Chasing Eternity | Pastor Jelani Lewis

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] (upbeat rock music) ♪ Come on, give him a shout of praise ♪

♪ And it's great, he's worthy ♪ ♪ Aren't you grateful that our best days ♪ ♪ Are ahead of us in Jesus, amen ♪ ♪ Well, we have a friend of the house with us today ♪ ♪ Can you help me welcome Michael Vessini ♪ (audience cheering) - Great Scott, come on, that's worship Jesus. Come on, lift your voice for Jesus and give him a shout of praise in this room. We thank you, God. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We love the praise of the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Yeah, oh, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Who thought I'd find you at the lowest place ♪ ♪ And who thought you'd fill me in the crowd ♪ ♪ And who knew you'd make good by mistakes ♪ ♪ You know, sing like I saw you where you're better ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, yeah ♪ I'm gonna sing it out. ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ What a mighty God asserts ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ Oh, what a God ♪ ♪ I thought you'd show up for perfection ♪ ♪ 'Cause what kind of knowledge were the lies ♪ ♪ Yes, Lord ♪ ♪ They say it's over for a sinner ♪ ♪ Oh, but you say ♪

♪ No, it's not, no, it's not ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God ♪ What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God What a God, what a God Oh My God What about you, sir, oh If the highest place I reach is at your feet Then I've done it on if the best thing that I've seen is in a glory Then I've seen it all, your love is saved by life Forever sad is my God, you are mine Everything, come on, sing it out If the highest place I reach is at your feet Then I've done it all if the best thing that I've seen is in your glory Then I've seen it all, your love is saved by life Forever sad is my God, you are mine It won't work, it won't work It's the only change you speak Then I've done it all, if I feel your heart Never see your head, ask that I know No treasure of his life Forever sad is my God, you are mine Everything, come on, sing it out I love you, you are mine Everything, come on, sing it out I love you, you are mine What about God? What about God?

What about God? What about God? What about God? What about God? What about God? What about God? If the highest place I reach is at your feet Then I've done it all Then I'll see it all God, I will save my life For every side is mine God, you are my everything If the water is the only thing you speak Then I'll hurry it all Give my failure a heart and never see your hand Now somehow, no treasure of his life God, I am satisfied God, you are my everything Oh, God, you are my everything You are my everything Oh, God, I will save my life God, I will save my life God, I will save my life God, you are my everything God, you are my everything If the water is the only thing you speak Then I'll hurry it all If I fail your heart and never see your hand I still have it all No treasure of his life Could I ever satisfy? God, you are my everything God, you are my everything

Oh, God, God, what a God What a mighty God Come on, that's a good place What a God That's a good place to shout out That's your God That's my God Oh, what a God, what a God Have you seen him do miracles before? Have you seen him say what a God What a love That sings my soul My Savior, God, to me I'll great thou How great thou are Come on, here, this is my soul My Savior, God, to me I'll great thou are I'll great thou So I will bless the Lord All my soul and all That is within me Blessed is holy Come on, hands, look it in this room As a bless of all I will bless the Lord Jesus, oh my soul And all that is within me I will bless bless his whole Lead for he has done great things

That's my testimony, come on He has done great things Oh, He has done great things Oh, bless his whole Lead We get the honor of taking communion together As the church family, I want to welcome all of our campuses Everyone joining us online We're going to join communion as a whole family verse 26 through 28 says. And by the way, if you don't have communion, you can lift your hands. If you don't have the elements or ushers, they'll be happy to serve you if you didn't get one on the way in. Scripture says, "Now as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and after blessing it, He broke it. And He gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat, this is my body.' And He took the cup, and when He had given things, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sin.' I find it interesting that 2,000 years later, it's still the cup and the bread, that it's still the body and the blood. Because if anything we like to do is Christians, it's add things to things. And over 2,000 years, it hasn't become the body, the blood and the steak,

or the bread, the cup and the okra. It's remained the body and the blood. Let that be a reminder to you that there's nothing you can add to the finished work of Jesus. How many of you grateful today that it's not your best effort? It's not how righteous you can be. It's not how good you act. It's not how well you worship. It's not how many times you show up at church, but it always has been and it always will be. The grace of God found in the person of Jesus, it was his body that was broken for us and it was his blood that was shed for us. And there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. And aren't you grateful today that it's his blood, not your effort, it's his body, not your works. It's his mercy and his grace. And all we do is come by faith. So as we observe this today, let us be reminded. It's not because we were good that we got here. It's because of God that is great. So the Bible says in Corinthians, Paul said, "What was handed down to me, I now pass on to you." And we're just talking about his Matthew chapter 26 on the night that he was betrayed. And then it's interesting that on his betrayal day, he said, "Here's my body, here's my blood." He said that he took the bread and broke it. He said, "As often as you do this,

"do it in remembrance of me." And in the same way he took the cup, said, "This blood represents a new covenant. "You should be very grateful for that. "You didn't have to bring an animal "to sacrifice the church today "because the Lamb of God was sacrificed once for all." He said, "As often as you do this, "you're a student, remember it's of me." Let's pray together. Jesus, thank you for your body that was broken for us. Thank you for your blood that was shed that we might have forgiveness of sin. Thank you that in you, we find new life. We find purpose, we find eternal life. Your Word says this is eternal life that they may know you. So God, we're grateful for that today. Thank you that you've given us not only forgiveness of sin, but you've given us purpose in this life. You've given us abundance. You've given us blessing in our life. God, we say like the Psalmist today, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. "I bless your holy name." And the church said, "Amen, and amen." Come on, let's continue to worship together. (congregation applauding) (gentle piano music) ♪ I would faithful God as well ♪

♪ Walking around these walls ♪ ♪ I thought by now they'd fall ♪ ♪ But you have never felt me, yeah ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ Waiting for change to come ♪ ♪ Knowing the battle's won ♪ ♪ For you have never felt me, yeah ♪ ♪ Your promise still stands ♪ ♪ Great is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I'm still in your hands ♪ ♪ This is my confidence ♪ ♪ You've never felt me yet ♪ [♪♪] [♪♪] [♪♪] ♪ Your word will come to you ♪ ♪ My heart will see your praise again ♪ ♪ All my heart will sing ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're still in love ♪ ♪ Keep me within your love ♪ ♪ My heart will sing your praise again ♪ ♪ Your promise still stands ♪ ♪ Great is your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ I'm still in your hands ♪ ♪ This is my confidence ♪ ♪ You've never felt me yet ♪ ♪ Your promise still stands ♪ ♪ Great is your faithfulness ♪

♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm still in your hands ♪ ♪ This is my confidence ♪ ♪ You've never felt me yet ♪ ♪ You've never felt me yet ♪ ♪ Somebody shout right now ♪ ♪ That's your testimony ♪ ♪ I've seen him do miracles ♪ ♪ And if he'd given me four ♪ ♪ Come on, he'll do it again ♪ ♪ So I'll clap it out of this ♪ ♪ Hey, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ [♪♪] ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen you move ♪ ♪ You move the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ I'll see you do it again ♪ ♪ You made your way ♪ ♪ When there was no way ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ I've seen you move ♪ ♪ You move the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ I've seen you do it again ♪ ♪ When there was no way ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ I've seen you do it again ♪

♪ I've seen you do it again ♪ ♪ You move the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ I'll see you do it again ♪ ♪ When there was no way ♪ ♪ There was no way ♪ ♪ I've seen you do it again ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ I've seen you do it again ♪ ♪ I've seen you move the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ I've seen you do it again ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ Oh, come on, why don't you bless the Lord? - In the field chapter 17 verse 37, this is David talking, he said, "The Lord who rescued me from the Paul of the Lion and the Paul of the Bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go and the Lord be with you." If you don't know the context of this verse, David is about to go fight Goliath the Giant. Saul is trying to give him his armor. He said, "This armor doesn't fit me.

I don't use sword and shields. I use a sling and a stone." And so he said, "The God who saved me from the Bear is the same God that will be with me today. Here's what I wanna point out that David went down into the valley not just with a sling and a stone. He went with a memory. And this is so important because it's a memory that fuels your faith. That I don't know the giant that you're facing today. I don't know if it's something physically. I don't know if it's something in your parenting or a relationship or a business issue. I don't know what the giant is in front of you, but here's what I need you to know. You can't just go with what you have in your hands. You've gotta go with the memory that you have in your heart because whenever you're facing a giant, your job is not to look forward to the giant. Your job first is to look backwards to the faithfulness of God so that that will fuel the faith you need for the thing you're looking at in front of you. That the same God that came through for you yesterday is the same God that will come through for you today. I'm just wanting to stir faith in your heart today because some of you are facing some things and wondering is God gonna show up in my situation?

And I wanna remind you, I've seen him move the mountains before. He'll move 'em again. I've seen him heal bodies before. He'll heal 'em again. I've seen him move things out of my way. He'll do it again. Why don't you lift your hands to heaven and declare this? I've seen you move! ♪ I've seen you move ♪ ♪ You've got the magic inside of me ♪ ♪ I've seen you right away ♪ ♪ Well, that was the one I ever knew ♪ ♪ I still believe in you right away ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ You've got the magic inside of me right away ♪ ♪ I've seen you right away ♪ ♪ Well, that was the one I ever knew ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ You've got the magic inside of me right away ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ Well, that was the one I ever knew ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪

♪ Now that the music is high, come on ♪ ♪ Walk up the page and it's true right now ♪ ♪ Let your faith, let your faith, let your faith ♪ ♪ Let your faith, let your faith ♪ ♪ 'Cause now you're out of here for me ♪ ♪ I've got a memory ♪ ♪ And everything is done ♪ ♪ And it's rapping, it's perfect ♪ ♪ Come on, shoot me one more time ♪ ♪ Oh, I've seen you, I've seen you move ♪ ♪ Now I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ Well, that was the one I ever knew ♪ ♪ And I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ ♪ I've seen you move things out of my way ♪ Oh, come on, flap your hands if you believe that today. I said, clap your hands if you believe that today. Come on, shout out to God. If you believe the victory is already yours, all you can do better than that. We've seen him move the mountains. And let's pray together, Father, we honor you today. We thank you for your presence in this place. We declare that you are the God of the impossible. We echo the words of the Apostle Paul, now unto him who is well able to do exceedingly abundantly and above, would you stir our faith to believe you?

When we walk into the valley and the giant is in front of us, would we not look at what we have in our hand or what is in front of us? Would we look back at your faithfulness? Knowing you can be trusted. So I pray for anyone today that there's a giant right in front of them. They've been wondering are you with them in that valley? With this moment, remind them the same God who was with them in days gone by is the same God that is ever present, help in time of need right now. So we trust you. We believe you before we see it. We trust you before it becomes tangible. We hold on to faith before it becomes reality. Knowing that you are good on your promises. Knowing that you are faithful to your character. So for anyone today with a giant in front of them may the peace of Almighty God fill your heart and mind in Christ right now. May the comfort of the Holy Spirit remind you that God has got you. And is with you and is for you. And we give you all the honor and all the glory of King Jesus. And it's in your mighty name we pray and everybody said amen. Amen.

Amen. Come on, are you glad you came to church today? Well, before you have a seed, it's been a wonderful weekend across the life of the church. And I want to tell you just a few seconds about serve my city. Before I do, if you're here for the first time or the first time in a long time, we're just so glad that you're in church today. You picked a great day to be in God's house and we would love to know about it. We'd love to connect with you. Two simple ways to do that. You can go to connect central at your campus or you can simply tap the tag that's on the seat back in front of you. You'll be led to a link there where you can let us know you were with you. We promise you we're not going to spam you. We're not going to show up at your house. But we would love to keep you connected into everything happening in the life of the church. All right, anybody who participated and served my city this weekend? Come on, what a great weekend. We were serving being the hands and feet of Jesus in so many areas all over Jackson, whole Wyoming and the DFW. And I have a couple of testimonies

I wanted to share with you that I thought were just beautiful. One of them was our NRH team. They do this on a monthly basis. They go serve at a laundry mat. They met someone there named Consuelo, who a few months ago said, "I've got cirrhosis of the liver." And yesterday said, when they saw the team came to him and said, "I just want you to know. I got a medical checkup, and everything is good." Come on, how many of you know God heals? [applause] We partnered with an organization called SOS International, who does a lot of work around the world, but locally they also help in dealing with food insecurities. I think I got this stat right. We're like the second wealthiest state in the nation, but we are the number one in most people that are food insecure. That's a problem. And we're doing our part to help solve that problem as a church. And so we, with our partner, Conboy of Hope, they delivered food.

Our teams came yesterday, packed all that food into pallets, and then SOS picked it up, and they're going to help distribute it. But this is the cool part. Whenever they pulled up in their truck that had their logo on the side of it, someone said to me, they said, "Hey, this food that we're giving to them is going to be delivered in a truck that loved my city offering in December paid for." How amazing is that? So your generosity bought the truck. Your generosity gave the food. And it says, "How many in need?" Let me give you one more. This is very cool. A former inmate, part of our prison campus, is now at GRP at our Grand Prairie campus, and came to the project where we were writing notes to prisoners. And this is what he said, "I used to receive these letters during my time in prison, and now I want to share what I've received with those who are still incarcerated." Come on, how good is that? So a huge thank you to everybody that served, and you're living on mission. That's what we do as a church.

We lead people to know God personally, girl of faith, and live on mission. I love being a part of church. but it's about what we do Monday through Saturday, and you're making an internal difference in the lives of so many people, and there's still opportunity to be a part if you're like, I couldn't do it my schedule yesterday, no problem, because we're doing a food drive at every campus today. So after church, you can run by the grocery store, help pick up some food, and we're gonna help solve that problem. The number one food insecure state in the nation, we've gotta work on that. And so this is a small way we can do our part to do that, and so just after service come, our team will be here at every campus for a while, and they'll give you those details. And also some of you, man, this fired you up. Like, it is your calling, and I wanna encourage you to start an outreach group, 'cause you don't have to wait for us to put together one big day and plan all the things. You can do it every month, start an outreach group, and make a difference. Live on mission in the communities around you. Amen, everybody? Well, it's a great day to be at church. I wanna show you a recap, but before we do, greet somebody around you,

tell 'em you're glad that they're in God's house today, and make a new friend. - Amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - I wanna bring something to your attention that's coming on October the 24th. We're doing something that we haven't done in this way before, and it's called Serve My City, and here's the heart is that we would mobilize our entire church for one day to go out and live on mission for Jesus, where you can go, and you can make a difference in someone's life. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - Hey church! (audience applauds) - Hey dude, just wanna take a moment and welcome all of our campuses, those of you that are joining us online,

those of you that are part of our gateway gatherings or our prison campuses, and those of you that are here for the first time, or maybe the first time in a long time church, can every campus, can we just put our hands together, welcome everybody, connecting with us this weekend. So honored that you're here, you can see all the amazing things that God's doing here at Gateway Church, and if I haven't met you yet, my name is Jelani Lewis, and I have the privilege of serving as the South Lake Campus Pastor, but also overseeing our campuses, and today I am so excited. I'm excited because I get to join in on the series that we started last week on the book of Ecclesiastes entitled Fools Gold. And in this particular series, what we're really focusing on is we're evaluating what we are pursuing, what we're chasing, because what we may find out is that what we're spending our lives chasing is of little value, it is like Fools Gold. And so last week, Pastor Daniel began the series with an incredible message entitled Chasing Bubbles, how many enjoyed that message last week, such an incredible message. If you did not hear the message, you have to go back and check it out because it's foundational for the series. But today I'm gonna continue in that same vein

and the title of the message today is Chasing Eternity. Chasing Eternity, let's pray. Father, I pray in these next few moments, God, that you would open our eyes to see wonderful things in your word. Change us in Jesus' name, amen. So I recently heard a story about a little boy who decided he wanted to play Little League Baseball. And so he got himself a baseball bat, a glove, and a baseball, and he was so committed and I'll even practice by myself. And so the first day he goes outside and he has the baseball bat in his right hand and he has the baseball in his left hand and he throws the baseball up in the air and then he yells out, I'm the greatest hitter in the world. And then he swings the bat and unfortunately he misses the ball completely. Ball hits the ground. He looks at the ball, bends over, picks the ball back up. So I'm going to try this again and so he throws the ball up in the air and once again he yells out, I'm the greatest hitter in the world and then he swings again and he misses. Ball hits the ground again, he looks at the baseball, bends over, picks it up one more time. This time he knows three strikes you're out. So he says, all right, I'll do my very best here. So he throws the ball as high as he can in the air.

He yells out at the very top of his lungs, I'm the greatest hitter in the world and with all of his mind he swings as hard as he can and he misses again. Ball hits the ground. This time he bends over, picks up the ball, he looks at the baseball and he says, I'm the greatest pitcher in the world because he struck himself out, you'll get it, you'll get it later. I love that story because I love the kids positivity. It reminds me of me, I am a positive glass half full person. Where my glass half full people out? I just raise your hands up really high, every campus. Why don't you look at those that don't have their hands up, judge them right now because they should be positive. I'm a glass half full person, I'm very positive. But my wife, she loves my positivity but occasionally she will caution me. She will say, Jelani, you are so positive that I'm concerned that sometimes you don't play in reality. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon who we believe wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in the latter part of his life does not struggle with being overly positive. In fact, for 12 chapters he delves into reality. The reality of humanity's search for something of true value. He even wrestles with some of life's toughest questions.

Things like what do you do with the contrast and the contradictions of life? God, where are you and what are your purposes in my pain? And God, is there something more than this temporal life? If you have ever contemplated any of these questions Ecclesiastes chapter three offers hope. And so today if you have your Bible, I want you to go to Ecclesiastes chapter three. And if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down and if you're not taking notes, as Pastor Daniel says, write it down anyway. Point number one, this is the first thing that we learn when we look at Ecclesiastes chapter three and that is this, life is seasonal. Life is seasonal. Solomon begins in verse one and he says this, "For everything there is a season." In the word season there could be translated a fitting time for everything there is a fitting time. It's a suitable occasion. A time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. To everything, turn, turn. There is a season, turn. That's not in the Bible, y'all, that's the birds. That's the birds, 1965. Okay, come on, you got just checking, watching you.

A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away for all of us hoarders out there. A time to tear and a time to men. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. Solomon in the very beginning of this chapter makes it very clear that life is seasonal. In fact, he paints the picture of the cycle of life. He does this by pairing opposites. He says that there is a time to laugh and a time to cry. There's a time to grieve and a time And the way in which he frames this, it's not as if these seasons are optional, they are inevitable. Like this is going to happen no matter what. And in fact, someone once said that life is a mosaic of moments. That it is this convergence, this picture of small pieces or experiences coming together. I mean, think about this. When you see the pendulum swing of the seasons, the question becomes, what do I do with the highs and the lows and the twists and the turns? What do I do with the vicissitudes of life?

If life is a mosaic of moments, I want to challenge you, that the goal in the season is how do we meet the season? How do we meet the season that we're in appropriately? It's going to happen, but the question is, can we meet the season appropriate? If life is a mosaic of moments, how do we meet the moment? I want to give you two simple thoughts on how we can meet the moment. The first one is this. We can meet the moment with wisdom. We can meet the moment with wisdom. Now, this would be the opposite of us if we decided to show up to a funeral in a bathing suit. That would be unwise. In fact, that would be pretty awkward. Can you imagine showing up at a funeral and somebody's wearing a bathing suit? Here we go, they missed the moment that they didn't have the wisdom for it. I love what the Bible says about the men of Istacar. This is in 1st Chronicles chapter 12. Or she's in chapter 12, verse 32. It says, the men of Istacar, when it describes them, they understood the times and they knew what they should do. In other words, they were aware of what was happening and they responded appropriately, they had wisdom. I love Psalm 90, verse 12. It's actually one of my favorite verses of scripture. Psalms, just as a reminder, is a Psalm as a song or a hymn or a prayer.

And this particular verse has become one of my consistent prayers. It's Psalm 90, verse 12. It's actually written by Moses. And here's what he says. He says, so teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. In other words, help me understand the brevity of life. That life is a veil. It is the breathiest of breasts. It's a vapor. Lord, help me understand that life is brief. And if I understand that life is brief, I can operate with wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to truly discern what's right and to act appropriately. And this is what Moses says. He says, Lord, help me to discern that. Can I just tell you today, whether you're a teenager or in your twilight years, it's a great prayer to pray. Lord, teach me to number my days are right. Help me gain a heart of wisdom. Why? Because I want to bring my very best and make the biggest impact with what I have left on this earth. Meet the moment with wisdom.

I was thinking about this in the context of parenting while I was studying. So my wife and I have four young kids and we are in the middle of it right now. And as I was thinking about just meeting the moment with wisdom, I was reminded of something that a pastor said that we learned early on in our, in our parenthood journey. And this is what the pastor said about parenting. He said, the days are long, but the years are short. The days are long, but the years are short. How many parents agree with that? Some long days out there, every campus, long days out there, but then you look up and they're leaving the house, right? And so I remember last year, it was Memorial Day weekend and my daughter who's 12 now, she was 11 then. And I just remember thinking on Memorial Day weekend, a very sobering thought. I think I only have six or seven more Memorial Day weekends with her before she'll be out the house. And all of a sudden, I understood the brevity of time. And my response was, oh, not that I need to be a perfect parent, I just need to be intentional. Lord, teach me the brevity of time so that I can bring my best to what time I have left. Here's the second thing though. Not only can we meet the moment with wisdom, we can meet the moment with worship. We can meet the moment with worship. I love how the psalmist says this.

and just as a side note, if anyone understands the pendulum swing of life, it is David. And in fact, when David writes this, he is in a very difficult season. And here's what he says in verse one, "I will praise the Lord at all times. "I will constantly speak his praises." Listen to this, David has made a choice that regardless of the season that he's in, he's made a choice, I'm going to praise God. I'm gonna praise him when I'm prying. I'm gonna praise him when I'm laughing. I'm gonna praise him when things are going great. I'm gonna praise him when they're not so great. I'm gonna praise him at the top of the mountain. I'm gonna praise him at the bottom of the valley. I'm gonna praise him when the business is up and to the right, and I'm gonna praise him when I don't know what's happening to the business. I'm gonna praise God when he's answering my prayers, and I will praise God when I'm in the waiting room. Why? Because my season doesn't determine my praise. My Savior determines my praise. And he is always worthy of praise and honor and glory. Church, you can do better than that. Our God is worthy in every season of adoration and glory and praise. And so no matter what season you're in, praise is appropriate. In fact, this is what Charles Spurgeon says.

He says, "Death not all nature around me praise God. "If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe. "Death not the thunder praise him "as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies. "Do not the mountains praise him "when the woods upon the summit's wave in adoration. "Death not the lightning write his name in letters of fire. "Death not the whole earth of voice and shall I. "Can I silent be?" And the answer is a resounding no. I have to praise him in every season. Come on, one more time, can we give him praise in the season that we're in right now? So life is seasonal, but here's the second thing that we learn as we continue in the chapter. God is working now. Point number two is God is working now. I mentioned that we have four kids when my son, Jayden, he's 10 now, but when he was four years old, we bought him one of those plastic lawnmowers that you could push and actually his, when you pushed it, bubbles would come out. We actually named the lawnmower, Havel, because of the series that, okay, you didn't get that, you didn't, if you didn't catch it, you gotta go back and listen to the message from last week. So anyway, we buy him this lawnmower that blows bubbles and the reason why we did it is because I would go outside and cut the grass. And so I would go outside, cut the grass,

and I'm pushing my lawnmower around, and we wanted him to join in 'cause he needs to learn how to work, amen? Even at four years, you gotta earn your keep and we're in our house, okay, anyway. So anyway, I would go out there and I'm pushing this lawnmower, and sure enough, my little four-year-old son would come out, he's pushing this little lawnmower, and one day I realized something. I realized that he was walking and I was working. I tell you that today, because if I'm really honest with you, there have been moments in my life when the pendulum swings and the seasons are up and down that I actually wonder, God, what are you doing and what I'm really saying is God, are you walking or are you working? I love, at the Ecclesiastes, three, verse 11, tells us God is working. Look at this verse, it says this. Yet God, this is verse 11, the first part of it, yet God has made everything beautiful in its own time. Some versions say he's made everything beautiful in its time. In other words, God is working. James Long, one of, said in one of his commentaries, he said this, he said he, talking about God, has made everything beautiful in its time. Does not mean everything will feel beautiful right now. It means God is not rushed, careless, or absent in the process.

God does not bypass brokenness to produce beauty. He works through it. I mean, just ask Joseph. I mean, Joseph had obviously a difficult time with Potiphar, was in prison, and this was all really initiated by the severe mistreatment of his brothers. And so Joseph is talking to his brothers one day, and he actually says this to them, in Genesis chapter 50, verse 20. He says, you intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. You were working, work things out for my good and to help other people. He says that God's working now. Now I have to be honest with you because we read the story of Joseph. You know there are about 13 years where this guy seems to be in a very difficult season. And I'm sure that there were moments where Joseph was going, "God, where are you? What are you doing?" And one of my favorite authors, Alicia Britscholi, she made a statement that I want to read to you that I find so encouraging in a season like this. She says, "In winter are the trees bare." Yes. In winter are the trees barren. No. Just because the tree has no leaves doesn't mean that it's not alive. And just because you don't see what God's doing doesn't mean that he's not working. Paul says it this way in Romans chapter 8 verse 28, he says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them."

Notice that he says he causes everything. He causes that there's a continuation here that he is intricately involved in this process. He says he causes everything to work together for the good. Now notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say that everything is good. He doesn't say everything feels good. What he says is that he works everything together for good. It reminds me of the story of the little girl who was impatiently waiting for her mother to finish making a chocolate cake. And she's like, "Mom, I want something now." And so mom says, "Okay, why don't you try some of this baking soda?" And so little girl tries the baking soda, she's like, "Oh, that's gross, Mom." And she says, "All right, why don't you try some of these eggs?" She tries the eggs. I don't like the eggs either, Mom. She's like, "Why don't you try some of this salt?" "Oh, Mom, I don't like any of those things." And what the little girl realizes is that the ingredients individually are bitter and bland. If you give Mom a little time to put it in the pot, mix it together, shove it in the oven, and heat that baby up, what you'll find is it will become a beautiful delight. I tell you that today, because the truth is some of you feel like you've been chewing on baking soda. You feel like life has brought you some really difficult things. For some of us in this place, we feel like we've been soaking in salt, man. We lost the job and missed the opportunity. And for some of us, man, we may feel like we've got some sweet things. And finally, landed the opportunity. But can I just tell you, no matter what the individual ingredients are, God actually takes all of that together, puts it in a pot, mixes it up together, shoves it in the oven, and

lets the Holy Spirit cook on that, and it becomes something beautiful and powerful and amazing in your life. He works it all together for good. Now here's the question, though. If I were to poll this room and the campuses and those joining us online, many of us would have different definitions of what good is. Like, if you asked me in my honest moments, good is happy. Good is easy. Good is comfortable. Paul, though, knowing that we would come up with our own definitions of good, he continues to help us understand what good is to God. And he says this in Romans 8, verse 29, as he continues. He says, "For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his son." In other words, God doesn't define good as easy or happy or comfortable. God defines good as Christ's likeness. That he says, "The goodest thing for you and the goodest thing for me is that we look like his son." He is working everything together to shape us into the image of his son. Remember we talked about Joseph just a minute ago? It's interesting when he was in that 13-year season, the Bible says in Psalm 105 that the Lord refined him, that he shaped his character into godliness. He was making him more into the image and likeness. So here's a challenge for us. What if God wants to challenge us with our perspective? What if there is a perspective shift needed? if we're not supposed to. but on eternal good. That God wants us to view the circumstances of our life through the lens of Him faithfully shaping us into His Son.

I love the sculpture of David that Michael Angelo put together. We're gonna put it up on the screens. We're only showing you from the shoulders up because He's naked, okay? And we just didn't feel like that was the right thing to do in church. But it's a beautiful sculpture. But I love this story. Legend has it that at 29 years old, someone asked Michael Angelo, how did he sculpt this exquisite masterpiece? And here's what he said. He said, well, it was easy. I just removed everything that wasn't David. Like Michael Angelo, God is desiring to use our life circumstances to chip away everything that doesn't look like God. Why? For our good and for His glory. Amen, amen. Well, don't partial clap. You can just go all in with it. We'll do that there. (congregation applauding) Here's point number three, eternity is the point. Eternity is the point. Life is seasonal, God is working now, and eternity is the point. In college, I had a professor, an English professor that told us a story about his cat.

And he said that one day he took his cat to the vet and because the cat wasn't doing very well. And the vet said, I've got some bad news for you. Your cat is going to die soon. And our professor said, well, the cat did die, but he died eight years later. And he said, the reason why the cat died eight years later is because the cat didn't know he was supposed to die. Because nobody told the cat he was supposed to die. And the reason why I tell you that is because there's a difference in humans and animals. Humans are very aware of their mortality. We are very aware that this life is a vapor. And therefore we contemplate things like eternity. Well, Solomon speaks to this as well in Ecclesiastes, chapter three, verse 11, the latter part of the verse. He says this, he has planted eternity in the human heart. But even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. He says he's planted eternity into the human heart. Eternity is time with no beginning or end. It is, it has no limits in essence. It transcends time. There's a sense that there is something more. This goes back to what Pastor Daniel talked about last week in Romans, chapter eight, that there is a frustration that creation has been subjected to. There is, in essence, a divine dissatisfaction. So Paul talks about this in Acts, chapter 17. He is speaking to the men of Athens.

And just to give you a little context here, Athens at that particular time was really known for philosophy, art, and an array of idols that line the streets. And so Paul, stepping into this environment, he says this to the men of Athens in verse 22. He says, men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way. Now let me pause there because this word religious is a very interesting word. It is a Greek word that's only used in this verse throughout the whole Bible, it's the only place it's found. And it's a compound word that means to dread a deity. To dread a deity, in other words, it's fear of the little G gods, fear of the gods. It could also be translated as superstitious. Like, hoo, hoo, mufasa. (audience laughing) I don't know where that came from, pray for me. This happened. But there's a sense that it's superstitious. In other words, Paul starts off and he says, "Here's what I understand. "I'm aware that you all are aware "that there is something more than what we see physically. "You are aware that there is something "beyond this life." And so then he goes on and he says, "For as I was walking along, I saw your many shrines." Paul recognizes the universal religion.

of the divine in all of us. In fact, just this week, I happened to be in a meeting with a brilliant pastor who talked about generation alpha. If you're not familiar with gen alpha, these are the group of people that were born between 2010 and 2024. And what she shared about one of the distinctives of this generation, she said, they are very open to God. They're very open to Jesus. But she said, they're also very open to spirituality altogether. They are very aware that there is something more. There is a divine dissatisfaction. And so this is what the men of Athens have. And so Paul continues to speak to that and he says this. "And one of your altars had this description on it to an unknown God, this God whom you worship without knowing is the one I'm telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is the Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples and human hands can't serve his needs. For he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything and he satisfies every need." And he skips to verse 27 and he says, "His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him,

though he is not far from any one of us." What's Paul saying to these men? He's basically saying, hey guys, you are like Humpty Dumpty. I remember the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty, sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty, had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again. You just went to school, bless you. The problem with Humpty Dumpty is he called on the king's horses and he called on the king's men, but he never actually called on the king. And so what Paul is saying to these guys, he says, "Listen, what you've been doing is you've been calling on these other gods, you've been worshiping idols, you've been pursuing pleasure and prestige and power." But guess what? You've never called on the king and the only way you'll find peace is if you call on the king. The only way you'll find satisfaction is if you call on the king. The only way you'll find true life is if you call on the king. Jim Carrey, who is a famous comedian and actor, who has been in many box office hits over the last three decades, someone that many people would look at in the segment, he has it all. Listen to what he said in an interview with Reader's Digest. He said this, "I think everyone should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see it's not the answer." He's not saying there's anything wrong with being rich. He's not saying there's anything wrong with being famous.

He's not saying there's anything wrong with fulfilling your dreams. He's just saying it's not the answer. Because all of this is under the sun and the answer is above the sun. [Applause] There is a God-sized hole in the human heart that can only be filled by an eternal God. Here's what Jesus said in John chapter 17, verse 3, he said, "Now this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." In other words, the answer is not religion like the men of Athens. The answer is a relationship with the God of heaven. When I was a kid, my mother recommitted her life to Christ. And when she did that, she started taking me and my siblings to church. And she started praying with us. And she started reading us Bible stories. And I'll never forget at night we would crawl into her bed and she would open up the Bible and she would read stories about David and Goliath and Daniel and the lion's den. And although I didn't have a relationship with the Lord, then when she would read those stories, there was something that connected with my soul. There was an essence and awakening happening inside of me. Well, unfortunately, I decided to feel that God-sized whole or tried to feel that God-sized whole with other things. As I grew up middle school, high school, I started trying to fill it with unhealthy and impure relationships, filling it with accomplishment and accolades and acceptance. For one day, the quarterback on my high school football team,

his name is Philip. And Philip was essentially living the same way that I lived. But one night, Philip went to bed and he had a dream. And in that dream, he saw this long line of people. And God spoke to him in that dream and said, "Philip, these are all the people "that you were supposed to lead to me." And Philip realized that that long line of people, they were headed to hell, headed to being eternally separated from God. And so when he woke up the next morning, he had a radical transformation. That he decided he was no longer playing games, he was going all in on God. In fact, he started living what I love that C.S. Lewis describes as this. He says, "If you read history, you will find "that the Christians who did the most for the present world "were just those who thought most of the next." In other words, those who made the biggest impact in history had the biggest awareness of eternity. And so that's how Philip began to live. He was very aware of eternity and he started sharing his testimony and preaching the gospel. And I remember one time he even came and shared a word with me and I watched his life and I watched a young man pursue after God. And I was so inspired by what I saw in him that I said, "God, I want what he has." And I said, "Lord, if he can do it, I can do it."

And at 16 years old, because Philip had a view of eternity and because my mother had watered seas with the God-sized hole in my heart, I committed my life to Christ. And I have never been the same (congregation applauding) because eternity is the point. So church listed, life is seasonal. Can you meet the moment? God is working now, he's shaping you into the image of his son and eternity is the point. And the question today is this. I believe in this room where many of us are chasing something. There's a divine dissatisfaction. Let me tell you what you're chasing is you're chasing eternity, a relationship with God. I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes. And maybe you're here and you do, you realize, I've got this hole in my life that I've been trying to feel with other things and I know today, it's not filled with religion, it's not filled with good works, it's not filled with stuff, it's only filled with a relationship with God. I want to pray for you because you have a moment today to invite God to feel that void, to simply admit that you sin, that you've broken God's law, but he sent Jesus to die for you so that you could experience forever life.

Maybe you're here today and you're like my mom, you walked away from the Lord, but you know today it's time to recommit to Christ. I want to give you a chance to do that as well. In a moment, I'm going to lead us all in a prayer that we're all going to pray out loud. But if you'd say, "Jilani, hey, that's me, "would you include me in that prayer today? "I want to surrender my life to Christ. "Today, I need God to feel that God-sized hole "in my life. "I want to start over." Would you just slip up your hand right now? Nobody looking around but the campus pastor at your campus. Just raise it up high. You don't need to be embarrassed. Today, I want to give my life to Christ. Amen, I see you. I see you. Anybody else, I see you. See you back there. Anybody else, I see you over here. Every campus, I want to give my life to Christ. Amen. So you can put your hands down. I'm going to lead everyone in this prayer and I want everyone to say it out loud for the benefit of those that raise their hand. And there's nothing special about this prayer other than I'm leading you in a prayer of faith

to invite God to change your life. Would you just say this out loud with me? Just say God. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins so that I could be forgiven and that I could spend for my life. fill the God-size home. I make you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Church, can we put our hands together, honor all of those that made that decision today. So proud of you. - Thank you so much, Pastor Jelani. What a great message, what a great word. Wow, just, I saw so many hands go up and if you made a decision, your eternal decision, to give your life to Christ today, or you recommitted your life, then we would love to pray with you and our prayer team is going to come down front. You could also text Jesus to 7-10-10, or you can, that tap-tag right in front of you on the back of that seat. You can tap your phone there and you can also let us know that way. But just a moment, we're going to stand and our prayer team is going to come forward. And those of you that need prayer for anything, if you made a decision, please come down. But if you need prayer for anything, we would love to pray with you.

So if you'll stand right now, we just invite you to come down and our prayer team will make their way forward. I have two little announcements that I want to give you that are important. I know Pastor Daniel mentioned in the, back in the lobby there, we have boxes. If you want to be a part of the food drive, we will be here until 2.30 today. You can bring canned goods or non-perishables. And let's fill those boxes. Also, if you want to get involved with Operation Christmas Child, we ran out of boxes, which is a good thing, right? That means so many people have already responded. But if you want to be a part of Operation Christmas Child, you can fill your own shoe box and bring it back next weekend and we would love to help you get that to the right place. What a great weekend to be in God's house. If you want to come forward, you make your way forward right now. For the rest of you that are going home, we pray you have a great weekend for the rest of your weekend. God bless you. Thank you for joining us today. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)

(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Through the deepest valley ♪ ♪ You go before me ♪ ♪ You are here ♪