Generational Choices [God Bless America, Again]

[Music] [Music] [Music] hey church family i want to welcome you to service whether you're joining us at our new wednesday night service time of 6 30 saturday night at 6 or sunday at 9 30 am we are so excited to have you be here with us [Music] so [Music] hi guys are you new to the church well we'd love to meet you we have a new beginnings reception coming up but i need you to register so go to wochurch.org click the i'm new button and scroll down to next steps i'll see you there [Music] do [Music] join us saturday september 25th at our 6 pm service for an extended time of worship with nicole c mullen she is a grammy nominated and dev award-winning singer-songwriter we'll see you there [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] hey church water baptisms every saturday night here on campus at world outreach church the lord is moving if you've made the decision to follow him fully but you haven't been in the pool yet what are you waiting for take advantage of the opportunity go out and register online at wchurch.org together we'll see the lord move in and through our lives to change our community and our nation he's moving come be a part we'll see you here [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning friends i'm pastor tim and it's an honor to welcome you to world outreach church it's a pretty special weekend and we have been taking some time to remember the tragedy that occurred on september 11th and there's a whole lot going on our nation is back in the midst of a different kind of tragedy and i want to encourage you wherever you are whatever your position do not stop praying and pursuing god his favor and his blessing that as a nation we would trust in him cling to him and honor him it matters every day we have a group of people who gather in the sanctuary to pray and i got to join them this past week and spend a little time and we pray for those who are struggling with sickness and we pray for the well-being of our nation more more so the righteousness of our nation that we would desire holiness and be close to god it matters and i want to invite you if you're close come join us to pray but don't miss the opportunity to pray wherever you might be some good things that are happening i got to be a part of baptisms last night and it's such a great honor if you have not made that decision go to the website and register at the baptism link we would love to share that with you and let you be a part we also next weekend have a new beginnings class so if you are kind of newer to the church trying to find your way in that is a great point to connect so make the effort to come join us next sunday on the 19th but right now we're getting ready to start church so grab some oatmeal a cold cup of coffee or slim jim but let's get ready to worship [Music] hey church family i want to welcome you to service whether you're joining us at our new wednesday night service time of 6 30 saturday night at 6 00 or sunday at 9 30 a.m we are so excited to have you be here with us [Music] hi guys are you new to the church well we'd love to meet you we have a new beginnings reception coming up but i need you to register so go to wochurch.org click the i'm new button and scroll down to next steps i'll see you there [Music] [Music] do [Music] join us saturday september 25th at our 6 pm service for an extended time of worship with nicole c mullen she is a grammy nominated and dev award-winning singer-songwriter we'll see you there [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hey church water baptisms every saturday night here on campus at world outreach church the lord is moving if you've made the decision to follow him fully but you haven't been in the pool yet what are you waiting for take advantage of the opportunity go out and register online at www.org together we'll see the lord move in and through our lives to change our community and our nation he's moving come be a part we'll see you here [Music] [Music] good morning church let's stand together it's a great day to praise the lord welcome his presence in this place today [Music] he's coming on the clouds kings and kingdoms will bow [Music] his broken hearts declare his praise [Music] our god is [Music] [Applause] [Music] the lamb that was [Music] him [Music] make way before the kingdom came [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] you believe that they [Music] [Music] who can stop the lord almighty [Music] who can stop the lord [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] amen god is faithful amen even in the waiting in the times where we're waiting here's faith [Music] walking around these walls i thought by now they'd [Music] waiting for change to come [Music] knowing the battles won [Music] for you have never failed me [Music] your promise still stands great is your faithfulness your faithfulness i'm still in your hands this is and i know the night won't last your word will come to pass [Music] and my heart will sing your praise again oh jesus jesus [Music] keep me within your love my heart will sing your praise again [Music] your promise still stands your faithfulness your faithfulness [Music] this is [Music] [Music] he will do it again [Music] you made i'll do it again [Music] your promises [Music] this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] amen i love that word confidence in that song our confidence he has never failed us he is faithful his promises are true you know it says in hebrews 10 do not throw away your confidence it will be richly rewarded stand in confidence stand out truth stand in the hope and promises of jesus christ amen he is merciful he is mighty and we have every right to be confident in the lord yes let's just declare his holiness together holy holy holy lord god almighty early in the morning our songs shall rise to thee [Music] holy holy holy [Music] oh you are god in three persons [Music] [Applause] [Music] holy are you lord amen so good to worship with you all thank you for worshiping with us you may have a seat [Music] well hello church hallelujah we're still worshiping together hallelujah the world's a little nuts but jesus is still on the throne that's good to know isn't it huh thank god we have that hope and trust in him that he watches over us he's our protector and our provider and our sustainer he is good to us welcome to worship wherever you're joining us from we've got five venues on campus including outdoors this is a beautiful morning to be outdoors wow and many of you i know are joining us online get out of your pajamas and come back to church okay let me restate that when you get out of your dramas put on some other clothes then come back to church okay i don't that was there are some literalist amongst us and that would not go well so what a privilege i know you know we're not passing offering baskets and plates and such but uh before we pray i want to give review just an update we've got some things come in the next two or three weeks that i think you'll want to know about next weekend our next generation some of our children and students are going to be helping with worship all weekend not by themselves but they'll be carrying most of that we serve hundreds of children every week and students and what makes that possible is there are several hundred of you that help us and i want to thank you for that it's not busy work we're not warehousing kids folks the decisions for jesus are made prior to being 16 or it's highly improbable you'll ever become a christ follower and the christian worldview just is no longer a part of the public square and so what we do here with those students and children is more important than any time in my lifetime so i thank you for those of you who help and i pray the rest of you will consider it we intentionally keep church pretty simple so we have a large pool of very capable people to help serve children and students so thank you but next weekend they'll be doing some things out front for you the weekend after that on saturday night nicole mullen is going to lead worship for us so if you're a nicole mullen fan you don't want to miss that she wouldn't come on sunday morning she's heard about this group and she just said no so but she'll be here saturday night so if you just slip in don't tell anybody you're a sunday morning person and we won't and then the following weekend we have a guest that's going to be with us joel rosenberg the the plan is i'll be able to interview him um there's some things going on in the middle east have you noticed and we thought it would be good to have somebody who's an authority joel is an israeli he's american born so he speaks american which is helpful you won't have to to work through an accent before you get to the the heart of what he says but he has served as a press secretary um for the prime minister of israel so he is up to speed on what's happening he's a christian he's an author he's written several books if you want to go out and check that out before he's here but he'll be here saturday and sunday and we hope to do interviews and do that as an interview format so we can get to the heart of the matter in the middle east so uh we've never it's a new thing we've never done this before but i think we can ask god for his deliverance uh our god is a delivering god and if god's people will humble themselves and pray i believe he will respond so amen you better stand with me for that wherever you're watching from whichever sanctuary or worship space or at home you stand right there too i can see through these cameras i can't but google can so just stand on their behalf so yeah that's not even funny anymore father thank you thank you for the privilege of being together i thank you for your people for your goodness and your mercy to us you have blessed us we have health care and medicine and schools and food to eat and transportations and we paused this morning to say thank you but lord we stand in agreement and ask that you would deliver us from this plague lord bring the breakthroughs that are needed that we might be set free lord through whatever venue you choose i pray that you'll give us wisdom and insight and understanding may we work together and cooperate towards an outcome that will bring freedom to us and allow our children to study and learn and our colleges to be open and people to be present lord deliver us we thank you for it for those of you that are sick today we ask you to raise them up may they respond to the treatments that have been provided lord bring health to their bodies we thank you for it lord those that are grieving and have suffered loss we pray that you'll bring comfort you're a god of mercy and a god who delivers and a god who is able and we invite you into the midst of this father we have turned our backs on you in so many ways but we come in humility today and ask that you would look upon us once again with grace and mercy in jesus name amen hallelujah you didn't have a seat [Music] good evening today our fellow citizens our way of life our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts the victims were in airplanes or in their offices secretaries businessmen and women military and federal workers moms and dads friends and neighbors thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil despicable acts of terror [Music] the pictures of airplanes flying into buildings fires burning huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief terrible sadness and a quiet unyielding anger these acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat [Music] but they have failed our country is strong a great people has been moved to defend a great nation terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings but they cannot touch the foundation of america these acts shatter steel but they cannot dent the steel of american resolve america was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world and no one will keep that light from shining [Music] tonight i ask for your prayers for all those who grieve for the children whose worlds have been shattered for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened and i pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in psalm 23 even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i fear no evil for you are with me this is a day when all americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace america has stood down enemies before and we will do so this time [Music] none of us will ever forget this day yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world thank you good night and god bless america [Music] amen you know it seems impossible that this weekend we're remembering it's been 20 years since 9 11. do you remember where you were when you saw that first plane fly into that north tower if you weren't the child i'll bet you do it was hard to process wasn't it it was disorienting i remember exactly where i was we were having a staff retreat and we were at fall creek falls state park and we stepped out of a meeting and there's a television in a public space and somebody stepped over and then they hollered and we walked over and we we saw a replay of that first plane flying in and it was disorienting we didn't understand we didn't understand immediately if it was some sort of a horrible accident or and as we stood there watching it wasn't long before that second plane came into view and still it was difficult for your mind to catch up with what you were watching happen i wasn't even aware enough to understand that the the structural integrity of the towers was in peril i mean it was like an unfolding of a horror scene it was in slow motion that day we threw our stuff in the cars and we hurried back to campus and in the next few days were some of the most remarkable in my life people began coming to church just quietly uninvited without any formal organization people were quietly coming into church they'd slip in and sit all over the sanctuary and just quietly pray all through the day there was a short period of time two or three weeks when we were as united as a people as i ever remember being remember that we understood there was a tragedy afoot and we didn't unders we didn't know fully what the implications were or what next would be the unity that we felt post 9 11 is what we're desperately searching for right now it causes me to question those that are speaking to us because in a time of truth threat and true emergency we have to work together that's the way through we lay aside our partisan differences and the many things that we can use to divide us that are more trivial than our survival and we stand together we lived through that after 9 11 and we need to find that again i believe the church is in a unique place to do that not because we're so united because the lord knows we're not we will fight over communion jews but the hope in that is that we stand under the lordship of jesus of nazareth and if you're truly a christ follower there's no hyphen in it your allegiance begins with jesus and if you put anything before you put your allegiance to jesus i severely question whether you have allegiance to jesus i'm a christ follower first before any of the other descriptors of my person or my personality or my journey through time come into play and because of that the church holds the potential to be a uniting force in seasons of stress we're remembering this weekend i hope you'll take time to pray you know the the students among us high school and younger they don't have a personal memory of 9 11. in their minds and their life story it's as it's a it's an event like world war one is to most of us we've seen pictures and we know some of the details but it didn't fill our emotions so it feels distant and remote almost like a hollywood creation for those of you who lived through it and you you interact with those young people it would be worth your while to sit with them and talk a bit about it explain what it represents and why the tremendous cost that has come after that it's in our minds again because we've just watched the exit from afghanistan it's a bit unsettling to watch the people who presided over that debacle of an exit abandoning our citizens and many of our allies find microphones and celebrate the wonderful job they did and then remind us of the sacrifices made on 9 11. 9 11 taught us a lesson about heroes in the midst of the chaos and the confusion and the horror and the destruction we watched men and women run toward those towers run up those stairways it's not fashionable right now to celebrate our first responders our law enforcement and our firefighters and our emts but on 9 11 we were very grateful for those persons we should be still we should be still you know it's been popular for a while to to find the the worst amongst them and to turn the lights on them and to highlight them and then to extrapolate from that that the entire group is bad folks none of our professions would survive that kind of inspection none of us pastors included don't fall prey to the deception take some time today and pray for those families those who courageously face the challenges of 9 11 and made lives better for others those who've sacrificed greatly that day and have had to overcome grief and difficulty it's an important day we don't want to remember it the title for this session is generational choices 9 11 reminds us that every generation has to make a choice there were heroes that day that ran towards buildings and all sorts of choices that were made that day that remind us of the best of ourselves but every generation has to make a choice we can't stand on the bravery and the courage of those that stood in that way on 9 11 2001 we need a courageous response in 21. every generation has to make a choice for themselves joshua chapter 24 and verse 15 says if serving the lord seems undesirable to you then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve whether the gods your forefathers serve beyond the river or the gods of the amorites and whose lands you're living but as for me in my household we'll serve the lord as joshua was speaking joshua began his life and we meet him he's a slave in the brick pits of egypt he's moses assistant he makes the journey from the enslavement in egypt through the plagues through the parted red sea he lived on manna in the desert and drank water that came from a rock the generation of his peers saw moses come down the mountain with the ten commandments they benefited from the protection the grace and the mercy of god but they said we will not follow god into the promised land you know it's very possible in fact the caution of scripture is that it's it's probable that we will gobble up the blessings of god and enjoy the benefits but refuse to follow i would encourage you not to be one of those people follow the lord yield to him submit to him that generation is gone only joshua and caleb remain they have the next generation now and it's time to occupy the promised land and near the end of joshua's life joshua looks at that group and says it's time for you to decide you've got to choose for yourselves whom you're going to serve it doesn't matter who your grandparents worshipped it doesn't matter how your parents worship you have to choose we're a little culpable on this point folks we we tend to carry the traditions forward if it was good enough for our grandparents it'll work for us if it worked for our parents we'll take it or you've upgraded your technology and you've changed your travel schedule and how you vacation and how you think about leisure time but when it comes to your faith you just plug and play it generation to generation it doesn't require any review that's a long way from reality the fundamentals of our faith don't change but their application and what we're required to stand up for and stand against changes with every generation the things facing us would befuddle my grandparents they wouldn't even understand the evening news right now not that they didn't have the moral character to stand they just never imagined that they would have to see what we're watching we have to make a decision what we're going to believe what we're going to stand for what kind of people will we be you know it's startling to me how hard it is to find moral clarity these days in our schools and our universities in our halls of government and even in pulpits the places where we would expect patriotism and honor and courage to be represented the most discussed the most held up the most are strangely silent instead of civics our students are steeped in moral ambivalence even cynicism they're routinely taught to believe that america represents nothing more than one of many different equal nations that there's no such thing as a better or a worse culture in fact it would be inappropriate they're told to even imagine such a thing only morally equivalent ones that cultural value differ cultural values different from our own regardless of their substance need to be celebrated in the spirit of tolerance and that all things considered americans have at least as much to answer for is to be proud of that's moral relativism at its worst it undermines the love of our country and it provides intellectual insulation to our enemies it represents a grave threat to our long-term national security and it has to stop but i assure you there's no chance of it stopping until we decide it's not good moral clarity doesn't require an uncritical evaluation of our american history or even our western ideals patriotism is not crude nationalism injustice's shortcomings and sins are certainly a part of the american story and we should say so but once you've said that a fair and serious study of history shows that america without a doubt has been and continues to be a great force for good in the modern world and our children need to know that we are heirs to a precious legacy but the perpetuation of our nation is not assured every generation has to make a choice folks if we just live on the blessings and the goodness of the sacrifices of the preceding generations we will leave those who follow us bankrupt more than financially as pericles said to his fellow athenians your country has a right to your services in sustaining the glories of her position these are a common source of pride to you all and you cannot decline the burdens of empire and still expect to share its honors an america that declines its burdens a nation indifferent as to why it fights it will deteriorate it will decline and it will ultimately fall that's the prospect we face we have a choice to make we've got to stop being critical and whining and complaining and asking somebody to give us something new the time has come to begin remembering i would submit we need to regain a sense of our national pride i'm opposed to those who criticize our story and our outcomes i would submit to you that they have an agenda and they are deceptive we are a nation that emerged from a desire for religious freedom i know that annoys many and there are many who would like to hide it or diminish it or not retell it but that's the truth we were a nation that was birthed from the sacrifices of a group of people several groups of people who had a desire to worship jesus of nazareth without the intervention or interference of formal governments they weren't trying to avoid the the moral influence of the christian faith on those who governed them they were trying to avoid the intervention of the governing forces in their worship that's a clear part of our history william bradford the separatists the puritans many others brought you a couple quotes most of us tragically don't know our history if you don't know it you're very easily manipulated james madison the primary author of the constitution that's that document that at least at once upon a time we imagine shaped our laws james madison said this we have staked the whole future of our new nation not upon the power of government far from it we have staked the future of all of our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the ten commandments the primary author of the constitution said that that we're responsible to govern ourselves not as everybody sees truth in the most relativistic of ways but according to the principles of the ten commandments every generation has to make a decision for ourselves do you have the courage to say to our generation the ten commandments are a good thing or will we capitulate to the pressure and there's much of it every generation doesn't choose the same in 1965 the courts denied as unconstitutional the right of a student in a public school cafeteria to bow his head and to pray audibly for his food in 1980 in stone v graham it outlawed the ten commandments in our public schools the supreme court said this i quote if the posted copies of the ten commandments were to have any effect at all it would be to induce school children to read them and if they read them and meditated upon them and perhaps venerated them and obeyed them this is not a permissible objective every generation has to make a choice we have a long history of bad laws being reversed it's what has sustained our freedom and liberty we're going to need the courage to say that the principles represented in the ten commandments would be a good thing in our schools and our businesses in our public square we took out the ten commandments and replaced them with police officers is anybody paying attention you know we're a nation of immigrants we've come from the nations of the world typically we came because we were fleeing from something we didn't come here just because we wanted a cruise we were fleeing from famine or oppression or something we're not bound together as a nation because we look the same because we certainly don't or because we have the same accent or we share a common ethnic heritage we gathered in this land to pursue an idea it was the idea which launched this nation it was shaped by that pursuit of a religious freedom a desire to worship jesus don't be confused about that thomas jefferson embodied it when he put the declaration of independence together we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty in the pursuit of happiness i assure you that historically governments do not imagine all people are equal i can take you to nation after nation through empire after empire through almost any century of history in which you would like to look and there's no pers there's no suggestion that governments have believed all people were created equal in our declaration of independence jefferson acknowledged that we have a creator and that the rights that we have the liberty and the freedom we have comes from almighty god not from the government we're confused church and some knucklehead says you're non-essential and we said okay if they can silence you if they can take your moral perspective and your worldview and push it to the side or put it behind the curtain or bully you or intimidate you or convince you to be silent we will lose our freedoms we have a uniquely beautiful nation a mile upon mile of beautiful beaches great lakes majestic mountains the rockies the grand tetons the smokies the ozarks we have vast deserts great plains beautiful forests it's a beautiful nation god has blessed america god has blessed america we've enjoyed freedoms and liberties that most have only dreamed about i have traveled a good bit there's not another place on earth that even remotely resembles what we take for granted we're farmers and factory workers and scientists we're explorers we've been to the moon we live in crowded cities and we spread across vast prairies we have believed in marriage between a man and a woman we've been advocates for family for the importance of keeping your word we built our businesses upon that principle wherever you travel in america you see churches city after city town after town village after village historic churches new churches if you look carefully you'll see scripture verses carved in the stone of our public buildings public monuments honoring our faith and our values that's our heritage we are a creative and innovative people it's our values that have enabled that innovation we're not smarter we're not more cooperative we're not more diligent we haven't worked hard harder it's our value system that's enabled that creativity to emerge from us after all we're a nation of immigrants we're a melting pot you know the list and i'm sure many more alexander graham bell henry ford george washington carver garrett morgan do you know his contribution the three light traffic signal god bless him we put men on the moon in the hubble telescope in space we built railroads and ships rockets and jet engines i had fun with this i started making a list of famous u.s inventions i picked my favorites chocolate chip cookies we gave that to the world dental floss when i read that i wonder if that included waxed and cinnamon how far did that creativity go hearing aids cardiac defibrillators radiocarbon dating traffic lights crash test dummies microwave ovens assembly lines the laser chemotherapy video games email transistors the internet we're builders we build bridges from the golden gate to the brooklyn bridge to the seven mile bridge through the florida keys we build buildings the empire state building the gateway arch in st louis and the space needle in seattle we built space shuttles and space stations we built disneyland and disney world we built ferris wheels another american invention we built the personal computer and cell phones could we have that back we're warriors we have stood for freedom and liberty for more than two centuries from the beaches of normandy to the jungles of vietnam or the deserts of iraq and afghanistan our navy air force army and marines have stood the test our firefighters have been on call they deserve a hand you can give them that amen our firefighters have been on call from the great fire of chicago to the world trade center on 9 11. our police officers have protected and served this nation with sacrifice and honor even when we didn't have the dignity to say thank you we're overcomers we've overcome the great depression we've overcome our own internal failures we have endured world wars and after winning we rebuilt the nations we defeated i assure you that's never been done in human history before we've triumphed in ideological conflicts we overcame fascism through our leadership communism crumbled on the global stage socialism failed their failed ideas they failed repeatedly through history may i encourage you not to default for their deceptive promises today we've lived under the rule of law it began with god's law the ten commandments they were revered and honored by those who wrote our constitution they've been a part of the fabric of our life until just recently it was codified in our constitution it was clearly stated in our bill of rights our laws were to protect us from the government our founders understood we needed that protection governments left unchecked will consume the people they govern it has happened repeatedly throughout human history we cannot stray from the ideas which have fostered this unique experiment in self-government if we do we will lose our freedoms i assure you they're unique in the world i had the opportunity on thursday and friday to do a two-hour talk radio show in los angeles in san diego and i asked southern california to join us in a prayer this weekend it's a prayer we know it's a little simple one sentence prayer god bless america again he has blessed us over and over and over again through our history he has god has blessed our nation from the great awakening that gave the moral clarity to a nation that was largely housed in new england along that atlantic coast it gave that group of people enough moral clarity that they had the courage to stand against great britain and walk towards freedom we've had other movies of the spirit of god another one took place just before the civil war it gave us as a nation the moral courage to stand against the evil of slavery god has blessed our nation over and over and over again and every time he's done it he's brought freedom and liberty to us may god bless america again what choices will this generation make in the most candid of language our nation needs you to stand for your faith i want to encourage you read your bible and think about what you read don't read it as a burden as an assignment as an intrusion read it and stop and think get your friends together and pray don't just get them together and drink don't just get them together to watch a ball game or go to the lake get your friends together and pray we've just had a tremendous victory in our nation texas put a law on the books that would limit abortion saving the lives of thousands of children and the supreme court chose not to react to it get some of your friends together and celebrate that get them together and have a discussion have a party celebrating that thousands of children's lives have been spared it's more important than whatever recreational activity you're planning don't just stop recreating you don't have to stop enjoying the seasons but we need to start acknowledging god in the midst of our lives we've got to make a change don't just listen to the bad news and grumble and point your fingers through the windows of the church and criticize others let's begin to thank god for what we see him doing talk about what you see in here tell the truth to one another again each generation has to choose to honor god for themselves what will our legacy be what's going to be sad of us that the stock market in our day set new highs that our housing cost rose so dramatically we all celebrated our newfound wealth but we couldn't be bothered with the moral issues of our day what will be said of us you see we have a tremendous heritage of faith i've given you just a brief reminder but that's not enough it will not secure our children and grandchildren we must choose god i want to look at the prophets with you for just a moment i won't dive too deeply you can look on your own if you want more information but god gave to ezekiel the prophet ezekiel remember i've told you on many occasions that biblical prophecy is not so much about telling of the future it's about god giving us his perspective on what's happening on earth a prophetic perspective is god's perspective it's god's truth about our behavior and god shows to ezekiel what he saw taking place in the midst of his people in jerusalem and it's focused on the temple of all the places in the city the one that's expected expected to be the holiest the most righteous it's ezekiel 8 and verse 9 god said to me go and see the wicked abominations they're committing there god's perspective on what was happening in the temple was that they were wicked abominations now again remember who's being described they're the covenant people of god these are the descendants of abraham isaac and jacob of moses and king david and solomon they have a remarkable heritage but in this particular generation they have turned their back away not so much suddenly in a single generation it typically happens in increments one small step at a time until you finally drifted so far you have lost sight of what was there you know it only takes three generations to completely lose an idea how many of you ever used a rotary dial telephone a bunch of old people in the church today how many of you have never used a rotary dial telephone god bless you it doesn't take long for an idea to be lost you know for thousands and thousands of years the fastest means of land transportation available to a human being was a fast horse that means everybody knew how to put a bridle on a horse it's like getting in a car most folks know how to do that it's not strange you don't walk around the outside and go i don't know what to do with that you don't go to the zoo and look at one of them in a cage and go what a strange looking machine i wonder what it's for everybody knew how to put a bridle on a horse and my father was a veterinarian and he only treated horses so nobody asked my opinion i got to grow up around horses and that included how to put a bridle on one so i can do that you may say well it's no big deal but i want to ask you how you think you're going to get a steel bit between that animal's teeth you gonna say smile i mean some of you watch mr ed on nickelodeon not in real time but most horses don't open their mouth when you approach and yet for thousands and thousands of years genghis khan the mongol invader the apostle paul and my grandfather they all rode horses but if your life depended on saddling a horse or hitching a team today we'd be in trouble and this is tennessee it doesn't take long to lose an idea folks it doesn't take long every generation has to choose and god said to ezekiel what's happening is an abomination that's a good it's a big word for not good the elders if you read the passage the elders are worshiping idols they're worshiping a pagan fertility god and that worship usually included sexual immorality on behalf of the worshipers so there was some pleasure rolled into it it's not just theoretical worship in the next chapter god pronounces judgment it's worth noting it's ezekiel 9 and verse 4 the lord said to him he's speaking to the angel that he sent to jerusalem go through the midst of the city even through the midst of jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst it's a very important sentence everybody in the city wasn't an idolater everybody hadn't turned their back on god but it's a minority and so god said i want you to go through the city to the angel i want you to mark everybody who is groaning over what's happening but to the others he said in my hearing go through the city after him and strike do not let your eye have pity don't spare utterly slay old men young men maidens little children women but don't touch any man on whom is the mark and you can start in the sanctuary start with the religious leaders when god says it's an abomination it's not a subtle thing i wonder what degree we groan over what's happening in our nation see i think those ezekiel passages are very relevant to the united states and the western world right now because we've taken our biblical worldview and made a pretty concerted effort to set it aside in our legal systems on our college campuses and the way we do business please don't imagine you can take advantage of people who are less aware than yourself or less prepared than yourself or incapable of defending themselves against your experience if you take advantage of those persons and you call it good business and profit god will come for you we're confused we're confused the professing church i've spent my life in the church has been infiltrated with spiritual filth and wickedness we're unapologetic we gloat we boast about diminishing the word of god i like history i think it helps us understand how to respond to the present the rebellion of the 1960s and almost everybody looks at the 60s and say it was a time when public rebellion defined our nation it hasn't ended we've just made it respectable the rebels of the 60 have they're controlling the seats of power these days it's infiltrated the corridors of power from government to academia even the church immorality that's the new morality it's based on personal preference have you heard we have new ways of exegesis exegesis is kind of a fancy word for how you interpret the bible this isn't subtle it's not some peripheral thing it's mainstream now the journal for the study of the new testament from the university of sheffield a very respected place make statements like this biblical texts are declared hopelessly patriarchal means it's intolerable to the degree to which men have authority over women they suggest a counter reading reading the text defiantly against the grain genesis one through three we've got to do something about that we can't establish god as the creator establishing an order in fact the serpent is seen as the liberator even the heroine god is a jealous tyrant concerned only with the preservation of his prerogative god's cast in the role of satan and satan in the role of god that's the drivel that's being given to the leaders that are being trained for our churches not a theory ezekiel said only those who sigh and groan for the abominations are the one who are spared don't be angry don't be condemning begin to cry out to god be merciful to us begin to use your full influence gather your friends and pray talk about the good things you see god doing help others think about that raise their awareness they're busy it's highly probable they're busy doing their own thing but you taking the time to invite them into the discussion might help them some will think you're weird we are hallelujah it's okay amos one of the minor prophets amos is a farmer but the word amos means burden amos is a man with a burden amos 6 and verse 3 do you put off the day of calamity would you bring near the seat of violence those who recline on beds of ivory and sprawl on their couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall who improvise to the sound of the harp and like david have composed songs for themselves who drink wine from sacrificial bowls while they anoint themselves with the finest of oils yet they have not grieved over the ruin of joseph amos has a burden he said you're looking at your blessings and imagining that you're okay you're not grieving for the ungodliness it's kind of a dark picture at this point but honestly i think there are some reasons for significant hope and they're not fabricated it doesn't take a reach you don't need any exegetical gymnastics a casual reading of the scripture would give you reason for hope in many generations generation upon generation the bible identifies for us intercessors but read through church history will provide the same not in every generation but many times people who are willing to stand in the gap spiritually not to go along with the crowd to be unique to be different maybe to be weird not weird in how you dress or weird in your vocabulary weird in your worldview weird and what you aspire to your dreams for your children folks your dreams for your children need to be significantly different than the dreams that the ungodly have for their children jezebel and ahab are the gold standard for wickedness in the hebrew bible they are wicked beyond description they led the entire nation into immorality and ungodliness they persecuted the prophets they had to hide the prophets in caves and feed them secretly and god called elijah he put a spirit in elijah to stand up against ahab and jezebel elijah couldn't do it in his strength or his wisdom or his power it's very clear from the narrative elijah would become physically exhausted emotionally completely spent there would be nothing left within his person with the ability to withstand the evil that was being delivered through ahab and jezebel but god put in him a spirit to resist them it made a difference in the entire nation god had someone to stand in first kings 19 it says ahab told jezebel all that elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword the prophets of baal and jezebel sent a messenger to him saying so may the gods do to me and even more if i don't make your life is the life of one of them by about this time tomorrow and he was afraid and he ran for his life you imagine the audacity to send a message to a man who just called fire from heaven think about the brazenness of this really in your personal experience you don't don't step out of the bible imagine you knew somebody that called fire out of heaven and you knew it was real not some parlor trick somebody with that much awareness that much whatever and you send him a message i'll kill you tomorrow no repentance no shame no humiliation and then the most startling part of that little narrative to me elijah ran for his life that's why i know that in his person in himself in his strength he was no match for that you and i are not a match for the evil in the world we're not a match for the dishonesty and the manipulation in the lies we're not a match for the hatred we're not a match for the murderous spirit that's rolling over our nation we're not a match for the immorality and the the witchcraft we're not a match for that but the spirit of the living god is and if we will submit ourselves to him he will help us in first kings 21 two chapters later god says of jezebel the lord has spoken jezebel made her boast she made her threat and god says i have something to say to her do tell the dogs will eat jezebel in the district of jezreel and that's not a euphemism the dogs ate jezebel's body every generation has to make a choice in matthew 11 jesus is speaking he said if you're willing to accept it john himself is elijah who was to come before jesus could deliver his message somebody with the spirit of elijah there was much to stand against there was much evil and much darkness and they've drifted a long way away from worshiping the lord and before the message of jesus could be received someone with the spirit of elijah needed to be there and jesus said it was john the baptist the same spirit that brought jesus from the dead the same spirit that enabled elijah and john the baptist the same spirit that brought jesus out of the tomb dwells in you now what will we do with that well we say oh i don't much believe in that i don't want to be a fanatical i don't want to go too far you know i don't i do i want to find the limit i want to find the edge of what makes sense build the ramp and i want to hit it at full speed i'm tired of this middle of the road attitude folks i grew up in tennessee the only thing that stays in the middle of the road long is a possum and if you grew up in tennessee you know what happened to it god prepared john the baptist for his generation he prepared moses to confront pharaoh he can prepare joshua to defeat the canaanites he prepared daniel to face the babylonians and the persians he prepared nehemiah to rebuild the walls of jerusalem he prepared zerubbabel to build the second temple he prepared peter for pentecost for his leadership in the jerusalem church and to be the one that could open the doorway into the non-jewish world with the news of jesus of nazareth he prepared paul for the roman world and i believe with all my heart god will provide us with the strength for the challenges we face if we will yield to him i do there's hope look at psalm 71 16 i will go in the strength of the lord god i'll make mention of your righteousness of yours only don't say i'm only one or i'm not powerful or i don't have many friends on facebook god does not need your social media presence he needs our lives submitted to him which leads me to the second reason for hope it's the power of repentance this isn't about the government or who's elected or political parties or fair elections this is about our hearts if we get our hearts right god will speak to our generation the same way he spoke to jezebel i believe it our hearts are what are the about the question you see repentance releases belief and faith and faithfulness in the people of god if this generation is to have the moral courage and clarity of the preceding generations that brought good things forth we will have to practice repentance in ways we have not yet considered because the need is greater the season is different we have demonstrations in the streets these days we've been having them for over a year now they're celebrated they're covered they're interviewed their grievances are aired the things they're dissatisfied with are talked about a great deal we excavate our history demonstrations in the street calling for others to repent somebody else needs to change for me to be happy somebody else needs to live live differently for me to fulfill my potential we're very aware of the sins of other people even other generations but we're much less concerned with our own heart condition and our own obedience to god church we've got to do better the problem isn't outside the windows of the church it's in our hearts mark chapter 1 and verse 14 after john was put in prison jesus went into galilee proclaiming the good news of god the time has come he said the kingdom of god is near repent and believe the good news if jesus came to our nation today i believe the message would be repent or you won't be able to believe the good news you see if you don't repent you won't think jesus is coming with good news he'll be an intrusion if you don't repent you'll like the old news better but i've got plans i've got investments i'm on a track it's working repent and believe the good news hosea chapter 10 sow for yourselves righteousness reap the fruit of unfailing love break up your unplowed ground it is time to seek the lord until he comes and showers righteousness on you i like that imagery break up the unplowed ground maybe there are places we have repented maybe there are places we've invited god in but i suspect there are places we've ignored it but this isn't about your age it's not just the young people that need to be moral if you've got gray hair do you think biblical morality doesn't apply to you do you think you can set it aside casually without consequence what has happened to us what has happened to us i'm going to ask you to consider repentance not with me for a few moments i don't want you to be in a hurry i want to ask you to thoroughly examine the state of your heart and see where you are apart from the comfort of a sanctuary where we all know the answer is jesus i want to ask you to spend a little time check to see if you're walking with god every day or with the devil it's not that hard you'll know be honest with yourself don't blame somebody the minute you start blaming somebody else you're in trouble and i really don't mean for you to glance at your past life just to see that it's been full of sins and then go to god with a general confession oh god forgive me i've been a mess we've done that there's a time and a place for that i'm not saying it's inappropriate or it's even ineffective but that's not the way today i'm going to ask you to look at your sins one by one take a pen and a paper if you prefer you can do it digitally but there's something substantive about a pen and paper take a pen and paper as you go over them and write down each sin as it occurs to you ask the spirit of god make a list that's not my idea folks i borrowed it from charles finney some of you will know him from the history of the church go over them carefully as if you were evaluating a bill or a receipt or preparing your taxes give at least as much attention to the things that separate you from god as you give to the things that you think will bring you profit don't treat them lightly each time a sin comes to mind add it to the list i i brought you a little starter set and i put them into two categories the first ones they're commonly but i really think they're improperly called sins of omission things that we failed to do things we've neglected in gratitude we just failed to be thankful we're so arrogant we think we deserve something we think our children deserve health care our children deserve an education we deserve heating and air conditioning we deserve grocery stores with food on the shelves who said so most of the world doesn't sleep on a clean sheet at night ingratitude a lack of love for god i mean yeah yeah we love him but not as much as we love our hobby or neglecting our bible we have access to bibles stacks of them we argue about translations a poor spiritual attitude of lack of love for the souls of others i sit with leaders routinely they're angry if their group can't meet in the room where they want to meet they're not going to cooperate if they can't do the study they want to do are you kidding me we live in a community where tens of thousands people would go to hell if today were the last opportunity what has happened to us every generation has to make a choice our hypocrisy neglecting to watch over fellow believers to neglect our own self-denial then there's our ungodly choices these are the things we proactively we know the rules we just don't want to keep them worldliness we worship comfort and convenience if it's not comfortable pride pride may be the most destructive on the whole list pride cost satan his place in heaven pride took a third of the angels out of their places in heaven envy looking at what other people have and saying i deserve that not what did they do to accumulate that not how hard what sacrifice i just want that i'm not going to be content until i get one of those a critical spirit don't wrap that in spiritual language don't call it discernment don't call it a burden for prayer don't gossip in the name of prayer gossiping gets put in the same list with sexual immorality don't do that slander a lack of respect lying we've got a whole new set of vocabulary vocabulary words for lying we spin it i'm not going through the list do you know them cheating it's not good business it's still cheating hypocrisy robbing god giving's not optional folks the portion of what you're entrusted to belongs to the lord it's not about church budgets it's not even about the integrity of the place you give it and i'm not i'm not advocating for sloppiness there is no excuse for that god will deal with that i assure you but learn to practice generosity we're the most generous nation on earth there's no place like it it's that world view we've held bad temper it's not just the way you are it's permission you give yourself to be emotionally sloppy unforgiveness you can't do it again the assignment is to spend a little time this week it's probably more than a one day thing because usually it takes me a few days to let all the ideas coalesce maybe you start a list don't lay it out for everybody else to review please don't do it in the social media and after you get your list made don't post it and ask somebody else who shares those if you want to post something post a picture of the group of people you got together with to celebrate the thousands of children's lives that are being spared because of the courage of some legislators i'd rather see that than a picture of your food [Applause] if you'll take that list and as the spirit of god helps you build it it doesn't take a lot of drama you can take it and say lord i'm sorry i am truly sorry not in church not because anybody else is watching god i've done it little by little day by day i didn't even notice it was happening but i found myself someplace i don't want to be and i don't want to stay there i want to make a choice that will not only bring your best to my life but it would bring your best to a generation who follows me if you'll do that i think we'll see god speak into what's around us i have no doubt about it you have god's attention do you know what a profoundly important thing that is what a profoundly important thing it's an exciting time there's a spirit in you that god has placed there to stand against the darkness in our world and you can begin with something so powerful and so profound as repentance if we will do that we will see god move in the most dramatic of ways he may move through the it may come through the scientific community it may come through the economy it'll come it'll have some physical expression but you will know behind it is the spirit of god i brought you a prayer why don't you stand with me we'll read it together every generation has to make a choice for themselves god bless america again again again have you found your prayer let's read it together heavenly father forgive us for ignoring your counsel and choosing our own way we have turned our backs on your goodness and abundant blessings we have chosen pride and indulgence over righteousness and purity we humble ourselves today in repentance asking for mercy we are a nation in need of healing only almighty god can restore our fortunes we cry out to you today for mercy we don't blame others for our circumstances we have walked this path this day we acknowledge almighty god as the judge of all the earth may the name of jesus of nazareth be lifted up in our homes our city our state and our nation in jesus name amen hallelujah god bless you [Music] you

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Length: 86min 54sec (5214 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021