Introduction:
The Biblical facts:
- You are born with a Sinful, Selfish nature. (Isaiah 53:6)
- You are Surrounded by a world full of people with sinful, selfish natures. (Romans 3:23)
- The world is under a Curse. (Romans 8:20-22)
- Satan is, for now, called the Ruler of this world and has incredible influence on it. (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).
Five Gifts Jesus has Provided that Give us Peace in a Hard World:
- People (John 13:34)
- Promises (John 14:2)
- Presence (John 14:16-17)
- Power (John 15:5)
- Prayer (John 16:23-24)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:29-00:30
Open your Bible's with me, please.
00:32-00:34
To John, chapter 16.
00:36-00:43
While you're turning there, you know, about eight years ago, seven, eight years ago, our kids were...
00:44-01:28
seven or eight years ago, I guess it was, our kids were about four or five, our kids, we have two boys, they're about a year apart, and Aaron went shopping, and she came home was something for the family. She brought this home and I'm gonna be honest with you, there wasn't anybody more excited than me. I looked at this thing, Aaron's like, "Look what I picked up at the store!" and I'm like, "Let me get my trunks!" and I'm like, "Well I'm getting dressed, why don't you call all of our friends and we're gonna have a pool party! Look at that thing! You know, you got the basketball going on, you got the ring toss, and look at this little girl on the slide.
01:29-01:33
She's like, "Ahh!" Down the slide, and look at that.
01:34-01:36
That thing looks awesome.
01:37-01:38
And Aaron's like, "Tell me about it.
01:38-01:46
"Let's get that bad boy open, "and let's get this party started, right?" And, oh, absolutely.
01:46-01:54
So I got it open, and we sort of unfolded it together, and got it inflated, and we have that other picture.
01:56-01:57
(congregation laughing)
02:02-02:03
Get it out of your system.
02:06-02:07
That's not a picture of us.
02:08-02:19
We got that picture online because after we inflated it, we burn it, dug a shallow grave and danced on it.
02:21-02:22
Can you believe that thing?
02:22-02:24
You see that basketball hoop?
02:24-02:31
Those basketballs that were pictured on that box, those basketballs weren't even the size of major league baseballs.
02:32-02:34
And the hoop was like this.
02:35-02:38
And those rings were about the size of Cheerios.
02:40-02:44
And I kid you not, that slide, that picture doesn't even do us justice.
02:44-02:47
That slide was not even a foot tall.
02:47-02:50
But when you look at the picture of the box, did you see that girl?
02:51-02:57
I'm like, "Whoa, look at this!" And I found out the product was made by Banzai.
02:59-03:10
And I found out that's a Japanese word that translates loosely to "gotcha, sucker." But you know, thank you for getting rid of that.
03:11-03:17
Many of us, many of us look at life like this, don't we?
03:18-03:24
I was expecting this, and I got this.
03:26-03:28
Pretty much sums up life for a lot of us, doesn't it?
03:30-03:31
You know, for some of us, maybe it's your job.
03:32-03:39
I took this job, and I was expecting this, and I showed up to work, and I've been there for a while, and I just got this.
03:40-03:42
Or maybe it's your marriage.
03:43-03:49
Like, you know, I thought marriage was going to be like this, and now that we're married, and...
03:49-03:50
It's just not.
03:51-03:53
It's not what I was expecting.
03:55-03:57
For some of us, maybe it's a health issue.
03:58-04:08
You know, I was expecting to be strong and healthy, and I have this constant debilitating...
04:08-04:12
And I was expecting this, and I...
04:12-04:14
I got this, you know?
04:16-04:23
And you know my personal testimony, how, you know, let's just say parenthood is not at all what I expected.
04:25-04:29
Not at all how I envisioned it, and I couldn't possibly love my children any more than I do.
04:31-04:34
But today we're going to be talking about expectations.
04:36-04:42
Because here's the thing, And failed expectations bring disappointment.
04:45-04:49
And disappointment can ultimately lead to losing heart.
04:51-04:58
But correct expectations keep us grounded in reality.
05:00-05:03
So first question, I want you to jot some notes down on your outline.
05:04-05:36
gonna take a giant step back look I know we're all dealing with stuff we are we're gonna take a giant step back and we're gonna ask ourselves what should we realistically expect on the earth and on your outline here's the biblical facts okay so this is what we should expect on the earth number one I'm gonna get through these quickly number one you are born with a sinful selfish nature you You inherited that from your parents, who inherited that from their parents, who inherited that da da da da da da.
05:37-05:38
Adam and Eve, right?
05:38-05:44
Romans 5 says, "They passed a sin nature down." You were born with a sinful and selfish nature.
05:46-05:48
That should leverage your expectations about things a bit.
05:48-05:52
But number two, it gets worse.
05:52-05:57
You are surrounded by a world full of people with sinful, selfish natures.
05:59-06:06
Every single person that you know, by nature, is sinful and selfish.
06:09-06:10
That should help us leverage our expectations.
06:11-06:15
Number three, the world is under a curse.
06:17-06:21
You know, the Bible says the entire world is under a curse.
06:25-06:58
sin being present but decaying and wearing out and ultimately going to be replaced but the world is under a curse and number four better get this down Satan is for now called the ruler of this world it has incredible influence on it. Did you know that? Jesus referred to Satan as the ruler of this world.
07:00-07:05
But that's reality. Satan is called the ruler of this world. Did you know that?
07:07-07:23
So Satan isn't sovereign, but Jesus was pointing out the fact that this world under the grip of sin, Satan has tremendous influence. He's still the prowling lion seeking whom he may devour." Let's put it this way.
07:23-07:30
Imagine as a baby, you were able to read and they were passing out brochures.
07:30-07:31
You're alive, here's life.
07:32-07:34
And you get a brochure about life.
07:36-07:40
What you can expect now that you are on the earth.
07:41-07:48
And imagine you get this brochure and you open it up And it says this, you know, "Welcome to earth.
07:49-07:51
Everything is going to be great.
07:53-07:54
You're always going to win.
07:56-08:04
Everyone's going to love you." Let me ask you, would that brochure be honest?
08:05-08:12
No, but some people live their lives as if that's the brochure they got.
08:13-08:26
But if we were given a brochure of life when we're born that we're able to read somehow, if it was honest, if it was biblically honest, this brochure would say something like this.
08:26-08:27
Welcome to earth.
08:27-08:31
This place is currently dominated by someone who hates you.
08:32-08:35
The world itself is under a curse and soon be replaced.
08:36-08:40
And you are going to be surrounded by people whose nature is hatred.
08:42-08:43
Is that honest?
08:44-08:45
You might not like it.
08:47-08:48
That's biblically honest.
08:49-08:51
That's why I get so frustrated.
08:51-08:55
You know, you get these preachers coming out with books like, "Your best life now, really?
08:55-08:56
This is my best life now?
08:57-08:57
This is it?
08:57-09:02
This is your best life now?" Rip off.
09:04-09:06
The glorious reality is, this is not your best life now.
09:08-09:09
It gets better, right?
09:10-09:24
So we had a couple of weeks in between sermon series, and I went to our elders, and I said, "Hey, what are some messages you think this congregation needs to hear?" And I'll just sort of give a word from the elders.
09:24-09:27
What do you think this congregation needs to hear?
09:27-09:38
And one of the immediate answers, one of our elders said, "You need to speak on not losing heart, persevering through hardship." And that's exactly what we're going to do today.
09:38-09:43
You see, this is why we don't persevere.
09:44-09:46
This is why we lose heart.
09:47-09:59
Because we have these expectations that everything's going to be great, and we're unable to handle it when things actually play out the way the Bible advertises they will play out.
10:01-10:01
And we lose heart.
10:03-10:04
I didn't think it was going to turn out this way.
10:06-10:11
So, if life is hard, as advertised, how do we persevere?
10:13-10:15
How do we keep from being overwhelmed?
10:17-10:18
How do we keep from being depressed?
10:19-10:21
How do we keep from losing heart?
10:22-10:25
And here it is, look at John 16.33, here's your answer.
10:27-10:28
Here's your answer, look very closely.
10:28-10:32
This is what Jesus Christ said, this is the conclusion of a very long teaching.
10:32-10:43
He said, John 16.33, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.
10:46-10:58
In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world." You see the obvious contrast.
11:00-11:13
Jesus said, "In Me, there's peace. In the world, there's tribulation." So you're going to find yourself in one of two camps.
11:16-11:22
You're going to identify yourself as being in Christ, or you're going to identify yourself as being in the world.
11:24-11:34
Trouble is going to come to all of us, but the question is, We find ourselves in Christ to appropriate the peace that only He gives.
11:36-11:37
Like, wait a second, I have a question.
11:37-11:38
Look at the first thing He says.
11:38-11:43
He says, "I have said these things to you." What are these things? What is that?
11:45-11:52
Well, John 13-16, that whole chunk of your Bible, that's something that we call the upper room discourse.
11:52-11:55
This was the Last Supper. This was before Jesus was crucified.
11:56-12:07
He was sharing this last meal with his disciples, and he says, "There's some very important things I need to tell you." And it is an absolutely incredible passage.
12:09-12:13
Those are these things that Jesus is talking about here.
12:13-12:32
Jesus, after this long meal over dinner, and all that he taught them, he said, "Do you know why I told you all this?" It wasn't, "FYI, best of luck to you." "The reason I told you this is because you're going to have trouble in the world, but in me, you're going to have peace.
12:32-12:41
So pay really close attention to what I told you." These things are going to equip you to thrive in a hostile world.
12:43-12:46
I'm not going to read all of that text today.
12:46-12:58
What I want us to do, we're going to do a flyby, and look at some verses, and look at some of the things that Jesus was talking about, and I encourage you to go home and read the rest of it yourself.
12:59-13:08
But for today, on your outline, five gifts Jesus has provided that give us peace in a hard world.
13:09-13:13
Five things Jesus has provided that give us peace in a hard world.
13:14-13:16
You can turn back and follow along if you like.
13:18-13:28
Like I said, we're going to be hitting some key verses, But I want you to see these things. These are the things that Christ has given us to give us peace. Number one is people.
13:30-13:38
John 13.34, Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.
13:39-13:49
Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." Now you see, the whole "you should love each other" thing, that's not new.
13:49-13:53
Why would Jesus say it's new? Here's the new thing. Did you catch it in the text?
13:54-14:00
Jesus said we're going to love each other as He loved us.
14:02-14:06
That's how we are to love one another. So let's talk about that for a second.
14:06-14:16
When you think of how Jesus Christ has loved us, what are some words that you would use to describe the love that Jesus has for his people?
14:16-14:18
Go ahead and shout some out. Shout them out.
14:19-14:24
I heard somebody say unconditional. Yeah, that's on my list too. Unconditional.
14:25-14:31
Like, look, I don't care what your past was, and I don't care if you mess up tomorrow.
14:32-14:41
You realize that Jesus loves you the same, whether you've had the best day of your life, or you've had the worst day of your life. You served and honored Him, or you sinned today.
14:41-14:45
His love is unconditional. Right? What else? Shout out another one.
14:46-14:48
Sacrifice, somebody said sacrificial.
14:49-14:51
You're not gonna believe this, but I have that on my list too.
14:51-14:54
Oh, actually I have it on mine, it's called self-sacrificing.
14:55-14:56
All right, that's the love of Jesus.
14:57-15:00
Your needs before my needs, right?
15:00-15:01
Isn't that the whole ministry of Jesus?
15:02-15:05
I'm going to step down into the earth, I'm going to die for you?
15:07-15:13
To glorify the Father, yes, but to purchase your salvation, your needs before my needs.
15:14-15:16
Let's have a couple more, shout 'em out.
15:17-15:19
Eternal! Yeah, eternal!
15:19-15:21
Like Jesus, when are you going to stop loving me?
15:21-15:27
He's like, "Never!" Never? Never? Eternal!
15:28-15:29
What else? Give me another one.
15:30-15:32
It's a command. Okay?
15:33-15:35
Here, let me give you a couple more that I have on mine.
15:36-15:37
I put accepting.
15:39-15:39
Accepting.
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Jesus doesn't care what the color of your skin is or how much money you have in the bank.
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He loves you.
15:48-15:49
I also have a mind forgiving.
15:50-15:52
I know these kind of overlap a bit.
15:53-15:53
Forgiving.
15:54-15:59
"Jesus, I messed up today. Will you forgive me?" What's his answer every time?
16:01-16:02
"Yes!" Okay.
16:03-16:11
So like I said, on my list, and I appreciate the other ones that were chimed in here, on my list I have accepting, unconditional, forgiving, and self-sacrificing.
16:12-16:15
Now, imagine if we as a church loved each other like that.
16:17-16:27
Imagine if as a church, our love for every single one of us in here, we accepted, it was unconditional, it was forgiving, and it was self-sacrificing.
16:28-16:36
If we loved each other like that, we would find our church family to be comforting and refreshing and encouraging.
16:36-16:43
We would look at this place, if we loved each other like this, We would look at this place right here as an oasis.
16:45-16:49
In a desert of garbage from the world, we would run into here.
16:49-16:58
"Oh, this place is refreshing, because these people care about me, and they encourage me.
16:59-17:12
And yet I messed up out there, but I come in here and they love me!" If our church, if we loved each other like that, We would find that one of the greatest gifts that God has given us on this earth is each other.
17:14-17:16
And that's exactly what He intended.
17:18-17:21
Number two, five gifts that Jesus provided to give us peace in a hard world.
17:21-17:23
Number two, promises.
17:25-17:25
Promises.
17:26-17:30
Jesus said in John 14, "Two in my Father's house are many rooms.
17:32-17:41
If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" Jesus, for it is so what I've told you.
17:42-17:44
Jesus was saying, "This isn't false hope, okay?
17:44-17:56
This isn't fairy tale stuff." Jesus wasn't like, "I'm just gonna tell you something to calm you down, I'm about to die, and I'm gonna give you a little Easter money story that'll calm you down." Jesus is like, "No, here's reality.
17:56-18:18
If this wasn't true, I wouldn't be telling you, but my father's house has a lot of runes, and I'm going to prepare a place for you." You see, the promises of Christ give us peace because sometimes we act as if this life is all there is.
18:19-18:19
Sometimes we act that way.
18:20-18:20
"This is it.
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This is it.
18:21-18:23
It's never going to change.
18:23-18:25
Today is just like yesterday.
18:25-18:26
Spoiler alert.
18:26-18:27
Guess what tomorrow is going to be like?
18:27-18:28
Just like today.
18:29-18:31
Things aren't ever going to change." Is that biblically true?
18:32-18:33
No.
18:34-18:35
Things are going to change.
18:36-18:38
And that's why I love the promises of Christ.
18:38-18:45
That's the promise Jesus said in Revelation 21.5, "Behold, I'm making all things new." There's going to come a day that everything's going to change.
18:48-18:50
And those promises give me peace.
18:51-18:52
They give me peace.
18:54-18:56
You know, when I was in high school, we had a guy.
18:58-19:00
He did this thing, it was so annoying.
19:01-19:04
He just walked by and he'd just ping you right in the throat.
19:05-19:06
Anybody ever get one of those?
19:06-19:07
Anybody ever get pinged in the throat?
19:09-19:09
Just me?
19:11-19:12
Wow.
19:13-19:15
All right, well, that'll actually help.
19:17-19:26
Because we're gonna take a volunteer, and I'm gonna bring you up here, and I'm going to ask Darren to ping you in the throat.
19:28-19:29
Oh, look at him, he's too ready.
19:30-19:30
(audience laughing)
19:31-19:32
No, no, I want you to be the pinger.
19:34-19:45
If we did such a thing, and I'm not, you're welcome, but if we did such a thing, and I said, "Who wants to be volunteered "to be pinged in the throat by Darren?" You'd be like, "No way, man, that's gonna hurt.
19:45-19:46
"It's gonna hurt.
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"I wouldn't wanna get pinged in the throat by him.
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"That'll hurt." But what if I said, "Steve, I'm gonna make you a deal.
19:57-20:04
"If you let Darren ping you in the throat, "I'll write you a check for $10,000."
20:04-20:06
(audience laughing)
20:07-20:09
Well, wait a second, wait a second.
20:09-20:13
Just a minute ago when I talked about it, oh, it's gonna hurt, it's gonna hurt.
20:14-20:19
But do you see when I said there's $10,000 involved if you go through it, Steve was right out of his seat.
20:20-20:22
I'm like, but Steve, I thought it was gonna hurt.
20:23-20:25
He's like, well, not for $10,000, it's not gonna hurt that bad.
20:27-20:28
What's your point?
20:28-20:29
Here's my point, listen.
20:31-20:32
It's the same amount of pain, isn't it?
20:33-20:34
A ping in the throat is a ping in the throat.
20:35-20:46
It's the same amount of pain, but the pain was perceived much differently when there was a huge payoff at the end, wasn't it?
20:48-20:51
And this is exactly what Paul was talking about in Romans 8, 18.
20:52-20:53
We have that verse.
20:54-20:55
This is exactly what he was talking about.
20:56-21:04
For I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
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That's what Paul's saying.
21:06-21:11
Paul's saying, you know, a ping hurts, but a ping doesn't hurt when there's $10,000 on the other end of it.
21:12-21:15
He goes, all the stuff that I've got, did Paul go through some stuff?
21:15-21:16
We're going through Acts in our church.
21:16-21:18
Did Paul go through some stuff?
21:19-21:20
And like, Paul, isn't that hard?
21:20-21:22
He's like, it's kindergarten!
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Because of heaven, because of the glorious promises of Christ.
21:30-21:35
That's why He had such peace, and that same peace is available to you, because the promises are available to you.
21:36-21:40
Number three, jot this down, presence. Presence.
21:43-22:02
John 14, verses 16 through 17 says, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth," the Holy Spirit, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
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You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." The presence of the Holy Spirit.
22:13-22:18
So much I could say about this, but one thing in particular I want to highlight here that should give you great peace.
22:20-22:28
Look in the text, Jesus said, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you..." Do you see that? "Another helper." I want to talk about the word "another" for a second.
22:29-22:36
Because you know, the English language is very non-specific in a lot of instances, isn't it?
22:37-22:39
The Greek was more exact.
22:40-22:48
And the Greek word for "another" here is huge, because there's actually a couple different words for the word "another" in the Greek.
22:49-22:55
One word was "heteros." That meant another, but different.
22:56-23:01
And the other word was "alos," which is another, but the same.
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Or to illustrate, let's say that you brought me some cookies.
23:09-23:30
And you're like, "Pastor Jeff, I brought you some cookies." I'm like, "That's fantastic. What kind are they?" And you say, "These are grandma's famous mayonnaise and radish cookies." I would say, "I do love me some cookies, but can I have another cookie?" What do I mean by that? I want a different kind, right?
23:31-23:43
But if you brought me a plate of chocolate chip cookies, I would take one, I would shove it in my mouth, and I would say to you, "Can I have another?" And what do I mean by "another" there?
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I mean, can you give me a cookie just like the one that I just ate?
23:48-23:53
"I want it exactly like that one." That's the difference in these Greek words.
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Heteros is another of a different kind, you know, like heterosexual, heterosexual.
23:59-24:02
It means another person, but a different kind.
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Men and women are different.
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You guys knew that, right?
24:07-24:08
There's a difference.
24:09-24:13
Heteros, both people, both humans, both in the image of God, but different.
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Alos is another exactly the same.
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That's the chocolate chip cookie exactly like the first one.
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Like where in the world are you going with this?
24:24-24:43
Well, you see, Jesus said, "I'm going to give you another helper." Parenthetically, he said, the word, he's saying, "I'm giving you a helper that's exactly me." In other words, if you've ever thought to yourself, you know what, my life would just be so much easier if I was with Jesus, right?
24:43-24:45
I read the Bibles and I see these guys with Jesus.
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I'm like, yeah, my life would be easier if I was with Jesus.
24:49-24:49
Well, here's the deal.
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The fact is Jesus is with you in the most personal and intimate way possible because the Holy Spirit literally is Christ's presence in your life.
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He is a helper exactly like Jesus.
25:05-25:10
Now there's, you know, God exists as three persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
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I can't understand that, okay?
25:13-25:15
because God is God and I am not.
25:17-25:20
But here's what I do know, Jesus said the Holy Spirit is exactly like Him.
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The same love, the same grace, the same attention, the same counsel.
25:27-25:30
The Holy Spirit is Christ's presence in your life.
25:30-25:32
You know, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy.
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What's the next one? Peace!
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Right? And what are we talking about?
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Jesus said, "Here's things that I've spoken to you that you may have peace." Jesus said, "Listen, catch this.
25:44-25:46
Here's one of the ways that you're going to have peace in this hard world.
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My presence is going to be within you by the power of God's Holy Spirit." He is another helper.
25:54-26:02
And one of the fruits of the Spirit, one of the godly characteristics that are manifested is peace.
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So if you're sitting here today and you're like, "You know what? I've never had that peace." I just want to encourage you.
26:10-26:13
Maybe you don't know the Lord like you think you do.
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Maybe you've never actually received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior because the Bible says when you do, He transforms you.
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And He transforms you by giving you the gift of the Holy Spirit.
26:30-26:32
That's where the transformation comes from.
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When you receive Christ as Lord and Savior, His Spirit indwells you and He changes you.
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If you haven't made that decision to follow Christ, I want to encourage you today.
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Today's the day.
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And what you need to do is you need to personalize the message.
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You see, coming to Christ means you go from, "I believe God loves the world.
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I believe God loves people." But you need to personalize that to say, "I believe God loves me." You need to go from, "I believe Jesus died for the sin of the world," to, "I believe Jesus died for my sin." You need to go from, "Yeah, people are sinners and bad," to, "I'm a sinner and I'm bad, and I need a Savior." You see, when you personalize that, when you realize that Jesus Christ isn't just some objective truth, He is that, but He is also, He needs to be subjective to you.
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He needs to be not just a Savior, He needs to be your Savior.
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And when you receive Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit gives you the peace of Christ.
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Two more.
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Number four is power.
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Number four is power.
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John 15.5, Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches.
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"Whoever abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
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For apart from Me, you can do nothing." He is the vine, we are the branches, and we are called to - here it is, one word - we're called to abide.
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Do you know what that word means in the Greek?
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It just means to stick around.
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It means to hang out with.
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I'll hang out with Jesus great. Where is he? How do I do that?
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How do I abide? I Want you to jump down look at verse 10 real quick John 15 10 Jesus tells you how to abide He said if you keep my commandments You will abide in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love So do you see that abiding in Christ?
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defined by Christ is obedience to him So there's a sense in which abiding in Christ is a passive thing.
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You're hanging out with him, receiving his strength, but it's also an active thing because you need to be pursuing holiness and obedience to the things that he's commanded.
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So if you don't feel the inside-out peace and presence of Christ, you know, you might be saying, "You know, I go to church. I go to my small group.
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I'm going to this midweek Bible study, and I'm doing all these things, but I just don't feel this peace that Christ promised.
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You need to ask yourself this question.
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Is there any area of disobedience in my life right now?
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Because when we go through trials, listen, when we go through trials, we often turn to sin for comfort. True or false?
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It's true.
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When we're going through trials, we often turn to sin for comfort.
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but it might be pornography for some.
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It might be a food addiction.
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It might be turning to the bottle, or smoking something, or popping something, or gambling.
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But so many of these sins find their root in, it's my escape, I'm going through a trial and it's just my escape.
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Well, here's the problem with that.
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When you find your escape in those things, you're never going to find the peace that Christ is promising through those things because you're grieving God's Holy Spirit as a child of God engaged in those things.
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The most miserable person on the planet is not an unsaved person heading for eternal separation from God.
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That's not the most miserable person on the planet.
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You know who's the most miserable person on the planet?
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It's a Christian that's stuck in sin.
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So you're not going to find peace if you're not willing to let go of your sin.
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He provides the power to do that.
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Finally today, let's talk about prayer.
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John 16, Jesus said, "In that day you will ask nothing of Me.
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Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give to you.
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"Until now you have asked nothing in My name.
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Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full." What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name?
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Well, it's more than tacking the magic phrase at the end of our prayer.
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Praying in the name of Jesus doesn't mean, "God, I really need this in Jesus' name." you have to do it because I said the magic phrase.
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It's not that.
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It's not our means of manipulating God to our will because we said open sesame or abracadabra or whatever.
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It's not that.
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Okay, nor is praying in Jesus' name, jumping on Santa's lap.
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Like, here's my list.
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Here's the things I'd like for you to bring for me.
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That's not praying in Jesus' name either.
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Praying in Jesus' name is simply this.
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It's praying for the things that Jesus would want.
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Like Jesus, remember when He was praying in the garden, sweating the drops of blood?
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Do you remember what He prayed?
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Agonizing over, facing the wrath of the Father on Him for the sin of the world.
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Do you remember what He said?
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He said, "Not my will be done, but your will be done." That's praying in Jesus' name.
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Like, this is what I want, but God, if this isn't what you want for me, I'm asking for your perfect will in my life.
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Because when you pray, when you really pray, you'll find that maybe circumstances don't always change, but you always change.
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And you become less concerned with what you want, and you become more concerned with what will glorify God.
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And when that becomes your agenda, it doesn't matter what the world throws at, because you're in tune with God.
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So, you can expect the world to be brutally hard at times.
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You can expect the world to be sorrowful and painful.
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And God's answer to all of that is this.
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He's saying to you, "I'm going to put people in your life who are going to love you.
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I'm giving you glorious promises to look forward to.
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I'll be present always, providing you power, I'm going to be available by prayer 24/7.
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This morning, church, your circumstances may not change.
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Your health may not change.
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That struggling relationship that you've had, that might not be resolved today.
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But, if you change your expectations, Your life will change.
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Everything will change, even if nothing changes.
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Father in heaven, I pray that today we turn a corner in our minds.
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So often, Father, we are trying to cash checks that you didn't write.
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We're trying to claim promises that you never made.
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And we're so let down and disappointed like a child with completely unrealistic expectations.
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Father, I pray that we would turn to your Word and find our expectations from the things that you have promised.
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that we would rest our souls in the things that you have provided us to get us through this hard world, and that others in this hard world would see the peace of Christ reigning in our hearts.
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To your glory and honor, Father, we are asking that you do something in us so that you can do something through us.
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Thank You, Father, for Your indescribable gift.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read John 16:33, and read corresponding verses with each point.
Tell of a time you were majorly disappointed by something (serious OR fun story!).
Why do people seem to expect an “easy life"? How do your expectations affect other areas of your life?
How can we actively love others (in our Small Groups, in the church) the way Jesus loves us? Be specific!
What does it mean to "abide in Christ" (John 15:5, 10)? Is this a “passive” activity, or is there "action" to take on your part? Explain.
Breakout Questions:
Confess areas of your life where you’ve had wrong expectations. Which "gift from Jesus" (hint: the 5 sermon points) do you personally need to experience most right now?