Erwin McManus | Does God Care?

you [Music] Oh [Music] No [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] alone why [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I know you guys can do better than that how you guys doing tonight moans oh man I love it we get to come together I know there's so many different people here so many different backgrounds but I love it that it doesn't matter what what's going on in your life it doesn't matter where you're coming from we all get to come together and be one you know what I mean and I just love it when we come together and we seem to heart God that he listens to us so I just pray that you lean in if you don't know the songs we have the lyrics up here and let's just worship our God together tonight [Music] there is a [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] wah so this world [Music] down [Music] Oh Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] or nice ooh [Music] and know [Music] and [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] everything you are [Music] you are [Music] you [Music] [Music] everything [Music] now and for I believe you on my [Music] [Music] you can realize to side [Music] I love you on my way he's my everlasting straight [Music] [Music] whoa-hoo you Oh my who my [Music] Oh [Music] you you you you [Music] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Applause] hey there's there's something that happens when we worship together there's something happens one when we just open up our hearts and our souls that what worship can do is to get knocked down the walls that are keeping us from God that worship can knock down the fears that are keeping us from our best selves that if we will just have the courage to step into a moment of worship everything can change so you can feel it in that song couldn't you you can feel God here cutting you but I got a sense that there was just a little more that we could abroad definitely want to elevate if we would have just brought a little more if we don't worship a little more maybe those chains could have been broken tonight and and why we worship it's because God is good but we also worship because it reminds us so much that we need you and so we don't want you to leave here without having those chains broken tonight we don't want to leave here have it like that that gratitude not unleashed in your life so we're gonna sing that for it's one more time and that simple exercise you are mine but the words are simple but the truth is profound and so let's just sing you with all that we got let's just bring us to this moment where we invite God Caroline just lead us to this place where we hear from God where we worship him where we let him know that he's worthy come on you are Oh you you are you you [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] God we just praying right now we just thank you you're a good god you are a powerful God and we are so thankful that you are ours and in that truth we are so much better than without you so tonight we celebrate you we love you thank you and we have to name your son Jesus and all together we said and then all together we say come on now hey welcome to mosaic y'all ready to party tonight we are we get started come on now my name is Joe we haven't met yet one of our pastors and I'm so excited especially tonight we got a gift right cuz some of y'all know our band mosaic ever seen is a crew on tour right now they're in Boise Idaho at this moment but if you know something about Mosley Embassy my man Rob here is a part of it so yeah yeah you guys remember like a couple years ago it's like the Tupac hologram MIT we got like a rowdy hologram right now ones in Idaho and ones here or maybe he's just here right now uh but yeah he was like I don't want to speak for you but why are you here right here right now isn't my car the Sun it's do good bro yeah chairs before to it man wanna be here s one to one cook you guys and son let's go Robin bro so we're so glad we're obviously R continue praying for Embassy as they lead people in worship changing thousands upon thousands of kids lives I'd say step into the presence of God but here tonight we doing our own worship we do in our own church it's incredible so what I'd love for you to do before we continue is just take the next 60 seconds I want you to introduce yourself to somebody around you say hi say how you doing tell me your name and then after you do that you can have a seat [Music] and then you go and have a seat we're we're so excited that you're here we're started you're a part of our gathering tonight we're in the middle of this series that we launched last week called life's toughest questions pastor Erwin has just been guiding us through these incredible conversations that can move us closer and closer to God as we dig in and last week we started with with half a conversation around is truth dead and the today's talk is even more powerful even more incredible so I just want to encourage you to press in lean in that's going to be a really blessing to you but to get us ready before we do that we're going to transition into a time we receive our offering and we want to do something a little different today something a little special just to guide us in that conversation so can you give a warm welcome and can you give a router plush show some love to our lead pastor pastor Erwin good Joe Smith is on fire tonight man whoa he's electric man it's good to be here tonight I don't normally come up during this time but you know we've started the series like toughest questions and be getting all kinds of questions and I think I was a little surprised but I should have been but I got several questions on on money but more specifically on giving and so I thought I don't really want to do a whole talk on it so I'll just slip up during the offering and I'll do my life's toughest questions on giving right now so you get to talks tonight and so here are the two questions that stand out and I get these questions all the time by the way but here's one says what proportion of church income goes to community service how do we know we're being maximally effective outside of the community of mosaic attendees that's kind of a good question because but but it's the wrong framework and I want to help you see why in a moment and the second one is this why why is there so much controversy about tithing I wonder why we're so mess up with money to some churches that we should pay 10% and some say it's an old practice of the Old Testament now by the way of all the questions I received the only question I ever received where they send me the answer as well was on money and so they asked the question but the answer to forming in case I didn't know the answer they went on this yes we should look after the poor and needy but a tithe is not required so in other words do we have to give money and they said well let me answer that No so I want to give you the framework and then I was having lunch with a friend and he said something that I really disturbed me he said man you guys must just be counting money in the back I said what he was yeah you know he just must have so much money coming in the mosaic just in the back counting money I said well first of all when will we be counting money in the back and and secondly what would make you think that there's that much money to count I mean we're looking for change to put in the parking meter what are you talking about so I thought and he said well it just seems like mosaic is doing great watch because we don't talk about this that much because we don't want to make this our focus he goes well then you need to tell us so I want and then my wife says you're not concrete enough you're not clear enough so I have some graphs all right so I'm going to try to do this real quick I'm gonna go to my graph so I want to tell you we just had Easter two weeks ago wasn't it amazing the first we're going to talk about what I really care about Easter we had three locations by the way in here we built a tent out there that was her second location and nomadic mosaic and then we rented the Avalon for disco mosaic so we had three different locations from mosaic three locations we had 13 gatherings I made that the ten of them live three them were on video and it was an amazing day and then we had eight thousand six hundred and sixty-five people who came here on Easter credible I think it's very interesting because most people think mosaic is a really small community and we don't actually usually tell you that we're large because we're a really intimate community there's a difference for you being small and being intimate and I've been to small places that are not welcoming and so we no matter how large we get we always want to be intimate be a place where people belong but I love the fact we have eight thousand six hundred sixty five people on Hollywood Boulevard people thought it would never work they told me this was the the cemetery for churches you if you come here no one's ever gonna come they were wrong all right now I want you to see the next graph just we came here about five years ago and in the first gathering we had 300 people and on our first Easter we had 700 people five years ago which is amazing so five years later we have almost 9,000 and we've had 1684 people follow Jesus and baptism here at mosaic and then amazing and a lot of you were those people and think about percentages we've only lost eight people to drowning no I was kidding everyone lives ok alright ok just making you stay with me uh and i don't like the word decisions there but we did we went to write down the number of people who came here and didn't believe in god but came to know Jesus Christ and their lives were forever changed by his love but it's a really long sentence so we just wrote decisions so we've had eight thousand nine hundred and ninety eight people give their lives to Jesus it's amazing two of you procrastinated or we could have had right at nine thousand okay that's right tonight's your night all right now I want you to see the giving this is the giving reality we're gonna do a little reality check here alright next graph eight thousand six hundred sixty five people here at Easter I want you to see how many people in our community are recurring givers six hundred and twenty let that sink in just for man because I I'm an incredibly optimistic person and so I'm always going to talk about everything God is doing and how grateful we are but at the same time I want you to know that six hundred and twenty people make all this happen see the question here was how are we what are we doing for the people outside of our community here's the misperception you may think everybody in here are the people financing what's going on but because a lot of churches are closed and so the people inside the building that's who's there and then everyone else is outside but I'm gonna tell you secret almost everyone who's in here right now was outside earlier today and most of them haven't made the transition where this is their place where they sacrifice and give and so I love this this 620 of us have committed our lives and our finances to serve our community but our community also looks like eight thousand six hundred sixty-five people who came in here and received freely everything we sacrifice to make happen for them and I want to tell you if you're a part of that thank you because that's amazing you can give yourself a bedroom applause [Applause] three years ago there's only there were only 200 of us who are recurring givers so we're like we're up to 600 now percentage-wise that's not necessarily awesome but we're working our way there so I thought I'm gonna give you a pie chart cuz like economists they do pie charts so here's my conda's moment here's our pie chart now imagine if you were out eating with a guy you know you're a girl it's your first date you go get pizza and he leaves you seven percent you're not going out with him again I'm telling you it's a one date only relationship only seven percent of our community gives the resources to make music happen 93 percent this is what's important receives what we've done and I think that's an important commitment we've made boy we do stuff all over the world I mean we we build schools in Malaysia or Malawi we've we work in Bangladesh in Thailand and India and Haiti we build houses across world we're building another house here in LA for Habitat for Humanity we do so much across the world it's amazing but I don't want you to underestimate how important it is for the mission that we have here in LA because I need people every day that I just come to love people whose lives are just Iraq people who are just struggling through life people who look so good on the outside and are just torn to shreds on the inside and we're here for them and we don't get this property free we lease this thing we don't own a square inch of property but we're taking so much territory and so I want you to see this and here's my challenge all right we have 7% of our community who gives to support that 93 percent wouldn't it be amazing if we could flip that and but here's that here's a wonderful thing see once we get to 93 percent that pie is going to get bigger because go to the next chart because the reality check is we have eight thousand six hundred sixty-five people but six hundred twenty who are recurring giving givers so we have eight thousand and forty five people who benefit from your sacrifice and mine together okay but that's not really the perspective that we need to have let's go one more this is the reality la has 12 million people 12 million people many of them who've walked away from any possibility of coming to know God who have been hurt and wounded by the church by religion who have heard conversations about faith that left them empty and we want to take responsibility for loving them building relationships and having meaningful conversations to help people come to know the God who loves them those 12 million people they're our responsibility they're on us all 620 of us but I'm telling you 620 of us can change the world but wouldn't it be exciting if the 8,000 we have now become the recurring givers as we reach those 12 million people because there's so much God wants to do going forward oh so when that guy asked the question I'm assuming it's a guy what about tithing why it's so controversial the Old Testament isn't it an Old Testament practice we only need to give to the poor and needy but not to tithe here's the thing there is an Old Testament and there is a New Testament in the Old Testament it says do not murder that's Old Testament I think we should keep doing that see see ideally we go you know do not murder that's Old Testament I can kill anybody I want now alright you know because if we go well that's the law now we're in grace I can just I can kill you and just ask for forgiveness and it's all good right see grace is never less than the law so if the law says do not murder you know what Jesus said do not even hate your enemy but love your enemies yourself grace elevates us in that Old Testament that we want to forget it says do not commit adultery I am still for that see I think we should carry that through into the 21st century I know it's hard but see I don't think that's antiquated do not commit adultery I think is still a really powerful basic human precept you know what Jesus said the old the law says document adultery but I say do not even have lust in your heart for another person that's that's grace elevates us that's amazing isn't it so if the law says we should give 10% of our income grace is that going to say that you can give to see grace always frees you to do more so if you want to move from the law to grace go for it give 20 30 40 percent just go crazy but do not pretend that Jesus freed you so that you could be trapped and greed he did not free us from generosity he freed us to generosity for a long time I used to really shy away from these conversations and the way I would solve it is I started companies I started businesses and I tried to make sure I was one of the biggest givers to mosaic and I realized that I was committed to the church but I was apprehensive call other people to be committed to the church but every single time someone comes into this place and walks in with the spirit at least hope and every time someone walks in here and they've been alone and now they have a family and every time someone walks in here and they don't know if they mattered suddenly they know that they matter I'm reminded what we do together it's worth the sacrifice so you don't have to give but don't use the old testament as an excuse to not become a person who sacrifices and is generous what would happen if all of us in this room right now establish the pattern of giving of generosity of sacrifice what would happen if that 620 we're the recurring givers here becomes 6,200 if we can reach 9,000 people with 600 of us committed together with 6,000 we would be pressing a hundred thousand people in the city whose lives would be forever changed so let's prepare our hearts and let's give but let's not just given this moment let's establish a value in a pattern of generosity let's get some mosaic hay which they think pastor Erwin I know that's an important thing for him to call us too you can give in those buckets I know that none of you have a checkbook ever you didn't know what that is you can give online mosaiced org slash give you could text mosaic two seven seven nine seven seven you can also give in the mosaic app set if that recur and giving super easy just one click you got that all ready to go I'm Kelly and I'm Lawrence welcome we're so glad you're here [Music] welcome home we're so glad you're here I love me here with you guys um so if you haven't already download the mosaic app we have this awesome app it's available to you if you haven't downloaded it you got it it's just awesome um you can sit in your prayer requests you can stay connected with everything we're doing you can what else - can you hear you can follow MSE and their tour which is amazing right they're playing their backs on the road I'm gonna be meeting them in Seattle on Thursday and I'm Portland on Friday she's holding down the home front being an amazing mom and wife cuz that's why this works I love that you love that that's right hey we want to make sure we meet you we can help you get connected the easiest way to do that is right now you could text the word mosaic two four one four one one filled out the cut data that in the link that sends you fill that out it hits n where to get all your info be able to connect through this week let you know all the things that are coming up shameless plug because you want to come surf with us kids pastors are amazing kids team come surf with us Oh baby I can do that cuz I'm standing up here okay oh that's right okay some of our mosaic kids team up here upfront love that crew who it's a crew nights last week okay hold them down I love that hey uh tomorrow night crew nights this is the best and easiest way to step into community get to know people crew our medium sized groups all over the city meet new friends get connected open up the scriptures together and we've got them everywhere so somewhere close to you ever we got weather in Hollywood we got em out west we got them in Pasadena we've got them in the valley we got it downtown there's one close to you check them out in the app get the info there you can also text crew nights two four one four one one on a serious note don't do life alone come come to Crewe we want to hang out with you it's such a great place in a space to like meet your best friend um also this series is like rocked our worlds already life's toughest questions we want to know your question so you can submit it at questions at marcozzi org and we can hear what your Krishnan that's right hey we got one more song let's stand together sing together [Music] let the mountains and the ocean say you name it silence and every sounds be yours let you are beating my feet break away is you speak louder than my dogs then my babe you the voice that will bring us closer you're the voice that will bring the speak to speak to Oh [Music] [Applause] top reaction drops [Music] we know your voice [Music] and all the noises are Oh now is you are put [Music] [Music] no fool you [Music] [Music] to see your beauty and your blood level a still of with everything you are you open up by [Music] your beauty you ever [Music] you [Music] but soon whew [Applause] that will bring [Music] [Applause] me too [Music] all right hey guys let's take the band together one more time thank you guys so much [Music] [Applause] you're gonna have a seat so we continue together life's toughest questions last week we look together at the big question is truth dead and from the cover of Time magazine we saw the connection of the article in the 1960s is God dead we saw this interesting relationship between the existence of God and the reality of truth because truth is always connected to trust truth exists because God can be trusted which leads us I think really smoothly elegantly powerfully painfully into tonight's question because many times we ask the question does God exist but really the question behind the question is does God care so many times we stopped believing in God because we're convinced God does not believe in us or we stop caring about God because we're convinced that God does not care about us and then the big question outside of why is this happening to me which is the personal question is how is it possible for a loving God to allow so much suffering in the world the timing is almost astonishing in that we are in the 25 year anniversary of the LA riots 25 years ago Kim and I packed up Aaron to Mariah and we moved across the country and came here to LA we were here 30 days when the LA riots broke out I remember I was out of state when they first erupted and Kim called me and I saw the riots on television flew in but could not get into LAX so I flew into Ontario drove into the city and I remember getting to the house when we were living in Alhambra and Aaron was just a little boy and I said where the fires and he said I can show you daddy and he led me by the hand into the house and point to the television because he thought that's where the hot fires were taking place and so probably against Kim's wishes I took Aaron down into the city so he could understand what was going on that it was humanity at war with itself we looked back now 25 years later after the verdict of the Rodney King trial were four officers were acquitted of his beating and we look back now and though there are 53 deaths 2,383 injuries 12100 and 11 arrests 1,000 buildings destroyed or damaged and over a billion dollars worth of property damage and there was a fire set every minute over those five days and we looked at that moment and wonder what in the world is going on and if you stop and ask the question to God you go god how in the world can you allow this to happen I think it's a fair question when we stop back and look at the human condition we look at the human story you have to wonder if there's a God why is he allowing this to happen why doesn't he do something about this and on a personal level haven't you ever been in that place in your own life where you've prayed or cried out to God and ask them to intervene to help and you felt powerless and helpless in a moment and God just seemed to be absent and sometimes because we don't understand who God is we begin to project on him motives that are really more reflective of the human heart have you ever missed an important moment in a movie you guys don't really know what long movies are like you guys really have short films that you call feature films I grew up in movies lasted for hours but even now it can get tricky because I don't like going in late because I've gone in late to a movie I used to go to movies with people who did not respect the starting times I don't go with them anymore because if you missed the first three four five minutes you missed the entire setup at the phone line you're coming in you're trying to catch up the whole time you don't know what's going on have you ever had that happen to you where you thought what's happening who's the main character somebody has died I don't know who it was what what is going on and you you realize you missed the first three minutes and the whole story makes no sense at all but to me the worst part is when you're in a really great movie and you drank way too much dope you're just trying to hold on for that for that sleepy moment where the director loved the scene just a little bit too much so you can run and if you've ever gone to the ArcLight they never put the bathrooms and you're the leaders I don't know what they're thinking let's punish them the bathrooms are somewhere over some obstacles and barricades and a river so I'm running to the bathroom and I run back as fast as I can but still keeping my dignity and I get back into the seat and everything's changed I missed the scene that actually mattered and then you don't even say there was a plot twist in that moment and no and you're like wow I wonder if it's that we're trying to understand life by watching five minutes of the middle of a feature film with no understanding what happened before what happens after and we try to give it our own context than our own explanation which is why I love this moment in John chapter 11 because it's almost a microcosm of human history if we look at John chapter 11 and see the interaction the relationship between Jesus and the people in this moment we'll begin to have a picture of the human struggle with how could a loving God allow us to have so much pain and go through so much suffering John 11 beginning in verse 1 now a man named Lazarus was sick he was from Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha this Mary whose brother lads with Nalle sick was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair he needs to tell you which Mary it is because there were so many Mary's so the sister sent word to Jesus Lord the one you love is sick I think this is an important starting point because everything that comes after this but John wants us to understand is that he's entering into the story of Lazarus and Martha and Mary and Lazarus is sick and he's going to die of course we don't know that yet but we know that he's in a critical situation the critical moment of his life and John wants us to know that everything happens after this must be understood and interpreted through this one reality Lord the one you love is sick the person that you hold dear to you this friend that you have that's closer than her brother Lazarus he's sick and he needs you and after he makes this declaration Lord the one you love is sick he goes on to say when he heard this jesus said this sickness will not end in death no it's for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified through it and this is powerful language Jesus like there's something bigger going on than you understand is that you're trapped inside of the minut perspective of a person who's locked into time and space I want to know there's something bigger there's a grander story taking place that you can't see and then John reinforces the motive of God in verse five now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus it's almost as if he knows what's about to happen is that it confuse us about who Jesus is that what's about to happen is going to confuse us about the motive of God the intention of God and we might actually begin to question Jesus's character so he wants us to know not only then they know that Jesus of Nazareth Lord the one that you love is sick everybody knew he loved them buddy but John goes on what you know Jesus loved Martha and he loved Mary and he loved Lazarus so verse six when you heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days now when I be there go no no no that can't be right because when you love somebody and they need you you go you show up you get there and especially if someone is in a critical moment of their life you go you disrupt your life you change your schedule and you get there especially if it's someone that you love who cannot be helped by anyone except for you you go you get there you change everything Jesus just hung around for two more days even though John writes us is frustrating Jesus loved them he heard he was dying so he just stayed two more days can you imagine that who's the most important person in your life who loves you more than anyone in your world can you imagine calling them or having someone call them say she was just in a terrible accident she's an ICU we don't know if she's going to make it we need you to come I'm coming up at but but I have a roast in the oven so I'm gonna weigh to my roast is done okay you don't stand this this is this is your son this is your daughter this is your husband this is your wife this is your best friend we just met they just had a stroke we've rushed from the hospital they're there they're on the bubble of survival we not have an appointment for a mani-pedi and it's taken me weeks to get this so when I'm done I'll be over there when you care about something you move with urgency and Jesus didn't go have you ever been angry with God because he didn't seem to show up there's a god I need help now I don't know about you but I have issues that need to be attended to and I'm gonna schedule it's called life and I need got to act in my life right now I don't need got acting later you know the problem is we're having to interact with a God who is eternal it doesn't seek time the way I say I need help now God's the gods now it's so poetic to the Lord a day is like a thousand years no honey got a show today that he hangs out for two more days what would that communicate to everyone watching Jesus see I think what happens is that we cry out to God we pray even when we barely believe we sometimes we get desperate enough desperate enough to ask God for help we've run out of options we turn to God and nothing happens and we lock that into our souls and go even if God exists it doesn't matter because he doesn't care God's just moseying along through life while we're running for our lives so when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days and then his son he said to his disciples let us go back to Judea now he's ready to go but rabbi they said a short while ago with Jews there tried to stump you and yet you're going back diving they were confused if Jesus had acted the moment he heard Lazarus was sick that he was dying and said we're going to go now they could understand that because Arthur's there almost like a a heart reaction when you know someone needs you you go and you face whatever dangers there you face whatever challenges there you go in but he waited today so couldn't been that urgent so night Lord maybe you forgot the I think they thought when Jesus waited two days that he didn't want to go because he was worried about his own life then maybe after two days Jesus forgot that it was Judea what it was like there and then jesus answered are there not twelve hours of daylight anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble for they will see by this world's light it is a person but it is when a person walks at night that they stumble for they have no light doesn't Jesus say things in the most elegant and eloquent advise like what do you mean now I'm not saying Jesus was talking to fishermen tax collectors no manual Labor's in any he's like waxing poetic like okay got it walking today don't fall people fall at night we're with you we think and after he said this to them he went on to tell them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I am going there to wake him up see I really resonate with Jesus I love imagery and metaphor and I I don't like when you're so directed that you're telling a person exactly what you're thinking these disciples in Lourdes well if he's sleeping you'll get better I love that like we don't need to go wake him up because we're gonna die so we don't want to go to Judea if he's just sleeping he'll just wake up in his own time he doesn't really need you Jesus and and it says Jesus has been speaking of his death but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep because they were dunce then he's holding plainly Lazarus is dead okay I tried to be a poet with you try to give you the beauty of my words but I'm just going to lay it out dad you okay that changes the whole scenario and he says and for your sake I'm glad I was not there wait a minute don't don't put this on us God we die you don't show up you put it on us for your sake would it be terrible if God didn't show up in your life or someone else's like that even for yours what if you're going through suffering and pain and God's letting you go through it because or someone else is trying to help going night I don't really need to be that instrument for someone else's life means I went to Lazarus look you got an option Jesus I can show up and not let you die or he can let you go through more suffering and pain so that others can actually learn who he is hmm but for your sake I'm glad I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him I love the next verse there's something about Thomas yeah I think if Thomas lived in LA today he would be a stand-up comic kiss Tomic Thomas has a really unique view of life little cynical little jaded just tells the truth and it's funny then Thomas also known as didymus said to the rest of the disciples let us also go that we may die with them I look bad at sex oh forget it let's just go and just die because that's what's going to happen anyway he's not going to listen just going blasters dead Jesus gonna be dead we're all going to be dead this is go I love the kind of optimism on his arrival Jesus found that Lazarus was already in the tomb for four days a little late now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother oh by the way that word loss is important see there is no suffering unless there is loss and we only experienced loss when there's love something think about why we suffer as humans I can only find a few categories there might be more but I think these will cover most of the reasons we suffer I think category number one we suffer because we make bad choices we blame God for them sometimes that's why it's always handy to have God but the reality is that most of your pain and suffering and mine could be eliminated if not alleviate at least if we just made better choices now look at my life and most of my suffering is the result of the bad choices I've made and it's frustrating because I want to be able to make my bad choices and I want God to give me good outcomes and that gives me a reason and a right to be angry with God because they need to stop letting me experience the consequence of my choice but the reality is that we suffer in large part because we make bad choices and here's the reality maybe you've heard this that Jesus died for your sins but here's what I deserve in a very practical light Jesus may have died for your sins but he didn't seem to die for your stupidity you have to die to that all by yourself that God can't stop us from making stupid choices when was the last time you experienced so much pain and so much suffering the wounding was so deep you realize it's because you made the wrong choices in your life that's category number one so if you want to eliminate suffering your life stop making bad choices category number two is a little trick here we suffer not just because we make that choices but we suffer because other people make bad choices that affect their lives it's you you're my problem you're gonna make bad choices it's gonna have an effect on my life and I'm gonna make bad choices gonna have effect on your life and here's what I look at my life ago as an adult most of my suffering is a result of my bad choices but as a kid most of my suffering result of someone else's bad choices they wounded me it left me broken and then then I let them blur together and I let other people's bad choices create momentum and I end up making the same bad choices that they made and I let their bad choices mark me define me and give me my identity think about how much suffering would gone in your life if you did not suffer because of the bad choices other people made that hurt you but flip this around otherway how much suffering in the world could you eliminate if you just stopped making choices that hurt other people those are the two categories that stand out to me the most the third category are not bad choices we make or bad choices other people make that hurt us but but bad things that happened that we can't seem to avoid can we just be honest bad stuff happens sometimes we just call it fate or we call it nature I mean who would have known that you were standing there in an avalanche came bad timing who would have known that that you were genetically predisposed to have cancer who would have known that breathing and that oxygen was going to destroy your lungs there's so many things that happen and you didn't choose it it just happened to you the people in Bondi achi they did not do anything that allowed that tsunami to come destroy their world nature just seemed to have it out for them it felt like fate was just against you you didn't get the job you didn't get the part you didn't get the girl you didn't get the life you didn't get the dream and you're like what is fighting against me and I think it's interesting when you feel like fate and creation and the universe is against you you get mad at God people never get mad at the universe I hear people all the time talking the universe only gets talked about in the warmest terms right you know universe is for you and the universe is you know working in your direction and universe is leveraging your success no one ever says the universe is after me when I be terrifying take a walk tonight look at the Stars soak in creation to know they're coming your life is just a horror phone and the language of the universe is for you I want you to know something the universe is not for you God is for you and he created the universe and so in that sense you're right the universe is for you because God created the universe before you but we can't escape the fact that sometimes bad things just happen and they don't seem to make any sense to us and this is one thing that I've realized is that it is not suffering that destroys us it's the lack of meaning in our suffering when something terrible happens in your life and it doesn't make any sense at all and you can't figure out why it had to happen to you that's when your soul finds itself drowning in meaninglessness and we cry out God why is this happening to me and now there's a fourth category it gets worse the Ford category is not that bad choices we make or the bad choices other people make that affect us or the bad things to happen that we just happen to be there the fourth area is that bad things happen to people when they make good choices in it like really see there's no way out you make bad choices you're gonna suffer but here it is you make good choices you're gonna suffer you're going to suffer even when you do the right thing in fact some of you have suffered because you did the right thing some of you lost the job because you made the right choice you lost the girl because you made the right choice you lost the future because you made the right choice so you didn't lose yourself but let me tell you I know it's hard to applaud about suffering you go yeah bring it on I want to shift my suffering from the bad choices I make to suffering for the good choices I make let me tell you what will happen the moment you start suffering for the good choices you make it brings meaning to your suffering [Applause] so Jesus saw them and he moved toward them because they had lost their brother they were overwhelmed with sorrow and with pain and when Martha heard that Jesus was coming she went out to meet him but Mary stayed at home I think because she was angry with Jesus you see disappointed her they didn't show up Lord Martha said to Jesus if you had been here my brother would not have died I think that's the question all of us have forgot in some way at some point our life Lord if you had been here you'd showed up God you had answered my prayer this would not have happened that's incredible faith Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died but I loved how then she as the chemistry's us but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask like I know if you'd been here he would not have died but you're here now and who if you asked your father will give you what he whatever you asked us in Jesus respond to her your brother will rise again I love that he knew exactly what she wanted her brothers delayed because your brother will rise again it wasn't really that helpful to her she answered well I know he's gonna rise again in the resurrection of the last days but he's dead now right and then Jesus no known you think the resurrection is a place or time the future they need to know the resurrection is a person in front of you he says to her I am the resurrection and the life and the one who believes in Me will live even though they die and whoever lives by believing me will never die do you believe this how can you believe this you know what Jesus is doing he's connecting together tragedy and beauty death and life suffering and joy say wait they don't exist apart from each other you see God introduced the story of Beauty but we introduced the story of tragedy God is the one who brought to us the story of Hope but we brought the story of suffering instead of running from us God ran to us and you think why would God allow us to live in a world where there's so much suffering the end people say to me well I can't believe God exists because if God existed he would not allow the suffering how could you stop it human suffering is like an avalanche an avalanche of all the consequences of all our bad choices as a human race how do you stop the avalanche of human suffering when we are primarily the conduits and causes of it in fact it's interesting because when people say I can't believe in God because they're suffering in the world like okay you're right there's no God is the suffering on no suffering still here so now there's no God but they're still suffering so when that we can't blame God because he doesn't exist so if God doesn't exist it cannot be blamed for our suffering then who's to blame for our suffering Oh us so then is it possible since we're responsible for human suffering because God does not exist so he can't be responsible because it doesn't exist but we exist so we're responsible so is it possible we're responsible for suffering and God does exist and he's absolutely brokenhearted that we've made choices that have led us to such suffering and live it that we would cause so much suffering so why would God allow us to live in a world with suffering and here's I think a really painful truth have you ever been brokenhearted have you have you ever come to realize that the only person that can break you heart is the person you've given your heart to here's there's the dilemma we want love but we do not want pain but the only ones that can cause us pain are the ones we love the only person who can ever break your heart is the one who has your heart he's suffering he is not the enemy of love it is the result of love because God suffers because He loves us see Jesus said all this is happening so that God can be glorified in a greater way but the driving narrative of this is love and sometimes we confuse the two see God is going to do something that makes the tragedy beautiful but God is not the god of the tragedy he's the God of the beauty and I want you to realize something the only reason we can create suffering and the only reason we experience suffering it feels God is a God of love because God was only interested in glorifying hims now himself he would have never given us free well he would have made us simply reflections of his power and beauty like a sunflower or a sunrise but a sunflower or a sunrise cannot experience love it cannot receive love nor can it give it the only way that you and I can ever love is to have freedom so when God chose to create us out of love so that we could be recipients and conduits of love he created the space for suffering because when you love you give freedom and when you give freedom we can choose to heal or to hurt to build or to destroy to create or to corrupt Jesus loved Lazarus he loved Martha and Mary and he let and died because he understood that there was a bigger story being told do you believe this and she said yes Lord I believe that you are the Messiah the son of God who has come into the world after she said this she went back and called her sister Mary aside the teacher is here she said and he's asking for you it's funny it doesn't record Jesus ever asked him for her I think Martha hoped that Mary had more influence for Jesus and could maybe get Jesus to do something she could not get him to do when Mary heard this she got up quickly and went to him now Jesus had not entered yet the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him when the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her notice that she got up quickly and went out they followed her supposing that she was going to de tomb to mourn there when Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him she fell at his feet and said Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died even with Jesus being present that still is the question warning where were you why did you let this happen see the question really isn't does God exist the question is does God care and when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping he was deeply moved in spirit in troubled I love this about God God has moved by our pain he is moved by her sorrow he is troubled by our suffering where have you laid him he asked come and see Lord they replied and then there's verse 35 the shortest verse in all the scriptures that says the most just two words jesus wept I want you to know that God weeps over us he weeps over you that his heart is broken in your suffering hears he loves you and then the Jews said and here's the theme John brings it right back see how he loved this is what you need here no matter what you're going through no matter how much pain you've had to bear no matter how many times in your life you felt that you cried out to God and he did that answer or you thought that guy was going to act and it seems like he didn't show up I want you to know that no matter what you've ever gathered as the as the evidence against God I want to know that God has always loved you he is only one motive towards you and it is love he has one intention for you it is love God is driven but I love created you for love but he understands that in a universe in a reality in a world where freedom has been given to us so that we could receive love and give love he cannot block from us our suffering but must choose to meet us in our suffering in the verse 37 he goes on but some of them said could not he have opened the eyes could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying they knew he made the blind see but they still questioned who he was and his motives for what he did it was hard would it be great if all of us if God answered one person's prayer that all of us would just celebrate that but we don't something goes God answered my prayer God gave me the job God gave me the promotion which job you know that that job over there paramount you know executive vice president he gave you that job yeah that was the job I applied for what kind of experience I don't have any experience which is a miracle gotcha showed up when I was selling coffee last week now I'm the EVP at Paramount god is so good like I've been working at Paramount for 12 years man that's an Associate Producer and I started as a rudder have you ever felt like life is just unfair it just doesn't really inspire us sometimes when other people seem to have God act on their behalf it almost makes God more distant to us and they asked couldn't he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying the answer is yes he could have but that's because you only saw the five minutes of the movie in the middle and you don't understand the beginning of the end and that's where I stopped before Jesus calls out Lazarus his name before he tells him to come up and come out to rise you see we're in the middle of the story and as much as we want to believe it as much as we we have faith were not at the other side of the story we're in the middle of the story where we're wondering if God's going to show up and which time he's going to show up and what he's going to choose to do and you may you're going to have to make a decision about God's character and intention towards you because it's not what you go through that's going to crush your soul it's how you interpret who God is through what you go through and I know some people say yeah boy that's the problem is that I I don't like the Old Testament God I like the New Testament God in fact people say I like Jesus I don't like God Jesus says God well yeah but he's the new God he's like it's a new version of God people tell me I don't like the Old Testament God it's almost like after God wrote Malachi he went into therapy you're like I have like anger issues you know and I just I need to like work this through I'm really really angry with the human race I got a flood thing behind me you know I got issues but 400 years later a guy came back because I'm Jesus I'm Jill like you know like hipster God but I want to hear what the people who knew God in the Old Testament said about God and psalm 145 8 it says this the Lord is gracious and compassionate slow to anger and rich in love this is not about Jesus this is about the God of the Old Testament see God has always been the God of love God has always been gracious and compassionate slow to anger and rich in love let that sink in and seep in Jesus is love because God has always been loved but when you step into human history that's so filled with hate and violence you can project your own heart on god and jeremiah 31:3 god says about himself the lord appeared to us in the past saying i have loved you with an everlasting love i have drawn you with unfailing kindness here's some of you you know that God's after you but not in a bad way he's after you in the best of ways you're running from God but God is chasing after you but I want you to know as fast as you can run fueled by your fear God's love will chase you faster than you can run because love is faster than fear if you've never heard God speak to you I want you to hear God speak to you I have loved you with an ever lasting love I've drawn you with unfailing kindness you know Isaiah chapter 11 verses 3 and 4 God uses the metaphor of a mother or father who holds their child it says it was I who taught Ephraim to walk taking them by the arms but they could not realize it was I who healed them see I was walking with them I was holding their hand but they thought they were watching on their own they kept wounding themselves but I kept healing them but they couldn't realize it was me he goes on to say I let them I let them with courts of human kindness see God is not a malevolent dictator trying to make you a prophet or a robot God leads you with the cords of human cleaners but ties of love I think sometimes we use language as if God makes us a slave and imprisons us and steals life from I want to be bound to the ties of love if God is love I want to be strapped to his very heart and led by his kindness says to them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek and I bent down to feed them we so misrepresented God remember when when Moses and God had that brief interaction in the desert could I showed up in the burning bush Moses a little surprised got to take off your sandals you're on holy ground because everywhere God is is holy and then God has the conversation Moses do you rember how it went down most God there you are I've been wandering this desert for 40 years looking for you you need to step up and be God your people are down there and they're slaves the each of crying out to you and you're doing nothing why would you allow us to suffer like this remember that except it didn't go down like that it was the opposite it was God encountering Moses and confronting Moses saying I have heard the cries of my people and I'm going to act and deliver them and you're going to go on my behalf telling sometimes we get confused with the hero of the story is it's God who hears your cry it's God who has moved towards you and when a person comes to bring you healing and help let me tell you it is God who is moving them to here [Applause] to your salvation I was asked I think it's 2013 to look at the script that Ridley Scott was working on I loved Ridley Scott he's one of my favorite directors and I was so honored and excited they said he's doing a movie called Exodus gods and kings and I said well you know I love Wrigley and I and I love the Scriptures so my man so they sent me the script and asked me to give him notes and and I could see there's like some there were some like fundamental issues not not in the theology but just in in the story because I could tell that the writer did not like God I said well I our Christian is going to have a hard time with God being represented as a boy I said that's not going to be really the problem Christians are also intuitive and artistic and they can get that and in his name is Malik and and I think they can get over that and they said you think we can get I think you can't the problem you can't get over is it God is just not a good guy it's just a really bad person and and the way the story was written Moses slips and falls hits his head against a stone and then God shows up as a hallucination I said that might create a little bit of turmoil and people who actually believe in God I said but okay let's keep God as a hallucination maybe what you could do is is he kind of sees God right before he hits the rock and we don't know if it's God or just his imagination that makes it even more interesting but what I think you need to do though is rethink why God exists so in fact your writers an atheist isn't he and they pause and said yeah how'd you know so I can read it because Moses never comes to believe because the writer is really Moses in the story but but here's the dilemma though all right I'm not going to try to convince you there's a guy I mean I might but but but I'm going to accept that there is no God that God is a projection of human ideals that God is a projection of the human subconscious why would we create God why would we create God if he does not exist we would only create God because well our conscience is telling us that we should be more noble but we're not or more honorable and we're not more courageous and we're not our conscience telling us we shouldn't have killed or lied or stolen and so we create we project we create this this idea we call God so God is really the personification of the best of humanity so why would you create a god character who's actually the worst of us that's not called God and then I said remember the movie Braveheart I should have said gladiator but I said Braveheart remember in Braveheart you have Robert the Bruce and Wayne walls and Robert the Bruce is the one who was born to lead he was supposed to lead he was entrusted with that responsibility was a coward and William Wallace was not really supposed to late but he saw that the people needed to be set free there was an enemy that needed to be conquered and so he stepped into that moment and in many ways his entire life journey was to help Robert the Bruce become the man he was born to be I said you see God is William Wallace he's the good guy and we are Robert the Bruce we're the ones were indifferent and fearful and God steps into the story to pull out the hero in us so this is the way the story should be told if God is just a construct of our psychological need God should be what keeps inspiring him to step past the sphere into courage to step past himself into servanthood God should be the ideal that keeps calling him up see I think we get angry with God because we want to blame him for the condition that we've created and we should be grateful to God is more patient with us because when we're mad with God said God why would you let this happen to me I think you need to listen cuz I think God's going why would you let this happen to you I created you for more than this I created you for love not war I create you for justice not injustice I create you for compassion I created you for kindness I created you as humans reflecting my image I like this look what you've done with what I've given you if I were god I'd be angry that we've been entrusted with so much and have done so little high I remember when I was younger my mom was always on a spiritual search and we brought a Buddha home we became Buddhist for a while she started listening to rabbi harold kushner who later in a book when bad things happen to good people she became Jewish for season you know just really always searching searching for meaning searching for God but I remember the day that there was an earthquake in Managua Nicaragua my mom never I feel like just exposed her heart just completely to us was always very careful remember that day I felt as if I saw into her soul I saw such pain and disappointment in God she said I just cannot believe that there's a God and he would allow such senseless destruction and suffering like this I remember that was the day she became a deist when she decided that maybe God exists but he doesn't care maybe he created everything but he is detached from our experience it's kind of ironic that that same woman later led us all on a path to find Jesus and she was in such a painful place in her life her husband had dementia and Alzheimer's her parents were in their 90s and they moved from El Salvador to stay with her so she could take care of them my grandmother had not eaten a piece of solid food and I think of the two months my grandfather was holding on for the fear of death not the hope of life my mom would have to feed her husband and shower him and change him and then she slipped and fell and damaged her hip was in a hospital she did not allow herself to stay to recovery because the three of them would have literally starved to death if she wasn't there to take care of them I just happened to call her in this moment I said mom how are you doing and I expected her just to have a moment to vent I think it would been fair I think would have been okay for her to say why would God do this to me why would he allow me to go through so much suffering why why would God not intervene but she didn't say any of that you know what she said to me she said God must really love me to allow me such great suffering that's what love does it steps into suffering I think she was projecting down on God I think the truth was that she was expressing the greatest love by stepping into their suffering and that's what Jesus did we want God to show us a way out of suffering but Jesus instead showed us a way through Jesus came into human history God Himself took on flesh and blood allowed himself to be beaten and brutalized crucified on a cross taking on the greatest sufferer Jesus did not run from the suffering he leaned into the suffering so that when you suffer so when you experience wounding and pain when you feel your soul is broken and when you're ready to cry out say God why you can know that God is the God who stops into our suffering to meet us there so that we can know we can rise above the pain we can make it through the suffering we can be healed from our wounds because he is the God who has taken our wounds and through his wounds we are healed that's who Jesus says he has come to meet you in your pain to meet you in your disappointment to meet you in your suffering man who could have ever imagined a God like this it would join us in our suffering could bear the weight of the world on himself who would carry the consequence of sin allow himself to be the sacrifice for the avalanche that we've created of brokenness and then be buried on the third day rise so that all of us could know that it's not just one named Lazarus they would call out from the dead and that the way you measure time is not the way God measures time you may think he didn't show up but I'm telling you God is never late he is waiting for that moment where you will know him most fully most powerfully most beautifully and maybe that moment is right now would you bow your heads with me just for a moment just close your eyes Jesus understands your suffering he sees your wounds he knows the brokenness and maybe you're just tired of hiding the mess of your life from God from everyone around you from yourself and this is your moment to open up your life to the God who loves you this is the moment where everything will change for you this is the moment where Jesus's death on the cross becomes real for you and you cross that line of faith and let him give you new life right now he wants to heal your deepest wounds was to fill the emptiness in your soul what to teach you how to find joy in the midst of your suffering if you're here and you're tired of living this life without God you're tired of the struggle alone if you're ready just to come clean and say Jesus I need you I want you to pray this simple prayer Jesus I give you my life that's it that's the starting point Jesus I give you my life there's so much more that you'll want to say to God so much that God's gonna say to you I'm telling you this is where you start Jesus I give you my life right now just whisper that to God right now this is holy ground Jesus I give you my life if you're here and that's your prayer I want to pray for you if you're here and that's your decision your choice I want you right now just to raise your hand and say or one that's my choice today I choose to give Jesus my life just hold it up hi beautiful right now just hold it up high don't wait don't hesitate don't look around this is you this is your choice this is your moment just hold it up high let me see you beautiful over the room anyone else right now wonderful father I thank you for those who in this moment have whispered the simple prayer Jesus I give you my life I pray that right in this moment you would wrap them up in your love and let them know that you have heard their prayer that they belong to you that love has won you've met them in their suffering and pain and that you are the God who bring healing and hope Jesus I pray that you would be more real to them than life itself for you are life itself I thank you today is the beginning of new things for them I want you to keep your heads bowed just for a moment your eyes closed there's some of you here and there it's just deep wounding and pain you've been fighting back sorrow and depression anxiety despair some of you your soul just feels so hollow you're drowning in your wounds you can't seem to get free of the bitterness and art and you need to have those anchors around your neck broken if that's you if you've been wondering if God cares and tonight you're so gay god I'm going to trust you I'm going to believe that you care and I'm going to ask you tonight to heal me I'm going to ask you something really difficult I want to pray for you but I want you to stand right now I want you to make a physical act that says I'm done living a life of brokenness I am just so tired of letting these wounds keep cutting deeper and deeper to my cell I just want to stand right now I'm so sick and tired Galligan anyone it's just too exhausting it's too exhausting to act like it's all working right and you know it's all broken so just stand don't worry about what anyone else thinks don't worry about your reputation this is why we're here and I know that God wants to do a deep healing in your life and I want to pray for you right now anyone else if you raise your hand to give your life to Jesus you may want to stand with them and let God continue to do a deep work in you right now anyone else right now wonderful beautiful I know it's hard those could be the most difficult three feet of your life and they will change everything for you I'm gonna pray beautiful anyone else there's several you still standing still standing just come we'll wait for you that's why we're here that's why we're here wonderful god you tell us that you are our healer you are Jehovah Rapha the Lord heals it so God I'm just gonna be impetuous enough to ask you to heal everyone who's standing right now I'm gonna ask you God to do such a deep work in them that today will mark their life we've got to pray that you would heal the wounds that had been inflicted by the bad choices of others in their life but you would free them from that pain I pray father that you would free them even now from the wounds from the bad choices they've made for themselves that there is a new beginning a new beginning tonight that this is the beginning of new things it's the end of the old the beginning of the new father there's some who are just so broken in their hearts that they they hate themselves their self-loathing and they look so good on the outside that no one could ever imagine what they see when they look in the mirror and I pray that today they would see someone else in the mirror they would see who you see that they matter see their beauty God see their value that God they would stop seeing themselves so the lens that distorts their soul God I I pray that they would know that you not only exist but that you care that you matter and God I'm gonna pray that you would surround them with one or two people who know you and trust you and can become your expression of healing for them I pray that you would take people in our community and somehow just God just move them toward them that they would have friendships and community and that no one here would ever have to walk alone that they would not have to do life alone god I pray the end of loneliness in this room that you'd begin to build deep friendships real community and Jesus I pray that we would give you honor for the healing you do in us and that we would become the leaves of healing to all those around us may you use these we're standing as your instruments to bring healing and hope to those who today do not know where it can be found this is our prayer in Jesus name in Jesus name Amen and amen can we just thank God thank you so much so good [Applause] we're going to continue next week I don't know why but I feel like I need to say this or some of you who have been hurt by the church some of you have been wounded by people who were in leadership at a church there's some of you who have been wounded by people who use God's name to make you less I just want to apologize on there on the behalf of the church and say it doesn't have to be like that and it will not be like that mosaic is here to bring healing to our city one person at a time so we continue next week I have no idea what my question is so send me your questions this is the time go to your friends who are atheists and agnostics people who are angry with God people who don't believe in God because I want honest questions I want questions that are holding people back I want the questions that are just sucking the life out of people's souls I don't want the smartest question I don't want the most interesting questions I don't want the most philosophical question I want human questions say this is what is keeping me from living this is what's keeping me from believing this is what's keeping me from faith because I want to dive into those and I want to be really frank with you guys I don't know if I can answer the questions well enough for you but that's not my goal I'm under the best I can but you know what I'm gonna do I'm going to create enough room for God to speak into your life and give you the answer that you need because in the end as helpful as I hope I can be what you need is for Jesus to speak to you and change your life forever so next week bring your friends bring everyone let's go crazy one guy told me last week I wanted to stand up and argue it the whole way bring them on let's just have it let's just dive into the things that matter cuz why do we get together and meet on Sundays if we're not going to try to deal with the real issues of the human struggle [Applause] [Music] you whoo you [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Wow hey well dave was that not incredible was that not a blessing to you if that was a blessing to you can we thank pastor Erwin for leading us for guiding us you [Music] uh tonight was special but you could feel it this is why we're here this is why we do this so if you made a decision tonight if you raise your hand if you said yes to Jesus and if you stood up if you just move towards God what we love to do is you want to meet you because what the scriptures remind us is that we are not supposed to do this alone that we are the gift to each other until we before you go you may have come alone but we want you to know that you're leaving with a tribe so when we go out the back doors when we exit there's a table and area called next step there's some of the friendliest people that kindness people you ever meet just don't leave without giving somebody a hug if you're not a hugger be a hunger tonight all right sometimes you just need to see another human and just know that you are loves so if you leave with nothing else tonight leave with that you are loved by God you belong here this is home and man I'm so glad that we have this we got to do this tonight we're gonna remember this night for a long time so when you go out there again meet somebody new and then next week the party continues bring your friends we love you god bless we'll see you next week [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Mosaic

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Keywords: Worship, ErwinMcManus, MosaicMSC, Church, Hollywood, LosAngeles, Faith

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Length: 114min 38sec (6878 seconds)

Published: Mon May 01 2017