Who Else But Jesus

♪ Welcome, we're the spirit of the Lord ♪ ♪ Is there is freedom ♪ ♪ We know that we are free in Jesus ♪ ♪ So I think that's a reason to celebrate this morning ♪ ♪ If you're willing, if you're able, we all stand ♪ ♪ And let's worship our God and King this morning ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ I'm sinking over the heaviness ♪ ♪ I'm dinsed out of my regrets ♪ ♪ I'm through a caution to the way ♪ ♪ And I am not ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ Some say it's foolishness ♪ ♪ But I say it's worth the risk ♪ ♪ I can't forget what Jesus did ♪ ♪ Come on and I am not ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ There are those chains that was held ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I'm headed ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Looking with the Lord as God ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm staying on this 'cause I've been ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm not a friend that never been ♪ ♪ No one loves as good as this ♪ ♪ And I don't care what anyone says ♪ ♪ I'll never be ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ There are those chains that was held ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I'm headed ♪

♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Looking with the Lord as God ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm staying on this 'cause I've been ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood now the Santa kiss ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood now the Santa kiss ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is good ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood now the Santa kiss ♪ ♪ You did it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ My record is good ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ There are those chains that was held ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, how can it be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing a dance 'cause I'm busy ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Looking with the Lord as a ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪

♪ Looking with the Lord as a ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ Amen. What the Lord has done, He is good plans for us so we can sing these words in faith. Come on, let's lift it up together, church, come on. ♪ The Lord is my shepherd ♪ ♪ And He is everything I need ♪ ♪ So I will not worry ♪ ♪ I will not fear the end ♪ ♪ He said that He loves me ♪ ♪ He said that He's with me ♪ ♪ I walk through the valley ♪ ♪ They said, come on ♪ ♪ To shout death and still I know ♪ ♪ We have to ♪ Let's sing through Jesus. ♪ We have ♪ I want you to believe that this is one of the God we serve, we have to believe in You. If I know my Father, I know my Father, He has. [Music] [Music] The Lord is my Savior, so wash your hands down. [Music] [Music] [Music] He has good place, He has good place for me. So I will take all the blessings and all the He has. [Music] If I know my Father, I know My Father, He has.

[Music] So I will take all the blessings and all the He has. [Music] If I know my Father, He will take all the blessings and all the He has. [Music] If I know my Father, He will take all the blessings and all the He has. [Music] If I know my Father, I know My Father, He has. [Music] If I know my Father, I know My Father, He has. [Music] If I know my Father, I know My Father, He has. [Music] [Applause] Last week, we began a new series centered on the gospel of John in the final few chapters leading up to the crucifixion, where Jesus is telling His disciples about what is to come, and you're starting to feel the weight of those moments. The cross is coming, the disciples are realizing that their teacher, their friend is about to be gone, and through it all, Jesus is saying, "Yes, all of this is coming, and you need to trust Me." Yes, this feels hard. Yes, this feels uncertain. You need to trust Me. Now, I don't know about you, but trust does not come naturally to Me. And I've often found myself trusting God up until a point. And when it feels like too much, I decide to put way more trust in Myself than I do in Him. And so I think that God is calling us to trust Him. They themselves even gave into it. And yet Jesus still remained faithful. So in every moment of our life, this gospel of John reminds us that in deserts, in gardens, God is calling us to trust Him. And for those of you who maybe feel skeptical and you don't know about who Jesus is

and God, you can trust God with your questions as well. You can ask everything to Him. I say all of this because this next song, we're saying I trust in God. And my hope is that we would mean these words in a different way, that we wouldn't just say them, but that we would open ourselves up to that trust, let it settle in our hearts, let it push us out of our comfort zones and take us one step closer to our loving Father. So we can say, Lord, even when it feels easy and God, when it feels like too much, I trust in you. ♪ Pissing us your hands ♪ ♪ Jesus is mine ♪ ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire ♪ ♪ Time after time ♪ ♪ Born of His Spirit ♪ ♪ And washed in His blood ♪ ♪ And what He did for me on Calvary ♪ ♪ Was more than enough ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ My Savior, one ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ Or be selfishness ♪ ♪ All is at rest ♪ ♪ I know the offer of tomorrow ♪ ♪ 'Cause Lord, My steps ♪ ♪ So this is my story ♪ ♪ And this is my song ♪

♪ I'm praising My reason ♪ ♪ He can't say you're falling down ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ I say you're one ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪ ♪ My Savior, one ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard ♪ ♪ And He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ That's why I trust in God ♪ ♪ My Savior, one ♪ ♪ Who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God ♪

♪ My Savior, one ♪ ♪ I'll never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ That's why I trust in God ♪ [applause] ♪♪ ♪ Who thought I'd find you at the lowest place ♪ Who knew you'd make good of my mistakes You're nothing like I thought you were your better 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 I thought you'd show up for perfection 'Cause what kind of God was for the lost And they say it's over for us in earth How could you say No, it's not, no, it's not 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 All under another to you, kids If the highest place I reach is at the old feet

Then I turn it on with the best thing that I've seen in your blood And I see it all, you're a safe high level For ever said is my God, you are my God If the highest highest place I reach is at the old feet Then I turn it on with the best thing that I've seen in your blood And I've seen it all, you're a safe my life For ever said is my God, you are my head I wonder why it's been, I wonder why it's been, I've seen it all, you're a safe high level I've seen it all, you're a safe high level for ever said is my God, you are my head It's like you are my head, you are my head, you are my head I wonder why it's been, I've seen it all, you're a safe high level It's like you are my head, you are my head, you are my head I wonder why it's been, I've seen it all, you're a safe high level I wonder why it's been, I've seen it all, you're a safe high level I wonder why it's been, I've seen it all, you're a safe high level The rest is worthy, there is no one, only in Jesus The rest is worthy, the rest is worthy, there is no one, only in Jesus There is no one, only in Jesus # Who else is worthy? # # Who else is worthy? # # Who else is worthy? # # There is no one # # Only in Jesus # # Who else is worthy? # # Who else is worthy? # # There is no one # # Only in Jesus # # There is no one # # Only in Jesus # # There is no one #

# Only in Jesus # # What a God, what a God # # Only in Jesus # # What a God, what a God # # Who else is worthy? # # There's no one higher # # There's no one greater # # Than you, Jesus # # There is no one greater # # There is no one greater # # Jesus, there is no other name # # There is no other name that deserves # # The praise and adoration that you do # # Lord, you seek after us # # You are the God of the universe # # You are the Alpha and the Omega # # And yet, you seek after # # Each and every one of us # # You don't look for perfection # # Jesus, you look for a willing heart # # Lord, thank you for loving us # # And thank you for the good plans # # For each and every person # # Each and every person # # In this room # # Amen # # Amen, God is good # # God is good # # Why don't you go ahead # # Turn to a neighbor #

# Say hello # # And then y'all are good to have a seat # Hi everybody, if you're new or if you call this church home, welcome to The Crossing. My name is Diego, I get to be one of the youth pastors here. Now, I'm up here just to give you a reminder about something that we talked about last week. It's something new that we're doing this ministry year called The Crossing in Three. See, basically, it's this new thing that we're trying. We want to just look at our ministry calendar, and there could be a lot that you see that is happening around here all the time, and sometimes it can feel a little bit overwhelming. Like, I don't even know all the things that are going on. I don't even know what I'm missing out on. It's kind of how I feel about Costco. So, I think, you know, we decided that we would pick three things and think, "What are three things you need to know about what are happening at The Crossing?" First is that we are in a new series called Words to Hang Onto in the Gospel of John. So, I hope that you got your Bibles just drawn and ready to go for that. And number two is, we have our Young Adult Summit. Coming up on October 16th and 17th, it's a two-day event. There will be biblical teaching, worship. There will be guest speakers, and including our lead pastor, Greg. We'll get to hear from him and guest speaker, Hannah Barnett. She's a great author, wonderful speaker, and then many other voices as well. There will be food, time to connect, build community. And so, I'll just tell you, if you're a young adult in the room, 20s, 30s, college, single married, no kids, kids, and you find it difficult to get plugged into the greater church community because life is just busy, or you find yourself just kind of showing up and then dipping out, get plugged in. Don't come be a part of this. Do this with other believers.

I know how hard it is to find good, solid, trusted community in this stage of life, and I'll just tell you, your chances are slim if you don't get plugged in. So, I'd love for you to come join us for that. Now, on top of that, since I know how busy life gets, it's because I am a married man. We have a toddler who moves at the speed of light, and we have a baby on the way, so there's a lot going on in our life. It can be hard to spend time with friends. It can also be time to just find time with my wife at time. So, that's why we offer something called the marriage course. For those of us who are married and just want to spend more intentional time with our spouse. This is a seven-week course, and it's not like groups getting together at a table. This is intentional time with just you and your spouse. We say, like, it's seven intentional date nights that you get to have with your spouse, where you get to sit down, have meaningful conversation that enriches an incredibly important relationship. And it's designed for people who've been married six months, all the way up to decades. So, I'd love for you to join us for that if you feel called to do so. See all the things I just said about just three things that we have going on. And honestly, it's not lost on us. We get to do so much because of how generous you all are and the way that you worship God with your tithes and your offerings, the way you give this ministries of this church. We get to bring Jesus' name to so many hearts, so many homes because of the way that you give. So thank you for partnering alongside us. If you have any questions about anything I just said, anything about this church, Jesus, or anything you're navigating, we would love to serve you in any way. Come down to the front after service,

there's Pastor Share that would love to meet you. Don't hesitate. (upbeat music) - Okay, I wanna reach back on something that was just said here and I know it was said at the site, so first of all, a load of those of you at mid-rivers at Grant's Trail at Fenton and joining us around the world. But Hannah Barnett is gonna be at the Young Adult Summit and Hannah is one of those people, she's an author, she's a friend of ours, Robin and I got to hang out with her again, I think it was what, just last year. She's got such an important word and she's such an important voice for this generation. So if you are a young adult, I just wanna invite you one more time, it's gonna be a fun weekend. Now, while we're going, have you noticed that we all have strong opinions about, oh I don't know everything, how about just like the best of things, like you have a best restaurant, you have a best movie, a best book, a best, just talk to each other real quickly about just one of those 'cause you've got a strong opinion about, oh I think this is the greatest and then you can fill in the blank, go ahead, you just tell some people around you, real quickly. Okay, all right, okay, we're just gotta stir in the pot a little bit here. We talked about this in the summer, this was mentioned,

we talked about it two years ago, but I wanna go back one more time, we even have a title for things that we think are the greatest of all time, right? We know what that is, it's the goat, the goat. And people have these conversations about who is the greatest of all time, who's the goat, when it comes to NFL quarterbacks? Is it the homes or is it Brady? Oh, people gonna have big arguments about that. Is what it comes to women's tennis, is it Serena? Is it Steffi? Is it Martina? It's Serena, so that's just the answer, there. Here's one, here's one, is it Taylor or Beyonce? Oh yeah, people could throw down on that one right now, they could, is it Jay-Z or Tupac? Some of you are like, that one isn't interesting to me at all. Well I think it's a very interesting discussion, okay, how about this, is it Johnny or Hank or Garth or George? Which George? Is it Dolly or Naz just Dolly? So we have these titles and we have these ideas and these opinions about the greatest, and we're gonna look at a title today that is ascribed to Jesus. And we've talked about this before, but I think it's so important for us to understand this one so that it unlocks where we're going in this series. I promise you, I promise you.

We need to understand who Jesus is. You wanna understand the greatness of Jesus? Well, think about it. The most humble man who ever lived is also the most confident man who ever lived. The boldest man who ever lived is also the most gentle man who ever lived. The most powerful man who ever lived is also the most vulnerable man who ever lived. How does all of that fit into one life? He truly is the greatest. And if you need a thread running through his life, through this story, through our souls, I really do think it's his love. If you wanna understand the greatness of Jesus, this title starts to get us to something, but it's his love, it's his love. I mean, we're just saying about his greatness, didn't we? Who else is worthy? Let's pray. Father, we come before you now. We are going to open the word that your spirit has inspired to tell us the story of your son. May we learn things just as last week, Lord. May we enter into the room. May we begin to notice details. May we allow ourselves to hear things that maybe we haven't heard in a while. May we allow ourselves to learn or to be surprised, but God, more than anything, would you give us the courage

now to apply these truths to our lives, no matter if we are early, early, early on the journey, or we know these words by heart. Jesus, you have brought us here for a reason. Now, lead us, Holy Spirit, we invite you into this. Amen. So, if you were with us last week, we jumped in. We started this series that is, it's the middle chapters of John. And the setting is the upper room, the upper room. It is the last night, the worst night of Jesus' life. If you want to understand what is going on, part of the intensity of this is you've got to remember, this time tomorrow, Jesus is dead. When we look at this evening, just these few hours in this conversation, we've got to remember that in under 24 hours, Jesus is dead and in a borrowed tomb. You must feel the weight of this. And so many of us last weekend were drawn, quite literally, to our knees in powerful moments of prayer and worship and confession last week. Many of you from your seats, many of you would contact us later in the week. Let me just say this, we entered into the story and learned from of all people, Judas, and the mistakes of Judas. Do you remember that? Let me just say it one more time. There is a distance between verse two and verse 27

that we need to navigate. We have an opportunity to make a decision one more time. In verse two, Judas is prompted by the evil one. In verse 27, he gives full into the evil. And if you are someone right now, even now, if you are someone who is saying, I'm flirting with that thing, I'm tolerating that moment. I've made excuses about this thing that is going on, a habit that I have, a way that I speak, a way that I treat people, whatever it is, if there is something in your life between verse two and verse 27, and you want help with that, you want to talk to somebody, you want to pray, then you come find us right after the service. Because I believe victory is still available today. Jesus is still offering you his love and his life today. But at the end of our time together, Judas took the bread that had been dipped into the bowl, into the sopp. You remember what the quote was? The theologian, he said, Judas took the sopp, but not the love. And in that moment, there is satanic possession. There's no other way to put it. Satan enters into Judas. He is now given into this. Jesus says, go do what you're going to do. And he leaves, he leaves into the darkness. And it seems like the night got just a little bit darker. How many times have we sent this?

Because now, it really is only a matter of time. Now, Judas is going to the authorities. Now, Judas will take them to Jesus. It's only a matter of time now, before he's betrayed, before he's beaten, before he's killed. We're on the clock. I want us to sense that now. Now, now, now is when the discussion starts. Now is when we're going to learn these words to hang on to. Now, because the betrayer has left. If you look at verse 31, just the first part, it says when he was gone, Jesus said, now. It's almost like you can sense that the atmosphere has changed. There's still emotion flying in the room, but Jesus knows the betrayer is gone. Now, now, I can talk to my friends. Now, I can talk to the disciples. Now, I can pour my heart. Now, I can prepare them for what is to come. The rest of 31, now. Let's just put that up there. Now, the son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the son and himself, and will glorify in him or at once. We clear on all of that. I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but do you ever read the scriptures and you come across a verse and you're like,

I'm never going to get that one, and you just keep moving? I know you're not going to say this out loud, but you're like, I'm just going to go back into the plot and the narrative, but I don't know what's going on there. Whatever is going on there, it must be important because it's the first thing Jesus says after the betrayer is out of the room. Okay, he's gone now. So something is about to happen, and Jesus wants them to know what it is. For us to understand it, I think there's two things we need to do. First, there's a word that shows up five times in those two verses, right? Well, let's just put this up there. It can mean to honor, to celebrate, to declare, and reveal the worth or the greatness of something. So in now, in this discussion, something is going to happen that's gonna reveal the greatness of God. Something is going to happen, to declare his character, his goodness, his love. Jesus is saying to these fellows, now something's about to happen, and you're gonna get the glory of God on full display. Now, what is that? Well, for us to fully understand the weight of this, we're probably ought to understand that title that I was talking about earlier.

This is "The Son of Man." It's Jesus' favorite term for himself. He uses it 80, 81 times, depending on your translation. It can mean two things, okay? The first one is common sense. The first one, and this is how it is in the prophet Ezekiel. It means human. If you're the son of man, then you're a son of humanity. You're a son of, yeah, you had a mom and you had a dad. You're a son of man. You'd be a daughter of man. That's how that is. But there's a second meaning. It's extraordinarily mysterious and powerful. The theologians still wrestle with it. There's a reason Jesus, the wisest man who ever lived, uses this to point to himself. But let's just understand where it comes from. There's an apocalyptic section of the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter seven, just picture this. It's, he gets this vision and all the symbolic stuff is going on, right? And so it's a picture of the end of days. Like this is the judgment. You're looking at the throne room of God. You're looking at the eternal God of the universe. Daniel says, "I saw thousands upon thousands who were attending to him." This would be the angelic host serving the holy one. And then I saw 10,000 times 10,000 gathering around him.

Again, these are all symbolic numbers saying, it's as if he saw all of the rulers, all of the kingdoms, all of the nations gathered around the throne. I mean, they're all around this one. I would say El Olam, the everlasting one. But this isn't even written in Hebrew. This is the biggest chunk of the Hebrew scriptures that isn't written in Hebrew. It's written in Aramaic. And so we're now around the throne of Yatikyo men. The ancient of days, the timeless one. And then Daniel says, looking at this stunning vision of how it's all gonna end. The beasts, the enemies of God, they've been defeated. And then Daniel says, "I saw this. "I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven." He approached the ancient of days. That's God the Father and was led into his presence. He was given authority and glory and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. Notice that. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away. And his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. What I want you to see is that Daniel saw this kingdom, this everlasting kingdom being given to one who is called the son of man. And did you catch it? Somehow he is being worshiped.

There are those who look at this and see like a precursor of Jesus. There is something going on here. This son of man is co-equal with God, ruling and reigning with a kingdom that has no end. This is a loaded term. When Jesus uses this term and he's on trial for his life in front of the high priest, just later this night. He says, you're gonna see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven. And he takes Daniel seven and he puts it up next to Psalm 110 and he says, you're gonna see him seated at the right hand of the Father and they lose it. They punch him, they spit on him, they demand his death. I promise you, they knew this was a loaded term. Jesus keeps saying, I am the son of man. I am the one who was predicted. I am the one who was coming. Listen to me, there are some people and maybe this is you, you're early in your journey and you're trying to figure things out. And at this point, you are looking at, you're looking at lots of things outside of scripture. You're hearing a lot of people outside of scripture and somewhere along the way, somebody is telling you, well, you know, I don't know that Jesus ever even really claimed to be God. I want you to know when you read the Gospels, he says he's God over and over and over. I believe this is one of the places that he does so.

But let me give you another, all the way throughout the Gospel of John, there are these, I am statements. Can you put these up here? John loves, he's got his own symbolic language. He's got seven of these. I am statements. I am the bread of life, the light of the world. You go through these and many of you will have heard these. Well, these are big declarations of who Jesus is and what he has done, but then there's also something else I am in the Greek. If you look at it in the Greek, it is ego, I, me, okay? So that's how you say I am. But it is an echo of the covenant name of God. We don't even know how to say that name. But the consonants are there. Yod, hey, vav, hey. We're not even sure of the vowels because they stopped saying this out of reverence to the eternal one centuries earlier. But we think our best guess is that the covenant name of God is said, Yahweh. It's an echo all the way through. I am, I am, I am. There's a point we won't even get to it. But in John 18, this is when the betrayer brings the, the thugs to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus sees them coming up the hill. You're gonna look at this. I think it's 18, four through six.

But in like four through five, Jesus is there in the garden. He says, who are you looking for? And they say, Jesus of Nazareth. And he says, I am he. Then something really interesting happens in verse six. If you look at it, it says that they fell back and on the ground. Well, if you really wanna understand what's going on there, understand that in the original language, the word he isn't there. The English translators put it there so it flows for us. Now go back and listen to the, to the scene. Who are you looking for? Jesus of Nazareth. I am and y'all I fell to the ground. I want you to know time and time again. Jesus says, I am, I am, I mean later in this chapter, Philip, God bless him, says, hey, Jesus, just once we'd like to see the Father. (congregation laughing) And you can hear the disappointment in his voice. He's like, son, how long we been together? Don't you know who you're looking at? And he says something pretty thick and deep. We'll get back to this. If you've seen the Father, you've seen, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I'm in him, he is in me. There's such a oneness there.

Jesus, time and time again is saying, it's me, fellas, I'm here. I am the exalted King. I am God in the flesh. Right here, he says, the Son of man is gonna be glorified. Now we're beginning to get a sense of what that means, but we've been waiting for Jesus to be glorified since the prologue. Just so that we can all be really clear on, on the book of John. We chunked it out last week in these ways. This is actually what scholars will say. The prologue, this is John 1. This is where John says, just upfront, you need to know, I think Jesus is God. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, y'all the Word was God. I mean, he says it, verse one, he's telling you this. And then he becomes flesh. And so there is this moment, but right in the prologue, John says, we beheld his glory. You need to know, we saw the glory of the one and only son. This is the one the Father sent, full of grace and truth. We saw his glory. But then if you'll remember, we get into the book of signs. This is like the front half of the book, and there are all of these signs. But every one of them points to glory. In Canaan, the water is turned to one. And it says, and this was the first time

that the glory of God was revealed. And it keeps going, going, going through the book of signs. Till you get Lazarus who was raised from the dead. It's all pointing to somewhere. Where is it pointing? It's pointing to all of the glory that is now going to be revealed. But let's just say it out loud. It is all pointing to the cross. If you want to understand the glory of God, if you want to understand what Jesus was saying, what he was saying is now, now the Son of Man is about to die on the cross, and I will show you the glory of God. You want to know the love of God? You want to know the power of God? You want to know the justice and the goodness of God? Look to the cross. But remember that love flows through it all. I think sometimes we get, we know this, but we talk about the God forsakenness of the cross, right? I mean, we need to understand that. There's that moment, that heartbreaking moment where Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He's quoting Psalm 22. They both knew this moment was coming. This is the moment that the Father has to turn away from the sin that has been laid upon the Son. We know about the God forsakenness. I need you to hear me.

Listen really closely. They never stopped loving each other. (congregation cheering) It was an old Scottish theologian who looking at this references an old hymn like from the 1800s. We don't sing it. It's got these and those. We don't do a lot of these and those here. But the hymn that he references, "My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine, for thee all the follies of sin I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior, art thou, if ever I love thee. My Jesus, tis now, Ferguson, old him, ringing in his ears, says I can hear the Father singing the last part of that hymn to his Son on the cross. If ever I love thee, my Jesus, tis now. You want to understand the love of God? Look to the cross. That's where his glory is revealed. Love's running through all of this. The very next thing that Jesus says to them is, guys, I'm going someplace and you can't go with me. But the words that I love here is, he says, "My children, my children," you just hear the tenderness in it. My children love each other the way I love you. Now we're going to come back to this, we're going to spend a whole week on this. He says, "Love, love the way you have been loved." I want us to stop for just a second, and guys, just so we know online, you guys are going to talk about this at first, guys, if you'll just keep the music going even after that, this is a two-parter. The first part is for everybody, and then online you guys are going to join us.

First part is this, have you ever experienced something that was more than you thought it was going to be? You're like, "Oh, I thought this, whoa, I totally underestimated the greatness of that." Were you ever shocked by something? Like, here's the question, here's the way that we worded it. Have you ever, like, when were you shocked after you saw something more fully? So maybe, maybe you'd always read about this place and you finally got there and you went, "Oh, that was a little bit more than I thought it was going to be." Or maybe you drove someplace for vacation, but it was at night and then you woke up the next morning and went, "Oh, I didn't know that mountain was right there." Or maybe the fog lifted and you saw the lake or you saw the ocean. What is it for you? Go ahead and talk to each other. We want to get in this sense of all. When were you shocked? When were you gobsmacked by something that was way more than you thought it was going to be? Go ahead. Talk to each other. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Okay. All right. Yeah, let's just keep the music going. Somebody gave me a couple of answers. What was something that you were just overwhelmed with the greatness of it? Anybody got anything here? That's a child. Okay, so two people saying the birth of a child. Okay. All right. Anybody else got anything? You're like, "Well, I'm not saying anything after that." It's okay. People have said the northern lights. People have said the Grand Canyon. Anybody got anything over in these sections? The pyramids. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's turn it differently now. Now that you're all is stirred up a little bit. I want you to go back to some people. You don't have to share this one out loud to the rest of us. When were you ever in awe shocked by someone's? Maybe it was their generosity. Maybe it was their patience. Maybe it was their forgiveness. Maybe it was their courage. Maybe it was their love.

It was like you were with someone and you were like, "I had no idea. I had no idea. Go ahead. Go back and talk to each other real quickly, real quickly." ♪ ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Okay. Those stories are a lot more fun to tell. Those are those moments that we're in awe. And it's like, wow, there's a lot more to that person. There's a lot more to maybe this relationship than I thought. So hang on to that for just a second. Let's just keep pushing through the story a little bit. I want you to know that at this point, and we're not really, this is not, we're not making fun of him at all. I mean, I love Peter. The reason we love Peter is because we see ourselves in Peter. Amen? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the truth. Peter right now is at a place where he's worried. He's afraid. He's anxious.

He is not in control. And Pete likes control. And so this is where he starts to say things to Jesus about, well, I'm going to go where you're going. No, you're not. Yes, I know you're not. And then he makes this bold prediction, and Jesus says, you're going to fail me before morning. So now Peter's in free fall. It's not written here, but I want us to just, again, let's stay in the room for a second. If Peter is going to fail Jesus before dawn, what do you think the rest of those guys are thinking? Oh, man, if he's going down, what am I going to, how am I going to handle this? You see, these guys are unsettled. They're worried. They're afraid. And Jesus, ever the good shepherd now, looks at them and says these famous words. This is as far into John 14 as we're going to go today. But he says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me. Now, if you were with us last week, you might at this point be saying, hey, wait a minute. Time out. Last week Jesus was troubled. Remember, it was a violent word. He's torn up.

He's looking at the injustice and the darkness and the hatred that he's about to face. This storm that he's about to go in, and he's troubled. So is he being inconsistent here when he's saying, you know, I'm told you guys don't be troubled. Is that it? You ever been on a long vacation in the back of the station wagon? You ever had mom or dad reach, they're reaching back somewhere. And then you know what they're saying. Don't you make me pull over. And really, did it ever happen to you where they were like, you guys stop fighting. And like five minutes later, mom and dad are going at it because somebody missed the exit. I mean, maybe, I don't know, maybe those things happen. Do you ever look at your kids and say, you know, do as I say, not as I do. Yeah. Well, this is not one of those moments. Jesus is completely consistent. You see, part of, let's just say this. The trouble that he is facing is completely different from anything, anything, anything anyone else will ever face. And it is his burden alone to bear. He knows that. But I think what he's doing here is he's entering into this storm. He's entering into this suffering. He's entering into this to overcome it. And he's looking at these men that he loves and says,

don't face this alone. You believe in God. Believe in me. Every one of these guys would know, would know Psalm 46 1. God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble. Every one of them would have known that by heart. I believe part of what Jesus is saying here is, if you believe in God that way, believe in me. I'm right here. Don't underestimate me. Because I'm doing this for you. The Son of Man is doing this for you. Watch this. We're not in John now. But we see the Son of Man didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So he's going to offer his life as a sacrifice. Now that word ransom there can mean compensation for an injury or for a crime. It can also mean to buy someone's freedom. But at its root, it means to loosen chains and to set someone free. So watch this. I think part of what's going on here is that the exalted one to whom all worship and honor and glory is due. He has chosen to serve in such a way that while we were still sinners, while we were still shaking our fist at heaven, he chose us. He pursued us. And in the moment the breaks change, in the moment that kicks doors down and prisons are opened up.

In the moment that brings healing, in that transcendent moment, Jesus gives his life so that I can have freedom. I'm free, isn't that what we were singing earlier? How much does he love us anyway? Now, let me just see if we can get to this, to where we apply it to ourselves. First of all, I know that there are some of you here who are early on your journey. You're not sure if you believe much of this. You're not sure how this applies to you. Let me give you a son of man verse that is just for you. In Luke 19, the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. Now, when we say the lost, that isn't a looking down kind of a thing because it's all of us at one point or another in our life, okay? The ground is level at the foot of the cross. But what I want you to hear is that this son of man pursues the lost. That's an active word there. He pursues the rebellious, this exalted king, this one who's going to reign over a kingdom that will have no end, has entered into the story. Here's something, this is just, I don't know, this one's for free. It was a survey by life way a few years ago of all Americans. 80% of them said that they believe that Jesus is the son of God. Now, that was a little high for me. I wouldn't think it would be that. If you take out people who don't attend church even at Christmas or Easter, the number goes down. But let's just stick with the 80. 80% of the people surveyed in America said, "Yeah, sure. Jesus is the son of God." 80%. Only 43% believed that Jesus existed before his birth in Bethlehem. So what they're doing is they're ignoring the prologue. Maybe that's where you are.

You're going, "I do believe somehow I don't get it. Son of God, I don't know. I don't know." But yeah, Christmas, all of that, I get this. I want you to understand he is more than you think he is. He is the pre-existent one and he chooses to enter into the story to come for you. And when you look at the gospels, you see Jesus welcoming the lost, hanging out with the lost, getting in trouble because he enjoys being with the lost, laughing with the lost, telling stories, listening, answering the questions of the lost, forgiving the lost, healing the lost, and yes, at the end he dies for the lost. Aren't you grateful for that? Jesus seeks the lost. If that's you today, I want you to know that part of what he's doing is he's putting people on your path. He's putting conversations. He's putting invitations to come to a church. Maybe it's a song. Maybe it's a memory. Maybe there's something, but Jesus is, he's pursuing you. And the invitation is to just notice that and to step towards him. Now for some of you, you've been at this a long time and you've been walking with Jesus a long time. But if we're going to be honest, things have grown stale. Maybe even cold. And you're kind of in that routine thing that we were talking about last week. You know, we know the routine. We know how to look the part. Some of you aren't even sure what you believe.

You're not even sure that he believes in you. Some of you have invited trouble into your life. Some of you are flirting with danger right now and you're this close to stepping across the line. Some of you, the loss, the hurt, the worry that is breaking your heart. You didn't choose. It's not up you're doing that trouble found you. I want you to know that each of you in that moment, Jesus sees you, loves you, hasn't forgotten you. Let's go back to the other song that we sang earlier today. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, right? I love that song. I love that song. I love the comfort. I love the encouragement. I love everything about it. But man, I love the honesty of David in that song because if you read it carefully, he says, "There are such things as valleys and shadows and enemies and death such is life in this broken world." But then you get that verse 6. We sang it. Do we know what we sang? "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." I was reading and was reminded just a little bit ago that that word follow isn't as casual as it sounds. It's not like my 70-pound puppy who follows me around. It's different. It's active. The word there in the Hebrew is redaf, and it means to pursue or to hunt. hunts you down." When? What did he say? "All the days of your life."

David said, "The goodness and the mercy of God chases me down when I am the best king Israel ever knew and when I blew it so badly through my lust that the whole thing fell apart." He chases me down when I write the most beautiful songs that are still being sung today or when I'm hiding in a cave wondering if I'm going to live out through the day. He hunts me down with his goodness and mercy when I am triumphant and when I am afraid, when I am joyful and when I am crying out for justice. My God keeps chasing after me one more time. How much does he love you anyway? My friend Scott Saul kind of sums this up for some people with these words. He says, "Your moments of deepest discouragement, disappointment, and even self-discussed, do not push Jesus away. They draw him closer." Jesus runs toward you just as the father ran to welcome his prodigal son, interrupting your rehearsed apologies with an embrace that asks for nothing in return. Even the journey home isn't something you have to figure out on your own. Whether you have been a longtime believer or you are trying to figure this out, I want you to know that that's how much he loves you. The son of man who pays the ransom to free you. The son of man who seeks to save the lost. The Lord God whose mercy and goodness will chase you down all the days of your life. One more time, how much does he love us? So a few years ago, I am scuba diving with dear friends. We're actually off the coast of Central America. It's what they call a blue water dive. So you're about 25 miles off the coast and the water is... Guys, I don't know why you hesitate on these things. It's not just blue. It was like almost navy blue. We're past blue. It's like it doesn't even look natural blue. Part of that is because of where you are and because the sand and all of that. Part of it is because it's deep. It was hundreds of feet deep at that point. So it's a blue water dive, which means open water, you got to figure out, you got to pay attention to your depth gauge. You don't want to go down too deep. You're down there 80, 90 feet. That's cool. That's fun. But it also burns up your oxygen. So you got to kind of pay attention to things. But what I'm going to tell you is we saw things that you don't see anyplace else. I remember seeing these eagle rays that have these white spots on them and it looks like they're flying and they go beneath you. I remember three bull sharks that were kind of tracking us, maybe 175 feet below us. I mean, it's deep. I remember looking off to my right and thinking, man, this is hundreds of feet deep. But there's like this indigo wall because the shelf was there and now that's a mile deep. I remember letting my brain go there for a minute and then going, I think I'll come back to this. And I remember,

I know y'all remember this. I remember this whirlwind of life. They were snappers. Our guide told us later that in some of these tornadoes, like 100,000 snapper, these are not small fish, have been counted. So you're seeing it almost from the depths of the ocean floor all the way to the surface and it's just this whirlwind of life. And you're kind of undone, God. And what is that? God asks Job in chapter 38. Have you ever walked to the springs of the sea? Have you ever stepped into the depths of the recesses? The answer is no. What's my point? I thought I knew how big the ocean was. Like I've still on many a beach. I've even flown over the ocean. I've been on a boat on the ocean. I had a pretty good sense of wild oceans. Big. I had no idea. I had no idea. I had no idea. Y'all, I need you to know something. I thought I knew what deep was when I was sitting in 10 feet of water trying to start my certification with the mask and all that. And this feels pretty deep. I thought it felt deep when I was 25 feet under and then you're doing it in open water. I had no idea what deep is and I'm barely scratching the surface of the depths of the ocean. Are you still with me? Because maybe, maybe, maybe you understand what Paul says when he prays. I just want you to grasp. In fact, let's say it out loud, can you put that up there? Paul prays that we would grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge. Do you want to know why the love of Christ is so much because Christ is so much? He is the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Son of Man, and the Lord of all, and He is saying to you right now, whatever your embarrassment, whatever your shame, whatever your struggle, whatever your past, whatever your moment is, whatever kind of family you grew up with, whatever kind of wound that you have that you don't even think of, ew, whatever color of your skin, whatever zip code you live in, whatever your education, whatever your BMI, whatever your tax returns look like, come to me, and I will give you rest, and I will heal you, and I will forgive you. Jesus says, I'm the one, I'm the way, He's the only one who says, I am God and I have died for you, and I did it so that you could have freedom. Muhammad didn't say this, Buddha didn't say this, Moses didn't say this, vision of Hinduism didn't say this, that's not even a historical figure, but the other three, they never claimed

to be God, and they sure never said I'm dying, so that I could have life with you. And I'm telling you what, His love changes everything, and it leads to the most controversial, I think maybe one of the most controversial sentences that Jesus ever utters. It's in the gospels, it's in chapter 14, but that's for another week, so I pray that as you leave it, if you have questions, if you would like to pray, if you'd like to know how to take another step towards this Jesus, come on, if you're saying, wait, I need that love to find me again, come on, but my prayer for each of you is that you'll be undone by the greatness of Christ, His mercy, His goodness, His patience, His healing, His love. I mean, who else is worthy? Amen? Amen. I'll see you. [applause] [applause] (applause) (crowd clapping)