Treasures of the Journey - Part 5: Eternal Perspective | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb.asia, or our mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Since the beginning of January, we began this series on Treasures of

the Journey because we wanted to share with you some of the things that we've learned in our own

walk with God that have become very foundational in the shape that our walk with God has today. And I

want to conclude the series today with this study on perspective. And before we start, let me pray.

Lord, perspective changes everything. And it's so important that we learn truth, that today you will

help us be free from any distortion. But it takes more than just me to do that. You are the only one

that can reach our hearts, reveal truth to us. You are the only one that can convict and change us

from within. So I'm asking you in Jesus' name, use me in your power and in your grace. Accomplish that

only you can. I pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. February is a very significant month in my

own spiritual journey because I was 29 years old when God called me to serve as a lead pastor in

Dallas. And ever since then, February is the year of pastoral ministry anniversary. So it's been 22

years that I've been serving the Lord in pastoral ministry. And throughout those years, one of the

things that I have had the privilege to do is to work with lots of people one-on-one in their journey

with God. And one of the things I've discovered is that whether we realize it or not, as we are

following God and we believe in God and we believe in Jesus and we go to church and with all these

things that Christians do, there's a future day that we have in our minds that is driving us today.

And for different people, that future day is very different. For some people, the future day, they

say, you know, it's like ever since I was just little, the only thing I wanted to be was a mother.

That's all I wanted. I didn't care so much about career and all that other part, even though

important, but the one thing I wanted was just to be a mom. And that was driving that person.

Other people said, no, no, for me, to be honest, I've just been working hard because I want to

retire. And early retirement, retiring well, retiring young enough, empty nest, yay, all the

kids out so I can now live really without having a job and a bus, but I have resources and I can

travel. And that's what we've been preparing for. Other people, it's a bit different. They think,

you know, honestly, I just want to stop being poor. I grew up poor and ever since, I have this

commitment to never be poor again. And I've been studying hard, I've been applying for the jobs,

and my goal is to have enough money so that I can have resources and live well.

I've met some other people that really is like, it's just I want to be a wife. I want a family.

I'm just dreaming of the day where I can have my wedding. And sometimes I did dream about what I

would like to be like and what dress I'm going to be wearing. And that's what they are living for.

While other people, it's very different. They said truly for me, it's just I want to be free. I want

to get out of my parents' home and I just want to live my life. And the day that that happens, I want

to be so happy. I just want to live life and explore the world. And no matter what answer people

give, there's always this kind of future picture that we are pursuing. But did you know that if

you're a follower of Jesus, God wants you to have a future picture of a very key day in mind that

will drive you today? And that is not your wedding day, the day you hold your baby in your arms,

that is not the day in which you retire with good money in your bank account. It's a different day.

And there's no other day that as a follower of Jesus will compete with that one day. The Apostle

Paul writes about this in the book of Philippians. The book of Philippians was written to a group of

Christians from the city of Philippi, which was a Roman city in the area of Greece. And Paul had a

good experience with them and he writes this letter from prison. He has been in prison now because

of his ministry of preaching the gospel. Yet the tone of his letter is surprisingly very hopeful

and positive, even though he acknowledges that he may die because of it. And at the beginning of

that letter, he tells these Christians about this day and he says it this way, starting on verse 3,

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy

because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Now, to be honest,

that's not something that every person working with a church can say. He's saying, you know,

you guys were not a pain like other places, you were a blessing. And always when I think of you,

I just pray with joy because it was such a joy to see what God did in your life and walk with you.

And then he tells them, being confident of this, this is a conviction I know to be true,

that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Your following Jesus began at some point when you asked Jesus to save you and he made you part of

his people. He forgave your sins. He gave you the Holy Spirit. Now you became his. But that journey

began there. And he has another bookend, which the Apostle Paul says is the day of Christ Jesus.

And what the Apostle Paul knows is that that beginning that God started in you will continue.

God is faithful. He's patient with you. He knows that you are wrestling with things and learning

to following him and falling and standing up and being wounded and healing. He knows the journey

of following him is not a piece of cake, as we say. It's difficult. But he who began that good work

will not give up on you. He will continue patiently working with you until that day.

And that day, the day of Christ Jesus, is the day that will become the one day in the future

that will drive us like nothing else. And if that is not the day that is driving your present,

then what the Apostle Paul wants to do is to remind us to recalibrate, to reframe, so that we

remember what is the one day that matters the most. Because if we have the wrong day ahead of us,

we're going to be enslaved to it. But if we have the right day ahead of us, in the forefront of our minds,

you will be able to live through life, through all the challenges and everything that comes with it,

differently, with freedom. So this day of Christ Jesus is basically the day when Jesus will return.

And when Jesus returns, he will set in motion the new face of our salvation.

If we were dead at that time, we will resurrect. If we were alive at that time, we will transform.

The Bible calls that our glorification. At that time, we will cease to be mortal and sinful,

and we will become immortal and sinless. And now we will be with the Lord forever. The Bible says

that we're going to have different responsibilities. We will reign with Christ. We will judge the world.

We will judge angels. What is ahead of us is just amazing. We are just starting to understand

the consummation of our salvation. And that day of Jesus Christ, when he comes back,

all these things will be set in motion. So when the Bible talks about this day,

it describes it as a day of joy. Can you imagine what it's like to be immortal? No more achiness

and neck pain and having to go to the chiropractor. No more growing old and feeling sick and looking

at your wrinkles. No more experience of wrestling with depression and fear and all these things.

Where now you are complete. It's going to be also a day of beholding Jesus for who he is.

The Bible says we will see him as he is, and not only that, we will be like him.

It's going to be experiencing Jesus in its fullness. But also the Bible says that this

day is going to be a day of accountability. Jesus did not save me so one day I will die and go to

heaven. That's just part of the equation. But he saved me so now that I am a follower of Jesus,

I can live my life for him who died and came back to life for my sake.

So I no longer live for me but for the one who saved me. And that's what the apostle Paul

refrains all of these things because this aspect of accountability that this day will bring

changes everything. The book of Hebrews puts it this way. Would you read it out loud with me?

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's side. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before

the eyes of him to whom we must give account. If you are familiar with those interviews in your

company where you have to do a performance interview, you are going to be like me.

How did you do? Will determine your salary for next year based on your performance this year?

All those conversations. Now imagine you go to Jesus' office and now you have to give an account

to him for how you lived and served him after he saved you. I entrusted you with resources,

with giftedness. I entrusted you with vision of things and ideas. I entrusted you with

vision of things and ideas. What did you do? With everything I made you to be and everything I

entrusted to you. On that day will be a day of truth. And that is the one day that the apostle Paul says

that the apostle Paul says is what is ahead of me and I live for that. And that experience is a shift

that we have to go through as we grow in spiritual maturity and in closeness with God.

Because if the day that is driving you today for a future is not the day of Christ Jesus and is

something else, then it is time to refrain. And in my own journey that has come at different phases

and different ways and I can identify therefore with three aspects that the apostle Paul shares

about his own experience. The first one of those is that as we come to know Christ, my journey of

following Jesus as my Savior started when I was six years old. That is when I heard the Gospel and

I responded to it and I asked Jesus to save me. He became my good shepherd and I became his sheep.

But now that he saved me and I am his, that day that is ahead of me is affecting different aspects

of how I frame my life today. The apostle Paul talks about one of them. The first one of those

is this concept of priority. What matters most? You realize once you reframe certain things depending

on circumstances, suddenly what mattered more before does not matter most today.

If you are a parent that has children, that sometimes you are running late somewhere,

you know what priority means. We need to get ready. Five minutes. Out of here. And suddenly one of

your children may go to the restroom and start going, oh, my hair, nice, and then everything.

Come on, now we have three minutes. Are you ready? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it is like, the hair.

And at that moment you realize that not everybody understands what matters most.

And what matters most right now is not your hair. What matters most right now is that we leave

in that one minute. And in moments like that, there is an urgency, right? You realize that

if we have the whole time of the world ahead of us, yeah, fix your hair for three hours. That is

fine. But right now it is different. What matters most, matters most. And it is not that, it is this.

And the apostle Paul goes through this experience, not with being late or his hair,

but with his eternal perspective. And he says there were things in my life before that matter

most, but not anymore. And he puts it this way. But whatever were gains to me, I now consider

loss for the sake of Christ. Because before, he grew up in an environment in which education

and reputation matters most. So he writes in some of his letters, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.

I studied under Gamaliel. It is like I went to Harvard. I went to Princeton. I went to this

famous place and this is who I was. Until suddenly he realized as he followed Jesus that his life was

not about reputation or degrees. There was one thing in the future that surpassed them all.

And he says, I want to know Christ. Can you imagine the day where I actually see him and I'm with him

and he sees me and he knows who I am? I want to know Christ. Yes. To know the power of his

resurrection and participation in his sufferings becoming like him in his death. And so somehow,

attending to the resurrection from the dead, the day will come in which you and I will be glorified.

And on that day, you will realize that what mattered most was not the reputation or the degree

or the amount of money you made. At that moment, what matters most is going to not even be something

but someone. Jesus.

Jesus. And if that is not the perspective that we live with, then we start losing our focus.

And it's very easy to lose our focus. Have you lost your focus as you are following Jesus and

suddenly you are stuck with all these different things in the big scheme of things? It doesn't

really matter that much. But there you are spending all your time and energy in these things.

And they don't bring peace to you. They make you busier but not more peaceful.

There were two experiences that God used to help me reframe these things in my life. One of them,

which I have shared with you in the past, was the transition from pastoring in Dallas to now

pastoring here in Thailand. The calling of God shifting to here was something that tested

the idea of calling. You see, because I was in a stage in my ministry where I had already

completed my master's in theology, I had completed my doctorate, I was working with my team,

we had high levels of trust with the church, and on top of that I was part of the faculty of this

Christian university in the U.S. And it's like, career-wise, everything is good.

And then you keep advancing in that. So pursue your career. And suddenly God says, actually no,

I have other plans for you. And that change had to make me answer a question.

Paolo, are you pursuing a calling or a career? Because they're not the same.

You see, pursuing a career has an end in mind. I have the title, I have the salary,

I have the reputation, I have the influence, I made it. That's the end in mind. But a calling,

it's not a title, position, or salary that is at the end. It's Jesus.

And if he made me and called me to do this and shift countries and positions and churches and

everything, can I do that without eternal perspective? At that moment I had to realize

that God saved me not to pursue a career, but to pursue a calling. And eternal perspective shifts

everything because I was able to get to that point in which I could honestly pray to God and say,

God, in the midst of all the wrestling, as long as this is you, I'll go. Because how can you say no

to your boss who saved you and now tells you, I have this assignment for you and so on because

that's not what I was planning, so now I'm not going to do it. Is that what I'm going to tell

him on that day? I can't tell that to my shepherd. When he calls, you follow. And the second experience

was the grieving of that day that my father let us know that he had Alzheimer's. I was pastoring in

Dallas at that time. My father was a missionary in Mexico City during that time. And pursuing God's

calling in our lives as a family meant that we were not going to be in the same place, enjoying

family together, getting together every weekend and seeing my parents grow old. It meant separation,

different countries. We only see each other once in a while through video and once in a while in

person. My father called me that day from his home office and says, Pablo, I have some news to share

with you. And I remember we were using the iPad and FaceTime. And he tells me I was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's, early Alzheimer's. He was beginning his 70s at that time. And if you have gone through

that as a child, you know what it feels like. It's disorienting. It's like, what does this mean?

Are you going to stop recognizing me? Is the time going to come when you will know who I am?

Oh, my father was even another dimension of grieving because that was a very well respected

leader, both in his company when he served in the UNI-LEVER in Chile as well as in the churches.

And he was a powerful guest speaker. He will give conferences in different countries. And now he

won't be able to preach because he cannot remember a sermon. And all this grieving that started.

So at the end of that conversation, we prayed. And that just brought all that new season that God

had in his life. And as we were praying, I remember I'm going to take a picture of the screen

because I want to remember this moment. I have to remember that even if my father

gets to the day that he no longer recognizes me and Alzheimer's is him alive,

that is not the end. The day of Christ Jesus is coming.

And we will know Christ and the power of the resurrection. And on that day, we will no longer

be mortal, sinful. On that day, even if separation brings our lives to not being able to see each

other grow old, on that day we will be together forever. Eternity is coming.

And that helps completely reframe the grieving that I was going through at the moment.

So whether it be pursuits of careers, pursuits of jobs and titles and reputation,

or whether it be grieving, it is very easy to lose our focus if we don't keep this eternal

perspective because what matters most is always and always it will be Jesus. Not me.

And the second thing that apostle Paul explains is that we also need to be aligned.

This is the aspect of positioning because when we have lost our focus and we are not living for

that day and we no longer have eternal perspective, then we are living for other things and we become

fearful and controlling and anxious. And we are not living for that day. And we are living for

that day and anxious. And suddenly we try to be what we are not because we want to impress

people and what they think of us matters too much. And now we are operating in this place of turmoil.

And he saw it. He worked with people too. He led many people to Christ. He taught many people

and discipled them and mentored them. And he writes to them in Corinthians. He writes to them in

Colossians about these things. And he says, you know what, guys, there is something I have seen.

Let me use the imagery of the human body just so you will get my point. I have seen people that

are like this foot that is whining and complaining. And the foot starts thinking and says, well,

because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body. But just because the person says that,

it will not for that reason stop being part of the body, would it? It is like imagine the foot

that is at the bottom of your body. And what is he looking at? Wow, look at that hand above there.

He would be so nice to be a hand. Look at that. He knows everybody, shakes everybody,

waves at everybody. Everybody acknowledges them. And it is like, oh, it is so helpful.

It scratches. It is such a... But what am I here at the bottom? Just a foot.

I am just not good enough like that hand is. And this constant feeling of insecurity

that has made this foot really believe I am not good enough. I am a mistake. I should have been

a hand, but somehow I am not. And lifts comparing himself to the others. If you suffer from this

feeling of not good enough and always comparing yourself to others, pay attention to this,

because you have lost your eternal perspective. But that insecurity also comes on the other way.

Paul says, look, I have also seen an eye. An eye is telling the hand, well, I don't need you.

And also I have seen a hand saying to the feet, well, I don't need you over there.

Because this is the other person that thinks, if that one is thinking I am not good enough,

this is thinking I am too good to be true. It is like I know who I am, you know, and you should be

blessed to have me in your life. If you just knew what a privilege it is to know me. And this person

starts looking at others like an inconvenience. I don't need you. I can do it on my own. I am smart

enough. And whether it be this extreme or this extreme, those both tendencies that you see

are people who have forgotten that the Savior who saved them is the very one who actually

designed them and brought them into life. Every cell of your being was God's idea.

And therefore, my life is not to be lived like a foot wishing to be a hand

or an eye thinking that I am better than a hand. My life is to be lived

accepting the fact that the giftedness I have came from God and the giftedness I don't have,

I don't need to have because God didn't give it to me. I have a function to fulfill that was given

by God himself. I am here to honor him. I am here to fulfill his vision for my life, not my parents,

not my own, but his. Because the apostle Paul says you have to understand that in fact God has

placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. And the moment I

start accepting that, I am able to start serving God with the freedom to be the foot he made me to

be without comparing myself to others. Because the problem is that if I am that foot wishing to be

a hand and actually trying to be a hand, and maybe I'll have a few surgeries in there and there so I

can look more like a hand, look, you are going to be miserable. And you're going to try hard enough

to be who you are not. And in the process you're going to lose your passion. Because if God made

you a foot, the only thing that would be satisfaction to you is kicking and jumping and running,

not shaking and waving and scratching. That's not you. And it's okay. Be you. Because when you're in

that place of alignment with God, now you can start doing everything with eternal perspective.

And this is what the apostle told the Colossians. In Colossians he tells them this, whatever you do,

work at it with what? With all of it. All your heart. Because who are you working for?

You're working for the Lord. Not for human masters. Who cares what they think of you,

what matters is what he thinks of you. Because the day is coming when you will give an account to him.

Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward,

it is the Lord Christ you're serving. No one else. And this is what it means to be aligned.

I remember the day this guy left our church because he says, you know,

you never made me an elder, so I'm out of here. And I'm thinking, wow, I thought that it's not my

calling. I'm not the one that calls a person to be an elder. God calls them to be an elder.

And it's like, oh, so you are a footstool, you didn't make me a hand. They're from out of this body.

No. The day is coming when you and I will give an account to our Savior for whom he made us

and whether we pursued the calling he gave us. And that day will be a day of truth, not excuses.

So I'm here to ask you, have you lost your passion?

Because if you're not aligned with God and pursuing his purposes and his plans,

then you are in that place of draining. So chances are if you have lost your passion and you feel

like burnt out and drained is because something is not aligned. And it's very possible that what

is not aligned is that you have lost your perspective of that day that matters most.

The third thing that the apostle Paul mentions is that once you have the power of the Spirit,

the power of the Spirit, that is the day that matters most. And that is the day that is driving

your present. Then there's a resilience that is born out of that. It's not that you are trying

to be resilient, you are just experiencing it. Resilience is the ability to adapt and survive

even the most difficult circumstances. Like my maternal grandmother used to say,

Pablo, one gets used to anything in life except to not breathing.

Resilience is that ability to overcome. And the apostle Paul talks about this right there in

Philippians. He says, you know what? I've learned that despite the fact that I was imprisoned,

unjustly so, an unjust trial, despite the fact that I have been misjudged by people and accused

falsely, and despite the fact that I may die now that I am in prison, I have learned to press on,

to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not

consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind

and straining to what's ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called

me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Things get hard, but I'm pressing on. And he says something that

is very significant. He says, I forget what is behind in order to focus what's in the future,

the day of Christ Jesus. That is where I am going. And something has to shift. Because as we follow

Jesus, as we go through this walk of faith, people hurt us. And we experience tragedies

that are disorienting. And these experiences can cause us then to be stuck to the past.

And then I'm living my life trying to pursue the future, but walking like this.

Because I'm always thinking about the past, always thinking about what was done to me,

always thinking about how God disappointed me. And I'm stuck. It's not that you have stopped

pursuing the future, but you cannot focus on the future with clarity. It is disorienting.

It's very different to forget the past and turn around and remember where we're going.

The past is in the past, the future is where I'm going, and the future where I'm going has a name,

Jesus Christ. Which means that we have to forgive those that have hurt us.

Because if I don't forgive, I will be stuck in the past. It means that I have to surrender my

doubts and questions about why God allowed things in my life and trust His holiness,

trust His character. I have to release that because if I don't, I will be stuck in the past.

I have to press on, says the apostle Paul. And that's the only way in which I can live

life with eternal perspective. When these things happen in our lives, it's easy to lose our

perspective. And we become disoriented. And then you have to make a decision.

Are you going to live the rest of your life focused on Jesus and the day of Jesus Christ that is

coming? Or are you going to live the rest of your life focusing on the past?

For those of you that have walked with us these past three years here in

ICB, you know our story very well. But I realize that part of the international church experience

is that there's a significant percentage of you that have joined us recently. I don't really

understand our story. But God has tested this aspect of perspective in my life through a tragedy.

I have been a pastor for about four years at that time. And it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

In the U.S., Thanksgiving is a big celebration, kind of like Chinese New Year. It's the time of

families getting together, having a big meal, people flying all over, time of community.

And that Sunday that follows Thanksgiving in our church, it's the time of the year of the

Sunday that follows Thanksgiving in our church. We always had a special meal and just celebrating

God's faithfulness. Little did I know and I could not anticipate that that Sunday after Thanksgiving

as we celebrated God's faithfulness. That was the day that my second child, Sophia, one year old,

was going to die and go to God's presence. And it was painful. But as we were grieving through all

of that, that day, there were so many things going through our minds. And

that week, all of our focus was in figuring out details and things. And I remember CPS came and

had to interview us. And then when the detective came, I had to interview us to make sure this was

really an accident and not intentional. And we had to plan a memorial service.

And during those days of feeling disoriented and grieving and trying to figure out what does this

mean, many people lose their faith and trust in God when hit by tragedies. But my oldest son

was at that time a four-year-old, and he was a very good friend of mine. And he was a very

good friend of mine. He was sizin husband. He was выш excluded and divided up into story styles

and tragedies. But my oldest son, at that time, a four-year-old, was not with us and went with

Grammy and Grandpa to stay with them. He visited another church. I don't even know

that he had done in Sunday school.

And there was a point in which my wife and I

during those days, as we were going through this shock,

looked at this and God used it for both of us

to keep our perspective on what mattered most.

And it became such a meaningful part of our journey

and our story that we could not get rid of it.

We kept it, we framed it and this is what it looks like.

And today we have it hanging in our living room

and you may look at it and if you come to see our home

and it may call your attention because it's like

it doesn't match the decor.

It's not a story that matches our souls.

And do you know what it says?

The Lord says, forget what happened before.

Do not think about the past.

Look at the new things I'm going to do.

Isaiah 43, 18 to 19, signed Alex a pink plate

with feathers and flowers with a message from God.

One of the most painful experiences I've ever had

and God says, Pablo, don't lose your perspective.

And I have to tell you, I have to tell you

that I have to tell you that I have to tell you

to change your perspective and I had to make a choice.

Am I going to live my life like this saying, God,

why did you, how could you, God, or let the truth

sing, God, the hope of the resurrection.

Today's coming that we will be together again

And the separation from our daughter is not eternal.

Perspective changes everything.

Have you lost your perspective?

Are you in that place where you are just so bitter

towards God that he's holding you back?

So bitter towards people that he's holding you back?

There's a moment in which that has to change

and that moment is here and now.

Go on your knees and tell the Lord,

Lord, I'm releasing all of that.

I will no longer live my life stuck to the past.

The treasure of the journey that I'm sharing with you today

is that there's only one day that matters most

and that should drive our lives here and now

and that is the day of Jesus Christ.

There's only one way of following Jesus

and that is with eternal perspective.

And if we have lost that perspective,

God is calling us to retake it.

It's for our own good.

Because unless we have eternal perspective,

we'll be enslaved.

You will know no peace, no freedom.

Unless you live for Christ and Christ alone.

So I would like to finish this study

just with another dimension of personal reflection

which is the aspect of being called to serve

in pastoral ministry.

As you may remember if you were here last Sunday

and in case you were not, you may want to know this.

But last Sunday we made the announcement

that later this year Pastor Rene is gonna be transitioning

from ACB into another ministry

and his last day with us will be June.

And that the elders had invited me

to become the new lead pastor

starting the beginning of March, I mean the end of March.

And this transition honestly it feels just like

a continuation of God's calling and doing.

It doesn't feel like my feeling the word like a promotion.

It's simply God's calling

and the continuation of shepherding.

But through all the years I've had a few experiences

where people have asked me questions and they say things.

I remember that her stylist that was cutting my hair

in Dallas and learned I was a pastor

and she asked me, oh so you're a pastor

and what do you do with all your free time?

And I said, well what do you mean with all your free time?

She says, yeah after you finish mass

then what do you do the rest of the week

with all your free time?

And I thought, oh boy, where do I even start?

A few people say to me, oh so now that you're gonna be

the newly pastor you're gonna be busier.

And I look at them and I said, no that's impossible.

I will be busy with new things

but I cannot be busier than I am already.

One time I was flying from Cape Town, South Africa

back to the US and a long flight, right?

And I had an amazing guy from South Africa

sitting next to me, very sharp guy.

We had very good connection.

We talked for several hours and then it was time

we were getting tired, we needed to sleep.

But towards the end of the conversation

he realizes I'm a pastor and he looks at me

with this expression on his face.

He says, do you mean to tell me that this entire time

I've been talking to a pastor?

So I don't know if he meant that as a insult

or a compliment, you know?

But I know.

I know.

That there are some people that have given the name

pastor a bad name.

People that should not be in any form of leadership at all.

People that have stolen from people, committed adultery,

lied, manipulated, all these things.

That's true.

That's why when this person was seeking counseling

from me in Dallas and said to me,

I like super bluntly, my friends tell me

that the last person I should talk to is a pastor.

I had to look into her eyes and say I understand,

but you need to know I'm the real thing.

I'm so glad she trusted at that moment

because we were able to work in the healing of her marriage

for many months after that.

But I understand.

But for me,

eternal perspective changes everything.

And there are these words that the apostle Peter wrote

to me, a pastor, and to anyone else

who has fallen on God's calling.

The Bible uses the word elder to describe this calling.

And this is what he says.

Let me read it to you.

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder

and a witness of Christ's sufferings

who also will share in the glory to be revealed.

Be shepherds of God's flock

that is under your care, watching over them,

not because you must, but because you are willing

as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain,

but eager to serve, not lowering it over those untrusted

to you, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief of shepherds appears,

you will receive the crown of glory

that will never fade away.

I was six years old when the good shepherd

called me into his arms.

But one day, the shepherd of shepherds will come back.

And as one who was called to shepherd God's flock,

I will have to give an account to him.

When that is at the forefront of your calling,

how can you cheat on people?

How can you lie?

How can you manipulate?

How can you abuse?

There's no space for that because you know who saved you

and who called you and where you are going.

Live your calling with that eternal perspective.

Live for the shepherd of shepherds.

Let that be the way 2025 plays out to you and to me.

If you have lost your focus,

if you have lost your perspective,

if you have lost your passion,

if there's any other day ahead of you that matters most

than the day of Jesus Christ,

this is the time to recalibrate.

Lord, we come to your presence in Jesus' name

first to thank you for the hope of eternity

that we have before us.

Because we do not live for this world,

because we do not belong to this world.

We belong to you.

And even though we are in the world,

we live here for you in whatever we do

because it is the Lord Christ we are serving.

And we know that that day when it comes,

it will be a day of truth.

So Lord, if we have lost our perspective,

our focus, our passion,

would you help us reconnect with it?

Let the passion of your church just be a fire within us.

Let the glory of your name drive us.

Let that day in which we will be together with you

be the day we live for in Jesus' name.

To support our ministries,

you will find giving options on our website.

And remember to join us next week.

God bless you.