Greater Expectations | Rodrigo Vargas

What's good, Houston, Texas. I'm so glad that you're joining us live this morning. Although this is not what we expected for this Sunday, it is what is taking place in this moment. If today this is your first time with us, we want you to know that you aren't merely a viewer to us, you're also an answered prayer. And hopefully we can host you in person next Sunday and you can be our special guest. We want you to know that Union Houston connects people to God through the gospel of Jesus. And that gospel says that it doesn't matter what your past looks like, doesn't matter what your present struggles are, and it doesn't matter what your doubts may be. Jesus loves you right where you are, and he loves you too much to leave you where you are. This includes every person that's incarcerated. Can you help me from wherever you may be? Help me welcome all our prison Union prison campus through the Pando app to all the men and women behind bars today as you do every week, we join you through these airwaves. We want you to know that you, you may be out of sight, but you're never out of our hearts. And we really look forward to the day you can join us in person now to everyone else. I am so glad that you're joining us live this morning, even though we are not gathered in the room today, we are still the church today. And I want you to know that you are not just watching a sermon. You're part of this experience. Our leaders are in the chat room right now, and there'll be commenting, there'll be praying and engaging with you. If you need prayer requests, or you have questions on something I'm preaching, there'll be available on there. So make sure that you jump in the chat and make your comments or ask the questions that you can even just say, amen. At some point, if you like what you've heard of God's convicted you of something, or even if it's a prayer request, I want you to use the chat today. Don't let me preach this word I'm about to give you all alone. Okay? I'm asking you this morning to be part of the experience. That means that I want you to lean in. I want you to engage. And I want you to respond because God doesn't just move in buildings, y'all. He moves in our hearts. And I believe he's going to meet us right where we are today. We're doing this together. And I want to start off a little bit different today. Can we pray so that the presence of God will be with us as we lean into this word. Father God, we thank you for today and for all of us that we thank you that we have the privilege and luxuries of being able to watch from wherever we may be, whether it's in our warm comfort of our living rooms or on our couches or even

our bed Lord, we thank you Lord, that you make this possible. We thank you for the resources and the team that gathered to film this and make this possible without the hands and feet of Jesus. None of this is possible. We thank you Holy Spirit that although we may not be in the same room, you are still opening eyes to see what you want us to see opening ears to hear what you want us to hear and softening the hearts of those people that need to receive the seed of the gospel today. Holy Spirit help me deliver this word just as you have given it to me and I pray this in Jesus mighty name and the church typed in a man. Although this is not what we expected. It is the present situation we find us in and we had a completely different weekend lined up at a different sermon prepared and by God's grace we will be doing that message next weekend. But early Saturday morning I woke up to the final weather report to make my decision on what would happen today. And after praying, after seeking wise counsel from my team and weighing it all out, I had to make the difficult call to suspend our in-person experiences. And I got to come clean with you and I want to be honest with you that that was very very painful for me. I'm not wired to cancel things. I'm not wired to quit or give up. I'm not wired, it is not in my nature to retreat when things get uncomfortable. One of the strongest attributes God has given me as a leader and as a pastor is this, I endure. Scripture calls this long-suffering, it calls it patience, and I believe both Paul and Peter call this perseverance. I may not be the most famous pastor, I may not be the most gifted communicator, but one thing I can guarantee you is this, I am committed. I stay committed. I am faithful to the call, and I stay faithful. And I will keep showing up, especially in hard and difficult moments.

And I believe that with all my heart, that's exactly why God has called me to spring branch. But as I prayed through this decision that was hard for me to make, the Lord began to deal with me. Have you ever been there where you really are making a hard decision and it's going against everything, every fiber in your body, your nature, but the Lord begins to deal with you? See, sometimes the very strength God gives us if we aren't careful can blind us to what he is trying to teach us, what he is trying to reveal to us, or what he's trying to release to us. And I felt the Holy Spirit say, hey, Rod, this is a moment not just for endurance, but it might be a moment for surrender. I can't let my past determine God's design for tomorrow. Now, I tell you this because as a young immigrant kid growing up in Los Angeles, I used to get my hopes up all the time. I would build these pictures in my mind of what tomorrow or next week or the month would be, or what other kids' vacation would look like for my vacation, what their Christmas gifts would look like would be my Christmas gifts, but if you know any immigrants in your life, sometimes our lives aren't exactly like that. Times were tougher, finances were tighter, and sometimes you had to pick up and go in a moment,

but I would carry these great expectations I made up in my mind. I'm going somewhere with this, and more often than not, I'd be let down. So I learned to embrace or brace myself to be honest with you, the disappointment. I learned how to expect disappointment. I learned how to survive without getting my hopes up, without hoping for too much, and this week, I envisioned people coming to Christ right here in this building, strongholds being broken right here at this altar, the lonely and confused family finally walking in, finding a home and a family in Union, Houston, and then the storm was headed our way and plans changed. I felt that familiar weight of disappointment, but as I prayed, the Lord gave me a word, a passage that was quickened in my spirit on Friday, actually, but then again, He reminded me of it again, Saturday morning, and I knew this was the word for today, so here we are. My prayer is that I delivered exactly the way He gave it to me, because what if this moment is in a setback? What if it's just a setup for something greater? What if God has something greater behind all this? So today, on a Sunday that looks nothing like we planned, I want to speak to you from the thought that what if my great expectations were delayed for God's greater expectations?

I'm reminded as we're headed into the word of God here to peel back layers of scripture, that even Paul many times was shipwrecked and prevented, he says, I was prevented from going there so we can take great solace that we're going to be reading a passage where Paul has given us the, the, the, uh, faith to receive a greater expectation from the Lord. Now before we read scripture, let me set the table for where we're going today. We're going to be reading, uh, out of Romans chapter eight, Paul is writing this through Tertius who's his pen, who's the person that penned it for him. And this is one of the most powerful chapters in all of scripture. You may have heard people quote this. You may have heard me quote it. You may, it may be one of your favorite verses. Paul begins this chapter by telling us something foundational for us to understand in our faith and that we need to understand when we approach any time we're disappointed or any time we are disappointed in someone or something, watch this. He begins this chapter by saying there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now that matters because so often, here's why it matters. When disappointments hit, we interpret it as condemnation. When disappointments, when disappointments come your way, when setbacks come your way, we assume we've done something wrong and it's punishment. Now let me know if I'm typing the chat. If you know where I'm headed with this. We assume this must be a consequence of something I haven't done for God. We assume we did something wrong and I got to tell you, that's not how God operates. That is not how God, that is not even written in scripture. But Paul says through Christ, the law of the spirit gives us life and sets us free. Now here's what Paul is doing and he's given a theological foundation.

He's given us theological training on how to view disappointments and suffering and setbacks. He's helping us understand how we're meant to live. He explains that when we continue to live according to the flesh, in other words, from our past, from our upbringing, from our traditions, from our mindsets, from our broken patterns, from fear of trauma or learned behaviors, we stay trapped in what those fleshly desires bring. But those who live by the spirit, can I get an amen? They set their minds on what the spirit desires. And Paul makes this clear saying we are no longer to belong to the realm of the flesh. We belong to the spirit of God who lives in us. Now that's powerful. He goes on to give us a lesson that we are children of God, that we are not outsiders, that we are not spectators, but in fact, we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ. Now don't miss this part because after he's given us some theological foundation, he tells us something without sugarcoating it. He tells us that this identity does not come without suffering. That being a child of God and being an heir or co-heir with Christ does not negate us from experiencing setbacks. And sometimes, in fact, it's the very suffering that brings forth the greater things are revealed. In other words, when we go through a time of suffering, usually it's to reveal something greater that's inside of us. He says that creation itself is waiting, groaning with eager expectation for what God is about to reveal to his children. So here's the question Paul forces us to ask, where do we put our hope? And in whom do we put our hope? Because if we hope for what we already see, that's no hope at all. He asked the question, who really hopes for what they already have? I wonder if you've already hoped for something you already have. No, Paul says we must hope for what we do not yet have.

It's time for us to get our hopes up. Some of y'all need to get your hopes up. For we need to hope for what we do not yet see. We need to get our hopes up. For what has not yet materialized, amen, we need to get our hopes up. That's what I'm calling us today to do, to get our hopes up with greater faith, with greater trust, with greater expectations in Christ. And my prayer is that through this scripture and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we build a firm foundation for how we live, how we endure, and how we hope for things. So let's go to where Paul lands this chapter, where he gives us the tools, the encouragement, the truth, the confidence, we need to live with greater expectations. Romans chapter eight, started at verse 28, and we'll read together. And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called. Those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say in response to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies, who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died, more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God, and it's also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For as it is written, for your sake we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors. In trouble, in hardship, in persecution, in famine, in nakedness, in danger, against the sword, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. No religion, no legalism, no denomination

can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. This is God's word. This is the word of God that we've just read together. And we live in a world that thrives on instant results. Right now, when I just said that, you shook your head and smiled, and you was like, yeah, that's me. You're the instant result person. I gotta be guilty as charged. When I want it, I want it now. We want the breakthrough without the battle. We see something, listen, this is all ingrained into us through culture. We see something online, and one click, and your face is used to pay for it, and it's on the way. We no longer save to buy large purchases or take a vacation. We pay for it on a credit card, even though we don't have the money because I need it now. Amazon is built a multi-billion dollar company based on this psychological addiction we have to right now. But what happens? when only when we don't get what we wanted what happens when we do not get the results we expected what if the miracle doesn't look like what you imagined it to be disappointments are real but I'm here to tell you even though the real it isn't the end essentially what I'm saying is God's not yet done with you God's not done writing your story what is what if disappointments are merely a divine shift in your life what if our disappointments are just the gap between what we imagined it to be and the immeasurably more that he is doing according to Ephesians 320 you see what

if it's just the gap between what you imagined and what he immeasurably more can do in Christ today I want us to get our hopes up I've been saying it get your hopes up have an expected heart get your hopes up because God is moving us from great expectations to greater expectations in God some of you have done everything you were told to do you were a good kid in school you played all the sports and you won all the awards you were told to work hard and and and and you got the degree you prayed the prayers you paid your tithes you stay faithful to serving God and the store and the door has remained closed what then let's make it a little bit more personal you prayed and you still don't have a child you've prayed and you still don't have a wife a husband you've prayed and you still have the illness I want to tell you Paul is not writing this from some beach resort in Mexico he's not writing it from the comfortable couch or office that you're sitting in right now he's writing this to believers who are under pressure under persecution and under great uncertainty while he himself is in a prison cell in Rome in the same way that today we look in in the world and our Iranian brothers and sisters in Christ are living under pressure under persecution and under great uncertainty Paul is writing to us just like he's writing to them from a prison cell and yet he says and we know well hold on Paul what do you mean we know well that's what faith is he never said and we feel he never said and we hope or wish he said and we know that in all things not some not most but in all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called and watch this very important verbage according to his purposes this is where I'm gonna land for you on your first point today that's where our first truth comes from because God is not asking you for perfect he's asking for purpose it's not perfect it's purpose you might be going through something you might be experiencing pain that problem it's not perfect it's purpose get your hopes up because God is shifting us from perfect conditions to purposeful outcomes think of how people post pictures on social media I'm sitting here staring right now as we film young people who love to post the most perfect pictures they put the right angle and they got to have the

right outfit right you got to have the right background is that background really good is the lighting good you put on all these filters you got to write the right catchy caption so some people go out of their way they spend money they don't have get in debt to post pictures to show people they don't know things, anything about, to show off things they don't really have. Does that make any kind of sense? This is sometimes what we do with God. It seems crazy, but why do we do it? Because the world and the culture has told us that we are not loved until we are perfect. That people won't like you until you are perfect. Listen, this is why we do that. That is the intrinsic behaviors of human beings. We try to portray ourselves as perfect so that people will hit double tap and like the picture. Is that not why we do it? Even believers, some of you, you want to be free. Okay, you want to be free of that thorn. I don't know what your thorn is, right? I don't know what your thorn is. You've prayed about it. You come to the altar every Sunday and you pray for that thorn to go away. You have thorn it. But what if the thorn is assigned to you to make sure it keeps you humble and you don't stumble? What if the thorn, the very thing that you keep praying God to release you from or to get rid of in your life

is the only thing keeping you humble so you don't stumble? You want relationships restored that God has kept you from them for your own good. Some of you want healing for something. You keep asking, I need this part of my life, but as if salvation wasn't good enough, as if the blood of Christ doesn't have power. But it's because we think until those things are resolved, we're not perfect. And God didn't call you to be perfect. He called you to walk in purpose. Trust me, there are ministers, there are prophets, there are pastors, listen to me, lean in. There are charlatans making a grip of cash on believers because of this. You sign up for the seminar, you sign up for the converse, you buy the book, you get the workbook, you got to read another thing, you got to discover another thing. All you need is the word of God, the spirit of God and the blood of Christ to walk in your purpose. Let me say this simply, Romans eight does not promise us perfect conditions. We need to adopt this theology into our lives. It promises us a purposeful God that has given us purpose. Paul doesn't say all things are good. He says, God works all things for good. He says to be exact, he says, God works all things for the good of those who love him

and who have been called according to his purposes. So the reality of it is, is until you let go of having it your way, doing it your way, thinking it your way, deciding it your way, you will never discover his purposes for you. Some of you have been calling something bad that God is still working. Listen, and we get frustrated because we want God to remove things, but God is more interested in how he's going to redeem things than remove things. God is not necessarily a God of removal, he's the God of redemption and restoration. I want you to think of this like my wife, Pastor Sarah, loves to watch these cooking shows. I don't know how many cooking shows and competitions you must have. They even have little kids doing the little cooking shows. Some of those kids don't know what the hell they're doing on those cooking shows, but she watches it anyway. But the ones I like is when you have the really amazing master chefs. The one show I like is Chef's Table. And when you see them cooking, when you look at all the ingredients by themselves, I mean, sometimes on Chef's Table, you see like flour and eggs, and you see a flour of some sort, some plant I've never heard of before,

and some bitter chocolate, a cracked egg. On their own, it looks like a mess. It looks like just like, what is he going to do with that? You can't tell the end product. But when you put these things in the master's hands, in this master chef, those same ingredients being worked together becomes something totally greater. The cracking, the mess, the stirring, the heat being up. Blood all has a purpose. Some of you are judging the recipe God has given you while God is still stirring the bowl in your life. And here's the tension. We want comfort. We want to know what the end result is. But God's not trying to let you know what the end result is until he's formed your character. We want ease, but God wants endurance for your life. Greater expectations don't come from perfect seasons. They come from trusting God in the process of that season. Because listen, it's design. Sometimes we think, oh my God, this is a complete detour, but I'm here to tell you it's design, not a detour. And God is shifting us from a linear progress that we like to see. In other words, what I mean by that is we all like to set things in motion and at the end of the process we created, we want to see what the progress is. But God is moving us, shifting us from linear progress

to sovereign weaving in his grace. In other words, he's weaving together all things together for our good. This is why Paul uses powerful words in verse eight that he works together. Now, that always caught my attention until I went and I read this in the Greek. And in the Greek, you'll see something powerful because in the Greek word, when it says works together, the actual Greek word is one, and it's synergy. Sound familiar? It's where we get the word synergy. Synergy literally means every part matters. Nothing is wasted. Every disappointment is a necessary component and is working with each other to give the end result. What we called setback, God is calling the setup. What you call the delay, God is calling to alignment. It's like your GPS. You know, I talked about a GPS last week and I talked about how when you get on and you listen to the voice, but then have you ever been where you're listening to the voice and all of a sudden it reroutes you another way. You got to get off the freeway, but you know, no, I got to keep going down I-10 because I don't exit till bingo, but it's making you exit on Derry-Ashford. And you wonder why is it rewriting me this way? And all of a sudden now you're 10 minutes late

like Kenneth and Elsie are all the time. A little something for my leaders. But the satellite sees the accident that's five miles ahead that if you would've kept going, it might've destroyed your car, your life. And this is what we do is sometimes God is rerouting us. He's designed taking us off the fast path because he realizes that if we keep going down that path, we might destroy ourselves. It's designed, it's not a detour. Some of you are mad because things didn't go straight like you planned them. Things didn't go straight because that's not what you wanted. Proverbs 16, nine says, we make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. What if God is protecting you from something you never saw coming? Nor what he is really planning for you. Stop calling disappointments a detour of your life and start calling it for what it is, his design for your life. It is only the designer that determines the design. And here we go again, I tell you every week, and I'm not gonna stop saying it to you because some of you, I say it every week and you walk out of here like I said nothing to you, but you need to know that in our culture, so many of you have walked away from the truth of God. You've walked away from the truth of the designer.

Watch this, in this case, the design becomes the detour. How do I know that? We begin to idolize the design instead of worshiping and obeying the designer. So you've got some flaws and you've labeled yourself that flaw. You've made your identity that flaw. You make decisions based on that flaw. And you've never gone back to the word of God and say, designer, who do you say I am? How should I be living? What decisions should I be making? What do I call myself? This is a shift to something greater for finding your identity. Instead of running to the designer for your identity, greater expectations require trusting the design that God has created us that we don't fully see yet. I'm telling you, you gotta get your hopes up and you gotta put your trust in God. And lastly, it's his call, not my will. This is where every single one of us struggle. Why? Well, it goes all the way back to the garden. God created us in his image and his likeness. And part of his image and likeness is free will. He didn't make robots. That is why humans are the only created earthly being with a soul, a nefesh. Our free will resides in our soul.

And it's where we decide, where we will ourselves to do things. Faith is using free will to answer his call, to answer what he's calling us to, to answer what he's designed. It's a decision we make to follow that. I remind you that Jesus taught us to pray the Lord's prayer by saying, our father who is in heaven, holy is your name. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Not your will be done on earth as it is in my mind. Not your will be done on earth as it is in my ideas. Not your will be done on earth as it is in my identity. No, as it is in heaven. Now I want you to pause there for a second because many of you, I have labeled yourself something and I want you to ask yourself something. Do you really think that identity exists in heaven? Secondly, and most assuredly, mostly important, it is his will. We have to ask for his will to be done, not our will to be done. Jesus knew this and he led by example when he prayed to the father in the garden of Gethsemane, when he said, father, if you are willing to take this cup from me, yet not my will be done, but yours be done. Luke 22, 42. Paul closes this chapter with one of the most powerful declarations in all of scripture.

For I am convinced, I wonder if you're convinced. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor present nor future, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We've allowed religion, legalism, people, your old pastor, the online prophets, the experts, determine whether God loves you or not. And this is where expectation shifts us because mankind will always have opinions. And I'm gonna tell you something, my opinions don't move heaven, his word does. My plans don't secure my future, his call on my life does. We spend so much time building sand castles of our own version of success, of security, of control. Some of you young people, you're out there and you're wondering, you've already got your life planned out to your 30. You know when you're gonna have kids, you know when you're gonna graduate college, you know when you're gonna get promoted, you know when you're gonna get your six-pack, you know when you're gonna get your six-figure salary. And then when we get angry because it doesn't go that way, because the tides of life wash away all our plans, we wonder where's God. We weren't really following God all along. God isn't trying to give you a sand castle, he's trying to invite you into a kingdom of God that cannot be shaken.

God is not anti-success. He's anti-success without your surrendering your plans to him and when you trade Small expectations For personal gain For the greater expectation of God's purposes That's where you're gonna find peace That's where your confidence Will come in God. That's where your hope becomes unshakable so maybe Just like I had plans this weekend. I wanted to have an amazing week of worship people coming to Christ But it didn't pan out that way and maybe It was so that God Could give me this word to just one person that's watching right now They need to hear it because they think their entire life has been thrown away over some bad decisions Family listen to me nothing, and I mean nothing can separate you from the love of God Absolutely nothing some of you have been living under the shadow of disappointment You let a closed door define your worth you let a delay convince you that God has forgotten about you But today Jesus is flipping the table on despair So wherever you are in your living room in your kitchen in the bedroom in your car on the phone On your hand you're watching. This is your moment so You've been running on your own free will

And your tank is empty Today you get to choose I accept this call If you want to give your life to Jesus or recommit your life to Jesus you can type in the chat Jesus Write down the check Maybe you feel like You're in that detour I talked about And that detour is full of disappointments Your your expectations just like my childhood expectations took a hit But we want to pray today for sovereign sight if you need Sovereign sight if you need God to reveal that he is working all things Do me a favor type in the chat box prayer and one of our prayer partners is gonna reach out to you to pray with you And lastly I want to give this opportunity maybe you're you're tuning in or And you've never made this decision. Maybe you're saying hey look you know my entire life I don't know why but this storm has locked me in the in the house And I happen to come across this YouTube channel And I started watching and there's this crazy guy yelling about Jesus and Romans and Paul and and and you kind of got But you felt God move and you you realize that maybe this detour. He's talking about has been your entire life Well, maybe today God is rerouting you back to his divine design Maybe that's you maybe that that that moment right now is the Spirit of God touching your your soul Saying come home. Here's what that requires. It requires that you make a decision here at Union Houston you don't you don't have to do anything You don't have this is the point where you don't have to check type anything in the chat You're just gonna put your hand over your heart You're gonna say today's the day that I believe Jesus is the Son of God That he came to live suffer and die for my sins, but he was buried in on the third day He rose again so that I may be risen to new life because I want that love that Nothing can separate me from the love of God. I want that relationship. I want that love if that's you

You have just taken a step From the land of the dead to the land of the living from the kingdom of flesh to the kingdom of spirit so Lord we thank you a Disappointments are not the end It is often the very soil where you grow something greater Greater maturity greater fruit greater outcomes Today we choose faith Today we choose surrender Today we choose hope hope over what we can see we step out of Expectating and into the participation that the Spirit is pulling us to we choose the greater expectations of God Not in the circumstances that we live in but it found in your truth Lord today we He say, your will, not mine be done. And I pray this in Jesus mighty name. And everybody said, amen. I love you and don't forget, we continue our sermon series, Greater. I'll be delivering the very message that I prepared for this week. We have a big weekend lined up, lots of things coming. I'm excited, stay warm, stay off the roads and I'll see you next week. Come on everybody, let's.