Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Turn my microphone on. There you go.
[00:00:04] I'm the lead pastor here at Village church East. It is my privilege to welcome you this morning and to let you know we're starting a brand new series this morning and the series is called seven because I couldn't figure out a better name. So it's intriguing, right? Seven. This is our 7th year celebrating village church east. I would have never thought seven years ago that we would still be in this place.
[00:00:29] I would have never thought seven years ago that the Lord would have worked through us in some pretty unique ways. I would have never thought seven years ago that some of the families that needed God's intervention would have seen that work through our church. I would have never thought seven years ago Carroll stream community would love us as much as they do. We have had an amazing journey for seven years and we're not closing the book. We're looking forward to many, many more years.
[00:01:00] But I wanted to park on this idea of seven sevens over the next couple of weeks as we lead up to our anniversary Sunday. Our anniversary Sunday is going to be the last Sunday of February. That's when we began seven years ago. And you'll be seeing some different things all the way through these next few weeks together. But particularly that last week we have activities planned for you every day of the week. Some of the things we'll do together, some of them will do apart. Everything is a very unique activity and if you can't do one activity, I put together a list of different things that you can do with the same theme each night of the week. One week is going to be serve your neighborhood. One week it's going to be serve your community.
[00:01:45] One week is going to be day. It's going to be serve your community. One day is going to be serve the world. And so we have different ways that we've put together where you can participate in the anticipation leading up to our anniversary Sunday. And then we have a big dinner actually planned for Saturday night. You are definitely going to want to be there. It's going to be an amazing dinner with some amazing things that we're going to be sharing with you. So I hope that you set that week aside. I'm excited about it. And with the staff, this wonderful team that has put together all of these ideas for our seven anniversary.
[00:02:18] Seven is an interesting number.
[00:02:21] Seven means completion or perfection. It means like some power at work that has come to a completion and has something to show for itself. It's interesting that seven is seen in the different ways in our world. It's celebrated. If you have a 7th anniversary, like everybody would give you. What's the diamond year? I never know this. Like, if you give your wife a dime or silver year, what's a silver year? 25 is silver year. All right. So every year celebrates. Well, the year seven is celebrated by the metal copper. So you're going to start seeing this transformation take place up here, where you're going to see copper around. Copper also is a symbol of strength, which is really cool. So we're going to kind of put this together as a package deal and celebrate our 7th anniversary together. The one other thing that I find is really interesting is that seven is not just something that is celebrated in scripture. It's also celebrated in our world today. Let me tell you a few things that go by sevens. Lucky number seven, right? If you shoot a seven on a crabs table, that's a bad thing though, right? I never play crabs, but I hear that might be a bad thing. But seven sticks out as this lucky number. In ancient folklore, this idea of seven came up. It's an ancient belief from around the world that the 7th son of the 7th son was gifted with magical powers. So if you're the 7th son of a 7th son in your legacy, you might have some powers you don't know about. God put seven colors in the rainbow.
[00:04:02] There are seven days in a week. There are seven wonders of the world. There are seven major seas. And guess how many continents there are.
[00:04:13] Seven. Now, if you go to scripture, you will also see this amazing seven.
[00:04:19] The number seven is seen in the Bible 700 times.
[00:04:23] Seven days it took for Noah to pack the ark. Seven years for Solomon to build the temple.
[00:04:31] Seven things in psalm 23 that the Lord does for us. Seven things. Seven annual festivals that the Israelites used to celebrate God annually.
[00:04:42] Seven baskets of leftover food after Jesus fed the 5007 men chosen in the first church to serve the people. That's in acts, chapter six. Jesus, when he's dying on the cross, guess how many singular statements he makes.
[00:04:59] Seven.
[00:05:01] Seven times we're told that Jesus appeared. He appeared to many people. Many people. But we are told of only seven incidences after the resurrection. And after six days of creation, God did something he never did before. And it happened on the 7th day. What did he do? He rested.
[00:05:21] It's interesting that the 7th day for creation was used to celebrate the power that went on in the six days of creation. And it's the only time that we're told in scripture that God actually rested. So seven is seen as a completion of power at work for our church. It just means that God has had an amazing hand in our lives to bring us through seven years of serving our community, serving each other, telling about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And two of those years were racked by something none of us ever saw coming, called. You remember what it was called? Does everybody forget about this now? Covid yeah.
[00:06:01] In scripture, God talks about this power several times. And that's what I want to talk about to you this morning in psalm 20 113. This is why. Listen to this verse. Be exalted, o Lord, in your strength. And would you say this last phrase with me? We will. Here we go. Sing and praise your.
[00:06:23] There's something about the power of God that we are meant to celebrate on a regular basis.
[00:06:28] If you look through scripture, talking about the power of God, singing about the power of God, there's so many passages in psalms that talks about the power of God from the beginning to end. We are going to celebrate this power because in scripture, the power of God is celebrated constantly. There's a power represented in this seven. So that's the first thing we're going to talk about. But every time you see this symbol of seven in scripture, there are other things happening. So every week between now and our anniversary, we're going to talk about four different things, one thing each four weeks. The first one is power. We're going to talk about that today. Next week we're going to talk about celebration, the celebration that God experienced in enjoying what he had created in six days. Creation. We're going to talk about seven, meaning perseverance. This is another meaning we find of in scripture. For the number seven, there's a perseverance. We're going to talk about that. And then completion is going to be our last Sunday anniversary. Sunday. Those are the four themes we're going to cover. The first one is power.
[00:07:28] Throughout the Bible, God tells us, gives us these passages that refer us back to creation on a regular basis. Like the prophets talk about it, the Gospels, Jesus talks about it. In the New Testament, it's talked about on a regular basis. We are meant to look back at creation and see something about God that we don't stop praising him for and talking about, like that psalm. We just read this idea of God telling us about his power in Genesis and then referring back to it all the way through scripture. It's introduced to us in the Book of Genesis. It's reiterated to us all through the book. And then at the very last book, the book of revelation, that tells us about end times, we get to hear about, guess what? Creation. One more time.
[00:08:19] God does something at creation and exhibits some power at creation that is meant to put us into an awe struck attitude, a worship filled attitude all throughout time, including to the very end. Here's revelation. Listen to this. Revelation 411. Worthy are you, o Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. What's the next phrase for you?
[00:08:50] Always through scripture, creation is referred to as a reason for us to praise his name for you created all things, and by you they existed and they were created.
[00:09:02] So if we're going to talk about the power of God and stick with this theme of scripture to point back to creation on a regular basis, let's start there. If you have your bibles and you'd like to turn or your tablets or whatever you're using, Genesis one verse, one start of the very first book, the very first phrase, the very first part that we have in our Bibles, and here's what it says, or you can look at the screen.
[00:09:25] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We are so used to hearing those words, they do not strike us as odd or infatuated. We're not infatuated by it any longer. But I want you just to park on this for a second. Think about this. These are the first words we have to introduce us to God. Creation, beginning of all things. In the beginning, God created, created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void. Darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. You know what I find interesting in this verse? Where does it tell us God came from?
[00:10:11] It doesn't. Do you know why it doesn't? Because it is not necessary to know.
[00:10:19] All throughout scripture it talks about this idea of God creating, but it doesn't explain to us how he existed beforehand.
[00:10:28] Sitting there this morning, can you imagine a place that doesn't exist in time?
[00:10:34] It's impossible because everything we know exists in time. Can you imagine in your brain what it's like to exist in a place where there's no space?
[00:10:44] You can't because it's not in our mind. Everything that we are able to imagine in our mind is morphed from things that we have experienced in our lives. We are unable to understand who God is to a certain degree simply because we don't understand. In the beginning, God created. Our first question is, where was he before that? What was the beginning before our beginning is impossible for us to wrap our minds around. And God knows that. So he begins our story with these words. Listen, humans, in the beginning, God created.
[00:11:21] God needed nothing, and he needs nothing to exist, and he needs nothing to continue existing.
[00:11:28] God said in the very next verse, God said, let there be light. And there was light again. We hear and we read this so often, you have to understand, how long did it take for us to figure out how to make light?
[00:11:46] Like, I don't know how long it took for us to figure out how to make fires and stuff like that. I'm assuming God showed Adam the things that he needed to know. But how about these light bulbs that are burning my retinas right now?
[00:12:00] These things? How many years did we have to wait to come up with the idea of actually screwing something in and turning on the electricity?
[00:12:09] But when God wanted light, he simply said, let there be light. And there was light. He didn't need Edison. He didn't need any help at all. He simply, by the word of his mouth, declared light in hebrews eleven three. Listen to this.
[00:12:29] Hebrews eleven three says, by faith we understand that the universe was created by the. What? Church?
[00:12:36] The universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
[00:12:46] God didn't take this and this and put it together and make this. God created everything. Ex nihilo is the proper word for this, which means nothing to you. But in theology, it's a wonderful word. Ex nihilo simply means out of nothing.
[00:13:05] When's the last time you made something out of nothing?
[00:13:09] It's an impossibility, right?
[00:13:12] There is no spectrum of ideology in our entire existence that gives us any frame of thought to think that nothing plus nothing equals something. Except for evolution.
[00:13:25] Evolution says nothing and nothing came together, and there was something.
[00:13:30] And if you think about it, that is the most ridiculous statement in the world. Because if you can go home and take nothing and nothing and make something, you are in the wrong profession. Whatever it is you're doing right now.
[00:13:46] God takes nothing except the word of his mouth, and he makes everything by the breath of his mouth. The heavens were made.
[00:14:02] I can't even get my dog to do what I wanted to do by the breath of my mouth. Sit, stay, sit, stay. Then I had kids and I thought it'd be easier. It's worse.
[00:14:15] God, with the breath of his mouth made everything.
[00:14:21] Next verse. And then God saw that the light was what church? It's awesome. God saw that the light was good, because anything God makes is. You bet your buns. And God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning. The first day.
[00:14:46] I want you to notice something about this. God created the world, the heavens, and the earth and light. And he didn't need a project manager. He didn't need months to plan. He didn't need years to make it happen. It happened in an instant by the breath of his mouth.
[00:15:07] He didn't just begin the job.
[00:15:10] He does it all in one day.
[00:15:12] Apple rolled out something that I am going to get my hands on eventually this past week. Do you know what it was? Any of you seen those goggles? They are the coolest thing in the world. Apple Vision Pro. For a minor $3,500, you too can own Apple Vision Pro.
[00:15:33] Apple Vision Pro is amazing. It will immerse you into a created world. You could see dinosaurs, and they can be in your living room. You can actually sit there. People can see your eyeballs, and you can actually do your work. If you open your laptop, it fills the room. Forget about computer screens. Just put these goggles on and you're good to go. You can have like three or four screens up at the same time. Do yourself a favor. Go home and watch a little app or a little demonstration of these. These are the coolest things. And if you're know, we should pool our resources together. Get Craig something that really is cool for his birthday. I'm just telling you.
[00:16:14] But there's something different between Apple Vision Pro and what God did you see? Apple Vision Pro is not made from nothing.
[00:16:23] It is an imitation world you can walk into that is simply a mirrored imitation of what God created.
[00:16:33] Apple Vision Pro doesn't create anything.
[00:16:36] It only fools your senses into believe that you are experiencing a part of the world fake that God has already created. Now, Steve Jobs and the apple team are good, but they've got nothing on God.
[00:16:49] Consider in six days, just six days, God created everything from nothing except the word of his mouth.
[00:17:02] Everything that we will ever create in life is simply taking what God already created and putting it together to make something else. You have a garden. Fantastic. You're simply taking a plant that God created and dirt that God created, and the molecular structure that God created. And manure that other things created by God created. And you mix them together and you can make something beautiful, but you can only make something out of what God already made. Apple vision pro putting things together that God already made. There's nothing in this world that we can pat ourselves on the back for saying we created this. All we did was we took this and this, and we put them together to make something.
[00:17:46] The book of Genesis talks about this creating power of God. The book of Romans begins by talking about the creating power of God. Look at romans one, verse 20. This is in the New Testament. Romans 120 says, for his invisible attributes, talking about God now, namely his internal power and his divine nature, have been, what are the next two words? Have been what?
[00:18:11] Clearly. Have you ever clearly perceived something like, you may have seen it foggy before, but now you fully understand what's going on. This scripture is saying, God's invisible attributes, they are not seen. They are invisible. Namely his eternal power and his divine nature have been clearly perceived. How is it that we can see invisible attributes? What can we clearly perceive that would tell us about God's invisible attributes? And you know what Romans tells us we can clearly perceive having been clearly perceived ever since the. What is it, church? The creation of the world in the things that have been made so that they. That's all people are without excuse.
[00:18:59] When you look at creation. When I look at creation, it is meant for us to go, holy smokes. There must be an incredible God at work.
[00:19:08] Creation is meant to applaud God's glory. It's meant to drive us. C. S. Lewis talks about creation constantly. It is meant to drive us to the fact that there is a God who loves us, who is gracious to us. We are meant to see his invisible attributes through creation. We don't know that Jesus died for us through creation. That's in his word. But we know that there is a God. There is something bigger, greater, smarter, wiser than us by simply looking at creation.
[00:19:43] God's power, therefore, is a compass.
[00:19:48] The power of creation that we see every day is meant to drive us to the fact that there is a God.
[00:19:55] We can't understand God.
[00:19:58] We can't even understand our own world. In ancient days, people used to look up at the stars and think that they were campfires in the sky made by the gods.
[00:20:08] We couldn't understand the world then.
[00:20:11] We couldn't understand that germs caused diseases until 200 years ago.
[00:20:17] There are things that we're learning about our world on a constant basis. We are learning about those things. And for us to think to ourselves that we see creation and it all happened because the universe burped is simply foolishness.
[00:20:35] Creation is meant to scream at us, there's a God, and you should really pay attention.
[00:20:42] And what we do understand grows and amazes us more and more. The more we learn about it, even in our, our planet and our solar system is meant to drive us to the idea.
[00:20:58] It's meant to be a compass to point us to God.
[00:21:02] Look at this. Now, did you know that our world, our planet is moving in six different ways even as we speak?
[00:21:12] Six ways this earth is moving. Number one, the earth spins on its. You remember what this is called way back in school? You remember this spins on its axis. Now we may say that and we may think to ourselves, yeah, the earth is spinning on its axis. Do you know how fast the earth is spinning on its axis?
[00:21:29] One third a mile per second or 1000 miles a minute per hour. 1000 mph. That's how fast we are currently traveling on this blue ball.
[00:21:44] If it were 100, we would immediately freeze to death.
[00:21:51] And if it stops spinning, we all drift off into space.
[00:21:57] Number two, not only does it rotate on its axis, but that axis weaves back and forth on an angle of 23 degrees. It slowly swings back and forth and that's what gives us our seasons.
[00:22:12] Not only that, but the Earth with the moon is swinging constantly around the.
[00:22:18] Can you say, Galileo? The Earth and the moon is swinging around the sun.
[00:22:26] This happens at an average rate of 18 and a half miles per second that we are moving around the sun. And it never varies. 110 thousand of a second.
[00:22:41] It is constantly moving around the sun exactly at the right speed. The sun, number four with all of its planets is on a trip northward. You may not have known this, but the sun is heading north and so it pulls the earth along with it.
[00:22:59] The sun is actually on this trip and it moves 12 miles a second.
[00:23:06] We are moving through space northward.
[00:23:10] If you were to count the nearby stars with our planetary system we are all revolving 180 miles/second around the Milky Way's center.
[00:23:21] So here's the Milky Way. We are revolving in this Milky Way 180 miles/second around the center core of the Milky Way the Milky Way along with our galaxy and the sun and our planets. All of us on top of that are plunging through space. Did you know that our whole solar system, our whole galaxy is moving through space and no one knows where we're headed.
[00:23:52] Our powerful God put all of these into motion. And his hand guides and controls them all to the second.
[00:24:03] The endpoint of this study and every study that you ever hated in school is meant to force us to see there is something else bigger than us at work. In all that has created.
[00:24:19] Creation is meant to be a compass. So that the more we know about it, the more we understand there is a God.
[00:24:26] Complete control. His invisible attributes clearly seen.
[00:24:31] God's power is not just a compass to point us to him, but it's also incomprehensible. Human efforts to box up God's power has only showed how silly we are.
[00:24:42] Humans cannot comprehend the power of God, so we make up myths. And one of the myths is evolution.
[00:24:48] Evolution theory is so filled with holes, many scientists these days don't believe it anymore. I don't know if you know that. It's not published because every museum you go to, it's all evolution.
[00:25:00] However, in the original writings of Darwin's book called the Descent of Man, in the very first few pages within. Within the very first few pages, there are a total of 20 expressions of uncertainty.
[00:25:17] Again, you may not know this, such as it seems, it appears, take for granted, might, or this implies 20 such statements are made in this book. The concluding chapter of 14 pages in the concluding chapter has 50 expressions of doubt in Darwin's book in efforts to make this theory more than it is. More than it is. Within 30 years after its publication, the book was revised and those statements were taken out. Did you know this?
[00:25:53] Most scientists today doubt the theory of evolution. Many scientists doubt theory of evolution. It is filled with skepticism.
[00:26:02] Job in the Bible came face to face with this idea of God being incomprehensible. Do you remember who Job was? On a scale of one to ten, how many people thought Job had a fantastic life?
[00:26:18] One being really bad, ten being, yeah, super. I'd like to have a life just like that. Probably like minus five, right?
[00:26:25] Job had everything taken away. His children were lost in a tornado. His wealth was stolen from him by thieves. His wife turned on him. His health was taken from him. He lived in constant pain. He was ousted from society because he was unclean. Job lost everything.
[00:26:43] The book of Job is about him trying to figure out through his very wise three friends why he's in this predicament. And if you've ever asked yourself the question, why do bad things happen to good people? You should read the book of Job.
[00:26:56] Because Job was bragged on by God as a good person, not just bragged on by the angel with the angels in, no, no. Satan comes before God and says, and God says to Satan, have you checked out my servant job?
[00:27:11] And Satan says, yeah, I've checked him out. He's only got it good. He only serves you because you let him have stuff. You're not hard on him. So God allows all these things to be taken away. Job is stripped of everything, and he suffers incredibly.
[00:27:28] The last few chapters of the book of Job, Job starts asking God the same question. God, why would you let bad things happen to me?
[00:27:39] I'm not a bad person like Jimmy down the street. Have you checked him out? But me? I'm a pretty good guy.
[00:27:49] God never shows up and puts his arm around job and says, job, let me just tell you some things you may not know about Satan came to me. We had a thing.
[00:27:59] He thinks he can steal you from me. I know you can't be stolen. God doesn't explain any of it to job. You know what he does in the last few chapters of the book of Job?
[00:28:09] All he does is talk about his own power.
[00:28:14] God brags on his own power.
[00:28:17] And we start reading about this in job 38 one. Here's what it says.
[00:28:22] Job has asked God for a trial date. Job says to God, listen, I will prove to you I don't deserve to be treated this way. And then God speaks to job this way.
[00:28:36] He speaks out of the world when. And he says, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action. Dress like a man. I will question you, and you will make it known to me. Does that sound like a kind of conversation you want to enter into with God?
[00:28:54] Bad things are about to happen, right? And for the next four chapters, God lays it on Job. Not because Job isn't a victim, not because Job isn't hurting, none of that. Simply because Job needs to see something about God that blows him away.
[00:29:13] And for the next four chapters, God simply talks about his own power.
[00:29:19] He says things like this. These are some of my favorite chapters in the Bible, by the way. He talks to Job and he says, where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?
[00:29:29] Did you help me figure out where I should put the oceans?
[00:29:32] Do lightning bolts come to you and say, yeah, we're ready to go? Where do you want us to strike?
[00:29:38] Job, can you lift up your voice and bring down rain? Job, do you know the detail of a mountain goat's life, where you provide for it, you feed it, you grow it, you watch it, you give birth so that this cycle continues all over again. Job, these goats, you don't even see in your lifetime, and no human being will ever see every ounce of their lifetime. I am in control of job. Did I consult with you to create the mighty beasts of the earth?
[00:30:08] God's answer to job is not an answer of comfort, but it's an answer of power.
[00:30:15] Finally, in the next two verses, job begs God to stop. Next two chapters, job answers the Lord. In verse three of chapter 40, Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I am of a small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I spoke once and I will not answer twice, but I will proceed no further. That is a flowery way of saying in our world today, I have put my foot in my mouth and I'm sorry.
[00:30:43] And then God lets him have it again for another two chapters.
[00:30:51] God's power is meant to speak to us in a way so that we have the ability to understand. Life is God's. Life is God's plan. I am invited in to participate with the power of God at work all around me. It is an incomprehensible power. Have you ever heard of the word omnipotence?
[00:31:14] Omnipotence is one of the attributes of God. Omnipotence is a latin word. Comes from two words, omni and potence. What do you think potence means?
[00:31:25] Power. What do you think omni means?
[00:31:28] Total. You guys did Latin. You must have done. Oh, there it is, up on the screen.
[00:31:34] Total power, omnipotent. God is the greatest of all that is great, the strongest of all, the strong, the wisest of all the wise. All wise people get their wisdom from God. All strong people get their strength from God. All power in this world was derived from God. Why is your heart beating? Explain it to me.
[00:31:52] It's electrical impulses. Why do those happen? Nobody knows but God.
[00:32:02] And when God distributes his power, he's depleted of none of it.
[00:32:06] He could distribute total power all the time, and it doesn't deplete him of any power at all. He is omnipotent. Omnipotent. And quite frankly, no matter how many years humanity is given, we will never come close to understanding the power, the awesome and incredible power of God. It's like an ant boasting over an elephant.
[00:32:31] Not only is it incomprehensible, but it is absolute.
[00:32:36] God's power is dependent upon nothing and no one else. It is self originating completely. Have you heard of solar power?
[00:32:45] Yeah, solar power. Where does that power come from? It's a good thing we made the sun. Wait a minute. How about wind power? Where does wind power come from? Wind. Who made the wind?
[00:32:57] Coal power.
[00:32:59] It's nasty word these days, isn't it? And yet God made the coal as well. There's nothing that we can create of ourselves that God has not already created and demonstrated his power. And any power that we get is simply harnessing the power that God already exhibits.
[00:33:17] God distributes his power throughout the entire universe, through the entire universe, and yet is not depleted of 1oz at any moment of time.
[00:33:27] There was never and will never be a time when God is lacking one molecule of power.
[00:33:36] One more thing about power, it is accessible.
[00:33:40] God's power is accessible.
[00:33:43] Here's the amazing thing. As a servant of God, as a servant of the living, powerful, this amazing God, we have the ability to access his unending reservoir of power.
[00:33:57] It is ours for the taking.
[00:33:59] There's nothing that God's power flowing through you cannot overcome. And when you understand, when you talk about the power of God, is it no wonder why Jesus would look at his disciples and say, I'm telling you, if you have faith that this mountain will move, God can do it.
[00:34:19] It doesn't mean we're going to go around moving mountains outside. It simply means that power of this amazing God that loves you and cares for you is accessible to you if you're a follower of Jesus Christ.
[00:34:35] Peter knew this when he wrote his letter in first Peter and second Peter. He wrote to the christians around, basically around Europe that were being persecuted for their faith. And when he writes to them, he knows that they're discouraged. He knows that they're downhearted. He knows that they're falling into the job scenario where they are crushed by life.
[00:35:04] And a lot of them are probably thinking, I gave my life to Jesus. I'm supposed to have a big house right now. I'm supposed to have a pool. I'm supposed to have kids that obey me and a wife that loves me. I'm supposed to have a nice car. And we are told even this today by people who know nothing about God, that tell you that if you come to him, you'll have health, wealth, and it'll be all good to go. And I don't know where they get it from, except they're trying to get your cash.
[00:35:30] Because what God says is, when you come to him, you will still have suffering, you will still have persecution. You will still be weighed down in this life that sometimes takes you in its wake.
[00:35:44] But take heart. You have access to the greatest power in the universe, and he wants nothing more than to be on your side.
[00:35:56] Peter writes to these people and he says, I know you don't know if you have one more day. Persecution is coming. You're getting thrown to these lions.
[00:36:04] So Peter opens his letter to them with these words. Listen to this. Two. Peter, one. Verse three.
[00:36:11] God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
[00:36:28] When you acknowledge that God is the creator of all things. And you understand that power that created ex Nihalo.
[00:36:36] And you go through your times of life when you're weighed down and you're burdened and you're broken and you're hurting and you want some answers.
[00:36:43] You may not get the answers, but you be sure of this.
[00:36:48] You have access to this most powerful God, and he is on your side.
[00:36:58] So what?
[00:37:00] Well, the biggest. So what I can think of is, don't sell God's power short.
[00:37:07] Don't sell God's power short.
[00:37:09] We need to get away from the terms that our world is trying to sell us, like weak, broken, victim, powerless.
[00:37:20] Do you know what the word power is in Greek? Anybody know the word power in Greek is Dunamis. Does that sound like any word you know?
[00:37:32] Dunamis tri dynamis.
[00:37:38] All right, let me tell you this way.
[00:37:41] Do you know who noble was?
[00:37:45] This guy noble?
[00:37:48] Was it Alfred Noble, I think was his name? Anyway, he's the one that gives out the peace prizes. Well, he doesn't give them out nowadays, but he's the one that that peace prize is named after. And they give it to a bunch of different people that create things to make our world better. Do you know what made noble famous? He found a way to harness nitroglycerin.
[00:38:06] He found a stabilized form of nitroglycerin, and he started selling it. And he became so famous because people wanted this form of nitroglycerin. He actually called this form noble's blasting power. It didn't sell very well at that name, so he changed it to something like this. And instead of calling it noble's blasting power, he called it dynamite.
[00:38:35] And people became infatuated with dynamite because they could blow things up with this harnessed form of nitroglycerin.
[00:38:44] Peter uses this term, that noble stole.
[00:38:50] Peter uses this term when he says, we have. Can you give me that verse one more time there, Chris, please? When he says his divine nitroglycerin. Dynamite. Dunamis. His divine Dunimus, that power that created all things ex Nihalo out of nothing, that power that sustains all things, that power that flings with a flick of his wrist our world through space with all the planets and stars in tow, his divine Dunimus power has given us how much church?
[00:39:23] Everything we need for what? Life. And is there anything else?
[00:39:30] God's divine power has given us everything we need to succeed in life and to live a holy life. It is at our disposal. It's almost as if we've forgotten that we are servants of the most powerful being in the universe, the one that sets our earth spinning precisely on its axis and hurls our galaxy through space with a flick of a wrist. We forget his power, and we sell it short.
[00:39:58] We forget too often how many times God's power has told us in scripture. And I could have given you a lot, but here's only a few. Ephesians 320 now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than anything we could ask or even think, according to the what church? Just say dynamite.
[00:40:21] According to the Dunamis at work within us, God is able to do far more than you could even ask or think, because you have the power of God. And where is that? At work in us two, Timothy one seven. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of what church, dynamite? Of power and love and self control. Ephesians 610. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. That is not the word. Dunamis there. It is a different word, but it still means the same thing. It means power.
[00:40:57] Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. One corinthians 420 for the kingdom of God does not consist in blap, blap, blap, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[00:41:08] The kingdom of God. Talkie talkie doesn't get you far. You know what the kingdom of God consists of, not in speech, but in what?
[00:41:17] Power, dynamite.
[00:41:21] God wants us to know, and that's only a few. Go home and type in power and see how many times God wants to remind you you have the power of God at work within you.
[00:41:31] He wants us to know. And remember this. This is one of my favorites. Two Corinthians 112, verse nine. But to me, he said, this is Paul begging for God to take away some sort of malady that he had. We don't even know what it was, but whatever it was, he's looking to God and says, God, take this away. It's a hindrance to me. It's a pain. It hurts.
[00:41:53] God says, no. Three times he says, no, you got to stay there.
[00:41:58] You're going to be like job for a while. Not as bad, but like him.
[00:42:04] And then he said to me, Paul says, God said, my grace is sufficient for you.
[00:42:13] For my Dunimus, my power is made perfect in weakness.
[00:42:24] If you feel like you're crushed by life, sin's got you under its thumb. Listen, God has given you power to overcome the sins that easily beset you. There is nothing that you cannot conquer through him who loved you. You are more than conquerors. All right, understand that. But if you are under the oppression of the sin that exists around us, you did nothing. You added nothing you didn't mean for whatever it had happened to, it just is happening to you. You have a pain in your side. You have pain in your brain. You have a pain in your. Whatever it is, like life is happening to you, and it's not supposed to happen this way. God says to you the same thing. He says to Paul, my grace is all you need. It's sufficient. For my power is made perfect in your weakness. So Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses so that the Dunamis, the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[00:43:21] For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when you got to say this with me, right? For when I am weak, then I am. Because when you can't go forward, God can take you.
[00:43:42] God's power, don't sell it short. It's at work within you. If you know Christ as your savior and whatever you're facing in life, don't ever buy the world's version that it's got you in a tight grip.
[00:43:56] May we always remember the power of God that helps us be more than overcomers. When God wanted Job to overcome and persevere, he didn't put his arm around job and explain what was happening. He just reminded job he is greater, stronger and more powerful than anything job could know. And he's on job's side.
[00:44:17] When we're broken, he may not explain the ins and outs. He just reminds us that we can have faith in this all powerful God. He is on our side. And so I say to you, Romans 831, what shall we say to these things, church? If God is for us, who can be against us?
[00:44:37] Remembering God's matchless power is what gives me strength. Isaiah was crushed. In Isaiah six, the king of all the great king had died and the people were in disarray. And God visits Isaiah in Isaiah six, and he doesn't explain to him his blueprint of what's happening. He looks at him in Isaiah six, and he gives him a vision of his power.
[00:45:01] Elijah was on the mountain running for his life, thinking that he wanted to die. In fact, he begged God to kill him. He was suicidal. And he sat on the mountain and God didn't come up to him and explain things and put his armor. He did feed him with angel. That's pretty cool. Like the angel came and baked him breakfast. That's kind of cool.
[00:45:23] But when God showed up and had a conversation with him. He showed up and he came in. There was a fire and there was whirlwind and there was a storm. And then God showed up in a very, very still moment. When Elijah finally calmed down and he could hear God and God said, what are you doing here? Elijah showed him his power. Moses wanted to see a glimpse of God. God showed him his power. Peter begged Jesus to go away from him. After he saw the power, he had to fill a net with fish.
[00:45:59] These men were devastated by life and in every instance they got strength to go forward after they saw the power of God.
[00:46:07] So number two, let God's power mold your weakness into strength.
[00:46:12] You have a weakness. Join the club.
[00:46:16] I woke up two days ago and my back wouldn't move.
[00:46:21] And I'm thinking to myself, I am too young.
[00:46:25] I don't know if I can say that anymore. I am too young to have this back issue now. It went away and look at me. I'm standing here. It goes away.
[00:46:35] Silly illustration.
[00:46:37] But there are lots of people with a lot more issues than I had on Thursday.
[00:46:43] If you have something in your life that you're going through, just be encouraged this morning. I don't know why. God may never tell you why. You may feel weak and broken and you may want to adopt all the language from the world around you to convince yourself you are a victim. Remember job, remember Peter, remember Moses, remember Elijah, remember these guys. And remember sometimes the way out is to see the way. God is so powerful and that power is at work within you.
[00:47:11] Let God's power mold your weakness into strength.
[00:47:14] Joni Erickson Tata is a reminder to me that God can take weaknesses and turn them into.
[00:47:22] You may not know her, but there's a lot of people I could have put in that blank. Our brothers and sisters being persecuted around the world are reminders to me that God can take weaknesses and turn them into strengths. The church was built on weakness. Twelve guys that didn't know up from down and constantly disappointed. Jesus don't believe that. Then why would he constantly say to them, oh, you have little faith.
[00:47:49] And God turned those weaknesses into a church that exists 2000 years into the future.
[00:47:57] Apple won't last that long.
[00:48:00] Molded correctly, God can use your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. With the power of God at work within us, we can see the power of God even in our weakest moments.
[00:48:13] I think that's why copper is used.
[00:48:16] I think that's why copper is chosen. Maybe in my mind anyway, as the metal we give on seven years because, molded correctly, copper is an exceptional heat conductor. It doesn't generate heat, but it conducts heat.
[00:48:36] Conduction can only happen when the metal is put into direct contact with the heat source. And when the heat source vibrates and stays hot, the molecules in copper move very rapidly so that that copper becomes a conductor of the heat source. When joined together, that heat will create this cooler copper into a metal conductor, into a heat conductor, and it will cause those molecules to vibrate so fast that it becomes not.
[00:49:11] It doesn't generate heat, but it maintains the same heat as the heat source. Our church, seven years ago, began by conducting the heat source, becoming a conductor. We don't generate heat on our own. We are not the light, but we are a reflection of the light. And so we celebrate seven years not because of anything that we have done, but simply what God has done through us. The power of God flows through our church. We're not the source, but God connects us with him. Our minds will play games with us. We will say, we can't do this. I'm going to mess this thing up. This challenge is too big for me. I'm going to break if I keep going. And so I leave you with Oswald. Chamber's words. The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else. Whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.
[00:50:05] Power. Understanding and harnessing an understanding of the power of God at work within us can even cast out fear.
[00:50:15] We need to be overcomers, like job, church. Where did we ever get the idea that we are helpless?
[00:50:25] This power is yours if Jesus is yours.
[00:50:30] And even more than being consumed by keeping the universe going, God is consumed about thoughts of you.
[00:50:40] We don't serve a God way out there that we can never understand. We serve a God that lives in us, and he is more concerned about us than we could possibly know. So we attach ourselves to the heat source, and we become conductors of heat so that we take the gospel to the world around us.
[00:51:01] Ephesians 320.
[00:51:03] Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ask or think, according to the Dunamis, the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever and ever.
[00:51:19] Amen.
[00:51:22] We always finish with communion.
[00:51:25] We finish with communion because it's our opportunity to make sure that we communicate adequately.
[00:51:34] We are not the heat source.
[00:51:37] He is the vine. We are the branches, right? He is the light. We are the lampstand. I mean, in every illustration, we are not the thing. But we conduct the heat. If we put our lives close to him. A branch cannot exist without being attached to the vine.
[00:51:57] When we do communion, it's not a celebration of who we are. It's celebration of who he is and what he did so that we could have that relationship.
[00:52:07] You're going to get two cups. They're going to be stacked on top of one another. Take them apart when you get them, be careful because the juice is on the top. There's a little bread on the bottom. Take those apart a few minutes. The band is going to play. You can come up on both sides and grab a cup while we're singing. Take it back to your seat. Take it apart. I'm going to come up, I'm going to read a scripture verse, and then we're going to participate together. The reason we do that is because we're all in this together.
[00:52:36] We all are sinners saved by grace, including me. So when we read the scripture and we participate together, it's simply our expression that we are not the heat source, but we want to be conductors of the heat.
[00:52:52] Jesus died on a cross much uglier than this one, and he shed his blood, and he was pierced through his flesh so that blood could flow, because that blood covers the sins of all who call on his name.
[00:53:09] So if you've never accepted Christ as your savior, today should be your day of salvation. If you need a power source in your life and you feel powerless, you should fix that, and we can help you do that. Literally today.
[00:53:23] You could put your head on your pillow tonight knowing that you are right with God and he loves you more than you could know.
[00:53:31] But the only reason is because he gave his son to be the propitiation for our sins. That's a big word. Simply means he took your sin so you don't have to bear it anymore. And you need to come to him and give all of your life to him.
[00:53:48] You need to confess your sins. You could do that afterwards. Prayer booth. We're going to have some people over here. You can come on up and we'll help you. We'll walk you through the process. If you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, our prayer is that this would be your day of salvation.
[00:54:03] But when you take this bread and juice, that's what we celebrate. He gave it all so that we could have a relationship with God unhindered, unfettered, and that power could flow through us.
[00:54:14] So I invite you to the table. Before we do that, I want to give you a moment if God has spoken to you in a unique way this morning, and I'm praying that he has, I need to tell you. I told a couple of people before this. I sat down to write this message, and it's like, I don't know what happened to those hours, but I just started writing, and it was just like, if it didn't turn out well this morning, it's because I messed it up. Because when I finished writing, I was going, I can't believe I'm still overwhelmed by God's power and I still forget about it as often as I do, even after all these years walking with Jesus.
[00:54:53] So I'm praying that God has laid this message on your heart. However he's spoken to you this morning, would you take just a few minutes, bow your head, and have a conversation with him in your mind? He hears every word. And just thank him for however he has spoken to you today. And if you need to make your life right with him, we can help you with that. Right after the service, I encourage you to have a word with God. Would you do that right now, please?
[00:55:42] I am blown away, which is interesting, because we're talking about dynamite. I am blown away with the fact that you are urging us to understand. Urging us. Compelling us to understand that you are able to do more than we could ask or think according to the power at work within us.
[00:56:03] Thank you. That we have access to that power, the power that changes lives for eternity, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power that created all things by simply a word from your mouth.
[00:56:19] The power at work now within us, thank you, Father, that you give us this power that we can tap into. And no matter how busy you are controlling the universe, you are that interested in our lives.
[00:56:37] You have been good to us, and we are so grateful. And for the power that is at work within us, we give you our thanks. May we tap into that more and more. And as we eat and drink from this moment, this morning, may you remind us again what it took for us to have access to that power. The death of your son, Jesus Christ, we give you thanks for and we pray in his name. Amen.
