Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP180106A
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00:10 >> Would you bow your heads with me as we pray? Father in Heaven, Lord, we're so 00:15 thankful that we can be here in this space that we've set aside this week to dedicate 00:21 to you. As we enter into worship this morning, I pray, Lord, that 00:27 You will send your Holy Spirit to be here with us, that You will baptize us with Your 00:31 spirit that we can be receptive and open to your words. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 00:39 I invite you to stand with us this morning 00:41 as we sing our first song, "Days of Elijah." 00:44 And it's very apropos. As we read in scripture 00:47 about what God has been doing in the past, we can see what He's 00:51 doing right here, right now in these days. 00:53 So, please, stand with us as we sing. 00:56 [ "Days of Elijah" plays ] ♪♪ 01:03 ♪♪ "These are the days." 02:13 The days of Ezekiel. 03:08 "Behold He comes." 03:42 salvation comes ♪ [ Intro to "Open the Eyes of My Heart" plays ] 03:50 ♪♪ Sing "Open the Eyes of my Heart." 05:02 Sing, "Open the eyes." 07:08 Amen. Amen. 07:09 We want to see God. We want to see Him 07:12 show up in our lives right here and right now. 07:15 And it's amazing to think how God looked down through centuries -- past centuries, 07:22 present, and to come -- saw those that came before us, those that are here now, and 07:27 those that go after us. And He said, "I love them so much that I'm going to send 07:33 my son, Jesus, to that world to save them." To save us. 07:38 And it's the power of God's love that compels us to worship Him. So, this morning, 07:46 sing with us this song, "The Power of Your Love." As we sing praises to God, the 07:51 God who loves us, forsaking all else and saying, "No, I want You right here, right now." 07:57 Sing with us "The Power of Your Love." 08:00 [ Intro to "The Power of Your Love" plays ] 08:04 ♪♪ 08:14 ♪♪ 11:28 What a beautiful, beautiful prayer. It's the power of God 11:31 that draws us. So this morning, I invite you to step from wherever you're at in 11:35 the pew and come forward and lay your burdens down at the cross, at the feet of Jesus. 11:39 I don't know what your week's been like. Some of us here today, you know, 11:44 your week might have been pretty bad. Some of us might have been 11:47 pretty good. But today, no matter what, God calls us, no matter where you 11:52 are. So today I invite you, come forward as we sing that chorus 11:56 one more time, as we enter into our time of prayer, to give it to God. 12:01 Ask Him to unveil your eyes so that you can see His glorious love for you. 12:05 So sing with us that chorus again, "Hold me close," as you step forward to pray. 12:13 Sing, "Hold me close." 13:23 >> Well, good morning, boys and girls. Are you looking fresh and alive 13:27 and warm on this first Sabbath of 2-0-1-8? What year would that be? 13:32 2-0-1-8. 2018. You got it. 2018. The first Sabbath. 13:39 Hey, Sissy. Nice to have you. 13:41 But you're looking great. Thanks for coming out today. 13:44 Ooh! Was it cold this week or what? 13:47 I thought it was cold at our house. When I looked at the 13:49 thermometer -- was it on Tuesday morning or Wednesday morning? I forget -- -9 degrees. 13:56 So, I'm talking to the kids in first service about -9 degrees, and the deacon who takes the 14:01 children's offering money out, Rob Barner, says, "-9? It was -12 at our house!" 14:08 Whoa! Was that cold or what? >> It was cold. 14:11 >> Yeah. >> Yeah. It feels like it's warming up. 14:13 Not too bad. Yeah, it was so cold. But this is a story 14:17 about the cold. Because down in Florida -- listen to this. 14:20 Oh, I got to show you one of these. Oh, let's put it -- 14:22 let's put a green iguana on the screen. Ohhh. 14:25 That's a face only a mother could love. Lookit. Isn't that ugly? 14:28 That's just -- ay-yi-yi. Maybe some of you have iguana pets. 14:33 Look at that pet. They came up from South America and the Caribbean. 14:36 They don't belong in America, but they just got to [Squeals] and they're really growing fast. 14:41 So, you know what happened in Florida this week? It got so cold in Florida -- 14:45 I'm telling you the truth. So cold in Florida that these iguanas, who sleep in the 14:50 treetops at night -- they sleep in the treetops. The next morning, people came 14:55 out, and they were -- let me see a picture. Let me see a picture. 14:58 They were everywhere. Don't normally show that in a children's story, 15:02 but there it is. Look at those iguanas. Just -- oh! Frozen. 15:08 Goodbye. Hey, guys. Here, I'll take that. 15:13 Bless your hearts. Thank you. Is this for me? Bless your heart. 15:18 Thank you. Now, you guys can have a seat right here. 15:21 Right -- oh, no. Right, right, right, right, right there. 15:23 We've been saving that. Bless your heart. Okay. So, can you imagine that? 15:27 People came out, there are iguanas, dead, on the ground everywhere. 15:33 Ay-yi-yi-yi. [Clucking] Sad. Pastor Rodlie last night was 15:38 telling us -- he heard this on NPR, so it has to be true. He heard of a man -- 15:46 Apparently they eat these. [ Children exclaim in disgust ] Well, that's another thing 15:50 you're not supposed to tell in a children's story. I'm sorry. 15:52 [ Laughter ] Apparently they eat these. No kidding. 15:55 Yeah, so, he saw all these on the ground, he said, "We are gonna have a 15:59 barbecue tonight," this man in Florida. [ Children groan ] 16:01 That's exactly what he did. He started grabbing them, picking them up, throwing them 16:04 in the back of his car. Turned his heat on, started driving down the road. 16:07 And as the car got warmer, he suddenly felt something clawing up his leg. 16:10 [ Gasps ] They'd all come back to life. [ Children exclaim ] 16:14 >> They weren't dead. They were just catatonic. They were just -- unh. 16:19 [ Shudders ] [ Laughter ] What happened? 16:25 Hey, Zipporah. [ Chuckles ] You go, girl. I totally missed whatever 16:32 happened, so I hope you enjoyed it. Can you believe that? 16:36 They weren't dead! They're just frozen. Flash freeze. 16:40 [Mimics ice crackling] You know, it reminds me of some of us. 16:44 [ Chuckles ] Reminded me of some of us. Our hearts get so frozen -- 16:47 uh-huh. Our hearts get so frozen, we don't love anybody. 16:49 No, no, no, no. I can't love people. I have so much going on 16:53 in my life. I have to only love myself. Our hearts freeze, 16:56 and the only hope we have -- If you have a frozen heart -- Listen to this. Tch, tch. 17:00 If you have a frozen heart, the only hope we have is that the sun of Jesus' love will rise 17:06 back up in the sky, shine down, and just thaw our hearts out, warmed by His love. 17:11 Then we can love each other once again. Do you want to be a frozen 17:16 Christian? >> No. >> No, I don't want to be a 17:19 frozen Christian, either. Jesus said, "Some are cold, but a few are frozen." 17:22 I don't want to be a frozen Christian like that. [ Laughter ] 17:27 I don't want to be a frozen Christian. I want Jesus to shine 17:32 with the sunlight. How many want Jesus to shine with the sunlight on your heart, 17:35 thaw it out if it's a little bit frozen at the beginning of the new year. 17:38 "Jesus, just love through me the world this year. Amen." 17:43 Oh, who would like to thank Jesus for being like the sunshine? 17:49 I got to go to the front row, Josh. 'Cause you're stuck back there. 17:53 Next week, sit right up here near the front. Okay. Young man, I saw your hand 17:58 go right up. Come on up. You were first. That's you! 18:02 Nice to have you. Come on. Let's close our eyes. What's your name? 18:06 >> Amaziah. >> Amaziah. Let's close our eyes and fold 18:10 our hands as Amaziah thanks Jesus for being the sun that melts our frozen hearts. 18:15 Amaziah? >> Allah, thank you for having a good day with us. 18:20 And Jesus can you [Mumbling] that you be good to us. In Jesus' name we pray. 18:28 >> Amen. That's beautiful, Amaziah. As you go quietly and reverently 18:32 back to your seats, you can say what Amaziah just prayed. Just pray, "Thank you, Jesus, 18:36 for being so good to us this new year." Happy Sabbath and 18:40 happy New Year. Thank you, Amaziah. [ Indistinct chatter ] 18:54 [ Piano playing softly ] ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:14 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:38 [ Chord changes, music intensifies ] ♪♪ 19:53 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Chord changes, 20:12 bright music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ 20:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Tempo increases ] 20:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 21:20 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Tempo decreasing ] 21:44 ♪♪ [ Piano playing softly ] ♪♪ 22:07 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ 22:37 ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Music fades, song ends ] 22:55 >> Amen. 23:02 >> Thank you, Minister of Music Kenneth Logan. "What wondrous love is this? 23:11 That's the right question to be asking. Let's pray. 23:22 What kind of love is this, Father, this wondrous love? We talk about it. 23:28 We hear about it. We even pray about it. But what difference 23:33 does it make? These quiet moments we have left in this 23:41 opening moment of a new year, speak to us, we pray, through scripture. 23:46 In Jesus' name. Amen. 23:50 So, I'm talking with somebody the other day, and he just -- 23:53 "Pshp, pbht!" -- asked me, "Yo, so what's your dream 23:57 for this place?" I said, "You talking about 24:00 Pioneer and Andrews?" "Uh-huh." 24:02 "Well, that's a great question." And here's what I began 24:06 to say to him. You know, we've just come 24:11 out of a semester. 24:13 And in this semester, by and large, we've been focusing on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 24:19 right? A daily baptism of the Holy Spirit. 24:23 But the question can fairly be asked, "Yo, I got it. The mechanics, we got it. 24:27 You've covered it. Got that little book, steps-to-personal-revival.info. 24:31 I have downloaded the book. I've already read it multiple times. 24:36 But the question can logically, fairly be asked, "But so what? What difference does it make? 24:42 I mean, please." That's a good question. Then two things happened to me 24:52 this last semester. Number one, I came across a verse, 24:59 and I have been brooding on it ever since. I got to share it with you. 25:03 Phenomenal verse. You'll see it in a minute. But at the same time, 25:07 I heard a presentation by Dr. Loren Hamel, who happens to be the C.E.O. 25:14 of Lakeland Health -- Lakeland Health System here in southwestern Michigan. 25:19 Loren and Ann are members of this congregation. It was about a 15-minute, 25:23 maybe 20-minute on the outside presentation. And as soon as I heard that, 25:28 I said, [Snaps] "That's it. That's the 'So what?' That's the 'What difference does 25:35 it make?' answer." So I got to share it with you. I want to take you first to the 25:41 line, then I'll tell you about what Dr. Loren shared. Open your Bible with me, please, 25:46 to the grand Epistle of Romans. Romans chapter 5. You didn't bring a Bible, 25:53 grab the pew Bible in front of you. Those of you watching online, 25:56 grab a Bible near you. Got your device, Bible's on the device, that's fine by me. 26:00 I'm gonna be in the New International Version, Romans 5. 26:03 There's a pew Bible in front of you, by the way, those of you sitting in this snowbound 26:08 sanctuary. There's a pew Bible in front of you. 26:10 Pull it out. I want to drop down to verse 5. Great stuff preceding verse 5. 26:18 Marvelous material following verse 5. But it's verse 5... 26:22 Verse 5 that we need to focus on today. Romans 5:5. In my Bible, 26:28 it begins this way -- 26:30 "And hope does not put us to shame... 26:34 "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the 26:37 Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." 26:42 Now, here's what's so fascinating. I got to share this with you. 26:44 Do you know what God's love is? Well, verse 5, we just read it, so we don't have to 26:50 make anything up. God's love is what the Holy Spirit pours out. 26:53 Isn't that right? Didn't we just read that? The Holy Spirit pours out God's 26:56 love. Now, you go to -- just take a look for one split second at 26:59 verse 6, "For, you see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, 27:03 Christ died for the ungodly." So, God's love is poured out through the Holy Spirit. 27:07 God's love is poured out, obviously, through Christ, who died for the ungodly. 27:10 One more person of the Trinity. Drop down to verse 8. "But God demonstrates his own 27:14 love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 27:19 So there's a God called the Father. You have God the Father, 27:22 God the Son, and God the Spirit. All three of them pour out their love where? 27:30 Into our hearts. And we're talking about pouring out. 27:33 And, by the way, this is a torrential-downpour kind of word in the Greek. 27:39 And we get torrential downpours here in Michigan, do we not? Yes, we do. 27:43 But do you know what? For the last 14 days -- 'cause it's snowed every day since 27:47 Christmas Eve, and we're now two weeks. We are now experiencing a 27:52 torrential downpour. You understand that, don't you? This is a torrential downpour. 27:55 It's a lake-effect torrential downpour. The water's being sucked up, 27:58 frozen, and then, frigid, dropped on top of us, and we've got to shovel it. 28:03 Washington Post -- They're so surprised on the East Coast. 28:06 Washington Post headline this week, "Historic Bomb Cyclone Unleashes Blizzard Conditions 28:11 from Coastal Virginia to New England. Frigid air to follow." 28:15 Guess what? It's here. Frigid air. What's going on? Torrential downpour. 28:22 Paul, writing in Romans 5:5, he says, "That's what happens when God's love is poured out. 28:28 It's a gully washer. It's poured out upon us by the Holy Spirit 28:32 who is given to us. The love of the Trinity poured into our hearts 28:38 through the Holy Spirit who is given to us. And, by the way, please be very 28:43 clear that Romans 5:5 is extremely clear. It's the presence of the 28:48 Holy Spirit in the mind, heart, and life of a believer. It's the presence of the 28:56 Holy Spirit that brings that gully-washer outpouring. No Spirit, no love of God. 29:04 So, if you're taking just the mechanics of last semester, and you and I are every day 29:08 asking -- I've been telling God we need 100 pleaders. And I believe we have more than 29:11 100 pleaders who are pleading every day, "Jesus, just fill me with your Spirit. 29:14 Jesus, please, just fill me with your Spirit." Now you have more you can add to 29:18 the prayer. "Fill me with your Spirit and bring the love of God 29:20 into my heart." For that prayer, the answer is, 29:27 thank you for asking, Pssssssssh! But you must have the Spirit. 29:34 No Holy Spirit, no daily asking to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus, 29:38 no love of God poured out in your life. You can't pour it out yourself. 29:42 It has to be poured out by the Holy Spirit. Do you get that? 29:46 "For God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given 29:50 to us." Am I making something up? No. That's why this line is so 29:54 dynamite. You have to have the Holy Spirit in order to experience the 29:58 love of God. You cannot experience the love of God without the Holy Spirit. 30:02 You can get a little shadow of it, a faint glow of it, but you don't get 30:05 the real thing. It only comes when the Holy Spirit steps into your life 30:10 and says, "I'm here, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Love time." 30:16 That's what's going on here. Dwight L. Moody. You ever heard of him? 30:21 Evangelist. 19th-century America. And England. 30:25 Dwight L. Moody. Chicago, okay? That's where he started out. 30:30 In fact, you have Moody Bible Institute in Chicago right now. 30:32 It's a great organization. Moody started. He preached in an old tabernacle 30:39 there in Chicago. Sunday nights, when he was through preaching, Mr. Moody -- 30:42 he was never ordained. Mr. Moody, when he was through preaching, he would stand at the 30:46 back and greet the people who had come off the streets of Chicago, whomever, he would 30:50 greet them at the door. Two ladies started showing up. Every Sunday night, they started 30:54 showing up and coming through that door where he's standing. And they would take his hand as 30:58 he said, "Well, ladies, so nice to have you tonight." They grabbed his hand and they 31:01 said, "Mr. Moody, we are praying for you." The first time they said it to 31:05 him, he said, [Snickering] "You don't have to pray for me. Why don't you pray for somebody 31:10 who really needs it?" Didn't phase them at all. Next Sunday night, they came 31:15 through. Same thing. He said, "Ladies, nice to have 31:17 you again." "Mr. Moody, we are praying for you." 31:19 "Would you -- Agh!" That happened night after night, Sunday after Sunday, until 31:25 finally he says, "All right. Step over. Step here. When everybody's gone, 31:28 I need to talk to you." He took them back to a little corner, which was his office, in 31:33 that old wooden tabernacle. He says, "All right, ladies. What's up with this?" 31:38 They said, "You know what, Mr. Moody? We are praying for God to fill 31:42 you with the Holy Spirit." "Ugh. What do you think?" But the more they talked, 31:49 the more Moody realized they had touched a sore, throbbing ache in his own life, 31:57 and he didn't even know it. And that is what birthed the hunger in Dwight L. Moody 32:04 for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And then the tragic 32:08 Chicago fire. That city was burnt. Vast swathes of the city 32:13 burned to the ground by that fire. Moody now is so despairing. 32:21 He's got to now raise money. He's in New York City. Some friends said, "Come over 32:24 here and raise money over here." He has no heart for raising any money at all. 32:29 In fact, I want to read Moody right here. "My heart was not in the work of 32:33 begging, 'Give me money for Chicago.' I was crying all the time 32:37 that God would fill me with His Spirit. For four months, this wrestling 32:41 went on in me. I was a miserable man." "We've been praying for you. 32:48 You'll be filled with the spirit." "I was a miserable man." 32:53 Finally, one day -- and he very rarely talked about this. Very rarely. 32:57 Finally, one day, he's walking down the sidewalks of big New York City, 33:01 even back in the 1800's. And suddenly something begins to just move in on him. 33:07 He doesn't know what's going on. He knows he just needs to get alone with God, and he knows a 33:10 friend of his is living three or four blocks away. He hurries to his friend's 33:13 house. The friend meets him at the door, "Hey, Moody. Come on in. 33:16 Let's have lunch together." "No, I don't want to talk. Just give me -- do you have a 33:19 room? Do you have an empty room? I need a room where I can be 33:22 alone with God right now." "Sure I'll give you a room." Boom! 33:25 And then Moody writes later, "Ah, what a day! I cannot describe it. 33:33 I can only say God revealed himself to me," and now here it comes, "and I had such an 33:37 experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. 33:44 That's the point. "Stop, stop, stop! I can't -- I can't have -- 33:48 I can't handle any more." What's the point, Dwight? Only the Holy Spirit can bring 33:55 to you an experience of God's love. Now, I have some good news 33:59 for you. 'Cause I've tried to replicate this, say, "Oh, God, maybe I 34:01 have to have an experience like this." No, no, no. 34:03 You don't have to have this experience. It'll come the way your heart is 34:07 best to receive it. And, in fact, it's to come every day, anyway. 34:10 It's not this one-time thing. It's every single day. Then there's no 34:15 big emotion in it. Now it's just, "God, I have to have it again today." 34:20 "God's love has been poured out into our hearts" -- How does it read? -- 34:24 "through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. That's the deal. 34:29 Pour it in. But here's the other half of the deal -- 34:34 what gets poured in must now be poured out. And that's the big deal. 34:40 And that's the answer to the "So what?" "Okay, so you spent a semester 34:43 with this. So what now? What's your dream? 34:46 What's your dream for Pioneer and Andrews University?" Ahh! It's the "So what?" 34:50 that follows the baptizing daily. What's the "So what?" look like? 34:55 Let me run some examples by you. Christian Wiman, in his wonderful book, marvelous, 35:01 his thought-provoking book "My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer" -- 35:07 Wiman, I remind you in case you don't know, is a poet who suffers from a terminal disease. 35:12 He came to know God in his 30s, and he seeks to introduce his fellow thinkers and artists -- 35:16 'cause he's very much an artist. When you read the book, 35:18 you can feel the poetry. He wants them to meet the same God. 35:23 So, Wiman is now on the screen. 35:24 Christian Wiman. "In any true love," he observes, 35:28 you're talking about "a mother's for her child, a husband's for 35:30 his wife, a friend's for a friend -- there is an excess 35:33 energy" -- beyond the love of those two humans, "there is 35:36 an excess energy that always wants to be in motion. 35:56 This excess energy, "it wants to be more than it is; 36:00 It cries out inside of us to make it more than it is. 36:03 And what it is crying out for, finally, is its essence and 36:07 origin" -- it's crying out for God. 36:11 Where he came from? He's writing to seculars and 36:14 atheists. You ever experience that? 36:16 That's what it is. It's crying out for God. 36:19 Now, keep reading. "Love, which awakens our souls 36:21 and to which we cling like splendid mortal creatures that 36:24 we are, asks us to let it go, to let it be more than it is 36:27 if it is only us." If it's just you and me, no, 36:30 it's not enough, not enough. You can't quench it. 36:32 You can't hold me this tight. Let me be more. 36:37 Keep reading. To manage this highest for of 36:40 loving does not mean that we will be showered with earthly 36:44 delights or somehow be spared awful human suffering." 36:48 And he should know, as some of you should, as well. 36:52 But for as long as we can live in this sacred space of 36:55 receiving and releasing," receiving and releasing, 36:58 "and we can learn to speak and be love's fluency, then the 37:02 greater love that is God brings a continuous and enlarging air 37:07 into our existence." Oh, that's good. 37:10 The continuing brings an existing, enlarging air. 37:15 More space. 37:16 Why more space? More space to take more people 37:18 in, that's why. That's why He gave you this love 37:20 in the first place. It's not to hoard and clutch. 37:24 It's for me to take more into me through you. 37:29 [ Groans ] In the words of Spence Reece, 37:32 whom Wiman quotes -- put Spence Reece, 37:34 another poet, on the screen. 37:42 Oh, isn't that good? "The more he loved me 37:45 the more I loved the world." Why? Because what's being 37:47 poured in must be poured out. It's the only reason it came 37:50 in the first place. Mm. 37:56 "God's love" -- Oh, let's read it again. 38:08 Wow. Not to keep, not to clutch, 38:12 but to give away. Philip Yancey, the award-winning 38:16 Christian journalist -- great writer. 38:18 I think I may have read his last book. 38:22 He's so discouraged about the publishing industry and where 38:26 books are headed now. 38:27 Talking about analogue books. Anyway, in his latest book, 38:33 called "Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened 38:37 to the Good News?," he tells about his wife, Janet, 38:41 who is a hospice chaplain. A friend of hers named Susan 38:44 becomes a hospice Chaplain. And Philip suggest, he says, 38:49 "You need to watch Susan -- how she relates to her patients. 38:54 Because I believe she presents faith that put Christians, 38:58 especially at a time of crisis, in a model, exemplary 39:01 sort of way. So I'm gonna put Susan's -- 39:03 It's Susan's story on the screen right now, okay? 39:05 Yancey is writing. 39:15 ...in that room. In the hospice. 39:17 "'We love because He first loved us,' she says, quoting John, 39:20 'and I picture God pouring his pitcher into me" -- 39:24 Pitcher. Pitcher. This is the metaphor we've just 39:26 been at. "I picture God pouring his 39:29 pitcher into me so that I can pour out to others, and then be 39:32 replenished with God's love.'" "God's love is poured out into 39:36 our lives by the Holy Spirit, who's been given to us." 39:39 That's what she's describing here. 39:41 Now keep going. 40:02 Great counsel for those who deal with human beings, 40:05 period. "I take myself too seriously." 40:15 God pours out His love into you so that you might pour out His 40:19 love into others. 40:20 You see how that works? That's the whole point of it. "This enlarging air 40:28 of God's love," as Wiman puts it. You want to know God's dream? 40:35 You want to know what God's dream for Pioneer and Andrews? You just read it. 40:39 This is God's dream. Romans 5:5. That's His dream. That's His dream. 40:45 That this little campus, this little congregation would be known far and wide, 40:52 and even near, as the most loving campus you'll ever walk onto. 40:59 They're the most loving people I've ever met. The staff -- ha! 41:02 You can't believe them. The faculty, you can't believe them. 41:05 The students -- wow! This congregation, the friendliest congregation 41:10 in town. Wow! Nothing special about it. 41:12 Can't be the pipes. There's something about the way these people love. 41:19 That's God's dream. That's not my dream. That's God's dream. 41:22 "I pour it in, you pour it out." Right? Please. 41:30 Like the old King James reads -- Can you put the King James 41:32 on the screen for us? 41:38 So, God, the Holy Spirit steps into your heart and your life right now, and He sheds it 41:42 abroad -- Whoooo! -- all through the nooks and crannies of your soul. 41:48 But the whole point is, it's shed abroad here so that it might be shed abroad out there. 41:52 That's the point. What fills you here is to pour out to there. 41:59 Wow. Saints and sinners like you and me. 42:04 Saints and sinners like you and me. Are you a saint? 42:11 Come on. Are you a saint? Don't look at me. Look at you. 42:22 The American writer Reynolds Price defines saint this way -- 42:28 and, by the way, Yancey, he loves Reynolds Price. You're gonna like this 42:33 definition of a saint. By the way, there's a little handout in your 42:35 worship bulletin. You can take all these quotes home today. 42:38 But let's put it on the screen. 42:39 So, Yancey asks the question, "What is a saint?" 42:42 And Yancey goes on, "I like Reynolds Price's 42:45 definition" -- now here comes Prices's definition -- "someone 42:47 who, however flawed," isn't that good? 42:51 However flawed. Someone who "leads us by 42:55 example, almost never by words, to imagine the hardest thing of 43:00 all: the seamless love of God for all creation, including 43:03 ourselves." 43:06 Wow. What is a saint? She doesn't use a lot of words. She just does it. 43:09 She just lives it. Flawed as she is, flawed as he is, 43:13 he just lives it. He just quietly goes about living the seamless love of God 43:18 for all creation, including ourselves. There's a quiet security 43:23 in that saint. I don't need the world to tell me how I'm doing. 43:29 I don't need my friends' evaluation or acceptance. I need only the love of God 43:36 poured out in my heart through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to me. 43:39 That's all I need. Flawed though I am -- Flawed though I am, 43:45 not with words, but with example. Wow. 43:51 I got a book from a friend for Christmas. Masterfully written biography of 43:56 Eric Liddell. He's the "Chariots of Fire" hero. 44:00 You remember those? You remember "Chariots of Fire"? [ Humming ] Yeah. 44:05 Eric Liddell, the Scotsman, fly like the wind, "God smiles on me when I run 44:13 fast," that's the Eric Liddell. And you remember the Paris Olympics, 1924. 44:20 What he had spent his life training for, so to speak, is now gonna be on Sunday. 44:24 You remember that? And he says, "I can't run on Sunday. 44:26 I just can't. I'm sorry. I forfeit. I forfeit. I withdraw. 44:31 So somebody else won that race. But he said, "There's another race. 44:34 It's not what you trained for. It's not what you prepared for. ...meter and won a gold 44:41 at the Paris Olympics. He could have quit then and turned to professional 44:46 racing, because there's money in professional racing. But he doesn't. 44:51 He chooses to become a missionary to China. He goes to China, meets an 44:57 English girl there. They get married, have three little girls. 45:02 World War II breaks out. My homeland has kind of taken over China. 45:06 And so there's a prison, an internment camp to which Eric Liddell is banished. 45:12 In that camp, he eventually dies of brain tumor. Duncan Hamilton, sports writer, 45:23 skillfully -- boy, you'll never read a -- I don't care what kind of biography, you'll never read 45:28 one more poignant than this. He starts his book at the interment camp, so that's why I 45:33 know what's gonna happen here, 'cause that's where I'm at, the beginning of the book. 45:37 I want to put Hamilton's words on the screen. He's describing -- 45:40 You want to see a real live saint, okay, check this out. 45:43 You said, "Aw, come on. You can't be a real saint 45:44 today." Watch this. 45:46 On the screen for you. "Amid the myriad moral dilemmas 45:48 in Weihsien" -- this is a little town where the 45:53 internment camp was -- "Liddell's forbearance was 45:55 remarkable." Keep reading. 45:57 "No one could ever recall a single act of envy, pettiness, 46:00 hubris" -- or pride -- "or self-aggrandizement from him." 46:33 The seamless love of God for all creation, including ourselves, Eric Liddell just lived it. 46:40 He just lived it. Not with words. But with a life. 46:47 And everybody saw it. They saw it. That's God's dream. 46:55 "God's love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who's been given to us." 47:00 That's His dream. Because what's poured in must get poured out. 47:03 That's the dream. What gets poured in must get poured out. 47:06 That's how you change the world. What was that? "Everyone regarded him 47:13 as a friend." Friendliest campus in Michigan. 47:20 Friendliest campus. Man, you can't believe these people. 47:22 Friendliest congregation I've ever been in. Look at them. 47:25 It's just love. You just see it and sense it. That's the dream. 47:31 That's the dream. For the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts 47:35 through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Shed abroad inside 47:38 so that it might be shed abroad outside. That's it. 47:41 So, let's draw this to a close. So what? So what do I do? Simple, simple, simple. 47:50 Remember -- just memorize these two steps, you got it. Simple, simple, simple. 47:55 Step number one -- 47:58 That's number one. Ask to be filled. 48:00 In the morning, preferably. Every morning, ask to be filled. 48:02 "How do I do that?" Each day, "God, just fill me' 48:06 with the Spirit of Jesus." And when the Spirit comes in, 48:08 love will be poured out. Oh, I love this. 48:10 "Steps to Christ." Put it on the screen. 48:12 "Steps to Christ." Page 94. 48:22 Every day. [Inhales sharply] 48:25 "Fill me." You say, "Dwight, I mean, how do I get the love of God? 48:27 How can I get God's love in my mind?" Well, don't worry about getting 48:29 it in your mind. But you can experience God's love. 48:33 What does Paul say? "Just go to the cross." That's where God demonstrates 48:36 His love for us at Calvary. So, here's what I'm suggesting. Just picture the cross in your 48:41 mind. I have a place -- Ah! I got to tell you, this is 48:44 a little embarrassing, but I have bookshelves in my study at home, where I do all my writing 48:47 and studying, and -- turn the lights out -- and a particular bookshelf 48:54 makes a cross. Kind of elementary, I know. But it makes a cross. 48:59 And I look at that cross, and to me, I focus on that cross. 49:03 I'm kneeling at the cross. I'm kneeling at the foot of the cross, and I'm saying, "God, 49:07 you got to fill me. Fill me, fill me with the love that was unleashed, that was 49:12 poured out at Calvary, that the Holy Spirit now brings. I don't need to feel anything 49:17 because life is not about feeling. Life is about fact. 49:19 Life is about acting on what you know. The feelings will come later. 49:23 I don't have to feel anything. I just say, "Fill me up today." It's simple. Two steps. 49:28 Step number one, ask to be filled. Step number two... 49:36 That's it. Ask to be filled, 49:38 step number one. Step number two, 49:39 ask to be un-filled. What you put into me, 49:42 what you poured into me, please pour out of me. 49:45 You say, "Dwight, how am I gonna do this?" Don't worry about it. 49:48 You'll do it. In fact, you could do this. You could say, "God, 49:52 there's somebody I'm gonna meet today -- in fact, I'm telling you, God, I am open for you to 49:57 do this. There's somebody that you're gonna bring into my life today. 50:00 It might be in the cafeteria, it might be across campus, it might be filling up with gas, 50:04 I'm gonna meet somebody. Maybe at Walmart, I'm gonna meet somebody today who needs 50:10 Your love. I want you to alert me when that person's there. 50:13 That's all I'm asking. Show me." I don't have to worry about 50:17 what to say. I'll figure that out. Just show me. 50:20 You said, "All right. I can't think of anybody." Think of your last 72 hours. 50:23 No kidding. Right now, you last 72 hours, think of all the people that 50:26 you have met somewhere along the way. Think of those people. 50:30 Just think of those people. In the last 72 hours, unless you are a monk, 50:35 you have met people in 72 hours. One of those surely was a candidate 50:42 for your cheerful, friendly, gracious, unselfish way. Yeah, come on. They're there. 50:53 I said this to myself. I said, "Oh, boy." And I thought of somebody, 50:56 I said, "Oh, man. I messed up there." I really did. 51:00 Lookit, you'll think of stuff, you'll think of people you've messed up with. 51:03 Don't worry about it. That's just the devil saying, "See? You don't even want to try 51:06 this because you're such a failure." Forget it. 51:09 Lead me to somebody today, dear God. I ask first that you fill me, 51:13 and then I ask that you un-fill me. Un-fill me today. 51:15 Un-fill me wherever I go. Just un-fill me." That's it. 51:21 And if you'll do that, you will bring your heart 51:23 to life. The title of today's homily. 51:26 You will bring your heart to life. 51:29 "Where'd you get that title, Dwight?" 51:30 I'll tell you how I got it. Loren Hamel, C.E.O. of 51:34 Lakeland Health. Told you about him 51:36 just a few moments ago. 51:38 Board of elders invited him in. 15 minutes, "Tell us about Lakeland Health. 51:44 Tell us about what you're doing there." I was so amazed. 51:53 He says, "You know what? We felt that we needed to change the culture 52:02 of this institution. Apparently, institutional cultures can be changed. 52:11 'Cause I'll tell you my experience in a minute. He said, "We need something 52:17 to remind us that it's not just same old, same old, same old. Get them well, send them home. 52:22 Get them well, send them home. Get them well, send them home. There's something else." 52:25 And his senior leadership team, they came up with a brilliant marketing logo. 52:33 A slogan. A line. And they have obviously drilled it into every employee and staff 52:41 member in that large health system. 52:44 Because when I go into Lakeland -- and I've gone into 52:46 Lakeland for many, many years. When I go into Lakeland, 52:50 I'm telling you what, I'll tell you, I don't think 52:54 there is a friendlier, more gracious hospital anywhere. 52:59 The courtesy, the warmth -- like you really care. 53:08 They chose one little marketing slogan, and they've been 53:13 reminding themselves of it day after day after day. 53:18 And here's the slogan -- "Bring your heart to work." Brilliant. 53:29 Bring your heart to work. What's that mean? You got a heart. 53:35 You got love in that heart? Bring your heart to work. People have to feel the love 53:43 to believe the love. They got to feel it. It's not a slogan on a wall. 53:50 It's a life in a human being. Bring your heart to work. Bring your heart to work. 53:58 Bring your heart to class if you're a professor. Bring your heart to class. 54:06 You're a student, bring your heart to your dormitory room. 54:11 Just bring it there. You're a staff member, Bring your heart to that 54:16 computer screen every day when you sit down. Somebody today will need your 54:22 heart to know that God loves them. The hospital's not saying, 54:26 "We got to get the love of God out." That's our mission. 54:31 But if you can turn a large hospital around, my dream is you can turn a large 54:38 congregation around. This becomes a loving place. Where sinners of all stripes 54:45 and all colors gather and sense they are loved, accepted, and forgiven here. 54:53 This is just -- I don't know. These people, they're crazy. Tertullian, the ancient church 55:00 father, described how the pagans would look at the Christians, and he wished that the pagans 55:05 would say, "See how they love one another." That's God's dream. 55:11 "See how these people love each other. Look at the way the guy teaches. 55:16 Look at the attention he gives at the end of his class. Look at that. Look at that. 55:20 You didn't have to do that. You could have just hurried on. You're important. 55:25 Look at that. Look at the way the guy pastors. It's just like he lives for 55:31 people. What's up with that? Look at the way the elders 55:35 elder. Look at the way the Sabbath-school teachers 55:38 Sabbath school. Bring your heart to life. Not to church. 55:45 Not to work. To life. Wherever you go to live every day, just take your heart with 55:49 you. May it be filled with the Holy Spirit every beginning. 55:53 Every new day filled, poured out with the love of God. And then you just let God 55:57 pour it out through you. That's it. You want to know my dream? 56:03 Glad you asked. That's it. That's it. To become a people, 56:09 a Jesus people, who are known for the love of God 56:13 that is poured out wherever they go. Amen. 56:18 Oh, God, that is our prayer. And with that gift, with the love you pour in, 56:27 pour out of us wherever, whenever with whomever, 56:34 we humbly pray. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus 56:41 and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. 56:48 Amen. [ Organ plays ] ♪♪ 57:05 >> Thank you for taking the time to join us in worship today. 57:08 I'd like to spend another moment with you here at the end of our 57:10 program to share with you a gift of hope. 57:13 In these uncertain times, this little book, "The Great Hope," 57:15 will help you understand what God has planned for your future. 57:18 And not just your future, but for the future of 57:20 the human race. In this 500th anniversary of 57:23 the Great Reformation, we recognize that Luther had a 57:26 mighty work to do, but the truth is he didn't 57:28 recognize all the light of holy scripture. 57:30 How could he have? He's just one life. 57:32 New light has been continually shining since his time, 57:35 and new truths have been constantly unfolding. 57:37 This book, "The Great Hope," is a story of that continuing 57:41 Reformation. So grab your phone, 57:43 dial our toll-free number... Remember the two words -- 57:47 877-HIS-WILL -- and we'll get a copy to you 57:50 right away. Until the next time we meet, 57:53 may the peace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 57:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:19 ♪♪ |
Revised 2018-01-12