In the Middle | John Challinor

Morning, church. Good morning to those of you

online this morning, wherever you happen to be,

whatever screen you are watching on, whether

large, small, welcome. We're glad you're part

of the family with us. Paul, then we love you.

We are so grateful for what God is doing there.

And we're excited to hear and continue to hear

about how your space and your neighbors are different

because you're there. We're super excited for

that. And Baghdad. Welcome, welcome. We love

you guys. So happy to have you here at Easter.

That was phenomenal. And it's interesting because

there's people gathering in different places.

And so while Park Collective and Prescott Valley

is gathering, you've got Baghdad. Here's what's

interesting to me. That God is present in each

space. Right. And in each space where his people

gather together, there's an expectation of the

mystery of God. Here's what I mean. Like we can

get into church mode and church mode is, you

know what I mean? You get done with this, right?

And you get to the checkout line at Costco and

you're frustrated because there's so many people

because they all go on Sunday. You know what

I mean? And you get there and it's like. You're

in the checkout line and somebody goes, what

did you do today? Oh, it's church. What's the

next question? How was it? And we're like, oh,

it was good. And they're like, well, what made

it good? Well, it's what I expected. We did three

songs and then somebody came up and they did

something about giving and then somebody got

up and talked about God and then we sang a song.

Sometimes we don't because the guy goes long

and we don't sing a song at the end. But this

week we sang a song. You know, and it's like

that's our highest expectation. Is it we're going

to come in, we'll sing some songs, maybe I'll

like them, maybe they'll resonate with me. I'm

waiting for somebody to go, what is that new

song we sang today? All Creatures of Our God

and King? It's like really old, but new. You

know what I mean? Like those moments. But isn't

it interesting? This is supposed to be mysterious.

This is supposed to be something you can't explain.

This is supposed to be meet the person at Costco

and go, I don't even have words to tell you what

God did today. Because I met with the living

God and he moved within my spirit. That's what's

supposed to happen when we gather. That when

we sing and we worship that our eyes are raised

up because your eyes were always meant to be

up. And what worship does is it raises you, right?

And God meets you in the midst of it. And sometimes

you're crying and you're like looking at your

neighbor going, I don't even know why I'm crying.

There's mystery to it. We open the Bible. You

know, God calls his word living and active. It's

like a sword that cuts through. Right? When we

open this, it's living and active and it wants

to move through you. Not just be here so you

can go, well, he's kind of good. I liked his

joke. But this is supposed to be something where

you go, man, the Bible read me today and I'll

never be the same. That's what's supposed to

happen when we gather. Is that God wants to meet

you and move and God wants to transform you.

And that's the expectation on what's going to

happen today. There's mystery, right? It's interesting

how you have moments and you go, those moments.

like lock in and they change the way we view

something. I don't know if you've been following

it or not, but anybody been watching NASA going

back to the moon? Okay, some of you. The rest

of you, I'm going to catch you up just so you

know. It's that important, right? And so the

idea was for astronauts, they're going to go

further into space than any human has ever been,

right? And so, which... I didn't say this anywhere

else, but I just had this thought, so I probably

should keep it to myself, but I'm going to tell

you anyways. Except for when Jesus left the planet.

Right? Okay, where did he go? That's a whole

other story. Okay, so just in case, so we're

all caught up. This is what a rocket looks like

when it is taking off. This was Artemis II. The

mission was to go the furthest away from the

moon, but also take humans back to the moon.

We haven't been there since 72. And so this is

a pretty significant moment in human history.

The next picture kind of, so they blast up, they

get out. This is the capsule that they are in

as they are going to the moon. Now, to give you

some kind of perspective on what this capsule

is, they claim it's like if you took two minivans

and put them together, that's how much space

you have in the capsule. There are four astronauts

for 10 days and you thought you had problems

with roommates. Just saying. The next picture

kind of gives you a little bit of perspective.

Can you see the face in the window kind of in

the middle? It's a little harder on the side

screens, but that gives you a little perspective

of they are in this capsule and that is what

they can look out of into space, so to speak.

And as they are moving through, the next picture

captures what they begin to see. And it is just

stunning. That all of a sudden we get these images

that people have not seen for a long time. Like

the next one. Look at the next one. I need to

make sure you see this. You got to see this.

That's home, just in case you're wondering. That's

planet Earth, just so we're clear. But look at

the sun on the bottom, shining on the southern,

right? And then you have the top. That's the

northern lights on the top. When in your lifetime

have you seen the sun? And the northern lights.

I mean, that's incredible. And that's one of

the images, right? Because they got far enough

away that they could capture planet Earth. And

then they continued on their journey towards

the moon. And then they end up behind the moon.

And there's this eclipse that takes place. You

know the language. These are astronauts. They've

been four years in preparation for this moment.

And they get behind the moon. You know the best

language they had for what they were experiencing?

This is otherworldly. It's sci -fi. You thought

your TV is backlit well. That is the sun backlighting

the moon. I just sit on that for a second. There's

no words to explain that. How that works, how

that can be. And then they started getting images.

That is a crescent earth, just in case you were

wondering. And the next one kind of gives a little

more scale. One of the astronauts looked back

and saw what they called tiny earth. And she

said it wasn't, and seeing earth that got me.

It was seeing earth surrounded by all the darkness.

This little lifeboat, she said, suspended in

the universe. I mean, come on. If that doesn't

all of a sudden raise your sense of mystery and

awe, If that doesn't all of a sudden, I don't

know what it is to you. No, no, put it back up

for a second. We're not done. If that doesn't

all of a sudden frame who you are. You guys,

I geeked out on this. There was one day, it was

like a six hour live stream when they went behind

the moon. I watched all of it. Because it's so

stunning. Because what it does is it. Frames

who we are. You know how small and insignificant

when I look at that picture and I go, man, I'm

a little human on that. This picture is from

252 ,000 miles away. And on tiny earth, all of

a sudden I am framed. I am not a big deal in

the universe. And then verses start to pop like,

God. What is man and humankind that you're even

mindful of us? I think this moment, seeing this

picture, what it does for me is it takes more

faith. It convinced me watching this thing. It

takes more faith to believe that this all happened

by accident or some big bang than it does in

a God who is all knowing and all powerful that

can put that into space and time. You have, You

have astronauts who got the furthest away that

humans have ever been. And you know what was

on their mind? We're all in this together, humans,

and we have to love one another. Right? One of

the guys is saying, like, I can't love everybody,

but I can love my neighbor. Another person or

the same person looked at this and he goes, you

know what I'm stunned by? Is that inside of planet

Earth, we have everything we need to sustain

life. Because there is a God who is life that

created life that we live inside of. And you're

on a planet that's spinning really, really fast

right now. We don't understand that, let's be

honest. It's mystery. You know, there's a moment,

you can take it down now. There's a moment where,

thank you. There's a moment where there... Coming

back. They're between the moon. They've experienced

the high of the moon. And Earth is over here.

And they're heading home on that 252 ,000 mile

journey. Just to frame up, you think the gas

station is far away? And they're on their way

back. And I'm hit by how much faith it takes

for these astronauts. They're in a tiny, tiny

little spaceship. Size of two minivans. And they

are going. They are going extremely fast. And

it just hit me. They're trusting in their preparation.

They're trusting in their ground crew. They couldn't

even turn it five degrees without the ground

crew. They're only going to drive this thing

if something goes greatly wrong. There's one

point where they're reentering and they don't

know if the outer, I don't know what it's called,

the shield, the heat shield thing is going to

hold up or not. Because on the test model, it

took more wear than they thought. It takes an

immense amount of faith. And it reminded me,

2 Corinthians chapter 5. Some of you are like,

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

did we just come to a science course? No, 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. In 2 Corinthians 5, we spent a lot

of time here during just camping, but verse 6

says this, Therefore we are always confident,

and know, we are always confident, and know,

that as long as we are at home in the body, we

are away from the Lord, we are away from Jesus.

For we, catch this, for we, this is the mantra

of you and me as followers of God. For we live

by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say,

and we prefer to be away from the body and at

home with the Lord. So what he's getting at,

and we spent many weeks on this, so we're not

going to belabor it, but what one language I

want to put to it today is this, that we stand

right here, right now, you stand in the middle.

You're in the middle. What do I mean? This body

is a tent. It is going to decay. It's going to

die. This body is not home. You are not home.

Therefore, Home is over there in eternity with

God. So we know that while we're here, we're

not at home. We're in the body, right? Like we're

not with the Lord and where we're going. We're

in the middle. And what does it say about the

middle? Verse seven, for we live by faith, not

by sight. What is the mantra of the middle? You

live by faith, not by sight. Right here, right

now, your life as a follower of Jesus is to be

lived by faith, not by sight. By sight. This

week sits in the middle. Haha, no pun intended.

Sits in the middle of next week is celebration

weekend. And then starting May, we'll have a

new collection that we're heading into. This

week is, it was weird for me. I didn't speak

on the Easter message at all this time. No stage

was I speaking about Easter and the Easter story.

And so for me, though, I'm still a follower of

Jesus. So I'm still doing what I normally do

through the Easter story. And there's just some

stuff that kind of jump out that has to do with

this idea of faith in the middle. And the story

we're about to jump into, Jesus has been crucified.

He's died. He's taken off the cross. Joseph has

the body. He wraps him in linens. And at this

point, then we pick up in verse 55, Luke 23,

55. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee

followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his

body was laid in it. The women who had been with

Jesus had been part of his ministry, knew him

extremely well, knew who Jesus was. There was

no confusion that they saw Jesus die. Jesus was

taken. He was wrapped. And now they follow to

the tomb where Jesus is put inside. They see

they see the body on the slab. I don't know if

they physically got to go in, but they saw enough

to go, Jesus is dead. He is in the tomb. The

stone is rolled. Their sight told them that Jesus

was dead. By sight, they are very, very confident

in what they have seen, even if it may not make

sense. So confident that then verse 56, then

they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.

but they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to

the command. So they go home and they prepare

spices so that they can go and do the proper

burial ritual for Jesus. On the first day of

the week, very early in the morning, anybody

come to sunrise? You left your house and it was

dark? Isn't that weird? Like it's dark, but I'm

going to church. And then I was like, oh, this

happens every winter. I don't know why this feels

weird. But on Easter, it feels weird. And in

this case, the idea is it's very early. It's

still dark. Isn't it interesting that our sight

sometimes puts us in a dark space? That what

we see and we think we know sometimes puts us...

And so they go early in the morning. The women

took the spices they had prepared and went to

the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from

the tomb, but when they entered, they did not

find the body of the Lord Jesus. So they're so

confident by sight that this is what it's going

to be. They get there and their sight doesn't

match up with what they know. Right? Like instantly

their sight and what they thought they knew by

sight is now challenged in such a way that they

have a different opinion. Kind of like when you

look at the heavens, and especially from these

astronauts' view, they go, we don't even have,

this does not make sense. Why? Because what's

the mantra of the Christian faith? You are to

live by faith, not by what you see. So much so

that what happens with the women is, verse 4,

while they were wondering about this, suddenly

two men in clothes that gleam like lightning

stood beside them. You want to talk about a jump

scare, right? In their fright, the women bowed

down with their faces to the ground. But the

men said to them, why do you look? Why do you

look for the living among the dead? He is not

here. He is risen. Okay. They are bang in the

middle. What is the middle for them? They know

what's true. They saw Jesus die. They saw him

put in a tomb. They saw his lifeless body. They

go back. He's not there. And now they have these

angels telling them truth that they now have

to accept by faith and not by sight. They now

have to stand and go, this is what's true in

the middle. You could put it this way, that in

the middle, faith is the playground of the middle.

Right? That you are in the middle. Whether you

like it or not, you're in the middle. And in

the middle, the call on your life, the call on

my life is that we would live by faith. faith.

We shouldn't be surprised by this. Like the story

of God, right? Like you go back and you look

at the individuals. Let's just start with Noah.

Noah, I need you to build a boat. What for? For

rain. What's that? Well, it's kind of like your

springs, but it comes from the sky and it's really

gonna, it's gonna mess things up. So you need

a boat. And now I'm going to bring two by two,

all the animals will come to you. Huh? You know

how long? Over 100 years Noah is building a boat.

He's in the middle for a long, long, long time.

God has told him something. He's in the middle

by faith building this boat and his neighbors

come over and go, hey Noah, what you doing? I'm

building a boat. What's a boat? Imagine how many

times this poor guy had the conversation. It's

going to rain. What's rain? He's in the middle

and in the middle you live by what? Faith. And

you move forward in the story, get to Abraham.

Abraham, where are you going? I don't know. God

just told me to pack up my family and go to a

land he'll show me. Wait, you're taking your

whole family and you're just walking, but you

don't know what you're looking for? Yeah, because

I'm in the middle. And in the middle, I walk

by faith. God said it. Here's truth. So here

I go out here in no man's land and I'm just going

to start walking. How do you know when you get

there? I don't know. God will tell me. Think

about Sarah, his wife, right? You're going to

have a baby. And your descendants will be like

the stars. Numerous. And she starts by sight

going, I'm getting really old. I know how this

works. And so she's like, I'm gonna help out

in this story. And God goes, that's not the way.

She starts to live by sight and he pulls her

back to what? To faith, because in the middle,

you live by faith. You follow the story forward,

you get to Joseph. I mean, think about Joseph,

he's sold into slavery. He's a slave in a foreign

land and he's doing really well, then gets thrown

in jail on a false accusation. And in jail, he's

still walking by faith, even though he can see.

I'm in jail. God's got a plan. God's going to

figure this out. God's going to work out. He

didn't know that it would end up saving the entire

family and future of the nation of Israel. But

in the middle, he's got to walk by what? By faith.

I mean, it's just stunning. You just keep going.

Get to Moses. Moses' life starts by faith. I'm

going to put you in a basket and send you down

the stream, son. Good luck. And by faith in the

middle, he gets raised by the household of Pharaoh.

And he ends up running away for doing the right

thing. And he ends up in the desert for a long

time. And what happens? God comes to him in the

middle and he goes, hey, Moses, I got something

for you, man. You're going to go back to the

most powerful man on the entire planet with the

largest army and the greatest technology. And

you're going to walk into him and you're going

to go, let my people go, says God. And when you

get there, guess what, Moses? You're not going

to be good at speaking. Moses is in the middle.

It's just stunning. He gets there and the people

he's supposed to be rescuing are actually mad

at him because it's not going well for them.

His sight is, God, this is not going well. And

yet, God's people are called to live by. I mean,

think about it. Get to the Exodus story. Paint

blood on your door. And the angel of death, you

want to talk about mystery. The angel of death

will pass over, but where the blood is, there

won't be any death. You know how much faith it

takes to do something like that, to follow everything

that God's told you to put blood on the door.

And then you get out of there. You're blessed

with all this stuff, right? Like you get all

their gold from Egypt. You get out, you're running

away and you're like, yes. And then you get to

the Red Sea because God led you there. And what

you see in front of you is death. And what you

see behind is the world's strongest army with

the greatest technology. That's death. So you

look at it and you go by sight, death, death.

And what do we call to live by? Faith. And what

does God do? He parts the water. They walk through.

Think about it. This doesn't get any easier.

They get to the desert and God goes, you know

what? I'm going to feed you by frosted flakes.

Every morning, frosted flakes will show up on

the ground. Right? Can you imagine the stress?

Dad's in the room. Can you imagine mom's in the

room? The stress. That first week, you have no

plan B. There is no way to feed your babies.

There is no backup plan other than look out the

tent. Frosted flakes. And for a long time, God

fed them by manna. I mean, it's stunning, right?

And then he goes, hey, I got a promised land

for you. It's so good. It's full of milk and

honey. It's the best you have ever seen. And

they get there and he goes, it's right over there.

And they go and look and it's like, there's giants.

What do they see? Giants, what do they fail to

do? Live by faith. And what happens in that moment

in the middle? An entire generation doesn't enter

the land because of giants. And then they get

in the land and they come up to Jericho, right?

Jericho's a city with large walls. And God goes,

hey, here's the battle plan. You're going to

walk around twice a day. And then on the last

day, you're going to walk around once and just

cheer. And the walls are going to fall down.

Okay. Never seen that before in my life. But

they're in the middle. They got to walk by faith.

I don't know about you. I want to try it on my

weeds. See if my weeds will... I think of David.

David's anointed to be king, and the person who's

supposed to mentor him into this king, he wants

to kill him, so he ends up living in caves for

a while. He's on the run. Think about David and

Goliath. You talk about in the middle with faith

and a stone. If you're like John, that's all

old, and those stories are fun and all, but let's

get to the New Testament. Okay. There's a widow

in a town called Nain, and she is in the procession

of her death of her son. She is in the middle

of grief. And who enters the middle of her grief?

Jesus. And what does Jesus do? Raises the son

to life in front of everybody that's there. I

mean, you go to the blind man. 38 years, he's

blind. 38 years he's waiting for the Messiah.

38 years he's waiting for the one who can heal.

38 years of living by faith in the middle. And

then Jesus shows up and he doesn't even know

how Jesus did what Jesus did. But it's by faith

that he was healed. I mean, if that's not enough

for you, Jairus' daughter, right? Jairus, she's

12 years old. Jairus comes to Jesus and he's

like, hey, hey, I need you to come heal my daughter.

Jesus gets a little delayed. She dies. Jairus

is bang in the middle of grief. I lost my daughter.

Don't even worry about coming. What does Jesus

do? Jesus shows up. And when Jesus shows up,

the impossible happens. And she's raised to life.

But don't miss that on the way, there was a lady

who had been bleeding and been an outcast for

12 years. And by faith, what does she do? I know

I'm an outcast. I know I shouldn't buy sight.

I shouldn't do any of this. But I just got to

touch the hem of his garment. And she touches

the hem of Jesus' garment and she is healed.

We're called to live by faith, not by sight.

Think about John the Baptist. He's in jail. What

can John see? He can see a prison cell. What

does he know? I'm going to lose my head. They're

going to behead me. And Jesus sends him back.

Hey, John, these are the things that I'm doing.

These are the things that the Messiah would do.

You have a choice to walk by sight or walk by

faith. Why? Because in the middle, in the middle,

You have to walk by faith. We haven't even talked

about Lazarus. I mean, you want to talk about

a crazy story? Lazarus has been in the tomb so

long that their own language is, do not open

the tomb, Lord, he stinketh. Don't do it. He's

going to smell real bad. You know what Jesus

does? Not only does he remove it, right? Because

he meets them in it. And his language is, if

you believe, if you believe. You're going to

see the glory of God today. It's mysterious.

And Jesus, and I love this. I came across this

recently. I was listening to something and we'll

do something at some point with it. But Jesus

doesn't call to Lazarus multiple times. He's

not waking him up. He calls once and Lazarus

comes out. Jesus meets him where? In the middle.

There's another story that kind of wraps out

the Easter morning or Easter day. It's in the

same chapter, chapter 24, verse 13. There's two

other gentlemen. Now that same day, two of them

were going to a village called Emmaus, about

seven miles from Jerusalem. So it's a seven mile

walk is what's happening. They were talking with

each other about everything that had happened.

As they talked and discussed these things with

each other, Jesus himself came up and walked

along with them. But they were kept from recognizing

him. He asked them, so Jesus asked them, what

are you discussing together as you walk along?

They stood still, their faces downcast. What

do they believe by sight? They're not walking,

high -fiving each other. Man, Jesus raised from

dead. They're not doing that. They're still in

their downcast. Their posture is, we're sad.

We're grieving. And Jesus, Jesus, you want to

know what Jesus was doing on Easter day? He was

getting his cardio. It's a seven mile walk. The

resurrected Jesus is walking seven miles with

these guys that are walking pretty slow because

it says that they stop and they're downcast.

They stood still, their faces downcast. Verse

18, one of them named Cleopas asked him, Are

you, this is so good, are you the only one visiting

Jerusalem who does not know the things that have

happened here, happened there in these days?

He's like looking at Jesus and going, don't you

get it? Can you imagine Jesus' response? Well,

let me tell you about the last three days where

I've been, right? Because I've set the captives

free. I've been up to my father. Like there's

a whole thing that Jesus could do here. But notice

what Jesus does. What things? What things, he

asked them. Okay, if you don't think sense of

humor belongs in spirituality, you need to read

the Bible. Like Jesus is punking them. Like Jesus

is here and he's like, huh, what things, what'd

I miss? Tell me the news. And they go on to say

about Jesus of Nazareth. So now they're telling

Jesus about Jesus. They replied, he was a prophet,

powerful in word and deed before God and all

the people. The chief priests and the rulers

handed him over to be sentenced to death. And

they crucified him. What do they know by sight?

Jesus was crucified and put to death. But, but

listen to this. We had hoped. If that doesn't

describe the middle. You ever felt like you're

beyond hope? You ever feel like something is

so overwhelming that you've lost hope of what

can happen? But we had hope that he was the one

who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more,

it is the third day since all this took place.

In addition, some of our women amazed us. They

went to the tomb early this morning, but did

not find his body. They came and told us that

they had seen a vision of angels who said he

was alive. Then some of our companions went out

to the tomb and found it just as the women had

said, but they did not. See Jesus. What are these

guys walking by? They're walking by sight and

not by faith. Where does Jesus meet them? He

meets them in the middle. Why? Because he needs

them to walk by faith. Their story is that they

are downcast. They have beyond hope. They have

essentially given up. They're confused. And I

don't know how you're doing. I don't know how

you came in the room. I don't know what questions

you got for God. I don't know what you're in

the middle of, but I do know that there is a

mantra for you as a follower of Jesus. And it

comes from your story. That when you are in the

middle, here is your mantra. It's found in Ephesians

chapter two. And in Ephesians two, it says this,

as for you, he's speaking to the church. Those

of you that are followers of Jesus, as for you,

you were. dead in your transgressions and your

sins. It is a statement about who you were. You

were dead. You were lifeless. You were on the

slab in which you used to live when you followed

the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom

of the air, the spirit who is now at work in

those who are disobedient. All of us also lived

among them at one time, gratifying the cravings

of our flesh and following the desires. and thoughts

like the rest we were by nature deserving of

wrath. What does he say? This is who you are.

You're alienated from God. You're an enemy of

God. You were dead. And notice the language.

This is the language of the middle. But because

of his great love for us, God. Who is rich in

mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we

were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you

have been saved. But God. What is the language

of the middle? How do we live by faith? But God.

I know that what I see today seems impossible.

I know that what I see today feels overwhelming.

I know that what's in front of me is too much.

I know that what's in front of me is confusing.

I know that I feel downcast. But God. But God.

Lazarus is dead. But God. We can't get through

the Red Sea. But God. What is the language that

we are called to live? We are called to live

by faith. And so what we need to do is we need

to talk to ourselves. We need to talk to our

souls. That's what the psalmist does. David's

away in the caves and what's David doing? Why

are you so downcast, oh my soul? Put your trust

in God. He's calling himself back to faith. What

is the call on you and me? It's in the midst

of the middle. But God. But John, you don't understand.

This feels impossible. But God it is. What's

the mantra of the faith? Not sight, but God.

The story continues in Luke. And these two guys

get done telling Jesus about Jesus. And then

Jesus tells them the entire story of God. It's

probably one of the greatest messages ever preached.

He starts at the beginning and goes all the way

through the cross. And then he looks like he's

just going to keep walking. He's just getting

more cardio. And they say this in verse 29. But

they urged him strongly, stay with us. For it

is nearly evening. The day is almost over. So

he went in to stay with them. When he was at

the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks

and broke it and began to give it to them. Then

their eyes were opened and they recognized him

and he disappeared from their sight. They asked

each other, were not our hearts burning within

us? While he talked with us on the road and opened

the scriptures to us. Can you imagine you go

to Costco today because you came to church and

God met you and you're in line and somebody goes,

hey, how was church today? I don't know, man.

I got this burning in my chest. And they're like,

heartburn? You're like, no, it's like in my soul.

That's what they experienced because they met

with God and it's mysterious. And it takes them

from this moment in the middle where they don't

have faith to where they walk by faith. They

actually run the seven mile journey back on Easter

night to tell others what they've experienced.

There's something mysterious about this. See,

what's amazing is what we have as a reminder

of the person of Jesus. You guys, I don't know.

I don't know your story. I don't know how you

came in the room. I don't know what by sight

feels impossible today. It may be your addiction.

You know, the addiction you haven't told anybody

about or the addiction you're trying to hide.

The one you, Promise you'll quit only to do it

again. And you feel shame and guilt, which is

why you're hiding. And it just feels too much.

What I love about Jesus is he wants to break

bread in your addiction today. He wants to meet

you in the middle. He wants to meet you in the

addiction. He wants to meet you. He doesn't want

to preach at you. He wants to sit down and he

wants to give you himself in the middle today.

Maybe it's your marriage. You came in here and

you know we feel like we're on polar opposite

sides and this will never get better. You feel

like your marriage is done. You feel like it

couldn't be restored. In fact, you maybe have

divorce papers already filled out. The mantra

of the middle is what? But God. Your marriage

may be done, but God. Don't you give up on God.

And in the middle of your pain of your marriage,

Jesus wants to break bread. with you today in

the middle of the mess of your marriage, that

just maybe you'll see him and it'll change everything

and you walk out of here by faith today. I mean,

for some of you, it's your kids. Your kids are

at an age where they're making their own choices

and their choices, it's hurting, it's painful.

You want them to make different choices and they're

not. I talked to somebody last night after the

gathering and they were telling me their kids

have stopped talking to them. A story is so common.

Maybe you have the pain of broken relationship

with your own kids and Jesus wants to meet you

today and break bread with you in the pain and

in the suffering and in the moment of the middle.

For some of you, maybe it's a phone call. You

ever had that phone call that just changed everything?

Maybe it's about your health. Maybe it's about

somebody passing away and you are pushed into

grief. The doctors have said it's impossible,

but God. And inside of the impossible, Jesus

wants to break bread. with you today. Inside

of the grief and the pain, inside of the fear,

I mean, you only have to go to the gas pump to

be filled with fear. Where's it all going? How

do I make ends meet? And so finances become a

thing, right? And we get all concerned and Jesus

goes, hey, you're in the middle and I want to

meet you in I want to break bread with you in

the middle. Maybe it's relationships for you.

Maybe you are staying with somebody much longer

than you should. Or maybe someone's walked away.

And Jesus wants to break bread with you. In the

middle of that. He broke bread with them. Guys,

it was mysterious what happened. I don't believe

that's unique to them. I believe that's unique

to who Jesus is and what he has given us to remember

him in. What's stunning about, to me, about communion

is the mystery is you. I don't know if this is

like theologically, politically correct for you.

I don't care. Because there's something here

that we're missing. That Jesus just doesn't want

to meet with you in the middle. But you ingest

what represents his body and his flesh. You ingest

Jesus. And when you ingest something, it goes

to every part of you. And Jesus wants to be in

every part of your life today, including the

middle, including the impossible, including the

thing that you have given up on. He wants to

meet you today. And so we're going to let him.

And the next moments are yours for you to chat

with him and invite him to break bread with you.

To see the mystery and the wonder of the God

who can hang planets and also break bread at

a table with you. So the next moments are yours

and we'll take it all together. Bye. Jesus broke

bread with them. And it says their eyes were

opened that he was there. In your impossible,

Jesus says to take bread and to break it. And

in that process, take and eat. And do this to

remind you of him. His blood that was represented

by wine was your reminder that but God. You're

dead, but God. You can't love your neighbor,

but God. You can't see Jesus, but God. And so

he took a cup that represented the new covenant

in his blood. And he said, take, drink, do this

in remembrance of me. Church, would you stand

right where you are? Because I can think of no

better way than seeing galaxies and planets and

hearing the story of life from death and knowing

that God meets us in the middle. I can think

of no better response than to take our voice

and just go. How great is our God? How great

is our God, church? Oh, that's it, huh? That's

it, huh? All right, let's go.