Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP220402S
|
00:01 ♪♪
00:11 ♪♪ 06:35 >> Oh, boys and girls, what a beautiful sight for us to see 06:38 you, making your way to the front. 06:42 This is your time in the worship service where you get to be front and center. 06:48 And that's because we love kids here at Pioneer. We're an intergenerational 06:51 church. Not just one age group, no. We got 'em all here. 06:57 Nice to have all of you. Oh, you're having to wait in line today. 07:01 Well, that's good. That's good. Now that we're sitting on the 07:04 stairs -- okay, everybody knows that little rule. We're sitting on the stairs, 07:07 looking this way. That's good. That's good. 07:11 All right. Still nice and soft stairs, aren't they? 07:16 Yep. Yeah, we got some -- we got some 07:19 space right here, guys. You want to come right this way? 07:21 Hey, fellas, come on over here. Right here. Got some great space right here 07:25 for you right here. There you go. Perfect. Perfect. 07:30 Oh, just another lady or two or a gentleman or two. Nice to have all of you. 07:37 Ahh. Well, I've got a question in my mind as I look at your beautiful 07:47 faces. I wonder if anybody here has a pet in your home. 07:54 I mean, a real-life pet. Anybody here have a pet in your house? 07:59 Come on. There got to be more pets than that. 08:02 You got pets in your house? Anybody here have a dog? >> I used to have one. 08:08 >> Used to have one? Well, you kind of miss having one, don't you? 08:12 Well, maybe not. Yes? [ Laughter ] 08:16 Do you have a -- What kind of pet do you have? >> We have a dog. 08:19 >> You got a dog, too? And, Ellie, what do you have? >> Kitten. 08:23 >> Kitten. Oh, I love kittens! Anybody else got a unique pet? 08:27 Yes, sis? >> I have a bird. >> You have a bird. 08:30 Well, that's a unique pet. What kind of bird do you have? >> I have a budgie bird. 08:33 >> A budgie bird? Hoo! Those are the coolest birds in the world. 08:37 Good for you, girl. Yes, ma'am. >> I have a kitten and a dog. 08:42 >> A kitten and a dog? Well, you're kind of like my granddaughters. 08:46 They're the ones who gave me the story for today. I'm talking about Ella and Izzy 08:49 and Lily. And they have a dog, two cats, they had two gerbils, and they 08:55 have two fish. It's just like, "What is this?" But pets are wonderful. 09:00 I got a story about a dog. Is this okay? My granddaughters said, "You can 09:04 tell this one, Papa." Okay. It's about a dog named Bobbie. 09:08 Anybody here have a dog named Bobbie? Bobbie's name. 09:11 That's his name. And, oh -- [ Imitates dog panting ] 09:15 Bobbie just loves living in the Brazier family. That's their last name. 09:19 [ Imitates dog panting ] Wherever little Leona and Nova went, Bobbie was sure to go. 09:24 Hop, hop, bop, bounce, bounce, bounce. Bobbie just loved those little 09:27 girls 'cause he was their pet. And mom and dad walked in, mother and father Brazier, in 09:34 Silverton, Oregon. Just got the story yesterday. They walked in and said, "Hey, 09:40 kids. How many want to go on a long trip for summer vacation?" 09:46 This is in August. For summer vacation. Oh! The two girls' hands shot 09:50 up, and they turned to Bobbie, and they said, "Bobbie, do you want to go on a long trip?" 09:54 [ Imitates dog panting ] "See, Daddy? Bobbie wants to go now. 09:57 Can we take Bobbie?" "Well, I wasn't sure --" "Daddy, please, we got to take 10:01 Bobbie." [ Imitates dog panting ] And Bobbie's just sitting there, 10:03 wagging his tail, said, "I want to go." Would you talk Bobbie? 10:07 Of course. So, Papa finally said, "Okay. We'll do it." 10:10 Bobbie jumped in the car, Leona, Nova -- Pssh! That's a long ways from 10:15 Silverton, Oregon. They went all the way to a place called Indiana. 10:18 Have you ever heard of Indiana? All the way to Indiana. Yep, drove all that way, met 10:23 some friends there, and the girls, Leona and Nova, are having a wonderful time with 10:27 their friends. Oh, they're outside playing in the Indiana August weather. 10:31 Indiana's beautiful in August. Yes, it is. And guess what -- Bobbie was 10:37 loving it. Oh! But Bobbie had never been to 10:39 Indiana before. And I'm imagining that Bobbie saw an Indiana rabbit. 10:44 Have you ever seen an Indiana rabbit? They look just like Michigan 10:48 rabbits. [ Laughter ] He had never seen an Indiana 10:51 rabbit. He said, "I'm going after him!" Pssh! 10:54 Gone. What? The little girls were just playing with their friends, and 10:58 all of a sudden, they turned around, they said, "Yo, where's Bobbie?" 11:01 They yell, "Bobbie!" [ Whistling ] "Bobbie!" 11:07 Nothing. No sound, no barking, no -- [ Imitates dog panting ] 11:10 Nothing. Oh. Well, he just went -- He'll be back. 11:16 That night, he still hadn't come back. And now the girls are crying. 11:21 "Oh, we shouldn't have brought Bobbie on this trip! I'm so sorry that we did. 11:28 He'll never come home!" And there was nothing mom and dad could do to comfort Bobbie. 11:32 Because when your heart's broken as a little girl, your heart's broken. 11:36 There's nothing you can do. Bobbie's gone. The family, sadly, got into 11:41 their car, drove all the way back to Silverton -- Silverton, Oregon. 11:46 [ Sighs ] That was in August. Takes a few months to get used 11:51 to losing a pet, and some of you have lost pets, I know. It takes a while, but, boy, in 11:55 the middle of the winter, they're saying. "Oh, we sure miss Bobbie." 12:00 It was on a February -- Winter in Oregon, even, February! And that's -- shh, shh, shh! 12:06 There was a -- shh! Noah, shh! What's that sound? 12:11 Sounds like something -- And Nova leaned over -- she could hear it. 12:16 [ Sniffing ] Wait a minute, wait a minute. [ Imitating scratching ] 12:21 Somebody's scratching at the front door! They ran to the front door, 12:24 threw the front door open, and who do you suppose it was? Bobbie! 12:28 And the girls started shrieking and dancing and laughing, and, "We got Bobbie back!" 12:33 "Oh, Bobbie, you look bad." [ Laughter ] "Oh, mangy, dirty, skinny." 12:42 He -- He -- They looked at his -- "Oh, Bobbie, look at your paws! 12:47 Right down to the bone. The skin was gone. Bobbie had come a long way -- 12:55 from Indiana. Oh, the family was so happy. The neighborhood soon heard -- 12:59 everybody heard about Bobbie. It went in the newspaper there in Silverton, Oregon. 13:03 The newspaper wrote up the story about Bobbie. It went, it got syndicated into 13:06 national newspapers. That means all across America, they're telling the story of 13:10 Bobbie. It was back in the time where there needed to be some good 13:12 news. Bobbie -- They called him 13:15 Bobbie the Wonder Dog! And the Oregon Humane Society said, "Wait a minute, wait a 13:21 minute. We don't know that he came all the way from Indiana. 13:25 But guess what -- they found out. They did the checking. 13:28 People said, "Oh! Oh! I seen that dog! Oh, oh! I seen that dog!" 13:33 People said, "Yeah, I know that dog, that Scottish Collie mix. Yeah, he was hanging around my 13:38 house." Oh, my. The Oregon Humane Society 13:45 estimated that Bobbie had traveled 2,800 miles in the middle of winter, barefoot, 13:52 'cause that's how dogs travel. Oh. Oh, boy, everybody wanted Bobbie 13:59 to come to their town. They gave him the keys to the city, every city he showed up, 14:02 they said, "Here's Bobbie the Wonder Dog!" Portland Home Show -- they 14:05 brought him in, 40,000 people came to see Bobbie the Wonder Dog. 14:11 He got his own diamond-studded or jewel-studded collar and his own house and -- oh, Bobbie. 14:19 You know what? Jesus loves it when people come home. 14:24 He wanted Bobbie to come home. So I'm sure Jesus sent an angel, said, "Hey, listen, you got to 14:28 help this dog 'cause there are two little girls that really need this dog. 14:31 Jesus loves it when people come home. He's hoping that people come 14:36 home today, not to Silverton, Oregon, but to Berrien Springs, Michigan. 14:42 He says, "You got some little friends in your neighborhood, you got some little friends that 14:44 you used to go to Sabbath School with, and you haven't seen them in two years and one month. 14:49 He says, "I want you to bring those little friends. I want you to go find your 14:52 friends for me. I want you to find your family and friends for me. 14:55 You bring them to me," because Jesus loves when people come home. 15:00 Doggies come home, people come home. Don't you just love Jesus for 15:05 loving that? How many love Jesus? One hand, put it up. 15:09 One hand, you really love Jesus for loving you and loving you home. 15:13 And how many want to say with the other hand, "I'll help Jesus! 15:16 I'll help him find those who haven't come home yet, and I'll invite them to come home with 15:21 me." Aww. Jesus says, "You go, boy. 15:26 You go, girl." Thank you. Now, I need one volunteer to 15:32 pray. I need a volunteer to pray. I'll have a microphone here. 15:38 And I'm gonna invite you to pray if you'll put your hand up. Sissy, your hand was first, 15:42 right over there on that back row, young lady. You want to come and pray? 15:46 You come, girl. Watch your step as you come down now. 15:50 Come right through here. There you go. What's your first name? 15:53 >> Olia. >> Olia? Oh, I love that name, Olia. 15:56 Come on down here. Olia, let's come right here in the middle. 15:59 Okay, boys and girls, Olia's gonna pray for us. Close your eyes, fold your 16:04 hands, as Olia thanks Jesus. >> Thank you, Lord. Thank you for Jesus, God. 16:13 If everyone keep you safe, and people to protect to be safe, in Jesus' name, amen. 16:23 >> Amen. Thank you, Olia. That was a beautiful prayer. 16:27 As you go quietly and reverently back to your seats, you can say what Olia said in her heart. 16:31 Thank you, Jesus! Bring us all home. God bless you. 16:37 A happy Sabbath to you. 16:41 ♪♪ ♪♪ 17:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 17:21 ♪♪ ♪♪ 17:41 ♪♪ ♪♪ 18:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 18:21 ♪♪ ♪♪ 18:41 ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:21 ♪♪ ♪♪ 19:41 ♪♪ ♪♪ 20:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 20:21 ♪♪ ♪♪ 20:41 ♪♪ ♪♪ 21:02 ♪♪ ♪♪ 21:22 ♪♪ ♪♪ 21:42 ♪♪ [ Applause ] 21:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 22:15 ♪♪ ♪♪ 22:35 ♪♪ ♪♪ 22:54 >> I'm gonna share a word with you that went viral last year. 22:58 The reason it went viral last year is because the social 23:02 psychologist Adam Grant happened to include the word in an op-ed 23:06 piece he wrote for The New York Times. 23:09 Let me put the word on the screen. 23:10 You've probably heard it before. "Languishing." 23:15 Languishing -- what's that mean? We don't know it so much by 23:18 definition. We know it by experience. 23:19 We're coming out of a pandemic, so they tell us. 23:23 Languishing. The piece that Adam Grant wrote 23:29 bore the title, "There's a Name for the blah that you're 23:32 feeling. It's called languishing." 23:37 And guess what -- it became the number-one piece in 23:40 The New York Times, read af-- read time after time after time, 23:44 more than any other article last year in The New York Times. 23:47 Dwayne Kovrick introduced me to that factoid. 23:51 Languishing. The whole nation responds. Churches respond. 23:55 We all know the meaning of the word. Here's Adam Grant's 23:58 definition -- "Languishing -- a state of being that neither falls into the category of 24:02 depression nor flourishing but is more akin to a constant state of 'meh.'" 24:07 [ Laughter ] "A feeling of being 'somewhat joyless and aimless,' 'a sense 24:11 of stagnation and emptiness,' 'feels as if you're muddling through your days, looking at 24:16 your life through a foggy windshield, becoming indifferent to your indifference.'" 24:21 Swallow that line -- indifferent. Have we become indifferent to 24:25 our indifference? Languishing. Maybe some of you are 24:30 experiencing languishing right now. How do we get out of it? 24:34 That's the question. Let's see if we can find an answer. 24:38 Open your Bible to the Book of Hebrews, a book that we don't go to a lot, except our 24:42 faith community, globally, went to this book in the last three months. 24:47 We're gonna go back, because there was a little passage that didn't get dealt with, and 24:51 we're gonna deal with it right now. You and I have never been there 24:54 before. Hebrews 10. Come on -- you got your Bible? 24:56 I want to tell you something. You're waiting for -- "Oh, come on, Dwight, put it on 24:59 the screen. No, come on." You bring your Bible. 25:03 No, I'm serious. We're so dependent on these little electronic devices. 25:07 "Oh, okay, I'm looking it up on my phone." Well, that's okay. 25:10 But you know what? Somebody -- your mother gave you a Bible, once upon a time. 25:14 It's sitting on that shelf in the dorm. Your mother -- Your husband gave 25:17 you a Bible, once upon a time. Use the Bible. Bring it to church. 25:21 You'll never be embarrassed here, I promise you, by bringing your Bible, ever. 25:26 So, Hebrews 10 -- I got my Bible. This is the New International 25:29 Version. Let's drop down, Hebrews 10, to verse 23. 25:34 Okay, here we go. Hebrews 10:23 -- "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we 25:41 profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may 25:49 spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in 25:55 the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -- and all the more as you see the --" 25:59 capital D -- "Day approaching." What's the capital-D day? What's D-day for the human race? 26:05 Come on. What's D-day for the human race? It is...? 26:09 The return of Christ. Capital-D day. The closer we get, the more. 26:14 That's what Paul and many of us believe that Paul, in fact, was the author of this passage. 26:21 Now let me tell you a little bit about this congregation to whom Paul wrote. 26:24 Scholars say, "Well, maybe somebody else." I'm gonna hang on to the Paul 26:28 definition. He writes to them, and by reading the book, we discover a 26:32 spiritual profile of this church. Number one, they're established 26:36 Christians. Mm-hmm. There's nothing wrong with 26:38 established Christians. That can be a boon. It can also be a bane. 26:41 That means a plus or a minus. We just don't know yet. They've been hanging around for 26:46 a while. Now you think they're a new religion come about the 26:49 60s A.D., but, no. The religions are beginning to feel old to them. 26:56 And all the while, I'm thinking about Adam Grant's word. I'm thinking about languishing. 26:59 I'm thinking, "Maybe this church has what those of us who have just come out of the pandemic 27:04 have. It has languishing." I like the way William Johnson, 27:08 in his book, "Absolute Confidence," he describes what they're suffering 27:11 from is tired old blood. Tired blood. You never heard that phrase 27:18 before. There used to be a product sold in this country called Geritol. 27:24 [ Laughter ] And only those who are old remember that. 27:28 Tired blood. Here, let's read Bill Johnson on the screen for ourselves. 27:33 "In this epistle, we find a "fairly clear spiritual profile of the recipients of Hebrews. 27:37 Their problem is not false teachers, like they had in Galatia." 27:40 No, no. "Nor is it the heady enthusiasm because of the manifestations of 27:44 the Spirit, as in Corinth." No, no, no. "It's not a question of the 27:47 failure of the Jews to receive the gospel, as in the Book of Romans. 27:51 No, their problem," the congregation in Hebrews, "is one of tired blood." 27:57 I'm thinking languishing. "They have grown weary with waiting for the Lord's return, 28:02 sluggish in their Christian identity, questioning the value of their religion, more so as 28:08 hard times for Christians appear to loom on the horizon." We have no idea what's coming 28:12 next. I mean, we had the pandemic, then we got Ukraine. 28:15 Ukraine's just starting up, perhaps. We have no idea. 28:19 My. Tired blood. Languishing. 28:24 Hey, let me be candid with you right now. I'm concerned for the church, 28:27 post-pandemic. I'm talking about this congregation right here. 28:30 I can't speak for all the other congregations on the planet. But I'm concerned, as we come 28:34 out of this long, dark tunnel we've called the pandemic, how can we not help but be 28:39 languishing? I mean, we hardly get out of the pandemic, we got this war in 28:43 Europe, gas prices have gone through the roof, inflation is gobbling up money that we might 28:47 be saving. And then, Will Smith goes and slaps Chris Rock on live 28:52 television. I mean, what's wrong with this world? 28:55 I'm telling you... Something's crazy. Something's going on. 29:00 And nobody knows what to do. Do you think that the church is somehow exempted from this 29:06 languishing, though? Hey, listen, this church -- let's just talk about this one. 29:10 We got -- We got Children's Sabbath School leaders -- great leaders. 29:13 They're working downstairs, working their -- working their hearts out every single week, 29:17 getting ready for the Sabbath. Working with a smaller and smaller team of volunteers. 29:22 They can't find help. This isn't pre-pandemic. I'm just telling the truth about 29:27 post-pandemic, all right? I don't care about pre-pandemic anymore. 29:34 We got a board of deacons, a third of which has disappeared. The head deacon tells me, "I 29:37 don't know where they are." Gone. Whoa, I'm -- 29:43 I'm not complaining. I'm just telling you this post-pandemic truth. 29:47 We got a Volunteer Engagement Committee -- we call it VEC around here -- that has the huge 29:53 task of soliciting 600 volunteers. That was the number 29:56 pre-pandemic. We have no idea what the number's gonna be post-pandemic. 30:00 They're meeting right now, as we speak, in April. [ Scoffs ] 30:06 I'm not complaining, but I'm telling you the post-pandemic truth. 30:09 Adam Grant was onto something when his word goes viral. Languishing -- the word -- the 30:14 word's gone viral. Our experience has gone viral. Everybody has it -- languishing. 30:22 My. And by the way, it's not just Pioneer. 30:25 Let's not diss ourselves. Let me talk about general Christianity in America. 30:29 I'm gonna turn to that -- the standard-bearer for evangelical Christians in America, 30:33 Christianity Today, in a piece they ran -- "Church after the pandemic." 30:38 Look at what they're noticing. "'The past year and a half,' David Kinnaman, president of the 30:43 Barna Group, said, 'didn't just change how Christians met, it changed their hearts and minds 30:50 toward the church.'" You reading this? Keep reading. 30:53 "Barna found that a third of practicing Christians had dropped out of church at some 30:58 point, and 29% of senior pastors --" moi -- "said they seriously considered quitting in 31:04 the past year." We're not talking about a make-believe, imaginary problem. 31:11 It's a problem for Christianity. Adventist Christianity, any Christianity. 31:17 My, languishing. The Hebrews congregation. I'm talking about your 31:22 congregation. We got people watching from congregations all over the 31:24 planet right now. I'm talking about your congregation, my congregation. 31:28 Languishing. It's no wonder the passage reads the way it does. 31:32 Read it again. I want you to notice something here. 31:34 We'll go back to it. Hebrews 10:23 -- "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we 31:38 profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may 31:42 spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in 31:49 the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -- and all the more as you see the --" 31:53 capital -- "Day approaching." Did you happen to catch all of that high-touch -- high-touch 32:00 communal language embedded in what we just read? High-touch. 32:04 Three times it appears -- "let us, let us, let us." It doesn't say, "Let me," it 32:09 doesn't say, "Let you," it's "Let us." We are in this together. 32:12 It is high-touch and communal. You watch this. What is -- "Let us consider how 32:18 we may spur one another on." Ooh, I like that -- spur one another on. 32:24 Back when it snowed this winter -- yesterday -- if you and I had been cross-country 32:30 skiing over at Love Creek -- and I did skiing at Love Creek. It's a beautiful place to 32:34 cross-country ski. If you missed it this year, get it next year. 32:37 If you and I were cross-country skiing together, and we noticed off in the trees, there's 32:41 somebody facedown in the snow, we'd rip these skies off so fast, it'd make your head spin. 32:45 We'd race over to that person. He might, she might have hypothermia. 32:47 And what's the first thing you do? You roll them over, you get the 32:50 face, and then you start... "Wake up, wake up! Wake up!" Why? Because the person -- if a 32:55 person falls asleep, you're dead. You can't fall asleep in the 32:58 cold. And then we start working the limbs, and then we start working 33:01 the limbs. "Whoa! Come on, come on, buddy. Come on, you're gonna make it. 33:04 Come on, come on, come on." Paul says, "Let us spur one another on." 33:11 And the languishing of a church, where people are slowly falling asleep and disappearing... 33:21 Hmm. Let us -- Let us spur. Boy, that's a high-action word. 33:27 Let us spur one another on. Remedy for languishing. You want a remedy for 33:32 languishing? That's it right there. Tired blood? 33:35 That's it right there -- spur one another on, with deeds of love, good deeds of love and 33:41 truth. And by the way, Paul goes on. "Don't give up meeting 33:45 together." We just read that. Don't give up meeting together. 33:48 You're gonna love the Greek word here, because the Greek word goes like this -- episunagoge. 33:53 Now, if I take the "epi" off, which is a preposition, if I take the "epi" off and you just 33:57 have "sunagoge," what is "sunagoge"? If I say it fast, what does it 34:01 sound like? You got it -- synagogue. That's how we say it in American 34:05 English -- synagogue. What Paul is writing to the church is, "Listen, don't give 34:11 up synagoguing together." If you'd be writing to the church in the third millennium, 34:15 which is what you and I are, he would say, "Don't give up churching together. 34:19 Please, keep churching! We got to keep churching! We got to stay together! 34:25 Don't absent yourself." Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together -- one of 34:30 your translations puts it that way. Don't! 34:34 Talking about high-touch communal language and experience, remedy for the 34:38 languishing church, remedy for tired blood. No Lone Rangers in this church. 34:44 Lone Rangers belong in black-and-white cowboy movies long ago. 34:47 There are no Lone Rangers in Christianity. You can't be a Lone Ranger and 34:50 survive -- that's the deal. That's what Paul's trying to tell us. 34:54 But there's more. He says, "Not only not give up meeting together," I go on 34:59 reading, "but encourage one another." Encourage one another. 35:04 That's high-touching communal. Because that's -- that's doing this. 35:07 That's grabbing me by the shoulders -- you grabbing me and saying, "Come on, boy, wake up! 35:11 Get -- Get with it! Knock yourself out of this! You're gonna die." 35:15 That's me grabbing you and saying, "Hey, wake up, will you? You don't realize how close you 35:19 are to being gone!" Encourage one another. High-touch. 35:26 Communal. Especially, Paul writes, the closer you get to D-day, the 35:31 closer we get to the return of Christ, this is really critical now. 35:34 You can't -- You can't drift away now. Powerful. 35:40 High-touch communal language all through this passage, directed to the members of a languishing 35:46 body of Christ, a tired blood body. "Oh, man. 35:52 I don't think I'm gonna keep this up. This is killing me." 35:56 That kind of person. That kind of church. Let's read it one more time. 36:02 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 36:07 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, please, not 36:12 giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -- 36:17 and all the more as you see the --" capital D -- "Day approaching." 36:22 Now the plot really thickens. I'm telling you. Because I'm gonna introduce some 36:28 research from Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program. 36:33 In my humble opinion, you're about to read a stunning conclusion from their research. 36:39 You ready for this? I'll give it to you right here. I want to thank Don LaTour, by 36:44 the way, my friend, for putting me in touch with this research. Last month, the directors of 36:49 this Harvard program, Brendan Case and Tyler VanderWeele, wrote a 36:52 report of their research. Here's the title of the report -- "Why some Americans 36:57 are flourishing in a languishing nation," okay? So, now I'm gonna run some stats 37:04 by you. Gallup's findings -- because Gallup took a poll recently. 37:09 So they've looked at the Gallup poll results. "Gallup's findings offer some 37:12 intriguing evidence --" oh, really? Tell us, okay? 37:16 "According to the poll, a better predictor of life satisfaction --" all right? 37:21 So I'm gonna stand in front of this right now. A better predictor of life 37:24 satisfaction. Hey, are you satisfied with your life? 37:26 Hey, are you -- girl, are you satisfied with your life? There's some factors that mean 37:30 you get a higher satisfaction rate. "A better predictor of life 37:34 satisfaction than educational attainment --" ooh! This is a university. 37:39 Hey, how many degrees do you have? Oh, brother. 37:42 I got more. You know, this is -- We ought to be about educational 37:48 attainment, of course. But those degrees do not raise your life satisfaction. 37:53 Keep reading. "A better -- A better predictor of life satisfaction than 37:57 educational attainment or even income --" How much money you making? 38:00 Whoa! No. "...was -- was religious service 38:06 attendance." I'm putting in the brackets -- "Going to church." 38:12 Not having church at home, going to church. 38:18 My. 38:20 You got my attention now. Can you give me some numbers? They said, "We can." 38:24 Here we go. 60% of weekly service attenders, church-goers, reported being 38:32 very satisfied with their lives. 67% -- that's 2/3, okay? "Whereas that was true for only 38:40 51% of the nation as a whole." A half of Americans say, "I'm very satisfied with my life," 38:45 but 2/3 of people who go to church say, "I'm very satisfied with my life." 38:49 Oh, is there anything else? Oh, yes, "And for only 61% of those making at least $100,000 a 38:55 year or more." So the more money you make does not increase your life 38:59 satisfaction factor. The highest variable is going to church. 39:05 Can you believe this? My, oh, my, oh, my. 39:10 Wow. Hoo! 39:12 Based on Harvard's own research, this report from the 39:14 Human Flourishing Program concludes -- I'm gonna give you 39:16 five bullets right now. Five bullets. 39:18 Here they come. Bullet number one -- "Religious 39:20 participation -- church-going -- seems to promote individual 39:23 flourishing through the friendships it fosters." 39:26 That's why it's so cool that we finally open the church up, and you can feel safe sitting next 39:30 to somebody, you're meeting somebody when you come to worship, that's a good thing. 39:35 Because relationships grow out of it. Friendship is a factor that 39:39 really boosts life satisfaction. Here's bullet number 2. "Harvard studies estimate that 39:44 about half of the effect on satisfaction people experience comes from deep and supportive 39:50 relationships." "Somebody cares about me. They don't know that I've turned 39:56 the laptop on. They don't care. But when I show up, they care. 40:02 When I don't show up, they care." That's what they're finding. 40:06 Comes from deep and supportive relationships. Bullet number three -- 40:10 "Religious participation -- church-going -- effects are also particularly strong with respect 40:16 to marriage." All of you that are young and haven't gotten married yet, 40:20 listen up. "Are particularly strong with respect to marriage with weekly 40:24 service attenders being about 50% less likely to divorce than never-attenders." 40:32 You want some marriage insurance policy when you're getting married? 40:35 Go to church together. Go to church together. Not one of you go and the other 40:40 stay at home. No, go to church together. Wow. 40:46 One more. Two more. "Religious participation -- 40:51 again, going to church -- strongly predicts against self-destructive behaviors." 40:55 Hmm, this is interesting. "Compared with never-attenders, regular attenders were 40:59 substantially less likely -- 68% less likely for women, 33% less likely for men -- they were less 41:04 likely to die from alcohol poisoning, drug overdose, or suicide. 41:09 Final bullet, number five -- "But service attendance doesn't merely protect us against 41:14 dysfunction." Keep reading. "It also seems to promote 41:17 positive actions and attitudes, including greater generosity with one's time, greater 41:22 generosity with one's money, and a greater sense of purpose in life." 41:26 Can you believe what we just looked at? Wow! 41:30 Goodbye, languishing. Goodbye! Question -- who would've thought 41:36 that going to church would make this kind of a difference? Answer -- God. 41:41 Which is why he gave us Hebrews 10. Wow. 41:48 Mercy. And, by the way, Peter T. O'Brien -- one more 41:53 point. This is heavy. Peter T. O'Brien, in his 41:57 commentary letters to Hebrews, reacts to the strong communal language in this passage. 42:03 And he's focusing in on this "not giving up meeting together" this way, okay? 42:08 So, here we go -- Peter T. O'Brien. "The admonition to not give up 42:12 meeting together -- forsaking the assembling of ourselves together -- is put strongly, 42:16 intentionally by Paul." Keep reading. "The failure of some to continue 42:20 attending the gatherings of the community is cast not simply as neglect but as wrongful 42:28 abandonment." You know what? You can get a divorce, and you 42:33 can get it for a wrongful abandonment. And they'll give it to you. 42:39 That's a serious charge -- wrongful abandonment. You quit. 42:45 You left the marriage. "You left me." That's what Paul is saying about 42:50 the church. This word for "forsaking not" or "don't give up" is used in the 42:57 Greek Old Testament, called The Septuagint, it's used 170-plus times. 43:02 I'm gonna show you. It's a covenantal term. It's about God talking about his 43:05 people and saying, "Man, you are dissing me. You are -- 43:08 Wrongful abandonment has taken place." Watch this. 43:10 This is Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 31:16 -- "And the Lord said to Moses, "You are 43:14 going to rest with your ancestors --" he dies at the end of the book -- "and these 43:19 people will soon --" he's talking about the church, Israel -- "these people will 43:23 soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. 43:27 They will forsake me --" there it is, forsake, not the assembling of yourselves 43:31 together -- "They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 43:36 One more. We'll go to the next chapter, 32:15. 43:39 "They abandoned --" God is speaking about Israel in the future -- "The abandoned the God 43:44 who made them and rejected the Rock of their Savior." Now, this is really heavy stuff. 43:53 You think about it. Abandoned. Yeah, it might not seem too much 44:00 to you. "I mean, Dwight, what's the big deal?" 44:02 But that one word is huge in realizing how earnestly Paul, the author is warning his 44:07 readers -- "Do not forsake -- please, don't forsake getting together and worship. 44:12 Don't forsake assembling of yourselves together. Don't quit going to church." 44:16 That's what causes tired blood. That's what causes languishing. Now, O'Brien moves in for the -- 44:25 pbt! -- with this line. The last word from O'Brien. "The following warning about 44:30 apostasy." Okay, stop right there. So, what he's saying is, if you 44:33 keep reading past verse 25, 26 to 31, it's one of the most dire warnings against apostasy in all 44:39 of scripture. So he's talking about that. He's not talking about what we 44:42 just read. "The following warning about apostasy --" 44:44 The fact that it is -- it follows on the heels of "Don't forsake getting together" -- 44:50 "implies that people who deliberately and persistently abandon the fellowship of 44:55 Christian believers are in danger of repeating the sin of Israel and of abandoning the 45:01 Lord himself." End quote. Whoa. 45:12 It's not just about abandoning the church or abandoning worship. 45:16 You're abandoning God. Paul exclaims. And I know what you're thinking. 45:26 You say, "Hey, do I -- Pfft. It's not just -- It's not that 45:30 big of a deal. I appreciate you trying to enlighten me, but it's not that 45:34 big a deal. The pandemic came along and gave us some time off from church, 45:38 and, by the way, I really like it now. Yeah, I do. 45:42 There's nothing like going to church in my pajamas. I have a hot drink right here at 45:46 this hand. I have a bowl of breakfast cereal in my lap, and I have my 45:50 trusty old laptop in front of me, and I can go to church. And I don't have to go to church 45:53 where you go to church. I can go to church anywhere in the world. 45:56 I can go to church anytime, I can go to church anywhere. I may never go to church at all! 46:00 I have it all here. Oh, I know that the pandemic has left, but, you know, 46:05 pandemics comes, pandemics go. What do you mean I'm not going to church? 46:08 I'm doing it right here, by myself. No, I got my wife here, so we're 46:12 doing church together. Do you understand that, Dwight? We're doing church." 46:18 Yo. A new and easier way to do church. 46:22 No wonder you like it. I get what you're saying. I bet you do like it. 46:28 No commitment, no bother, no fuss, no mess, no getting the kids dressed and ready for 46:37 church. What a hassle that used to be. Now it's just you and your 46:41 laptop. God knows what the kids are doing with their laptops in 46:44 their bedrooms right now, but that's another matter. And besides, none of this messy, 46:51 ecclesiastical stuff of having to bump into people and say, "Hi. 46:55 How are you doing?" and really mean it, you don't have to do that anymore. 46:59 That's cool. Nope. And you don't have their 47:02 problems to worry about, because their problems are not your problems, are they? 47:06 Well, you got your own problems. Their needs are not your needs, are they? 47:09 No, you got your own needs. Yep, it's just you, you, you, you, you, and your little 47:13 laptop. But that's the problem -- the laptop has become all about you. 47:17 That's the problem. 47:25 Paul's intentional use of the word "abandoned" -- I want you to see this. 47:30 Or "forsake" -- is meant to point out that when you forsake worship with the church, you 47:36 forsake the Lord of the church. That's what he's saying. Your argument is not with me. 47:48 Let me tell you something about electronic media. All that gadgetry and all that 47:54 technology in livestreaming are for communicating a teaching and not creating a fellowship. 48:01 Oh, we try hard. We got a little -- We got a little chat moderator as it's 48:04 going, and people are checking in and checking out and checking in and checking out. 48:09 We try. In fact, we have people now contacting this church from far 48:15 away, and they're saying, "Hey, we want to be members of your church. 48:18 Can we transfer our membership to your church?" "Well, yeah, you move into 48:20 town." "No, we're not moving to town. We'll stay right where we are, 48:23 but we'll be members of your church." "What do you mean 'our church'?" 48:26 "Well, the laptop, screen, we'll be there." That's not church. 48:32 That's not church at all. That's teaching. Pioneer livestreaming cannot 48:41 replace and is not intended to replace person-to-person, believer-to-believer contact. 48:52 Warmth, high-communal, high-touch. You can't -- You can't build 48:59 that electronically. You can say you've built it, but who are you kidding but 49:05 yourself? You haven't built it. Period. 49:14 Now, look, I realize -- and I want to be very quick to insert this. 49:18 We have some very dear and very fragile senior citizens who, right now, are watching, and I 49:22 don't want you, for a moment, to feel guilty for watching. You know why? 49:26 Because this livestream was created specifically for you, for people who just for the sake 49:31 of safety and security have chosen not to come out of their houses during the pandemic and 49:35 are choosing now to say, "You know, I just don't know that I can do it now." 49:40 God understands, and so do we. We love you. Livestream is for you. 49:46 But what I'm saying to you, if that's not you, and you're using livestream to shortcut any 49:53 contact with the church and any messy people stuff, you're not only cutting yourself off from 50:00 the church, you're cutting yourself off from Jesus. Am I make this up? 50:08 I'm not. You see, we wrongly conclude that what worship is about is 50:13 what I can get out of worship when I come. That's not what worship is 50:17 about. Worship is about what you can give to worship when you come. 50:21 When you don't show up, something's missing from us. We'll get by. 50:27 But what you could've brought to the table is not brought to the table. 50:31 Worship is not about what you can get. Worship is about what you can 50:34 give with yourself. High-touch, communal. You can't get that anywhere 50:39 else. You can't get it in the Rotary Club. 50:43 You can't get it with a bunch of buddies watching football. You can't get it around a 50:48 television, period! "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together." 51:01 Whoa. Are you tired of languishing by yourself? 51:07 Are you? Hey, I got an invitation for you. 51:11 It's time to come back. Just a decision, that's all it is. 51:16 People are making it all around you now. Look at this place. 51:19 It's time to come back. The church needs you. And guess what -- you need the 51:27 church. The 19th century American evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, one 51:33 night, made a call on a businessman who had been attending church there in 51:40 Chicago but had drifted away for some reason. The two of them sat in front of 51:47 that crackling fire and that fireplace hearth as they visited, and then Moody inquired 51:52 about why they had been missing him. And the businessman said, "Oh, 51:58 yes, you're right, of course. My life has gotten so busy. I just didn't have the time I 52:03 used to have. But anyway, let me tell you something -- I pray, I get the 52:09 Bible out, and that's pretty good, isn't it?" And Moody just smiled at him. 52:17 He reached over and grabbed the tongs by the fireplace, and with those tongs, he reached into 52:22 that roaring fire, and he grabbed a red-hot coal, and he pinched it, and he pulled it 52:27 out, and he dropped it on the hearth. He didn't say a word. 52:31 He kept staring. The businessman kept staring at that coal, red-hot... 52:39 then red... 52:44 then orange... then gray... 52:52 until, finally, it was nothing but a dark cold lump of ash. 53:01 From red-hot in community with the other embers to gray and 53:07 cold and all alone. The businessman got it. 53:14 And God gave us Hebrews 10 so that we could get it, too. 53:20 Forsake not the gathering of your hearts together, high-communal, high-touch. 53:29 Come on. Urging, spurring you on. Don't -- Don't drop out. 53:35 Don't disappear. Nobody can make the decision for you...but you. 53:42 Nobody can drag you here but you. Jesus said, "Where two or three 53:48 are gathered together in my name, there I am, in the midst of them." 53:56 Oh, Christ. I decide. I must decide. 54:05 I want to come back. Don't you? Want to give you an opportunity 54:15 to respond. Want to send you to our Connect Card. 54:19 Put it on the screen right here. 54:21 You know the familiar number. We've used this all pandemic 54:23 long -- 269-281-2345 -- and text the word "Signup2," all right? 54:31 One word, "Signup2." It's gonna give you four choices 54:35 today. Choice number 1, my next step 54:38 today is "Sign me up! I want to flourish and begin 54:42 attending church again." Yeah, I wish you'd put a 54:46 checkmark there. You say, "Dwight, I don't have 54:47 to put a checkmark there." Of course you don't. 54:49 But I wish you'd tell yourself that you want to go back to 54:52 church. Just tell yourself. 54:54 Self is listening very carefully to you right now. 54:57 Here's box number 2 -- "Sign me up! 55:00 I want to volunteer and serve at Pioneer -- yes, I do -- 55:03 please give my name to the Volunteer Engagement Committee. 55:07 I'll do whatever they need. Just -- Just have them give me a 55:10 call. I want to get involved, and I'm 55:12 tired of this low-touch languishing. 55:13 I'm tired of being by myself. I'm tired of coming here and 55:16 sitting all alone. I want to be involved in this 55:18 church. Just turn my name in. 55:20 If you put a checkmark there, please make sure we have your 55:23 e-mail address. Somebody will be in touch with 55:25 you. Box number thr-- 55:27 Box number three -- "Sign me up! I want to flourish and join the 55:31 spring clean-up in the village of Berrien Springs tomorrow." 55:34 If you text the number "spruce," 'cause it's about sprucing up -- 55:37 the village came to us and said, "Hey, would you people come? 55:40 You came last winter, and, boy, we needed you. 55:42 I don't know about the rest, but we can count on Pioneer." 55:45 If you put a checkmark there, or save yourself the checkmark and 55:49 just type -- text the word "spruce," you'll get the 55:52 directions and the time. Finally, number four -- "Sign me 55:56 up. I want to follow Jesus in 55:57 baptism. Yes, I do. 56:00 I've been languishing long enough, and I need a red-hot 56:05 friendship with the Lord of this universe and the Lord of my 56:09 church. I'm signing up." 56:13 And I hope you do. Let's pray. O, God, it's time to sign up. 56:19 The pandemic is theoretically behind us. We got life that has to go on. 56:24 But we can't go on languishing. We just cannot at this tepid pace. 56:28 Tired blood -- we just can't do it. So, please, take our hearts 56:33 signing up right now, register it, please. We're coming back. 56:40 Back to activity, back to volunteering, back to serving like Jesus. 56:47 Not such a big deal, really, Father. We simply want to follow in the 56:51 steps of our Lord. In his name, we pray. Amen. 57:00 >> One of the hot debates on this planet today is this 57:03 collective conversation about creation versus evolution. 57:07 While there are there a thousand voices offering their 57:09 perspectives, the truth is that in God's Word there are some 57:12 pretty definitive statements. In fact, I examine those 57:15 statements and the evidence for creation in a little book I 57:18 wrote, "Creation and Evolution," subtitle, " A Thoughtful Look at 57:21 the Evidence That a Master Designer Created Our Planet." 57:24 I'd love for you to join the conversation and check out the 57:27 evidence for yourself. If fact, if you'll call our 57:30 toll-free number, 877-HIS-WILL, the two words "HIS WILL," 57:34 I'll make sure one of these books, at no charge to you, is 57:37 in the mail. The number again -- 57:39 877-HIS-WILL. Let the operator know 57:41 you want the book "Creation and Evolution," and 57:45 we'll get it in the mail to you as soon as possible. 57:47 Until we're together again right here on "New Perceptions" next 57:51 week, may the grace, the peace, and the hope of the Creator 57:56 abide with you. 58:01 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:21 ♪♪ |
Revised 2022-04-22