Plainfield Christian Church
09-29-24 | Finish Line Faith: Meditate on the Gospel
Welcome to the Plainfield Christian Church podcast. We hope that this message encourages you today. For additional resources to learn about what it looks like to be fully alive with Jesus, visit our website at plainfieldchristian.com. Enjoy the podcast. Well, good morning. I am very glad to be with you because it means I have a new grandson. Yes, very good news. Luke and Rebecca welcomed Hudson Michael at about 1 a.m. this morning. Eight pounds, seven ounces, 22 inches long. Everybody's happy. Everybody's healthy. I'm sure that Luke is going to bring some pictures next week to show him off. But I just want to start by saying thank you all for your prayers for my family and thank you for being such a wonderful church family in welcoming them. We are just so, so excited about Little Hudson Michael's arrival. Now I am also excited that I get to be here with you and share this message from 2 Timothy. So if you have your Bibles this morning, please go ahead and grab those and crank them open to 2 Timothy chapter 1, 2 Timothy chapter 1. That's what we're going to be today. Don't just sit there, do something. Now that was Larry Walters' life motto. This is a true story. Larry Walters lived in Los Angeles, California. From the age of 13, Larry Walters dreamed of flying. When he graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force, wanted to become a pilot. Unfortunately because of his eyesight, he was not able to eventually discharge and became a truck driver there in Los Angeles. But he bought a house in the approach corridor of Los Angeles International Airport. So every night when he would get home from his truck driving job, Larry Walters would sit in his backyard in a lawn chair and he would watch the planes fly to and from LAX overhead and he still dreamed of flying. Now Larry was not just a dreamer. Larry was actually a doer and he wanted to make his dream of flying come true. So Larry made his to-do list and and here's what he did. First thing he did is he bought 42 weather balloons. He filled these 42 weather balloons up with helium. They were each seven feet in diameter and then he attached these 42 weather balloons to his lawn chair. Now he put some big sandbag weights to keep his lawn chair down but by the time he got done you know 42 balloons on this chair. Look like the house from the movie up. You remember? You follow me here? Yeah. And so this this was his plan. He thought that he would sit in the chair. He would kick off those sandbag weights and then he would get to float. You know 30, 40 maybe 50 feet in the air. He would wave at his neighbors that he would enjoy the view from up there and then he had a BB pistol. He would shoot a few balloons at a time. He would gently float back down to earth and finally he would live his dream. He would get to fly. Well, true story. July 2nd 1982. Larry Walters got his BB gun. He packed a sandwich. He grabbed a six pack of beer because we always make our best decisions when we're drinking beer. And he got a CB radio. He strapped himself into his chair. He waved to his girlfriend Carol and he kicked off the weights when he did. Larry Walters did not float 30 feet into the air. He did not float 40 or 50 feet into the air. Larry Walters floated 15,000 feet into the air. True story. He was three miles high. Now when Larry Walters leveled out, I mean he shot up like a supersonic elevator but when he leveled out he caught his breath. Larry got on his CB and he radioed his girlfriend Carol and he said oh I went a little higher than I thought. Now remember all of this is happening in the approach corridor to LAX. True story. A commercial jet flies past Larry. A Delta pilot gets on the radio, calls into the tower. I just passed a guy at a lawn chair at 15,000 feet. Well Larry Walters realizes he needs to start shooting some of these balloons. So he gets his BB gun pop pop pop but then he accidentally drops his BB gun. So now he is just hanging on for dear life. Well eventually slowly slowly he does drift back down to earth. And when his chair finally touches down he's met by emergency crews. It literally took them ten minutes to pry his hands off of that lawn chair and there were police that were also there waiting for him. They said you know we're taking you with us we don't know what to charge you with but we know you did something wrong and so you're gonna come with us. And they were also reporters who had heard this on the police band radio. And so as the police are leading Larry Walters off the reporters are hollering out to him and they say Larry Larry were you scared? And he said yes yes I was. And they said Larry Larry would you do it again? He said no no I would not. And then they said Larry Larry why did you do it in the first place? And Larry Walters stopped for a moment he thought about it and then he said this well you can't just sit there. Now you hear it don't you? Don't just sit there do something. Now that is my wife Katie's life motto. My wife Katie is a doer my my wife Katie it just constitutionally cannot sit still. Do you know people like this? I mean she is a constant blur of activity always in motion. My wife Katie loves white board she loves making to-do lists on white boards. I went through my house one time I counted them 12 white boards each with a different to-do list on it 12 of them. And when we go on vacation if I am in charge there is no to-do list we're just gonna sit by the pool and read books but if Katie is in charge of our vacation there is a to-do list that is literally as long as my arm because we have to see everything we have to do everything I have to get a vacation to get over my vacation and this is life with my wife all right and she has her brain is kind of like this internet browser that has 57 tabs open at all times and she is a multitasking ninja queen and she only has two speeds it's either full throttle or unconscious okay she has on off switch but there is no dimmer switch on this girl she has no chill whatsoever and and this is my wife and I love her and I'm pretty sure that God put her into my life so that if I am ever tempted to be complacent or lazy she can say to me don't just sit there do something now that's good advice in life I mean we live in a lazy boy world sometimes it likes comfort zones better than work zones and often we do need somebody to kind of give us a little a little kick in the pants it's good advice in life and it's good advice in the Christian life did you know that one of God's favorite words is go Abraham go to the land that I will show you Moses go to Pharaoh and tell them to let my people go to the disciples go and make disciples of all nations you can't spell the word gospel without the letters gee oh all right and and there there is this this job that we have been given we have a mission to accomplish we have a a work to do and the Apostle Paul who wrote that letter that you have open in front of you the Apostle Paul was a go-go-go kind of guy Paul was not a lazy boy leader Paul wanted to reach the world for Christ before he died and so he had a to-do list as long as his arm don't just sit there do something and in the book of 2 Timothy as as Paul is writing this letter to young Timothy you might you might expect him to preach a theme like that now by way of reminder Timothy Paul's kind of young son in the faith in fact Timothy's young preacher in the city of Ephesus and it's a tough ministry let me tell you there's false teaching inside the church there's persecution outside the church it's a mess and the reason that Paul left Timothy at that church was to kind of clean up this mess but Timothy does not feel up to the task he feels like a young guy a kid stepping up to home plate with three strikes already against him in fact you know strike one he's young Paul will say in first Timothy chapter 4 verse 12 don't let anyone look down on you because you were young and the reason that he had the right that was because people were looking down on him because he was young and you know who is this kid you know led behind the ears fresh out of Bible college wasn't where does he know and I had a Bible college professor once and he said that to succeed in ministry you really only need two things he said you need gray hair and hemorrhoids he said the gray hair will make you look distinguished and the hemorrhoids will make you look concerned I don't know about all that but I know this Timothy did not have the gray hair he did not look distinguished at all nobody was respecting this kid that's strike one here's strike two he was sick he had kind of a sickly constitution have you ever been on a trip to like a third world country and you go on these kind of like mission trips and what do they always tell you don't drink the water you know what I'll do to you right and and somebody forgot to tell Timothy and so Paul eventually had to in first Timothy chapter 5 verse 23 Paul says to Timothy stop drinking only water because of your frequent stomach illnesses so are you imagining this I mean first Christian church there in Ephesus Sunday morning Timothy's up there preaching along suddenly right in the middle of the sermon he has an emodium AD moment are you following me here got a run for the bathroom real quick how embarrassing is that if you have ever struggled with the chronic illness you know how discouraging and debilitating it can be Timothy's young and he's sick that's strike two and strike three Timothy is timid seems like kind of a more like an introverted personality kind of a shy kid he's the kind of kid that would rather stay on the sidelines than get out onto the playing field and that's why all through second Timothy Paul will sound like a coach who's having to give a pep talk to this reluctant player and he's saying hey don't neglect the gift that is in you fan that gift into flame God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power but the fact is Timothy was timid and he did not want to have the hard conversations that were required and he did not want to have to do the hard things and he was young and he was sick and he was timid and that's strike three and he wants out of there in second Timothy Timothy feels like quitting and he just if the Christian life is a race he wants to walk off the track and not come back and he just wants to find an easy chair some down and somewhere and sit down and give up and so when Paul picks up his pen to write him this letter of second Timothy you might you might expect the message to be something like this don't just sit there Timothy do something get up and get to work we got a world to win and by the time we get to the end of the letter Paul does say that in the last chapter chapter 4 Paul will say preach the word do the work of an evangelist fulfill all the duties of your ministry and he will end the letter like that but that is not how he starts the letter now his message in the text that you have open in front of you his message for Timothy and the text you have there is this don't just do something sit there let's read this together second Timothy chapter 1 you got it open I want to read verses 8 through 10 with you can we can we read this together this is what Paul writes so do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or have me his prisoner rather join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God he has saved us and called us to a holy life not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel now you're in the series called finish line faith because all through this letter Paul is trying to tell Timothy don't give up endure persevere finish the race Timothy and you are learning how you can build a life that is faithful to Jesus all the way to the end in this series you're you're putting some things on your to-do list that will help you run your race well but the way Paul starts is this he says if you want to finish line faith meditate on the gospel can I say that again if you want a finish line faith meditate on the gospel before you get out of your chair in the morning Paul says and you rush off to go run your race for the day he says just stay there in the chair for a while and meditate on this this gift of the gospel this gift of salvation this this good news and what Paul does in this letters he says Timothy be grateful in this text remember what Jesus Christ has done for us because if we were truly grateful for this if we were really truly thankful for the gift of salvation psychologist tell us that grateful people are stronger people they're more resilient they're more determined they're more able to persevere through trials grateful people are stronger people but if you're like me sometimes in in the hustle and the bustle and the pace of life we can forget oh we don't completely forget about the gift of salvation but but it we kind of rush past it we kind of only see it out of the corner of our eye and we don't slow down and we don't stop and we don't sit down and we don't linger and we don't meditate and remember all of the amazing things that God has done for us and what Paul is doing in this text here is is he's putting a hand on Timothy's shoulder and he is gently pushing him down into this chair and then he is placing this this gift that we call the gospel on Timothy's lap and he's saying Timothy just just spend some time here just open it up and remember all of the treasures that we have in Christ remember all of the riches of the gospel the gifts that we have been given and be grateful if you want a finish line faith meditate on the gospel and when you feel like giving up sit down don't just do something sit there now I don't know what you're feeling this morning I don't know where you're at maybe maybe some of you are like Timothy maybe you are feeling like giving out your weary you're tired you're worn out you are discouraged maybe maybe some of you this morning you're facing conflict in your marriage or conflict at work or maybe just conflict inside there's something you're wrestling with maybe some of you have tough bills to pay or tough decisions to weigh or tough goodbyes to say and you're feeling like giving up walking away from this thing called the Christian life and just walking away from the church and Jesus Christ all together and before you do that could I could I ask you to do this this morning would you would you just take a few minutes with me and would you sit and could we just remember the gospel together I think Paul mentions three treasures that we'll find in here let me tell you about this box by the way in the church that I'm a part of back in Joplin I'm a children's church teacher and all the kids in children's church know that this is called the baptism box anytime there's a baptism in our church when somebody gives their life to Christ in children's church we always pull out this box and we talk about the gift of salvation what all does that include when when somebody gives their life to Jesus what is a part of that gift of salvation and and so I'll I'll call one of the one of the kids up in the and they you know whichever kid it is we'll reach in and they always know which thing to pick out first the first thing they'll grab is this bar of soap and I'll ask the kids well what's that bar of soap what's that stand for God washes away our sins that's right that's part of the gift of salvation that God cleanses us he washes away our sins he forgives us the word the word that Paul uses in that text in front of you is the word grace he gives us grace for our past that's one of the treasures of the gospel I want you to notice two things there in your text about about this grace the first thing is that it is not deserved Paul says there in verse 9 that God saved us and called us to a holy life not because of anything that we have done but because of his own purpose and grace you see none of us is good enough or moral enough to earn our own salvation to somehow earn the forgiveness of our sins Steve Brown is a preacher down in Florida and he said one time when he got them preaching a lady came up to him after the sermon and she said now she said you know I've heard a lot of preachers before us say that they were sinners but you're the first one I ever actually believed you can believe me here this morning when I tell you that I'm a sinner just few weeks ago I turned 55 I've been a Christian almost 50 years and if there's one thing that I have learned over over these 50 or so years it's this the longer I keep myself under God's hand the more he shows me how broken I am hmm and under the slow convicting work of the Holy Spirit over these last 50 some years I have realized that I am way more dishonest than I ever thought I was and I am more lazy and more arrogant and more lustful and more angry and self righteous and fearful and selfish than I ever thought possible and no matter how hard I scrub no how matter how long I scrub there is still sin crusted on the inside of my soul and I can't get it out I am a sinner and you are a sinner every one of us has rebelled against God we have disobeyed him we have defied him you have flipped God off when you have chosen to not do what he has called you to do we have done our own thing and our souls are filthy and we cannot cleanse ourselves and the punishment the punishment the Bible says is death but that's when grace walks in the door now the law of the universe you know that the law of the universe is what we often call karma right karma you know you reap what you sow you do good things good things come back you do bad things bad things come back to you well according to karma listen we have all done bad things we have all sinned and we ought to get death coming right back at us we deserve death that's karma that's the natural consequences but grace is the opposite of karma in grace God interrupts the consequences of our actions and instead of punishment he gives us forgiveness instead of rejection he gives us adoption instead of death he gives us life instead of wrath he gives us love and that is not that is not what we ought to be getting but that's why grace is amazing it's undeserved and the second thing I want you to notice about this grace in the text is this that not only is it not deserved it's not accidental did you notice in verse nine paul tells us that God decided to give us this grace here's the phrase before the beginning of time now have you ever heard a parent um talking about um maybe the last child in their family and uh and they'll say this is our oops baby and I always cringe just a little bit I mean I understand what they're saying and they're what they're saying is we love him but we didn't plan him and what I want you to know is this that your adoption into God's family is not unplanned you are not an accident you are not an afterthought paul says that literally before God prepared creation he planned Calvary before God named the stars he already knew your name and he had already decided to give the very life of his son so that you could be cleansed of your sins so that you could be washed clean and adopted into his family I um I have a brother my brother mark is three years younger than I am some of you may know mark as he was on staff at this church for many years um and uh and now that we're grown up smart and I were were the best of friends but when we were growing up when when we were kids I'm just gonna be honest I didn't always like mark I thought he was a moron one time when I was eight mark was five we were staying overnight at some friend's house and we were getting ready for bed at these other folks house and uh and so mark goes down the hallway to the bathroom he's gonna go brush his teeth or something and I'm helping my our little friends pick up the toys in the bedroom when all of a sudden we hear from down the hallway uh this noise oh what in the world we've run down the hallway run in the bathroom you know what had happened my brother mark had accidentally grabbed the wrong tube and he had brushed his teeth with athlete's foot appointment yeah moron you're following me here right okay um another time another time my brother mark got his nose clamped shut in a three-ringed binder all right now I had something to do with that but listen when your older brother says stick your nose in there don't be a moron all right don't do that this is another time another time like I was eight mark was five I had done something to make him mad I was not a very nice older brother and uh and so he's mad at me and mark was chasing me through the house right and so I'm I'm running I run through the kitchen and I run out into the garage and and you know marks behind me he's going 90 to nothing and and he runs chases me out into the garage and I run out the garage storm door but brilliant back there when he gets to the storm door he doesn't take the time to to like you know push the latch like I had he just puts his hands on the glass and pushes and he went through the storm door because he went through the storm door he crashed right through the glass it broke everywhere he fell out on the other side he's bleeding all over the place my dad had to scoop him up taking the hospital got a bunch of stitches when my dad brought him home he sat mark down and he said to mark no more running in the house no more running in the house two years later this time it was my youngest brother Mike who had done something to make mark mad and mark was chasing Mike through the house and Mike ran out the basement storm door and you guessed it mark forgot how much it hurt the first time and he puts his hands on the glass and cuz smasho went right to the basement storm door falls out on the other side he's bleeding all over the place my dad is a little ways off in our driveway on a tractor but my mom was standing right outside the basement storm door when this happened first words out of her mouth jean he did it again moron okay now i was standing outside at a front row seat i watch all of this um you know as soon as my mom hollered immediately my my dad on the tractor his head whipped around and and he could see in an instant what happened there's my brother mark there's a storm door's broken glass he's bleeding same same time and you know my dad did in that moment he did not point his finger he did not get red in face he did not turn his back my mark had broken the rules again that would have been karma but no my dad killed the tractor and he hopped off and he started sprinting over i'll never forget i was watching the whole thing my dad's face his eyes were so intense and his jaw was set and he was running for everything he was worth because that was his boy was calling out the end and my dad came with open arms and he scooped mark up mess that he was and took him off to the hospital and i knew that day when i saw my dad's face that even when even when we screwed up again and again and again our father still loved us that's grace that's the gospel because hear me friends i am a moron spiritually i just break god's rules over and over and over and i do dumb thing after dumb thing after dumb thing and i could just imagine that the angels in heaven are saying he did it again but the good news of the gospel is this that Jesus that god our father does not point his finger at me he does not get red in the face he does not turn his back on me our father comes running with open arms and he scoops me up mess that i am and he cleans me off and he calls me his own and when you are weary and tired and discouraged and you're thinking about walking away from the whole thing could i just encourage you at that moment don't just do something sit there and remember that god has given you grace for every one of your sins we we get grace for our past but i i call up another kid there in children's church and and that kid reaches in to pull out another one of the the treasures here in the gift of salvation and and they know which one to pull out next uh they they pull this one out hey kids with what what's that a ticket what's that stand for our ticket to heaven that's right that's part of the gift of salvation that someday we get to go to heaven we have the hope of heaven we don't just get grace for our past we actually get hope for our future now that's an amazing gift because you know that since genesis chapter three the only hope that we have had as humanity could be summed up in a single word death i mean that that's just our destiny the statistics are real clear on this one out of every one human beings dies and it just happens to all of us that's our that's our destiny yeah this true story read about a lady in greenville south carolina and several years ago she received a a letter from the department of social services and this this is what the letter said it said your food stamps will be stopped effective march 1992 because we received notice that you passed away may god bless you you may reapply if your circumstances change well hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you die circumstances don't change all right you don't walk out of the cemetery nobody escapes death death is our greatest enemy the scoreboard of history reads death 100 billion humanity zero you lose that one every time but then came jesus christ in our text in second of the chapter one verse ten paul paul paints a kind of a little word picture here any pictures jesus in hand-to-hand combat with death on that good friday the battle was joined and it was as if jesus christ were were waging war he was in a locked-in battle with death itself and at first at first it looked like death had triumphed once again because at the end of that good friday you know this is true jesus christ really was dead i'm talking no post will lay in their stone cold on the stone table in the tomb dead and jesus lay there dead friday night and he lay there dead saturday morning and he lay there dead saturday night but then then then came sunday morning and as the very first rays of dawn began to peek over the horizon on that very first Easter morning a wind blue a voice on that wind whisper from god himself pierced that garden tomb arise my son and as those words pierced the walls of that tomb and disappeared deep into that cave something happened a heart that had been still as the grave suddenly began to be again blood that had been thick and cold suddenly rushed warm through his veins jesus chest heaved as he took in a great breath his stiff fingers moved his eyes opened he raised his arms he swung his legs off that table and jesus christ stood back to life he rose again and listen every other resurrection that you read about in the bible Lazarus the widow of named son every one of those resurrections they all came back to life only to someday die again you understand that death was delayed but not destroyed it was only a temporary reprieve there was still another funeral in every one of their futures but the resurrection of jesus christ was not a momentary victory and it was not a temporary reprieve second of the chapter one says that jesus christ destroyed death and he brought life in a mortality to light through the gospel listen jesus christ rose never to die again death had no claim on him there was no more funeral in his future and the good news was the scoreboard now read death one hundred billion humanity won and even that score the promise of scripture is even that score will someday change because jesus christ's resurrection was a preview of coming attractions and if you belong to jesus you too will be raised from the dead to what paul calls life in immortality we will live never to die again listen to me if you are a christian death is not the end of the road it is a bend in the road it is not the period at the end of the sentence of life it is a comma transitioning you from one life to the next because jesus christ knocked the end out of that tomb and he turned it into a tunnel to eternal life if you belong to jesus you will be raised to life and immortality that's the kind of life where there is no more death there is no more sickness no disease no cancer no car wrecks no hurricanes no crime there are no funerals or cemeteries or empty chairs at the dinner table my wife's father died almost 20 years ago this past week was his birthday and she's still crying but the promise of scripture is that jesus christ will raise all of us to new life where there is no more tears no more mourning no more crying no more pain no more death and if you if you are weary and tired and worn and if you are feeling like give it up could i just encourage you this morning don't just do something would you sit there and remember that in the gospel in the gospel we've been given hope but there's one more kid i need to call forward here in children's church and and that kid comes forward and he reaches in to the box and and he pulls out that one last treasure and and what's that kid's a battery what's that battery stand for power that's right that's part of the gift of salvation that we get the power of god though the holy spirit of god the spirit of christ actually comes and lives inside of you and god's power will be with you every single day we don't just get grace for our past and hope for our future we get power for our present because that's what paul says in our text right in verse 8 he says to timothy join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of god and that's a theme through the whole letter four chapters in second timothy paul mentions that in every single chapter second timothy chapter two verse one he will say you then my son be strong in yourself no he says you then my son be strong in christ jesus second timothy chapter three he says to timothy timothy you know the persecutions and sufferings i endured in aneoc iconium and listro but the lord delivered me from all of those in chapter four paul says to timothy i stood before the emperor before emperor Nero himself but then he says the lord delivered me he said the lord stood at my side and gave me strength the lord rescued me from the lions mouth the lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom the promise of the gospel is this that you do not have to face every trial and tribulation that you face on your own you have the power of god this was um seven or eight years ago my wife katie and i took our oldest daughter lydia down to florida for a conference and this conference was being held at a very very fancy hotel at a very very nice part of the beach down there in florida in fact this was all like so fancy and so nice that when we got there at that to the conference this hotel we discovered that they were actually filming a hollywood movie while we were there that it was it was that nice of a place um and uh and they were filming a hollywood movie at this hotel and out on the beach and i have never actually seen this movie and i'm not actually recommending that you see this movie but the movie they were filming while we were there was baywatch right that was the movie is baywatch and and this movie baywatch uh has these two movie stars uh zac afron and dwayne the rock johnson and so while we were there at this conference uh you're going to see a picture up on the screen uh we got to see zac afron and dwayne the rock johnson somebody from our group snapped that snapped that picture of these two famous movie stars and in fact one night after the last session of that day of the conference uh had concluded there was a group of us that went down to the outdoor uh pool at this hotel uh because they had roped off the pool they were going to be filming a night scene for this for this movie and and you were allowed to go and watch it if you were really quiet right and so they had it all roped off and of course there you know there's these big guys in black t-shirts and walkie talkies that are kind of guarding the set but but there was a group of us we actually got to watch this i'm right there on the rope i mean like i'm in the front row my daughter lydia is she's 20 she's sitting right here next to me and so like literally 15 feet maybe 20 feet from us is is zac afron right and my daughter lydia is here and she's 20 and and she's looking at zac afron and she's just like oh lord good job on that one thank you jesus and right past zac afron is dwayne the rock johnson now i just need to tell you uh you can see the picture on the screen the man is massive i mean even more so in real life he is a huge human chunk of granite now in in this scene that we were watching um the rock's character is mad at zac afron's character and so in the scene we watch them film the rock boom he pushes zac afron's character into the pool and uh and so they film this like they do six or seven takes and he's not actually you know pushing zac afron in every time it's his body double his stunt double uh but he just keeps you know over and over again to get the right take they push him in and zac afron was actually standing in the pool to film the last part of of the take every time and um and so we're watching them film this six or seven times and during one of the last times of those those two big guys in the black t-shirts with the wacky togies they came up to me i'm sitting right there on the rope and they and they said uh sir we're gonna have to ask you to come with us i was like oh okay uh let's try to be required did did i did i do something wrong said no sir no no no mistake nothing you did i wish you need you to come with us and what happened was uh those two guys apparently accidentally thought that i was the rocks body double that didn't happen i didn't see the rock but listen nobody nobody has ever mistaken me for doing the rock johnson all right i am not a big guy i am not a bad guy i'm not a buff guy i'm not jacked i'm you know i'm not all ripped i'm not a fearsome individual now i i have been in some dangerous places in my life i i've been in third world countries in neighborhoods that were so crime ridden and drug infested that they were literally being patrolled by soldiers flying right over my head in helicopters a k-47s i've been on the streets of new york city at two a.m i was walking on a sidewalk and all of a sudden a big group of guys spill out of this bar right next to me and right around me on the sidewalk a bar room brawl erupts and listen when i am when i am in those kinds of neighborhoods and i am in dangerous situations like that i do not strike terror in anyone's heart okay uh you know i mean i i do not have the spiritual gift of breaking up bar room brawls i didn't have a class in bible college on that i may i'm a children's church teacher what am i gonna do in that moment all right guys sit down i mean it all right that doesn't even work in children's church okay and so i'm just being honest in in moments like that when that's all happening around you you know you get a little nervous you get a little anxious and i'm telling you my heart starts beating a little faster and my palms start swaddin and i can kind of taste the fear in my mouth but that night in florida as i was sitting there watching this movie scene being filmed i thought to myself what if i mean what if what if the rock was like my friend like what if the rock was hanging i mean the rock have you ever seen in his movie i mean look at these pictures that are gonna pop up on the screen the rock is pretty much the baddest man on the planet right i mean the rock if you've seen any of his movies you know that the man you know he drinks jet fuel for breakfast and he's machine gun bullets for lunch and you do not mess with the rock and i sat there that night thinking to myself like what if what if the rock was my friend like my partner in life like my constant companion what if he was just with me at all times if i had the rock with me i could i could walk down any street with confidence if i had the rock with me i mean i could i could go through life free from anxiety and fear if i had the rock with me i could move forward at all times with complete confidence if i if i had the rock with me the middle of a bar room brawl would be a perfectly safe place to be if i have the rock with me and you already know church i do as a chapter 17 verse 10 says this you have forgotten god your savior you have not remembered the rock your fortress but when i meditate on the gospel i remember that i have the power of the rock of ages with me at all times he is my rock he is my refuge listen jesus christ is greater than any action movie hero can i just get an amen on that one this morning he is the alpha and the omega he is the lion of the tribe of juda he is the champion of heaven and he is the king of the universe he is the creator of the cosmos the conquer on the cross the destroyer of death and the subjugator of satan himself he is the sustainer of every galaxy the sovereign over every ruler he is revelations righteous warrior returning on a white war horse and do you think do you think for a moment that i am worried about north korea or china or russia do you think for a moment that i am worried about supreme courts and senate races and american presidents i am not i am not afraid of of economic recession or political oppression or religious suppression or demonic possession because a whole legion of armies could array themselves against me the very army of darkness itself but i have one with me who can pierce the darkness until it bleeds light i have jesus christ he is the rock that will never be broken he is the rock that will never be shaken he is the rock of ages and the greatest gift of the gospel is jesus christ himself we have been given him so when you are tired and weary and discouraged and you are ready to walk off and just give up don't just do something would you find a chair and would you open up the gospel and would you remember that you have been given grace and that you have been given hope and that you have been given power in jesus christ and don't give up don't just do something sit there let's pray father god forgive us for the times when when we do forget when the busyness of life or the discouragement of life closes our eyes to the treasures of the gospel and i pray that you would slow us down and help us once again to see the riches that we have in christ father we thank you for the amazing gift of the gospel help us to be faithful to you until the finish line we pray this in jesus name amen i can think of no better opportunity to sit and meditate on the gospel than the lord's supper hopefully you were able to grab the elements of the lord's supper on your way in today if not we have containers at the back and that would be a great time to just stand up and go grab some of those right now but every week is a church we we sit we remember we take that little broken piece of bread and we remember the broken body of christ we drink that cup and we remember his blood spilled for us on the cross would you right now just take a few minutes and would you meditate and as you do you can take the bread on your own and then after a few minutes we'll take the cup together right now let's remember jesus christ so so so so would you take your cup this is the blood of christ would you stand right now let's worship thank you for listening to the podcast today it is our deepest desire here at playing field christian church that you would experience the joy of being fully alive in jesus if you have any questions about our church or would like a plan to visit with us go to playingfieldchristian.com if you'd like to receive our podcast every week we encourage you to subscribe to the playing field christian church podcast on whatever podcasting platform you prefer have a great week