The Apostles' Creed (Part 4) - Who Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary

hi Matt Chandler here pastor of the village Church just want to thank you for streaming this sermon on your device I wanted to just before we get going here just lay before you a deep conviction we have that this video sermon that we've prayed really stirs up your affections for Jesus and shapes you and mold you into the image of the son would just be supplemental to your relationship with the Lord and in no way would replace the church you should be plugged into or the pastor that God has put over your life to Shepherd and care for your soul and so please enjoy the next hour or so of this message we have prayed that God would use it in a profound way in your life blessings I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended to hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended to heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father Almighty from whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen how are we doing okay okay for the seven of you that are doing great that's awesome the recipe of you grab your Bibles let's go to Luke chapter one we're just gonna hang out there in Luke chapter one if you're thinking isn't Luke chapter one a Christmas text yeah I figure since the weather broke we would just go ahead and dive in and so Luke chapter one if you're with us today you don't have a Bible there should be a hardback black one somewhere around you if you don't own one that's our gift to you would love for you to just take that begin to read the things that the creator of the universe would want you to know about himself and and how he thinks about you and what he sees when he looks at his creation and so that'd be our gift to you we're in week four of a series on the Apostles Creed and what we've said up until this point I'm not gonna reiterate the entire series but what we've said each week is that the Apostles Creed well over a thousand years old a Bandhan has been used by the church for really primarily two reasons one it's been used to correct air and secondly it's been used as a tool not the tool but a tool in the spiritual formation of God's people and so God what you see as we walk through the Creed is you can see where mankind humankind has historically made some errors and some assumptions some false assumptions about the nature and character of God and you can also see how God is shaping and molding us to understand him more rightly for our own joy and for his glory and so I I want to just right out of the gate tell you that that correction and that formation takes place in what we would as Christians understand as a Genesis 3 world and so again if you don't have a church background or not familiar with the scriptures in Genesis 1 until you see the creation narrative and God creates everything and on repeat there's a great refrain that when he creates it it's good he creates this he creates this he creates this and it was good and it was good and it was good and it was very good and so you get this picture of the universe having kind of a a rhythmic piece to it a real beauty where God's glorious scene where man and woman are flourishing and then in Genesis chapter 3 sin enters the world through the rebellion of the man and the woman and that fractures the cosmos and that fracture in the cosmos is universal what I mean by that is there is nothing created that is not touched by sin entering into the creative order so that now your experience and my experience in a Genesis 3 world is one of we experience brokenness we experience loss we suffer we are perplexed we we question God simply because of the brokenness around us pushes us in that direction and so in this space of a Genesis 3 world with all the testimonies in this room and just so you don't feel alone how many of you have at this point in your life experienced either the kind of loss or a situation that has let you left you perplexed and and somewhat shaken in your confidence in who God is same only want to be bold enough to confess this okay so keep your hands up you everybody so quick on this it's like we're half Baptist or something alright now if you can look at here's what I want you to start feeling safe in this so so look you you're not alone in that you don't need to feel guilty about that and if you're recognizing that one dude doesn't have his hands up well maybe it just didn't time yet maybe the next week is his week for that alright but but nobody gets out of a Genesis 3 world on scathed and it's in this mess that the Creed derived from the Word of God really begins to shape us and mold us and correct us and point us to what is true and what is right and what is good about the creator of the universe now with that said we've been reciting the Creed together every week for the last four weeks regardless of what campus we're on I've just tried to say hey we're doing something that Christians all over the world are doing in this very moment we read the Creed together and when we read the Creed we're doing two things simultaneously especially when it's publicly read in a congregation one we are rejecting real popular narratives of the day that we would not believe are true and then we are saying we reject that and we believe this and so when we recite the Creed together let me give you some examples I've tried to change the example every week so when we stand and we recite the Creed together as the covenant people of God what we're saying is a we reject individualism we reject that I'm gonna be able to solve what's wrong with me with the right mixture of effort and moxie and discipline right I'm gonna reject that I can fix what's wrong in me and I'm gonna believe that the creator of the universe can we reject individualism when we pledge allegiance to the God of the Bible we reject nationalism and we put our allegiance in the God of the Bible what I mean by nationalisms we reject that the values and ideas that drive the United States of America will solve what's wrong in the human heart I don't email me I'm a military brat and a patriot but but I am NOT when all said and done a believer that the values and systems of the United States of America will fix the hearts of men globally or even in America itself right so we reject nationalism we reject individualism and and we say no no no here's where the answer is here's where the answer is so with that said why don't you stand with me if you're not a believer you can stand you can see it you can do whatever this isn't an incantation saying it out loud isn't gonna save you or put a curse on you or anything like that we're just gonna say it together as we reject popular narratives and put our confidence in the God of the Bible now before we read I've noticed this is happening historically the word am II in has been pronounced Amen but I know I'm in Texas and so in Texas it's Amen I'm fine see Amen so I've been here for 20-something years out so I just wanted us to get on the same page let's forget English in history and just go with Amen all right so let's we're gonna at the end we're gonna say Amen instead of the AH men because it's it's gotten confusing for some of us so with that said let's get it I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended to hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended to heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father Almighty from whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and life everlasting amen praise God why don't you have a seat now the the phrase that were tackling in our time together today is actually a phrase that was attached to last week's phrase as it continues to talk about Jesus so last week we looked at and tackled Jesus Christ right the Messiah the king the only Son of God unique in that he has Co eternal with the father he has always been he will always be and that he is our Lord our Savior he alone can rescue us from the real trouble that's in our hearts only he can do that as our Savior but now we learn more about Jesus in the next phrase that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit through the Virgin Mary now that this statement there's there's two ways to kind of do this and I'm not gonna do it either and and so we can do a sermon or we can't do a full-on sermon on the Holy Spirit because in week 9 we have I believe in the Holy Spirit and so we'll unpack in a robust manner the third person of the Trinity in week 9 and I also don't want to do a full sermon on Mary I don't have anything against Mary she's awful I just she's not the point so I don't want to do the sir my sermon on what's not the point and so what I want to do in our time together today is now at this point in the Creed you have the Godhead all present and active you have God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit doing what CS Lewis calls the dance you've got the Godhead in this beautiful dance within himself three distinct persons yet one God bringing about the glory of God and our good and our joy and so I just wanted us to marvel together at the Godhead I want us to watch the three persons of the Trinity this distinct three-in-one that belongs to those of us who are believers in Christ and so I want us to see that out of it what I think if you've got a church background is a very well-known text in the scriptures so Luke chapter 1 starting in verse 26 for some of you this will harken back to days when you went to Christmas Eve service with your parents in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from who God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and said greetings o favored one the Lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the Saint and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be and the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and you will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus he will be great and he will be called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end and Mary said to the angel how will this be since I'm a virgin that's a legit question and the angel answered her the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God and behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who has been called barren for nothing will be impossible with God and Mary said behold I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her now it's important to note one of the reasons I started our time together with explaining a Genesis 3 world is that the invasion of the Godhead in Luke 1 is an invasion into Genesis 3 broken world and so if I can unpack that just a bit farther everyone knows something's wrong with humankind it doesn't matter your philosophy or belief system doesn't matter your religion or background everybody there's a longing in us that can't seem to be quenched we are constantly feeling like there's something we can attain that we have not yet attained there's a type of knowing in us for greater beauty for greater experience for depth of life that we feel like we can't seem to get to now capitalism has a lot of people cashing in on that everybody knows something's broken in us and we're eager to fix it the easiest place to see this and I've used this illustration for going on 13 years now so if you've been a member here for 13 you know where I'm going the easiest place to see that is in Barnes & Noble right so we get all load up right now and a couple of buses or some sort of super vehicle and we could head down to Barnes & Noble at the shops and Holland village if if you're in Plano or Fort Worth or Dallas yea bookstore of some kind and we could get there you could order your $9 coffee you know your caramel frappe with extra espresso or whatever and and then we could go in the largest section of books in any bookstores what self-help huh self-help what self-help except hey we know what's wrong with you for 2995 will tell you help you solve it and so you you go to the self-help section of books and there's categories form right there there's financial peace if you can just get to a certain spot financial if you could just do these nine things you could shift to a caste system where you used envelopes if you could just have good debt not bad debt if you could just use credit cards this way or never use crate right there's a whole list of things do these things and that'll solve your financial ills and then there's another section of books that's more kind of physical side of things all about smoothies and kale and superfoods and doing the right kind of stretching and getting core strength and right you you've got that you just need to if you get healthier you'll feel better and that'll solve that in you and then you've got that kind of nebulous over spiritual kind of section of books I've just historically called this the Oprah Winfrey books that stuff that sounds good but you're not quite sure what to do with it it's like become a whole person you're like that sounds awesome so what are you doing I'm becoming a whole person what does that mean I'm not sure and yet think of the brilliance of it doesn't that I mean I want to be a whole person I can feel at times that I'm not so gosh if I can buy three four or five different books that help me become a whole person I certainly want to do that and then you've got the relationship books good lord aisles and aisles and aisles and aisles of relationship books right I mean men are from Mars gotta figure that out been married of this dude for 15 years still can't put the seat down I've got to figure something out here right she's crazy I can't figure this out she's from Venus I've got to figure this out I mean just row upon row upon row of relationship books and and is that not what you see around you is probably the number one felt need of men and women trying to figure out navigate relationships and then God help us the church has not helped we've kind of jumped on this bandwagon ourselves and at time said your six ways to remove all your doubt a sure way to make somebody wrestle and be crushed by doubt is to preach a sermon on how to remove doubt because what happens when they walk through your steps and it's still there and are you really cutting the guys out of the Bible who struggle with doubt throughout their lives what's really wrong with you what's really wrong with me according to the Bible it's not our finances or our relationships or our physical bodies or now those might be symptomatic but they're not the disease right they're symptoms of a greater disorder in us and the Bible calls that disorders sin and and there's two ways that send plays itself out and that's why it's so confusing to people um sin can be an outright rejection of how God designed the universe to work I don't care what he says care how we designed it to work I'm the king I want what I want and I'm gonna get what I want and so we reject the biblical narrative and we embrace what I will I will fight and argue are the false promises of the isms of our day right materialism individualism right they these are bankrupt pursuits and if you live long enough and don't self to see you'll come to find out just how bankrupt they are how false they are in their promises that an emotive flirty love is better than a covenant will steadfast commitment to one person that's a lie that you hear all the time I got only you are being discipled by something you get that right everyone's a disciple it's just what's disciple in what's shaping how you see the world how you think about marriage how you think about relationships how you think about money how you think about your life your being discipled it's what narrative are you buying into what story do you actually believe and I wonder if we were not actually been thinking that way we're just kind of stuck in a rushing stream and being carried away and so some of us reject we sin by saying forget the way God designed things to work I know better than he does and some of us sin and this is where it gets really confusing um some of us sin not that way but by using religion to not need God right I don't need him I got Sunday school and worship service and and you've learned to play the game right you know at what point in the song you're supposed to raise your hands are you like at this point you even learn to kind of tap the chest there mmm where to sit what to say how to go you picked up Christian language suffer from a terrible case of fine itis how are you I'm fine doing good blessed I'm blessed brother thank you and in reality your hearts far from the Lord the the benefits of being in Christ is seem to escape you there's no real relationship there and so it's a it's a funny thing to think that you can sin against a holy God with a bunch of Church stuff and yet it seems to be this place where people get into rote empty religion that God sends sins tends to speak most aggressively and so let me let me show you some of that found in Isaiah 1 chapter 1 verse 11 here's what God says through the prophet Isaiah to the people of God what to me is the multitude of your sacrifices says the Lord I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats now this is confusing because this is a sacrificial system that God Himself instituted so God Himself says this is the sacrificial system and his people go let's do that sacrificial system he's like I hate this system you think I desire bulls and goats and the blood and fat of well-fed beasts I mean shouldn't somebody down here go umm you said you did you said you wanted that that's what you told us to do concerning our sin concerning our rebellion concerning against it you said to do this how can you now say you don't delight it in fact later on in the Book of Isaiah God will even say hey you're singing I hate when you sing me when you gather and you sing I hate it and it's not because someone in theirs off-key right this isn't like first week of American Idol type of I hate this it's this reeks to me this stinks I'm weary of your gatherings I'm weary of your sacrifices I am weary of your singing why well you start to get a glimpse of it and we could use Isaiah but I've always appreciated jeremiah 31:33 and I'll tell you a little bit more about Jeremiah here in a little bit but but here's what God says through the prophet Isaiah Jeremiah for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel the people of God after those days declares the Lord I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people so what you see happening here we could have used I say we could have used your heck you can pick a book and we can use that book what God is after is not external wrote religion that's not what he's after he wants our hearts the God of the Bible the triune God of the universe God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit three and one he's after the hearts of men he doesn't want just mere action but heart driving action he wants in his delight and love for us us to be moved to love and delight in him and that the moral transformation that occurs in our hearts occurs because of his great love for us not our great discipline to try to earn his love right those are wildly different ideas to earn the love of one rather than to be freely given love that that's night and day difference and our are wicked insidious hearts can't seem to comprehend a love that's freely given and not earned and not earned and so this is the mess that we're in that were broken and sinful and then even if we just try to be religious we can we can mess that up too right you just trying to be good you're screwing it up even worse trying to be good like a like a two-year-old trying to clean up a mess don't they just smear it and get it down into the cracks let's make it harder for you it's why there's a certain age that you start letting your kids help reverse this when they're two going why don't you mop that up well you know you're just gonna you they're not you're gonna mop it up after your foot you know sticks to the floor and so what we see here now is the Godhead back in our Luke one text beginning to enter this space in fact let's look at it together look at verse 26 of Luke chapter one in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth so you've got Gabriel being sent from God that's God the Father God the Father sent Gabriel to have the conversation with Mary and Annie has it Mary has some legitimate questions and then here's the answer in verse 35 and I'm what I'm trying to do is show you the dance of the Godhead in the Christmas story you could see it in a lot of place you can see it in Genesis one and the creation of all things but we're look at it here in the Incarnation so in verse 35 and the angel answered her the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God now now follow me here you have God the Father sending God the Son and God the Son being conceived and married by God the Holy Spirit and all of this is a type of divine invasion it is our God the God of the Bible showing that one of the attributes of the Godhead is he is a God of initiation he is a God that takes the initiative so at our rebellion against him either through irreligion or religion God's response to that is not to lean away but to lean in God since Jesus comes the Holy Spirit conceives and empowers God is an initiating guts he leans in he doesn't lean back this is phenomenal news that God has not abandoned us in our mess he leans in he takes initiative he gets his holy hands dirty he gets some dirty and Psalm 40 King David says it like this if you don't have a church background Bono ripped off King David and wrote the song 40 and the text says that he reaches into the muck and the mire and he pulls us out like clean holy hands getting dirty the God of the Bible is a God who takes initiative God the Father sends god the son conceived by God the Holy Spirit the triune God is dancing for the salvation of men so this is profound but it's not the only thing we see in fact we see that through this dance we'll see later on that that God through that dance writes the law on our hearts so it's no longer outside in but starts to be inside out and then from there I want you see not not only is our God an initiating God but I want you to see look now in verse 31 and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus and he will be great and will be called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end verse 34 and then let's talk and Mary said to the angel how will this be since I'm a virgin now throughout the Old Testament you see the Holy Spirit of God opening the wounds of infertile women you you see it in Abraham's line you you see it in Hannah you see it throughout there you've got God opening the wombs of infertile women and although that is miraculous it's not impossible right a woman who has a husband whom she is enjoying as a husband can get pregnant right even even later than she wanted to and somebody in here say Amen no yes now if you're sitting by your kid don't do that all right we'll see your kid in recovery all right but I've met several people in fact my wife's uncle has is older than my father-in-law and has a son my daughter's age he's a 70 year old man with a 12 year old yeah I saw it somebody just threw up right slow right now well what what happened there is is you're not really planning on having a child when you're in your 60s and so it's miraculous not impossible you TRACON but that will we just read that's absurd that's scientifically impossible right I mean you check you check somebody like this in a mental institution oh I see you're how far along are you eight months it's awesome boy or girl boy who's the debt the Holy Spirit I've never been with a man yeah we've got one yeah all right right I mean just it's absurd there's no way this is possible right and Mary knows it even Mary goes now now what how how are you gonna accomplish this what's going on I've never been with a man I'm betrothed but I haven't been with a man so how are you going to accomplish this so I wanna just for the record just say this is scientifically absurd impossible nobody accidentally gets pregnant without another human being involved right and yet that's exactly what happened and how do we know since we know it's impossible and since we're saying it's impossible look at verse 37 for nothing will be impossible with God now I said a couple of weeks ago that one of the things you see in our God is he is infinitely powerful and intensely personal well in that immense power you see throughout the scriptures and really throughout human history that the laws and designs of the universe that very much apply to us simply do not apply to him because he is the king of all the immensity of his power knows no bounds so this is such a small thing for him that it's hard to even get our minds around it I took my son dove hunting when when the season opened last weekend and we're out in Carbon Texas I don't know if you know where carbon is it's barely a stop sign and and and buddy and I walked away from the house late at night and and we just looked up and it was staggering you know they're always up there they're stars I mean it's always up there and and it's just so not common you get to actually see it and rare that you get to see it and all the glory that can be seen when you get away from the lights and we just sat out there and was blowing little buddy's mind Andry now we're just kind of marveling at it and and and in Jobe the Bible tells us that all of creation are but the fringes of his garments like the immensity of the universe so I'm sitting out there and I'm I'm just thinking it goes on you know on and on and on forever and the Bible is like go that's the fringes man that name in the shirt that's nothing that's my backyard like you know it doesn't take god four or five light-years to get from the farthest reaches of the universe to here he is in both places always in equal power and equal presence if that hurts your mind it should right but but you begin to feel and since how small we are see he simply doesn't have to obey the rules of nature because he is the creator of all things he created the rules to begin with and he created the rules to bring him glory and he can step into that space and do whatever he pleases and this is one of those moments where God reveals one of hundreds where he goes there's nothing that's impossible for me nothing I am not constrained by limited resources I am not constrained by rules of natural law I am not constrained by anything I am the God the creator of all things and so you see in the Godhead in this little phrase was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary a god who initiates towards his rebellious creation and pushes out impossibilities this is amazing news for those who are in Christ now if we took those two truths and we plugged it into our grid of symmetry and clarity and community and council then really it should really begin to shape us and so some of this is really heavy it should be heavy we need to be able to be honest with where our lives are and what we've experienced and the difficulties that we've endured in in Genesis three world again the Bible doesn't shy away from that the Bible is a grimy grimy book if you could take your Sunday School glasses off and read it again it's it's it's not for the faint of heart when we talk about symmetry here's what I mean by that I've been in pastoral ministry for 20 years think pastoral ministry is very much a frontline kind of first responder type of life so oftentimes we show up right after the ambulance sometimes we show up right before the funeral home and so have experienced with the people have got many of you even in this room horrific loss and and some of you you've experienced really dark things some of you have been horribly abused by people who were supposed to protect you and care for you they didn't protect for you and care for you they actually wounded you and that mark on your soul is so deep and and hurts so bad that you've you've kind of decided to live certain ways because of that wound and so when I start talking about an initiating God when I start to talk about a God who overcomes the impossible it's just near impossible for you to see through those lenses because gosh man from what you've been through and what you endured and and this these people that were supposed to protect you didn't protect you and this person that you trusted betrayed your trust and and loved ones have died and and good friends have betrayed and there's these just real wounds in our soul and it makes it hard to believe that the God that we worship is an initiating God of love there seems to be evidence against that and so the way I've prayed all week is that in some place as we have this conversation today in some spot while we're talking about this the Holy Spirit might do some healing in that place and then you might see and sense by the power of those fear you can't preach it into being can't be manipulated into being that the Holy Spirit of God might heal those places in your heart and you might believe for the first time that God has never been on his heels concerning you has never been indifferent towards you has never but has leaned in who has stuck his hands into the muck and the mire and has not abandoned you and then others of you you find yourself in what feels to be an impossible situation and you feel your heart losing hope and good symmetry is to know that because our God is a God who initiates and because our God is a God who knows nothing of impossibility that God mine in what feels to be to you impossible encourage your hearts like let's just be frank with one another sometimes I think God is slow anyone else are you gonna just wait and see if he kills me before you admit it okay no like sometimes I'm just like golly can you knock this out can we hurry up here I got this I figured this lesson out right there do these times you just feel like the Lord's moving so slow like I've got the lesson okay now I've always tried to be real honest about that mean the first seven years of my marriage were awful not like uh awful like laid in bed at night a couple of times prayed oh my god is this the rest of my life and so for seven years ask the Lord to intervene for seven years ask the Lord for wisdom for seven years ask the Lord to work in my heart to work in her heart for seven years pled with the Lord but for seven years not two not three not five seven seven years when you're working 60 70 hours a week and coming home two non-stop conflict seven days a week his soul stealing heart crushing desperation and the Lord kept me there generously and graciously kept me there and then and then he began to heal and he began to work and he began to move and I needed to see some things about me and I couldn't see I needed to see some arrogance I couldn't see I needed to see some pride some idolatry that I couldn't see and the Lord ruthlessly loved me and by saying no to me for seven years he humbled my heart healed some places that needed to be healed and it's done a beautiful thing in my relationship with Lorne and maybe you're you're sitting in here like seven years nothing try fifteen brother well that's not what the Lord had for me it sounds like it might be what he has for you so I'm not gods not a genie in a bottle that's I'm not telling you you rub the lamp and it eventually goes your way I'm saying that the theme of the Bible is not that the world's not messy but that God's at work in the mass and symmetry is growing confident in there being nothing impossible for God and that God is not abandoned but he leans in now what do we need to do on clarity well well here's the clarity that I'm hopeful that considering these two things settles into your heart and it's it's also why I believe that how you understand how you were saved really matters see the more you understand that you did not save you but God saves you the more confident you'll be in God of your salvation and the more distinguished a role you think you played in your salvation is to question your salvation all the more because you know you and you know if you're involved there's a chance that you messed it up but if God saves you God cannot fail the clarity you and I need if God is a God of initiating love and that God knows nothing of impossibilities is what we see the Apostle Paul confessed concerning the church at Philippi in Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 and and here's what the Apostle Paul says and I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ our God started this he initiated it there's nothing that is impossible for him so he will keep us he will keep us we need that kind of clarity we need that kind of clarity he saved me he will keep me he initiated this and nothing's impossible for him he will hold me and then that brings us to community how should this shape our community one of the narratives I don't have a good ism for it I don't think there is one but our culture the day in which we live is looking for something to be angry frustrated and outraged about have you noticed that any of you're on Facebook then you notice it right I mean we just want to be angry about them can you believe this have you looked at this I can't believe this how this we should got everybody know this post this on your wall we're gonna boycott this I can't believe this dear god help us the country's going to hell in a handbasket I am appalled right I mean it's just like goodness sakes it's like we thrive on pessimism in this day and age it's we want to be acutely aware of the brokenness of things and others and I think that reveals something about us god help us but in light of this should not Christians be annoyingly optimistic in light of this in light of the fact that our God is an initiating God in light of the fact that there's nothing that is impossible for him should we not be almost annoyingly optimistic shouldn't we always be the one that kind of goes yeah but the silver lining is this no I hear you that's a and I'm not saying that we're not let me just clarify lest you you think I'm saying the wrong thing I love football season love the the sport of football hate it I hate it for the cheerleaders when their team is losing like 6210 and they're still cheering I just feel like there should be a number where they just drop the pine and just leave you know I mean like what are you going go go go and what score nine touchdowns in four minutes I think it's just time just move on at this point it's just embarrassing you don't need to email me I know cheerleading is a sport in and of itself so don't don't do that I do understand that I just I have been to games where it's literally like fifty four to three and a half and they're just cheering their guts out and I was like it's it's over it's just like a mercy killing here all right we just should just call the game at this point so I'm not talking about that kind of fake weak spirit sprinkle optimism that's not rooted in a joy that's birthed out of knowing these things are true not understanding in our minds knowing in our hearts not talking about that weak sauce fake I'm okay no I'm talking about a deep-rooted joy that understands nothing's too hard forgot nothing's impossible for him and that we believe and trust and know that he is good and gracious because he started this we should be a community of optimist and we should stand in contrast to the pessimism of the world around us and I want you to keep this in mind as we head towards November and not get swept away an outrage and fear look at me our God is never panicked our God has never worried he has never wrung his hands he's never had to gather a huddle of the Trinity to figure out what went wrong and how they're gonna fix it that's not our God that's the king we serve though breathe nothing's out of his control I'm not I'm saying we mourn with those who mourn we weep with those who weep we are people who are easily heartbroken but not easy to whip into a frenzy over silly things if this is true we have no reason to be pessimistic and then finally on council how do we counsel ourselves I love this in psalm 42 verse 5 King David gets in an argument with himself anybody ever been there gets in an argument with himself psalm 42 starting in verse five why are you cast down O my soul and why are you in turmoil within me hope in God for I shall again praise him my salvation look at it again especially the first part of the text why are you cast down O my soul and why are you in turmoil within me hope in God for I shall again praise him my salvation you must learn to win the argument with yourself if these things are true if God is an initiating God and that God knows nothing of what is impossible you must learn to win the argument against yourself inside of every one of us is a weak whiny pessimistic complaining doubting fleshly wicked residue that wants to point out what is not true to perpetually lie to us to perpetually point out half-truths and full lies and to confuse and to and you see what David does here's he argues with himself and he argues down that part of them that is that pessimistic week why are you down cast oh my soul put your hope in God they'll be the day again you praise the God of your salvation why are you doing this heart why do you believe that's why are you buying into this and he wins the argument with himself and if these things are true about God how much more are we able to counsel and love others who find themselves in the dark night of the soul now again clarification when people are really in the depths no oh that's really not the time to make sure they've got a good theological grid or to do a drive-by texting you know I'm saying that that's not the time to come in and just go you know what all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose brother so I hate that this horrific tragedy has occurred but just keep that in mind like I I feel like I'm a I'm a pretty mature Christian and I would want to put a chokehold on you right so what do you do being confident that God is on his throne that he's initiating God and that nothing's impossible for him when you walk into a room where there's devastation and heartbreak ready you cry with them you just be there and whatever they need you try to help with and in time if they ask or long for counsel then you can give it brothers sisters gosh that's not the time just be there in our dark night of the soul when I was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer it was the people that would just come weep with us and were just as confused as we were they were so peace bringing that the Holy Spirit's so used to calm my heart and my confidence in the Lord I had friends that came to the house then didn't have anything to say that is hung out with me they came up to the hospital and just cried with me they let me say really crazy bad theologically driven statements without correcting them I just pulled up a chair said they were sorry and said they hated it for me and hung out and wept man God used that to minister to my heart it's the Ministry of presence but that Ministry of presence is informed by your own confidence in the initiating love of God and the fact that nothing is impossible for him now here's how I want us to close out our time I know I know that there are those of you in here right now you're in our other campuses you're watching this later in a podcast or vodcast and here's what I know you can totally relate to what I was saying earlier when I talked about the fact there have been things that have happened in your life that have kind of fractured the lenses by which you see the world and it's very difficult for you to believe in the initiating love of God towards you if we were really honest the confession that's really underneath a lot of other statements is I don't trust God that's it that's the confession but that feels like we shouldn't say it right like we shouldn't say I don't trust God we certainly shouldn't say it in church right I mean we're gonna actually say that in church God is not gonna be happy about that I don't trust you God is something that's under there and it reeks habit and it rots out our guts and it takes away from our confidence and it's there we just don't feel like we can say it's because it's something that shouldn't be said by Christian people among Christian people I I doubt God's goodness I don't trust him and yet that's where some of us are and here's what's crazy I'm trying to plead with you today you haven't hidden that from him he knows and don't you know that in Psalm 51 he says that the broken and contrite he will never despise the confession of I don't trust you that doesn't despise that if it's coming from a broken heart that tells us in Hebrew we have an empathetic high priest that Christ knows it's scary to be us and so just as an attempt to try to serve you brother or sister if you're in here whether you're in Plano or in Fort Worth or in Dallas or in this very room or in Highland Village or and you would say that if I'm really honest I struggle I really really struggle to trust God fully there's something in me that struggles to trust him I don't think I trust God like I'm supposed to if that's you would you just raise your hand no shame you don't need to be afraid you don't need it if King David can say this then I think you're all right if he's called a man after go ahead get your hand high don't half Baptist me alright just there there's something and you have a hard time trusting God all right thank you praise God when you put your hands down now let me ask this some of you although there might be some of that the reality is you feel like you're an impossible situation and you can feel as of late you you losing hope and that you've fought for a while and you've tried to hang in there and you know what's right you're trying to do what's right but the situation is starting to feel too heavy your legs are starting to feel real weak and you can feel that in what you perceive to be an impossible situation you feel yourself growing weaker and weaker and so if that's you would you raise your hand I'm losing hope that all right all right praise God don't you put your hands down just something to quickly think about none of those confessions and the ones that weren't made but God's still aware of jostle this God that we've talked about today the interesting part of Jesus engaging sinners in his earthly ministry he never shows up in their tears and snot with a lecture you know he never shows up after an accusation regret and starts to lecture give a new sheet of rules or you have to try harder at this you have to work towards more of this he just doesn't do that in fact what we see in the Godhead is our God pulling up a chair and letting us rant and letting us cry and letting us cos and letting our soul break all the way to the bottom so we can start to put it back together remember I said I would tell you a little bit more about Jeremiah Jeremiah was called by God to be a prophet in a time that Israel was in great rebellion against God and and God said this to him if you'll do what I tell you to do and you'll say what I tell you to say I'll give you the power to build up nations and destroy them and Jeremiah buys in and he does that he begins to prophesy and and he gets beat up a lot and when all said and done the whole nation goes into bondage and Jeremiah goes with him and in this real poignant scene in the Book of Jeremiah Jeremiah prophesized against the nation of Israel that they're gonna go into bondage if they don't repent and a mob beats him bloody and naked in a ditch and he looks up from the ditch and he says this to God you have the Hebrew word is Fattah you seduced me you tricked me you lied to me and God doesn't strike Jeremiah God doesn't give Jeremiah leprosy God doesn't seal his mouth shut God lets the created rant at the creator and he extends forgiveness and grace if you know of anything more beautiful in all the world of religion and philosophy send me the book cuz I haven't read it let's pray father thank you for sending the son Jesus thank you for coming of your own will and Accord Holy Spirit thank you for the ongoing work of creation and recreation for the conception of Jesus who lays aside his privilege and enters his own creation as a created being to save God we thank you and praise you that you are an initiating god of love and we praise you and thank you that there is nothing in this room or in the rooms represented that it's too hard for you that is impossible for you I thank you that you always give us what we need you use both joy and sorrow to shape and mold and chisel help us now as we respond to you help us now as we respond to what is true and good and right about you Holy Spirit do a profound and beautiful work in our hearts today that's for your beautiful name I pray amen

Channel: The Village Church Resources

Views: 16,562

Rating: 4.9000001 out of 5

Keywords: Matt Chandler, The Village Church, The Apostles' Creed, Apostles' Creed

Id: zRF0KMVctvw

Length: 53min 14sec (3194 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 02 2015