All right, I want to ask you a question.
Do you like tests?
Now, most of us know that, that,
you know, the knee jerk reaction is,
"I absolutely hate tests."
But I don't think that's true.
Well, if it's true if you're like a 12-year-old Jared
trying to do the Presidential Fitness Test
for pullups.
I'm not going to tell you how many I got,
but it might rhyme with "bero."
So that's embarrassing, right?
But I think most of us like tests.
Why do you think Facebook is filled with all
these things that say like,
"Only one-tenth of one percent
of people can pass this test."
Like, really?
Do you think the most intelligent people
around the world are studying quantum physics and
are like, "Hold on a second here.
"I'm just trying to figure out which cup fills first."
No!
But we like tests we can pass.
I think a bigger question
in our whole life is,
"Does God send us trials?
"Does God send us tests?
"And if so, why?"
Well, I think we know the "why."
If you read in the book of Romans,
and it's an often quoted passage, but it says,
So what's God's eternal purpose?
Well, while we're on this earth,
God has this desire that we
fear, love and trust him above all things.
God has this desire that we
grow in the fruit of the spirit
it talks about in Galatians.
Love and joy and kindness and goodness.
Here's the deal:
We don't start that way.
Like when you get a new car,
if you've ever had a new car,
the worst thing you can do
is just mess it up.
It starts perfect.
It smells nice.
It's really good.
It doesn't get better.
Like if you pull on a brand new carpeting
in your house,
it doesn't become more perseverant.
It doesn't become more kind.
But human beings, do you find it interesting,
that when God describes us,
he says we're like infants.
We're infants.
We don't start out as an infant mature.
Instead this takes time and it takes tests
and it takes challenges.
So one of the things God does for us,
in a lot of ways because we're
spiritually like infants,
is he allows things to happen
into our life because the person we are now
is not the person that God
wants us to be in the future.
For his eternal purposes, God says,
"I want you to be an instrument in this world.
And right now you're here,
but I'm going to allow some things so that
you can move from the person
that needs to be carried,
to the one that can do the carrying."
This week, we're going to be talking about
the trials that God sends into our life
and what are some of those reasons
that God sends those into our life
so that we can go from here
to here.
Let's pray.
Lord, so many of us and our friends
are in the middle of a test.
We've endured tests our life
that seem pointless.
Yet,
things that work according to your purposes,
we know make sense.
And with that, it might help us this week
to focus on our purposes for your tests and
how these trials that we're struggling with
right now can lead us to a place
where we're closer to you.
We ask this in your holy name,
Amen.
My grandfather is not alive anymore.
But he grew up in South Dakota.
He was on his same family farm
just outside of Watertown, South Dakota.
And sometimes I would be able to sit on his lap.
He had just monstrous strong hands from farming.
And he would ask me: "What's the most valuable thing you have?"
And I thought this was, I'd be going through like
my baseball cards and things like that.
And he goes, "The most valuable thing you have
"is your reputation."
And I think a lot of us would say,
we work so hard to
keep our reputation
where it should be, where people think of us.
But I think something's really interesting
that John Wooden, a very famous coach
of UCLA basketball,
I think something my grandpa would agree with.
This is how he said it:
"Be more concerned with your character
"than your reputation.
"Because your character is what you really are.
"What your reputation is
merely what others think you are."
And I think, when we think about the things
that we've run into,
how many of us have been
how many of us have been burned by someone who we thought
burned by someone who we thought
was someone different?
We thought that they loved us.
We thought they had our best interests in mind.
We thought
that they could keep a secret.
And in the end, they disappointed us.
Well, we get some insight into understanding
character and reputation from
the story of Joseph.
I'm sure you know the story of Joseph.
If you don't, you can look in the book of Genesis.
But we also get insight from it in Psalms.
This is Psalm, chapter 105.
Psalm 105, 17 and 19, it says,
The word in that passage
where they talk about testing
is the same word they used for metallurgy.
And metallurgy is this, uh,
practice that they use like silversmiths
when they apply heat to something
so that they can purify it.
They apply the heat so they can separate
the pure silver from the dross.
Now what does that mean for our life?
Right now, you might be in the middle of a test.
And it might feel like the heat is coming
all around you but what is the purpose of
purifying silver?
It's purifying it so it can be used for greater purpose.
We've got a big word that comes up in the Bible
called "sanctification."
And all that means is set apart for special use.
So I know the heat might be coming on you
right now and you're saying,
"God, I can only take so much."
But is it possible
that our God is sending this kind of heat
and this kind of trial in
your life because he has a bigger
thing in mind just for you?
That he has more lives to be impacted
because of you?
And there's just a little bit part of your character
that needs to be burned out
so that you can truly be humble
and kind and gentle
as you work with the people in this world?
Let's pray.
Lord, tests can be so hard
and the heat so intense.
Many times, we don't feel ready
and we feel like we're going to break.
But no doubt Joseph felt that same way
again and again as he was tested for 13 years.
But we trust the finest
of your hand
and that you're the greatest silversmith
working in our lives and you're going to make us
the person that we need to be
so that we can be your servant
and we can do those good works
that you set in advance for us to do.
We ask this always in Jesus' name,
our true redeemer.
Amen.
How far
are you willing to go for your Christian faith?
How far will you push it
for the sake of Christ?
So just recently, I was watching, again,
the call for the
U.S. Olympic's first gold medal
in cross country skiing.
I think it's the greatest call in all of sports.
I've watched it literally 15 times.
And if you know what I'm talking about,
Jessie Diggins is making
the play to go for the gold medal.
And if you've seen it,
you can just imagine the guy going,
"Here comes Diggins!
"Here comes Diggins! Here comes --"
Here comes --"
I'm getting excited right now thinking about it.
So you'll just have to Google it.
After this.
But it's so exciting as she crosses the finish line.
And a lot of times, we think,
"Oh. If they're an elite athlete,
"the only way they can do that is
"because of their natural gifts.
"They just can process things better than we have.
"They're just stronger than we have."
And the things that they study for these kind
of endurance athletes is the way that they
process lactic acid.
Now this gets kind of technical.
But they do tests.
They actually take like plugs from their muscles
to see how it does.
But lactic acid is the thing that
makes it so your muscle
cannot perform at optimum level.
Well, they did a study.
And I think it was at CU - Colorado University.
Colorado University in Boulder.
And they check their cross country runners.
Now I know this is getting a little big long.
But they tested their cross country runners.
And you would think the very best
of their cross country runners would naturally process
this lactic acid way better
than the ones at the bottom.
However, that was mostly true.
Except their very best runner,
according to tests, would have been at the bottom.
So what does that mean?
It means that, naturally, he was not the best.
Instead, he just had an ability to suffer.
So, I ask you again:
How far are you willing to go for your Christian faith?
I see the example of the Apostle Paul.
I see the example of the Apostle Paul. He has a long list in 2 Corinthians.
He has a long list in 2 Corinthians.
I'm going to summarize some of this.
But he says,
The list goes on and on and on.
And you're like, "Well, I don't know if I've
"done that before."
But how far are you willing to go?
And you might be thinking to yourself,
and this is who I want to talk to,
just for a little bit:
"You know, I do help out at my church.
"I do suffer for the sake of Christ.
"I do volunteer.
"And I do all these things."
My question, though,
and I think sometimes the real test is not,
"God: how far are you willing to go?" ...
"Who are you doing it for?"
Proverbs 27:21 said,
And so, I think what we take a minute
as we talk about the tests
that God puts in our life
and what we're willing to do for him,
is: "God, are we doing this for you?
"Or am I secretly just doing it for me?"
And I think I'd just take a moment
to check your motives.
If you go out this door and say,
"God, I want to serve you."
Let's make sure
we're serving the Christ
who lived and set us free
so that we can serve him
regardless of who's watching.
Let's pray.
Recognition is a powerful drug.
We pray that when we think of recognition,
of our own suffering,
in us and for us,
we think that we can give that recognition
all to you and people will see our lives
and know it's not about us.
Instead it's about furthering your kingdom
so more and more people can know that peace
that we know in you.
We ask this in your name.
Amen.
What do you think is the most
difficult
character trait to develop?
When you talk about the fruits of the spirit
that Galatians talks about:
love, joy, peace,
kindness, goodness, self-control.
I left one out.
And the NIV uses this word:
forbearance.
It's kind of this big word, but
essentially it means patience.
To me, patience is the hardest
character trait to develop.
When you think about kids,
and they're born and they wake up,
they cry.
They're hungry.
They cry.
They want to go to sleep.
They cry.
Or have you ever been - it's been a while for me -
but, "Dad.
"Dad.
"Dad."
I'm like, "Just a minute."
And I want to pretend like
I can talk a big game
as I teach my kids patience:
"Patience, young grasshopper."
But patience
is something that takes a while to develop.
I know every
2-year-old
is not as mature as every 10-year-old.
And I know 10-year-olds are not
as mature as a 20 - well,
let's just jump to 40-year-olds.
10-year-olds are not as mature as 40-year-olds.
And 40-year-olds are not as mature as 70-year-olds.
It takes time.
You can't just talk about patience
and make it happen.
Instead, you have to experience delays.
This is how God describes himself.
This is in 2 Peter,
So God has this big picture
of why he is so patient.
So, if a 7-year-old is more patient
than you are,
and God has infinitely been on this planet
and around this universe
more than you, how much more infinitely
patient is he than any of us?
And I think we see that.
He promises Abraham he's going to have a son.
He doesn't have a son until he's 100.
He promises David
from his line the savior's going to come.
And what happens?
It's a thousand years later.
Jesus made a promise to his disciples that
like at any moment
the end of the world could come.
That was 2,000 years ago.
So what does this all tell us?
We live in a world of instant gratification
and I get frustrated when my Amazon package
and I get frustrated when my Amazon package isn't here a day early
isn't here a day early
and I have to wait two minutes
for the person in front of me
for in the line.
Or,
I'm just frustrated because someone didn't
respond to an email within 24 hours.
God is saying, "Patient."
It takes time.
And as a believer, I think
one of the struggles and one of the tests
that you may be going through now
is you want some answers from God.
But God isn't patient
and slow as we understand it.
Sometimes God is bringing us along
so that we can develop that certain character.
The hardest one to develop.
A patience of waiting on the Lord.
Let's pray.
God,
continue your patience with me.
And do whatever it takes to mold me
into that patient, kind,
loving child
you want me to be.
Amen.
Have you ever had a time in your life
when you're saying, "God, like really?
"Right now?"
When I first got out of the seminary,
I was assigned to start a church
outside of Seattle.
And I was really excited about it.
And one of the ways you do that is,
you make all these contacts and
the people in the neighborhood.
And you knock on doors.
And you just meet people.
And you invite them -
at the time we called it "Bible Basics."
We wanted to teach them the truths of God
so they could know the peace that I know.
Super excited about it.
My first class, I heard about all
my friends around the country
who started churches.
And they had all kinds of people
going to their classes, so I was really excited.
So I scheduled the first one, and,
uh, nobody shows up.
I'm like, "OK, OK, that's, that's all right."
You know, it could have been a bad day.
And then, a couple of months later, I,
you know, talked to a bunch of people.
They made me promises.
And then,
no one shows up again.
Third time, I'm getting a little nervous.
And I'm thinking, "I'm supposed to be
"a guy who starts churches.
"What's going on in my life?"
So
I schedule the third one.
I get all these promises.
I was sure people were going to show up.
And then,
you know, 7 o'clock or whatever time it was
rolls around and nobody,
nobody's there.
And I'm kind of waiting and
I'm saying a prayer.
And I'm kind of - all kinds of questions
in my life and then
there's this knock at the door.
And it's Darren and Susan.
And then Nick and Jenny.
And Alexander comes through the door.
And I couldn't be more excited
about finally doing like what I was actually called to do
to start this church and share God's word
with these people.
You know, I think that'd be
an awesome story and an inspiring story.
But that didn't actually happen that way,.
The third time, no one, no one showed up either.
And I remember sitting down in my basement
and - I had the class in my basement.
How weird is that?
But I had, in my basement,
it was a walkout basement,
and my wife came down
and I just said, "I need a minute."
And I started thinking about a Charles Spurgeon quote.
And he's a Baptist preacher that
was around a long time ago.
But he had a quote that said,
"I learned to kiss the waves
that throw me up against the rock of ages."
I don't know what kind of trials you're facing
in your life right now.
I don't know what kind of struggles
you're facing right now.
But I think back to those years.
And this is 16 years ago.
And it still kind of gives me chills
thinking about it.
Where would my faith have been
from a human perspective
if everything I did had a human success?
And where would my church be
if in my mind I thought it was
Jared's effort
and it was my hard work
and my intuition
that grew this church to where it was at?
Sometimes God,
even though you have amazing ability,
uses
what's happening in your life
to humble you.
Sometimes God uses your very best skills
to humble you.
Sometimes God just brings you low.
And sometimes he just uses things to push you up
against the rock of ages.
When we went to start a church again,
just outside of Denver, south of Denver,
we used a different passage to name that church.
And this is the one from Isaiah.
It says,
I don't know that kind of trials you're facing
right now but I know that Christ faced
even more trials.
I know that God went all the way to a cross
to assure your salvation.
And whatever he is throwing at you,
I guarantee it's for your eternal purpose
to move you from here
to where God wants you to be.
So let's pray.
God, it's hard to trust.
And it's hard to trust when we're so scared.
But you are the eternal rock.
You became flesh and blood for our sake.
You bring storms.
You allow storms.
But we know it's all part of your plan.
So we pray with what's on us,
do whatever's necessary
to bring us closer to you,
our rock eternal.
Amen.