Hope Isn't Just a Nice Feeling | How to Have a Hope that Flips Cities

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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.

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We're so glad that you are here as we continue the Run Journey.

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Now, lots of people know how to start off a race strong,

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but way fewer know how to finish a race well.

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That's what we're leaning into today,

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exploring how God wants you to finish your race well.

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We're gonna start off our time by singing some songs

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that remind us about what's true about God

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and what's true about us.

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We'd love you to sing with us right now.

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- That's right. Sing it together.

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- Father God, I know -- Well, I know I got a microphone,

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so people think they need to come in here

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and hear me sing. They don't.

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They need to hear the person next to them

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and in front of them and behind them say,

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I know what I was made for,

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to be reminded that we're not alone.

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It's not people with a microphone,

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it's people out there living life,

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giving it their best,

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pointing their heart towards You,

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asking You to remind us that no label, no other name tag

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sticks to us except Child of God.

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We are Your beloved. You deeply love us.

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You enjoy us. You created us for more

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and You rescued us for more.

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So, Father, I know You're living water,

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so would you flow freely today?

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Bring hope that overflows in our hearts

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to remind us who we are and who You are.

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I bless You and praise you.

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I pray all this because of You, Jesus. Amen.

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Y'all sound amazing today.

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Hey, I said it at the beginning.

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We're in the last week of our Run Journey.

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And you know what? Every good run needs a great playlist.

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And so that's what our music team has made for you.

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Everywhere you get music right now,

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you can get the Journey EP and keep your race going.

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I've got a version of Lose Yourself on that

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that you're going to -- I'm just kidding.

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I don't have that version on there, but it's great.

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If you and your team listen today,

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you get like 20 extra miles to start off with,

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and my team needs that. So there you go right there.

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Hey, if you're in the room with us,

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why don't you turn to somebody next to you

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and say, "Spring is in the air. I think it's here."

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And if you're online with us,

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I hope it's warm where you are, too.

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Glad you're with us too.

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- Everyone wants hope,

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but hope sometimes arrives in a way we don't understand.

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It sits down at the table with us,

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pays the bill we can't afford.

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And it kicks down the door that death tried to close.

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Hope has a name.

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This Holy Week experience hope through events

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hosted in person and online.

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Find details at crossroads.net.

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- Hey, that's right, Holy Week is right around the corner.

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My name is Andy, if we've never met

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and I love that we get to be a church community

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of people all over the country and all over the world

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who are running after God together.

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And believe it or not, as we said,

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Holy Week is right around the corner. It starts next week.

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So I want to give you a quick roadmap for what's coming,

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because whether you've been following Jesus

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for a long time and you just want maybe this season

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to feel like not just another holiday,

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but to feel fresh and meaningful,

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or maybe you're still like trying to figure out

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who Jesus is to you and if He's worth your life.

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Either way, this is a great time to lean in.

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First, we have Palm Sunday.

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This is celebrating how God shows up in our lives

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and it's going to be incredible, next weekend.

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Then we also have a special mid-week service

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at 7 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, where we celebrate

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the last 24 hours of Jesus's life from the Last Supper

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all the way up through the crucifixion.

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And then we head into Easter weekend.

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We'll have three amazing live streamed Easter services.

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So no matter where you are, you can be a part of it

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and you can invite your friends, your family

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to join you online.

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Now, one of the things that I am most excited about

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for Easter weekend is actually that we're going

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to be celebrating baptisms.

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Like this is people saying, "God, I'm with you.

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Jesus, I trust You as my Lord and Savior.

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I'm going to follow You the best that I can

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all the days of my life."

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It is an incredible, incredible way for you

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or someone you love to take the next right step. And

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if you're wondering like, man, am I ready for that?

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Or is my son or daughter or family member ready for that?

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Hey, we got an easy way to help you sort that out.

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You can just text the word "next" to 301301.

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We'll have a conversation with you and help you

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figure out the right way to make that happen for you.

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We've traveled to different places.

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We've brought people here to baptize them.

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We found people, however, we can do it

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to help you get baptized wherever you are

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we want to do that.

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So just text "next" to 30131.

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And maybe you're about to be baptized,

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you've been baptized, but you want to experience

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that continued growth and new life

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that Jesus offers ongoing.

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You don't want to just sort of revert and drift back

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to old habits, old patterns, man.

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We have our Fully Alive Cohort

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that's about the opposite of that,

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it's about discovering the new life that

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Jesus has for you right now, not just someday in heaven,

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but today on earth.

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For 21 days, you'll learn how to

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leave your old life behind and step into new freedom,

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new joy, and the power that Jesus died to give you.

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And one more thing, a bunch of us, a bunch of us

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in our Crossroads community have been trying to read

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the Bible in a year on the Crossroads Anywhere app.

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Maybe you're one of those, I resonate with this,

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who started off real strong in January,

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but like mid-February in the middle of like Leviticus,

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you sort of drifted away. Hey, this is -- You're fine.

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No shame. This is a great time to jump in

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as we dive into the book of Joshua and all of

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the stories of God's faithfulness that showed up.

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So whether it's Holy Week or the Crossroads Anywhere App

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or the amazing work that happens to our community

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across the globe or near you, all that happens

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because people are generous and faithful.

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If you want to know what Crossroads believes about money,

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or you're ready to jump in and join the team

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of faithful givers who makes all this possible.

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It's me and my family do.

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You can do so in the Crossroads Anywhere app

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or at crossroads.net.

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We're going to jump in with week five of our Run Journey

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as we take our digital pilgrimage

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to the city of Ephesus right now.

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Thanks so much for joining us

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for week five of the Run Journey.

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- Well, welcome back to our final week,

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week five of our Real Encounters Journey.

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Can't believe we are here already.

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And I hope that God has done some incredible things.

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And I know that I've certainly enjoyed just seeing

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the entire journey of Paul kind of top to bottom

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and seeing how God really transformed him.

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And it kind of all culminated to our final week of hope,

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where we are headed to Ephesus to really talk about this.

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And I know that Ephesus is a powerhouse city.

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So we're talking about a power concept of hope

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and a powerhouse city.

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Give us the context and the background

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and why would we go to Ephesus, Bob?

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Yeah, I mean, Ephesus is really one of the great cities

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of the Roman Empire, third largest city in the empire.

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And it was a it was an economic powerhouse because

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it was a port city that shipped goods east and west.

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But it was really known especially as a place

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of pagan pilgrimage, because the Temple of Artemis,

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this great temple, was one of the seven wonders of the world.

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And people came from all over the empire to participate

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in the pagan worship of this goddess.

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And so it made Ephesus a very wealthy and powerful city,

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also a very religious city in a very twisted kind of way.

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And so we see Paul coming to Ephesus

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at the end of his third missionary journey.

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And he ends up spending three years there.

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It's the longest he spent in any one place.

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And it's really where we see the movement of Jesus

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and the ministry of Paul come to the fullest fruition

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because it's kind of like he's just hitting on all cylinders.

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Now, Paul would have arrived to Ephesus by ship.

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And when we visit Ephesus, we'll walk down

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the Arcadian Way that leads up to this great theater.

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And we'll see exactly, really what he saw

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when he entered the city.

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And so it's amazing to see that, you know, with our own eyes.

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And so as the gospel took root,

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as people's lives were changed,

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it really started to change the city,

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which is amazing to have an impact on

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the third biggest city in the Empire is incredible.

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And of course, this being the week of hope,

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it is really encouraging to see how,

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through ordinary men and women who are learning

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to follow the way of Jesus, the Kingdom of God comes,

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the power of the spirit flows

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and it's transformational, transforms lives.

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It could transform a whole city.

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- Wow. Well, that's exciting because I know that

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as you talk about hope, I hear you saying that

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it really just spread from this space.

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And so Nurullah, I'd love to hear kind of what's your hope

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of hope spreading in your context

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and for your local church?

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- Yeah, as Ephesus is in Turkey, yeah, I hope

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and the hope of the Turkish church is definitely

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for this hope to be again, like, you know,

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seen and accepted by the people.

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And when I think of hope, I unfortunately first think

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about our youth because they are nowadays so hopeless,

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the whole situation in Turkey.

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And so most of them, even the believers,

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the young believers at our churches want to flee Turkey.

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Maybe, you know, go to the U.S. or to Europe

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for better life conditions. Right?

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But what is really exciting and what enhances

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our hope in Jesus is that we Christians are not called

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to flee, even from this world, right?

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We are promised the Kingdom of God coming to earth,

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you know, and so that means that all these things

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that are making us hopeless or that are maybe making us,

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that are discouraging us, right?

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Will get better and will be fixed.

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And so we're looking forward to that day, right?

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And also the resurrection of Jesus, right?

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One of the fundamental questions that humans have,

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right, is about what is going to happen after we die.

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You know what is going to happen to me

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and what is going to happen, for example,

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to those who we love after they die.

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And the resurrection of Jesus gives us the assurance

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that we're not going to perish

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and we can have eternal life with Him.

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And it starts right here, right now when we accept Him.

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And so I think that kind of hope

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and that kind of assurance is so life changing

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and so transformative, as you said.

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So I'm hoping that many more people in my country

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come to see that and come to accept that.

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- That's amazing. Well, let's get into it,

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because I can't believe that we've had

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such an amazing journey here.

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And so as we talk about hope, we got to go right to Ephesus.

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- This place is enormous.

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They've been excavating it for 120 years.

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And as you can tell, they're not even close to done.

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Now, when Paul walked into this city for the very first time,

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he was met with one of the biggest, craziest displays

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of wealth and power in the entire world.

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He came down this exact street, the famed Arcadian Way,

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lined with marble shops on either side,

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a street wider than Paul had ever seen as his entire life.

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Statues of the most powerful people in the city

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on the sides, shops selling stuff, expensive things

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and not just expensive things, articles of power,

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amulets that promised wealth and prosperity.

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There were fortune tellers on the sides of the street.

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This entire place was built with one clear message in mind:

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we are more powerful than you.

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We are more wealthy than you.

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We're bigger than you.

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And so when you're in our city,

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you better be on your best behavior.

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You better play by our rules.

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You better fall in our lines.

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That's the message Paul heard.

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And Paul being Paul completely ignored it.

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He's like, not interested.

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Because when Paul walks in here, it's a new Paul.

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This is prime Paul. This is apex Paul

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at the height of his powers, or more accurately,

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the height of God's powers.

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And it's not like he got no resistance when he came here.

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I mean, the typical stuff happened to him.

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He got resistance, but when he came here,

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he was prepared for it, ready for it.

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One example, he showed up here with community,

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with people in his court.

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His old pals from Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila,

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who he had the leather shop with.

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He brings them here, sets up a shop.

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He's got him in his corner.

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And so when he goes to synagogue and he preaches

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for three months and they throw him out,

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like typically happens, they reject the message,

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Paul's not upset. Paul doesn't push back.

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He's not hard headed.

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He just goes, "No problem."

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And instead goes and rents a nearby lecture hall,

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the Hall of Tyrannus, sets up shop there

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for a couple of years, sharing the gospel.

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And people are moved.

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People are responding so well that Paul set up shop

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here for three years.

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Interestingly, this is also where the metaphor

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we base this entire journey on,

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the metaphor of running the race,

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solidifies in Paul's mind.

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Just like in Corinth, this is a city

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that's obsessed with sports.

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There's athletic clubs everywhere.

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There's a Hippodrome not too far away.

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That's where they would run chariot races

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and also foot races. Everybody did sports.

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They were a little bit different, just FYI.

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You would get naked, oil your body up and you'd wrestle.

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We don't have that anymore.

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Not judging them. That's just what they did in their time.

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Maybe Paul goes and plays sports.

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Maybe Paul goes to a race.

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And one day it clicks in his brain.

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He's like, "Wait a minute, what's happening there,

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those runners running the race,

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that's what it's like to try to fulfill your ministry.

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That's what this -- that's what my life feels like.

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Like, like there's a race and like God's call on my life

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is to run it as if there's one prize

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and I'm going to get it."

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It's from this city that Paul writes back

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to his friends in Corinth, the words we based

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the whole thing on, 1 Corinthians chapter nine,

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which says this:

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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

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but only one gets the prize?

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Run in such a way as to get the prize.

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And the response of the people to Paul

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running his race over whelming.

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It's not hyperbole at all to say that from this city

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Paul changed the entire world.

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Listen to what it says in Acts 19.

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And he entered the synagogue and for three months

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spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them

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about the Kingdom of God.

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But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief,

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speaking evil of the way before the congregation,

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he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him,

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reasoning daily in the Hall of Tyrannus.

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This continued for two years,

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so that all the residents of Asia heard

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the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

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Let that sink in for a second.

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It says all of the residents of Asia

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heard the Word of the Lord. All of them.

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Now, Asia doesn't mean what it means now,

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but it was a large part of the Roman Empire.

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And the gospel was spreading there because of

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what Paul was doing here.

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And it wasn't just the words he was using.

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The power that flowed through this man was insane.

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There were miracles literally dripping off of him.

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Listen to this part of the story from Acts 19, it says:

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And God was doing extraordinary miracles

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by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs

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or aprons that had touched his skin

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were carried away to the sick,

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and their diseases left them

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and the evil spirits came out of them.

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How in the world was that happening?

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How are miracles dripping off of this guy?

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Well, it's because Paul had run his race well.

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Paul had learned the secret.

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The journey that we've been on

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that is suffering doesn't have to go to waste.

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It could actually produce an otherworldly level of endurance.

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That that endurance, if he stuck it out,

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would produce in him the character of Christ.

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The unheard of, unmatched, found nowhere else power

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of grace and truth and love and humility.

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That kind of character was bubbling up into Paul.

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And all of that was now overflowing

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into an insanely powerful level of hope in him.

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All the miracles that Paul experienced in his life,

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the ones that God did in and through him,

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the most powerful miracle of all?

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It was what happened to Paul himself.

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See the old Paul, that bitter, angry, self-righteous guy,

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he was dead.

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And a new Paul that stood in his place in this city,

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a Paul who was full of hope and power

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and love and grace and truth.

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See, there's a reason people wanted to be around Paul.

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And it's not because they just really love

00:31:26

the way that he would phrase stuff.

00:31:28

It's not that, it's because Paul was full of hope.

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Paul was the most joyful person they had ever met.

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When they got around Paul, they felt like a million bucks

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and it wasn't like this flimsy hope.

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It wasn't the kind of hope that we think of,

00:31:40

a hope that lacks power. That's wishful thinking.

00:31:42

I wish upon a star. It wasn't that.

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It was a hope firmly anchored in the power of God's truth

00:31:50

and the evidence of it, the proof of it was overwhelming.

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In the letter that Paul wrote to his friends

00:31:58

here in Ephesus, he wrote these words

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about hope and power:

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I pray that you may know what is the hope

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to which He has called you, and what are the riches

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of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

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and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power

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towards us who believe.

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See, the power wasn't Paul,

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it wasn't in the person of Paul.

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It was in the person of Jesus.

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And he was having a massive effect,

00:32:25

not just on Asia as a whole, but this city specifically.

00:32:29

Such a massive effect that it was starting to impact

00:32:32

the city sense of itself.

00:32:35

The Ephesians, more than anything,

00:32:36

they prided themselves on being the keepers

00:32:38

of the Temple of Artemis.

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Temple of Artemis was one of the largest buildings

00:32:43

in the entire world.

00:32:44

In fact, it was actually one of the seven

00:32:46

Ancient wonders of the world,

00:32:47

not too far from where we're standing right now.

00:32:50

And it was massive.

00:32:52

Columns 6.5 feet wide, 65 feet tall. And it was huge.

00:32:58

The size of three football fields.

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It wasn't just a thing that was nearby

00:33:04

that they kind of enjoyed.

00:33:05

This was like who they were.

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At this point in history, your sense of identity

00:33:10

wasn't your nation, and then maybe your state

00:33:13

and your city like it might be in the US right now.

00:33:16

It started with your city and your city had a symbol,

00:33:20

had something to rally around.

00:33:22

And here that was Artemis.

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Now, they didn't just love Artemis.

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They loved the money that came from being

00:33:29

the keepers of the Temple of Artemis.

00:33:30

Big business, shops, restaurants, souvenirs.

00:33:34

And because Paul was turning so many people away

00:33:37

from the old religion of Artemis to God,

00:33:39

they were losing money.

00:33:41

It was hitting their bottom line

00:33:42

and they did not like it.

00:33:44

There was one guy, Demetrius.

00:33:46

He was a silversmith and he hated the fact

00:33:49

that this was happening.

00:33:50

And so he's an organizer.

00:33:52

He gets people together and he makes a plan to try to stop it.

00:33:56

Demetrius says these words are the people in Acts 19:

00:33:59

Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

00:34:03

And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus

00:34:05

but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded

00:34:08

and turned away a great many people,

00:34:10

saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

00:34:13

And there is danger not only that this trade of ours

00:34:15

may come into disrepute, but also that the temple

00:34:18

of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing,

00:34:22

and that she may even be disposed from her magnificence,

00:34:25

she whom all Asia and the world worship.

00:34:28

Did you notice Demetrius hope in his God?

00:34:32

It was kind of tiny to like non-existent.

00:34:36

I mean, he basically goes, "Hey, look, everybody,

00:34:38

let's just be honest for a second.

00:34:40

We all know this.

00:34:41

If this guy Paul keeps going,

00:34:43

he might depose our great goddess Artemis."

00:34:48

Like what kind of God can be deposed

00:34:51

or overthrown by one little guy?

00:34:54

Not a very good one.

00:34:56

Not one you put a lot of hope in.

00:34:57

He basically goes, "It's hopeless unless we take action."

00:35:01

I'm curious, who is your hope more like?

00:35:06

Is it like Demetrius? You're hoping your God.

00:35:09

Is it like Demetrius is hoping his God?

00:35:11

Is it small? Is it fragile?

00:35:13

Does it feel like lots of things could threaten it?

00:35:15

Does it feel like if the wrong thing happens,

00:35:18

you would lose hope?

00:35:19

Does it feel like you've got to take matters

00:35:21

into your own hands?

00:35:22

Or is it more like Paul's who walks into Ephesus

00:35:25

with an unshakable hope, who walks in and goes,

00:35:27

"I don't care what your grand displays of power

00:35:29

are trying to intimidate me into doing,

00:35:31

I'm not paying attention because my God

00:35:33

is bigger and mightier and stronger, and I follow Him."

00:35:39

And Demetrius makes this speech to the people,

00:35:42

and a riot breaks out.

00:35:44

They run into the theater, which Acts 19 records:

00:35:48

When they heard this they were enraged

00:35:49

and were crying out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

00:35:53

So the city was filled with the confusion,

00:35:55

and they rushed together into the theater,

00:35:58

dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus,

00:36:01

Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.

00:36:03

But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd,

00:36:05

the disciples would not let him.

00:36:07

And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his,

00:36:10

sent to him and were urging him

00:36:11

not to venture into the theater.

00:36:13

Now some cried out one thing, some another,

00:36:16

for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them

00:36:18

did not know why they had come together.

00:36:20

Some of the crowd prompted Alexander,

00:36:22

whom the Jews had put forward.

00:36:23

And Alexander, motioning with his hand,

00:36:25

wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

00:36:27

But when they recognized that he was a Jew,

00:36:29

for about two hours they all cried out with one voice,

00:36:32

"Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

00:36:34

The theater all the people rushed into?

00:36:36

This one right here.

00:36:38

It has capacity for up to 25,000 people,

00:36:41

which means it wasn't just a couple dozen shouting,

00:36:44

"Great is Artemis of the Ephesians."

00:36:45

It was like the Bible says,

00:36:47

the whole city for two straight hours,

00:36:51

"Great as Artemis of the Ephesians!"

00:36:53

And so it's worth asking, with 2000 years of hindsight,

00:36:57

exactly how great is Artemis of the Ephesians?

00:37:00

[record scratch] Not very great.

00:37:02

I mean, this is it, this is all that's left

00:37:05

of the whole place, just that one kind of sad column.

00:37:09

It's a Franken column.

00:37:10

Not even real pieces that fit together.

00:37:11

Not even as tall as it was, and there's a bird nest on top.

00:37:15

That's it.

00:37:16

The three years he spends here,

00:37:18

there's all kinds of lessons you could pull from him.

00:37:20

But the main one I see is this lesson of hope.

00:37:23

What do you put your hope in?

00:37:25

Do you put your hope in the thing that can crumble

00:37:28

and turn into nothing?

00:37:30

Or do you put your hope in the God who has the Kingdom

00:37:34

who says it's coming ever increasingly

00:37:36

on earth as it is in heaven?

00:37:38

Who do you put your hope in?

00:37:41

Paul put his hope in Jesus, firmly, only, exclusively.

00:37:46

No room to hope in anything else.

00:37:48

And that's exactly what he taught the people here to do.

00:37:51

And one of the last scenes we have of Paul

00:37:53

interacting with the people in Ephesus

00:37:55

is when he pulls the leaders together to give them

00:37:58

one final goodbye and says these words to them about his race.

00:38:02

But I do not account my life of any value,

00:38:05

nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish

00:38:09

my course and the ministry that I have received

00:38:11

from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel

00:38:14

of the grace of God.

00:38:16

Paul goes, my only hope, putting all my eggs

00:38:20

in one basket and that basket is running my race well,

00:38:25

it's crossing the finish line.

00:38:27

And as I cross the finish line,

00:38:28

it's looking over my shoulder and going,

00:38:30

"Do you all have hope? Did I put it in you?

00:38:32

Is it growing?"

00:38:33

And Paul could say, yes, it is.

00:38:35

He could look at all those Ephesians in the eyes

00:38:37

and say, "You're doing exactly what you should be doing."

00:38:40

The hope that was in him, the power that was in him,

00:38:43

he knew would continue to grow, and it did.

00:38:48

The question for you today is will it grow in you?

00:38:51

Will it grow? Do you have the kind of hope

00:38:53

in your life that produces power?

00:38:55

Do you have the kind of hope in your life

00:38:57

that gives you unshakable consequences

00:38:59

in the face of anything that might come your way?

00:39:02

Do you wake up in the morning and think

00:39:05

God has my life and I trust Him wholly, completely.

00:39:11

He has good and perfect plans for me.

00:39:13

Do you believe that?

00:39:14

That's exactly what we're digging into today.

00:39:42

- Well, hey, I'm Chuck, if we've not met.

00:39:44

And welcome to Ephesus and the imposing Arcadian Way.

00:39:49

This was the Broadway, the Times Square, if you will,

00:39:52

of the city of Ephesus.

00:39:54

And it was meant to evoke fear and awe.

00:39:58

And yet Paul, as we just heard,

00:40:00

had his race come right to this city,

00:40:03

a race that caused him to start a church,

00:40:06

a church that literally changed a region

00:40:08

and ultimately went on to change the entire world.

00:40:10

And over the last five weeks at Crossroads,

00:40:12

we've been doing the Run Journey,

00:40:14

believing that all of us have a race to run.

00:40:16

There is a race that you were created to run,

00:40:19

a God given purpose for being on this planet.

00:40:21

And over the last five weeks, people have been

00:40:23

in small groups and engaging in personal work to say

00:40:26

what is that race?

00:40:27

What is the place where God is calling us to run?

00:40:29

And I pray that you've been excavating,

00:40:31

that you've been uncovering some things about

00:40:34

what God is calling you to and the race that He has for you.

00:40:37

And while our races are different,

00:40:39

we all have a common course map.

00:40:40

This is a scripture we've been coming back to every week.

00:40:43

Romans 5:3 says: Not only that,

00:40:46

but we rejoice in our sufferings.

00:40:47

We talked about that, like there's a suffering

00:40:49

that's involved in running a race.

00:40:51

We don't get to avoid suffering.

00:40:52

Knowing that suffering produces endurance,

00:40:55

and endurance produces character,

00:40:57

and character produces hope.

00:40:59

So, friends, I've got good news for you today

00:41:01

because today is about the payoff.

00:41:02

We get to talk about hope today.

00:41:04

We get to talk about hope.

00:41:05

Some of you want to go back to suffering week.

00:41:07

Okay, that's fine.

00:41:08

But we're going to talk about hope today.

00:41:10

We're going to talk about hope. Absolutely.

00:41:12

And if you're brand new today,

00:41:14

you haven't been doing the Run Journey,

00:41:15

you are not behind.

00:41:17

Because today I want to talk about the spiritual fuel

00:41:20

we all need to cross our finish line, which is hope.

00:41:23

You know, in business, it's often said that

00:41:25

hope is not a strategy.

00:41:27

And if by hope someone means wishful thinking,

00:41:29

then they're right.

00:41:31

But that's not how we're defining hope today.

00:41:33

Hope we're talking about today is biblical hope,

00:41:35

rooted in the reality that God is writing our story

00:41:39

and God finishes everything that He starts.

00:41:42

And that kind of hope is not wishful thinking,

00:41:44

and it's not a weak strategy.

00:41:46

Friends, that kind of hope is a weapon.

00:41:48

And that's what we're talking about today.

00:41:50

Hope as a weapon. La esperanza es un arma.

00:41:55

That's the hope we're talking about today.

00:41:56

And we've been talking about the metaphor of a race.

00:41:58

And it made me think about my experience

00:42:01

running a marathon.

00:42:02

I ran the Flying Pig Marathon some years ago,

00:42:04

26.2 miles, even though no one was chasing me.

00:42:07

I did that even though no one was chasing me.

00:42:09

So, but I remember the day that I picked up my race bib.

00:42:14

You know, you've been thinking about running a race,

00:42:16

you've been talking about running a race.

00:42:17

But when you go to the expo, for me,

00:42:19

it was down at the Cincinnati Convention Center

00:42:21

and you pick up your race, I mean, your bib,

00:42:23

now it gets real because this bib identifies you.

00:42:26

You have a number, your name is on the roll

00:42:29

and the race is starting tomorrow.

00:42:32

When you pick up your bib, you're in the 1% of humans

00:42:34

who ever show up at the starting line of a marathon.

00:42:38

And I know that when I picked up that bib it was real for me.

00:42:40

You know, picking up that bib is a lot

00:42:42

like that Romans 5 journey.

00:42:43

Because by the time I picked up my bib,

00:42:45

I had embraced a lot of suffering.

00:42:48

I had an IT band injury that for the last month

00:42:51

of my training had me doing pigeon poses every morning

00:42:54

just so I could actually get out and run that race.

00:42:57

Almost everyone I knew was showing up

00:42:59

at the starting line of the Flying Pig with an injury.

00:43:01

Anybody with me, anybody with me?

00:43:02

Like, that's just true if you're running a race,

00:43:04

like you're hurt by the time you get to the starting line.

00:43:07

But you know what else?

00:43:08

It also indicated endurance.

00:43:09

When I picked up my bib, by that time,

00:43:12

I had trained over 300 miles.

00:43:15

The average training for a marathon

00:43:17

you run 300 miles before you get to your 26.2 miles.

00:43:21

So it's about endurance.

00:43:23

And it was also for me about transformation.

00:43:26

I was a different Chuck when I picked up this bib.

00:43:29

I was physically stronger.

00:43:31

I was mentally stronger.

00:43:33

I was a different person.

00:43:35

And today we want to talk about

00:43:36

that is what hope does for all of us.

00:43:39

Why was it that Paul was able to go into a city

00:43:41

that was imposing and do the impossible?

00:43:45

It's because he was fueled by the weapon of hope.

00:43:48

Again, in Acts 19:8 it says that

00:43:51

he entered the synagogue

00:43:52

and for three months spoke boldly.

00:43:54

That word boldly is to speak with a clarity

00:43:57

and a confidence that's been forged by hope.

00:44:00

Paul was very clear when he got to Ephesus

00:44:02

on what his hope was anchored in.

00:44:04

He knew that his hope was anchored in the power of Jesus,

00:44:07

the resurrection power of Jesus,

00:44:09

and the coming kingdom of God, such to the point

00:44:12

that from one place he impacted an entire region.

00:44:15

We have a map here of Asia Minor in Paul's time.

00:44:18

And Ephesus is over here and in this area

00:44:21

Paul spent three years, 25% of his whole mission

00:44:25

was spent here.

00:44:26

But from this place he was able to impact

00:44:28

an entire region.

00:44:30

I wonder what in your life feels imposing?

00:44:33

What in your life feels impossible?

00:44:35

What feels like you've been grinding it out in Ephesus

00:44:38

year after year after year, even though

00:44:40

the vision that you have is greater than that?

00:44:42

When you are fueled by the kind of hope

00:44:44

we're talking about today, you can run your race

00:44:47

and finish your race because you realize that

00:44:49

nothing is impossible with God.

00:44:52

Nothing is impossible.

00:44:54

Paul understood that. We have to grasp that today.

00:44:59

And so Paul did that by helping people

00:45:01

understand the kingdom of God,

00:45:03

because the Arcadian Way was meant to tell

00:45:06

anybody coming into Ephesus, "You will lose and we will win."

00:45:11

But Paul said, "No, Jesus wins. Jesus wins."

00:45:15

He was fueled by the reality that Jesus wins.

00:45:18

He was fueled by the reality that he had been to Jerusalem

00:45:22

and they still to this day

00:45:23

haven't found the body of the risen Jesus.

00:45:25

That's what fueled Paul. He knew that Jesus wins.

00:45:28

He saw over and over again the power of Jesus

00:45:31

heal and transform.

00:45:33

So Paul was fired up about this thing

00:45:35

called the Kingdom of God.

00:45:36

What is the Kingdom of God?

00:45:38

I think about the Kingdom of God this way.

00:45:39

When Jesus rose from the dead,

00:45:41

we're going to celebrate that in a couple of weeks at Easter,

00:45:44

when He rose from the dead, He ushered in

00:45:45

an entire new reality that's breaking into

00:45:48

this broken, fallen reality.

00:45:50

And everyone, everywhere is invited to be a part of it.

00:45:53

And it is growing and it is spreading.

00:45:55

The Arcadian Way, The Temple of Artemis,

00:45:57

as we found, are just rubble.

00:45:58

But the Kingdom of God is not rubble.

00:46:00

The Kingdom of God is alive and active

00:46:02

in the lives of people like you and like me.

00:46:05

I love this song that says, if the story isn't good,

00:46:08

the story isn't over.

00:46:10

That's what hope is, the kind of hope we're talking about today.

00:46:12

So if your story isn't good,

00:46:14

good news, your story isn't over.

00:46:16

And there is a hope that you need to run your race.

00:46:20

This kind of hope, therefore, is not a feeling;

00:46:23

it's an anchor. This kind of hope is an anchor.

00:46:26

I love going to the movies.

00:46:28

And there's a scene in a movie

00:46:30

that I am a sucker for every time.

00:46:32

Maybe you feel the same way.

00:46:33

I love me a good training montage in a movie.

00:46:36

I mean, I just love a good training montage, right?

00:46:39

I think about Karate Kid, wax on, wax off,

00:46:42

left circle, right circle. Like, I just love it.

00:46:44

You're the best around. Like, I just love that, man.

00:46:46

It just it just does something for me.

00:46:48

I love a good training montage.

00:46:50

I'm a Philly kid, so of course I think about Rocky, right,

00:46:52

running up the art museum steps.

00:46:54

If I ever get to take you to Philly,

00:46:55

I'm gonna do two things:

00:46:57

I'm gonna get you a real cheesesteak,

00:46:58

and we're going to run up the Rocky steps.

00:47:00

We're gonna do both of those things.

00:47:01

Like, I just love that training montage.

00:47:04

But my favorite is probably the training montage

00:47:06

from Creed 2. Anybody seen that movie?

00:47:08

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

00:47:09

I could go through the whole thing. I'm not.

00:47:11

I'm just going to talk about this one part

00:47:13

that blows me away.

00:47:14

Rocky Balboa puts a tire in the middle of a boxing ring

00:47:18

and tells Michael B. Jordan to step into the tire.

00:47:21

And then another guy twice his size

00:47:23

puts his foot in the tire too.

00:47:25

And Rocky Balboa says, "Hey, when you're fighting

00:47:27

this Russian guy, it's going to be toe to toe."

00:47:29

And so literally you see Michael B. in this tire

00:47:32

with this guy twice his size, beating the crap out of him.

00:47:35

I mean, hitting him on the side,

00:47:36

hitting him in his -- All that stuff, right?

00:47:38

But over time, Michael B. Is getting stronger

00:47:41

to the point where Michael B. Is in the tire

00:47:42

with the guy twice his size and the guy,

00:47:45

he's beating him so bad, the guy gets out of the tire.

00:47:47

Michael B. Jordan's like, "Let's go, let's go!"

00:47:49

Man, I love it. He's doing these --

00:47:51

There's a point where he's doing these freaking neck lifts.

00:47:54

He's like lifting weight with his head.

00:47:56

It's insane. I love me a good fight scene.

00:47:58

I'm telling you, I love me a good training montage.

00:48:01

I could watch it right now.

00:48:02

I mean, it just gets me so excited.

00:48:03

But here's what I hate about training montages.

00:48:07

Here's what I hate, they compress time.

00:48:11

So they make you and I think five minutes

00:48:13

and a good song is all we need to run our race.

00:48:17

I don't know about you, but that's not how my life works.

00:48:20

No, what you're called to

00:48:22

and why you need an anchor of hope is

00:48:24

whatever your race is, you are called

00:48:26

to a long obedience in the same direction.

00:48:29

That's what we're called to, is a long obedience

00:48:31

in the same direction.

00:48:33

Paul's ministry was a long obedience in the same direction.

00:48:37

12 years is all we have of Paul's ministry in the Bible.

00:48:41

So if you talk about from the time he met Jesus

00:48:43

on the Damascus Road to the time that we hear

00:48:45

the last of Paul, believe that he was killed in Rome,

00:48:48

12 years, 12 years time.

00:48:51

And he spent three of those years in Ephesus, 25%.

00:48:55

There were lots of other places he wanted to go,

00:48:57

but he spent 25% of his time in Ephesus.

00:48:59

And I believe when he was in Ephesus, he was faithful.

00:49:03

We know he was fruitful,

00:49:05

but we know he also faced resistance.

00:49:07

So there's this scene in the amphitheater

00:49:10

where the entire city is gathered and yelling,

00:49:14

"Great is Artemis, goddess of the Ephesians,"

00:49:16

because they are opposing Paul.

00:49:18

Can you imagine? Can you imagine

00:49:20

being in an amphitheater this size

00:49:23

and everybody there is chanting your name?

00:49:26

"Chuck is great. Chuck is great.

00:49:29

Chuck is great." [laughter]

00:49:31

Hey, even that would get uncomfortable after a while.

00:49:34

But now flip the script and imagine

00:49:36

they're not chanting your name; they're opposing you.

00:49:39

They're coming against you.

00:49:40

This is what Paul experienced.

00:49:41

This is the kind of resistance he experienced.

00:49:43

Well, what was going on here?

00:49:44

See, what we need to understand is to the Ephesians,

00:49:47

Artemis was everything.

00:49:50

Artemis was where they thought their wealth came from,

00:49:53

their prosperity came from, it was a fertility god.

00:49:56

They thought all of their hope was wrapped up in Artemis.

00:50:00

What they didn't realize was that Artemis is a little god.

00:50:05

And guess what? We have our little gods too.

00:50:07

We have our little gods that we go to for hope.

00:50:09

Things that we think are going to deliver

00:50:11

what only God can deliver for us.

00:50:13

There's a verse in the Old Testament of the Bible

00:50:15

that is deeply challenging to me, Jeremiah 2:13.

00:50:18

God's writing through the prophet Jeremiah,

00:50:19

and He says this to His people. He says:

00:50:21

For my people have committed two evils:

00:50:23

they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,

00:50:26

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

00:50:28

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

00:50:32

I love you enough to tell you

00:50:33

you have little gods in your life that cannot hold water.

00:50:37

You're putting your hope in places

00:50:39

that will not hold water.

00:50:40

Some of us, we worship the little god of control

00:50:43

and believe that if we can control outcomes

00:50:45

and control the situation and bend things to our will,

00:50:48

somehow that's going to work.

00:50:50

And I want to tell you, the little god of control

00:50:52

cannot hold water.

00:50:53

For others of us, it's the little god of wealth.

00:50:55

If I can just get a little more,

00:50:56

if I can just make a little more,

00:50:57

if I can just accumulate a little more,

00:50:59

I'm going to be insulated from the challenges of life.

00:51:01

And I want to tell you, the little god of wealth

00:51:03

cannot hold water.

00:51:04

For others of us, it's hedonism and pleasure.

00:51:06

We'll take pleasure at any cost, whether that's

00:51:08

drugs, sex, alcohol, whatever it may be.

00:51:10

And I'm here to tell you, you know this yourself,

00:51:12

that little God cannot hold water.

00:51:14

For others of us,

00:51:15

it's the little god of not trusting anyone.

00:51:18

I can do it on my own.

00:51:20

All I need is me.

00:51:21

And I'm telling you that little god

00:51:22

will not hold water for others of us.

00:51:24

It's numbing and escaping.

00:51:26

Whatever your little god is, I'm here to tell you,

00:51:28

your little god will fail you.

00:51:30

It is failing you. It has always failed you.

00:51:33

Why put your hope in a little god

00:51:35

when you can serve a God who never fails?

00:51:39

That's the invitation that we have.

00:51:42

I love how it says it in Hebrews 6:19.

00:51:44

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul,

00:51:48

firm and secure.

00:51:50

And that's why biblical hope is not a wish; it's a weapon.

00:51:55

Biblical hope is a weapon.

00:51:58

I don't know if you realize this or not,

00:52:00

the world has problems.

00:52:01

I don't know if you realize that or not.

00:52:04

And that means that our hope is assaulted all the time.

00:52:07

Don't believe me? Just open your news feed.

00:52:09

Don't believe me?

00:52:11

Try to repair a broken relationship.

00:52:13

Don't believe me?

00:52:14

Try to outrun the voices in your head

00:52:16

that tell you you're not enough, that you'll

00:52:18

never be better than where you are. You know this.

00:52:21

Inherently you know that there are forces

00:52:23

that are conspiring for your demise.

00:52:25

And biblical hope is the resistance you need

00:52:29

to stand against that despair.

00:52:31

There's a leader who said this about hope,

00:52:33

and these words just keep sticking with me.

00:52:35

They said: Hope confronts.

00:52:37

It does not ignore pain, agony or injustice.

00:52:40

It is not a saccharine optimism that refuses to see,

00:52:43

face or grapple with the wretchedness of reality.

00:52:46

You can't have hope without despair

00:52:48

because hope is a response.

00:52:50

Hope is the active conviction

00:52:52

that despair will never get the last word.

00:52:54

Can I get an amen, somebody?

00:52:56

Despair doesn't get the last word.

00:52:58

Loss doesn't get the last word.

00:53:00

Fear doesn't get the last word.

00:53:02

Division doesn't get the last word.

00:53:04

Anger doesn't get the last word.

00:53:05

Failure doesn't get the last word.

00:53:08

Hope says that that despair does not get the last word.

00:53:12

This is the hope that we have, and that God

00:53:16

who gives that kind of hope wants to meet you.

00:53:18

Yes, our world is broken,

00:53:20

but our God is more powerful than the world is broken.

00:53:25

And that's the God that wants to meet you

00:53:27

and equip you and empower you to run the race

00:53:30

that is set before you.

00:53:33

I told you I ran a marathon,

00:53:35

and anybody who's done that knows that

00:53:37

a marathon is really two races in one.

00:53:39

There's the marathon and there's the wall.

00:53:44

Because at some point running a marathon,

00:53:46

you're going to hit a wall.

00:53:48

I don't care how much you train.

00:53:49

I don't care how much you think about it.

00:53:51

You are going to hit a wall.

00:53:53

Maybe it's a physical wall because you are chafing

00:53:56

in your nether regions like nobody's business.

00:53:58

You did something wrong in your gear

00:53:59

and you're feeling it every step of the way.

00:54:01

Anybody been there? Anybody been there?

00:54:03

Pain. Pain.

00:54:04

You want to know what pain is? That's pain, right? Yeah.

00:54:06

Or you've got blisters on your feet.

00:54:08

You thought your sneakers were great.

00:54:09

You thought you broke them in well,

00:54:11

but now you got blisters at mile 15.

00:54:13

You got a long way to run with blisters on your feet.

00:54:15

You get a hamstring that pulls.

00:54:17

You get an IT band that's affecting you.

00:54:19

It may be a physical wall.

00:54:20

It may be a mental and emotional wall.

00:54:23

For me I hit the wall at mile 20 and I hit it solidly.

00:54:27

I mean, I knew I'd hit the wall.

00:54:28

Part of the reason I hit the wall is because

00:54:30

I had some things that I knew were going to be

00:54:32

a part of helping me get across the finish line.

00:54:34

I trained with a group, Bob Roncker's, anybody know that?

00:54:37

I trained with the Bob Roncker's running group.

00:54:39

And because of my pace, it was me and a bunch of ladies,

00:54:41

we had trained together and we were going

00:54:44

to cross this finish line together. Right?

00:54:47

And, and let me tell you, within five minutes

00:54:49

of the race, I lost all of them.

00:54:50

I don't know where they went, lost them all.

00:54:52

The other thing is I had an iPod back then,

00:54:55

and I had set my playlist on my iPod

00:54:57

to match the miles that I was in.

00:54:59

So for instance, when I got to Eden Park Hill,

00:55:01

for anybody who knows it, I was playing James Brown

00:55:03

Big Payback, because I had almost failed on that before.

00:55:05

So I was like, I'm playing Big Payback when I get on it.

00:55:08

Well, within ten miles, my iPod died on me,

00:55:10

so I have no music. I have no community.

00:55:13

And I'm supposed to finish this race?

00:55:14

I hit mile 20 and I was struggling.

00:55:16

I was hitting the wall.

00:55:17

And there were a couple things

00:55:19

that helped me get over the wall.

00:55:20

One is community.

00:55:21

Let me tell you, if whatever your race is,

00:55:23

do not run alone.

00:55:25

I have an amazing wife, and my wife had stationed

00:55:28

friends and family at different mile markers.

00:55:30

And when I got to mile 20, I knew that

00:55:32

if I could just get to mile 25, my best friend Michael

00:55:36

and his wife Larissa were going to be there

00:55:38

and Michael was going to run me in.

00:55:39

I knew that if I could just get to Michael and Mile 25,

00:55:42

I would be okay.

00:55:43

I get to mile 23, I get to mile 24, struggling.

00:55:47

I get to mile 25. I look to the left.

00:55:48

Michael was there. His wife is there.

00:55:50

He's like, "Man, you're doing great.

00:55:51

You want me to run you in?"

00:55:53

I'm like, yes. I couldn't even breathe.

00:55:54

So he gets out and he runs with me

00:55:57

because you need community to get over your wall.

00:56:01

But then the next thing that happened

00:56:02

is something I couldn't have imagined the power of it.

00:56:05

Not only do you need community,

00:56:07

you need to have a vision of why you're running.

00:56:09

And when I got to 25.9, maybe 26, I could see

00:56:14

in the distance my wife and my younger son,

00:56:17

my son was three years old at the time.

00:56:19

He's actually my oldest son, but he was like 3 or 4 at the time.

00:56:22

And when I got to mile 25.9,

00:56:24

Maria let Nathan run around the barrier

00:56:26

and come to me, grab my hand,

00:56:28

and I got to run across the finish line

00:56:30

of my first marathon with my son.

00:56:32

It was amazing. [applause]

00:56:35

Because you need to have a vision

00:56:38

that's beyond the race that you're running.

00:56:39

You need to understand why you're running the race.

00:56:43

And this is what I love about Paul.

00:56:45

What I love about Paul is Paul understood

00:56:48

that his race was not just for this life,

00:56:51

but his race was for the life that is to come.

00:56:54

Friends, heaven is real, and hell is real too.

00:56:59

And you got to answer the question

00:57:01

where are you running to?

00:57:03

Where are you running to?

00:57:05

I have a mentor and he says this

00:57:06

and I've never forgotten this.

00:57:07

He says never underestimate the eternal consequences

00:57:10

of the seemingly inconsequential.

00:57:13

There are things you're doing in your life right now

00:57:15

that seem inconsequential.

00:57:17

It seems inconsequential that you're just

00:57:18

staying faithful in a relationship,

00:57:20

and I'm telling you that has eternal consequences.

00:57:22

It may seem inconsequential that you're working

00:57:24

the same job with the same people,

00:57:26

but you showing up with hope and joy

00:57:27

is making an eternal difference.

00:57:29

I know there's parents in here who are going to wake up

00:57:31

in the middle of the night because your baby barfed,

00:57:33

and you got to change them in the middle of the night.

00:57:36

And when you're changing diapers

00:57:37

in the middle of the night, it seems inconsequential.

00:57:39

But you're raising a future leader,

00:57:41

you're raising a future teacher,

00:57:42

you're raising a future influencer.

00:57:44

Never underestimate the eternal consequences

00:57:47

of the seemingly inconsequential.

00:57:50

And Paul knew, and we need to know

00:57:53

that we are running for a city that is yet to come.

00:57:56

We're running for a city that will come.

00:57:58

This Kingdom of God is going to take over this earth,

00:58:02

this planet, and Jesus said, "Behold,

00:58:04

I'm making all things new."

00:58:06

And part of your run, part of your race

00:58:08

is not about just this world,

00:58:10

but it's about the world to come.

00:58:12

You and I have probably been,

00:58:13

even if you've never read the Bible,

00:58:15

you're familiar with the streets of gold.

00:58:17

We don't know how good heaven is.

00:58:19

We don't know how beautiful it is.

00:58:21

I don't know,

00:58:22

maybe there are literal streets of gold in heaven.

00:58:24

Maybe John's the one who we get that from.

00:58:27

Maybe John failed with words to communicate

00:58:30

the beauty of what he saw.

00:58:31

And so the best that he could do is say

00:58:33

can you imagine a place where the streets are paved with gold?

00:58:36

I'm telling you, heaven is worth it.

00:58:38

The race to run to meet Jesus is worth it.

00:58:41

That's what you're running for. Paul knew it.

00:58:45

And so I love. At the end of his race,

00:58:47

Paul is now in prison in Rome.

00:58:49

This is years after starting the church in Ephesus.

00:58:51

He's actually writing to his protege, Timothy,

00:58:53

who is pastoring the church he started in Ephesus.

00:58:56

And Paul says these words. He says:

00:58:58

I have fought the good fight,

00:58:59

I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

00:59:02

Henceforth, there is laid up for me

00:59:03

the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,

00:59:06

the righteous judge, will award to me on that day,

00:59:08

and not only to me but also to all

00:59:10

who have loved his appearing.

00:59:12

Friends, let me tell you,

00:59:13

if you are in relationship with Jesus,

00:59:15

you have a crown waiting for you on the other side.

00:59:18

And if you don't follow Jesus, follow Him,

00:59:22

because there is a life you can live

00:59:24

beyond this present reality.

00:59:26

It starts now and it'll never end.

00:59:29

Joy that will never end.

00:59:30

Peace that will never end.

00:59:32

Creativity that will never end.

00:59:33

See, because the Bible doesn't say, I mean,

00:59:35

we think about this, we think about heaven as this place

00:59:37

with like disembodied angels playing harps.

00:59:39

That is not what the Bible describes as heaven.

00:59:42

The Bible's hope is not in life after death.

00:59:46

It is in life after life after death.

00:59:49

We're going to get new bodies

00:59:50

and be on this planet complete, whole,

00:59:53

secure as God intended in the Garden of Eden.

00:59:56

I'm telling you, that's what you're running for.

00:59:59

That's heaven. That's heaven.

01:00:02

And so Paul talks about that.

01:00:04

And so I was like, man, it would've been awesome

01:00:06

if we had thought ahead and could give a bib

01:00:08

to all of you as a symbol of the race that you're running.

01:00:12

And then I realized, oh, no, we actually have done that.

01:00:15

Because this week, if you've got the guide,

01:00:17

if you've been doing the personal work,

01:00:19

you're going to complete your run manifesto this week.

01:00:23

It's an opportunity for you to declare

01:00:24

the race that you're running,

01:00:26

to declare why you're running it,

01:00:28

and to declare that your hope for running it is in Jesus.

01:00:33

And as you do this this week, I know how it is,

01:00:35

you get to your group, you forget to do the personal work.

01:00:38

You sit in your car for 15 minutes,

01:00:39

you do a little bit of reading.

01:00:41

This is not a week to do that.

01:00:42

Trust me when I tell you you're going to want

01:00:44

to carve out at least 30 minutes

01:00:46

to prayerfully complete this manifesto,

01:00:49

that then you're going to communicate with your group.

01:00:51

And I believe it's going to be impactful for you

01:00:53

in the days and the months and even the years to come.

01:00:57

So let me give you one final encouragement

01:00:59

from Scripture as we come down the home stretch,

01:01:01

not to the end of our journey, but to a new starting line.

01:01:04

This is from Hebrews 12 and it says:

01:01:07

Therefore, since we are surrounded

01:01:08

by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also

01:01:11

lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,

01:01:14

and let us run with endurance

01:01:17

the race that is set before us.

01:01:18

You have a race, and I want you to run it.

01:01:21

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

01:01:27

I want you to close your eyes

01:01:29

and I want you to understand this reality.

01:01:32

Right now all of heaven is cheering for you.

01:01:37

Have you thought about that? You can open your eyes.

01:01:39

All of heaven is cheering for you.

01:01:42

There are already people who have crossed

01:01:44

the finish line and they are cheering for you.

01:01:47

They are celebrating you.

01:01:48

I want you to lean in and listen.

01:01:50

Moses and David and Elijah and Lydia

01:01:53

and Mary and Paul and Peter,

01:01:56

and Jesus himself, the author and perfecter of your faith,

01:02:00

are in heaven cheering for you.

01:02:02

I wish you could hear it.

01:02:03

I wish you could hear the encouragement they have for you.

01:02:06

I wish you could hear them saying

01:02:07

that the run you're on is worth it.

01:02:09

I wish you could hear them saying that you can keep going.

01:02:12

I wish you could hear them saying that

01:02:14

at the end of all of this,

01:02:15

you're going to be so glad you ran with Jesus,

01:02:17

because all of heaven is cheering for you.

01:02:25

I got to make this personal.

01:02:27

I got to make this personal.

01:02:28

I know that I have a cloud of witnesses

01:02:31

in heaven cheering for me.

01:02:32

People like Mary Magdalene James,

01:02:35

that is my grandmother's full name.

01:02:38

A grandmother who walked with Jesus such to the point

01:02:41

that as she was dying, her last words were,

01:02:43

"Do you see how beautiful heaven is?

01:02:46

Can you hear the music of heaven?"

01:02:48

Those were her last words as she was crossing over

01:02:51

into the cloud of witnesses.

01:02:53

So I know my grandmother is in heaven

01:02:55

cheering for me right now.

01:02:56

Charles Edward Mingo, that's my father.

01:02:58

Many of you got a chance to meet him.

01:03:00

My father died a couple years ago, had dementia.

01:03:03

But I know right now my dad is clothed in his right mind

01:03:06

and he is in heaven cheering for me.

01:03:08

I've got a cloud of witnesses.

01:03:10

You have a cloud of witnesses.

01:03:12

Doris R. Williams, Eugene Graves,

01:03:15

these are my aunts and my cousin who are pastors

01:03:17

that formed me as a child, taught me the gospel.

01:03:20

And I'm telling you, some of the preaching

01:03:22

you're getting from me is what I got from them.

01:03:24

They're my cloud of witnesses in heaven cheering me on.

01:03:29

Kathy Beecham, who is a spiritual mother to me

01:03:32

and many of us, is right now in heaven saying,

01:03:34

"You got it, babe."

01:03:35

If you knew Kathy, you know she'd call you babe.

01:03:37

"You got it, babe. You can run this race."

01:03:40

She's in heaven cheering me on.

01:03:42

All of heaven is cheering you on.

01:03:46

So I want you to take your bib

01:03:48

and I want you to run your race.

01:03:50

For some of us, running the race is saying yes to Jesus.

01:03:54

I mean it when I tell you heaven and hell are real

01:03:56

and you don't have to go to hell.

01:03:58

You can live fully, richly with Jesus.

01:04:01

Maybe for you, picking up the bib is saying,

01:04:03

"I'm going to trust Him.

01:04:04

I'm going to give Jesus my whole life."

01:04:06

If that's you, you can pray that prayer right now.

01:04:08

You can pray it right after this service, just come up.

01:04:10

There are people who will pray for you

01:04:12

at every site and online.

01:04:14

If this is the day for you to receive Jesus,

01:04:16

I want you to know all of heaven is cheering for you.

01:04:18

For some of us, it's about baptism.

01:04:21

We've maybe said that prayer,

01:04:23

but we've not gone public.

01:04:24

On Easter Sunday, I can't think of a better time

01:04:26

to get baptized than Easter weekend.

01:04:29

Sign up, go to the info session and get baptized.

01:04:32

For others of us, we know that there's a purpose

01:04:35

that God has for our life and we've got to run that race.

01:04:38

Take the first step, take the next step.

01:04:40

And you know what? For some of us,

01:04:42

it's just about not quitting because life is hard

01:04:45

and you're in that season of suffering right now.

01:04:47

Maybe for you the bib is you simply wake up tomorrow

01:04:50

and say, "I'm going to do the best I can with Jesus,

01:04:52

and I'm not going to give up on this race."

01:04:54

I don't know what your race is,

01:04:55

but it's time to pick up your bib

01:04:57

and it's time to run your race.

01:04:59

I want you to stand up right now at all of our sites,

01:05:01

wherever you are, I want you to stand on your feet.

01:05:04

I want to bless you.

01:05:05

I want to bless you as we come to the end of this Journey.

01:05:09

And I want you to put your hand on your heart,

01:05:10

only if you are committing to take your bib

01:05:13

and run your race.

01:05:14

Put your hand on your heart almost like

01:05:16

you're receiving an invisible bib.

01:05:19

And I just want to bless you.

01:05:20

I just want to commission you because I know that

01:05:23

the race you're running matters.

01:05:24

It matters to you.

01:05:26

It matters to the community.

01:05:28

It matters to the world.

01:05:29

It matters in heaven.

01:05:31

And so I just want to bless you right now.

01:05:33

Jesus, You see these people, You see every person

01:05:35

at every site, whether they're online,

01:05:36

their living room, whether they're in a room,

01:05:38

You see them, God, You see them.

01:05:39

And I'm praying You would bless them as they run their race.

01:05:42

God, I'm praying You would give them a hope that overflows,

01:05:45

that can be an anchor and a weapon

01:05:47

against the despair that comes at them.

01:05:49

God, I pray that You would fill them with joy,

01:05:52

that You would fill them with love,

01:05:53

that they would run this race with joyful love

01:05:55

for everyone around them.

01:05:57

God, I pray that You would empower them

01:05:59

by Your Holy Spirit,

01:06:00

You would give them insight and wisdom

01:06:02

that they've never learned in school,

01:06:03

things that they need for the race ahead of them,

01:06:05

God, because Your Spirit is infused in them.

01:06:07

God, I pray that You would give them courage

01:06:09

and resilience for when the obstacles come

01:06:12

and when resistance comes,

01:06:13

that they would not look to the left or to the right,

01:06:16

but they would run their race to completion.

01:06:18

And God, as they do that, I pray that

01:06:20

they would long for the day and hear the day

01:06:23

when they cross their finish line,

01:06:25

when they finish their fight

01:06:26

and they would hear Your well done.

01:06:28

I pray this in the name of the Father,

01:06:30

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

01:06:32

And all the runners said, Amen and Amen and A

01:06:36

men. You guys go and run your race.

01:06:39

- Yes, this is the end of the Run Journey,

01:06:41

but it is not the end of your race,

01:06:43

not the end of all the things that

01:06:45

God has called you to step into,

01:06:48

and all the good things that He's put in front of you.

01:06:50

Hey, we want to encourage you in whatever way we can

01:06:52

to run your race well, to run it faithfully,

01:06:55

to run it with endurance and to finish well.

01:06:57

Anything we can do, we'd love to do it.

01:06:59

We'd love to pray for you. We'd love to encourage you.

01:07:01

We'd love to help you find your next step.

01:07:03

And as as Chuck mentioned, hey, for some of us,

01:07:05

our next step might be getting baptized,

01:07:08

might be making that public declaration.

01:07:10

We'd love to make that happen.

01:07:11

We've traveled to people all over the place

01:07:13

to baptize them, we've brought them here.

01:07:15

We've met them in the middle.

01:07:16

We've done done it all different ways.

01:07:18

We'd love to help you take your next step.

01:07:20

You can just text the word "next" to 301301.

01:07:23

As well as, hey, we don't want you to miss out

01:07:25

on all of the beautiful things that Holy Week has to offer.

01:07:28

This shouldn't just be another holiday followed by brunch.

01:07:32

This should be a moment we're reminded of

01:07:34

the power and the goodness of God.

01:07:36

Hey you guys, thank you so much,

01:07:38

so much for joining us for the Run Journey.

01:07:40

We'll see you next week for Palm Sunday. Have a great one.

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