Embracing God's Story: From Chaos to Abundant Life
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"We see life through the lens of story so even if you think about science and math it's still a story behind it there's always a story behind the data or the equation is actually a story because that's the only way human beings actually can understand and see the world that's how we created to see the world through a story and that's why God's story is just yeah he he comes and he has a story and wants to partner with our story and so we want to look at that this morning." [00:54:51]
"My goal this morning is to put stones in your shoe because I my life I have a stone in my shoe that stone in my shoe is John 10 10 and Jesus says the enemy there's an enemy out there and to killed steal and destroy he's trying to kill steal and destroy but Jesus came to give life and life to the full or life in abundance some translations say and I'm like well what does that look like how does that show in our world right it's a bit of a stone in my shoe that when I saw this topic I was like yeah I wanted to this is I want to dig into this because it is the questions humanity wrestles with keep yeah it can keep you awake but there there is an answer and it's probably not what we think it is but the questions that we all wrestle in that is is with us that life of abundance is that sense of who am I and why am I here." [00:55:56]
"God's response he called who did he call to partner with him abraham yeah he called abraham to partner with him abraham let's go on a journey i want you to go on a journey i want you to head out and um yeah be a great nation be a light to the world and what was the promise that he gave abraham to bless the whole world yeah and his descendants the nation of israel to be a blessing and um yeah and what what happens when the ones that were called didn't fulfill the purpose because last week joan talked about that if israel did not fulfill that they didn't fulfill what they were called to where does that leave us hey well what does that look like and that's when jesus steps in not just as a solution but actually the fulfillment of israel's purpose as a descendant of the line jesus come into that place." [01:00:44]
"And it is a, but that time that he protects, I believe that God protects our free will. Our freedom to choose is the greatest gift that humanity, that he's given us, because without that, there's no love. And so in his protecting that free will, he allows us on these journeys. We go on this journey, and yeah, and that's where Jesus comes in. And he come into that space to partner with and to show the world God's love, to show the world that freedom to, yeah, for us to step out of slavery and into the life that he has for us." [01:08:30]
"Jesus come, because he wanted to actually reveal the Father's heart, heart of love for humans, of why he created us, and what the purpose of this, of this life is. So yeah, come to reveal the Father, that divine love, something that, yeah, can only be experienced, it can't be rationalized. It's like something that is hard to put into language. It is encountering God, and encountering that love, yeah, that, that changes us. Jesus come to redeem. He come to redeem Israel's story, and our story." [01:15:01]
"And Jesus, the new Adam, he restored that identity and purpose. He brought about, he showed that, he exampled it to us. He won the battle over sin and death. And now, we can be part of that family. And he talks about, in John 15, or Luke 15, and being grafted in, grafted into his family. He chose us. He chooses. He calls all of the world, right? Israel, we're to be a blessing to all of the world, all people, into this new way of life." [01:27:36]
"And he says, I'll leave you with my spirit, and I want you to be my temple. And a temple is always a place where the divine, yeah, the divine mid -earth. That's where God dwelled. And he says, you are my temple. You are my dwelling place. This is where I want. I want you to touch earth and release that love and, yeah, to be a witness to my image and display, display that love. And that's what God has come to restore. Restore us so that we can bless those around us. And not restore us just for my sake, but actually restore me for your sake, and vice versa." [01:28:13]
"And so that's, yeah, the sacrifice. And then, of course, what happened three days later? Jesus rose. He rose from that grave. That death could not swallow him. That could not hold him. That grave, that tomb was empty. And this changes everything. And you know, we can say, like, is there any proof? Because this is just a fable or something we believe in from this book called the Bible, which is actually, in fact, the most proven history book of all time, of, like, the oldest book of the history of that time. The Bible has the most proof to prove it. And so many that have tried to prove it wrong actually end up encountering Jesus because they just can't deny it." [01:31:32]
"And, you know, you think, okay, there's his 12 disciples and the others that were part of that. They, when he rose again, they actually gave their life to this, to the point of death. And they say that if you are lying and you get to the point, put to the point of dying, you will always crack. And yet they didn't. And that is proof, right? That is proof that actually this is true. That he did rise again. That he conquered death and that we don't have to fear. We do not have to fear. Our death is not the end because we are now eternal. We're eternity connected with the divine, with God and who he is and the love that, yeah, he, the supreme value of God and who he is. That we are, yeah, interwoven into his story and that we're eternal beings now." [01:32:52]
"And it's a beautiful, yeah, beautiful place. And that stone in my shoe that I know that it's not humanly possible, but it's heavenly possible to live in that place. And that's what I need to continually remind myself to bring myself back into, of the renewal, the fullness of what God has for us. And so, yeah, the way forward, the way forward from this, because we've heard God's story and what Jesus has come and the climax of the story. And now what? Now what? How do we live this forward? How do we respond?" [01:37:24]
"There's divine reality that is accessible for us to, yeah, to bring to the world around us. And he calls us. And that's why it's not become a Christian and zap into heaven straight away, because he wants us to witness to the world. He wants us to be the shining light here in Te Puke. That the people around us in our community are just so blown away with the lives that we live, that they're like, I want that. I need that. That we're not burdened by the things of this world, but that we live freely." [01:39:11]
"And it's not a rational answer, right? It's a relational answer. Through relationship with God, through relationship with each other, and actually through healed relationship with ourselves. That we are not, we don't need to be identified as the things we've done or the things we do, but rather we're created to reflect his image and shine that out. And when we let him shine through us, that is the place. Yeah, it's just such a beautiful place to be. So this morning, I just like, yeah, I'd love you all to stand with me and I just want to pray into this space." [01:40:31]
Ask a question about this sermon
"My goal this morning is to put stones in your shoe because I my life I have a stone in my shoe that stone in my shoe is John 10 10 and Jesus says the enemy there's an enemy out there and to killed steal and destroy he's trying to kill steal and destroy but Jesus came to give life and life to the full or life in abundance some translations say and I'm like well what does that look like how does that show in our world right it's a bit of a stone in my shoe that when I saw this topic I was like yeah I wanted to this is I want to dig into this because it is the questions humanity wrestles with keep yeah it can keep you awake but there there is an answer and it's probably not what we think it is but the questions that we all wrestle in that is is with us that life of abundance is that sense of who am I and why am I here." [00:55:56]
"God's response he called who did he call to partner with him abraham yeah he called abraham to partner with him abraham let's go on a journey i want you to go on a journey i want you to head out and um yeah be a great nation be a light to the world and what was the promise that he gave abraham to bless the whole world yeah and his descendants the nation of israel to be a blessing and um yeah and what what happens when the ones that were called didn't fulfill the purpose because last week joan talked about that if israel did not fulfill that they didn't fulfill what they were called to where does that leave us hey well what does that look like and that's when jesus steps in not just as a solution but actually the fulfillment of israel's purpose as a descendant of the line jesus come into that place." [01:00:44]
"And it is a, but that time that he protects, I believe that God protects our free will. Our freedom to choose is the greatest gift that humanity, that he's given us, because without that, there's no love. And so in his protecting that free will, he allows us on these journeys. We go on this journey, and yeah, and that's where Jesus comes in. And he come into that space to partner with and to show the world God's love, to show the world that freedom to, yeah, for us to step out of slavery and into the life that he has for us." [01:08:30]
"Jesus come, because he wanted to actually reveal the Father's heart, heart of love for humans, of why he created us, and what the purpose of this, of this life is. So yeah, come to reveal the Father, that divine love, something that, yeah, can only be experienced, it can't be rationalized. It's like something that is hard to put into language. It is encountering God, and encountering that love, yeah, that, that changes us. Jesus come to redeem. He come to redeem Israel's story, and our story." [01:15:01]
"And Jesus, the new Adam, he restored that identity and purpose. He brought about, he showed that, he exampled it to us. He won the battle over sin and death. And now, we can be part of that family. And he talks about, in John 15, or Luke 15, and being grafted in, grafted into his family. He chose us. He chooses. He calls all of the world, right? Israel, we're to be a blessing to all of the world, all people, into this new way of life." [01:27:36]
"And he says, I'll leave you with my spirit, and I want you to be my temple. And a temple is always a place where the divine, yeah, the divine mid -earth. That's where God dwelled. And he says, you are my temple. You are my dwelling place. This is where I want. I want you to touch earth and release that love and, yeah, to be a witness to my image and display, display that love. And that's what God has come to restore. Restore us so that we can bless those around us. And not restore us just for my sake, but actually restore me for your sake, and vice versa." [01:28:13]
"And so that's, yeah, the sacrifice. And then, of course, what happened three days later? Jesus rose. He rose from that grave. That death could not swallow him. That could not hold him. That grave, that tomb was empty. And this changes everything. And you know, we can say, like, is there any proof? Because this is just a fable or something we believe in from this book called the Bible, which is actually, in fact, the most proven history book of all time, of, like, the oldest book of the history of that time. The Bible has the most proof to prove it. And so many that have tried to prove it wrong actually end up encountering Jesus because they just can't deny it." [01:31:32]
"And, you know, you think, okay, there's his 12 disciples and the others that were part of that. They, when he rose again, they actually gave their life to this, to the point of death. And they say that if you are lying and you get to the point, put to the point of dying, you will always crack. And yet they didn't. And that is proof, right? That is proof that actually this is true. That he did rise again. That he conquered death and that we don't have to fear. We do not have to fear. Our death is not the end because we are now eternal. We're eternity connected with the divine, with God and who he is and the love that, yeah, he, the supreme value of God and who he is. That we are, yeah, interwoven into his story and that we're eternal beings now." [01:32:52]
"And it's a beautiful, yeah, beautiful place. And that stone in my shoe that I know that it's not humanly possible, but it's heavenly possible to live in that place. And that's what I need to continually remind myself to bring myself back into, of the renewal, the fullness of what God has for us. And so, yeah, the way forward, the way forward from this, because we've heard God's story and what Jesus has come and the climax of the story. And now what? Now what? How do we live this forward? How do we respond?" [01:37:24]
"There's divine reality that is accessible for us to, yeah, to bring to the world around us. And he calls us. And that's why it's not become a Christian and zap into heaven straight away, because he wants us to witness to the world. He wants us to be the shining light here in Te Puke. That the people around us in our community are just so blown away with the lives that we live, that they're like, I want that. I need that. That we're not burdened by the things of this world, but that we live freely." [01:39:11]
"And it's not a rational answer, right? It's a relational answer. Through relationship with God, through relationship with each other, and actually through healed relationship with ourselves. That we are not, we don't need to be identified as the things we've done or the things we do, but rather we're created to reflect his image and shine that out. And when we let him shine through us, that is the place. Yeah, it's just such a beautiful place to be. So this morning, I just like, yeah, I'd love you all to stand with me and I just want to pray into this space." [01:40:31]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Feb 23, 2025. Do you have any questions about it?