Heaven's Crowns | Counter Culture Living

good morning bbc thank you so much for joining us this morning to everybody who's joining us online good morning we love you and we're so excited to be praising god with you today on such a wonderful day so let's just sing our praises to him and if you're in the building with us feel free to stand [Music] that crazy weapon that silences the enemy and life rays all anxiety let it [Applause] name in rise dark and it changes everything and we sing with all we are and we claim your victory [Music] is [Music] we praise you let's say through the song that overcomes [Music] let it rise [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] we praise you [Music] this is what living looks like this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise you we praise you this this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise you we praise you [Music] forever [Music] we praise [Music] you we praise you [Music] when all i see is see my victory [Music] when all i see [Music] to is there's nothing to fear now for i am safe so when i fight i'll fight on my [Music] i'll knees through the night oh god it belongs to you and if you are for me who can be against me [Music] for jesus there's nothing [Music] when all i see are the ashes you see the beauty [Music] is [Music] belongs to you [Music] [Music] [Music] you win everybody [Music] if you go before us [Music] instead [Music] and dear god i just want to thank you for today just want to thank you for another day that we're able to come and just be in your presence as believers just be here and worshiping you and just lifting up every single praise that we have to you god and just being able to bask in your greatness and just the fact that there's nothing that you can't overcome there's no battle that's too big for you there's there's no mountain that you that you can't help us climb god because you are so great god and you're a champion over everything god and i just pray that as we're here today we will just be able to know that without you god we are nothing there's no there's no mountain that we can overcome god when we're not doing it through your strength so i just pray that as we're singing we'll just be able to surrender ourselves fully to you god and just just to know that it's through your power and it's through your strength that we're able to overcome and i just pray that truth over all of us as we're worshiping you this morning [Music] amen i've tried so hard to see it took me so long to believe it that you choose someone like me to carry your victory perfection [Music] [Music] you take the broken things [Music] when you stand [Music] i am who you say i am [Music] [Music] so [Music] this is [Music] i am [Music] [Music] every wall comes crashing down i have the authority jesus has given me [Music] miracles [Music] jesus has given me [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] you give life you are love you bring light to the darkness you give hope you restore every heart that [Music] your is in our lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praises your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you holy [Music] [Music] is [Music] brain [Music] to you me [Music] oh [Music] our hearts will cry these bones they'll say come on [Music] will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones [Music] our hearts will rise [Music] so [Music] is [Music] we [Music] so we pour out our best [Music] thank you so much for worshiping this church if you're here in the building feel free to have a seat and here's what's coming up at bbc in the next few weeks [Music] [Music] okay hey guys so today's the first day of sports camp and we're out here playing ultimate frisbee it's been a really really hot day but our freezies the water has been keeping us extra cold the kids are very active they're all taking an initiative and there's a lot of communication happening which is good but the way this works is when you catch the frisbee you can't run with the frisbee you have to stop and you have to know who your teammate is and then you kind of like pivot like that ready go [Music] hey church family pastor natasha here with a special message about small groups even though we have about 50 groups running right now it's not nearly enough to meet the needs of our church we are looking for those who are willing to serve our lord by becoming shepherds and ministers otherwise known as small group leaders specifically we are busting at the seams with our family-friendly groups that is groups where children are welcome and we're also looking to start a single small group and a group for older christians we can't meet these needs without you maybe you're already in a small group and have thought of leading but haven't taken that step yet or maybe you have a desire to serve god on a deeper level but aren't sure what to do i am challenging any of you who have grown in your spiritual maturity and have a heart to serve the lord to step forward and share his love with others help your brothers and sisters here at bbc to grow and flourish so they can go out in confidence to be the salt and the light for jesus in their homes communities and our city training and details will be provided you can sign up or find out more by checking out the church website under small groups on the ministries page or email me at enbenavidas bramalee.org god bless amen let's join our hearts on word of prayer together let's pray heavenly father we thank you for this community of bramley baptist church we're so grateful father that we can gather here together and online and uh father where we can just uh worship you together and we can hear your word together and we can pray together and we can be transformed and changed together help us father through your spirit this morning to do that help us father to receive and to take in and to be changed by what we hear for we pray this in jesus name amen well good morning it was uh sunday september the 8th 1998 the ballpark was packed even though the st louis cardinals had absolutely no hope of making the finals that was the day that mark maguire hit home run number 62 beating the record that had been set by roger maris some 37 years before and for the next three weeks that record kept going up and up and up until finally on september the 27th he hit home run number 70. and i share this because i remember that i i remember that day i remember watching it on the television as he hit that home run and he put his arms up and he started running around those bases and those thousands of thousands of people standing to their feet and they were cheering him and they were yelling stuff and it was it was this incredible celebration that took place and i remember as that was happening thinking to myself what would that be like you ever wonder that what would that be like to hit home run number 70 to have all those people standing and cheering as you run around the bases with your hands raised in triumph what would that feel like have you ever secretly wanted to be in the shoes of someone like that just for a moment maybe hitting a record or winning a gold medal in the olympic games and standing on that podium winning the nobel peace prize or winning an oscar for best actor or actress singing as a lead in a broadway play i think many people in this life aspire to greatness but few of us will really honestly ever achieve it this world has a limited number of crowns the good news is is that the next life does not in the next life we will all wear crowns and be able to cast those crowns down in the next life everyone will receive their reward those who have never heard the cheers of men will hear the cheers in the presence of god from the angels the small will be great the unnoticed will be noticed the forgotten will be remembered today we're continuing in our series on counter cultural living god calls us to be different god calls us to stand out in this world in which we live and one of the reasons we're different one of the reasons that that as you leave this place and maybe you're standing in the grocery store you know getting some food one of the things that makes you different probably than the person beside you is the fact that you believe in something different than them that you believe that this world is not all there is that you believe that you have a heavenly home that is waiting for you in glory you have a hope that that person perhaps does not have and because you have that hope you're different you have a different outlook you have a different perspective when you realize that this world is not all there is it changes the way you think it modifies your behavior as believers in jesus christ we understand that we have a future destiny that we have an eternal home that is waiting for us in glory i want you to turn within your bibles just read this one passage this morning revelations 21 verse 4. revelations 21 verse 4 it says he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away crowns has have always been a sign of authority of kingship charlemagne wore an octagonal crown eight sides each laden with gold and a jewel richard the lionheart had a crown that was so heavy that when he wore it he had to have two earls that would stand beside him and hold his head up because it was so heavy on his forehead the crown that queen elizabeth wears is valued at over 4 billion dollars think about that for a minute 4 billion with a b dollars edward ii once had 9 crowns which is something of a record however none of these crowns compare with the crowns that we will receive one day my name is stephen and if you don't know this stephen comes from the greek word stefa stefanus which means a crowned one so i like that i'm a crowned one but the reality is is in jesus we're all stephen right we're all stephanos we're all crowned ones because the bible says that when we get to heaven there is a crown that waits for us not just one the bible talks about four specific crowns that each one of us will receive number one the first is the crown of life the crown of life james 1 12 says blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that god has promised to those who love him heaven will be wonderful not just because of what is there but also because of what is not there and can i tell you one of the things that there is not in heaven there is no more death no more death the crown of life imagine that in this life we go through life in this tent the body is compared with a ten and we all know what tents are like right if you ever slept in a tent you know they're fragile you know a big win can come it can tear that tent up they're uncomfortable they're drafty they fray you know tents are not very good as a long-term solution they're okay in the short term but long term not so much we go through life in this tent and we recognize that this tent is temporary that our lives can be taken at any moment it's as simple as a car accident i don't know if you all know but uh but pastor bev and brett was in a car accident a few weeks ago they were rear-ended by someone it just happened in an instant the car just didn't stop and smashed into the back of them and they're okay sore but okay but that can happen to any of us i mean a car doesn't see you you're out of light a car doesn't see you slams into you and it's done you can slip and fall in the shower you i mean it can happen at any time we do not know how long the lord is going to allow us to live on this earth we don't know when we will die you've heard me tell this story before but back in 1911 there was a stuntman by the name of bobby leach and he wanted to be the first man to go over niagara falls in a barrel and survive and so he came up with this plan he built this special barrel out of metal he studied exactly where that barrel had to be put into the niagara river in order to go over and not hit the rocks at the bottom but hit the water that was below he planned it for months and months and months built that barrel with padding and precision and he got in the barrel and he went over the falls and he survived amazing amazing accomplishment that barrel is in the museum right now but what you may not know about bobby leach is a few months after doing that amazing thing he was back in his home new zealand and he was walking down the street and he slipped on an orange peel that was on the ground and he fell and he broke his leg they took him to the hospital and he died in the hospital of complications the guy that had survived niagara falls the guy that had gone over a barrel in niagara falls dies by slipping on an orange peel as he's walking down the road that should remind us that that can happen to anybody we have no idea and for all of our exercise and exercise is good and eating right and you know being healthy as we could and trying to extend our life and we and again those are good things there are no guarantees there are no guarantees back in 2006 steve irwin the crocodile hunter anybody who's older remembers him was filming a documentary on the great barrier reef this is a guy that routinely would you know put his head inside the the mouth of an alligator a crocodile he would allow you know poisonous spiders to climb up his arm he would you know wrestle with huge pythons and other poisonous snakes this is a guy who routinely handled some of the deadliest creatures on earth he was filming this series on the great barrier reef and they were shooting and then the guy said you know we got to go get some more film and so you know just take a half an hour and just you know relax and he thought half an hour i'm just gonna go for a swim and so he put on his mask and a snorkel and he jumped off the boat and he was just swimming in the shallow water no sharks no danger and as he's swimming along he swam over top of a stingray and the stingray was spooked and the sp stingray stuck its tail up with that spine and it went right into his heart it was a fluke it was one in a million shot but it penetrated his heart and he bled to death before they could get him to help it was a fluke it was a freak accident death can come as a surprise like steve irwin like bobby leach or death can come slowly you can receive a doctor's report and you know that the next months are going to be difficult the next months are going to be hard whatever the case we all know that someday we're going to die it's just a matter of when revelations 2 10 says do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer i tell you the devil will put some of you to prison to test you and you will suffer persecution for 10 days be faithful even to the point of death and i will give you the crown of life heaven will be wonderful because there will be no more goodbyes never again will you have to say goodbye no more funerals no more lonely grave sides imagine that imagine that when we lived in kuwait we would uh have the opportunity sometimes very seldom maybe once a year maybe twice a year to come back and spend a couple months in canada and uh we always looked so forward to it but the problem was as soon as you got off the plane you know you're picked up at the airport you're taken you know we would go and stay at my mom's house and you would start unpacking your bags but you knew as you're unpacking your bag you knew that in a couple weeks time you were going to be putting that same stuff back in the bag that is wonderful it was to be picked up at the airport and how wonderful it was to arrive that very very shortly you would have to be getting on a plane again and saying goodbye the wonderful thing about heaven no more goodbye just life just abundant life forever and forever the crown of life number one no more death no more separation no more goodbyes but number two the crown of life and number two the crown of righteousness the crown of righteousness is the second crown in jesus we have been imputed with the righteousness of christ in other words we have been pronounced innocent but we understand that we're not innocent right because we all blow it we all sin we all make mistakes in this life there's no such thing as perfection you can try you can be nice you can do good things but we all understand our hearts we all understand that we're fallen we all understand that we're sinful and god doesn't try to change that fact instead he gives us a substitute he gives us someone to die in our place so we are imputed with the righteousness of christ we are pronounced innocent but we still continue to blow it this past week has been a roller coaster ride for our family um we finally sold did sell our house so i'm lighter by you know a lot this week than i was last week but as i said last week moving is awful moving is just terrible i mean there's so much involved in the process that's just absolutely miserable and with all of the stress and with all of the pressure and with all of the stuff going on of you know we were basically living like nomads every time someone wanted to see the house you have to leave and you know so we were basically living our days in my office as a family with the cat there and everybody else you know there it was it was it was quite a sight but very very stressful and sometimes you would know 15 minutes before the showing you would get the thing and everybody would grab grab the cat grab the litter everybody out the door and and off you and off you'd go um very stressful and i have to say that over the last couple of weeks there may have been a little bit of crankiness in the shane household mostly from me uh but uh you know afraid nerves just just you know words being said not in the right tone you know just not fun and we recognize in life it's like that you say something and you don't mean it you do something and it hurts someone you we all are like that the good news is that when we get to heaven we are not only pronounced innocent we will be innocent no more sin second timothy 4 7 i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith and now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing how many tears have you cried over stupid things you have done have you ever carried around with you guilt over a mistake that you made sometimes years and years and years dealing with the guilt of that choice on earth it is impossible to live a perfect life in heaven it is guaranteed we all know that last year ravi zacharias died and so many were grieved to find out after his death that in the investigation that followed there were some very very serious things some very very serious improprieties and sin that had been committed and that sin not only tarnished his name it tarnished the name of his family it tarnished the name of his ministry forever the good news of heaven is that there's no more sin romans 7 22 for in my inner being i delight in god's law but i seek another law at work in the members of my body waging a war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work in my members or what a wretched man am i who will rescue me from this body of death this is the world we live in but this is not the next the promise is this is not the next the crown of righteousness awaits us imagine a world without sin imagine a world without racism hatred without lust where there's no more hurt feelings no more arguments no more unforgiveness enemies on earth will walk hand in hand in heaven the lion will lay down with the lamb there will be no more sin the crown of life number one the crown of righteousness number two but number three the third crown that the bible talks about is the crown of glory so what's the crown of glory you've probably heard this story before but back in 1909 there was a missionary couple who had spent their entire lives ministering and living in africa and because of health because they just weren't able to continue anymore they were on their way back to the states they got on this boat as the boat was heading back to america they realized that president teddy roosevelt was also on that boat and he was coming back from a hunting trip in africa i mean he had gone he'd spent a couple weeks there and all the press were following him around and wherever he went on the boat there were people the fanfare was there and there were people and and this old missionary couple were there and the husband said this isn't right this isn't right you know here's teddy roosevelt guy spends two weeks you know shooting game in africa comes back to a hero's welcome everyone following him around everyone giving him praise and acclaim and here we are we've spent our entire life ministering and laboring in africa and we're coming home and nobody even knows our name nobody even knows us zero recognition the boat eventually arrived in new york as the president's getting off their band starts playing everyone's cheering you know they're they're throwing that paper you know there's this huge welcome and this old missionary couple just kind of slips off they find a small little flat to stay in overnight and again the husband says this isn't right this just isn't right i mean we come home and and there's nobody here to greet us there's no one here to even acknowledge what we've done and the wife says you know go talk to the lord go in the bedroom and talk to the lord and sort it out with him i don't want to hear it anymore and so he goes into the bedroom stomps his feet and goes into the bedroom a little while he comes out and his mood is completely changed and the wife said did you settle it with the lord he says yes i settled it with the lord and she said well what happened and i i said god i'm i'm really angry because here we are we've come home and there's absolutely no recognition of what we've done and i heard god say to me you're not home yet you're not home yet there will be recognition but not yet there are rewards for faithfulness but not necessarily in this life first peter 5 4 says when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away the crown of glory that never fade away what you saw on the tv perhaps when mark maguire and then others afterwards hit that home run that the cheers the applause someday you will experience that but not in this life first corinthians 5 4 says at that time each will receive his praise from who from god in other words when you get to heaven isn't going to be some angel that walks up and pats you on the back and says hey good job welcome it it isn't going to be you know some some you know underling or some hireling or or it's going to be god himself standing there waiting for you with those words well done good and faithful servant god himself will give you the praise god himself the glory comes from the fact that god himself will be there to reward you that's the crown of glory and one last crown that's linked to it one last crown is the crown of thanks paul says in first thessalonians 2 19 for what is our hope our joy or the crown in which we glory in the presence of our lord jesus christ when he comes is it not you indeed you are our glory glory and joy paul writes that the the church and thessalonica was his glory it was his crown what is it what did he mean by that what he means by that is someday we're all going to go someday we're all going to die and and if we're part of the family of jesus christ we're going to go to heaven and god's going to be there and god's going to be say you know well done good and faithful servant and as i picture it in my mind it's like well done good and faithful servant oh and by the way there's a couple of people here that would also like to say something and all the people that you've known all the people that you've impacted for paul imagine that day when he gets to heaven and there's this lineup of people saying things like oh you know i'm from thessalonica i'm one of the ones that came to faith my life was changed because you came because you were willing to give your life to share the gospel i'm one of the ones that was saved because of you and on and on and on it goes i want to ask you a question who's going to be there waiting for you who is going to be at heaven's gate waiting for your arrival whose life have you changed whose life is different because you lived and because you were faithful with the message in the ministry that god had given you as i mentioned a few weeks ago i've been in full-time ministry now for 30 years and following jesus has led us around the world and back again and over that time there have been many many people that have impacted me personally there have been many many people who took an interest in me and who gave their life put input their life into my life discipled me helped me ministered to me it's a long list and the good thing is that heaven is is infinite right so you have all the time in the world to take and go and hang out with each one of those people and say thank you but how about you who's going to be waiting for you in glory after you hear well done good and faithful servant who else is going to be there to say thank you thank you for helping me thank you for ministering to me thank you for sharing the love of jesus with me i think most of us have seen the movie schindler's list oscar schindler was not a saint he was a womanizer he was a heavy drinker he was a member of the nazi party and yet oscar schindler is not known he is not remembered for how he lived his life he is remembered for the lives that were saved by him during the second world war oscar schindler had compassion on those that the people around him were trying to kill and so he created a list in a factory in krakow poland he brought in a number of jewish people and sheltered them and protected them more than eleven hundred jews found their way onto that list if you know the movie you remember that powerful scene at the end of the film the war is over oscar schindler now as a german is now the hunted not the hunter and as he slips quietly out into the night those eleven hundred jewish people come to him they had all signed a letter saying this is a man that has helped us this is the man that's been good to us please show him mercy show him dignity they give him that letter they present him with a gold ring that had been taken from the teeth of some of the people that were there and they present that ring to him and one by one they say thank you it's an incredibly powerful scene who will be there to say thank you to you one of my favorite movies is frank capra's it's a wonderful life you've heard me talk about that before and uh the fact that george bailey gets this opportunity to see the difference his life is made to see the difference in in the world because he had been lived what does that look like for you and i think whenever i watch that film i ask myself that question how is the world a different place because i have lived in it is it a different place i think it is for all of us how is the world different in christ we have been called to live lives that are counter-cultural we are different we are different because we have a different hope we are different because we have a different perspective because we have a different future than the world around us we have a heavenly home we have a perspective that this world is not all there is and because we have that perspective we have to be different we have to act differently we have to make the most of every opportunity we have to share the love to share the hope to share the freedom that we have received in christ i think the most powerful thing about schindler's list was after all these people come and and and say thank you oscar schindler could have simply you know walked out of there look at all these people i say look at all these people whose lives are different because of me what a wonderful person i am but you know that isn't how it ends he begins to get convicted he says to himself if i just sold this car five more lives could have been saved this ring on my finger if i had sold this ring two more people could have been saved if i had just done things differently if i had if i had emphasized more on this if i had done this if i had done this how many more lives could be here how many more lives could be saved we all have that opportunity today because we're all this side of eternity we all are standing today on this side of heaven we have the opportunity to make a difference we have the opportunity to make an impact we have the opportunity to change the eternal destiny of a man or woman that jesus christ died for simply by speaking the truth simply by sharing simply by praying simply by giving there are ways that we can make an eternal impact where there can be yet another person standing there our crown of thanks these are the four crowns that await us we should live differently because of them let's bow our hearts in a word of prayer heavenly father we thank you that we do have this hope this wonderful wonderful hope lord your word says that heaven is going to be a wonderful place no more death no more sin god himself will meet us and this crown of thanks that awaits us father we're so grateful lord as we think about this as we consider these things [Music] as we just can get caught up in this this vision of what lies ahead of us father help us to be diligent help us lord to make the most of every day to make the most of every opportunity help us lord to keep our eyes focused outward and not be drawn inward help us lord to remember who you have created us to be and what you have created us to do so thank you father we pray these things in jesus name amen church let's just continue to worship together [Music] [Music] our hearts will cry these bones will sing [Music] our hearts will cry [Music] are you [Music] are you [Music] to pour out [Music] is [Music] so we pour out our praise [Music] we pour out our praises your bread in our lungs [Music] amen now the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord turn his face towards you and grant you his peace god bless [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Bramalea Baptist Church

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Length: 61min 12sec (3672 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 15 2021