Erwin McManus | Why Jesus?

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] how you gonna do it today every Sun you - yeah what you go visit name ha yeah when yeah Oh whoa you coming and I'm not afraid of the darkness anymore I'm holding fast - the grace that never ends and every step I take you mean Iran I can't help but fall No you know you brush my got a loss forward you have overtaken my life and now I'm you and every step I take me I can't no one can and you know can be you my heart you try yours and troubles your love will go on or even my weakness is strong singing out who try yes [Music] y'all if your hands are clean there try yours any troubles you love will go on noticed a staff who keep me from you know say hallelujah no one can continue no I can't be home hallelujah you have has come rush my heart whoo whoa you are word treasure you are my I now and forever you know you know my joy is found Oh Oh you are my word love unfair I do not but still you call me you know my you know my door is found Oh me help you Oh Oh of you me Jesus Oh Oh Jesus hope you fall Oh how hey come on mosaic let's just clap right now just thank God god we just right now in this moment we just pause to remember all the beautiful things in our lives we thank you for all the the wonder all the beauty the majesty guy we know that is a direct correlation to how beautiful you are so today we celebrate you we celebrate that only you can take the mess of our lives and make it beautiful only you can take the broken pieces and bring us back together we thank you God that you are so beautiful and when we connect to the beautiful one we find a beautiful life so we love you we celebrate you we thank you and ask us the name of your son Jesus and all together we said hey man can we just thank God for a great start to our morning today hey welcome to mosaic we're so glad you're here my name is Joe and what I'd love for you to do as you take a seat is to introduce yourself to somebody around you say good morning tell them they look good left-handed high farm now we're in the middle of just a incredible season and time here mosaic last night we had our first mosaic college graduation which was incredibly in clap for that our first class hey if you're one of our graduates I'm mosaic here can you stand up real quick we just want to say hi gonna see we're gonna see you what's up y'all come on incredible man we're so proud of you all we're accepting applicants so this is a plug for the Fall Eagle mosaic org slash college it'll be an incredible year that we believe will will not only change your life now but it'll change your future so be a part of us with that right now we're going to transition the time receiver offering so I'm gonna invite our team to come forward and I want to read this passage before we give second samuel chapter 24 verses 22 through 24 Aaron ayah said to David let my lord the King take whatever he wishes and offer it up here our oxen for the burnt offering and here our threshing sledge --is and ox yokes for the wood your majesty Aaron ah gives all this to the king erina also said to him may the Lord your God accept you but the king replied to Aaron ah no I insist on paying you for it I will not sacrifice to the Lord my god burnt offerings that cost me nothing I love this David is in this moment reminding us that whatever we offer to God that our greatest offering to him will be the things that cost us the most will be the things that require the most of this I love that David did not take the easy way out and he was the king and Aaron always saying hey just I want to give this to you want to offer it to you my gift to you so that it won't cost anything of you and David said no I will not offer to God anything that does not cost me something and this is what we do when we give together this is what God invites us into this space where he says I want see what you're willing to offer me are you willing to offer me the things that are the easy road or you want to offer me the things out of the hard road and it's just true in life that the greater the sacrifice the greater the meaning so mosaic what I want us to do together is to give in that space that to not hold back those things that we know will cost us something but what if together we brought the things that cost us the most that we sacrificed at a high level it saw a guy do an amazing thing see there's a show called Downton Abbey that I'm obsessed with anybody else out there my wife had to educate me early on that it's not called Downton Abbey which is what I said for a long time but I resisted it forever cuz I'm like I'm a I know I'm a gladiator I'm a Braveheart kind of guy I'm not a like 19th century English literature kind of guy and I just she's like just trust me she's like y'all watch all those action films for you but can you just watch this for me and I remember the first episode you ever watched something that you didn't want to like what you did and I had to act like oh I don't care about Matthew who was that like he's not my boys on my friend but I'm so drawn in to these characters into this story so you know in that moment it was gonna cost me sacrificing what I wanted to watch but I knew that it would matter in the long term because here's the thing right if it doesn't burn it's probably not gonna build see if it if it doesn't burn if it doesn't hurt it's probably not something that's worth building towards and I know this is true when it comes to when we give together that the greatest things that we build will be the things that cost us the most because we know it's not about us it's about those I will come after us it's about those that we have sacrificed on behalf of them and I love that mosaic this is our stewardship to the city is that we say hey we are never going to ask you to do something that we're not willing to do we're never going to invite you to something that we do even and so here at mosaic we sacrifice for those that maybe we will never meet them we will never know their name but we knew that they were in our hearts before we ever saw them so let's do this together let's be a part of bringing hope and life and meaning to this city as we give and we sacrifice together you can go and pass the buckets if you're on live stream we're going to invite you to join with us as well you can go to mosaic org a /give you can also text seven seven nine seven seven you text were mosaic to that and you'll get a prompt to give you can also go on your app you can get that way as well so many opportunities to give so many ways to bring life and I just want to encourage you to do that with us today and then there's also just ways to get involved in invitations to be a part of here mosaic that we want to let you know about I said to give you a heads up on those can you welcome John and Kamla hey good morning mosaic what's going on I just feel so good to be here together on a Sunday if it's your first second or third time could you just hold up your hand for us we just want to say welcome home hey welcome to mosaic guys give him a high-five yeah give a high-five right there got to air-five so good we want to give life with you guys I'm going to connect with you guys we have community groups all over all over LA I mean the best way to find the information on mosaic and getting connected through the app you can download the app in the App Store search mosaic la church you can get connected you can submit prayer requests you can find all the information that you need here that's going on at mosaic this spring through the summer so the app is something to have one of my favorite things on the app there's actually a section called worship you can click on that and it will lead you to MSC's latest album that you can purchase that most of you know Emma see right now is on a national tour with Chris Thomas which has been incredible yet we're so excited as I've had a couple people ask me what's the closest location so this Tuesday in San Diego they're going to be performing I believe at San Diego State in their arena so we want to take a whole crew down there so this Tuesday down in San Diego I know I'm gonna be there we just want to see it's just incredible to see God taking our voice all across the world so this Tuesday join us in San Diego yeah so exciting and if you guys have other questions about getting connected the best way to streamline so if you're like the app that sounds too hard to get to the App Store well even easier because we have four one four one one you text mosaic to that and then we'll just prompt you it makes it so simple for you guys it's like the whole I was gonna say the olden days I guess a couple years ago member when you would call for one lime and get like info so it's like it's like that oh my days yeah CBT so if you text mosaics to four one four one one you're gonna get all the info that's going on here at mosaic as well hey and if you have any questions right out the back there's an area called next step we have volunteers there humans that you can talk to and they'll help you get plugged in so I know this series has been so incredible and if you're like me sometimes you leave here you have questions that you want to talk with other people so we've done something called crew nights right now it's been incredible you can give it up for that Tanya knows like that so if you're new here crew nights are midsize groups that meet all across Los Angeles so we have we try to have locations closest to you so you can actually text crew nights to four one four on one or you get information on the app or on our website we have locations all across the city from Westside to Pasadena it starts tomorrow night at 7:30 Monday nights it's just a great way to actually get connected into community to have a coffee to sit down to have conversations I know it's been incredible here in Hollywood so join us tomorrow night for crew nights yeah and speaking of life stuff his questions that's the series that pastor Irwin's been leading us through it's been a beautiful time as we're digging into those questions um that maybe are keeping you from stepping into a relationship with Jesus those questions that you're like if I could ask that there might be the chance that I would believe in God so those are the questions we want you guys to ask and sometimes we know that they can be scary and having the courage to ask them it reminds me of like when I was in school and you want to ask that question but you're so nervous to raise your hand and then you ask the question and the person next to yous like I had that exact same question so the question that's pressing on your heart that's keeping you from stepping into a relationship with God could be the question that someone next to you is asking whether you're here in LA or you're across the country watching the live stream we want to hear your questions so email them questions at Moses org we want to hear from you guys hey we have one more song before pastor Erwin comes out leads us so let's stand together and worship you live me up you take away the pain as you put me closer and is gone I live in I will give me up you open up my eyes as you pull me closer and every day I'm taking by surprise like every breath I'll feel you in my chest I can hear your present there is nowhere to escape dah if you love them more helping me to see your life now where do we go from here with this future hold does my life really matter there are so many questions so many questions that drive us crazy that make us human questions about life about love meaning and purpose the questions they're not our end there are beginning maybe it's not just the answers but the questions that bring us life maybe inside of these questions there's hope and joy laughter and adventure baby inside the questions we find why we're here hey you guys going today good it's a good day to be alive let's stop pause for a minute and pray together while they set up father thank you so much for this beautiful day and God we are so grateful for life I got it I pray that over the course of the next few minutes you'd open up our hearts and our minds to the possibility and wonder of who you are you'd speak into our lives and God whether it's here or somewhere across the world on the live stream or the podcast god I just ask that you would just catalyze a conversation about who you are and who we are the people across the world would experience an unexpected engagement of both their their mind in their hearts as a grapple of the reality and the possibility that we are created by you and for you we pray in Jesus name Amen amen so I've been getting all kinds of questions as we continue our series on life's toughest questions and I just want to encourage you as we go through this journey together to invite your friends to let people know about to share that the podcast to invite people to the live stream maybe there's some people who are not quite ready for human contact and in an environment they know of his church but but they might be interested in connecting to a little live stream and getting into this conversation we just want to open this up to as many people as possible I want to read these some of the questions that even came this morning that are going to be a part of a larger narrative today so we're going to journey together in a meandering sort of way through a number of questions trying to get somewhere together questions that came this morning they had a friend who was an atheist who had these two questions and they thought the idea of life's toughest questions was a great idea so what happens when you die and second why are all religions created differently or are they all the same in the end another person wrote in is God in Jesus one the same why worship Jesus specifically instead of God himself another ask why are they so many religions in the world I used to feel that all the religions were basically specific cultures ways of personifying the lessons of God as translated by their way of life but as I learn more about Jesus and Christianity this question grows how do we reconcile the creation accounts in the Bible with evolution a definite scientific discovery also aliens please elaborate I love the way they signed off I want to believe and I'm not sure if they want to believe in aliens in creation or evolution but they want to believe another ask where did God come from this is a great question where did God come from what is God's origin story I hope you're prepared to be disappointed we are kind of thrust into this story where God created the universe but we didn't get the story of where he came from please help yeah I'd like help too okay and how can I truly know that God is real it's such a broad question but there are so many religions and gods and while I do have what I consider to be spiritual experiences how can I be so sure that those are not those are attributed to a God and not just coincidence or the human minds need for cosmic belonging or hormones could be all of those they go on to say I often hear you talk about God speaking to you or to others and I haven't experienced that yet synchronicity and coincidence just aren't proof for me I hate to be that skeptic that the man's proof but I'm such a logical thinker and I was raised by a scientific father so that these are the questions that plague me another rights I don't understand the logic behind Jesus died for our sins how and why does it grant us as the current humanity the grace of God why punish Jesus got himself for humanity's sins now this next one's really Sarki and so I thought I'd keep it so Erwin I love how they dressed me personally and I am assuming you're here so Erwin if you were walking down the street with your kids and someone jumped out of the alley with a gun and said I'm going to shoot one of you who's it gonna be my guess is that you'd say to the man take me shoot me not my kids what they've lived a good life he goes on to explain but God didn't do that he sacrificed his son I don't get it interesting little bit of self-preservation there and hello Erwin exclamation point I know that you get tons of emails all throughout the day but I wanted to reach out because my brother who is an atheist King with me to mosaic this past Sunday wow that was just so encouraging to me and I want to thank you for inviting your brother and if you're the brother I want to thank you for coming and risking being here with us I spoke with him about his thoughts after hearing your message and he said he was slightly disappointed it's my goal it's I I'm and I'm thinking this is a huge win I mean when was the last time as an atheist you went to church and were only slightly disappointed but could have been greatly disappointed and so I'm I'm counting that as a win he's and he said he was slightly disappointed because one of the biggest things that he struggles with about God is natural disasters that things that are out of our control but completely in God's control and frankly I thought about answering or addressing that question last week when talking about human suffering but my talk was already an hour long and I didn't want you not to come back this week so I had to figure out what to leave out I left that part out and it had an effect on someone's life so we're gonna try to squeeze it into today's conversation I love my brother dearly and this is why I love my brother dearly and I know that he is searching for someone to be answered to be able to answer this question directly in detail so that God can speak to him to help him understand Wow that that for me feels overwhelming but someone is searching and trying to make sense of life and of God and he came and gave this an opportunity and left slightly disappointed so I want to prepare you you prepare for disappointment you will be slightly disappointed but I don't lose hope in that I have this incredible confidence in the reality and wonder of God that even if my answer is slightly disappointing the conversation will open up an entirely new world for you that's why I encourage you to involve other people in this conversation it's not that we're going to be able to answer all the questions the way everyone needs them answered now I can tell you that I consider slight disappointment a huge one for me but I do know that God in His wonder and in his love will fill the gap between what I leave unsaid and what your soul needs to hear so we dive in there's all these questions really center around belief around why God why Jesus why the cross why this and I want to take you back a little bit even to some of my own processing of how I've come to believe because I can tell you I stand here somewhat amazed that I believe I mean for some people believe comes easily for other people it's a genuine struggle and and I there have been so many times I've actually stood on this platform espanish that I'm actually here advocating for God it's unexpected even for me and even though talking about the journey of faith is always a retrospective you don't really remember your journey once you've come to know God the way you experienced it before you came to know God things start attaching themselves to it because once you begin to see reality through the filter of God it's impossible to go back and see it another way but I do want to take you on this journey with me and hopefully we'll begin with the broad questions that we heard and move all the way to the very specific questions from how can we believe in God when there are natural disasters - why would God allow the disaster the cross to take place well if we just break it down in a simple framework we have two options I suppose there is a God and there's not a God God and no God and so many of people I talk to nowadays have actually chosen a very very specific position say I'm an atheist I don't believe there is a God now there are others who are scientific but they would say they just don't know they're atheists or maybe they would say they're indifferent but what I find is that many times a person who says there is no God has a more intense emotional relationship to the idea of God because it's very odd that a person would spend their life warring against something that does not exist and I don't mean to demean that what I mean is that there's something profound and deep going on in the person who does not believe in God so I'm not trying to demean that oh what I'm actually saying is that it's more important more significant and it's more visceral then we perhaps perceive at first and it plays out and in the realm of intelligence and intellect and logic but it's it's far more profound than that and so if you just begin here and say well you can see the universe as created by God or see the universe as created outside of God but I I don't want us to get confused because what happens a lot of times people say there's no God and so what you do is you put science there you go okay the world view of no God that's the world of science and the world view of God that's the world of a faith and so then we see science and faith in conflict with each other but any thinking person who has a genuine faith knows that there is really no conflict between science and faith that's actually not a real dilemma the real conflict is not between science and faith the dilemma the conflict is between superstition and philosophy here's what science is really good at is answering most of the questions that humans ask science really focuses on the how how does everything happen how does the universe work how does gravity work how how does this atmosphere come to be and and around the word how or the question of how we can ask the questions like what and where and when and whenever you're dealing with these questions of how what we're when those are scientific questions you can actually study and observe and determine but once you move into the other human questions of who and why you move out of science and you move into philosophy because once you start asking the question of who and why from a perspective that there's no God from a scientific perspective you've moved out of science into philosophy which is personally fine I have a philosophy degree that's my background I love the study of philosophy it's the study of wisdom but we need to realize is that the questions of who and why are not questions that can really be adequately addressed by science it doesn't mean they can be ethically addressed by faith by the way it just means that they don't belong over here they belong over here these are the questions that drive what I think is interesting is a human being seemingly more predisposed to ask who and why then what how when and where well one of the questions that was asked of course connected all this is how in the world can we actually believe in creation as opposed to evolution what I think is interesting is that evolution really lends itself toward these questions of how when where what like what ate him what time where did it come from how did you get away all right when does it eat there these are evolutionary questions to survival the questions of of who and why are not even good evolutionary questions if you have had children you know that Christian children should actually be asking how and not why he had two years old you would give anything to have your little child going how do I determine when I'm about to have a bowel movement how can I learn to hold it until I run to the potty and train myself would it be great if your kids all ask the right questions but they don't ask that they don't ask the questions are so important well well when should I go to sleep so it's healthiest for me where's the mop so I can clean the house they don't ask those kinds of questions what can I do to be a positive contributor to the family they don't ask that who's cooking me dinner that's a really big question and when they're - they asked the question why why why why at - they don't need to know why they're not answering any deep philosophical questions their life is on the line because they don't understand the big why but you know you will not have your kids drive you insane by going how how how they don't ask you how does this car run they don't ask you how does this work they don't ask you how did you make your money they ask you why why why why and you'll try to answer that question a thousand times because when you have a first child you're so patient you think that the why is so inquisitive it's so darling until they just keep asking why why do I have to go to bed why does I happen why just have to be 9 o'clock why do I need to sleep why would it make me tired in the morning why are you doing this if finally just give them say because I told you so which is how we see God relating to the world see the why is not an evolutionary question the why is a question that we should have evolved out of but it's actually the why that drives everything about being human and so we have a conflict that can be between superstition and philosophy because by the way truth does not belong to science truth belongs to us all tooth belongs to everyone who's willing to pursue it and sometimes science finds the truth and sometimes faith does and sometimes we all betray it but a part of the power of faith is its pursuit of the truth and we need to learn to distinguish between the two so I have to go back and go okay I I either can believe there is no God or there is a God and it will shape the way I see reality and when things I came to realize is that a view that there is no God doesn't really explain for me my best understanding of what it is to be human and I love how comes razor that says that the simplest answer is usually the one that's right is I just want to lay out to you why I think it's actually more logical to believe in God than it is to not believe in God because one of the questions were is how can I believe in God I was raised to be logical is raised by a scientific father and I want you to realize that believing in God is no less logical than not believing in God and not believing God is no more logical than believing in God and I know how we do it because I just disclaimer I know there are really dumb people who believe in God I'd only not educated I just mean dumb you know people go I wish that you can say that you ever heard people talk about God and you're embarrassed because you belong to that team you're like oh man and in that moment like I not me not me huh I'm tapping out so I just say there are a lot of people who talk about God and I just think wow that's just really dumb and I feel embarrassed I'm done by association and usually it's in contrast to a really intelligent person who does not believe in God like yeah that's the problem super smart people over here don't believe in God super dumb people do believe in God what do I do so let's not talk about anything that requires intelligence let's just keep in the category of faith but I have great news for you there are dumb people who believe there is no God I don't know it just reassuring but there are also really smart people who believe there is a God and so this is a part of the dilemma is that intelligence doesn't seem to be the pathway to leading to a sure conclusion but when you don't believe there is a God and Stephen Hawking's would agree with this you have a certain view of the universe of the universe is determined that the universe is about cause and that the universe is mathematical and so there's also certain implications that which means that there is no free will that free will is an illusion that there is no creative act and there's nothing spiritual that the whole universe is material and so when I look at that I've okay that's one view of reality over here what we're told is that there is a God then the universe is not mathematical the universe is relational and that if there is a creator and he created us in His image and likeness then there is creativity there is free will and there is a choice that affects the future now frankly sometimes you just have to make a decision that says this makes more sense to me so I'm just gonna be honest here this makes more sense to me a universe where there is creativity where there's freewill where our choices create the future rather than a fatalistic deterministic future makes more sense to me than this idea that the universe is simply mathematical that everything is already determined that there is no creativity no spirituality no free will because everything is just the result of cause and effect so for me I immediately move toward God then then you have this issue of well what about creation so I'm going to just step back just for a second because some of the questions were like how can you believe in creation and not in evolution I don't even know how that's still a question today to be honest with you I I'm so embarrassed and I know there's a reason for that it's because sometimes we actually think we believe what the Bible teaches but we didn't stop to read the Bible and I'm gonna say this and those are to be disturbing to some of you but the bible does not teach that the universe was created in six days it does not teach that but we taught that and so many people actually believe that it's a thinking person who's a scientist who's trying to understand how everything comes together here is that we say that everything was created in six days and we think that six 24-hour days they think we're out of our minds and I know people that I respect that may even be related to [Music] who believe that everything's created in six days and 24 hours and I'm saying that that is absolutely possible but it's not biblical that's a different thing see I checked it this morning I asked Siri just to confirm and Syria explained to me that a day is the time it takes for the earth for one rotation of Earth in relationship to the Sun that's a day so it's 24 hours more or less here but if you go to Scandinavia it takes six months for day to become night so even on this planet in this time history 24 hours is not a consistent reality there are places where you have day and then nah years ago we went to Sweden we were there for a week and we never saw a second of night and so when we talk about 7:24 we have such an ethnocentric culture centric view of the bible even if we live today we could say well it's at least six months but on top of that there's another dilemma it's just a small detail that makes things a little bit confusing the Sun was not created until day four so you cannot have a day or the Earth rotates one time in relation to the Sun when there's no Sun to relate to and by the way a year is the earth revolving around the Sun which cannot happen until there is a Sun so you can't revolve around the Sun if the Sun isn't around so peoples are counting history even when the Scriptures leave it in mystery saying on day 4 the Sun is created ty doesn't even begin to be a factor until day four that's almost all the way through creation and then we don't even exist till day six and God isn't limited by time he didn't need time we are the ones who live in this constant called time so actually time didn't begin until the sixth day but we start adding it up as if everything is superimposed by what we experience now so I want to be really really clear up to day four could have lasted a trillion years is to God a day is like a thousand years it could have taken millions of years for the first four movements to take place and it would be completely accurate in relationship to the Bible and and then we act like it's 24 hours once Adam and Eve were there and of course God rested on the seventh day for a full 24 hours that seventh day could have lasted thousands of years that day of rest it might have been a description of what life was like on this planet when the relationship with God was good I think it lasted more than a day and by the way the way we read it there's Adam and Eve than there's Abel and Cain and then Cain kills his brother Abel so half the world's population was killed boom and we get really confused because when Cain kills is rather Abel they're not supposed to be any more people on earth and Cain says the God if you drive me out everybody's gonna want to kill me who's everybody he's actually offering cities where do they come from how is it even possible that all this evolved with no time and it's funny the way we project on the story there's the sixth day God creates us the seventh day we rested and on the eighth day we blew it we act like we didn't even enjoy God's creation for five minutes before we blew it all up doesn't even occur to us the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years could have exists it could have happened could have passed before the story of Abel and Cain see I don't think Abel and Cain is the story of Adam whose first children I think it's the story of humanity's self-destructive nature and that they had many many children before that so only way you can explain that the earth was very populated so I'm just going to go here just say for a moment please don't reject God because we're done because we can't distinguish between superstition and faith because we believe more what we've been told than what we actually can read what the Scriptures tell us is that God created everything and this is important because the evolution talks about process and I think it's exciting to study process I think it was exactly right for Darwin to study process but creation talks about purpose why we're created and so the creation is about intention why are we here see if God created the universe then there is intention but if God did not create the universe then there is randomness and you know what's really odd when we feel that life is random something inside of us moves into chaos see we get angry with God when random things happen to us that creates suffering why doesn't randomness feel natural to us but intention is something we long for so now to the question of creation tsunamis earthquakes hurricanes let me address your slight disappointment you see I actually wanted to answer that question or at least address it because I think it's an important question as well because when we look at the universe we somehow strangely draw conclusions about God isn't that odd that we actually draw conclusions about God's character or even God's existence based on how the universe is operating why would we do that Liz listen what it says in Romans chapter 1 verse 20 and then Romans 8:18 is this for since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that people are where that excuse what the scriptures are actually telling us is that the universe points to God you're exactly right that even natural disasters if there is a God to tell us something about who God is and so somehow the universe tells us about God and I think it's interesting that a lot of people acknowledge that the universe has intention toward them but they do not acknowledge the the existence of God but the universe would not have intention if God was not intentional the universe would not have purpose if God were not purposeful but listen to what it says here it says the entire universe reveals God's qualities is is eternal power and divine nature so that what is to be known about him can be completely understood for us in fact what the Scriptures tell us is that if we stop and look at creation we will be without excuse in our knowledge of God this is the language of God I've had people ask me why does it God speak in a simple language well God's language is creation in Romans 8 verses 18 to 23 it says this is important I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us so he's talking about our suffering and I want you to see how he talks how he connects human suffering to natural disasters this is really I think significant says for the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed for the creation was subjected to frustration not by its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God I'll explain that in a minute we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time not only so but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship and redemption of our bodies now okay this is going to be kind of out there but I want you to go with me what the Bible actually teaches what the Scriptures teach us is that one singular act can have massive effect and have ramifications that literally become cosmic now I know this is crazy that one act in Africa can affect the well-being of creation in Antarctica see I know this is absurd it's it's almost like science fiction that our emissions could actually create a hole in the ozone because the Bible did know about quantum mechanics the Bible didn't know about complexity theory the Bible did not understand these things this is way before this is all a surprise to God that that a small choice here can have a cosmic the fact have you ever noticed that you don't really understand what's wrong with you until you see it played out in your relationships now let's be honest have you ever anybody say to you man you are so arrogant you go what you talking about I'm awesome Yeah right people speak into your life and you just do not see it what's wrong with them see you don't even know you have issues until those issues translate into human relationships you don't understand you're selfish until your selfishness begins to affect the relationships in your life you don't really even see you're greedy until it because don't have an effect on other people's lives you don't actually know the content of what is in you until you see it translated into the world that's outside of you and that's how you know that's how you can know a person is healthy on the inside is because they have healthy relationships on the outside you can know what's happening in the universe inside of you because you're literally affecting the universe outside of you and that's exactly what the Scriptures recite but even on a more cosmic level but the scriptures are telling us is that all creation is affected by our brokenness that our souls are groaning for the redemption your soul knows or something wrong with you my soul those are something wrong with me there's something broken to me my soul knows that that it needs a connection that is bigger than myself and it's translated because I see it every day life I see in my relationships I see it my choices I see in the life I've lived and and I can actually see when I make choices that are related to God that I create a better world because there's a better me and I create a more destructive world when there's some more destructive me and and the scripture is telling us that the entire universe is groaning for its Redemption that when we severed our relationship with God that this literally created a seismic effect and the entire universe is groaning now for its Redemption as well that earthquakes and tsunamis and hurricanes are all the external expression in creation of the devastation of the universe within us we can see this on a human level we know there's something wrong with us because there's war and violence we know there's something intrinsically wrong with us when you have poverty and greed at the same time we somehow know that something is broken inside of us when there's betrayal when there's deceit but it has never occurred to us that our actions might actually affect creation there are people who are even now going human actions don't have an effect on the environment but waters do not pollute themselves and we live in a world where we can see our our our air but we can't breathe it and the choices we make actually affect the creation in which we love and what the Scriptures tell us is that we would not even acknowledge the brokenness of our souls if we did not see the brokenness of creation so when we ask the question what happens when we die see even that question goes back to the why this is not a science question and really the answer is who cares if there is no God who cares what happens to us when we die but there's something strange about being human your body is in decay but your soul longs to live and so we fight and we fight and we fight not to die because we're terrified of non-existence why would we actually imagine something that is eternal even the idea of God so you ask you the question what's God's backstory that's a great Hollywood question where did God come from what's the story and this could lead us to not believe in God right because we don't know God's backstory where did God come from when I was a kid I would literally have migraines asking myself the question where did God come from and if you see that as a reason to not believe in God I have really really bad news for you if you come to conclude there is no God because we don't have any backstory because how can God always exist right how can there be a being that wasn't created that has always been and what does that mean to always be that's outside of our gonna pinch cuz we exist we began we end Huk how can we even conceptualize God here's here's even but you know what's really troubling if there's no God there's still something that existed that we can't explain see if there's no God everything came from nothing where did it nothing come from what what's that nothing wait a minute if it's if that nothing is something it wasn't nothing it was something and and what's the nothing's backstory what was it doing before it was something nothing I add what if you think it's going to give you a headache try to figure out where God came from trying to throw out where nothing came from and how one day nothing fat to itself I should do something and I think it's interesting that we think that God that faith is synchronicity that it's coincidence that it's believing in superstition but the idea that nothing could somehow motivate itself to do something that synchronicity that serendipity that's coincidence that's fantasy and so the Scriptures tell us that all of creation groans why because the Scriptures tell us that the entire universe is relational it is not about data is about relationship see if there is no God and what we live in is a natural order where everything simply evolves then behind that evolution behind that naturalism is simply math if there is no God then the driving force of the universe is math but if there is a God and the universe is relational then the driving force of the universe is love I can tell you this you will not spend your whole life searching for math but you will spend your whole life searching for love to understand the universe to be random accidental to me requires far more faith than to believe that the universe is intentional and relational it makes more sense to me even in the interaction as a human being in the way we come to understand ourselves even in the questions we ask even in the things we long for and crave we long for the things that point us back to God because it's not just the universe that groans it's our souls who groan as well when Jesus was walking on this earth he he made things difficult at times in John chapter 6 Jesus had just been teaching and he used a metaphor he said unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you can have no part in me and that didn't go well it didn't go well he sounded like a cannibal and made people nervous he was talking to a lot of really literal concrete people on hearing this many of disciples said this is a hard teaching I love that who can accept it aware that his disciples were grumbling about this jesus said to them does this offend you what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before the Spirit gives life the flesh counts for nothing the words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life yet there are some of you who do not believe for Jesus had known for the beginning which of them would not believe and which would betray him they went on to say this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the father has enabled him from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him do you want to leave to do you Jesus asked the twelve Simon Peter asked him Lord to whom shall we go only you have the words of eternal life I think this interaction is one of the most significant ones in the scriptures does it one of the questions then comes out of this is okay if there is a God and God is relational and the universe is created by intention and so the driving principle of the universe is love as opposed to the universe being accidental driven by mathematics determined with no creativity no free will and what the Scriptures tell us is that actually reality is spirit which by the way matches more our understanding of the universe now because the world without gods of the reality was material but I think this is antiquated mythology because we saw the world as material when we thought that matter and energy were different but now we know that matter is just energy reorganize itself through its own unique intelligence and so the same energy that's in Iraq is also in a gazelle the same energy that's in a river is in you the same energies in the universes and an infant and that should blow your mind and cause you to have great faith and as we look at this we have - then we go to ask the question okay if there's a god needs intentional relational and the universe of spirit that aren't all religions okay aren't they all the same and I understand I think the well intention behind this but I've never been a big fan of religion and I've got myself in huge trouble because of my views of religion I've been misquoted so much in my life and years ago I was quoted as saying that the greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus was Christianity I did say that and and I wrote it and so but but what I was actually saying is this is that Christianity as a religion is no different than every other religion that you see what religions tell us is that God is up here and we have to find a way to get to God because we don't get the guide because we think he's a good idea somehow the human spirit knows that where there is God there is life and we're trying to get to life that's what we're trying to get to and so we call life God and we're trying to get to God because we want to live and so there are different religions whether it's Hinduism or Buddhism or Islam or Christianity that give you steps to get to God they give you practices rituals they tell you to pray seven times or to go through different acts of penance or to pray different prayers and the way we understand this about God is it it's just like this global cosmic smackdown no no no no so here we are we trying to get the guys like now not going to happen I don't care how hard you try and I've talked to my friends for a muscleman and I said you're a devout Muslim they go yes and I said will you be with Allah when you die these are only Allah knows so it's a trick you think there's only Allah knows when I talk to my friends we're Buddhists the goal you know the path to enlightenment is a very difficult path and Americans think reincarnation is like a joyride oh I get to come back as someone else you do not come back as Sean Connery you that's it's not the core tenets of Buddhism reincarnation is a punishment that you're trying to break free from to move toward nothingness so you can lose all your uniqueness and every religion finds a way to get to God whether it's Christianity or Catholicism or Islam or Buddhism or Hindus or whatever it is and so when people say isn't Jesus just the same as all those other religions the answer is no you don't have to choose to believe in Jesus but I want you to separate them from religion because the problem is that Jesus has been put into this sphere of religions of a way to get to God but all these religions teach you how to get to life how to get to God how to get to enlightenment but the message of Jesus is the exact opposite he's not teaching us how we can get to God he's teaching us how God got to us and so as you're processing things and trying to make sense of this go okay or when I can go with you to God cthe had people tell me that I have had friends go okay I came here I didn't believe in God but now I believe in God but I'm having a hard time believing in Jesus but I want to know if God exists and God is a relational and God is intentional and God is love then Jesus makes perfect sense and God is the name I use when I talk about me searching for him but Jesus is the name I use when I talk about God searching for me don't you realize is that when use the name God cuz people say oh I can't just pray to God unto Jesus it because when we talk about God it's as if we're seeing the back of God's head but when God turns around and makes eye contact with you you'll know his name is Jesus and just from a more like metaphysical understanding of God people go well how can God be like three persons I think it's fascinating that the Scriptures tell us that God is light and we know that nothing can move at the speed of light light and and if you think about God moving at the speed of light and that all matter think about this all matter is energy slowing down is if you want to understand it from for more like metaphysical perspective Jesus is God slowing down to our speed and when God takes on our speed our meter our frequency he takes on flesh and blood I'm so glad that God didn't want to move so fast he was willing to leave us behind I remember when Aaron was just little boy he was walking with me and some trip and I was walking really fast and and he couldn't keep up if I said daddy daddy wait for me wait for me yeah I was little frustrated I was late now trying to get somewhere and he was ice move along with his little legs and just doing everything he could sometimes I'd have his hand and he certainly almost be flying because I'd be pulling him along he is just so tired goes Daddy wait for me and I saw it I realized that there was gonna be a day where I always gonna be the one that couldn't keep up with him if I taught him to that I never waited for him there'd be a day where he would never wait for me I remember I knelt down in the middle of that street and I just made eye contact and I said hey buddy I'm so sorry for going so fast I'm gonna slow down to go your speed I told him this when he was like 5 years old but I want you to remember this day so when I cannot keep up with you you will wait for me see a logical why doesn't guy just fix all this why is the guy just start all over again do you realize it the only way I could fix all the problems in the world is fine eliminating us and starting over again and I am so glad that as our Father God is willing to kneel down and make eye contact with us and say you know I'm gonna slow down to teach you how to walk with me when you ask why the cross oh and I love that question if you're walking on the street and a guy hold you up gunpoint he says one of yous gonna die as a dad you'd say kill me not my son see that the metaphor sounds right except for one thing you think that we are the victims that God would be the victim see when God was held up at gunpoint he wasn't afraid he wasn't afraid from his life and he wasn't afraid for his son's life he wasn't trying to save his life or his son's life he was trying to save the gun man and so he let his son die so that he could rise again so that the man who pulled the trigger could put the gun down and follow the one who died for him and rose again I think a lot of us keep trying to shoot God and we try to keep putting God in the grave but he keeps rising again and again and again how is it possible that we've become so educated so advanced and yet we haven't evolved out of our need for God maybe it's because you were created in the image and likeness of God and your soul knows where it belongs would you bow your heads with me just for a moment just close your eyes if you're listening on the live stream I want you to take a moment right now and just block everything out maybe you're listening in this moment and even if my my response has been slightly disappointing somehow God has spoken to you and you know that what you longed for is life and that life comes in God and today it finally makes sense that's why Jesus came Jesus is God's relentless love for you taking on flesh and blood Jesus is God's way to make sure that you would see him so you would know that he sees you if you're here right now and you're ready to cross that line of faith faith is not leaving your logic behind your reason behind your intelligence behind faith is the most reasonable choice when you realize you're created by a God who loves you I want to invite you to pray this prayer to give your life to Jesus to receive his life in you just pray this prayer right now Jesus I give you my life there's some of you this is your moment this is the time for you your soul has been waiting for this your heart has been longing for forgiveness for hope for freedom right now just pray that prayer Jesus I give you my life doesn't matter where you've been what you've done this is the moment that matters it's the moment that will change everything Jesus I give you my life if that's you I want to pray for you right now if at you I want you to know that God has heard your prayer and he's met you here if that's you I want you just a hold up Rehan right down so yes that's my prayer Jesus I give you my life that's my prayer I whispered that prayer right now just hold your hand up I want to see you beautiful anyone else wonderful anyone else right now Jesus I give you my life wonderful anyone else right now that's you this is your moment father I pray for those when this moment are crossing that line of faith we're trusting you with their lives I pray that right now they would know that they belong to you and that nothing or no one can ever take them from your hands but your love binds them to you and I thank you Jesus and you stepped into time and space that you walked among us that you allowed yourself to be crucified buried and raised from the dead so that thousands of years later we could turn our hearts to you and find life in you and so we pray in your name Jesus amen can we just thank God for those all right I don't know how many more weeks I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do it again next week it's exhausting your questions are poignant and powerful and they sometimes break my heart when I hear some of the deep questions of your soul I have no idea what next week's question is gonna be if you have a friend who doesn't believe in God maybe they've been deeply wounded by their religion or their faith now I would love to get questions from Buddhists and Hindus Muslims Oh more atheists I would love to get questions from some of you maybe who once believed and no longer belief really this time is for you so if you've ever been just trapped and you felt like gosh God if you could just help me through this that's what next week is going to be for I'll do the best I can will dive in will explore we'll leave some questions unanswered but we will lean in and do the best we can and I think in the end what we'll find is that our search for God is not nearly as intense as God searching for you thank you so much for being here with us again at 1 and at 8 and if you can get the word out get the word out get your friends here get your enemies here get everyone here and let's see what God might do let's all stand together Oh beautiful how Emma's egg can we thank pastor Erwin for leading us today I mean on about you my mind's blown right I'm like that I just want to take a picture of that and be like Jesus right there now I just feel like say it was such a gift it was so powerful I'm so inspirational and just know that there's people in your life and my life that need to hear this so I want to encourage you if you have friends that you know this would speak to text them invite them come back with them later today we've got a 1 p.m. gathering at 8 p.m. gathering I just feel like this conversation is one that needs to keep going and we know that there were some of you here today that took that huge risk huge leap of faith open up your life to Jesus and we want to celebrate that with you want to give you a big hug we want to let you know that you're not alone in this so if that was you and you raise your hand today or if you didn't raise your hand but like inside you raise your hand you know what I mean when you go out the back area is a area called next step and you see people holding up this Bible we want to put it in your hands and just help you as you begin to walk in this journey with God hey we're doing something powerful in the city God's moving it's will be so much more better so much more beautiful media together so don't come alone show up at 1 o'clock 8 o'clock let's pack out this place live fully alive I got nothing else have a great day god bless

Channel: Mosaic

Views: 24,657

Rating: 4.884058 out of 5

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

Id: 6jqlZlYlr2c

Length: 62min 51sec (3771 seconds)

Published: Mon May 08 2017