be someone 00:22:54.540 --> 00:22:55.420 through whom others 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:56.380 may encounter the Lord. 00:22:59.660 --> 00:23:00.960 I want to bring us together 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:02.580 in a moment of prayer. 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:04.819 I think the altar guild 00:23:04.819 --> 00:23:06.839 may need to bring the table out, 00:23:06.879 --> 00:23:07.859 so if you want to start doing that, 00:23:07.919 --> 00:23:08.919 I invite you to do that. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:11.699 Let me pray for us 00:23:11.699 --> 00:23:12.859 and then I'm going to turn back to you 00:23:12.859 --> 00:23:14.399 and invite you into something. 00:23:15.679 --> 00:23:16.240 Lord Jesus, 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:18.500 you want to share yourself with us 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:20.179 and to draw close to us 00:23:20.179 --> 00:23:21.279 and draw us close to you 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:21.919 and for that, 00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:23.059 I thank you. 00:23:24.659 --> 00:23:25.720 And turning back to you, 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:27.179 I want to put this to you. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:28.939 You may have heard things 00:23:28.939 --> 00:23:30.679 in the message just now 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:32.160 that provoke different feelings 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:33.240 and reactions in you. 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:34.779 So I want to invite you 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:36.180 to take a few moments 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:37.380 to tell the Lord 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:38.840 about these reactions and feelings 00:23:38.840 --> 00:23:40.440 and to be brutally honest with God. 00:23:41.860 --> 00:23:42.820 God already knows 00:23:42.820 --> 00:23:44.220 it's not about giving him information 00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:44.960 he doesn't have. 00:23:45.320 --> 00:23:46.360 It's about you being real 00:23:46.360 --> 00:23:47.240 and authentic with him 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:48.600 and he's honored by that friendship. 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:50.400 So take a few minutes 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:51.400 just to tell the Lord 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:52.539 very brutally, 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:53.480 very honestly, 00:23:54.360 --> 00:23:55.880 your reactions 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:56.860 against, 00:23:57.279 --> 00:23:57.580 for, 00:23:57.779 --> 00:23:58.060 whatever. 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:17.460 And now, 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:18.880 having told the Lord honestly 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:19.660 your reactions, 00:24:19.860 --> 00:24:21.100 I want you to wait on him 00:24:21.100 --> 00:24:23.960 to respond to your honest confession. 00:24:24.860 --> 00:24:25.680 What pictures, 00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:26.620 what verses, 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:28.019 what song lyrics, 00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:29.059 reminders, 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:29.839 nudges, 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:32.220 what words and impressions 00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:33.139 come to mind 00:24:33.139 --> 00:24:35.460 as you say these things, 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:36.480 as you share these things 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:37.480 honestly to the Lord. 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:38.819 And I ask you, Lord, 00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:40.039 that you speak to all of us 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:41.059 quietly in our hearts 00:24:41.059 --> 00:24:42.139 in the way that you know 00:24:42.139 --> 00:24:43.139 we can hear from you. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:44.920 What do you want to tell us 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:45.579 about the things 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:46.559 that we honestly shared 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:47.379 with you just now? 00:24:47.379 --> 00:24:47.480 Amen. 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:47.539 Amen. 00:24:47.539 --> 00:24:47.579 Amen. 00:24:47.579 --> 00:24:47.639 Amen. 00:24:47.639 --> 00:24:48.039 Amen. 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:48.079 Amen. 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:48.599 Amen. 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:48.639 Amen. 00:24:48.639 --> 00:24:49.639 Amen. 00:24:49.639 --> 00:24:50.079 Amen. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:50.579 Amen. 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:50.639 Amen. 00:24:50.639 --> 00:24:51.079 Amen. 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:51.639 Amen. 00:24:51.639 --> 00:24:52.639 Amen. 00:24:52.639 --> 00:24:52.720 Amen. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:53.079 Amen. 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:53.639 Amen. 00:24:53.639 --> 00:24:54.079 Amen. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:54.639 Amen. 00:24:54.639 --> 00:24:54.700 Amen. 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:55.160 Amen. 00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:55.639 Amen. 00:24:55.639 --> 00:24:56.639 Amen. 00:24:56.639 --> 00:24:58.000 Amen. 00:24:58.019 --> 00:24:59.019 Amen. 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:00.019 Amen. 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:01.019 Amen. 00:25:01.019 --> 00:25:02.019 Amen. 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:03.019 Amen. 00:25:03.019 --> 00:25:04.019 Amen. 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:05.019 Amen. 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:05.460 Amen. 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:06.460 As we bring our time together 00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:07.299 to a close, 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:08.779 I want to invite you 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:09.839 to take time 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:10.660 to process 00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:14.019 what your reactions were, 00:25:14.139 --> 00:25:15.259 what you heard in this message, 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:16.180 what your reactions were, 00:25:16.220 --> 00:25:17.019 and what you maybe felt 00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:18.220 the Lord was saying to you 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:19.220 about your reactions. 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:21.220 Have a conversation 00:25:21.220 --> 00:25:22.319 with the Lord, 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:24.079 but with friends also. 00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:26.119 Honestly, 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:27.180 I'd love to hear from you 00:25:27.180 --> 00:25:27.779 if you ever wanted 00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:29.299 to process it with me. 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:30.860 I'd love to hear 00:25:30.860 --> 00:25:31.680 your reactions 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:32.460 and your thoughts. 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:34.299 It's always about a journey 00:25:34.299 --> 00:25:35.820 towards the Lord 00:25:35.820 --> 00:25:37.060 and what He has for us. 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:38.400 I'd love to be part of it. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:38.480 Amen.